Descent of the Legendary Archmage

May 1st, 1:30 PM.

I was watching Soonchan’s match from the stands.

“Ji Soonchan. For someone who’s from a family of lowly merchants, you’re hanging on quite well.”

“I guess so.”

Soonchan had the skills to rank within the top 20 out of all the second years, but even as a rising prospect, his opponent was a really bad match.

“But Adella really is out of this world.”

Adella Stuart.

Her Korean name is Wi Jisoo.

She’s of both Korean and French descent and she’s a genius among geniuses who since enrolling in this school, has never ranked below first place.

“Sigh. I'm so bloody jealous of her vision magic.

“Same man. That’s a real golden spoon.”

In this world, there exists a special type of magic called vision magic.

Unlike the magic recorded in [The open source library], this type of magic can only be inherited by those in the bloodline; it’s not a type of magic that can be learned just because one wants to.

“She doesn't have a golden spoon, she has a platinum spoon.”

“True, especially since she has two vision magic spells.”

The prestigious Stuart family of France.

The prestigious Mystic Wi clan of Korea.

Of course, as a child from both of these families, Adella Stuart was bound to inherit

both of the vision magic that these families boasted.

“Moonlight bullet. No matter how many times I look at it's awesome.”

“Ha. The effect makes me piss my pants.”

One of them was the Mystic Wi clan’s pride: magic with a unique attribute.

Magic that fused the attributes of both light and dark.

Also known as moon magic.

The name stuck, as the harmony between the light and dark magic was said to resemble moonlight falling from the sky.

“What’s the range of that thing?”

“How the hell are you supposed to dodge that?”

An advantage of vision magic is how little is known about them.

Unlike open-source magic, where everything from the range, distance, power, and traits are all widely available, all this information is hidden for vision magic.

The magic of the present is like Baduk or chess and requires one to read the opponent's moves and counter them accordingly. And so, the secrecy of one's abilities becomes the greatest weapon.

Of course, you can gather information from analysing videos and whatnot, but when compared to the information available on open source magic, the information is bound to be uncertain.

“With that power and range, I don’t see how that can be a mere 3-circle magic spell.”

“I’ve been slapped back to reality.”

And most vision magic spells boast incredible performance.

It’s classified as a 3-circle magic spell, but it’s pretty much a 3.5-circle spell.

Furthermore, vision magic spells have countless strengths.

“As expected, Miss Adella really is spectacular.”

Whilst I was focused on the bout between Soonchan and Adella, out of the blue, I could hear a male voice in the rim of my ear.

“Oh my! Th-the Blue Magic Tower master!”

“S-sir Kim Kangin!”

Before I even checked who it was, the exclamation of the people around us could be heard.

“It’s been a while, Sir.”

The Blue Tower magic’s master held my shoulder and sat straight down right next to me.

“It’s been a while, Sir. Have you been well?”

“Yep. Of course. In fact, I'm feeling unwell from being too well! Haha!”

His smile hadn’t changed since the last time I had seen him.

“Amazing. To think that I would be able to see the Blue Magic Tower’s master up close like this.”

“Sh-should I ask for his signature?”

“No more importantly, did he come all this way just to see Shin Hayul?”

The murmurings grew louder.

“Thank you for vouching for me. Thanks to that I can focus on the test.”

“I thought that I might have been a bit nosy, but I’m glad it helped.”

The master of the Blue Magic Tower answered with his trademark grin.

"Anyways. I was surprised. I hadn't expected you to become a 4-circle mage."

"I was lucky."

"You're as modest as always."

Kim Kangin, the Blue Magic Tower's master.

The youngest 8-circle mage in Korea, the greatest mage in Korea.

And his hobby happens to be holding conversations with skilled talents.

“The wind spear that you used yesterday. May I ask what magic formula you used?"

And analysing their magic.

It seems that he had become interested in how special my Wind Spear that I had used yesterday was and decided to approach me.

“Is there a single mage who would give away their secrets?”

"Hmm. I expected that to be the case.”

The Blue Magic Tower's master smiled brightly and looked upon Adella who was in the arena.

I couldn't detect any trace of regret from his expression.

This was because, from the start, he had never expected me to reveal my secrets.

“Then I suppose you don't plan to sell the magic formula of your improved Wind Spear either.”

‘‘No plans whatsoever.''

I couldn't sell it in the first place, even if I had wanted to because I hadn't modified the magic formula of Wind Spear.

