The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 154

The next morning.

After about 10 hours of training, I returned to my room.

I wanted to keep training, but I couldn’t just stay in my room forever.

I headed to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

“You still seem a bit tired.”

On the way to the restaurant, Mr. Seok-hyun, who had subtly appeared, asked. His gaze was filled with concern as he looked at me.

“I wonder if your injuries haven’t fully healed yet…”

“I think it’s just because I slept too long.”

Actually, I was tired because I had been training for 10 hours straight, but I couldn’t explain that in detail, so I just mumbled vaguely.

“Have you been sleeping the whole time?”

“Yes. I was sleepy no matter how much I slept.”

“It seems like the aftereffects of the potion are still lingering.”

“I think so. It feels like all the fatigue that had accumulated while preparing for this Olympiad came at once.”

“I see. That makes sense.”

Mr. Seok-hyun replied with a somewhat relieved expression.

He seemed relieved that my tired appearance wasn’t due to any particular injury.

“Then you’ll continue to rest in your room today?”

“Yes. I’ll also adjust my condition. I’m going to rest well today… or until tomorrow.”

“That’s an excellent choice. Resting when you need to is the best training.”

Mr. Seok-hyun nodded as if he was very satisfied.

That dramatic reaction.

He seemed worried that I might say I was going back to training right away.

“Then I’ll return to the shadows.”

“Can’t you at least have breakfast with me?”

“I’m not so clueless as to disturb your time with your classmates.”

Mr. Seok-hyun smiled with a somewhat sly expression.

‘He really thinks I have feelings for Adela…’

If Mr. Seok-hyun is reacting like this, it means my father is also secretly convinced.

This is going to be a bit troublesome when I return to Korea.

The head of the Shinbi family is a serious daughter-fool, so he definitely won’t leave me alone.

“Then, I’ll be going.”

“Ah, one last thing. I don’t plan on having lunch separately today, so please don’t call me until dinner time.”

“It’s not good to skip meals, but… I understand.”

He seemed to think I was going to sleep until dinner, and Mr. Seok-hyun nodded.

At the same time, Mr. Seok-hyun’s shadow disappeared.

As expected of Mr. Seok-hyun, his stealth magic is near perfect…

‘…Huh?’

That should have been the case.

‘…Why can I see him?’

What is this?

The figure of Mr. Seok-hyun, who had gone into stealth, was still visible.

‘Did he make a mistake?’

No. That can’t be it.

With the AI backup, the probability of making a mistake when using magic is less than 0.01%.

Moreover, the probability of a magic error occurring in a peaceful situation like this is almost zero.

‘And if the AI had made an error, there’s no way Mr. Seok-hyun would be so calm.’

If an error had occurred, he would have canceled the magic and used it again.

There’s no way he would just stay still like that.

In other words, there’s absolutely no problem with Mr. Seok-hyun’s magic.

This is the conclusion.

‘If there’s no problem with Mr. Seok-hyun’s magic… then has my perception ability increased?’

Did my Divine Eye grow?

No. That doesn’t make sense either.

‘But I couldn’t see him until yesterday. How can I suddenly see him like this?’

The Divine Eye grows with the achievement of the Bitener method [a specific training method].

And I weaved the 5th circle a week ago.

In other words, the Divine Eye finished growing a week ago.

But suddenly today, I can see Mr. Seok-hyun’s stealth?

I couldn’t see him until yesterday, but suddenly today?

It doesn’t make sense.

In other words, this isn’t an increase in perception ability due to the growth of the Divine Eye.

Then why did this change occur?

‘If I think about what’s different between yesterday and today…’

The dantian circulation breathing training [a breathing technique focused on the lower abdomen].

‘The presence of a mana core.’

The mana core that is slowly starting to settle in my body.

A core that is still smaller than a grain of rice.

‘Is it because of this?’

I stroked the area above my abdomen, right above where the mana core was located.

‘…Does a mana core of this size really produce this kind of effect?’

The effect was so outstanding that it was absurd.

* * *

After a light breakfast, I was having coffee with Soon-chan and Adela.

“So, are you going to sleep all day again? What, are you trying to evolve into a Snorlax?” [Snorlax is a large, sleepy Pokémon.]

Soon-chan said casually while drinking his mint chocolate latte.

“When else would I sleep? I’m going to take a good rest this time.”

“Well, you’ve been running pretty hard. Good thinking. Take a good rest this time.”

