Former Ranker's Newbie Life-Chapter 14

The corpse was halfway down the stairs when it froze in midair, its dry joints creaking as it twisted its head to glare at them.

It seemed that Do-Jin’s Psychokinesis had been completely nullified. This was no surprise, however, as even the weakest specter in The Magic Workshop Consumed by Evil was over Level 35, far beyond the capability of Do-Jin’s sub-20 magic.

“Hehehe!” Do-Jin chuckled loudly, knowing that he wasn’t alone in this deathtrap.

Standing beside him was Sisala, a 4-star mage over Level 50. Before the ghostly corpse could do anything more, a flaming arrow materialized in an instant and streaked toward it, piercing its chest with deadly precision. The body erupted into flames, roaring with intense heat as the arrow’s energy consumed it.

Sisala didn’t stop there, firing off several more flaming arrows in quick succession. “Aaaagh!”

The unholy mix of her scream and Do-Jin’s laughing echoed in the air, all while the black, blot-like specter hidden within the flames twisted and disintegrated, snuffed out completely.

Do-Jin brushed his hand across his face to wipe away the sweat. Then, he scanned the area ahead and took stock of their surroundings.

“Don’t you think that was overkill? At this rate, you’ll run out of mana before we even hit the real fight.”

Six flaming arrows for one ghost? It was over the top, no matter how you looked at it.

Sisala, her breathing slightly heavier than before, nodded sheepishly. “Sorry about that. The corpse caught me off guard, and I panicked. I’ll manage my mana better from now on.”

With a 4-star mage like Sisala, raw firepower wasn’t the issue. The real problem was how to use it efficiently. Mages were one trick away from being glorified sandbags once their mana ran dry.

“Well, at least we’ve got plenty of holy water. The downside is, we can’t afford to waste it. We’ll need to split the roles. I’ll focus my mana on weakening enemies as much as possible.”

“Got it. Leave the attacks to me,” Sisala said confidently.

The two resumed their cautious descent. A few more corpses littered the staircase, but they were dealt with swiftly. This time, Sisala’s control was far better, and she didn’t waste any unnecessary mana.

“Wow, this place is way more complicated than I thought,” Sisala said nervously when they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Should we... head in?”

The corridor that stretched out before them was a maze of branching paths, lined with countless doors radiating a sinister and oppressive aura.

Do-Jin shook his head. “Rushing in is too risky. This whole workshop is probably teeming with spirits. If we go in now, we’ll end up surrounded and fighting off enemies on all sides.”

He gestured back toward the staircase they had just come down.

“We’ve already secured the stairs as a safe zone. The smart move is to clear out the spirits in this area first.” He paused and added, “Once we’ve thinned them out here, we’ll expand our safe zone and move forward carefully—”

Do-Jin stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Sisala staring at him with wide eyes, her expression brimming with admiration. Her gaze made him falter, unsure whether to feel embarrassed or smug.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No reason,” she replied, smiling faintly. “It’s just... you seem so used to situations like this. Honestly, I would’ve wanted to run away if I were alone. But your calmness is keeping me grounded.”

“That’s because I read the journal detailing the workshop’s layout beforehand. It wasn’t hard to guess that a place left abandoned after demon-related experiments would have some nasty side effects.”

“That’s... not exactly what I meant,” Sisala muttered under her breath.

Ignoring her, Do-Jin used Psychokinesis to move a bottle of holy water to the middle of the corridor. Even through the glass, the liquid radiated such potent holy energy that it dispersed the murky black aura wherever it passed.

Holy water was a precious resource, not something to be used lightly. But in situations like this, when you were hunting in bulk, it was time to spend.

“I’m going to flush out as many of these bastards as I can. When they show themselves, hit them with something big and wipe them all out.”

“Hmm... would Flame Wave work? It’s the most powerful spell I can cast right now.”

It was a Tier 4 spell that unleashed a slow-moving wave of intense flames capable of engulfing a wide area with devastating force.

“That sounds perfect,” Do-Jin replied.

Without hesitation, Sisala began preparing her spell. Her Magic Circuits activated, unfolding and combining the complex formula for the spell. Within moments, the magic was ready and waiting for the signal. Her determined gaze met Do-Jin’s, who nodded and began his part of the plan.

Do-Jin chose a magic that was the antithesis of darkness and spirits.

[Light]

With a brief incantation, a radiant orb appeared in the middle of the corridor, exploding in a brilliant flash. While the spell lacked any damage, it was highly effective against spirits, provoking them more than most taunt skills and even weakening them for a brief moment.

SCREEEEECH!

The reaction was immediate. The specters, who had been lying in wait, ready to rip apart any intruder who ventured too far, screamed in fury.

“Come out, you cockroach bastards. Hiding isn’t going to save you,” Do-Jin muttered under his breath.

Almost as if they heard him, the malevolent spirits surged out of the rooms. From the first, second, and seventh door down the hall, they poured out while hissing and shrieking. Their movements were jittery, making them look like a frenzied swarm of oversized roaches. It was as if a sewer had burst, sending a wave of black filth flooding toward them.

