Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 090. Spoils (1)

The difference between blessing and magic.

Sphinx said that the two were fundamentally the same.

However, strictly speaking, there was indeed a difference.

If there truly were none, they would not be called by two separate names.

“Magic” basically consumed Yeom, whereas “blessing” consumed the vitality of the physical body.

Both shared the common trait that excessive use would lead to exhaustion, but magic caused mental exhaustion, while a blessing caused physical exhaustion.

That was not all.

Magic could transform, but a blessing did not.

“Transform?”

“Mm, what does flame magic feel like?”

“It’s hot.”

“It’s hot, and it burns. In short, destruction.... But if one day a mage begins to feel skeptical about that destruction, the magic might weaken.”

“Isn’t it a stretch to call weakening a transformation?”

“Listen a little more.”

In her cat form, Sphinx shook her head side to side like a teacher instructing a student.

Was it just his imagination, or did she look slightly excited?

“It doesn’t stop at simply weakening—the way it’s used can change as well. For example, if out of guilt the mage starts helping people, they might come to use flame to heal others.... Warming wounds gently with fire to treat them.”

Healing flames.......

For Anagin, it was difficult to imagine.

To him, fire was a good friend that made roasted meat and wiped out herds of beasts, so using it like that didn’t quite register.

But after thinking it over, it did seem possible.

Like a cozy campfire that drove away the winter cold.

‘If you apply fire to a wound, it cauterizes and disinfects it, so it’s not complete nonsense.’

After pondering, Anagin nodded as if he understood.

He had grasped the gist of it, at least.

Seeing that, Sphinx showed a satisfied expression.

“Looks like you get it?”

“More or less.... By the way, why are you making that smug face?”

The moment Sphinx looked pleased, Anagin predictably tried to rain on her parade.

But Sphinx, now accustomed to him, shot back calmly.

“I’m proud I made you understand with a single explanation. Should I admire my own teaching skill?”

“Maybe I’m just smart and understand well?”

Anagin stubbornly clung on, trying to ruin her mood somehow.

But as mentioned before, Sphinx had grown used to him.

Rather than respond to every jab, she simply ignored him.

This was Sphinx’s method of maintaining inner peace by Anagin’s side. If you don’t listen, there’s nothing to get angry about.

Anagin returned to the main topic.

“So blessing doesn’t change?”

“It doesn’t, as far as I know. There may be differences in proficiency, but blessing maintains its fundamental nature.”

Anagin recalled the blessing he had seen—the members of the New Argonaut Expedition Team.

Irida of the Wind.

Lynceus the farsighted.

Tramachus of Flame.

Thyreos of Reinforcement.

They each possessed powerful blessings and used them in various ways, yet their fundamental qualities indeed felt the same.

At the very least, he couldn’t imagine Tramachus using flame to heal someone.

“Why is that?”

“Well? Maybe because magic is something you learn yourself, while blessing is something given by someone else?”

Uncertain, Sphinx spoke in a speculative tone.

Though it was not a definite answer, Anagin nodded as if it made sense.

Wasn’t it plausible?

Things obtained easily from others usually came with their own price (though those who received blessings would never agree).

Well, it didn’t matter much to Anagin, who had no interest in blessing.

“Wait.... But then that contradicts what you said earlier. You said blessing and magic are fundamentally the same.”

“That’s what puzzles me too. Blessing and magic clearly have differences like this, and even their energies feel different—but when you observe them closely, they feel the same. Like sausage and meat, maybe?”

Sausage and meat.... Somehow, that made it even harder to understand.

Reading Anagin’s expression, Sphinx muttered in a slightly less confident voice,

“Well, it’s just my personal opinion in the end, so don’t think too much about it.”

“I’m listening because it’s your opinion.”

“.......”

At Anagin’s sudden remark, Sphinx froze for a moment. Was she embarrassed?

“Hmm, hm. More importantly, don’t you feel any change in your body? Like you’ve grown stronger, or sense some new power?”

Anagin briefly examined himself and answered that he felt nothing.

Light had settled into his body, but he sensed no particular change.

With no noticeable difference, he even began to wonder if the light settling into him had been an illusion.

“Really?”

Sphinx tilted her head at his answer, and with nothing more to say, the conversation naturally ended.

Personally, that was fine. Ending it there wasn’t bad.

Blessing and magic were interesting topics, but there was something more important to do first. That was.......

“Oh, it’s intact.”

Collecting the Interspatial Cloak from Neiron’s corpse.

“That’s a relief. Since you left the Interspatial Bag behind, it would’ve been awkward gathering items.”

