Single Spell Sorcerer-Chapter 74: [Extras from around the Carriages]

In the 10th Carriage.

A young woman with long black hair walked into a dark forest, all on her own. This was a forest known as the Valley’s Core, a place feared among the denizens of the surrounding area as the most terrifying monster field in all of Carriage 10.

The thing that made this place dangerous was the sheer variety of monsters that could be found there. It connected to many other fields, through which monsters would pour.

To be able to survive here, one had to know how to fight at least 30 different monsters and be prepared for it all. Even parties feared coming here, and the young woman had come all alone.

She turned to the right just as a large purple tiger jumped out of the trees at her, its claws as long and sharp as knives.

The woman pointed her palm toward the beast, ready to use her spell. However, her spell took far too long to activate. The tiger sliced through her chest, spilling blood all over the forest ground.

It then mauled her head, ripping it out of her body. The woman had not a single chance of defending herself at all, as the tiger fully killed her.

And yet, it wasn’t over.

The tiger suddenly screamed as a deep blue flame spike burned through its chest, coming out on the other side. The tiger died, and before it, the woman stood again.

Not a drop of blood was on her body.

She took the loot she received from the tiger and continued heading deeper into the forest.

* * * * * *

In the 7th Carriage.

A man with frizzled white hair jotted down something on a large notepad, staring at the beakers in front of him. He had discovered something incredible after so many years of tests.

He watched the liquid drip from the outlet of a flask, falling down onto the beaker below him. With each drop, the liquid that was already in the beaker became more concentrated with the liquid that dripped.

After the 15th drop, he quickly plugged the hole in the flask and pulled out a large mask from his Inventory before wearing it. He moved in closer now, to see what it was that he had created.

Even with the mask, he did not want to breathe these fumes at all.

’How am I supposed to know if it worked or not?’ he thought, confused. Testing such a harmful concoction would be dangerous, as no human would dare accept to be tested this way, and many other potion makers would need to understand what he had done here before they approved of his testing.

The test had to be in secret, something no one else could know about.

The old man stared at his creation for a long time before a thought came across him. "Wait, why am I worrying so much? There are so many test subjects just waiting for me out there."

A smile formed on his face as he understood what it was he had to do.

Three days later, a piece of terrible news arrived for the headmaster of the Starlight Potions Academy.

Over 40,000 people had died in the slums outside of the city overnight because of an unknown plague, and more were dying by the second.

Immediately, the headmaster ordered every single student and teacher of the academy to find the cause of the plague, and to find a cure for it as well.

Anyone who managed to do so would be handsomely rewarded.

* * * * * *

In the 6th Carriage.

The Storyteller arrived at the town square in the evening, just as he had the past three days and just as he would for the next three.

He was an old man with thin graying hair, combed to the right with a thick and warmly white beard, wearing a well-maintained but admittedly cheap suit.

He pulled out a chair from his Inventory and placed it below him before sitting down on it. He stared before him at the crowd that had already formed of the many children who were there to hear the story, and the parents that had been forced to bring them there.

Two large wooden poles appeared behind him, along with a large white screen that hung in between them. A soft but direct light fell onto the screen from behind, casting a bright glow on it.

"Welcome to another day and another story with your humble Storyteller. Are you excited to go on another adventure with me today?"

The children screamed all at once. "YES!"

The old Storyteller smiled. "Now then, what adventure should we go on? Should I tell you about the time I fought a basilisk? Or should I tell you about the time when I made a pegasus dance to my tunes?"

The children all laughed at the old man’s words, some screaming for him to tell them about the basilisk, while some asked about the pegasus.

"I know," the Storyteller said, "Why don’t I tell you about the time when a friend and I went to the frozen land of the north and ended up in a dungeon with dream-eating Lamias?"

As the old man spoke, two silhouettes appeared on the white screen—figures of men who walked past forests and mountains as they made their way in accordance with the story told by the Storyteller.

The children’s excitement had reached past its bounds, and even the parents were being infected by it.

Everyone was enamored by the shadows. The Storyteller told good stories, but it was the show he put on with his stories that had gathered the children onto the streets in the evening.

"After countless days of trekking through the deep valleys and tall mountains, with nothing but a bit of skill and a whole heap of hope, we arrived at the northern shore of Kalhara — me and a friend of mine named Garan."

