The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard

Chapter 3 Blood Will Tell

After crushing the masu's head with a single strike, Turan approached Keorn with the sling in his hand.

In truth, the decision to help this knight was quite risky even for Turan.

If Keorn returned to his house and reported that there was a young, useful slave here, wouldn't Turan have to flee immediately?

Yet he stepped forward because protecting guests was his duty as the lord of Hisaril Hill, and because that old knight had shown respect to Turan while maintaining proper guest etiquette.

"Are you alright?"

But for some reason, Keorn was watching out for the collapsed leopard masu with its shattered head rather than looking at Turan.

"Be careful!"

There was no need to ask what he meant.

The leopard masu suddenly raised its headless body and lunged at Turan.

Where there had originally been a hole, and now a completely crushed skull, a wavering pale green light emerged.

Fortunately, thanks to the warning, Turan was able to create distance by kicking away the charging masu's body.

Though strongly kicked, the masu's body rolled several dozen meters but didn't seem to have taken much damage.

"You can't kill an undead with physical attacks!"

"Then how should I kill it?"

"With fire or lightning!"

Following the advice, Turan immediately tried to set the masu's body on fire, but just like before, the sparks that should have erupted into lightning-like flames went out weakly.

Seeing this, Keorn could now be certain that Turan was the one who had killed the masu.

It was basic knowledge among wizards that applying magical power directly to other magical creatures required proper causality, yet this young shepherd showed no sign of knowing even such principles.

Naturally, he wouldn't have known about the need to disperse a dead masu's mana either.

"Don't light the fire—create and shoot it!"

Even as Keorn advised this, he thought Turan would find it difficult.

While igniting flames was something even young wizards could do instinctively, directly controlling them was a skill that required separate training.

But just as he worried, flames arose above Turan's hand, spun around it, and shot toward the masu as if propelled by centrifugal force.

He had simply applied the same principle as his most familiar attack method—slinging stones.

[■□■□■□■--]

When the flying flames caught on its spirit body, the masu screamed and rolled on the ground.

It seemed to be trying to extinguish the flames by rubbing against the ground, but the magical fire burned endlessly, consuming its master's mana.

Unlike Keorn's attacks which had no effect, this meant Turan's magic power was clearly superior to his opponent's.

Turan maintained sharp focus as he continuously fed power to keep the flames burning on the masu's body.

After about thirty seconds, the spirit body enveloping the masu screamed, and its physical body instantly burned away.

Turan and Keorn simultaneously breathed sighs of relief.

"Is it really over now?"

"Yes... First, absorb the mana. Unless you want to meet another undead."

The method of absorbing mana wasn't particularly difficult.

Just extend your hand over the corpse and imagine drawing in something invisible.

With just that, an aura the same color as the recent spirit body flowed out and seeped into his body.

Turan shuddered at this sensation he had never experienced before.

The feeling of something steadily accumulating inside his body, as if transforming into a stronger, more alien being than before.

The eerily pleasant sensation was enough to give him goosebumps all over.

"Is this really your first time absorbing mana?"

"Yes."

"Hard to believe..."

Originally, mana slowly grows with age after the first awakening, but without absorbing it from killed masu or wizards, that growth isn't very significant.

Then doesn't this mean his current ability was purely from innate power?

Considering that the limit of growth through mana absorption is proportional to innate mana capacity, his potential was clearly extraordinary.@@@@

Newly realizing this fact, Keorn cleared his throat lightly and asked in a polite tone.

"I apologize for my previous rudeness, young master. Might I ask which house you belong to?"

Turan felt uncomfortable with Keorn's respectful attitude.

Though he couldn't explain exactly why... he didn't want to see this old knight lower himself like this.

"Let's tend to your wounds first before we talk."

Keorn was still bleeding from above his eyebrow where the claws had scratched him.

Turan was silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"You needn't worry too much about what your mother feared. While it might be different for ordinary knights, even great houses show at least minimal respect to fellow nobles. Needless to say, this applies even more to powerful nobles like yourself."