Before Anagin broke the dam, he had entrusted the Interspatial Bag to Sanchonius.

He couldn’t ride the flood while carrying that heavy bag.

Yet ironically, to gather items in the Ruin, the Interspatial Bag was necessary.

“It’s not really my place to say this, but I hope you won’t just act on whatever’s in front of you next time.”

Breaking the dam had certainly been a good method, but abandoning the Interspatial Bag in the process was undeniably a mistake.

Without the bag, it was difficult to collect items in the Ruin. Considering the purpose of visiting the Ruin, it was a matter worth serious thought.

Sphinx muttered,

“Or you could strengthen the Interspatial Bag.”

To stop her nagging, Anagin spoke up.

“I didn’t come here without thinking.”

“Oh?”

“Well, there’s your cloak, Pinku Pinku.”

Anagin mentioned Sphinx’s Interspatial Cloak.

He had originally intended to use her cloak, which was why he had left the bag behind.

It was certainly a method.

Though deciding so on his own without asking the owner, Sphinx, was a bit shameless.

“Well, now that we’ve got this, we don’t need to use yours.”

Anagin said as he shook off the blood from Neiron’s Interspatial Cloak.

Then the cloak moved on its own and began rubbing itself against Anagin’s hand.

“Wait, is it alive?”

Startled, Anagin asked, and Sphinx replied,

“It seems like a magical tool with a strong ego.”

“That’s kind of creepy.”

“It’s rude to say that to its face! And it’s actually a good thing. Magical tools with a strong ego tend to have excellent performance, though they’re just as difficult to handle.... but this one seems to like you, Brother.”

“Why?”

Even after hearing that an excellent magical tool liked him, Anagin didn’t rejoice—he questioned why it would.

Sphinx thought, why is this person so twisted, yet answered anyway.

“Because you avenged its master?”

“No, I was going to kill him too.”

“Please, can you not argue? Just take it for now.”

Regretting her choice to have a serious conversation with Anagin, Sphinx declared the discussion over.

Anagin did as she said and took the cloak.

“It would be better to check the contents of the cloak later, right?”

“Yes, that’s for the best. There might be valuable items in it, but we can look later. For now, let’s focus on the Ruin.”

Sphinx gave her opinion based on their current situation and location, and Anagin agreed.

It was more rational to focus on the Ruin than inspect items already in hand.

Using the unsettling Interspatial Cloak that seemed to follow him, Anagin first stored away the Orichalcum ingots.

After all, that had been the reason for visiting the Ruin in the first place.

“Not as much as I expected.”

Anagin said as he stored the Orichalcum ingots inside the cloak. There was less than he had hoped for.

“You’re saying that because you don’t know any better. This amount of Orichalcum is actually quite a lot.”

Compared to the scale of the Ruin, it seemed small, but he didn’t argue. Sphinx knew far more than he did, so he let it pass.

After securing the Orichalcum ingots, Anagin gathered bronze ingots and iron ingots as well, stuffing in whatever he could.

Then he tried to collect the shield bronze statue.

“Not bad. Especially the Castle Gate Shield, it’s a magical tool, so even if it’s broken, it can probably be recycled.”

Sphinx accurately saw what Anagin was aiming for.

She had mentioned that a magical tool could be used to repair or enhance other magical tools, and Anagin intended to use the Castle Gate Shield as material to fix the Giant’s Bed.

Even after striking it with [Longbald], the Giant’s Bed hadn’t shattered, but the cracks had spread. A little more use, and it would have broken.

It was just a feeling, but the Castle Gate Shield seemed like it would make excellent material to repair the Giant’s Bed.

“Still, I’m surprised. I didn’t expect you to use the Giant’s Bed so recklessly when you like it that much.”

Half right, half wrong.

Anagin explained,

“The reason I like the Giant’s Bed is because it’s sturdy. Because I can handle it roughly. If it’s something that breaks this easily, there’s no reason to cherish it.”

If the Giant’s Bed had shattered instead of the Castle Gate Shield when he struck it with [Longbald], he would have felt regret, but he wouldn’t have regretted the act itself.

What Anagin wanted was something durable enough to handle roughly, not something that required careful treatment.

If it couldn’t endure, it was something he would part with someday anyway.

In that sense, the Giant’s Bed had barely met his expectations.

That was why he intended to ask Grumbal to repair it.

“But why won’t this go in?”

Anagin muttered, staring at the Interspatial Cloak that refused to swallow the Castle Gate Shield.

“It seems like it’s reached its capacity limit. I guess its overall storage isn’t that large.”

That was entirely possible.

The Interspatial Cloak offered greater portability and convenience than a bag, but its storage capacity was often smaller in exchange.

