The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 222

Time flowed quickly.

The funeral for Elder Phase Iron was completely over.

And another week had passed.

‘Alright, let’s end today’s training here. Good work.’

With my declaration that training was over, Soonchan collapsed right there.

‘Haa, haa, haa…’

He was breathing heavily, as if he was completely out of breath.

‘Take long breaths. Absorb the mana deeply, and then exhale it again.’

‘Hooo, hoooo, haaaa.’

Soonchan followed my instructions and slowly repeated his breathing.

About 5 minutes passed like that.

His breathing returned to normal to some extent.

‘Hoo… I feel a bit alive now.’

Soonchan, who had finally returned to his normal appearance, muttered with an expression as if he had truly died and come back to life.

‘You’re already better? Was today’s training a bit easy?’

‘……Don’t talk nonsense.’

Soonchan’s expression turned serious.

It wasn’t just serious; there was even a hint of murderous intent in his eyes as he looked at me.

It was as if he would kill me if I dared to utter such nonsense again.

That kind of will was conveyed directly through his eyes.

‘I can’t even joke around.’

‘Joke? Ha. If there’s anyone who can joke after going through this training, tell them to come out. I’ll report them to NASA right away.’

‘Why NASA?’

‘If they can do that, they’re not human, they’re aliens. I need to report them and get a reward.’

‘Then what about me?’

‘You’re an alien, aren’t you? I’m not reporting you because of our friendship. Be grateful.’

‘Wow. How grateful I am?’

I answered more stiffly than reading from a textbook.

‘Sigh. Seriously, you’re not even human.’

Soonchan chuckled at my reaction.

I chuckled too.

‘Seeing that your mouth is alive, it seems you’re really doing better.’

‘Yeah. I’m getting a little used to it after repeating it. Until 5 days ago, I thought I was really going to die.’

‘You should improve after training so hard.’

‘I guess so. If it’s still hard, that’s a problem. It means I haven’t grown.’

Over the past three days, Soonchan had made remarkable progress.

He overcame his lack of stamina, and his heart became as strong as other people’s.

As a result, he achieved a remarkable increase in his magical abilities.

At this rate, he should be able to pass the advancement exam in a week without any problems.

‘Hah. I want to kill you, but when I see your skills improving, I’m also grateful. Is this what they call love-hate?’

‘Love-hate my foot.’

I left Soonchan, who was talking nonsense, and got up from my seat.

‘Stop talking nonsense. Let’s go take a shower.’

‘Okay.’

Soonchan got up from his seat and followed me, and we headed towards the shower room.

‘I wonder if Adela is okay?’

After arriving at the locker room.

Soonchan took off his clothes and casually brought up the topic.

‘The advancement exam?’

‘The exam is one thing… It’s already been a week, and she’s still not answering her calls. I’m worried about her mental state.’

A week had passed since the funeral.

Even though it was about time for the sadness to fade, Adela was still holed up in her room, refusing to come out.

She wasn’t answering Soonchan’s calls, nor was she answering mine.

‘Oh, and speaking of which. How about postponing Adela’s exam schedule? In this situation, she probably won’t even come out for the exam.’

‘……Hmm.’

The advancement exam was exactly 8 days away.

Could Adela recover her composure and return to her original condition in that time?

Probably not.

In this situation, it would be better to postpone the exam schedule, as Soonchan said.

Fortunately, the association had also considered Adela’s situation and sent an official letter stating that they could postpone the exam without any penalties.

‘Let’s try contacting her again today. And then we’ll decide.’

I wanted to take the exam together and graduate together if possible, but there was nothing I could do since the situation had turned out like this.

I would try contacting her one last time today, and if she still didn’t answer, then I would have to apply for a postponement of the exam.

* * *

That dawn.

I was reading the newly unlocked books in Mimir’s library.

As Mimir had said, they were filled with high-quality information.

Every single one of them was interesting.

