Descent of the Legendary Archmage

Sunday night. I got a call from Kim Kangin.

— I watched your test VOD. I was surprised. I never would have imagined that you would be able to defeat the emerald turtle alone.

“I was lucky.”

— That alone was interesting enough. To think you would stand toe to toe with Adella who has reached her 4th circle! It was so interesting that I couldn't focus at all on my research that night. Haha!

"I'm glad you liked it."

— Just how did you pierce the shell of the emerald turtle? No, that's important as well, but how did you bend Adella's magic like that? At first, I thought that it was a mana distortion field, but on closer inspection of the VOD, that doesn't seem to be the case...

Kim Kangin continued to constantly talk as usual.

No, he seems to be talking more than before.

I guess it means that my magic's gotten that much more interesting.

“I'm really sorry, but I can't tell you anything about my magic.''

— Of course. If it was a tough question, you don't have to answer it. A mage has the right to keep their secrets.

Kim Kangin laughed kindly.

— I'll find information on your magic myself.

Just as mages have the right to keep their secrets.

Mages also have the freedom to observe and analyze the magic of others.

Kim Kangin is confident that he can uncover the secrets behind my magic.

— I can't wait to see your magic in person.

“Haha.”

He has the world's best detection type magic eye, the 'Eye of Ruby'.

If he had the chance to observe my magic himself, he would at the very least learn about my Interference magic right away.

Since his eyes would detect my mana sweeping into the opponent's magic formula.

— Oh dear. I've rambled on for far too long. I'm sorry.

Kim Kangin brought the pleasantries to an end and brought up the main topic.

— I'm calling you today because I have something to say to you regarding the production of the artifact.

The artifact production.

He's talking about the Elemental Magic Light I asked him to take care of.

"Is it good news? Or bad news?"

— It's good news.

Fortunately, it was good news.

— All preparations are complete as of now. Production is scheduled to commence soon starting from tomorrow.

''Have you even finished choosing the accessory?"

— Yes. We've even fully completed the compatibility checks.

Manufacturing artifacts is no easy task.

For starters, it's difficult to individually select the materials that are compatible with the mana stone for the accessory.

Especially when the mana stone is of high purity, it's even harder to pick out a suitable accessory material.

You have to compare each of the selected materials one by one to see if there are any side effects that cause mana rejection.

And then you must finetune the magic stone as well as craft it so that it is compatible with the selected materials.

"That was really fast wasn't it?"

— Yes, this took less time than usual.

Considering the uniqueness of the Elemental Mana Light I had imagined that it would at least take 2 months.

It took less than a month.

There are only 2 possibilities as to how this happened.

Either Kim Kangin was working his craftsmen to death or he had half-assed my artifact.

"Aren't you pushing yourself too hard? You can take it easy.”

And knowing Kim Kangin's personality, there's no way he would go easy on the production of an artifact, so he was probably working his subordinates to death.

— Haha. All of our master craftsmen are the types of people to lose their minds over a new mana stone. They wouldn't rest even when I asked them to take a break.

"Ah..."

If they slaved away because they enjoyed it, then there's nothing much to say.

— Anyways, regarding the artifact, there's nothing for you to worry about. As I said before, everyone's unbelievably passionate about it. Of course, as am I.

I could tell 120% that Kim Kangin was enjoying himself.

— I think you should look forward to it.

''Yes. I will."

Since Kim Kangin was that proud of that artifact, my already high expectations had risen slightly higher.

— Then I'll end the call now. Talk to you later...

“Oh, one second.”

I halted Kim Kangin from ending the call.

— Do we still have remaining business?

''Yes. I have something to ask you."

— Are you asking for a favor? Is this a favor for the cost of last time?

The cost of last time.

He's talking about the cost of the Blue Magic Tower benefiting from the arrest of Len Smith of the Black Magic tower, thanks to the information I provided.

“Well, that'll depend on your response to the favor.”

— ...Indeed. What kind of extraordinary proposal have you come up with this time? I'm already looking forward to hearing it.

Kim Kangin's voice was filled with anticipation.

