The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 9

9.

“– My name is Arad Ludwig, and I’m a genius mage who became the youngest Atlas (3-Star mage) in the Empire at the age of twelve!”

There are memories from 300 years ago that overlap with a sense of déjà vu, as if I had forgotten them. I suppose this is a contradictory explanation. Because for me, it was just a short while ago.

“– That’s strange. Isn’t the youngest in the Empire Lynn?”

The Fire Dragon’s Priestess, Friede, tilted her head with a pipe in her mouth, and I replied with a yawn.

“– No, I got it when I was thirteen.”

To be precise, I got the Bandoran (1-Star), Limites (2-Star), Atlas (3-Star), and Glados (4-Star) ranks all at once when I was thirteen.

“– Huh? What, why?”

“– Too much trouble.”

Taking the ranking exams was such a pain that I was a mage with no rank until the headmistress grabbed my ear and dragged me out.

“– Come on, Lynn! I’ll defeat you and prove that I, not you, a nobody, am worthy to stand beside heroes as beautiful and noble as Rista and Friede!”

Rista, who was giggling, saying she felt like a princess caught up in a love triangle, seemed about to explode, but Friede grabbed her shoulder and chuckled.

“– Bear with him, he’s young and doesn’t know any better.”

Then, placing her hand on my shoulder, she lowered her voice so Arad wouldn’t hear.

“– Don’t just overwhelm him with power, but think of it as teaching him a few things.”

“– I don’t want to. Why?”

“– Because being an adult means not just subjugating someone with power, but using that power to support them.”

Friede was usually so full of mischief that it was hard to handle, but once in a while, she would give a smile that was more mature than anyone else’s.

When faced with that smile, I couldn’t even think of arguing and would avert my gaze first.

And Friede forcefully pushed my back towards Arad… The moment I recalled that impact, the past memories vanished before my eyes.

“What…”

Like Arad from that distant past, Crista narrowed her eyes arrogantly and placed her left hand on her hip.

“You’re challenging me? What are you up to?”

“I came to take the test, so I’m going to take the test.”

“What nonsense… Don’t you know this is the supplementary test area?”

“I came to the right place. I was late for the regular test. They said I have to take the supplementary test.”

Crista’s mind went blank for a moment at the immediate reply.

‘This guy, the legitimate heir of the Sega family, is taking a supplementary test? And for being late to the regular test? Doesn’t he know shame?’

While Crista was confused, Professor Caroline stepped forward.

“Young Master? I’m sorry, but do you know what kind of mage Crista is?”

“Yes. Just someone with decent skills, I guess?”

“She’s not just decent. She graduated at the top of her class from the Dellaiten secondary education institution, and she’s an excellent mage who has already become a member of Dellaiten through a recommendation admission that only one person receives each year.”

‘Hmm, those who call themselves geniuses have always had people around them who praise them, both now and then.’

I remembered that the servant of Arad Ludwig also talked about how great his master was for about five minutes. I don’t want to go through that again this time.

Yawning listlessly, I replied.

“I wanted to see more of the city, so can we skip the introductions and start quickly? It’ll be over soon anyway.”

‘Over soon?’

Caroline chuckled blankly, while Crista’s face flushed red as she grabbed Rein by the collar.

“Over soon? Me? Ha! Fine, come at me. I’ll crush you like clay!”

‘Ugh….’

Caroline smiled wryly.

‘Her competitive spirit always turns on at strange moments….’

And the moment her competitive spirit turned on, her language became coarse. Caroline checked the supervisor documents. It was a list of supplementary test takers.

‘Huh, his name isn’t on the list of supplementary test takers?’

No, it was there.

Only after searching through the documents for a long time did Rein Ludwig’s name appear at the very end. Her gaze was drawn to his background.

‘No magic elementary or secondary schools graduated from. No awards in contests. No rank acquisition results….’

Up to this point, it matched the widely spread nickname of genius young master.

It was a sophisticated pun by the underlings to make fun of the Sega family’s young master.

If that was the case, there was one strange record.

[Served as an assistant to Scalzi Ludwig, headmaster of the Rivarden Magic School, for 3 years.]

Scalzi Ludwig’s assistant, under that person who was the former leader of the Magic Alliance and held the title of Magic Star?

As far as Caroline knew, that person wasn’t someone who casually protected his family.

He ruthlessly kicked them out if they were useless. How many times had she seen Ellin Ludwig get scolded to tears?

‘If he really helped with his classes… why is he called the genius young master among the Eight Great Factions [influential noble families]?’

She was quite puzzled.

More than puzzled, she was intrigued. That’s why she felt she had to check it out. No matter what the result was….

“Okay, let’s continue the test.”

