Descent of the Legendary Archmage

A world where my five senses were gone.

Because I have no sight, there's nothing to see and because I can't hear, there's nothing to hear.

My sense of touch has gone, so I can't tell whether I'm sitting or standing.

And because I'm lacking my sense of smell and the sense of taste, I can't feel any external stimuli whatsoever.

'Is my body even functioning normally?'

'Am I alive?'

It's scary.

An indescribable sense of fear filled my head.

A completely suffocating prison, where I can neither see, hear, nor touch.

'Am I standing right now? Or am I slumped on the floor?'

'Am I holding my head up?'

I don't know.

I don't even know what I'm doing right now.

I'm even doubting whether my heart is beating properly.

If it was beating properly, then it would definitely be racing like a freight train.

'It's scary.'

'I'm afraid.'

Is this what one feels if they were left alone in the deep sea?

Is this what one feels if they were to be isolated in space?

No, I can assure you of this.

This is way worse.

'I'm in hell.'

I've lost my senses.

I'd imagined what it would feel like, but I had never thought that it would be this bad.

I have no idea how I'll train in this state.

I'm getting pointlessly angry at Elena, who left me in this state without giving me a proper explanation.

'...Whew.'

But that anger soon dissipated.

'This is the training.'

Giving it some thought, I realised that this wasn't something to get angry over.

A groundbreaking method of training that erases the five senses and forces me to focus only on my 6th.

This kind of training wouldn't be possible without Elena.

Rather, I should be grateful to her.

'Let's do this.'

Elena told me this already.

That the God's eyes’ ability to see mana is a 6th sense that had nothing to do with the other five.

That means that even in this darkness, I'll be able to see mana.

Eyes that see mana.

A sixth sense.

I remembered the time I had looked at the color of mana.

I remembered the time I saw the snippets of the magic structure.

Back then, how did I see mana?

Back then, how did I read the magic formula?

'It's scary.'

Fear gnawed at my concentration.

But I tried my best to relive that moment.

I suppressed my fear and strengthened my will.

'I'm in a forest.'

'Only my senses have disappeared, I'm still alive.'

'If I'm alive, there's nothing to fear.'

I took a deep breath as I reassured myself.

Though I couldn't tell whether I had taken a deep breath or not, judging by how I felt a bit better, I probably had.

'See the mana.'

Feeling slightly calmer, I tried to recall the past.

The day I first saw mana.

I would never forget that vivid red.

'That beautiful red.'

'That gentle yellow.'

'That warm green.'

'That cozy blue.'

What colors had the mana been?

I suppressed the steadily creeping fear and recalled the feeling of mana.

* * *

"..."

Elena was in shock at this very moment.

'I was going to uncast the magic after just giving him a little taste...'

Shin Hayul's five senses were supposed to have been unsealed immediately.

Elena, who had felt this magic before, knew better than anyone how suffocating a world without the five senses was.

By the first minute, a person goes crazy, by the second they think of death and by the third, they'll have killed themselves.

That was how those who have their five senses sealed meet their end.

'10 Seconds. I planned to give him a 10-second taster of how it felt and afterwards I was going to start the training after suppressing his trauma with the forest's magic...'

The forest's magic that Elena uses has the effect of purifying the mind and body of the user.

Once you get to Elena's level, it's possible to eliminate the patient's trauma.

That's why Elena chose to seal Shin Hayul's five senses without saying so much as a word.

Because that was the only way he would experience the trauma and that was the only way he would be able to overcome it.

'But...'

Elena burst out laughing again.

'At this rate, he won't even need the forest's magic.'

Although as if possessed by fear, his body was trembling and cold sweat was pouring like rain.

Shin Hayul was still fine.

'Three minutes have passed...'

Even after enough time has passed for an ordinary person to choose suicide, Shin Hayul had not lost his mind yet.

'In fact, he's getting used to it.'

As time increases, the fear should increase twofold, but Shin Hayul was actually getting used to it.

Although he would have had no idea as to whether he was taking deep breaths or not, every time he did, his breathing was getting under control.

'Impressive.'

And as his breathing steadied, his circle was beginning to spin as normal.

'But it's not over yet. The fear of your five senses being sealed cannot be expressed in words.'

Elena suppressed her admiration and focused on Shin Hayul's condition.

The fear of having your five senses sealed is strong enough to turn people into madmen.

However, Elena's alertness began to fade as time went by.

'At this point, he really won't need the forest's magic.'

10 minutes.

20 minutes.

Even though such a large amount of time had passed by, Shin Hayul showed no sign of losing his mind.

He wasn't even trembling anymore.

Shin Hayul had entered a state of complete calm.

'Even though he's Ray's successor...'

To think he would overcome the training in such a composed fashion.

'Did Ray know that this would be the case?'

The only reason that Elena cast the ‘5-sense sealing magic’ was that Ray had asked her to.

Had Ray not asked for it, Elena would never have used such dangerous magic for the purpose of training.

'Very impressive.'

At that moment.

"...You're listening right?"

Suddenly, Shin Hayul opened his mouth.

“If you're listening, could you please unseal my senses?”

His voice was calm as if all his fear had now been forgotten.

Elena quickly released the seal.

His senses returned to their original state in an instant.

"...Whew. I feel like I can breathe now."

Shin Hayul got up from his seat, moved his body here and there, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He felt infinitely grateful that his body was normal.

"..."

Elena gaped slightly as she watched Shin Hayul stretching so casually.

How could he be so carefree?

“A-are you okay?”

"No. I'm not okay at all."

Shin Hayul continued to stretch as he answered sensibly.

