The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 84

Episode 84

“Wow, this is….”

The professors, peering into Lane’s magic circle, exchanged amazed, incredulous chuckles.

“This is beautiful as well.”

“To think he could complete a 5-star spell in such a short time!”

“That alone is remarkable.”

Among magicians, 5-star magic circles are known as the most beautiful. The primary reason is that they perfectly embody the pentagram, the most complete form of a star.

“If the previous two students’ magic circles seemed like attempts to blend art and magic….”

The runes and mathematical formulas, densely filling the paper and extending orderly in all directions, appear as a form of art to magicians.

“Lane’s magic circle is purely magic! You can sense his confidence in competing with only the essence of magic!”

Vice-Dean Kyle, showering such praise with a sincere smile, completely shifted the atmosphere of the audience, which had already been leaning towards Christa.

“The Vice-Dean is praising him so much?”

“Of course! He completed a 5-star spell!”

The future leaders of the Eight Great Factions, Logan, Lillian, and Nora, couldn’t hide their surprise as they muttered:

“If there isn’t a single mistake in the calculation of that 5-star spell….”

“He might actually win….”

“Against Warden and Harimun…★”

The volume of magic displayed by a 5-star spell is truly explosive, something that cannot be matched by 3-star or 4-star spells, even with dual runes.

“Yes, that’s it!”

In the VIP room, Elin Ludwig clenched her fist and nodded vigorously. Seri’s face lit up.

“Did Brother do well?”

“Of course! No matter how skilled Lane is, he can’t make up for the difference in artistic sense in such a short time.”

So, he just needs to push forward with something strong from the start. What am I talking about? Of course, overwhelming skill that his peers can’t even approach.

“Why are you babbling on just by looking at the magic circle, you blockhead! Especially with such high-level magic.”

High-level magic is delicate and sensitive.

Imagine five gears turning simultaneously. Wouldn’t there be a problem if even one of them had a defect?

“Well then, let’s see how far that confidence goes!”

The moment Marchena injected mana into the magic circle, a ripple of golden light gently arose in her vision.

Huh……?

Feeling something strange, she closed and opened her eyes once, and the Dragon Blood Arena disappeared, replaced by a new world filling her vision.

As if the previous ripple had opened a door to a new world.

“Where is this….”

“A flower field……?”

Summer insects, coloring the hills yellow, hid among the blooming wildflowers, singing their songs.

In the distance, at the horizon where the view ended, the sun set below the mountain peaks, making this golden world even more exciting, distant, and yet frightening.

A breeze carrying the heat of summer blew, caressing the flower field, and petals scattered, brushing past the professors’ faces.

‘Much is blurry and insufficient.’

Like a clumsy landscape painting drawn by a child, it was far from the actual appearance of nature. Yet, because of that, this magic is…….

“But what is this smell?”

There’s a smell coming from somewhere.

A savory yet smoky…… smell of tobacco? The bizarre experience didn’t end there.

The wind gently settled on their heads, making them feel the warmth of someone stroking their hair.

It was a memory, a sensation, a longing left in Lane’s heart…… Friede’s cigarette smoke and Keyes’s touch stroking the boy’s hair.

“……!”

It poignantly touched the fragments of memories that the professors, already adults and elders, cherished in their hearts.

Everyone had been to such a flower field. With loved ones like parents or siblings.

And the things they had done for them, the memories of laughing and talking with them…….

‘This isn’t just materializing a landscape left in his heart…….’

Marchena had to blink blankly in this absurd experience.

‘Just how, I can feel the emotions that kid felt at that time, and the emotions he feels remembering that day…….’

Everything is felt.

The excitement felt watching the dazzling scenery, the remoteness felt smelling the scent of summer, and the sense of loss that they can’t return to this place again…….

‘He’s barely sixteen years old, what on earth do you have to do to feel such emotions in one place?’

But as if the illusion was only up to here.

As if the daydream was over.

The sounds of the world poured in from beyond, and the flower field tinged with twilight began to distort.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

As if they had watched a play, the young professors blankly chuckled, lost in the afterglow.

“To be able to embody the beauty of summer’s nature so vividly…….”

The old professors, recalling the exciting yet poignant memories of their childhood that they could not return to, quickly wiped their eyes.

“Student Lane, what magic did you use? Were you an illusion-type magician?”