* * *

On the marble floor of the test hall, two magic circles were rotating, meshing together like gears.

Impact mitigation, damage reduction.

Impact mitigation magic was to minimize damage to the structure, and damage reduction was to protect the examinees’ bodies.

“Now, the rules of the match will be Illuwedden, as before.”

Illuwedden.

In the language of the gods, it means ‘3’.

It is a magic battle method in which each side casts a maximum of three spells, neutralizes the opponent’s spells, and then subdues the opponent to win.

“You will be disqualified immediately if you pose a threat to the opponent’s life. Do both sides understand?”

On that marble floor, the boy and girl, standing ten steps apart, nodded.

“Yes.”

“Very well, then start now!”

As soon as that call was made, Crista spread out her right hand.

Whooong.

A magic circle rising above it.

Magic circle construction, rune enchantment, and mathematical formula calculation… This is the normal activation process of magic that changes the principles of the world.

‘A battle mage’s match is like a battle of magic casting speed.’

Truly a testament to genius.

Of course, most mages carry grimoires with various magic circles drawn in them, injecting mana into the appropriate magic circle to cast spells. Mental arithmetic was the realm of genius.

‘In that respect, Crista’s magic casting speed is not at a level that other children can keep up with….’

Detailed elements were being elegantly painted on the magic circle that had risen above Crista’s palm.

A rune was engraved in the center, and the mathematical formula that changed the principles of the world filled the frame of truth with intricate detail.

‘How does he plan to face Crista like this?’

Was she thinking the same thing? Crista’s eyebrows twitched as she looked at Rein.

“Aren’t you going to prepare to use magic?”

She couldn’t help but ask.

Building a foundation, that is, spreading out the palm and deploying a magic circle, is the most basic of magic battles.

But the boy was doing nothing.

“There’s no need to prepare anything to fight with low-level magic.”

The boy’s answer was truly absurd.

“I’m thinking about a suitable magic that will end without getting hurt, so finish what you were doing.”

“A suitable magic that will end without getting hurt?”

Ha, Crista seemed to laugh, but then her eyes suddenly turned cold.

“You’re nothing special, just provoking me with nonsense since earlier… I’ll smash your mouth so you can never say such arrogant things again!”

It was at that moment.

On the magic circle rotating above Crista’s palm, a second magic circle was born and meshed intricately.

‘2-Star magic…!’

At the same time, mana swirled and the atmosphere rippled, causing Caroline’s clothes to flutter wildly.

“Crista, it’s dangerous! Magic of that level…!”

“So what! This guy is confident! I’ll stop on my own if it seems dangerous, so don’t worry!”

Being able to use 2-Star magic with mental arithmetic was like a sign of genius.

Can you calculate two mathematical formulas in your head at the same time? That’s what 2-Star magic required of the caster.

Crista finally grabbed the magic circle that was rotating brilliantly with her palm.

Chaeng, with a clear chime, the magic circle shattered, and the extraordinary was embodied in everyday life.

‘The Warden family’s bloodline limit is earth-type summoning magic….’

If the Ludwig family was called ‘stealing mages,’ the Warden family was called ‘commanding mages.’

Gooooooo….

Dust swirled like a storm, and soon a huge figure descended from behind Crista, exuding an overwhelming presence.

“Come on, Sandstone Golem!”

A skeleton made of solid sandstone and joints that moved smoothly with the buoyancy of sand….

The magic was perfectly cast.

As if resonating with Crista’s act of sweeping back her hair, the golem’s eyes flashed fiercely.

“Okay, the match is over with this.”

“Why?”

“You only talked, but in the end, this was your level. You couldn’t use any magic until I took out 2-Star magic, right?”

‘What a pathetic guy.’

The mages Crista, praised as the genius of the century, had seen so far were all possessors of powerful magic or vast mana. In short, it could be said that they were the celestial realm of magic.

‘Compared to the practice matches with those people, the match with this guy is….’

There is no tension at all.

There is no urgency.

There wasn’t even an expectation of what magic the opponent would use. It was truly a waste of time.

“Be thankful. It’s fortunate that I chased away the other applicants, or someone might have seen this pathetic sight–”

At that moment, the boy chuckled and raised his index finger.

“–It’s also admirable, so I’ll give you a tip.”

“What?”

“Magic, you see. It’s not the one who uses it first who is strong.”

As he spread out his palm, uh… a ring of light appeared and rotated dazzlingly.

“It’s the one who uses the most efficient one depending on the situation who is strong.”

Crista gasped.

The speed at which the runes were engraved on the magic circle and the mathematical formula was deployed… It was really in the blink of an eye.

‘Even if it’s 1-Star magic…?’