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In the 9th Carriage

A young woman with light brown hair and slightly darker skin used a large metal tong to quench the newly formed sword. The liquid bubbled over for a few seconds before finally going silent, at which point she brought out the sword.

She looked at it from all different directions, feeling satisfied. There was still more to do with the sword, such as adding a crossguard and hilt to it, but that wasn’t her job.

"I’m done," she said in a loud voice, turning toward the man in the distance who hammered away on a red-hot metal ingot. She waited for the man to respond, but he said nothing.

"Did you hear me? I said I’m done."

Even after repeating herself, the man didn’t turn around.

In a moment of anger, she picked up the closest thing she had to her, the metal tongs, and threw it at the man. The metal tong flew past the man’s head, mere inches away, before striking the wall.

The man jumped back in fear, quickly turning around.

"You bitch! Are you trying to kill me?"

The girl’s eyes sharpened in more anger. "Don’t you dare call me a bitch!" she shouted back. "I made your damn sword, now do what you said you would."

The man paused and walked over to her, picking up the still-hot sword.

"Huh? So you can be taught. Who would’ve known?"

The girl crossed her arms, staring daggers at the man. "So, can you or can you not teach me now?" she asked.

The man looked at her and sighed. "Fine, come on. I’ll teach you how to add runes."

The girl finally smiled. After months of training under the man, he was finally ready to teach her what she had come here to learn.

* * * * * * *

In the Station.

In the dark void, someone else woke up.

"Hey!" he called out. "Can you hear me? I did what you asked. Now help me."

He waited, but there was no reply. "Hello?"

A small wisp of light appeared in that moment, and a masculine voice came from the light. "Greetings, Passenger. I am W-674, and I will be your helper today. May I ask if—"

"Hey, where’s Dinagonus?" the person suddenly asked.

The wisp paused out of confusion. "I beg your pardon."

"Your god, the damn Universal Will. The one you call Navigator. Where is he?" the person asked.

"How do you know about the Navig—"

"Show yourself, you damn liar. I came as you asked."

"Please don’t speak to the Navigator like that," the helper said quickly in worry. "The Navigator is busy driving the Celestial Express through the universe. I will be your helper for any help you might need."

"You? Alright. I need to meet your god. It’s urgent."

"May... may I see your ticket?" the helper asked.

"Here."

A soft golden light flew out from the person, flying to the helper. The helper grabbed it, and a moment later shouted out in shock.

"Y-You... You are an Ascendant?" he asked.

"What’s an Ascendant?" the person asked.

"It’s someone who can meet the Navigator and ask for a single wish. The Navigator will fulfill any wish the person has if they can get to them."

"If?" the person asked. "What do you mean if?"

The helper quickly explained the situation about the Celestial Express and how Ascendants had to go through it to get to the Navigator.

The person sighed in the end. "Is he really going to make me do it?"

"I... I don’t know. I’ve never communicated with the Navigator since the day I was created," the helper said. "If you wish to meet him, then you must go through it just as everyone has."

The person paused for a long time before coming to an understanding. "He’s saying he won’t help me for no reason. He wants entertainment and to see how far I’m willing to go. Fine, I’ll show him how far I’m willing to go."

The helper wasn’t aware of what he should do in this situation, so he remained quiet.

"Alright," the person accepted his fate. "Let’s get it over with then."

A silver door appeared not long after, and the person arrived at the registration hall of the 10th Carriage as a tall man with black hair and a long face.

He waited for a while until it was his turn to register.

When the prompt opened up, asking him to choose between Body and Mind, the man chose Body without a second of hesitation. He didn’t care what he chose really, just that he chose something to get it done with.

Then, his Ascendant status appeared before him.

[Ascendant Status:]

Name: Ning Ruogong

Path: Body

Navi Stage: None

Highest Cart: 10

Helper: W-674

Time Remaining: 59 Days

[SPELLS]

[SKILLS]

[INVENTORY]

[MAP]

[TICKETS]

[REQUIREMENTS]

[RESTRICTIONS]

Ning looked down at the status page, one that was different from his system’s status page. "Well, it’s one of the better ones I’ve seen at least," he said.

"But, I must ask. What the hell is a Navi Stage?"

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