Possessing Nothing

Editors: LaidBackGuy, Morin

“It’s a mediation guild.”

You ask such strange things, Rubia added while mumbling.

“Who doesn’t know that?”

Lee Sungmin rebuked as he bit into the juicy meat. Rubia nibbled on the meat while sulking.

“I also know that Erebrisa is a mediation guild.”

“… Well, They are a mysterious and odd group in many ways. It doesn’t make any sense. The mercenary guilds have mercenary divisions within the guild, and the Wizard guilds are divided into a school and tower of magic. That’s what most guilds involve themselves in. They don’t become information guilds.”

Lee Sungmin also knew about it. There are hundreds of dozens of information guilds, big and small. In particular, there are five or six guilds that handle information only in large cities. Moreover, information guilds are not the only ones dealing with ‘information’. The bandit guilds in the city also handle information, and among the Murim factions, various branches, such as the Wandering sect and Haomun, also handle information.

(T/N: haomun sect would be xia wu men in Chinese. Murim factions are like this all-encompassing sect and haomun sect rank lowest among them. It’s a little bit of a disgraceful sect since they mix with the likes of beggars and bandits usually)

“Erebrisa draws information from ‘all’ information guilds with different purposes and ideas. That’s not all. They arrange transactions between various merchant guilds and private dealers as well. This is impossible even for high-ranking aristocrats and kings.”

Lee Sungmin silently listened to Rubia. Erebrisa is not just some intermediary guild. It is impossible, even for a king, to control such groups of diverse personalities like that.

[It’s their force.]

Heoju said flatly.

[Erebrisa’s brokers have the ability to break through distance and space. They are humans, but they are not like humans. Power and status are meaningless in the face of phenomenal and overwhelming forces. No matter how hard something is guarded, the brokers of Erebrisa can still break through space and appear there.]

“… Why do people with such abilities run a mediation guild?”

[400 years ago.]

Heoju said.

[This elder at the time was quite notorious. Yokais are such beings. They are notorious by nature. Not all humans are guilty of eating pigs, but most humans do not feel guilty about eating them. It is the same for us. Yokais are inherently violent and selfish, and they cause a lot of accidents. I caused some trouble as well.]

So he was subdued. Lee Sungmin recalled the information he received from Neville. Heoju, who ruled in the southern region 400 years ago, was a revered monster. He wasn’t subdued just because he was strong. He was punished because he committed an evil deed.

[I bet you, in all of Eria at that time, you would not be able to find a presence stronger than me. Even a dragon couldn’t stand up to this elder!]

That sounded like a little too much, Lee Sungmin thought. But did not express it.

[By the way, The broker from Erebrisa who came to visit me… Even though I was that strong, I would not have been able to guarantee an easy victory against them. I was dumbfounded when they came to me saying they were intermediary guilds, and that they wanted to receive me as a member. So I asked them why they acted as a mere intermediary guild despite having such power and why they wanted me to be a member?]

“… and?”

[They said something interesting. He called me a ‘variable’.]

“What is that?”

[My existence itself was a variable that could throw off this whole world. He said that in order to become a member of Erebrisa, one must have such a quality. He said it was because of my strength and power that I was offered the membership. In other words, it means that all members of Erebrisa are people who are likely to be variable in this world. Although, I don’t know what they’re trying to do by gathering such people.]

When he first learned of Erebrisa at Mush’s mountain. Erebrisa’s broker said that Lee Sungmin lacked the ‘qualifications’. At the time, he thought that it was simply because of his lack of skill, but that was not all.

[They were too strange. So I refused to be a member. I didn’t want to be tied up with people I did not know anything about.]

“It’s quite convenient, though.”

[Perhaps that Heavenly Demon bitch is also a member of Erebrisa.]

Heoju added.

[Her level of strength and growth is enough to pin her down as a Variable. By the way… This is quite the strange word. Why is it ‘variable’? Why is the word ‘variable’ when there is no fixed situation? What are they variables for?]

Heoju roared with laughter. Lee Sungmin also had questions about it, but there was no way to confirm the answers’ authenticity. He didn’t think Neville would answer just because he asked.

“You’re having quite an interesting conversation.”

A voice sounded all of a sudden.

Lee Sungmin was startled and looked in the direction of the sound. Neville stood under the shade of the tree with a smile.

“… I don’t think I summoned you?”

“Selgerus’ work was completed, So I came to tell you about it.”

“That’s nice to hear.”

Lee Sungmin looked at Neville as he sucked the oil from the meat off of his fingers.

“What is Erebrisa?”

“It’s a mediation guild. … It’s hard to tell you more than that. Please understand.”

Although he said it as if he couldn’t help it, Lee Sungmin had a strong feeling that he wouldn’t ‘never’ tell him. But he was not the type to acquire answers by force.

“You are so fussy.”

“I can swear that Erebrisa won’t ever hurt you. Erebrisa is for you.”

Neville said so as he split the space using his hand. Beyond the cracked space, Selgerus stood. Selgerus, who looked a lot more unkempt than before, had dark circles under her eyes, and her cheeks looked hollowed out.

“What’s with this atmosphere?”

Selgerus asked with her head tilted. Lee Sungmin did not answer, and Neville shrugged. Selgerus, who had been silent for a moment, opened her lips and grumbled.

“Well, It’s none of my business. The things you ordered are complete. For the shape, I followed the spear I made last time.”

Neville moved close to Selgerus and received the spear and armor from her. Until then, he was confused and upset by the many questions about Erebrisa swirling in his head. But, the moment he saw the spear that Neville had received, all such misgivings in Lee Sungmin’s mind were extinguished entirely. The spear created by Selgerus had an impression so strong that it captured both Lee Sungmin’s gaze and his mind.

“Orichalcum.”

