Descent of the Legendary Archmage

After Shin Hayul had left.

Kim Kangin was drinking tea with Jung Suha in his study, talking about how the project was to be executed.

“Then we will send these 10 engineers to the World Academy Olympiad.”

“Yeah, let’s do that. I can leave you to write the proposal and submit it right?"

“Yes. It'll be fully taken care of by tomorrow.”

“Then all that’s left is to talk with other companies so that our other project isn't affected.”

“Shall we set up a meeting?”

"Yeah. I'll be counting on you."

“Yes. I’ll try to fit it into your schedule.”

Jung Suha took out her phone and looked at Kim Kangin’s schedule.

And checked if there was anything that could be postponed.

If there was nothing that could be postponed, she would check if there was anything that wouldn't cause any damage even if it was cancelled.

She calculated those things as she coordinated the schedule.

“Suha, what do you think?”

“About what?”

Jung Suha answered with her mind focused on the schedule.

“This Olympiad. Do you really think he can win a gold medal?”

Jung Suha slowed down in flicking through the schedule.

She's thinking about Kim Kangin's question.

"...It doesn't seem impossible."

Kim Kangin raised his eyebrows and smiled slyly.

He was clearly making fun of her.

"Is that so? Up till yesterday, you would've said that even the bronze medal was impossible, let alone the other medals."

"...The situation now is different from yesterday.”

Jung Suha took her eyes off the schedule and stared at Kim Kangin.

"After seeing him perform. How could I say that it's impossible?"

Shin Hayul's battle today was impressive.

If one were to say that he couldn't win the gold medal even after seeing that, then they were just being stubborn.

''It was impressive even for you?"

“I don't even know if I need to say it... Yes. It was."

“By the looks of it, it seemed like you forgot to be a referee and were immersed in the fight?”

"..."

Jung Suha's cheeks flushed slightly.

It was a reaction that said he had hit the mark.

“Aw. So cute. Is this why my kids are madly in love with you?"

"...Don't make fun of me. I'm going to get angry."

Jung Suha looked at Kim Kangin.

“Good grief. We wouldn't want to make our Suha angry would we. Mhm."

"..."

At Kim Kangin's exaggerated gestures, Jung Suha's stare got even more intense.

‘If you open your mouth one more time, I'll leave you to do everything by yourself.’ That was what her look said.

Kim Kangin smiled with a casual expression and happily received her gaze.

"Sigh."

Jung Suha let out a deep sigh.

As a secretary, I must be patient.

That's what her expression seemed to say.

“More importantly, just what on earth was Hayul's magic?”

Jung Suha changed the topic.

“I wonder. I don’t know either.”

Kim Kangin shrugged slightly.

"...Weren't you observing him with your eyes of ruby the whole way through?"

"I did."

“And you're still saying you don’t know?”

"Yeah. Even after having looked at it I still don't know."

Kim Kangin's smile broadened.

“I understand that the last magic he used destroyed Inferno’s magic formula. But I don't know how he did that."

“A magic that even the eyes of ruby cannot comprehend...”

Eyes of ruby.

Among the existing detection magic eyes, it's within the top three.

The fact that even he couldn't understand Shin Hayul's magic having looked at it with his own eyes meant that no one could.

“I was so curious that I even asked myself...”

'You said this last time. That a mage has the right to keep the secrets of their magic.'

'I can't tell you about my magic.'

"But he refused, saying it was a secret. I want to find out for myself.”

Shin Hayul did not reveal the information about his magic.

"...He couldn't have done anything illegal, right?"

"No he couldn't have. The purity and the structure of the mana were too clean for it to have been anything illegal. It's nothing shady, I'm certain of that.”

"I see."

The bud of suspicion that had bloomed in Jung Suha wasimmediately nipped.

If Kim Kangin had said no, then it meant no.

“All I've found out is that Hayul's vision magic isn't 'alteration magic'?”

''Mm. What could it be?”

