The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 30

Bookshelves lined every wall, filled with countless books. It was a room that felt too small to be a library, yet too large to be a study. It was precisely that kind of in-between space.

“What is going on…?”

From the light erupting from the book to this sudden spatial shift, I was completely bewildered.

‘For now, it seems I’ve entered the book.’

Given the circumstances, that seemed highly likely. Just like when I entered the test page, I heard my teacher’s voice right before the shift. Perhaps I’ve entered the book I just acquired.

“It was definitely an appendix… the Book of Mimir, right?”

He had definitely said that. An appendix, the Book of Mimir. He said it was a book containing my teacher’s life.

Just then,

Tap tap-

Someone tapped my shoulder. Startled by the sudden touch, I quickly turned my head.

Poke.

At that moment, I felt a fingertip touch my cheek. It was a cheek poke prank I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“Hi?”

The person who pranked me was a woman I had never seen before. Was she happy that I fell for her prank? She smiled cheerfully as she greeted me.

“Who are you?”

“Me? I’m Mimir.”

The woman took her hand off my shoulder and cheek, stood straight, and looked up at me with a bright smile. “I’m Mimir, the manager of this Mimir’s Well. Nice to meet you, Successor.”

“Mimir’s Well?”

“Yes, the name of this library.”

Mimir’s Well inside the Book of Mimir. So, this is what it is.

“It’s the name of the library that Ray Bell Bytenner prepared for his future successor, a library exclusively for a Bytenner-style successor.”

“Hmm….”

I looked around again.

“It seems too small to be called a library.”

Like I said, at best, it’s about the size of a large study. Even a neighborhood bookstore would be bigger than this. It’s definitely not a scale that could be called a library.

“That’s because your achievement is still low.”

“…My achievement?”

“Yes. This place, Mimir’s Well, is a library that changes in size depending on the successor’s level.”

“Ah.”

Expansion based on achievement. It seems to be a place with a similar mechanism to the Book of Idread.

“Judging by the size, it seems like you haven’t even passed the second test page yet. Am I right?”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“I see. Well, anyway….”

Mimir frowned as if something was bothering her. Is there a problem?

“Um, could you speak more casually with me?”

“Pardon?”

“We’ll be seeing each other a lot, so it’s a bit much to keep using honorifics. So, let’s just be casual, is what I’m saying.”

Mimir doesn’t seem to like formalities or decorum much.

“Okay, then I will.”

“Cool, I like it. Good, good.”

Mimir gave a thumbs up.

“By the way, Successor, you’re really lucky, you know?”

“Lucky?”

“Finding me at the 2nd Circle, I mean. You’re lucky. Usually, they don’t find me this quickly.”

“In that sense, I was definitely lucky.”

It’s true that finding the Book of Mimir can only be described as luck.

“Well, good things are good. Anyway, congratulations. With this, you can go straight to at least the 5th Circle without any problems.”

“Up to the 5th Circle?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said?”

Mimir slowly moved her feet and approached one of the shelves. Then, she immediately pulled out a book and threw it at me.

“Seeing is believing. Read it. Then you’ll know.”

It was sudden and out of the blue, but since she told me to read it, I decided to read it.

“Huh?”

And the moment I turned the first page, my eyes widened.

“…Detailed Theory of Resonance?”

This book contained detailed information about resonance that wasn’t written in the Book of Idread. The explanations for the things I was curious about were also very detailed. The formulas according to the changes in the Circle value were also very meticulous.

“This place is full of information that the Book of Idread couldn’t contain. Like the books you’re reading now.”

“What do you mean by ‘couldn’t contain’?”

“It means exactly what it says. Excessive processing volume due to the test page inclusion. Excessive occupancy for successor confirmation. And for various other reasons, the Book of Idread could only contain the necessary information.”

“Ah.”

Information overload, information reduction due to excessive occupancy. I understood.

“If the Book of Idread is a summary, then this place is like a textbook and a reference book. It’s like a professional textbook for experts that explains in detail things that you can’t know just from a summary.”

A reference book. I think it’s a good analogy. This is definitely a reference book, and a TMI [Too Much Information] reference book that exists for real experts. This book explains the theory of resonance, which was about 5 pages in the Book of Idread, in 700 pages.

“There’s no need to explain how amazing the books here are, right? You’re seeing it with your own eyes.”

I turned the page.

“All the books here. They all contain information of this density?”

“That’s right.”

Just by looking, there seem to be over a hundred books. And all those books are at this level?

“And the more my achievement increases, the more books there will be?”

“As magic becomes more difficult, it increases exponentially, right?”

“…Wow.”

I was speechless. This is amazing, really.

“How is it? Now you know why I said you could go straight to at least the 5th Circle, right?”

“Yeah. I know exactly what you mean.”

The Book of Mimir seems to be an incredible book, even more than I expected. Probably as much as the Book of Idread.

‘It’s a piece of cake to pass the second test page with this, right?’