— Let's hear it.

"I was wondering if the artifact craftsmen of the Blue Magic Tower could be dispatched as engineers for the Korean Olympiad team.

— The Olympiad. Are you talking about the World Academy Olympiad?

"Yes."

— Please send my artifact craftsmen as engineers to the competition. Is that what you are asking?

"That's right.''

— That's a very sudden suggestion.

Kim Kangin's voice grew an octave lower.

— There's no way that you don't know the value of our craftsmen. May I ask how the Blue Magic Tower will benefit from that proposal?

The Blue Magic Tower's artifact craftsmen are very expensive.

Since I'm asking for such expensive human resources for free, he was bound to react like that.

"The Blue Magic Tower would benefit through honor."

— Honor?

''Yes. The honor of creating the winning team of the Olympiad. The Blue Magic Tower will be able to obtain that honor.”

— ...The winning team?

"Yes."

I then put all my strength into my voice.

“Because Korea will win the gold medal this Olympiad.”

— ...That's amusing.

Over the phone, I could feel traces of a smile in Kim Kangin's voice.

— We'll continue this later.

* * *

''Yes. I'll be waiting. See you later."

After ending the call with Shin Hayul, Kim Kangin took a sip of the tea that had been left on the table.

The tea had cooled down by the time the long phone call had ended.

"Should I brew you a new one?"

Jung Suha, who was sitting in front of him, got up from her seat.

Since the tea had gone cold, she offered to brew a new cup.

"No, don't worry. It's fine."

Kim Kangin smiled and sat Jung Suha back down.

Then, after taking a sip of the tea that had been cooled, he placed it back on the table.

“Then let's get back to the meeting. Sorry to keep you waiting for so long.”

"No, don't worry. It doesn't bother me one bit."

''Mm. Where did we get to?"

He had been on the phone with Shin Hayul for so long that he had forgotten what they had last talked about.

Kim Kangin quickly went through the documents and continued the conversation they last had.

“Uhm, Master of the Blue Magic Tower? Before we get back to the talk on manufacturing, can I ask you one thing?"

"What is it?"

“I'm curious as to what kind of proposal Shin Hayul made to you.”

Just what did Shin Hayul say to the Blue Magic Tower's master for him to genuinely consider Shin Hayul's request, even though being his main support in the Olympiad would be incredibly disadvantageous to the Blue Magic Tower?

That was what Jung Suha was curious about.

"Nothing much. He just asked if we could send our master craftsmen as engineers.”

''Our master craftsmen?"

"Yep."

"...That's an unexpected request. What did he offer in return? Considering the preparation stage of the Olympiad is about one month and considering how expensive the human resources will be, it's bound to cost an astronomical sum.”

Kim Kangin's eyes twinkled.

"I don't know about money, but I was told that we would be paid in honor."

"In honor?"

"Yeah. The honor of having created the winning team of the Olympiad."

"...Sorry?"

Jung Suha was confused.

Following Jung Suha's unusual change in expression, Kim Kangin laughed.

"It's amusing, isn't it? Despite only being in his second year, he's discussing the Olympiad gold medal and is even confident that he'll win it.”

"...Yes."

Jung Suha quickly regained composure.

Jung Suha, who was indeed the master of poker faces, instantly killed the expression on her face.

''Though if he does win the gold medal, the benefits will be immeasurable..."

"Right. Since we're a newly established magic tower, we do need a visible result like that.”

“That's right.''

However, Jung Suha's poker face immediately collapsed again upon hearing Kim Kangin's next sentence.

“So I said I would give it some thought before I accepted.”

"...Sorry?"

Kim Kangin burst out laughing at Jung Suha's bewildered face.

It was the first time in a while since she had gotten so flustered.

"Why... Why did you give a proposal as absurd as that one such an answer?"

“It seemed fun.”

The corners of Kim Kangin’s lips slowly rose.

Jung Suha put her hand to her forehead and sighed.

"...Your bad habits emerged again."

Kim Kangin's bad habit.

His bad habit is that when a talented mage catches his eye, he'll help them out regardless of the outcome.

