The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 151

Inside Mimir’s Grimoire.

The library had grown so large that most ordinary libraries couldn’t even compare.

In the center, on a sofa, Mimir was lying face down, reading a book as usual.

Her feet rhythmically crossed as she slowly savored the books Shin Hayul had brought.

The book she was reading seemed quite interesting, as her feet moved rather playfully.

Rustle, rustle.

The quiet library was filled only with the sound of Mimir turning the pages.

‘…So, this is how they connect?’

The book Mimir was currently reading was a comic book.

It was a shonen manga [a genre of Japanese comics aimed at a young male audience] that Shin Hayul had brought for her to read when she was bored.

At the time, Mimir had grumbled about why he brought such useless books, but once she started reading, she couldn’t stop.

You could tell how engrossed Mimir was in the manga by the volume she was currently reading.

[Wind Magician Volume 99]

There was only one volume left until the end. The long journey was finally coming to a close.

Mimir’s feet, which had been moving excitedly, suddenly began to slow down.

The thought that this manga was ending made her suddenly depressed.

Of course, it wasn’t the fact that the manga was ending that made her feel down.

The long-running manga, Wind Magician, which spanned 100 volumes, was clearly heading towards its conclusion.

Although she hadn’t seen the ending yet, at this rate, it would be a pretty good one.

There was no reason to be depressed when faced with a great ending.

The reason Mimir was currently feeling down was something else.

‘If I grumble like that and then ask for more manga, he’ll definitely laugh, right?’

It was that she didn’t know how to ask for the next manga to be prepared.

When Shin Hayul first brought the manga, she had said she didn’t need it.

Now that she had enjoyed all 100 volumes, her pride wouldn’t allow her to ask for new manga.

‘…Ugh.’

However, she couldn’t give up on the genre she had already tasted.

Mimir was currently in endless agony between her pride and her enjoyment.

That was why she was feeling so down.

“Sigh.”

As expected, volume 99 was over.

Now, only the last volume remained.

Mimir’s dilemma deepened. Enjoyment or pride?

Just as Mimir was holding the 100th volume and lost in thought,

Buzz! Buzz!

Suddenly, mana vibrated intensely, and the resonance of mana rang out loudly.

“…!”

Mimir knew that the resonance was a byproduct of Aslan’s portal magic.

‘It’s only been two hours, already?’

It seemed Shin Hayul had returned.

Mimir quickly hid the manga she was holding.

She opened the book that was lying on the table.

Then, she cleared her throat, looking towards where the portal was opening.

Soon, a human figure emerged from the fully opened portal.

“You’re back early? Successor…”

Mimir was about to greet Shin Hayul indifferently as usual, but she suddenly stopped and frowned.

“…What? Why are you alone?”

The one who appeared from the portal was not Shin Hayul, but Aslan.

A man Mimir was very, very uncomfortable with.

“Don’t tell me you left the Successor alone in the Trial Page?”

Mimir glared at Aslan.

The fifth Trial Page was a place made by modifying the ‘Labyrinth of Desire’.

There was no way she could look favorably on Aslan for leaving the Successor alone in such a dangerous place.

“The Successor has returned to his room.”

Of course, that was Mimir’s misunderstanding.

Aslan knew better than Mimir that the Labyrinth of Desire was a dangerous place.

If Shin Hayul had remained on the fifth Trial Page, he would never have come here alone.

That would be against Aslan’s duty as a supervisor.

“Oh, really? Then, whatever.”

Mimir’s sharp demeanor softened somewhat.

Her rough heart calmed down instantly at the news that Shin Hayul was safe.

“But you sent him back really quickly? I thought you’d make him work for at least 10 hours.”

“I intended to, but he was completely exhausted after just two hours. So, I sent him back to rest.”

“You’d send him back for that reason? I know you’re not the type to send someone back to rest.”

Mimir felt uncomfortable with Aslan. No, to put it bluntly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she hated him.

That was why Mimir knew Aslan better than anyone else.

Even more so because he was someone she disliked.

“If you sent the Successor back in that situation… let’s see.”

Mimir quickly finished her thoughts.

“It’s because of the Successor’s mana core, isn’t it?”

“…As expected, Mimir-nim knew. That the Successor doesn’t have a mana core.”

Aslan nodded a couple of times with a ‘I knew it’ expression.

“Yeah. Of course, I knew.”

Mimir had known from the first time she met Shin Hayul that he didn’t have a mana core in his body.

“If you knew, why didn’t you advise him to create a mana core?”

Even though she knew that a mana core would be beneficial to Shin Hayul, Mimir didn’t advise him to create one.

Aslan couldn’t understand the reason.

“No, more than that, why did the mages of this era abandon the mana core?”

The presence or absence of a mana core shows about a two-fold difference in magic efficiency.

Why was such a mana core abandoned?

Why did the mana core and mana circle become incompatible?

Everything was a mystery.

“Didn’t the Successor tell you?”

“…He didn’t seem to know either.”

“Oh, really? That’s unexpected. I thought the Successor would notice right away. Hmm. Is it because it happened 100 years ago that he couldn’t think that far?”

That could be the case.

To Mimir, the mana core was an essential existence for a mage,

But to Shin Hayul, the mana core was just a useless thing for knights.

He wouldn’t have thought to investigate it separately. And if he hadn’t investigated it separately, it was natural that he wouldn’t know.

“Well. First of all, to conclude, it’s not that the mana core and mana circle are incompatible.”

Mimir recalled the contents of all the specialized books she had received from Shin Hayul.