"It seems you're adamant about your decision. James is going to be upset."

"...The master of the Red Magic Tower will be upset?"

"Yes. He contacted me yesterday at daybreak saying that he wanted to purchase the magic formula of your improved Wind Spear."

Kim Kangin covered his mouth and laughed a little.

“That was the first time I've ever seen him so excited. You don't understand how highly he was praising you.”

The master of the Red Magic Tower is notorious for being stingy with his praise.

It felt strange receiving compliments from such a person.

“Then you probably have no intention of revealing any newly developed magic spells you create in the future.”

"Yes, that's right."

As I said before, there was no way of sharing it in the first place.

Unless they had the same condition as me and were able to use the Bytenor style of magic, it's impossible.

"Wow.”

The master of the Blue Magic Tower's eyes shone in a strange light.

“Then can I infer that it means you have other magic spells that you've developed and improved like the Wind Spear?”

"Yes."

"...This is fun.”

The Blue Magic Tower's master laughed, grinning from ear to ear.

“Then I'll be going now.”

The Blue Magic Tower Master rose from his seat and gently patted my back with a smile on his face.

“Oh, by the way, your next match. I'm looking forward to it."

With that, the Master of the Blue Magic Tower left the seats.

* * *

“Welcome back, Loser.”

I beamed broadly and greeted Soonchan back from his match.

"...Yeah. Thanks, you're a great friend."

Soonchan replied while his forehead twitched.

"How was she?"

I gently handed a sports drink to him.

“Do you even need to ask? You saw her do her thing. She was great."

Soonchan smiled bitterly and drank his drink.

"She's gotten way stronger since last year. It took everything I had to just hang on."

“Well, you held on pretty well though? "

“If you give up on counter attacking, anyone can last that long.”

Soonchan let out a deep sigh.

”Phew, it's just my luck. Out of the 32 people it could have been, of course, I had to face off against Adella of all people."

"Yeah, you had it really rough."

I laughed playfully.

"...Alright then. I'll pray for you to get her next.”

Soonchan ground his teeth and laughed.

‘‘It would be nice if we got to face off against each other."

A woman's voice could be heard from behind us.

"Adella Stuart..."

Adella, who had just left the waiting room, approached us with a blank expression.

"Our battle just now. You worked hard. It was a good bout.”

Adella greeted him with a stiff expression.

"Ah, yes. I learned a lot thanks to you."

Soonchan replied with an awkward smile.

He couldn't look at Adella's face properly and was hesitant when talking to her.

Soonchan wasn’t acting like this because he was afraid of strangers or because he liked Adella.

It was just because he was overwhelmed by her aura.

“I'll look forward to our next match.”

"Y-yes. I'll try to improve for the next time we face off."

The mysterious charisma that emanated from her doll-like appearance.

A strong gaze that gave others no choice but to look away.

And even great magic skills that completed her atmosphere to boot.

It's not just Soonchan; the majority of the school body also acts awkwardly when face to face with Adella.

"It's been a while."

After greeting Soonchan, Adella turned her attention to me.

"You're right."

By the way, I'm one of those included in that majority.

Of course, it's not like I'm overwhelmed by her atmosphere or her good looks.

"I've heard the news that you've finally found your way."

"...Yeah."

I suppose the awkwardness comes from the complexity of our relationship.

"It's a relief."

Well, to begin with, Adella and I had been acquainted even before we were enrolled at this school.

The Magic Shin Clan and then Mystic Wi Clan had been forming a great relationship, so we frequently met at exchanges and things.

‘‘It is."

If I had to use one word to describe the relationship between Adella and me, it would be the word 'rival'.

Although of course, it was only Adella who was inciting such competition.

Anyway, Adella is the only person my age who could be called my rival.

“I'm delighted that you’re back again since you’re the reason why I chose to attend the Obelisk Academy.”

The reason why Adella had given up her studies in France and had chosen the Obelisk Academy was because of me.

The image of her declaring that she would beat me no matter what appeared in my head.

"Well, I may have got back on my feet, but it's not enough to be your goal again."

However, when I finally enrolled in the Obelisk Academy, I was revealed to be incompatible with AI and at that moment everything collapsed.

Adella's goal also disappeared in an instant.

Since then, our relationship had gone up in flames.

Thanks to that, she and I had not had a single proper conversation at school for the past year.

Neither I nor Adella knew how to face each other.