Selgerus opened her mouth.

“It never breaks… is what a bunch of idiots would say. That’s wrong. There is no such thing as never braking in this world. That doesn’t mean Orichalcum is brittle. When it comes to robustness, there are few metals like Orichalcum. It has more strength than a dragon’s scales and bones.”

Neville handed the spear to Lee Sungmin. Its length was longer than the previous spear. This was because Lee Sungmin’s body was larger than when he first received the spear.

‘It’s light.’

But, it didn’t feel brittle. Lee Sungmin grabbed the spear and gave it a light boost. It did not bend. He liked the rigidity.

“If it’s completely destroyed, there is no way to recover it, but for other damages, using magical force would suffice… So, in your case, it can be restored by infusing inner force into it. There is no need to bring it for repairs. It’s made from Orichalcum, which was buried in the ground and didn’t change even after a thousand years.”

“There are not many craftsmen who can handle Orichalcum even among Dwarf blacksmiths. Other than dwarfs, only Selgerus, who has the title of Meister, can handle Orichalcum.”

Neville added. Even though she was on cloud nine, Selgerus tried not to show her pride.

“What are you doing then? You don’t even treat me properly because I’m a dark elf.”

Rather, Selgerus grumbled and added.

“Orichalcum also accepts magical power and inner force so well that even Mythril cannot be compared to it. You’ll get a sense of what it feels like if you try it on yourself. And the armor-”

Selgerus reached out and pointed at the armor.

“After creating the spear, there was still a lot of Orichalcum left over, so I inserted Orichalcum around the core of the armor. It was just overlaid, so for the most part, anti-magic should still work. But don’t rely on it too much. It hasn’t been engraved with anti-magic enchantment.”

“Can I ask for an enchantment?”

“There’s a good reason why I didn’t do it. Orichalcum is an excellent metal, so the difficulty of inserting enchantments is quite high. I can’t even think of doing it unless I’m an Archmage. And enchanting it degrades the quality of the metal. For a metal like Orichalcum, it’s rather a loss to enchant it.”

Lee Sungmin listened silently to Selgerus’ expert advice. Selgerus exhaled loudly and pressed down firmly on her temple.

“… I assure you, this is my life’s greatest masterpiece as a blacksmith. The material was the best I’ve ever touched. Unless you try to fight a Dragon, it will not break.”

“… Thank you.”

“No need for thanks. I didn’t give it a name, so if you want, you can name it. I’m tired, so I am going to go sleep.”

Selgerus said and turned away. Neville closed the open space and turned to look at Lee Sungmin with a smile.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes.”

“Please do not doubt us. Erebrisa is only pursuing your convenience. And… ”

Neville paused.

“… I am your broker. I’m exclusively yours. Although I belong to Erebrisa, in some ways, I may prioritize you over Erebrisa’s policy.”

His tone was not like the previous inquiry. Neville bowed his head after adding that.

“I will be awaiting your next call.”

Neville disappeared after leaving those words behind. Shortly after Neville disappeared, Heoju grumbled.

[Is he a homo?]

“What the fuck are you saying… ”

Lee Sungmin cursed at Heoju’s ridiculous words. Heoju laughed when he heard his reply.

[Tastes can vary. Your face isn’t ugly, so it would be good if you kept that in mind.]

“Stop talking bullshit.”

[Anyways, It is a good thing to have a friendly helper on your side. Although his attitude is a little ambiguous.]

While listening to Heoju chatter away, Lee Sungmin put on the armor. The upper body armor was more comfortable to wear than before. Infused with inner force, it expanded greatly and wrapped around his entire body. Lee Sungmin felt impressed as he tested it out.

‘It’s very comfortable.’

It wasn’t that his former armor was uncomfortable. But, there was a feeling of heaviness and resistance when compared to being armorless. But, not now. There was barely any resistance in moving his body. It wasn’t without its weight, but considering Lee Sungmin’s strength, it was fair to call it weightless.

He tried raising his Defense Aura. Kwaaa! His Defense Aura swelled in an instant, covering his entire body. It looked as if a purple flame had swallowed him up. Lee Sungmin was alarmed and reduced the amount of inner force.

“Your inner force was amplified through the Orichalcum.”

Rubia promptly said.

“That’s why Orichalcum is considered the best material. You can draw out more power efficiently using a lesser amount of magical or inner force.”

It certainly was. When he used Defense Aura while wearing the previous armor, the output was not strong enough. Lee Sungmin grabbed the spear while he was at it. When he grasped the spear and infused his inner force into it, a purple aura immediately surrounded the entire spear. Unlike the armor that was only overlaid with Orichalcum, the spear was made entirely of Orichalcum. Therefore, the efficiency of using Spear force was far more than the output of his Defense Aura.

[If you can’t do it with your body, get help from the equipment.]

‘Are you being sarcastic?’

[You have such a twisted personality. Are you ashamed of using equipment?]

‘That’s not true.’

[Don’t bother lying to me.]

Heoju chuckled as he called him out.

[It is important to use what you have properly. Your heart, armor, and weapons. Everything is yours, after all. Don’t leave it lying around, and use it well. Ahem.]

Heoju advised. Lee Sungmin nodded silently as he listened to it. He still didn’t like the black heart in his body, but that didn’t mean he hated it. After all, it was true that this heart had saved him several times.

‘So I have to meet Freskan.’

(E/N: Preskan -> Freskan going forward.)

Even if he tried to use it, he didn’t know anything about it yet.

***

(T/N: so uh I went on a little wuxia surfing spree and as it turns out the Volcano factions are in fact https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hua_Sect

And going by the names Wandering sect=Beggars sect in other novels but I’ll continue to use Wandering sect. But Volcano sect=Mount Hua sect from now on if it does ever pop up again ^^)