How to Raise a Transcendent Archmage

Chapter 2: The Abyss of the Forest

Beneath a pitch-black night sky.

Shwaaaa-

The trees in the dark forest swayed gently with the eerie wind.

Basking in the pale moonlight as my only source of light, I sat leaning against a tree and opened my eyes, which had been closed.

It had been about two hours since I passed through the gate and arrived in this forest, but the image of my mother’s final smile still lingered vividly before my eyes.

“If you grieve too much, the soul cannot leave this world.”

My mother’s voice, which she used to say whenever someone in the village passed away, echoed in my ears with the night breeze before fading away.

I hadn’t confirmed my mother’s death with my own eyes, so it must be a futile imagination.

I took only the part of her words about not grieving too much and let the rest slip from my mind.

“She’s just not visible to the eye, somewhere far away. Once things settle down, we’ll meet again, laughing.”

I steadied my heart and surveyed the darkness-filled surroundings.

Though it was a place I was seeing for the first time, I had a guess about where I was.

“The forest where Elinore, the druid and great wizard of nature who aided Father in the war against the demons, resides. Ulian.”

It was a forest I’d heard about dozens, if not hundreds, of times from my mother.

Leaves that appeared not just green but a deep indigo, tree trunks so dark they seemed almost blackened.

They say Elinore fought the demon Magridon, who commands hellfire and demonic beasts, and was cursed, transforming into a horrific monster, unable to leave this forest.

I had a rough idea why my mother sent me here.

She had said that he was somewhere in this place, in the Swamp of Immortality.

A swamp warped by the flames of demons, teeming with all sorts of mutants, a realm so perilous that even its ecosystem could not be fully understood.

“Awooo-”

The howl of a wolf echoing from somewhere added to the eerie atmosphere.

I immediately stood up.

In a forest, especially a dangerous one like this, I couldn’t stay in one place for too long.

From the moment I suddenly dropped into the middle of this forest, there must be creatures that had started to grow wary of me.

Like the shadow wolves that had just howled.

Black fur as dark as night, with white eyes.

They were called the shadows of the forest because they moved like shadows under the moonlight.

Known for alternating between bipedal and quadrupedal movement, they chased prey on four legs and tore bodies apart with their two hands—utterly ruthless beasts.

“They aren’t particularly rare, but they usually don’t pick unnecessary fights with humans…”

Perhaps because this forest had been touched by demonic forces, they seemed to behave differently.

I moved as quietly as possible, muffling my footsteps.

Ever since I encountered a demon and used magic for the first time, I could feel mana circulating within me like blood.

But I realized that this alone wouldn’t be enough to confront those creatures.

A powerful energy seemed to boil up from my core.

I remembered how that energy had reacted with Father’s Book, but how I had managed to cast magic felt blurry, as if part of my memory had been erased.

Only a vague, indescribable feeling lingered in my mind.

The events, memories, and experiences of the past few hours felt like a dream.

Shwaaaa-

An ominous wind blew.

Elinore.

I had a sinking feeling that meeting him wouldn’t be easy.

***

“Grrrr-”

My footsteps, pounding heavily against the ground, showed no sign of stopping.

“Damn it-”

The moment I ventured deeper into the forest toward the Swamp of Immortality, I found myself pursued by a pack of shadow wolves.

These creatures, perhaps mutated in some way, were drastically different from what I knew.

They were utterly grotesque.

“Don’t these things ever give up?”

Tap tap-

And they were relentlessly tenacious.

Below my sprinting feet, a dizzying cliff unfolded.

It wasn’t overwhelmingly high, but it was tall enough to make me think I’d break a leg if I jumped.

Even though I had fled to a narrow path, they showed no signs of giving up.

I headed for a spot too cramped for them to run on all fours, but they surrounded me, growling, from above and below the cliff.

Shockingly, some even chased me on two legs, bracing themselves against the cliff wall.

Under the silvery glow of the moonlight.

We were locked in a serious, yet somewhat absurd, chase.

Swish swish swish-

I heard the sound of a pebble rolling behind me, and from below, the rustling of grass echoed in my ears.

“They’re still down there. And behind me too.”

I faintly heard the sniffing of the shadow wolves.

I pressed myself tightly against the rock wall and kept moving.

I needed to quickly devise a way to shake off their pursuit from multiple angles.

“There are some waiting above, so I can’t climb the cliff. There are shadow wolves right below too, but there are also plenty of leafy trees.”

Surely wolves wouldn’t climb trees, so jumping from the cliff to a tree might be a good idea.

Of course, if I misjudged the jump and got injured or fell below, I’d be dead.

“I need to find a tree with thick, sturdy branches. And there should be other trees nearby…”

It would be great if they gave up before that, but given their current momentum, that seemed unlikely.

In the end, since I had to find the swamp where Elinore was, I couldn’t just hang onto a tree, so I needed to land somewhere with other trees nearby.

I had been gauging the landing spot for what felt like dozens of minutes, but with my life on the line, I couldn’t stop deliberating.

Whoosh-

Suddenly, the surroundings darkened and then brightened again, and I finally overcame my indecision.

A massive shadow of wings, large enough to cover the entire night sky, flashed past me in an instant.

Huge bat-like wings, muscles carved in ashen gray.

“Kieeeeek!!”

A gargoyle.

“Wha…?!”

With a piercing screech, the gargoyle descended at tremendous speed, its sharp claws extended.

Its long, pointed claws came toward my head, and I immediately threw myself onto the tree I had been eyeing.

I didn’t know if all gargoyles were like this or if this one had also mutated in this place.