“That may be the case now.”

Adella's eyes lit up.

“But I think you'll soon become my goal again.”

Her mysterious gaze gave me no insight as to what she was thinking.

“Because the man I know to be Shin Hayul is that kind of man.”

If I had to put her expression into words, well.

Her expression was like that of a fisherman, who had been floating aimlessly, lost at sea, who had finally found the light of a lighthouse.

* * *

Adella Stuart stood by the stands and was watching Shin Hayul's match on her own.

"Wow, that Wind Spear really is like an impenetrable fort."

“Up till now, everyone's been made a fool of by that Wind Spear right?”

"Both Baek Sahyuk and Ji Minhu, 3-circle magic just isn't enough to oppose it."

Shin Hayul's opponent in the round of 32 was Ji Minhu.

He's a rising prospect that's woven 3-circles just like Baek Sahyuk.

Rather, he's assessed to be even better than Baek Sahyuk and one of the best 3-circle mages.

"He's really a 1-circle archmage."

"The hell's that nickname?"

"Dunno. That's what people were calling him on the internet? Saying that he's the 1-circle archmage that makes a fool of his opponents by using mysterious 1-circle magic."

Ji Minhu, who was a great mage in his own right, was being overwhelmed by Shin Ha-yul.

It wasn't like he was using powerful magic either.

‘He's anticipating every single magic spell that the opponent can throw out and from that, he's targeting their weakness. He's toying with them.’

Even unimpressive, basic magic spells became fatal when used by Shin Hayul.

The 1-circle magic, Water, countered the 3-circle magic Explosion.

The 1-circle magic, Wind, distorted the opponent's magic's trajectory.

"How are you supposed to fight against that Wind Spear?"

"If you try to block it, it'll come flying right back at you, and if you try to erase it, it'll just change its trajectory."

In Adella's eyes, Shin Hayul's combat style was a work of art.

A combat style that can only be performed by him.

Right now, Ji Minhu is probably starting to wonder if Shin Ha-yul might actually be reading his mind.

‘He's back.’

Adella could feel shudders spreading from her back.

That's Shin Hayul.

The monster of PvP that would counter everything you could throw at him, no matter what it was that you had prepared.

The very first man to have defeated Adella, and the man who was her goal.

‘My idol is back.'

When she had heard the news of his resurrection, she had felt like she was on cloud nine.

She felt like a lost sailor that had found a lighthouse.

“The match is over! Shin Hayul is the winner!

"Wow!" "Amazing!"

“Shin Hayul you're awesome!”

When the winner was revealed, cheers rang out throughout the arena.

'Shin Hayul.'

Shin Hayul who had secured victory.

Adella's eyes filled with eagerness when looking at him.

‘I want to fight him.'

I want to compete with the Shin Hayul of now.

Adella's heart was set aflame from her desire to win.

* * *

10 PM that night.

I, who had looked at the newly revealed tournament bracket for the best of 16, was absorbed in thought.

[Game 8]

[Shin Hayul vs. Adella Stuart]

"...If I see Soonchan tomorrow I'm going to throw some hands."

Soonchan's curse has become a reality.

My opponent in the round of 16 was chosen to be Adella.

I sighed.

Adella's vision magic is too much for me to deal with right now.

In fact, it's the perfect counter to my current combat style.

'My tactics, which use information as the foundation for containing my opponent, are probably the worst matchup possible against something like vision magic, where all the information on it is kept private.'

The last time I fought Adella was when we were 17 before she had received artificial intelligence.

Back then Adella wasn't that good at using her vision magic.

So of course, I have no data on her vision magic.

'As I thought, she's not someone whom I can defeat with just 1-circle magic.'

Adella is that powerful of an opponent.

Right now, with my current strength, I have no way of winning.

‘But I must win.’

My purpose is to place within the top 10 in this exam.

In order to do that, I must defeat Adella no matter what and get through to the quarter-finals.

And right now, I have only one way of defeating Adella.

"...I was going to do this after I had achieved greater mastery.”

But I have no other choice.

With a firm expression, I opened [Ray Vell Bytenor].

[In the instance that you believe that you have completely mastered 'deliberation', pour your magic power into the magic circle on page 203.]

[The magic circle will lead you to a new stage.]

[I say this again, but don't be impatient. Impatience is a poison in the study of magic. Only use this magic circle when you believe that you have mastered 'deliberation'.]