Chapter 187
Zeke thought of the Dragon Tooth Soldiers he often summoned and commanded.
They were like wraiths, yet not wraiths; beings that were neither undead, nor demons, nor golems.
Though their forms differed, the beings most similar to the spirits of the mansion were none other than the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
Zeke slowly approached those beings.
Sss-sss-!
Zeke passed through their ethereal bodies.
'They can shift between an ethereal and a corporeal state, huh.'
Zeke passed by them for now and entered the inner part of the cavern.
'What is this...?'
Surprisingly, the inside of the cavern was a mage's laboratory.
'Richmond coveted this mansion, thinking it was a laboratory, and it actually was one.'
The research space was filled with bizarre experimental tools he had never seen before, magical books, and failed artifacts piled up.
Zeke looked around the research facilities before shaking his head.
"Hmm, I can't make heads or tails of any of this. Would Richmond know if I showed him?"
As Zeke tried to summon Richmond, a message window appeared instead of Richmond's response.
[Summoning is restricted in this area due to the security system.]
It seemed summoning familiars was impossible here.
Zeke gave up on calling Richmond and looked around the laboratory more.
As he slowly examined the area, he discovered something in the center of the lab.
"What's this?"
It was a device similar to the one he had seen in the Hero King's resting place.
A green gemstone floated inside a transparent cylinder. Zeke slowly approached the gemstone.
At that moment, the system window reacted.
\[Connecting to the Spirit Regenerator of the Archmage Hoshgar.]
\[Spirit Regenerator is activating.]
Whoooooom!
The cylinder containing the gemstone vibrated and flashed with light.
At the same time, a cluster of light rose and began to take shape.
Zeke stepped back, wary of the light and surveying his surroundings.
And after a moment, someone walked out from within the light.
"Phew. I wondered if this would actually work, but it does."
A figure wearing a robe adorned with elaborate patterns.
Zeke felt a familiar yet unfamiliar sensation from the figure that had suddenly appeared.
'Master Kaisir?'
The feeling was similar to Kaisir, who had appeared in spirit form and passed on the Elemental Sword to him.
The person referred to as Hoshgar removed the hood that concealed their face.
Contrary to the title of Archmage, a young woman's face was revealed.
However, Zeke was startled by something else when he saw her.
"Dragon eyes?"
The woman's two pupils were golden and shone like the eyes of a dragon, just like Zeke's.
Then, Hoshgar tilted her head, looking at Zeke.
"Huh? What is this? I clearly thought you were a Dragonkin, but you're human."
Zeke opened his mouth towards Hoshgar.
"Are you the Archmage Hoshgar?"
She chuckled and replied.
"You saw everything through the system window, so why are you asking?"
Zeke felt a chill run down his spine at Hoshgar's words.
'She knows about the system window?'
She was the first person besides himself who knew of the system window's existence.
Zeke swallowed hard and asked Hoshgar,
"Do you know about the system window, the administrator system?"
"This?"
Hoshgar waved her hand, and surprisingly, a system window appeared before her. Zeke was even more bewildered by the system window Hoshgar had created.
"Was this something that could be seen by other people?"
"What? You didn't even receive proper education. Didn't your contracted dragon teach you something like this?"
Zeke's expression subtly changed.
"I did not contract with a dragon."
At those words, Hoshgar frowned.
"Does that make any sense? How can you be an administrator without contracting with a dragon?"
"Is it necessary to contract with a dragon to become an administrator?"
Hoshgar shook her head and sighed.
"Haa, where do I even begin to explain this? The original 'me' didn't leave this spiritual 'me' behind to explain things like this."
Hoshgar waved her hand again.
Then, in an instant, the space spun sideways, and a completely different space appeared instead of the laboratory.
Zeke broke out in a cold sweat at Hoshgar's magic, which transcended dimensions.
'She's called an Archmage... I can't even begin to fathom the extent of her power.'