“A world where the five senses are sealed... Just thinking about it again makes my body tremble.”

“But you overcame it didn't you? How did you overcome it?"

"There's not much to it is there? I frantically brainwashed myself by reminding myself that this was safe training.”

Self brainwashing.

That played a major role in defeating the initial fear.

“You couldn't have overcome that fear with just that alone...”

''Yes. So I almost gave up. But then I suddenly thought of this.”

After finishing stretching, Shin Hayul stood up and looked right at Elena.

“That at the very least, it's better now than it was a year ago.”

“...Sorry?"

Shin Hayul smiled bitterly and looked up at the sky.

“One year ago. The day I lost everything. I feel much better now than I did in that darkness full of despair I felt that day."

“You felt better... with your five senses sealed?"

"Yes."

That day when Shin Hayul was determined to be incompatible with AI, the day he lost everything.

Compared to the despair of that day, perhaps it was better now.

Shin Hayul had thought that all of a sudden.

“Since my five senses being sealed is just an ordeal that allows me to take a step forward. Compared to a year ago, when I had lost everything and was rotting away day by day, wandering the abyss in despair, it's a lot better."

"..."

Elena was speechless.

Just what must have happened a year ago for him to say this?

Just how much despair must he have felt a year ago for him to say that having his five senses sealed was better?

“You don’t have to look at me like that. It’s all in the past anyway.”

Shin Hayul laughed and moved on, saying that it was all in the past anyways.

“More importantly, Elena. I've succeeded.”

“Yeah... Wait what?"

Elena, who had been preoccupied with Shin Hayul's past and had answered half-heartedly, was startled.

''Succeeded?"

"Yes."

"Could it be... that you saw mana?"

"Yes."

Shin Hayul smiled as if nothing in the world could make him happier.

“The mana around here is very kind. I wonder if they're being influenced by you.”

"They're... kind..."

These words were very emotional for Elena.

“I never thought I would hear that again.”

'Elena. The mana around you is always kind. I wonder if it's because they resemble you?'

Ray Vell Bytenor.

As she recalled her meeting with him, Elena smiled happily.

* * *

"I'm back!"

"What's this? You came back very quickly.”

As I entered Mímisbrunnr, Mimir, who was lying on the sofa, as usual, greeted me.

"Yeah. I have to go to school tomorrow so I came out a little early.”

Mimir got up from the sofa and sat down.

I sat down next to her.

Mimir looked here and there at my face.

Then she asked, "Have you really come back from training?" With a doubting expression on her face.

“Yeah.”

“There's no way that's true. There's no way you would be fine after receiving that training.”

The doubt on her face grew even more.

As if she was questioning whether I even stepped into the 3rd test's page at all.

“I genuinely did. Why would I lie about that? I went into the Greenwood forest, met Elena and then received training where I had my five senses sealed. Okay?"

"...Okay."

Mimir soon accepted it.

"So you're telling me that you're fine even after going through the training where your five senses were sealed?"

"Yeah."

"...Did Elena go easy on you because she felt bad? Or maybe the forest's magic worked really well?"

Mimir put her finger on her chin and muttered.

"I haven't even received the forest's magic though?"

"...What?"

Mimir's eyes widened.

''You didn't get your trauma treated?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

“Because I didn't get any trauma?”

“...You weren't traumatized after having that crazy magic cast on you?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

Mimir asked as if she genuinely couldn't understand.

''Well. Basically..."

I repeated to her exactly what I had said to Elena.

I would have thought that Mimir would have responded by saying, 'Ah, so that's what happened.'

"...That happened a year ago?"

But she responded very unexpectedly.

“Oh, now that I think about it. I haven't told you anything about what happened a year ago. Yeah, that kind of thing happened.”

I'd thought that I definitely had told her, but it turns out that I hadn't.

Well, I guess it's enough that I'm telling her now.

“You must have gone through a bit.”

"A bit?"

"Yeah."

Mimir's responses were strange.

Considering Mimir's personality, I would have thought that she would have swiftly moved on, saying that it was all in the past.

But her expression was somewhat serious.

What was even weirder was how she was pretending that nothing was wrong when she spoke.

“Anyways, let's just say that you somehow overcame it. How did your training go? God's eye. Do you think you'll be able to achieve it in the time that you have left?"

Mimir, who soon returned to her usual cheerful self, asked about my training results.

"I think I'll be able to."

I think I'll definitely be able to master God's eye and destruction before the day that I promised Kim Kangin.

"Oh. Really? Seems like you've gotten a feel for it?"

“Yup. I got a real good feel for it.”

During those 20 minutes that felt like 20 hours.

It was worthwhile trying to see mana while enduring those hardships.

"How good?"

“Well, I can see mana.”

"...What?"

Mimir asked as if she had heard something wrong.

“I can see mana now.”

“That's not something that you could've achieved in such a short time. That's a joke right?"

Mimir mumbled her words in disbelief.

"It's true though."

"If it's real, can you see the mana around me?"

"Of course. I can see it very clearly.”

“Then take a look. How does the mana around me feel?"

Mana idling among the many books caught my eye.

''The mana around you is very lazy. It seems like they've been influenced by you.”

"...You what, mate?"

Mimir's expression clouded over in an instant.

"It's a joke. A joke. Surprisingly, your mana is calm and cold.”

"...Is that so?"

"Yeah. It's interesting."

Calm and Mimir.

That word did not suit her.

''Maybe they were influenced by the medium that is the books and not you?"

"I wonder."

Mimir chuckled.

“Actually, it could be because I’m a very cold person, right?”

Her words somehow seemed full of meaning.