Raided The God’S Warehouse [EN]: Chapter 497

497

The Great Sages couldn’t hide their surprise.

They expected to see mana gathering, but they assumed it would be around the level of a 7th Circle Master.

In truth, even reaching the 7th Circle at that age was an extraordinary feat, so they were already quite astonished.

“An 8th Circle mage!”

“Isn’t that the same level as the Azure Great Sage?”

“How could someone so young reach the highest level a mage can achieve in a human body…?”

This was no ordinary matter.

Talent has its limits. If he reached the 8th Circle at that age, wouldn’t he be able to challenge the 9th Circle, which is considered impossible for a human body?

“I believe this is sufficient grounds, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Y-yes, it is.”

“Indeed.”

As the Azure Great Sage nodded, Se-un slowly released his magic.

He gradually restored gravity so they could regain their balance, but some of the Great Sages were so surprised that they didn’t even think about it and ended up falling on their butts.

A moment of silence.

Honestly, with an 8th Circle mage appearing, it was hard to speak casually.

Even the Azure Mage rose to the position of Great Sage the moment he reached the 8th Circle, so there was no reason Se-un couldn’t become a Great Sage as well.

While more than half of the Great Sages were acknowledging Se-un, one Great Sage with a grim face shook his head, snapped out of it, and immediately began to object.

“He’s still just a mage! Isn’t the position of Great Sage given to mages who have achieved the highest accomplishments in their field!”

“That’s right.”

“Then are you saying that this Sage has reached a higher level than the Azure Great Sage?”

“Not yet.”

“Not yet…? Ah, anyway! Unless the Azure Great Sage steps down, it’s impossible to rise to the position of Great Sage based on magical skill alone!”

His words caused the Great Sages to murmur among themselves.

It was a plausible objection, but the opponent was still an 8th Circle mage.

It was true that two Great Sages couldn’t exist in the same field, but magic wasn’t just one type.

While the Azure Great Sage was well-versed in non-attribute or water-attribute magic, if Se-un showed distinction in other attributes, he could certainly be selected as a Great Sage in that field.

“More than anything, you want to accept a guy who hasn’t even been in El-Abra for a month? Should we accept everyone who’s said to be strong as a Great Sage then?”

“As I said, Sage Se-un has already proven his qualifications through his paper.”

“The position of Great Sage isn’t one you can just rise to by writing a paper and claiming to be skilled!”

The man quickly racked his brain and continued his objection at length.

It seemed plausible at first glance, but the Great Sages couldn’t possibly be unaware that it was a specious argument with little basis when considered carefully.

One of the Great Sages listening to him sighed and muttered to himself.

“Driven mad by the grants…”

In fact, the decisive reason why the Great Sages had become stagnant was the grants they received under the guise of research funds.

Becoming a Great Sage came with a level of funding that was on a different scale from when they were Sages, and that funding was basically divided equally among all the Great Sages.

But what if the number of Great Sages increased?

Naturally, the number of people to divide it among would increase, and the amount of funding given to each person would decrease.

Even if they didn’t say it, it was clear that everyone was making the selection of Great Sages more difficult because of that thought.

It was obvious that the reason they were all listening to the man’s remarks with their mouths shut was because of that.

“Then, if it’s not magic, is it possible?”

“What are you talking about!”

“Do you not know? Our Sage Se-un is not only well-versed in magic. Great Sage Jae, would you mind assessing Sage Se-un’s skills?”

The Azure Great Sage looked at the opposite side of the round table.

The Great Sage of Ash.

He was a wizened old man, but he was the Great Sage most versed in martial arts in El-Abra.

“Heh heh, interesting. Are you requesting a duel?”

“Sage Se-un, would you be willing?”

“Of course.”

“Intriguing. Even so, it would be difficult for a mage to use his strength in this narrow space.”

“I will not use magic.”

“Are you saying you’ll face me in martial arts?”

“Yes.”

“Heh heh, this is going to be interesting. Very interesting. Let’s start right away.”

“Ah, then we’ll prepare the training grounds immediately…”

“No need. It’s not a martial arts tournament, and this is enough to assess his skills. Don’t you think?”

“That’s right.”

“There’s no hesitation in your answer. I like this young man very much. Heh heh, come here.”

Se-un followed the Great Sage of Ash to the side of the round table.

This place was basically rectangular, so there was a space that served as a hallway besides the round table.

It wasn’t a place for duels, but the two of them faced each other and took their stances there.

A sudden duel between a Great Sage and a Sage.

But far from stopping them, all the Great Sages at the round table were watching them with sparkling eyes out of curiosity.

Some of them even got up from their seats and approached the front of the hallway, wanting to see up close.

“What about weapons? I’m comfortable empty-handed, but it seems like you’ll be using a weapon.”

“I’ll go empty-handed as well.”

“Heh heh, well, if you’re proficient in all weapons like you are, your martial arts must be formidable as well.”

The old man immediately grasped Se-un’s fighting style as soon as he saw Se-un’s stance.

Indeed, observation skills befitting a Great Sage.

The moment everyone’s expectations were focused, the person in charge of the proceedings cautiously approached and shouted, ‘Begin!’

Taat!

Se-un and the Great Sage of Ash. The two of them brushed past each other and stood on the opposite side.

“…Hmm?”

“What?”

“Did you see that? What happened?”

“…Five exchanges.”

“Five exchanges?”

“They exchanged five blows. It seems the duel is over.”

“Already over? They just brushed past each other?”