The changed space was a reception room with an antique atmosphere.
Hoshgar asked Zeke,
"What would you like to drink? I have drip coffee, espresso, latte, and tea."
Zeke didn't fully understand what Hoshgar was saying, but he didn't show it and replied.
"I'll have tea."
"Alright. Sit over there."
Zeke readily sat on the sofa. Hoshgar went to a shelf on one side of the reception room and skillfully brewed tea and poured coffee for herself.
She sat down across from Zeke with the tea and coffee.
"Try it. I put a preservation spell on it, so the tea should still be good."
Zeke savored the aroma of the tea Hoshgar had offered and took a sip.
He had expected something special since it was tea brewed by a great archmage, but it was more ordinary than he thought.
Hoshgar slowly sipped the black liquid in her small cup.
"What is that?"
"Espresso. But are you really asking because you don't know?"
"I've never seen anything like it."
"Good heavens. You do know what coffee is, right?"
"I know coffee. It's just different from that espresso thing."
"Hmm. Well, things must have changed a lot over time. Anyway, looking at the system's date, it's Liberation Era 1041."
The image of Kaisir counting the years in the Chronos Era flashed through his mind.
"You know the Liberation Era."
"Well, what else would I count the dates by if not the Liberation Era?"
"No, it's nothing."
Hoshgar stared intently at Zeke before taking another sip of her espresso.
"It's been a thousand years since I left the mortal realm."
"What do you mean by 'left the mortal realm'?"
"Do you know the term 'Ascension to Immortality'?"
"I've never heard of it."
"Hmm, has this term also disappeared? So much has changed in a thousand years. To put it simply, it means transcending the physical body bound to the mortal realm and moving to a higher dimension."
"Does it mean you became a spirit and went to the Fairy Realm?"
"Huh? What are you talking about now?"
"It's nothing."
She felt similar to Kaisir, and she also knew the Liberation Era, but something seemed different.
Hoshgar put down her espresso cup and said,
"Anyway, the 'me' you're seeing right now isn't the real 'me'. My true essence has already moved to a higher dimension, and what you see now is my state before ascension, fixed in a spiritual form."
"So, you're a being that exists but doesn't exist here in reality."
"Oh, you're quite clever. Are you a mage?"
"I am a knight."
At the word "knight," a slightly disappointed expression appeared on Hoshgar's face.
"It would have been better if you were a mage. It's a shame, but oh well."
Zeke looked at the regretful Hoshgar with renewed interest.
A great archmage from a thousand years ago.
However, he had never heard the name Hoshgar before.
'If it's a thousand years ago, she would have participated in the Liberation War. How come I've never heard her name...?'
Zeke cautiously opened his mouth.
"Lady Hoshgar, do you know Terakan Draker?"
At his words, Hoshgar stopped the motion of bringing her espresso cup back to her lips.
Her expression turned quite cold, unlike before.
"Terakan. Yes, I know him."
Seeing Hoshgar's reaction, Zeke immediately realized that she and Terakan Draker were not on good terms.
Just as he was wondering what to say, Hoshgar spoke first.
"How could I forget that idiot who went to all sorts of crazy lengths trying to revive the contracted dragon he killed?"
Zeke was rather taken aback by Hoshgar's blunt words.
'Terakan tried to revive Bahamut?'
He recalled a similar mention in the video that the middle-aged Terakan Draker had left on the Ark.
'He said that if he went somewhere beyond the Dark Sea, he might be able to find Bahamut again.'
Zeke asked Hoshgar,
"Is that possible?"
At that, Hoshgar's face twisted.
"Possible? How could it be? It's impossible to revive even a dead human. So how could you possibly revive a dragon, especially Bahamut, who was called the strongest dragon? It's nonsense."
Zeke nodded at Hoshgar's words.
Revival was as absurd as the Empire's emperor dreaming of immortality.
Hoshgar looked at Zeke and said,
"Let's not talk about Terakan if we can help it. It's annoying."