“Well, I reckon I'll be able to find out after more analysis.”

Kim Kangin, leaned back and lay down on the sofa.

"Either way, this year's Olympiad will be worth seeing.”

Kim Kangin's face glistened with joy as he looked up at the ceiling.

* * *

Soonchan and Adella came into my room.

''Hey, I'm a little tired today. Can't I get some rest?"

I was tired after using resonance and I had planned to take a good rest today as well.

"What's this? Are you being a hypocrite? Last time, no matter how tired I was, you said I should receive feedback for the training on the day that I did it?"

Soonchan smiled slyly with a look on his face as if he had been waiting for this moment.

"Though, If teacher Hayul is a petty person who's only kind to himself and strict to others, then I suppose I'll have no choice but to back down."

"...You bastard."

Those were the words that Soonchan usually said to me after training.

They came back to me like a boomerang.

“Well, anyway, you must be very tired today. It would be better to get a good rest today and do it tomorrow, wouldn't it?”

Adella spoke with an anxious expression on her face.

My face must look tired or something because she looked worried.

“Hey. Adella. Don't you remember?"

Soonchan cleared his throat.

"The real training is the training you do when you're tired. If you don't do that, then it's like throwing away 30% of it."

"..."

The way he mimicked my voice and tone was annoying.

“Our teacher Hayul has to set an example. Isn't that right?"

"..."

Annoying. Should I just kill him?

My impulse to do so surged in an instant.

"...Fine. Let's do it. Feedback. Let's give feedback."

I clenched my teeth and smiled as I replied.

"Oh yes!"

Soonchan smiled broadly as if saying 'I finally gave Satan a taste of his own medicine!'

I looked at him and grinned.

"...Why are you grinning like that? You're making me nervous.”

Soonchan trembled for a moment.

"Nope. It's nothing much. Since the participating members have been confirmed. I thought that it would be good to start some hardcore training tomorrow.”

"..."

Soonchan's face stiffened.

He didn't seem all that happy about it.

"Excuse me. Teacher? Aren't you being a bit childish? You're not going to make us train more than usual tomorrow just because I said this right?"

Soonchan rubbed his hands together.

"Come on, now. Do you think I'm that petty?"

"Oh of course not. I, Adella, and the whole world knows for a fact that our teacher, Hayul, is a great person."

"Obviously. Fear not. I'll act like one.”

I smiled broadly. I wonder how he felt about my smile.

Soonchan's expression contorted as if he had chewed something.

"...Fuck. I was just kidding.”

And right after, he despaired.

Finally, you have a nice expression on your face.

“Look forward to it. In no more and no less than 1 month, people will start calling you the stamina thug.”

“Fuuuuuuuuuck.”

As if deeply regretting it, he dragged out his swearing.

Whew. I'm feeling a bit better now.

“Then let’s swiftly talk about the fight today.”

I took my gaze off Soonchan and turned to Adella.

"...Are you really okay? You don't look all that well.”

''To be honest I'm very tired."

I'm suffering from the aftereffects of resonance right now.

Maybe it's because my circles have completely stiffened, but I'm unbelievably tired. And I can't even use my master's robe when suffering from resonance.

“If it’s too much then sleeping will be..."

"She's right. Do you think I seriously meant it? If you're tired then go to sleep. Friend."

Soonchan smiled softly and patted my shoulder.

"Yeah, even if I rest here, your training tomorrow will be hell."

"Ah. Give it~ a rest..."

Soonchan fell into despair again.

Adella laughed loudly as she looked at Soonchan.

It seemed that she really enjoyed his various reactions.

"Ahem."

Then, as if noticing my gaze, she covered her mouth and cleared her throat. Returning to a blank expression as if nothing had happened.

“Anyway, I’m tired, but it’s not to the point where I can’t stand it.

And all I need to do is briefly go through the fight today..."

I grinned and turned my attention to Soonchan who was hitting the ground in regret.

