Descent of the Legendary Archmage

The difference between my daily life now and how it was a week ago is the difference between heaven and earth.

“Student Shin Hayul. Training room, monster rush training. Perfect score.”

“Did Shin Hayul get a perfect score again?"

“He's insane. Isn't that the third time this training session?"

Training sessions that used to be difficult to clear are now as easy as stealing candy from a baby.

Maybe it was because these training sessions were designed for 2~3 circle users in mind, but they were way too easy.

"He's using body acceleration magic right now isn't he?"

“I think he is? Do you think a normal human being can move with that speed otherwise?"

“But if that's the case, why hasn't there been any change in his other magic spells?”

“He must've cast a weaker body acceleration spell. He was always an exercise nut job."

“Ah, was that so?”

From the murmurings I heard, it seemed that everyone thought that my movement just now was enhanced by magic.

'Even though I didn't use any magic.'

But in reality, forget body acceleration magic, even mana wasn't properly put around my body.

My movements were due to just my pure physical ability.

'The infinity circle really is great.'

The infinity circle had an effect where my physical abilities were strengthened.

As a result, my physical ability increased by about 1.5 times.

'I wonder if I'll become even stronger if I achieve the 3rd circle.'

I'm guessing I will.

Nothing in Eadred's grimoire stated that my physical abilities would grow with the number of circles I achieved, so I couldn't be sure for certain.

Though, if it was the highly pure mana circulation of the Infinity Circle that was leading to the strengthening of my body, then it would be natural for my body to be strengthened with each additional circle I achieved.

“Ah, should I learn Memorize too when I become a 4-circle mage?”

''What's this all of a sudden?"

"No, I'm just saying. When I see Shin Hayul use it, it looks like it's a really good magic spell.”

''Oi, oi. Forget it. I asked my grandfather about it. He said that Memorize isn't that good of a magic spell. It's just that Shin Hayul's senses are insane.”

“Yeah, that's right. My father said that too. He said that it wasn't the memorize spell that was good, it's just that his vision magic is overpowered."

“That vision magic. What was it called again?"

"Did he say that it was Alteration magic? I think he did?"

The vision magic I made up to cover up the Bytenor style of Magic.

I revealed to the world that my vision magic, which can freely alter the magic formula, was called 'Alteration magic'.

When word of this alteration magic spread overseas, there was a riot.

After watching the videos of my performance in the midterm comprehensive evaluation, I was told that my magic was innovative and that they wanted to buy it no matter how much it was going to cost them.

And because of that, it looks like the ringing of the Magic Shin Clan's telephone will never end.

“Hey, if that guy, Shin Hayul, keeps this up, won't he actually end up competing at the Olympiad?”

“Assuming he continues at this pace, there will be no problems as long he doesn't choke in the Battle Survival Test next week, right?”

“Wow, life sure is unexpected.”

“He fell all the way to rock bottom and is now climbing back up again.”

I could hear these exclamations coming from all directions.

The story of my tough life seemed to be entertaining to them.

Well, it didn't seem like they were saying any of this with bad intentions, so I let them be.

'Speaking of which, those lot are still the same.'

I looked at the group which was gathered in twos and threes, in the other direction.

I felt uneasy just looking at them.

"...Poor bastard.”

''That disabled bastard is doing all kinds of shit."

''He's going to fall again just you wait."

No matter what kind of grades I get, those who talk shit about me will continue to do so.

Even if I win the Olympiad, those lot will probably just say I won because of luck.

I'm 100% sure.

There's no need to worry about those bastards.

I can just let them swear at me behind my back.

'And anyways, I don't have time to deal with those guys anyways.'

Instead of wasting my time on those guys, it's way more productive to just focus on my own training.

'Let's focus again.'

I closed my eyes and focussed entirely on my two infinity circles.

The Circle of Deliberation and the Circle of Resonance.

The two seemingly identical yet subtly different mana engines revolve throughout my whole body.

‘I'm going to lower the number of vibrations and the rate of rotation of the Circle of Resonance by 12.33% and 4.63%, respectively, and increase the mana purity of the Circle of Deliberation by 8.98%.’

