The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (Web Novel KR)

Lukas turned to Bargan.

“The Champion?”

“It means Ruler of the Herui Arena. With her overwhelming power and win rate, she has completely dominated the arena.”

Lukas turned to look at the figure in the middle of the parting crowd.

It was a woman.

She had long hair and deep eyes. Only one sword hung at her waist, but the aura and killing intent spewing from her body couldn’t be ignored.

Nevertheless, the first thing Lukas noticed wasn’t this aura that was erupting from this woman’s body.

Instead, it was her familiar face. No, to put it more bluntly, it was a face that he was well acquainted with.

Nevertheless, there were subtle differences when compared to the face that Lukas knew, so he couldn’t help but wonder if it was just a similar looking person.

However, it didn’t take long for him to realise that wasn’t the case.

Because at that moment, the woman’s gaze shifted to the side before locking onto him.

With a snap, she immediately stopped walking. Then, she looked over at Lukas as if she’d seen a ghost before muttering in a disbelieving voice.

“…Master?”

Seeing this, Lukas also became confident in her identity and called out to her.

“Ha-rin.”

The Champion who was revered by the city was none other than his first disciple, Min Ha-rin. (TL: Ha, bet you didn’t see that coming)

* * *

Lukas followed Min Ha-rin. He found that she was staying in a magnificent mansion near the center of the city.

This was the building that was gifted to the Champion.

Before entering, Lukas ordered Bargan to wait outside. While he appeared surprised that the two of them knew each other, he simply followed his orders without making a single sound.

“…”

“…”

Sitting face to face in the room, the master and disciple didn’t speak for a while.

The reason Lukas was speechless was because of the intense emotion that covered Min Ha-rin’s face.

Tears had welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall at any moment.

After a while, Min Ha-rin wiped her eyes before speaking in a very shaky voice.

“Master, I’m really glad you’re okay. Did something happen?”

“Right… You seem to have gone through a lot.”

“Yeah.”

Min Ha-rin’s mouth opened and closed for a while before she was finally able to calm herself.

“Where have you been all this while? I couldn’t find a clue even after searching the entire Heavenly Realm for you, Master…”

Lukas had a sense of incongruity from Min Ha-rin’s words.

It was the same feeling of incongruity that he’d felt when he first saw her in the street.

“Ha-rin.”

“Yes?”

“How long have you been here?”

A dim light shined in Min Ha-rin’s eyes at the strange question.

“…I haven’t been counting, but it has probably been around five years.”

The sense of incongruity that Lukas felt finally began to take shape.

He then spoke in a heavy voice.

“I just arrived.”

“Huh?”

In a way, this conclusion that he’d reached meant that things might be even worse than he initially expected.

Nevertheless, it was an issue that had to be clarified.

Lukas looked at Min Ha-rin for a moment before speaking.

“I don’t think we all entered the Great World at the same time.”

* * *

Min Ha-rin had been a bit startled by Lukas’ statement for a while, but she eventually regained her calm.

Her appearance caused Lukas to feel a bit more maturity in her than before.

It was strange, on one hand, he was proud, but on the other, he felt a bit sad.

Five years.

That was a relatively short time for an Absolute like him, but during this time, Min Ha-rin had grown a considerable amount.

As her Master, Lukas couldn’t help but feel a bit of regret that he hadn’t been able to witness the process for himself.

No. That thought was a luxury in itself.

He should be grateful that he was able to reunite with even one member of his team.

“Did you hear any word about the others?”

“…I’ve stayed in Herui for about two years now. Before that, I traveled around the Heavenly Realm looking for you and the others.”

“…”

The memories seemed to have caused Min Ha-rin to become depressed as she wasn’t able to continue. From her expression, Lukas was able to understand a bit even if she didn’t say it.

It was then that he also understood why she had been so shocked when she saw him for the first time.

For Lukas, he was just reuniting with his disciple after a brief separation, but for Min Ha-rin, she had been searching for Lukas for more than five years.

‘And she hadn’t been able to find a single clue.’

No matter how positively she tried to think or how much faith she had in her master. After such a long time, it was only natural that she would begin to think the worst.

Just before seeing Lukas, Min Ha-rin’s eyes had been lifeless. Killing intent poured from every pore on her body, and she seemed to exude a sense of tiredness that was akin to a living corpse.

The five years that Min Ha-rin had experienced was probably something that Lukas wouldn’t be able to understand or repay her for.

“You did well.”

So, instead, he just told her his thoughts.

“…”

Min Ha-rin slowly lowered her head at those words.

She’d spent the last five years on her own, fending for herself in an unknown world.

A lot of things had happened in that time, and there were a lot of things within her that had changed as well.

This might have been one of them.

The current Min Ha-rin didn’t want to let her master see her cry.

* * *

Min Ha-rin briefly explained to Lukas everything she had experienced in the past five years.

First of all, she told him that her starting point hadn’t been Combat Island, but ‘Untamed Island’ located in the northwest.

“Untamed Island?”

“Yeah. There are a few Dragonmen there, and there are even Dragonling who have long since lost their intelligence.”

In the first month after her arrival, every day had been a constant struggle for survival. There were many kinds of Dragonlings on the island, and many of them could take her life in various ways.

There wasn’t a single place where she could rest with confidence. To survive, she had to become stronger, and Min Ha-rin struggled desperately because she didn’t want to die.

Then, after a long month of fighting.

Min Ha-rin was able to become slightly accustomed to life on the ‘Untamed Island’.

“Soon after entering this world, I found that my magical power was constantly growing stronger. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have survived the Untamed Island.”

“The mana density in this world is extremely high. This is the best place to increase and train your mana.”

Lukas nodded as he said that.

He didn’t know how strong the Dragonlings who inhabited the Untamed Island were, but a month of constantly fighting for her own survival definitely had an explosive impact on her growth.

“The Seven Islands of the Heavenly Realm all have different sizes. The Untamed Island is among the largest. I’m not sure of its exact size, but the map I saw showed it was at least a few million square kilometers.”

Millions of square kilometers.

That was truly an overwhelming size. In fact, such a size was comparable to a small continent. (1)

“I stayed on the Untamed Island for about a year.”

After she got used to the environment, Min Ha-rin was able to catch her breath.

At the very least, she gained the ability to secure a safe place for herself, and she also learned which Dragonlings she couldn’t face.

It was true that humans were extremely adaptable creatures.

This was proven by the fact that Min Ha-rin was able to gradually get used to living on such a dangerous island.

“Later, I also found what I think are mutated Dragonlings. I also ate many precious herbs and fruits. Thanks to that, I was able to become stronger much faster.”

“Weren’t you afraid that you were putting yourself at risk by eating those unknown things?”

“The information window said that it was okay to eat them.”

Lukas couldn’t help but tilt his head at the unfamiliar title.

“…information window?”

“Ah, I forgot that you only just arrived.”

After saying that, Min Ha-rin drew her sword and held it in front of Lukas.

“If you pay close attention to this sword, something will appear.”

“…”

The sword that Min Ha-rin drew was much sharper than Lukas expected and seemed to have an extraordinary aura of its own. Lukas admitted that it wasn’t a famed sword, but it wasn’t too far from one.

Then he decided to do what Min Ha-rin said.

[Scarlet Killament]

[A one-handed sword forged from the fang of a mutated Dragonling. It seems to embody the ferocity and violence of the Red Dragonlings.

Once a day grants the ability to use ‘Dragon’s Roar’.]

Lukas raised an eyebrow.

(Note:

1. For reference’s sake, Australia is roughly 7.7m sq km)