Among them, the most interesting ones were the stories about myths.

Since they were myths, they contained stories of all kinds of human beings, making them not only interesting but also fun.

It couldn’t get any better than this.

‘Adela. About the Ignis myth. Is there no next story?’

Of course, it wasn’t all good.

‘Unfortunately, there isn’t.’

‘……I see.’

The books were interesting and intriguing, but their contents were not complete.

There were gaps in between.

I would be looking forward to seeing what happened to their relationship, but the important next part was missing.

This situation had already repeated itself several times.

It was like being cut off in the middle of something.

It was very frustrating.

‘……Tsk.’

Especially the Ignis-related myth I read this time was the worst.

The beginning was good, the development was good, the crisis was good, but it was cut off in the middle of the climax, and there was no follow-up.

If it was intentional, it was an incredible cutting technique.

I sighed deeply.

And then I put the book face down on the desk and got up from my seat.

‘Ughhh~’

And then I stretched.

I had been reading books for 7 hours, and my body felt stiff.

‘Want to take a break?’

‘Yeah. I’m going to rest for about 10 minutes.’

‘Good idea.’

I put on Aeth as it was.

A warm energy enveloped my body, and my head began to clear.

This feeling is something that only those who have experienced it would know.

I had become someone who couldn’t imagine a life without Aeth.

‘How’s the training going?’

‘The training is the same as usual.’

I simply extended my index finger and pointed upwards.

A very small Möbius pattern appeared above my raised index finger.

It was a symbol that appeared when the Ring of Awakening was activated.

‘Oh. What’s that? You’ve improved a lot in just one day?’

‘Improved a lot? It’s only 1cm in size.’

The Ring of Awakening has a considerable output, and its consumption is also intense.

To control this consumption, it is necessary to perfectly control the output of the Ring of Awakening itself.

To do that, I must first be able to activate this Möbius pattern by shrinking it to 1mm in size.

‘You’ve already reduced it to 1cm, that’s incredibly fast. How long has it been since you linked the Ring of Awakening?’

‘Fast? At this rate, I don’t know when I’ll be able to expand and parallelize it…’

The growth key of the Ring of Awakening is the free use of the pattern.

The first step for this free use is reduction.

The next is expansion, which is growing the pattern.

And the last is parallel use, which is displaying multiple patterns at the same time.

I have to do all of this perfectly to enter the 6th Circle Master.

I still have a long way to go.

‘How about Kailum? Are you getting used to handling it?’

‘……That’s still not it.’

I reached into Aeth and took out Kailum.

‘I’ve been trying consistently. But I can only maintain it for 40 minutes.’

Kailum’s unique power.

Great Memorize.

The effect is the memorization of all kinds of magic, including incantation magic and myth magic.

It’s an incredibly powerful force, but I’m not able to use it properly.

‘Even if I memorize Permafrost or Helios’s Heavenly Demon, Great Memorize goes berserk after 40 minutes…’

There’s no problem with memorizing.

The problem is after that.

The problem is the time I can maintain the memorization.

Only 40 minutes.

The memorized Permafrost goes berserk inside Kailum after 40 minutes and is forcibly activated.

Moreover, since it’s activated in a berserk state, it doesn’t distinguish between friend or foe.

It even froze my body, and I was so surprised.

‘Still, it’s increased by 10 minutes.’

‘Whether it’s 30 minutes or 40 minutes. This is a long way to go. A very long way.’

I had worked hard, but the memorization maintenance time had only increased by 10 minutes.

I could only sigh.

‘There are too many homework assignments to solve. Too many.’

I have to improve the proficiency of the Ring of Awakening.

I have to handle Kailum perfectly.

I have to find Ignis.

There are still mountains of homework left to solve.

‘Well, what can I do? I have to work harder.’

‘There’s no way to work harder than this?’

‘……Ah, I guess not.’

Mimir nodded slightly.

‘Then don’t work harder, just do it as you are now.’