“No, I don’t have a talent for illusions.”

“It was a truly perfect illusion.”

“It’s not an illusion. The rune that became the key to my magic is the World (世) [a concept representing existence and reality].”

The World (世)……?

The professors had to momentarily fall silent in bewilderment.

“If it’s the rune of the World (世), isn’t that a rune only used by sages who have reached the ranks of 6-stars?”

“It’s famous for being used in mental image barriers.”

“It couldn’t have been easy to use…….”

Then Lane shrugged as if it were nothing.

“It wasn’t that difficult if you use the formula I created.”

eix=cosx+isinx.

That formula can express the relationship between exponential functions and trigonometric functions very simply.

“If you put π in the place of the variable x, the complex-looking formula can be expressed simply as a constant. To put it more simply, eπi+1=0.”

“……?!”

“If you keep this formula in mind, you can use constants to express the relationship between pi, irrational numbers, and imaginary numbers needed to unfold a mental image, so it’s not difficult at all.”

The audience had to doubt their eyes.

What on earth is the identity of that boy, teaching mathematics to the professors of Magic University, composed of the empire’s best scholars?

And the professors are nodding as if they’ve realized something from that potentially rude remark.

“Complex numbers in the position of exponential functions……?”

“Since exponents can only be defined in the real number range, it was impossible to construct a mental image domain……?”

“If a method of creating a function with complex numbers as exponents is developed like this……?”

The boy did not hide his knowledge.

He didn’t flaunt or conceal it.

The Dean, who had taken him in when he was young, had shared his knowledge generously, so he thought that was the right way.

“To think there is such a beautiful formula in the world.”

Such reactions poured out not only from the professors but also from the elder-level figures of the Eight Great Sixteen watching the Chief Decision Match.

“He figured out that formula on his own?”

“Is he really sixteen years old?”

“Why was he called the Genius(天災) Young Master [a prodigy whose talent is almost like a natural disaster]?”

Casena Page, feeling her shoulders dance for no reason at the wave of praise, looked up at Madelia and asked for the reason, and a trembling voice returned.

“That just now…… is a formula that can be called a discovery of the century. It’s enough to advance modern mathematics several times over.”

Keibon Ludwig, you rascal…….

How on earth did you teach your son? What did you do to make him so smart?

“Well, it’s certainly a remarkable mathematical formula, but shouldn’t we focus on the judging now?”

It was Vice-Dean Kyle who regained the atmosphere in the arena, which had been leaking out in a strange direction. Kyle scanned the magic circle and continued to admire.

‘Constructing a mental image world with the rune of the World (世), and engraving the rune of Brightness (明) [illuminating brightly] on the fire attribute magic circle to express the twilight…….’

And the identity of the smell, I thought it was because he engraved the rune of Incense (熏) [burning incense] on the earth attribute magic.

Did he choose the sense of smell to counter the sense of sight and hearing?

The sense of smell is a perfect sense to draw out emotions. If that’s what he was aiming for, this is also a remarkable choice.

“One thing that’s a shame is the duration of the magic. It disappeared the moment I was about to feel something, what’s the reason for that?”

Then Lane smacked his lips as if he was slightly embarrassed.

“Actually, those flowers, I made them with magic I learned from the Local Development Magic Club.”

Ah, Logan realized the secret of the flowers and his eyes lit up. Is that the magic he used at the end of that match, to briefly breathe life into dead plants?

“No matter what I did, I couldn’t increase the duration of that magic. To conclude, it’s because of my shortcomings.”

Professor Owen felt his muscles twitch.

‘Christa, I thought that damn monkey was the only one absorbing everything around him…….’

Was this guy the same?

No, was he an even greater monster than that?

How much more powerful of a monster are you planning to become, not being satisfied with your talent and absorbing everything around you?

“You’re being modest. Then one last thing, what was your intention in coming up with this magic? To create a gap with your magical skills?”

“I think those two are also excellent in magical skills…… The reason I chose this was because I don’t have any aesthetic sense.”

I can’t do music either.

I can’t do art either.

If there’s something they don’t have that I do, it’s the experience of seeing a beautiful place.

“So I thought, what if I just showed it vividly? The scenery that I saw and felt was really beautiful.”

Of course, it didn’t work out well.

The flower field I saw with everyone back then was more beautiful than this, it shone more brilliantly than this.