“Magic Tower Master. I sincerely advise that you reject the proposal. Taking the projects that the Blue Magic Tower are currently pursuing, we can't afford to dispatch our craftsmen."

"Come on, now. No matter what I'm like, did you think I would genuinely accept something so momentous without thinking it through?”

Kim Kangin's smile broadened.

“There's a catch.”

"...A catch?"

"Yup. I asked him if he's that confident, that he should show me proof that he can attain the gold medal."

Even Kim Kangin cannot afford to accept such a momentous proposal just from his mood. So, he said he would agree to the proposal under a condition.

"What was the condition?"

How would Shin Hayul show proof that he could win the gold medal?

Jung Suha couldn't think of any way that he could.

“He said he'll beat a 5th circle mage 1 on 1.”

"Sorry?"

Those words caused Jung Suha's poker face to completely shatter.

"He's going to defeat a f-fifth circle mage?"

"Yeah."

Kim Kangin shrugged and answered indifferently.

“You know how there are two 5th circle participants in this year's Olympiad? If he's going to bring up the gold medal then this much should be light work."

* * *

“So you decided to fight with the 5th circle?”

"Yeah. It somehow ended up this way."

Mimir pursed her lips and plunged deep into thought.

She seems to be asking herself if I'm able to defeat a 5th circle mage.

“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think beating a 5th circle mage user is possible. What do you plan on doing?"

“Of course, I can't win now. I've got 10 days before the fight.”

"I see. So in the meantime, you'll master Destruction and achieve victory is what you're saying?"

"Precisely."

''Well. If you've mastered Destruction, then it just might work...”

Mimir nodded her head slightly with her mouth shut.

“But I reckon mastering Destruction in 10 days isn't going to be an easy feat.”

“Of course, it's going to be hard, but what other choice do I have? I have 11 days to submit my team for the Olympiad.”

I must receive a definite answer within 10 days.

“But why are you going through so much work just to hire engineers from the Blue Magic Tower? Can't you just ask yours or Adella's clan for help?"

"No. Otherwise, there's no point.”

"Why?"

"The Blue Magic Tower has the only craftsmen in Korea who can adjust and customize artifacts for the tournament according to the tournament rules."

''The Blue Magic Tower, seems like they're pretty impressive?"

"Yeah. They're on a completely different level."

''How much of a difference is there?"

''At least 10%."

Compared to the artifacts made by ordinary craftsmen, the artifacts made by the Blue Magic Tower perform at least 10% better.

That's how different the Blue Magic Tower is.

“In that case, we definitely should get their support.”

"Right. Especially since it's a team fight, the performance of our artifacts will make all the more difference.”

"I understand. So, whatever happens, you'll have to become a 3rd circle master in 10 days then?"

"That's right. That's why I'm reading books on Destruction."

I pointed out the title of the book I was holding in my hand.

“When are you going to take the test on the 3rd page?”

“Well. I plan to enter after reading all the books you've prepared for me. That's what you told me to do anyway."

The third test page has different conditions for entering.

[When you think you've perfected your Interference, activate the magic circle on page 214 and enter the third test's page.]

That was written on the 81st page of Eadred's grimoire.

"But why has everything changed so much on the 3rd page's test?"

The condition for entering the 2nd page's test was being a 2-circle master.

But the requirement for entering the 3rd page's test is just to be a 3rd circle user.

So I can enter despite not being a master.

Why did the entry requirements change all of a sudden?

"It's a secret. It's no fun if you know in advance."

Mimir laughed.

It was a wicked laugh that made me uneasy.

"When you enter, you'll have a hard time. That's all you need to know," stated Mimir as she smiled.

“Yeah, that's right. When you get to the third test's page, say hello for me.”

"...To who?"

I doubt she's asking me to say hello to magic dolls like Alpha and Beta.

“Is someone you know waiting for me there?”

I wonder if there's someone waiting there.

"Yup. There is."

"...Mimir?"

“Just tell them that Mimir's doing well. You don't have to say much more. They'll know from that.”

Mimir's expression seemed dreadfully sad.