Soon-chan’s eyes twinkled playfully.

“Nice. Then how about sleeping for a month? I can put you to sleep well.”

Soon-chan clenched his fist and smiled wickedly.

He brought his clenched fist down in the air.

“One of these knuckle sandwiches will give you a real good sleep~, I’m telling you.”

“Oh, a good sleep punch? Nice. My punch is also pretty good. Shall we trade? You look like you’re lacking sleep these days too.”

I smiled slightly and clenched my fist. Then, I swung it in the air with all my might.

Whoosh!

The sound of my fist cutting through the air was terrifying.

Soon-chan made a ‘Heeik’ sound with a startled expression.

“Ahem. Cough. Forcibly putting someone to sleep through external impact isn’t good for the body.”

Soon-chan quickly backed down and averted his gaze.

Then, he put the straw to his lips and just sucked on his drink with a distant look.

He’s being cheeky.

I chuckled and lowered my fist.

“Cough, cough! *Cough!*”

It seemed like he choked because he drank too fast. Soon-chan coughed violently.

“Hey, hey. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay… *cough!* Water… some water…”

Soon-chan said weakly, looking at my cup.

Since what I was drinking was an iced Americano, he must have been thinking of drinking it instead of water.

“Sorry. I finished it.”

But I had already finished it.

All that was left was ice.

“*Cough!* You sure… *cough!* drink fast!”

Tears were even welling up in his eyes.

He must have choked really badly.

“It’s because you ate something like a mint chocolate latte that you’re being punished.”

“Bullshit… *cough!* Adela… just one sip of that… *cough!*”

“Huh?”

Adela, who had been sucking on her straw like a hamster, asked in surprise.

“…”

She looked back and forth between the vanilla latte she was drinking and Soon-chan, who looked like he was in agony, with a serious expression.

She was probably torn between wanting to help Soon-chan, who was in pain, and not being able to give up her vanilla latte.

‘She’s hesitating. She’s hesitating.’

For reference, that vanilla latte is not an ordinary latte.

It’s a perfect drink made by the same chef who made bread with banana milk for Adela before, using banana milk again.

That’s why she’s hesitating like that. It’s not a drink that you can just taste again if you want to.

“…”

Adela took her lips off the straw and moved the cup around.

She offered it to Soon-chan as if she was going to give it to him, then hugged it back to her chest.

She offered it to Soon-chan again, then hugged it back as if she couldn’t do it.

After repeating that action a total of four times.

“…Here.”

Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she handed the cup to Soon-chan.

Her face was tearful.

‘She’s giving it up.’

Honestly, I was a little surprised.

Adela’s obsession with banana milk is almost pathological.

For Adela to give up her original brandy vanilla latte.

“Thanks.”

Soon-chan, who had been coughing, quickly pulled the straw out of his cup and stuck it into Adela’s cup.

In Soon-chan’s mind, it must have been an act of consideration for Adela.

But.

“Wait… !”

Seeing that, Adela opened her eyes and shouted.

But the straw was already in the cup.

“…Whew. I feel a little better now. Thank you.”

“…”

That was a mistake.

A huge mistake.

“Adela?”

“…”

Adela’s eyes were dead.

The eyes of a dead mackerel.

A murderous gaze that seemed to say she would kill you right now.

“Why, why are you like that?”

Soon-chan’s voice trembled, frightened by that gaze.

“…It’s mixed.”

“What?”

Soon-chan asked back as if he hadn’t heard correctly.

“It’s mixed.”

“Mixed? What is?”

Soon-chan turned his gaze to Adela’s latte.

“Ah. It’s a little mixed with the mint chocolate latte? Hey. What’s the big deal? It’s just a little mixed.”

“…”

Adela’s expression became even more terrifying.

“If it’s mixed that much, it might even taste better? Ah, yeah. If you try it this time, Adela, you might also…”

Soon-chan stopped talking and closed his mouth.

It seemed like he had finally noticed Adela’s murderous aura.

“If a drop of muddy water is mixed into clean water… is it still clean water or muddy water?”

“Uh, uh? Well, it’s muddy water, right…?”

“It’s the same thing.”

Adela glared at the drink that ‘was’ a vanilla latte with a cold expression.

“This is just mint chocolate now…”

“No, even so, it’s still something to drink, so comparing it to muddy water is…”

“It’s the same to me.”

I don’t think there’s any need to say it now, but.

Adela has a severe mint chocolate phobia.

She absolutely hates mint chocolate.

