Descent of the Legendary Archmage

Even after I was officially introduced to the Bytenor style of magic, my daily life remained the same.

I would wake up and do some training in the morning before attending my classes, and after my classes, I would train my magic until dawn.

If I had to say something had changed, it probably would be the fact that I did my training in my own room rather than at the training facilities.

And as per usual, today I'd finished my classes and was doing magic training in my room.

‘Water.’

A small drop of water, about 10 cm in diameter, floated above the palm of my hand.

This was water magic, the basics of elemental magic.

In the past, it took me almost 8 full seconds to create this small droplet of water.

But now, just by thinking about it, I can naturally manifest it.

"Deliberation. Immediate casting.”

A magic that triggers just by thought without needing any algorithms or calculations.

It was a type of magic beyond great; it was marvelous.

"In addition to this..."

In accordance with my thoughts, the shape of the water drops began to change.

Gulp gulp.

It changed from the shape of a star to the shape of a spear.

And then to the shape of a bow.

Even changing into a form like that of a lion or a tiger.

And finally, it changed into the shape of a bird, and as if it were real, it flapped its wings and flew around me.

It changed form and moved all in accordance to my thoughts.

"That's awesome."

I stuck my tongue out and canceled the water magic.

The bird that was flying in the sky dispersed into water droplets and vanished.

'I wonder if anyone would believe me if I said all this was done impromptu and was cast without any algorithms.'

I bet no one would.

I don't think they would trust me.

I can't believe I can freely change the magic I've manifested to this extent.

This is something that should be impossible according to the basic principles of modern magic.

If you think about the eight-step magic activation formula, you can see just how crazy this is.

'It's like going against the magic formula and modifying the middle of it.'

Currently I was changing the appearance of the magic after I had finished casting it.

In other words, after finishing the 8th and last stage of magic (manifestation), I was modifying the previous 3rd (conversion) and 4th (cohesion) stages.

If we use the analogy of manufacturing a car, it's like building an entire car and then afterwards saying that you don't like the frame so you're going to change it.

Or if we use the analogy of constructing a building, it's like saying that you forgot to build the earthquake prevention measures so you'll just add them in.

Basically this should be physically impossible.

And I did the thing that was supposed to be physically impossible.

Of course, I didn't actually defy the laws of physics.

This was only possible because the structure of the Bytenor style of magic was completely different from the structure of conventional magic.

The more I think about it, the more I can't help but to admire it.

Not only does this magic not require any casting, one can also freely alter any magic that they've manifested.

I wonder if there could be another magic system as overpowered as this one.

‘And it feels very compatible with me as well.'

Especially considering my combat style, my compatibility will be shown to an even greater extent.

‘The only problems are that it consumes a large amount of mental power, and that I haven't been able to learn all of it yet...'

Due to the structure of the Bytenor style of magic, the brain itself is directly used, and so it drains a large amount of mental power.

Because of this, despite having a huge reservoir of mana thanks to my infinity circle, I'm unable to overuse my magic.

I only have one circle, so it's to be expected.

‘Well, since both problems can be solved with time, I'm not too concerned.'

Even though there are problems present, since they can be slowly overcome with more progress, I'm not too fussed.

Rather, I'm feeling happy and knowing that these are the only downsides.

“This is enough for now.”

Now that I've overcome my weaknesses, that in itself is enough.

I've only taken just one step forward.

I have no need to be impatient at all.

As my master said, impatience is but a poison in the study of magic.

Slow and steady wins the race.

If you take one step at a time, you'll find that eventually you'll reach the target you set for yourself.

With this conviction, I read the newly revealed pages of the book [Ray Vell Bytenor].

[If you have set foot on the basics of the Bytennor style of magic: 'deliberation', then it's time to set foot on achieving full mastery.]

I couldn't help but let a huge grin break out.

* * *

Monday, 20th of April.

In the afternoon, I took some time off and went out to the personal training grounds.

I intended to try out the Bytenor style of magic that I had mastered over the last two days by using the training grounds that I hadn't used for a while.

“This place really is ridiculously expensive."

Although the Obelisk shopping district boasts an enormous amount of mage training facilities, it's stupidly expensive to use any of it.

800,000 won per hour.

Using those facilities for just one hour instantly burns about a month of my living costs.

I can't afford to use such high-class facilities.

"And they said that money doesn't matter."

I smiled bitterly and walked through the main street of the Obelisk shopping district.

After walking for a long time, I entered a back street.

[The exclusive mage training room, 'Destiny']

And in the corner of the gloomy street was the training room that I had made my destination.

Old signs and a shabby building.

It's a stark contrast to the shops on the main street that I had passed by a short time ago.

[200,000 won per hour.]

However, it's much cheaper.

I swiftly walked into the store.

"Welcome."

The inside of the shop was quite tidy.

Unlike the shabby, unmanaged signs on the outside, I felt that the interior was definitely being maintained.

‘To be fair, I doubt they would neglect maintenance at a mage training facility. '

I know just how picky mages are.

"Hi, I'm trying to use a training room where I can fight virtual monsters for an hour."

“Can you show me your ID?”

I took out the student card that identified me as a student studying at the Obelisk Academy. The shop assistant took my student card and placed it where the scanner was. The shop assistant was using a mana scanner which checked if my ID was fake.

"Yep, you're good to go. Would you like me to take you straight to your room?"

In an instant, the shop assistant gave back my student ID.

"Yes, please."

"Then, follow me this way."

I followed the shop assistant inside. Judging by the number of lights that were turned on, there seemed to be a lot of people who were in the middle of using it.

It's unusual for so many people to be here at this time of day.

I searched for the cheapest place possible, but I guess it's a good place in its own right.