The sheer force of their charge was enough to obliterate any low-level mage caught in it. But Do-Jin stood firm, not taking a single step back. His eyes narrowed as he waited for the perfect moment.

The black tide surged closer, inching into range.

Now.

With precise timing, Do-Jin used a psychokinetic shockwave to shatter the bottle of holy water he had placed earlier.

The glass exploded with a sharp crack, scattering the sacred liquid in all directions. The spirits, already howling in rage from the light, entered the area touched by the holy water and convulsed violently. The moment they came into contact with the blessed droplets, their bodies writhed and spasmed as if they were being torn apart.

[Flame Wave]

Without waiting for further instruction, Sisala activated the spell she had charged in her Magic Circuits. A torrent of blazing flames surged down the corridor, swallowing the writhing specters in an inferno of pure destruction. The already weakened specters didn’t stand a chance. The moment the flames touched them, they went up in smoke, vanishing as if they’d never existed.

Sisala stood there, wide-eyed, watching the destruction unfold.

“We don’t have time to gawk,” Do-Jin called out, his voice cutting through her daze. “We need to clear this place out and move forward before we’re neck-deep in trouble.”

Without waiting for a response, he strode toward the first room and cast a spell, then signaled with a flick of his head. A burst of light exploded in the center of the room, flushing out the hiding specters like rats scurrying from a sinking ship.

Startled, Sisala quickly fired off a spell, intercepting the charging spirits.

“Could you at least give me some warning next time?” she snapped, her voice rising in exasperation.

“Are you out of mana already?” Do-Jin asked flatly.

“No, but—”

“Then we’re good.”

Before she could get another word in, Do-Jin was already in the next room, sending another flash of light into the shadows. Sisala had no choice but to scramble after him, casting spells to handle the enraged spirits spilling out. Do-Jin worked his way through the rooms like he was possessed, hunting down specters with a vengeance.

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

***

Slaughtering Level 30-something monsters at this pace was a grind, indeed, but absolutely the best kind. Experience points piled up like a jackpot on a slot machine, and Do-Jin shot past Level 24 in no time.

Normally, the experience penalties from having such a high-level party member would have made this kind of rapid leveling impossible. But as the dungeon’s first discoverer, Do-Jin had a VIP pass to full rewards.

He funneled every bonus point into Intelligence without hesitation.

Ah... there it is.

At the end of the corridor, where the hallway branched off into multiple paths, Do-Jin spotted a massive Magic Circle etched into the floor of a room.

“T-that...!” Sisala’s voice trembled as she entered behind him. Her face turned ashen the moment she saw it.

In the center of the circle was a severed human leg, lying grotesquely like an offering.

“Just like the journal described,” Do-Jin said, his tone calm as he gestured toward it. “To reach the center of the workshop, we need to disable five Magic Circles like this one.”

“What kind of Magic Circle is it?” Sisala asked, her voice shaky but with a hint of curiosity. No matter how horrifying the sight, the mage in her couldn’t resist digging deeper.

Do-Jin was feeling generous and decided to indulge her.

“As I mentioned before, these circles were designed to connect this world to the demon realm. Each one has two pentagrams, one upright, representing Lostania, and one inverted, symbolizing the demon realm. The human limb acts as a crude conduit, inspired by summoning rituals that use human sacrifice. It’s desperation magic, unrefined and reckless, the work of a mage who was clearly grasping at straws.”

“And the other four circles are...?” Sisala pressed on.

“Why do you think there are five? Together, they form an inverted pentagram large enough to create a gateway at its center.”

“Okay... I get why they had to keep it under wraps,” Sisala muttered, her voice tinged with disgust.

In Lostania, demonology wasn’t illegal. Researching potential enemies was a matter of survival, not a choice. But there were lines you didn’t cross, and spilling human blood to summon demons was one of them.

“First, we deal with this failed experiment,” Do-Jin said, his voice cold as the air around them. “According to the journal, approaching it will wake up something far nastier than what we’ve faced so far.”

Although the bit about the journal was a complete lie, the rest was dead accurate. Each of the five Magic Circles was a core object guarded by a named monster. If anyone approached without clearing the area, the circle would absorb the energy of the remaining spirits, summoning a much stronger version of the monster.

That was why Do-Jin had been so thorough about exterminating every last specter. He left nothing that could power up the boss, planning to spawn the named monster at its weakest and nuke it before it snowballed.

Still, even a weakened named monster wasn’t a pushover. No matter how strong Sisala’s 4-star magic was, there was no guarantee it could take the thing down in one hit. The solution was to weaken it to the point where one hit would be enough. Holy water would do the trick, but Do-Jin was reluctant to burn through their supply since they’d need it later.

“This time, no need for wide-area attacks,” he instructed. “Focus everything on whatever comes out of that circle. Hit it with your strongest.”

Sisala nodded, steeling herself as Do-Jin raised his hand.

[Grimoire of Truth]

A soft golden glow spread from his fingers, and an ethereal tome materialized, pages fluttering open. The book flipped to the desired page with a sharp rustle, revealing the spell inscribed upon it: Light.