Chapter 79: The Mage of Domains

Ketal didn’t kill Dragosar, as he never intended to in the first place. Killing a noble mage from a fantasy world was unthinkable. Instead, he gathered all the catalysts and materials Dragosar had painstakingly collected and brought him to Milayna.

“I’ve brought the mage,” Ketal announced.

“What?” Sorting through the damage reports from the fire incident, Milayna froze mid-motion. “What did you just say?”

“This is the mage who was attacking you—Dragosar.”

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

“W-wait a moment!” Milayna hurriedly checked, and soon realized what was going on. The man standing lifelessly beside Ketal, his eyes vacant, was indeed Dragosar.

“It didn’t even take you a day...,” she murmured, awestruck.

She had known Ketal was strong, but she had expected the task to take several days. When a mage settled into their domain, they could wield power far beyond their usual limits. That was why she had been unable to deal with him herself. Yet, Ketal had ended it all within a matter of hours.

Ketal patted Dragosar’s shoulder. “You must have questions about him, Milayna. Ask him and he will answer.”

“Please... ask me anything,” Dragosar mumbled blankly. “I’m sorry... for my crimes.”

His hollow eyes lacked any trace of light, and his disheveled appearance made Milayna flinch.

This was Dragosar, a mage from the School of the Deep-Rooted Tree. He was an elite mage who, in smaller kingdoms, could command respect even within a royal court.

And now, here he was, reduced to this pitiful state.

“What on earth did you do to him?” Milayna asked Ketal.

“I didn’t do much,” Ketal replied with a slight tilt of his head. “Maybe the fact that my alchemy overcame his magic was too much of a shock for him.”

Milayna doubted that was the whole story, as she wasn’t at the scene. “I’ll take care of him. Guards!”

As she rang the bell, guards entered and grabbed Dragosar by the arms. He made no resistance, allowing himself to be dragged away with the same dead-eyed look.

Milayna watched the scene with a perplexed expression before shaking herself out of it. Clearing her throat, she gave Ketal a formal bow.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, a big problem is resolved,” she said.

Regardless of the details, the fact that the mage would no longer pose a threat was good news for her. Moreover, they could interrogate Dragosar and uncover any hidden masterminds behind the plans.

“No problem. It’s only natural to lend you a hand,” Ketal said casually. “I trust it’s alright for me to keep the catalysts and materials I took from him?”

“Ah, yes. Just let me verify them later,” Milayna replied.

“Much appreciated.” Satisfied, Ketal gathered the catalysts and headed back to Arkemis’s residence.

***

“I’m back,” Ketal announced.

“How did it go? It must have been tough, right? I told you, it wouldn’t be easy. You may be a fast learner, but you’re still just a beginner,” Arkemis said, her words flowing as though she had been rehearsing them for hours. “I know you take pride in your abilities, but understanding your objective level is also a qualification of a true master. Consider this a valuable lesso—”

“I caught him,” Ketal interrupted, his calm tone cutting off her speech.

“What...?”

“You’re talking about Dragosar, right? I subdued him and handed him over to Milayna. Oh, and here are the catalysts he had.”

“Wait a minute...” Arkemis hastily inspected the materials Ketal presented. Her eyes widened.

These weren’t mere trinkets; each was a high-value catalyst, the kind one would only obtain by defeating Dragosar and confiscating his collection. And they were all real.

Something doesn’t add up,

Arkemis thought.

Dragosar was a mage from the School of the Deep-Rooted Tree, an Advanced mage who had gained independence from his master. There was no reason for someone of his caliber to lose to a novice alchemist like Ketal.

Unless... was Dragosar weaker than I thought?

Arkemis wondered.

Could Dragosar have been a deserter from his school rather than an independent mage?

Arkemis had only heard about Dragosar from Milayna and had never met him in person. Naturally, doubts about his strength began to creep in. After all, it was absurd for a mage of his level to lose to someone like Ketal.

Arkemis’s face grew pale as she thought,

So he was actually a runaway mage from his school? All that preparation for nothing.

She had planned to use this opportunity to demonstrate her mastery to her pupil, but her efforts had been wasted on someone so feeble.

However, if Dragosar had heard her thoughts, he would have burst from frustration.

“Good work,” Arkemis muttered grudgingly. “But don’t get cocky. Your opponent was just a weak mage, nothing more.”

“I know,” Ketal replied with a nod.

There’s no way a true master of magic would fall so easily.

Ketal thought highly of the power of Myst of this world. His perspective had been shaped early on by his first encounter with a mage, Adamant, whose Transcendent-level magic had set an almost impossibly high standard in his mind.

He had long since forgotten about the lich he fought in the cave. This world still held countless mysteries waiting to be uncovered. He had so much more to enjoy in this fantasy world.

And that thought brought him nothing but joy.

***

Ketal sat at the table, working on something with hands that, despite his large frame, were precise and delicate.

A few minutes later, a satisfied smile spread across his face. “It’s done.”

“What? You finished it already?” Arkemis asked.

“Yep! I’ve finally completed it!” Ketal exclaimed, holding up a bracelet with a joyful expression. “This is my very own artifact!”