I walked for about a minute, and arrived at room 14.

The inside of the room was also quite neat.

The training dome is definitely old, but considering the price that's to be expected.

"You may use this place. Should I explain how to use it? "

"No. I'm alright thanks."

There's a training dome like this near my house, so I know how to use it better than anyone.

‘‘Alright then. Please call me if you need any assistance.”

After saying this, the shop assistant left the room.

“Whew.”

I, who was left alone, did some light stretches and headed for the control panel.

Using the control panel, I selected the type and number of monsters without making it too difficult.

Next, I selected the terrain I wanted.

[PvE mode confirmed.]

[Creating the specified terrain and monsters.]

BEEP - !

The mana inside the dome trembled fiercely.

The surrounding landscape began to change.

The ordinary interior of the dome was changed into a modest cave.

At the same time, monsters began to be created.

The monsters that I chose.

Blood razer wolves.

An agile mammal monster of the dog species, ranked E in the risk rating.

Ten of them.

They were randomly generated around me.

[The creation has been completed.]

[To begin training, please shout 'Begin Training'.]

Monsters that have a risk rating of E class are weak monsters that can be defeated even by a 2-circle mage without any problems.

The reason I chose the blood razer wolves was because there used to be an odd trend at the Obelisk Academy that was called the [Blood razer wolf Challenge].

“If you were able to defeat 10 of these guys at once without taking any damage, you were said to be a proper two-circle master.”

Even if they're E Rank 4 Tier Monsters, dealing with 10 monsters at once isn't all that easy.

No matter how fast modern magic has gotten, it's the mage themselves who are using the magic.

There was no way it would be easy to defeat 10 monsters rushing from all directions without taking any damage.

Of course having the ability to use magic at the right time is a must, but the ability to judge situations, a wide field of view, ability to multitask and being skilled at moving one's body.

All of this is required in order to defeat the blood Wolves without receiving any harm.

"At the time I couldn't even conceive the idea of trying it."

It took me 7 seconds to cast basic magic, so it was absurd for me to even think about defeating 10 blood razer wolves

“I'm trying this after all the hype has died down."

I felt needlessly embarrassed.

“Still, there's no other way to be more certain about my strength than this.”

I've heard that there weren't that many who actually succeeded in overcoming this challenge.

That's why this would be a good way of telling how strong I am.

'‘Hoo. All right. Let's do it. ”

I took one last deep breath, and pulled myself together.

I revolved the Infinity Circle, lowered my center of gravity and prepared to fight. I was filled with adrenaline.

‘‘Begin training.”

[The training is starting.]

The mana briefly vibrated, and then the training began.

* * *

"Have a nice day."

"Goodbye."

After Shin Hayul had left, a part-timer headed to room 14 to clean it.

Reverting the settings of the training dome back to how they were before, if someone had littered then picking it up and by chance if someone had smoked, removing any trace that they had left.

Such was the life of a part-timer.

Occasionally there were people who made a mess of the room. But there were instances of claiming damages against those people using the student ID that was already scanned.

"As expected, the students of the Obelisk Academy use the rooms very neatly."

Fortunately, this guest had no reason to worry about such claims.

Room 14 was very tidy.

It was so tidy that the part-timer had no need to do any additional cleaning.

'Looks like I only need to reset the settings.'

The part-timer swiftly opened the settings window. All they had to do was plug in the master key and reset the settings.

The ID card of the student who had used room 14 suddenly came to mind.

‘Come to think of it, the student who used this room... Was it Shin Hayul?'

Shin Hayul.

The great genius that not a single person who's work related to magic didn't know.... A boy that used to be such a person.

‘I was told that he wasn't compatible with AI and I haven't heard much from him in a while. Seems like he was still at the Obelisk Academy.'

I would have thought that you would have already quit everything to do with magic and be all cooped up.

“I wonder what kind of training Shin Hayul did.”

And suddenly the part-timer's curiosity got the better of them.

What results would the training of Shin Hayul, the former genius but current failure bring?

By how much did that genius prodigy fall?

Even I was curious.

“Shall we have a quick look?”

The thought was short and the action was fast.

'Yeah, let's take a quick peek'.

The part-timer stopped resetting the settings, and checked the training records.

And was shocked.

Although it was surprising that he managed to finish 5 different types of training in 1 hour, what was even more surprising was the results of the training.

"You succeed in the blood razer wolf Challenge?"

And the faces of the monsters that were defeated were brilliant.

"No, this is..."

Shin Hayul's last training session was the [PvE Monster Survival Training].

This was training that was included in the Obelisk academy test and was set up to be appropriate for the international exam standards.

It was a training exercise where monsters would continuously pour in and it tested how long one could last, or how fast one could wipe out all of the virtual monsters.

For reference, the average time it takes for the top academy students around the world to defeat the monsters is 12 minutes and 33 seconds.

"Holy!"

And the time it took for Shin Hayul to clear it was...

“Wiping out all of those monsters... in just 6 minutes and 37 seconds!?"

6 minutes 37 seconds.

It is not a time a student should be able to achieve.

It's a time one can see at a competition where the participants are all mages that are 5-circle or higher.

The fact that Shin Hayul, who is incompatible with AI could set such a mind boggling score, meant that...

"...Oh, you crap machine. There's another error again."

There had been another error in this old training dome.

“How many times has it been just this month?”

The part-timer let out their frustration, and hit the crappy machine with their fist.

From recording errors to operating errors.

Anyone would be sick of this.

‘‘Looks like I'll have to call the repairman soon.”

6 minutes and 37 seconds was such a ridiculous time.

The part-timer reset the settings in an offhand manner, as if they hadn't even considered that this may have been Shin Hayul's real score, and returned back to standing behind the counter.