“…Let’s go.”

Adela took a deep breath.

Then, she slowly got up from her seat.

“Uh, where are you going?”

“We have to go… to training.”

Soon-chan was sweating cold sweat.

“We were supposed to have a sparring session today, right? I’m already looking forward to it. We have some time to spare. How about we test the durability of the octagonal gate to its limit this time?”

“Adela? Hey. Ms. Adela?”

Adela grabbed Soon-chan’s hand and started walking towards the training ground.

While being dragged, Soon-chan looked at me with his eyes, asking for help.

But I turned my head without a moment’s hesitation.

“…”

To touch Adela’s reverse scale of all things [a metaphor for something that deeply angers someone].

I put my hands together and wished for Soon-chan’s safety.

* * *

That evening.

While focusing on training to weave a mana core on the fifth trial page.

“Stop. I’ll end today’s training here.”

Aslan declared the end of training.

“There’s still about an hour left until dinner time, are you already finishing?”

The current time is 6 PM.

Dinner is at 7 PM.

There’s still a little time left.

“Training isn’t about doing it for a long time. Especially in cases like mana cores, where repetitive training is needed.”

Aslan stared intently at my abdomen, near my dantian [an energy center in the body].

“If you’ve put that much load on your mana core, you need to rest for at least 5 hours. That’s much more efficient.”

“I see.”

Load.

I actually felt a sensation of the mana core creaking.

I thought this sensation was a sign of muscle pain and growth.

It seems that wasn’t the case.

“Understood.”

I released the lotus position and got up from my seat.

At the same time, I stretched my neck, hands, and legs.

The lotus position is good, but this is the problem. My whole body feels stiff after training.

Tap-

Aslan, who had moved behind me, placed his hand on my back and infused mana.

His mana traveled through my mana circuits [pathways for mana flow].

“Hmm. It’s about the size of a bean now.”

He had checked my mana core through inner observation.

“Not a bad speed.”

Aslan chuckled and took his hand off.

“…Not bad, you say.”

Neither good nor bad, just average.

That’s all it is.

Honestly, I thought it was pretty fast.

‘When I looked into the training process at the Knight Academy, it took at least a month to get to this point.’

Well.

Aslan said he had been in charge of training many recruits.

His standards would be different.

The people of that era might have been much more outstanding.

“Yes. Keep up the good work.”

“Yes. I will try my best.”

Well, I don’t plan to be impatient. What if it’s average? I just need to keep going at my own pace.

There’s nothing as foolish as comparing yourself to others and overdoing it.

“…Is it because you’re already mentally complete?”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Aslan waved his hand down and opened a portal.

“Are you coming back right after dinner?”

“No. I have some business to attend to, so I think I’ll be a little late.”

I have a tea party with the Blue Magic Tower Lord in my room tonight.

By the time I finish that schedule, it will be at least 10 PM, no matter how fast I am.

“You have it good. A trainee prioritizing his personal business over training.”

“…Haha.”

I just laughed it off at Aslan’s words, which I couldn’t tell if they were a joke or serious.

“Be back within 5 hours.”

“Yes. I understand.”

He was telling me to come back when the load on my mana core was completely recovered.

“Okay. Then go on out.”

“Yes. I’ll see you later.”

I walked out through the portal.

‘So, what should I do for the remaining hour?’

I slowly picked up the phone that was on the table.

‘I still haven’t heard from my sister.’

I recalled the phone number written on the note my sister had left.

She had asked me to send her a text after I was discharged from the hospital, so I did.

But there’s still no news.

“Hmm.”

Why did she leave me that note, and what could she possibly want to say?

I turned the phone’s lock screen off and on repeatedly, letting my imagination run wild.

That’s when it happened.

Ring-!

As expected, the phone rang.

[Restricted Number]

It was even a restricted number call. I immediately answered the phone.

-Hello.

“Sister…”

Shin Se-ah.

Her voice was heard over the speaker.

-I don’t have much time, so I’ll get straight to the point.

Her voice tone was lower than usual.

She seemed very cautious even when uttering a single word.

Se-ah paused for a moment.

I could feel a lot of emotion in her breathing over the receiver.

Was she crying?

Her breathing was trembling.

-Listen carefully.

As if she had finished organizing her thoughts.

Se-ah began to speak in a trembling voice.

-Jihan is trying to kill you by using me.

“…”

My pupils widened as much as they could.

-If this continues, both you and I will die.