“As Soonchan said, I must keep to my word.”

When Adella and Soonchan were dying from exhaustion, I pushed them on, telling them to give feedback.

So it's not like I can rest just because I'm tired.

“In return, let’s progress through it a little faster.”

After setting my phone to hologram transmission mode, I turned on the VOD of today's fight.

"Firstly here. The first move. Can you tell why I did this attack here?"

Like so, feedback on my fight continued for about 30 minutes.

* * *

30 minutes later.

After all the feedback had come to an end.

“Then have a good rest.”

"See you tomorrow."

"Both of you take care.''

Upon leaving Shin Hayul's room, Adella and Ji Soonchan headed to the convenience store.

Today, both of them had skipped dinner, so they thought that they might as well grab something light to eat before going back to their rooms.

"...I know he's my friend, but he really is gifted, huh."

On the way to the convenience store. Ji Soonchan implicitly brought up the topic.

“Yes. He's a great person.”

Adella replied, agreeing with his opinion.

''Honestly, who else could have done that? Just because his opponent said he could take the first move, he cancelled all his previous plans and made a new one on the spot."

"...I know right."

Today, almost all of Shin Hayul's plans were ad-lib.

Compared to the initial plan he had told Adella, and Ji Soonchan, the only part that was the same was the ending.

"Removing the Absolute Shield with his first move. Preventing the opponent from using close combat with the second move. Then, after easily making it into a tussle, he went on the offensive. And after driving his opponent into a corner so that he had no choice but to use Inferno, finishing it off with Destruction. He made it sound easy, doesn't he?"

"...Yes."

Coming up with those plans was impressive enough, but making those plans work in reality was even more impressive.

“Was he like that when he was little as well?”

''Well. He was a bit younger back then.”

"I'm sure you're not talking about physically. Are you saying that he was mentally younger?"

"Yes."

"In what way?"

“Perhaps he was a bit more optimistic before? And there were times where he was a bit too overconfident in his abilities.”

Adella quietly added that she was like that as well.

"He's like the final boss of cautiousness. You're telling me there was a time when he was overconfident?"

''Yes. He was like that up till he entered the Obelisk Academy."

Until he was found to be incompatible with AI, he was full of self-confidence, both good and bad.

His self-confidence wasn't quite arrogance or conceit, but it was very close.

He felt as if he could accomplish anything.

“It might be awkward for me to say this... But then that means Hayul being incompatible with AI was actually a blessing rather than a curse.”

"Huh?"

Adella replied in surprise.

Ji Soonchan waved his hand as if telling her not to misunderstand.

"Ah. Don't get me wrong. Because I don't mean it badly. It's just, how should I explain? You know. The pride of geniuses. I just see that as the biggest thing that slows their growth."

"...Yes."

Adella agreed.

They were words that Adella, as a genius who had been arrogant, could deeply empathize with.

"But Hayul doesn't have any of that arrogance."

"Yes. That's right."

"And from what you've said, it seems like the reason he's lost all that arrogance is because of him becoming incompatible with AI."

The case of being revealed as someone incompatible with AI was more than enough to humble him.

"So in other words, he's as perfect as he is now because he's already gone through all that before. Is that what you're saying?"

"Right. Though Hayul might get angry if he hears this..."

Soonchan smiled bitterly.

“Well, Hayul found his way. Though I can only say this because he's been able to spread his wings further as a result of that.”

"That's true."

Had Shin Hayul been unable to recover, these words could never have been said. "...”

"..."

There was a brief moment of silence.

The silence was inevitable, having discussed the heavy subject of incompatibility.

"...Let's work hard."

Ji Soonchan broke the silence.

"Sorry?"

Adella tilted her head at the sudden encouragement.

"Preparing for the Olympiad. Let’s work hard.”

"I see."

Adella nodded as if she understood.

“Yes. We have to work harder.”

The Olympiad gold medal.

What had felt so distant didn't feel so far away anymore.