Judging from her tone, Hoshgar and Terakan weren't on good terms, but they seemed to know each other well.
'Is she one of the heroes erased from legends?'
Hoshgar looked at Zeke and asked,
"So, what exactly are you? You have the power of a Dragonkin but aren't one. You don't have a contract with a dragon but have access to the administrator system. According to my common sense, none of this makes sense."
After pondering for a moment, Zeke decided to tell Hoshgar one of his secrets.
Since he had encountered someone who knew about the system, he wanted to know exactly what it was.
Zeke opened his inventory and took out the black dragon figurine.
It was an ancient artifact he had acquired from the Elder Dragon's resting place.
Zeke held out the figurine to Hoshgar and said,
"Do you know what this is?"
Hoshgar looked at the figurine and slowly reached out. She took it and examined it from various angles.
After a moment, she slowly put it down and let out a sigh.
"Haa..."
Hoshgar looked at Zeke and said,
"I have no idea what this is?"
Zeke's expression instantly fell.
"I thought you knew something."
"I do know something. That there's something I don't know."
Hoshgar flicked her fingers while looking at the dragon figurine.
"What's your name?"
"Zeke."
He intentionally didn't mention his last name, but Hoshgar didn't seem to care.
"Alright, Zeke. It might sound strange to say this, but it's really incredibly rare for me not to know something. I usually know almost everything."
It was an immense display of confidence.
Hoshgar turned the black dragon figurine over and over, clicking her tongue.
"Wow, I don't even know what this is made of. What in the world are you?"
Zeke said to Hoshgar,
"It's an artifact of an Elder Dragon."
"What?"
At Zeke's words, Hoshgar wore a bewildered expression.
Her fingertips trembled slightly as she examined the dragon figurine again.
Then, she slowly looked at Zeke.
"Where did you get this?"
"I brought it from the Elder Dragon's resting place."
Hoshgar made a complicated face, glancing between the dragon figurine and Zeke.
She then nodded as if she understood something.
"So that's why my spirit body was regenerated after a thousand years. So that's why."
Hoshgar continued, looking at Zeke.
"I have a rough idea of your situation. You probably couldn't have learned about the system."
"If I infer from your words, Lady Hoshgar, it seems the administrator system is a power given only to dragon contractors. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that's right. It was created for dragons to lend their power to their contractors more efficiently."
"Does being a dragon contractor mean you can use the dragon's power?"
"Since their souls are connected, they can use some of it. Karma is truly funny. The contracted dragon can't use its own power, but the contractor can use the dragon's power through the system."
Zeke could now understand why the system window had appeared in Terakan's vision.
He asked Hoshgar again,
"What are Dragonkin? Are you also a Dragonkin, Lady Hoshgar?"
"You have many questions. Well, it's understandable. Dragonkin are... a kind of workaround."
"A workaround?"
"Yes. A workaround that dragons created because they wanted to be with their contractors for a longer time."
"So, Dragonkin aren't a separate race? In legends, it's stated that Dragonkin are a distinct race, and that's all I knew."
"It's difficult to call them a race, but it's true they've deviated from humans. By tricking the laws of karma and sharing the heart of their contracted dragon, they became beings that are neither dragon nor human."
Zeke was startled by those words.
'Sharing the heart of a dragon?'
Bahamut's heart was dormant in Zeke's middle dantian. However, he had not contracted with a dragon.
He had only received the authority of the administrator system by accepting the spirit of the Elder Dragon.
'So that's why I have the power of a Dragonkin but am not one, and why I don't have a contracted dragon but possess the abilities of an administrator.'
Hoshgar looked at Zeke and said,
"You probably have many questions, but we don't have much time. Now, I'll explain why my spirit body appeared before you."
Her eyes gleamed.
"My name is Hoshgar Nirvana. I am a great archmage who has crossed a thousand years to appear before you to deliver a prophecy of destruction."