"So you're saying I don't need to worry about being forcibly taken by some house."

"Like everything in life, I can't be certain, but..."

Various thoughts crossed Turan's mind.

The desire to believe Keorn's words, and the fear of nobles that hadn't disappeared despite being nurtured his whole life.

The two emotions were in sharp conflict.

While he was deep in thought, Keorn sat on the bed wrapped in bandages here and there, patiently waiting.

After several dozen minutes, Turan asked quietly.

"What could I gain down there?"

Reading the willingness to venture into the world contained in those words, Keorn smiled and answered.

"That depends on what you want. Wealth, fame, power, or perhaps family and friendship... Any of these would be hard to obtain here."

Keorn presented various possibilities of what Turan could do in the mortal world one by one.

Wandering the world destroying threatening masu like himself, becoming an explorer venturing into unknown lands humanity hadn't yet pioneered, or perhaps being adopted by a house and walking the path of power...

One thing was certain—any of those seemed more interesting than tending sheep on Hisaril Hill.

"Come to think of it, I forgot to ask earlier, but do you have any bloodline abilities? I should have asked this first."

"Bloodline abilities?"

When Turan asked about this unfamiliar term, Keorn clicked his tongue in realization.

He wasn't yet used to the fact that this young shepherd was ignorant about the magical world.

"Do you know that our magical power originates from our ancestors, the Prea god-clan?"

"I heard about it from my mother."

"Nobles, being closer to the Prea god-clan, inherit some characteristics of their divine ancestors. The presence or absence of these bloodline abilities is also what distinguishes nobles from knights. Houses typically gather those who share the same bloodline abilities."

"How can you tell if you have bloodline abilities?"

"Have you ever felt that certain magic comes particularly easily and simply to you, or conversely, found certain magic difficult? Or perhaps you naturally possess abilities superior to others even without using magic?"

"It's probably not that I'm stronger than others?"

"Wizards become physically enhanced just by having mana. The desire to become faster, stronger, and tougher is a natural instinct all animals possess. While great strength is also one of the bloodline abilities, I don't think your strength is quite at that level."

At Keorn's words, Turan fell into thought.

Among his abilities, what stood out particularly...

"I have a good nose. My eyes and ears are also better than others, but that's what stands out most."

Especially when it came to smelling blood, he was so proficient that he could roughly distinguish what creature was bleeding just from the scent.

Hearing this, Keorn nodded.

"Exceptional sense of smell... If it's that precise, it's certainly enough to be considered a bloodline ability. And?"

"I'm good at throwing stones. Though that's because I learned from my mother since childhood."

Turan had learned stone slinging from his mother since he was five years old.

It was the most effective way for an ordinary shepherd to deal with their most feared enemies—wolves and leopards.

Moreover, as he had felt recently, he noticed that it consumed particularly little mana when empowering and throwing stones.

"Proficiency with projectile weapons. That's one of the characteristics of our House Arabion, though I'm not sure if it's at the level of a bloodline ability."

"Is that so?"

"Actually, this is quite a common trait. Being skilled with projectiles, skilled in close combat, or moderately good at both. It generally falls into these three categories."

Afterward, Turan and Keorn continued their exchange, categorizing things he was particularly good at and things he wasn't.

But for some reason, Keorn's face grew darker as their conversation continued.

This expression became increasingly pronounced, and after their final exchange, he wore an almost lamenting expression.

"I think I understand."

"What is it?"

For some reason, Keorn didn't immediately answer Turan's question.

After hesitating several times, he reluctantly opened his mouth.

"There are several possibilities... but the characteristics of the Zahar bloodline are most prominent. Also called the Pursuers, or Hunters."

Zahar—as Turan rolled that name in his mouth, he thought it felt strangely familiar.

Why would it, when he had never heard stories about wizard houses from his mother?

Looking at Keorn's gloomy face, he could understand the reason.

Zahar was the name of the house that had warred with Keorn's House Arabion and massacred all his friends and family.