Lane Ludwig scratched his cheek, smiling shyly.

“But as expected, it didn’t come out as well as I thought, probably because I’m still lacking in many ways.”

But would anyone who saw this really feel that Lane was lacking?

The students who were here had all vaguely felt it and had come to believe it.

Lane is on a different level…… Only one person was different.

‘Lane Ludwig, as expected, you are…….’

It was Christa Warden.

The thing flickering in her eyes as she looked at Lane’s back was a fighting spirit that didn’t give in to this difference in level.

‘I’m really glad I met a rival like you. I can grow several times more by looking at you.’

Caroline smiled as she looked at her student’s eyes. In her heart, she was so nervous that her lips were shriveling up…….

‘I thought Christa would definitely take the top spot in such a favorable theme.’

The opponent called Lane Ludwig is too high in level. There was something in that boy that couldn’t be explained by the word genius.

“It was definitely a great magic, and a tremendous formula was applied, but this was a review of beauty (美) [aesthetic appeal].”

Professor Theon, who had been deeply immersed in thought in the judging seat, finally opened his mouth quietly.

“What I paid attention to was the detail of the art. I could feel that Student Cayden and Student Warden were beautiful just by looking at them.”

“I agree.”

“But in the case of Student Ludwig, there were quite a few shortcomings. In the details. It’s like a child scribbling.”

Then Professor Kyle smiled brightly, as if saying he had spoken well.

“A child’s scribble, that’s right. I felt that way too.”

Kyle, that bastard…….

It was at that moment that Elin Ludwig was grinding her teeth.

“The direction of the evaluation is a bit different, though.”

“……?”

“What do you feel when you see a child expressing their mental image carefully but clumsily on paper? Do you start by thinking, wow, that’s really bad?”

“Of course not, but.”

“That’s right. But as you become an adult, you don’t draw such pictures anymore. Because you’re afraid of failing.”

Because people who have become adults first teach those who have not yet become adults like this.

Only walk the path to success.

Don’t even touch things that seem like they will fail, people’s time is limited…… That’s how human thinking, the spirit of challenge, gradually shrinks.

“But I could see it in this magic. A pure spirit of inquiry like a child. And the spirit of challenge to pioneer a new path in a place where failure is not allowed, the final exam. Finally, the skill to perfectly support those things.”

Then another professor shook his head slightly, expressing his opposition to Kyle’s opinion.

“But isn’t that the same for Student Cayden and Student Warden?”

“The two students were definitely excellent. But couldn’t another genius from the Harimun Faction or the Warden Family do that someday?”

“……!”

“Countless styles of magic have been born while magic has been progressing. The Seven String Zither of the Harimun Faction and the Bloodline Limit of the Warden Family are among them. But were they all perfect from the beginning?”

“That’s…… not true.”

“What Student Lane has created is just the beginning. It’s natural to be immature and clumsy.”

But someday, at some point in the future, a new faction that focuses on such magic may emerge.

“If it’s personal favoritism, I have nothing to say, but I really like Student Lane Ludwig. As I said during the midterm exam, I can see the future of magic in this student’s magic.”

Kyle smiled at Lane once, then picked up his brush and wrote his precious score on the paper.

[10]

Then Marchena, who had been watching the discussions of her juniors with her arms crossed, laughed out loud, ah ha ha…… and picked up her brush.

“You’re right, you rascal. Then pushing the back of a commendable child is also one of the things an old man should do.”

And the moment Marchena put down her brush, a silence flowed as if the world had frozen…… followed by a shout that exploded like a bomb.

“Crazy! The Vice-Dean and the Dean gave 10 points for the first time?!”

“I’ve never seen that person give 10 points before!”

“Is Lane Ludwig really going to win?! Surpassing that Harimun and Warden?”

Brim approached Elin, who was watching the other professors scribble on the paper with an anxious heart, and held her hand tightly.

Each other’s hands were shaking wildly.

From the joy that came from pride, the joy that made their bodies tremble, and from the impatience caused by tension…….

“The judging has been completed.”

Finally, all the professors raised their papers.

In the silence where only the sound of heartbeats was raging, the assistant, who had added up all the professors’ scores on the mobile whiteboard, opened his trembling lips.

“With this, the top student of the 1388th class’s first semester final exam has been decided. The student whose name is called, come forward.”