That magic had already finished deploying the magic circle before Rein could even finish speaking.

“Sandstone!”

At the cry of the owner who sensed the crisis, the golem raised its magnificent fist, aiming at Rein, scattering dust in all directions.

The shape of the magic circle is a circle.

The rune to engrave is 열 (Yeol) [meaning ‘heat’ or ‘opening’].

In short, Rein’s magic was to input the property of ‘spreading out greatly’ into water attribute magic.

Puh-uh-uh-uhng──!

The water that was born with the disappearance of the magic circle spread out greatly in the air and descended, pouring down on the golem that was slamming down its fist.

‘He was a water attribute mage…!’

Crista, who was soaked from head to toe by the waterfall, raised her eyebrows.

‘It’s a well-known fact that water attribute is the natural enemy of earth attribute… but even so, it’s impossible with 1-Star magic!’

The golem’s defense and mobility would decrease, but in the first place, it was impossible to inflict a fatal blow with such magic.

Puh-uhk───!

The golem’s fist that slammed into the ground shattered with a squelch, scattering mud in all directions.

The world instantly turned into a mud pit.

But at the same time, it was also true that the vision was disturbed by the lumps of mud flying around.

‘I was aiming for this…!’

Taking advantage of that moment to control the golem, just as she was about to neutralize the boy with an attack close to a ground explosion.

‘Uh…?!’

Before she could even form the thought of ‘already,’ the ring of light rotating in Rein’s right hand was, incredibly, two layers….

‘No, it’s only been 2 seconds at most since he used 1-Star magic?’

The moment Crista blinked in bewilderment, all the calculations were finished in Rein’s head.

The shape of the magic circle is a double square.

The runes to engrave are 율 (Yul) [meaning ‘law’ or ‘rule’] and 궤 (Gwe) [meaning ‘track’ or ‘path’].

It gives the properties of ‘binding’ and ‘reverse flow’ to earth attribute magic. The mathematical formula to calculate mentally is ‘Previs Differentiation’.

“Answer derived, principle changed.”

Chaeng… As the magic circle shattered, scattering fragments of light, countless vines sprang up through the cracks in the marble flagstone.

Pa-ba-ba-ba-bak──!

And it dug deep into the golem’s legs, whose surface had been weakened by water attribute magic… and it didn’t stop there, but gradually went up.

Gooooooong….

The golem convulsed violently like a beast pierced by a spear, but that movement quickly became stiff and unable to move at all.

“Sandstone, Sandstone!”

Crista cried urgently, but the golem could only creak with difficulty and couldn’t move at all.

And then, the last vine sprang up from her feet and instantly bound Crista’s hands and feet. The binding was so strong that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move from that spot. Rein’s voice was heard.

“See, it’s not always the one who uses it first who wins, right?”

“I lost…” Crista blankly tried to sort out the current situation in her head, then burst into a shout.

“You, you, let go of this! Won’t you let go?”

“The victory or defeat seems to have already been decided.”

“Shut up! I’ve only used one magic so far? So this is invalid! And I gave you so many chances–”

“–It’s not a good feeling to lose to someone, is it?”

Crista, who was struggling in the vines, stopped moving without realizing it at that quiet and calm voice.

“You seem to be quite strong too, but there was no need to desperately overwhelm me like before.”

“Th, that’s…! That’s what the test is in the first place. I’m in a position where I have to test my aptitude!”

“It’s not strong to simply overwhelm with power, but it’s really strong to know how to support others with that power.”

I still don’t know the meaning of that in detail, but I think I know it to some extent as I’ve watched those three people’s backs for 5 years.

Really.

It really doesn’t suit me.

But I thought I wanted to change like those guys… After conveying what Friede had said, I felt embarrassed for no reason, and with an awkward cough, I withdrew the vines of ability.

“…….”

I didn’t know if the heart-aching teaching had reached the boy, but Crista closed her mouth blankly, unable to find words.

‘No way.’

On the other hand, Professor Caroline, who was watching the situation, couldn’t close her mouth.

‘He didn’t not use magic at first, but he didn’t use it…?’

For a perfect counter? Rather than that, what was that ultra-high-speed calculation he just performed?

‘After deriving the golem’s weakness with water attribute magic, he finished it off with a sure kill….’

What made that possible was the magic calculation speed that could only be described as unrealistic.

‘That calculation speed is… wasn’t it almost the same level as the president [of Dellaiten]?’

But that was something she couldn’t accept at all.

Wasn’t Madelia Page, the president of Dellaiten, currently a Glados (4-Star) rank mage?

The next moment, Caroline was unconsciously muttering like this.

“Where is that a disaster sent from the heavens… ?”