“What’s incompatible with the mana core isn’t the circle, but the artificial intelligence AI chip that all modern mages implant.”

“Artificial intelligence… AI?”

Aslan narrowed his eyes as if asking what that meant.

“Well. To put it simply, it’s like a miraculous product that increases magic efficiency by about four times just by implanting it.”

“Four… times?”

At that, Aslan’s expression was filled with shock.

* * *

After getting permission from Aslan, I returned to my room and immediately began researching the mana core.

Why did a heavenly technique that showed a two-fold increase in magic efficiency become useless?

I thoroughly investigated the reason.

“…So, that’s what it was.”

The reason was found sooner than expected.

“The exclusion of the mana core due to the development of AI…”

The mana core was incompatible not with the mana circle, but with the AI chip.

To be precise, it should be said that it was incompatible with the ‘mana circle’ of a mage who had implanted an AI chip.

I read the paper I had just found from 98 years ago.

[The increase in magic efficiency that can be obtained by having a mana core is an average of 2 times.]

[On the other hand, the increase in magic efficiency of an artificial intelligence AI chip is an average of 4 times.]

[It was inevitable that mages would abandon the mana core.]

This was what happened about 100 years ago.

As magic shifted from old-era magic to modern magic, the mana core also became a relic of the old era.

And just as old-era magic was abandoned, the mana core was also abandoned and became the exclusive property of knights.

That was roughly the content.

‘…Why didn’t I know this?’

For the year before I became an Incompatible and obtained the Vaitern method.

I had tried every possible way to revive old-era magic.

I learned a lot of things.

The information about Memorize and the abandoned magic was what I learned at that time.

However, I was learning about the mana core for the first time now.

It was a blind spot.

In modern magic society, creating a mana core was a taboo for mages, akin to circulating mana in the brain.

That was why I didn’t even think to investigate it.

I didn’t even look in that direction.

‘If I had known this…’

Would my year have been a little different?

Thinking that made me feel bitter.

‘No. Nothing would have changed…’

The magic efficiency increase of the mana core is an ‘average’ of 2 times.

While the power increases by about 2.5 times and the concentration increases by about 3 times, the casting speed only increases by 1.05 times.

In other words, whether I created a mana core or not, my fatal flaw, the magic activation speed, would not have changed.

My year wouldn’t have changed in any significant way.

It wouldn’t make a difference if a 10-second casting speed became 9.5 seconds.

‘Thinking about it now, what I was looking for were ways to solve the magic activation speed. It’s understandable that I didn’t know about the mana core.’

There was no way information about the mana core would come up when looking for ways to solve the magic activation speed.

I smiled bitterly and closed the paper.

‘Anyway, the question is solved.’

Aslan’s words that the mana core and mana circle were in a symbiotic relationship were true.

What was repelling the mana core was the AI chip, not the mana circle.

‘This means that I can create a mana core without any problems.’

I am an Incompatible who cannot be implanted with AI.

Without AI, there is no problem in creating a mana core.

‘When I look at the laws or rules by which the mana core acts on the mana circle, it won’t have a very significant effect on my Infinity Circle…’

The reason why the mana core and mana circle synergize with each other is that the mana core activates the body, dramatically increasing the processing speed and rotation speed of the mana circle.

However, the Infinity Circle itself activates the body, and accordingly, the processing speed and rotation speed of the circle are already close to the highest.

As such, even if I create a mana core, it won’t reach a 2-fold efficiency.

‘Still, the efficiency will increase by at least 1.1 times, and at most 1.2 times.’

A 10% to 20% increase in efficiency.

It may seem small compared to 2 times, but this is also incredibly large.

Just considering that the magic efficiency increase of an S-class artifact is about 7% to 9% on average, it speaks for itself.

‘Okay… Then, I’ll go back to the fifth Trial Page right away and create a mana core first.’

My heart was pounding.

Is this how it feels to find money in an unexpected place?

I quickly closed the laptop and opened Idred’s Grimoire.

And just as I was about to head to the fifth Trial Page,

“Ah.”

Suddenly, my eyes fell on my master’s robe, which was placed next to the table.

‘Ray Bell Vaitern’s Robe.’

‘I almost forgot again.’

It had been continuously forgotten, overshadowed by more important matters.

‘First, I need to go to Mimir’s Grimoire and hear about real magic.’

Information about the original magic unique to the Vaitern method, which Mimir called ‘real magic,’ and information about the true power of my master’s robe, etc.

There were many things I wanted to ask Mimir.

‘I’ll go to Mimir’s Grimoire, and then return to the fifth Trial Page.’

I decided on my course of action and closed Idred’s Grimoire.

Then, I picked up my master’s robe, which was placed next to me, and this time, I opened Mimir’s Grimoire.

With the familiar reversal of vision, I moved to Mimir’s Grimoire.

“Welcome. Successor.”

Mimir greeted me as I entered Mimir’s Grimoire.

As if she knew I was coming, she was standing still in front of me.

“Mimir. I forgot to ask last time…”

“Yeah. I know what you’re going to say.”

Mimir said with a small smile.

“You came to hear about Mythic Magic, right?”

“…Mythic Magic? Is that the official name of the magic you called ‘real magic’ in the past?”

“Yeah. That’s right. Mythic Magic. Among the unique magics of the Vaitern method, it’s a magic that boasts even more overwhelming power and output, and…”

Mimir’s eyes emitted a brilliant light.

“It’s a magic that can recreate myths.”