The red aura emanating from its razor-sharp claws was anything but ordinary.

“Eeeek…!!”

The tree branches scratched my body, and blood trickled from the wounds.

Flutter flutter-

I instinctively opened the book.

Shadow Step.

The open page described a spell to slip away using shadows.

But no matter how much I reached out or strained, there was no response.

If anything, it felt like the shadows around me were trembling faintly.

Or maybe it was just the wildly shaking leaves.

“How the hell do I…!”

In this situation, there was nothing I could do.

As the claws loomed larger before my eyes, I had no choice but to duck low and drop beneath the tree.

Thud-

Anyone who’s fallen from a tree would know that even landing properly leaves your legs tingling, making you swear never to do it again.

Forcing my stiffened legs to move, I ran deeper into the forest. There was no time to dwell on the pain.

A gargoyle hovered in the sky, and shadow wolves pursued from behind.

No matter how hard I tried, the trembling shadows gave up on me.

The air grew damp, and the sight of green moss began to appear, the only hope in my life.

“Kroooar-!!”

A chill ran down my spine.

The howls of the shadow wolves chasing me grew closer.

“Urgh!”

My body was already exhausted beyond measure.

They were now chasing me at a speed incomparable to when they climbed the cliff on two legs.

Some were already running alongside me.

Their panting was now audible right beside me.

Just as I thought being torn to shreds was all that awaited me.

“Kieooong-!!”

One of the shadow wolves lunging at me was suddenly seized by something and shot up into the sky.

And then.

“Kieeeeek!!”

“…Huh?”

The gargoyle that had been moving in the sky suddenly veered and crashed into a tree.

The shadow wolves chasing me passed by as if I were no longer their concern.

Something felt off.

Upon closer inspection, some even bore severe burns, as if attacked by something.

“What’s going on?”

I looked around in confusion, but all I could see were the retreating backs of the shadow wolves fleeing into the distance.

I wasn’t sure if I should consider this a stroke of luck.

And at that moment.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

The sound of something heavy approaching echoed.

***

Shwaaak-

Suddenly, something massive burst out from the bushes.

“Magridon!!!”

Crunch-

“Kyaeng-!!”

With a horrific scream, a shadow wolf was rapidly corroded in the grip of a massive hand.

Kraaaa-

With the arrival of another monster, the surroundings were instantly bathed in green light.

The shadow wolf, like a vampire burning in sunlight, ignited and vanished into the air, while the gargoyle, struck by the monster’s fist, seemed dazed and confused.

“Ha…”

I couldn’t help but gasp in awe, mixed with fear.

Red eyes glowing in the darkness.

A body covered in moss and leaves, standing at least two meters tall.

Colorful flowers bloomed on its right shoulder, and its face was covered in green moss, with thick tree roots hanging like a beard.

Thud, thud, thud.

The swamp monster strode toward me without hesitation.

Crack, crack.

Tree vines and roots began to entangle from somewhere.

Crunch-

The swamp monster grabbed me with its massive hand.

I instinctively curled up.

This time, I truly felt death was imminent.

“…”

But.

Thud, thud, thud.

Contrary to my expectations, I felt no pressure from the monster holding me.

If anything, it felt almost warm, as if it were protecting me.

Thud, thud, thud.

My head was caught in its grip, with only my feet sticking out, so I couldn’t see clearly, but it seemed to be taking me somewhere.

“Kieeeeek-!”

The gargoyle’s cries in the sky gradually faded, and the damp air grew even thicker.

Then, as the dark surroundings were illuminated by moonlight again.

The swamp monster set me down beneath a tree.

“Jin… red…”

A low, gravelly voice.

The moment I heard my father’s name, my head, which had been fixed on the ground, shot up reflexively.

“…I came thinking it might be.”

“…”

“…But it wasn’t.”

Its tone carried a hint of disappointment.

I asked, wide-eyed.

“Do… you know my father?”

“Father? Father, you say?!”

The swamp monster jumped back two steps in surprise.

“Ha, that stubborn, rigid wizard got married? And even has a son like you.”

“Ah.”

I relaxed my crouched body.

And I realized. The druid my mother spoke of was this monster before me.

“You’re Elinore, aren’t you?”

“Oh! So you really are Jinred’s son.”

“…Didn’t my father ever mention me? We lived together until ten years ago.”

“Your father strictly separated his personal life from his work. He never spoke a word about his family.”

“I see.”

“By the way, showing up with that book…”

Elinore’s red eyes glanced at the book.

“…Does that mean the prophecy has come true?”

I got straight to the point.

“The demons have reappeared. Until yesterday, I didn’t believe in anything about my father or the demons…”

“Yes, that’s understandable.”

I widened my eyes.

“Doesn’t… that make me pathetic? The son of a hero treating demons and angels and all that as nonsense-”

“Not believing is normal.”

“What?”

“We’ll talk about that later. From what I can see, you’ve only just started using magic, so there are more urgent matters for you.”

“Ah…”

This druid seemed to have already assessed my condition.

“Did you draw on the book’s power? No, it’s not just you who used it. You were swept up in someone else’s magic as well. That’s why you’re so unstable and in a precarious state.”

Splash, splash, splash.

As Elinore spoke and walked, a dark, bubbling swamp appeared before us.

“The monsters here likely targeted you because they sensed fragments of that leaking power. Wait here for a moment.”

He told me to wait and walked into the swamp, disappearing from sight.

And shortly after.

Shwaaak-

“Elinore…!”

“Huh?”

Suspicious bubbles began rising from the swamp.