To completely synchronize the two engines, I must make it so that they both perform as one.

And to achieve that, I must customize each Infinity Circle.

Ba-dump, ba-dump

The two rings rotate roughly in sync with the beating of my heart.

Compared to 4 days ago, I feel a definite improvement.

However,

'This ratio isn't correct either.'

There was only improvement.

I can't reach a synchronization rate of 100%.

It only ever reaches roughly 99%.

“Whew.”

I relaxed a bit and took a deep breath.

'Getting it to 100%... It's really hard, huh.'

Becoming a 2nd Circle Master.

The stage of resonance is so insanely difficult that it's beyond my imagination.

It's been causing me agony for the past 4 days.

The circulation of the circle is due to the complex effects of several factors.

If I adjust something in one place, it will cause problems somewhere else.

And so, in this kind of situation, there was no way it would be easy to achieve a 100% synchronization rate for both circles.

'Ah, I feel like I'll get a feel for it if I do it for just a bit longer.'

With that mentality, I focused once again.

And like that, the process of trial and error to reach the stage of resonance continued until the end of the training session.

* * *

It's the second Saturday of May.

I lightly finished my morning physical training today, as usual, and with the sound of everyone's astonishment and exclamations in my ears, I headed off to my room.

'Oh, I should stop by the convenience store.'

Today, like every other day, I plan to stay holed up in my room and work on synchronizing my infinity circle through trial and error.

Before heading back to my room, I decided to buy some snacks and a sports drink. And with that goal, as I was walking toward the convenience store, I encountered someone unexpected.

"...Shin Hayul."

Baek Sahyuk.

He's like Santa Claus, who as the eldest son of the Beak Family, spent money and worked hard to provide the best possible stage for me.

He grinds his teeth together and glares at me.

''It seems like you haven't gone home even though it's the weekend?"

At my words, the sound of his teeth grinding becomes much clearer.

“Ah, could it be that you're not allowed to leave even if you wanted to because it's your period of self-reflection?”

"...Shut up."

“To be fair, you did use your family's might for a personal reason and all that resulted in your family being disgraced. I guess even if it's not a time of reflection for you, going back home might be a little difficult.”

“Shin Hayul, you...!"

Baek Sahyuk lost all sense of reason and ran straight for me.

I could even feel mana begin to flux.

'This crazy bastard. He's really using magic after being provoked a little?'

Though I did taunt him, I didn't expect him to use magic here, on the side of this street.

'It's red.'

For a moment, I could see the color red surrounding Baek Sahyuk.

The red color of the fire attribute.

For Baek Sahyuk, who has completely lost his sense of reason, if there was only one fire-type spell that he would use, it would have to be his speciality and his most lethal magic spell.

'Conclusion. Burning Impaction.'

It's the magic spell that has the highest firepower out of all the fire-type 3-circle spells.

But powerful spells always have their weaknesses.

I raised my fist straight up and struck his right arm upwards.

Fwooosh-!

The explosion from Baek Sahyuk's hand went straight up in the direction his hand was pointing.

“This bast...!"

The Burning Impaction was instantly nullified.

I turned to his back, grabbed his head and slammed it into the wall as he tried to shout something at me.

“Let go, let go! You fucking son of a bitch!"

"Are you crazy?"

I pressed down on Baek Sahyuk's head with even more strength.

“It’s fortunate that there was no one around in the vicinity. If there were any casualties, you would have been sent straight to jail.”

"..."

Maybe it was because of my cold words, but Baek Sahyuk started to regain his senses and his defiance calmed down.

"Over there! You two! What's going on here?"

Perhaps they had heard the explosion earlier, but two instructors hurriedly rushed toward us.

“Student Shin Hayul and student Baek Sahyuk?”

''What was that magic just now?"

The Two instructors stare at us with very serious expressions.

"...Fuck."

Baek Sahyuk cursed from below.

I took my hand off his head and politely greeted the two professors.

“Baek Sahyuk used magic on me.”

"What?"

“If you want the full story then..."

I pointed at the CCTV by the roadside.