“The battles between masters are decided in an instant. Besides, this is just to confirm their skills, isn’t it?”

“Still…”

Contrary to the Great Sages’ expectations, the duel ended too quickly.

Neither Se-un nor the Great Sage of Ash had even suffered a single scratch.

Then, the Great Sage of Ash was the first to speak.

“Heh heh, I lost. How could this old man beat a young man with over a thousand years of energy.”

“Y-you lost? Elder?”

“Hmm? Didn’t you all see? I was pushed back in three out of the five exchanges. I would have lost even if it had gone on longer. Thanks to you, I realized that this place was also in a well.”

“A well, are you perhaps referring to El-Abra?”

“El-Abra or whatever, it’s just a deeper well. Originally, the deeper the well, the easier it is to stagnate.”

“A well…”

“Look, isn’t there a young man like that? When we clashed in the first exchange, I even mistook what was in front of me for a dragon, not a person.”

The Great Sage of Ash cleanly admitted defeat.

The Great Sages, who had been dumbfounded by the appearance of the 8th Circle mage, fell into confusion once again.

Was this situation even possible?

An 8th Circle mage facing the Great Sage of Ash with only martial arts, without using a single spell.

Regardless, the Azure Great Sage walked towards Se-un, who was shaking hands with the Great Sage of Ash.

“As you can see, Sage Se-un is no ordinary person. Frankly, this isn’t all. As those who have read his paper know, this isn’t all of his talent.”

Everyone had no choice but to acknowledge it.

All the Great Sages in this place nodded, and even the Great Sage who had been vigorously objecting to the Azure Great Sage’s words earlier was bowing his head.

It was already a foregone conclusion that Se-un would be selected as a Great Sage.

Now, only one thing remained.

What color to give the new Great Sage.

Giving a color doesn’t mean just attaching a roughly matching color, but it’s customary to attach the most appropriate color according to the characteristics of the Great Sage.

Sometimes it’s attached with the meaning of the color itself, and other times it’s judged by comprehensively considering everything such as the color the Great Sage symbolizes, the power they use, and their tendencies.

And the Azure Great Sage had already decided on a color that suited Se-un.

“I think the color of Red (赤) [A vibrant and powerful color often associated with strength and passion] suits our Sage Se-un the most, but does anyone have any objections?”

Of course, none of the Great Sages objected.

* * *

After Se-un was promoted to the Great Sage of Red, El-Abra was buzzing with talk about Se-un.

“Did you hear?”

“Who doesn’t know about it these days?”

“The shortest-term Great Sage, the youngest Great Sage. How many first-ever titles does he have?”

“I know, right! Isn’t he so cool?”

It was only natural that the appearance of a Great Sage in El-Abra after so long would cause a stir.

More than anything, the fact that the Great Sage’s identity was Sage Se-un, who had recently heated up El-Abra, and the various modifiers attached to his name made Se-un’s name shine even more.

“And he received the color of Red, right?”

“The Great Sage of Red. The other Great Sages just watched that happen?”

“When I took a peek, the Great Sage of the East seemed to be in quite a shock.”

“If it’s the Great Sage of the East, he’s the one who tried to inherit the color of Red but failed, right?”

“That’s right. Because the color of Red isn’t an ordinary color.”

The color of Red (赤), which was proposed by the Azure Great Sage and attached to Se-un.

This was the most famous of the many colors that Great Sages possessed.

This was because the color of Red was a color bestowed upon the most outstanding person among the Great Sages.

The Great Sage of Ash was the most promising for this, but there were many who were on par with the Azure Great Sage in each field, so the color of Red itself had not been given to anyone until now.

And that color was taken by the newly appointed Great Sage this time.

In particular, those who were most enthusiastic about this were naturally the Diablo Guild members who were in El-Abra.

“As expected of our Guild Master!”

“We believed in you!”

“I was worried because there was no news for the past two weeks, but it seems he was preparing for this.”

“Now that he’s become a Great Sage, can’t he accept us? Should we go visit him?”

“Well, I contacted him, but it seems he’s still busy.”

“That’s a shame. I want to learn under the Guild Master if possible.”

“Even if that’s not the case, there’s a lot to learn here, right? Let’s start by learning what we can right now.”

“Yes. They say they’ll allow access to the Great Library soon, so I’m looking forward to it.”

They didn’t rely on Se-un.

As much as they were happy that Se-un had become a Great Sage, they searched for the knowledge of El-Abra more diligently than anyone else in order not to fall behind him.

With the exception of Yoo Seo-ah, some of them were already known as prodigies in El-Abra.

In the meantime.

“Hoo…”

Se-un, who had gained the name of the Great Sage of Red, opened his eyes.

He had been refining the newly acquired eighth circle and the Tai Chi dantian [Energy center in the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine], but it took quite a while just to take care of it once because he was not yet familiar with it and the size of the power was so great.

‘The preparation is over.’

Honestly, he gained more than he expected.

Reaching the 8th circle alone was enough to be satisfied, but he also gained the Tai Chi Divine Art, a combined attack, and a tremendous amount of internal energy.

He was able to fully realize the power of the increased internal energy in the duel with the Great Sage of Ash.

So, now it was time to achieve his true goal.

‘Outer.’

Se-un left the Great Sage’s office and moved above El-Abra.

Now that he had the qualifications to enter the deepest part of El-Abra, there was no need to waste time.

To do so, he had to visit Aen, the manager of El-Abra and the guide who would guide Se-un to the deepest part.