‘If you say that, I have nothing to say.’

I thought she would tell me to work harder, but since she said that, I had nothing to say.

‘Well, it’s true. The Successor is already doing his best.’

Mimir smiled brightly.

I felt even more awkward.

‘Oh, right. I was going to ask you this.’

Mimir suddenly seemed to remember something, took her eyes off the book, and turned her body towards me.

‘Is that Adela or whatever still not answering her calls?’

‘……Yeah. She’s not.’

I put Kailum back into Aeth and answered.

‘Still? Including the 3 days of the funeral, it’s been ten days today? Isn’t her mental state too weak?’

Mimir said with a displeased expression.

From Mimir’s point of view, she wouldn’t be able to understand Adela.

‘Her uncle did such a terrible thing. Who could be okay?’

Even though she’s mature, she’s still only 18 years old.

It will take quite a long time to recover.

Especially since she was betrayed by someone she trusted.

‘I understand being sad. But ten days is a bit too much. I recovered in 4 days after experiencing something worse. Ugh. That’s why greenhouse flowers are no good.’

Mimir shook her head with a truly displeased expression.

Since Mimir didn’t have a good impression of Adela because of Miho, she was feeling even more bitter than usual.

‘So, will she be of any help to the Successor? You even gave her the grace of God [a rare elixir]. She has to earn her keep, right?’

……I thought it was because of those emotional reasons.

It seemed that she didn’t like the fact that a helper who had received the rare elixir of the grace of God was hesitating like that.

‘Successor. Don’t wait forever, go find her and give her a good scolding. That’s the only way she’ll come to her senses.’

‘I was planning to go anyway.’

‘You said you didn’t know where she was?’

‘I know now.’

I thought it wouldn’t work like this, so I contacted Adela’s mother.

As a result, I found out the hotel where Adela was staying and the room number she was in.

I was planning to go to that hotel tomorrow.

* * *

Early the next morning.

I headed to the hotel where Adela was staying, while being hit by the morning dew.

Today, I was going to have a final conversation with her and decide whether to extend Adela’s exam.

I thought there was a high probability that I would postpone it.

‘Seeing that she’s still not answering her calls…’

In front of the hotel, I called Adela, but she was still silent.

It was proof that her mental state was still broken.

I didn’t think that a mental state that had been shattered like this would recover within a week.

‘It seems like it’s right to postpone the exam.’

I was thinking that as I entered the hotel.

‘Welcome. What brings you here?’

When I went to the lobby, an employee greeted me with a bright smile.

‘I had an appointment to meet a friend. But I don’t know if she’s oversleeping or what, but I can’t reach her. It’s room 703. Could you please contact her?’

Last night.

I contacted Adela’s mother to get news about Adela.

As a result, I found out that Adela was staying in room 703 of this hotel.

Even if it was the front desk’s phone, she would answer it.

‘Room 703. I understand. Could you wait a moment?’

‘Yes.’

The employee picked up the phone and called room 703.

10 seconds passed, and 20 seconds passed.

Even so, the employee had no reaction.

It seemed like she wasn’t answering.

‘Should I give up on meeting her? Or should I ask her mother to force a meeting?’

I was thinking that as I looked at the employee’s troubled face.

‘Ah.’

A familiar voice was heard from behind.

A clear voice that I hadn’t heard in a week.

I quickly turned around.

‘……Hello?’

Adela, wearing a tracksuit, was standing there.

It was as if she had just come back from exercising, and her hair and clothes were soaked with sweat.

No, that’s not the important thing.

The important thing was Adela’s complexion.

Adela’s complexion was completely different from what I had expected.

Far from being exhausted, she was very calm. Even compared to Adela two weeks ago, there was no difference.

‘……You. Why are you so fine?’

‘Huh?’

Adela tilted her head.

‘……Why am I fine?’

‘……?’

Adela and I tilted our heads at the same time.