“Then take out the unnecessary—”

–Plop.

Before Sphinx could finish speaking, the Interspatial Cloak spat out the bronze ingots it had swallowed earlier. Not just one, but several.

And that wasn’t all.

Animal carcasses presumed to be for doll-making, bones, reagents, crafting tools—items Anagin considered worthless were expelled on their own.

All sorts of junk tumbled out from inside the cloak.

Without any instruction, the Interspatial Cloak was organizing its contents by itself.

“This isn’t just a strong ego, it’s smart. Very smart.”

Sphinx said in admiration, and she wasn’t exaggerating.

Organizing items perceptively without direct command wasn’t something an ordinary magical tool could do.

At this level, it might be more than convenient—it could be quite useful in combat.

For example, automatically providing the necessary weapon at the right moment.

After expelling a considerable amount of items, the Interspatial Cloak was finally able to store the Castle Gate Shield and the shield bronze statue. But that was its limit.

Originally, Anagin had intended to collect all the broken bronze statues around them, but he would have to give up on that.

“Want to borrow my cloak too?”

“Sure.”

Anagin didn’t refuse Sphinx’s offer. If there were more storage space available, there was no reason not to use it.

“My cloak doesn’t have a huge capacity either, so let’s focus on valuable items.”

Sphinx suggested, and once again Anagin followed. It seemed reasonable.

After surveying the area, Anagin gathered the weapons the bronze statues had wielded—especially the magic weapon among them.

“Nice. The enchantments seem simple, but they’re still a magic weapon. They’ll fetch a high price.”

“Why are you suddenly like this?”

Anagin narrowed his eyes at Sphinx’s excessive praise.

She had only recently grown used to him and started ignoring or snapping at him—so what was this about?

When he pressed her about her intentions, Sphinx shot him a look of contempt but didn’t deny it.

In the end, it didn’t take long before she confessed to what she wanted.

“...Can I investigate this Ruin a bit?”

* * *

Anagin readily accepted Sphinx’s request.

Partly because he was kind and generous, but also because he was personally curious about this Ruin.

He wanted to see with his own eyes what was supposedly so remarkable that people had flocked here.

However, perhaps because his expectations were high, he soon felt disappointed. The interior of the Ruin was less impressive than he had imagined.

It was large enough to remind him of the forge at Chiron Tower, but that was about it.

Nothing else particularly stood out. The only question was.......

“Why is there a workshop like this in the Ruin?”

“It seems like this Ruin formed over a fallen city.”

“A fallen city?”

“An ancient city that fell into corruption and was destroyed. Sometimes a Ruin forms in places like that.”

“Is that a big deal?”

He wasn’t being sarcastic—he was genuinely curious.

For something called an ancient city, the facilities seemed quite advanced. At the very least, it didn’t fall behind the forge at Chiron Tower.

“It depends. Some cities hide astonishing technology or magic. Mages especially go crazy for that.”

That made sense.

Come to think of it, the mages who had targeted these Ruin included a doll mage, and this ancient city had been a bronze statue workshop. There was a clear connection.

“So they’re after the Ruin’s technology....”

“Do you know where it is?”

Anagin didn’t ask whether such technology existed—he asked where it was.

With Neiron’s group present, its existence was practically certain. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have come so deliberately prepared.

From atop Anagin’s shoulder, Sphinx pointed in a direction, as if she had a guess.

“Go this way.”

Following Sphinx’s guidance, they soon arrived at a bas-relief.

(T/N): Bas-relief is a sculptural technique in which the figures or designs are only slightly raised above the background surface

Carved into the wall, it depicted the method of crafting bronze statues step by step.

Sphinx pulled out a large sheet of paper and ink from her cloak and began making a rubbing of the carving.

‘So they don’t cast it whole, they craft each body part separately and assemble them.’

Looking at the images etched into the relief, Anagin learned the statue-making process.

Each body part was crafted individually, assembled, and then heated as a whole to fuse everything into one.

“Is that it?”

Sphinx did not answer his question.

Instead, she discovered a hidden safe concealed between the carvings.

“...How did you know there was a safe?”

“I read it in a book.”

Anagin tilted his head. So a book had told her the location of a hidden safe in the Ruin?

“Yes!”

Sphinx answered so confidently that Anagin froze for a moment.

He couldn’t tell whether she was serious or just shameless.

“The safe is sturdy. It’s even enchanted with magic.”

“Move. I’ll just break it—”

—Clink.

Just as Anagin was about to smash the safe’s door, the Interspatial Cloak pulled something out and dropped it onto the floor.

It was the key to the safe.