“It looks good. Hand it over and I will check it out.” Arkemis took the bracelet and examined it closely. ‘It seems fine, but we will need to test it to be sure.”

Ketal stepped outside to test his creation. Taking an axe in hand, he prepared himself.

“

Hup!

” With a burst of strength, he hurled the axe into the sky. Arkemis blinked in surprise as the axe flew so far that it disappeared from sight.

His strength is no joke,

Arkemis thought, staring dumbfounded at the sky.

It must be because he’s a barbarian.

However, even after several seconds, the axe showed no signs of falling back.

“How far did you throw that thing?” Arkemis asked.

“Doesn’t matter, as long as it works,” Ketal replied casually.

“Well, I suppose...”

The bracelet Ketal had crafted was an artifact designed to make a thrown axe return to its owner’s hand.

Throughout mythology on Earth, there were many legendary weapons that returned to their masters, like Mjölnir and Gungnir from Norse mythology. Even beyond myths, the concept of self-retrieving weapons appeared in countless stories. Ketal had always been enamored with such weapons.

So, when Arkemis had asked what he wanted to create, his answer had been immediate: an artifact for retrieval. This artifact, which he had been working on since he first started learning alchemy, was finally complete.

As they stared into the sky, the axe began to come back into view.

“Just how far did it go?” Arkemis muttered with a mixture of amazement and exasperation, squinting at the approaching weapon. “Wait... did you forget to include speed control?”

The axe was falling at an alarming velocity, the sound of air being torn apart audible even from a distance.

Ketal scratched his head and murmured, “Oh, right. I forgot about that.”

Arkemis paled, hurriedly gathering mana. She could already foresee the destruction the speeding axe would cause upon impact. Before she could shout a warning, Ketal calmly extended his hand as the axe hurled toward them.

A deafening roar erupted as Ketal caught the axe. The ground cracked beneath him, and a powerful gust of wind blasted out in all directions.

When the dust settled, Arkemis opened her eyes cautiously, only to be stunned by the sight before her. In the midst of the destruction, Ketal stood tall, holding the axe with confidence.

He caught that?!

Arkemis was utterly surprised. Even she wouldn’t have been able to intercept it at such a speed without preparation.

“You’re pretty strong...,” Arkemis stammered. Perhaps it was because he was a barbarian, but his physical body was definitely sturdier than expected.

Ketal swung the axe in satisfaction. “It lands perfectly in my hand.”

He was absolutely thrilled. After a month of studying alchemy, he had finally achieved tangible success.

Arkemis, who had just managed to calm down, rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Can you handle maintenance for it as well?”

“I think so.”

“Explain how you’d do it.”

Ketal explained his process in detail, and Arkemis nodded, muttering to herself, “Correct.... At this level, you can probably start calling yourself an alchemist.”

“Really?” Ketal’s face lit up.

“You’ve made an artifact, haven’t you? That’s enough to qualify as an apprentice alchemist. To do this in just a month... Well, it’s fast, but given how much time you’ve invested, it makes sense. You have probably packed months of work into this one month,” she admitted. “I will prepare a simple test for you. You should pass easily. Once you do, you can proudly call yourself an alchemist anywhere you go.”

“That’s good to hear,” Ketal said, beaming with satisfaction.

***

When Ketal returned home, he spent some time talking with Milayna as usual.

“Thanks to you dealing with the mage, we’ve been able to gather the materials without any trouble. At this rate, everything should be ready soon,” Milayna reported.

“Oh? That’s great news,” Ketal replied with a big grin. Hearing one piece of good news after another put him in a fantastic mood. “By the way, what happened to the mage?”

“We got all the information we needed from him and sent him back to the Mage Tower. We could’ve killed him, but... well, he’s still a mage. It’s tricky to act recklessly.”

While Dragosar had attacked first, giving them plenty of justification to kill him, mages were fiercely protective of their own. If the School of the Deep-Rooted Tree saw the Akasha family kill one of their own, it wouldn’t be surprising for them to retaliate. Sending Dragosar back to the Mage Tower as a way to clear any debts was the wiser move.

This also meant that if the mastermind behind the attack wasn’t a mage, it would be easier to deal with them.

“Then, who was the one that hired him?” Ketal asked.

Milayna’s expression darkened. “To be honest, it was someone I didn’t expect. Do you remember when I mentioned how many enemies our family has because we’ve been standing out lately?”

“I remember.”

“Most of them are rival merchant families,” Milayna continued.

It made sense. In any industry, rising stars often drew the most ire from their peers. Merchant families, in particular, were known for being hostile to competition.

“So, another merchant family, then,” Ketal deduced.

“Yes. But this is the first time a rival has made such a bold move against us. At first, I thought it was a family that had lost influence, but it turns out it was someone completely unexpected. I never imagined they’d stoop so low.” Milayna sighed, her tone tinged with disbelief.

“Do you know who it was?”

“Yes,” she said, nodding grimly. “It’s the Hybolka family—a merchant family that’s risen rapidly over the past year. It was them.”