“It’s all on CCTV, so all you have to do is check it.”

"...Alright. Got it."

The instructors nodded with serious expressions on their faces.

"...Fuck."

I could hear Baek Sahyuk, who was lying down on his stomach, quietly curse.

He's bound to be more worried about the rebuke that he'll receive from his father than the penalty that he'll get.

"How come? Why did I... Why...?"

I don't have even a shred of sympathy for Baek Sahyuk, who ruined his own life.

'You reap what you sow.'

There was no situation better suited for that idiom.

What fills my head right now is not sympathy, but suspicion and a sense of alertness.

'Even so, in the past, he wouldn't have been provoked into using lethal magic over a couple of taunts.'

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the slumped-over face of Baek Sahyuk, who was being helped up by the instructors.

If he's in that condition, then he might do something dangerous.

It seemed that I needed to be especially careful.

* * *

The penalty for Baek Sahyuk's unauthorized use of magic was immediately concluded.

The evidence was broad as day and the instructor personally witnessed it as well, so the verdict had to be swiftly drawn.

'Student Baek Sahyuk has received 10 demerit points.'

It was very surprising.

Even though he used lethal 3-circle magic in an area where magic is prohibited, he got off with only demerit points. Although there were no victims, it should have ended with an expulsion.

He didn't even receive a suspension, just 10 demerit points.

It was a soft punishment that had to be caused by external intervention.

― You retard!

"...I'm sorry."

Baek Sahyuk is currently on the phone with his father, the current head of the Baek family.

All manner of foul swear words were spilt in a loud and resonant voice.

― I told you to shut your mouth and keep still until your graduation! You couldn't even do that?

"...I'm sorry."

The reason Baek Sahyuk was let off so lightly was because of the Baek family's intervention.

They let him off because the Baek family was a huge donor to the Obelisk Academy.

— To think that you're my eldest son...

''I'm... sorry.''

Baek Sahyuk bit his lower lip.

His head is lowered and his hands are trembling.

All manner of emotions passed by him.

— Huff. I'll say it again. Don't cause problems and just quietly graduate. Like a dead mouse, okay? Just graduate from Obelisk Academy.

"...Yes."

Baek Manshik gave up all of his expectations for Baek Sahyuk.

Just like in the youth tournament five years ago, the shameful conduct that was shown in this incident was too much.

— This is your last warning. If you do anything that'll harm your younger brother's reputation then...

Baek Manshik didn't say the rest, but there was no need to even think about what was coming next.

"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."

— ...You retarded bastard.

The call ended with those words.

Baek Sahyuk's hands turned white.

He clenched his fist so hard that blood startled to trickle out.

“Don't... Do anything that will harm my younger brother's reputation? Haha."

Those words were practically the same as saying that the Baek family was going to be handed to his younger brother.

His father was saying to not harm the reputation of the Baek family which his younger brother was going to inherit.

Those words were a shock to Baek Sahyuk.

"How come..."

The shock soon turned into murderous intent.

“This is all because of Shin Hayul...”

It was all Shin Hayul's fault that this had happened to him.

Without him, he would have been leading a glorious academy life while receiving applause from everyone as the official heir of the promising Baek family.

“Shin Hayul. If it wasn't for him...!"

It was then that Baek Sahyuk's eyes began to turn red with murderous intent.

''As expected, you seem to have a lot of resentment for Shin Hayul."

Someone nonchalantly opened Baek Sahyuk's door and came in.

"...Len Smith?"

A man with a weasel-like beard and a sickening smile.

''Shouldn't we assign an instructor to you? Student Baek Sahyuk.”

The instructor from France approached Baek Sahyuk with a meaningful expression.

“Don’t you want to get revenge on Shin Hayul?”

Baek Sahyuk's shoulders violently trembled.

"Re....venge?"

"That's right. Revenge."

Len's eyes met with Baek Sahyuk's.

The two's eyes are not even 5 cm apart from each other.

“Sweet, sweet revenge.”

Black mana was swirling around the muttering Len Smith.

The very black mana that's unique to a corrupted, contaminated black mage and the symbol of the Black Magic Tower.