If I can’t pass with this kind of high-quality information, then I’m just stupid.

* * *

Friday morning. I headed to school with a feeling of being refreshed for the first time in a while. My sleep time was far from enough, but I didn’t feel any fatigue at all.

‘79, huh.’

79. The number of magic circles I succeeded in activating while taking the second test yesterday at dawn. In the last test, the limit was only 25 magic circles. It jumped more than three times in just one day. It was an incredible improvement, to the point where I wondered what all the previous hardships were for.

‘If it’s fast, tonight. At the latest, I can definitely pass by tomorrow.’

How could I not feel good with this?

‘If I hadn’t gotten the Book of Mimir, it would have taken at least 3 weeks to pass.’

Activating the 30th magic circle and activating the 70th magic circle had a difficulty difference as vast as the sky and the earth. I don’t know what kind of formulas they made so difficult. Without exaggerating, it was three times harder.

‘The 90s magic circles will be much worse than this.’

If I hadn’t gotten the detailed information about resonance from the Book of Mimir, I don’t want to imagine how many trials and errors it would have taken to overcome that.

‘The second test is a test, but the third test is….’

Ugh. I got chills just by imagining it. What’s certain is that it would have been impossible to reach the 4th Circle before the Olympiad.

‘The Book of Mimir. It’s really something.’

I can say it with certainty, even though I’ve only read two books. The Book of Mimir is a cheat. And not just a cheat, but a super cheat.

‘Teacher… that great archmage, it’s worthy of being called a repository of knowledge.’

I don’t know how the explanations could be so detailed and kind. It felt like I had a private tutor. It was so informative and fun that I didn’t even realize how time was passing.

‘Hoo. I want to read the other books quickly.’

What other luxurious blessing could there be than being able to indulge in high-quality knowledge to your heart’s content? I wanted to feel that sensation again soon.

‘There were so many interesting-looking titles.’

Ah, I’m already excited. With those thoughts about the books I haven’t even read yet, I headed to the classroom.

* * *

After all the classes on Friday were over, I received a call from my father and headed to the main family residence. The second test was just around the corner, and I wanted to spend the whole day with the Book of Mimir and the Book of Idread today. It’s a shame.

‘Why today of all days.’

I wish the appointment was tomorrow. Thinking that way, my disappointment grew even more.

‘This is also a somewhat important matter….’

The reason I’m visiting my family today is to receive an award for acquiring the magic stone mining rights. Since I’ve obtained the rights to a huge amount of rights, half of the magic stone mining rights, I’ll probably receive a considerable award.

‘Ah, award or whatever, I just want to go to Mimir’s Well.’

I really want to ignore my father’s call, the award, and everything else. I just want to go into the Book of Idread and take the second test.

‘The 3rd Circle is just around the corner.’

The desire for the 3rd Circle was overwhelming all other desires. Well, that’s what I feel, but I can’t really ignore it.

‘There’s also something I need to take from the family’s vault.’

Whatever it is, I had to go once. Let’s think positively.

“We’ve arrived.”

After about 20 minutes had passed, I arrived at the main family residence.

“Thank you for the safe drive.”

“You’re welcome. Have a good day.”

As I got out of the car, a maid approached me and bowed her head.

“Welcome. The head of the family is waiting for you in the study.”

I followed the maid. Walking along the familiar hallway, I could see my father’s study in the distance.

“Head of the family. Young Master Hayul has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

“Yes.”

The maid opened the door to the study, bowed her head, and stepped back.

“Sit down.”

My father, who was engrossed in paperwork, said that without even turning his gaze to me.

“Yes.”

I sat down at the table where refreshments were prepared, as my father had instructed. My father still didn’t turn his gaze to me and focused on processing the documents. He stamped the magically treated documents with a magic seal that reacted to his unique mana. He repeated that about 10 times. He put the documents and the seal down on the desk, got up from his seat, and approached me. Then, he sat in front of me and got straight to the point.

“Unlike the previous one, the stake you got isn’t 100% thanks to you, but it’s a clear fact that your contribution was more than half. Combined with the previous one, the 26% stake in the magic stone mining rights is your contribution.”

“Yes.”

It’s actually generous to say that my contribution to this matter was half. If it weren’t for my father’s quick actions and clean information concealment, this would have ended with the fall of the Baek family. Even though I was the catalyst, the 20% stake in the magic stone mining rights was practically created by my father.

“Since we’ve gained a great benefit thanks to you, we must give you a suitable reward.”

My father looked at me with a serious gaze.

“Is there anything you want?”

“Yes, there is.”

“What is it?”

A different light flowed from my father’s eyes. What kind of unique words will he use this time to hit him in the back of the head? It was a look that seemed to have such expectations.

“I want the ancient relic that is kept in the deepest part of the family’s vault.”

But this time, I don’t have any intention of saying anything unique.

“…An ancient relic?”

My father said with a somewhat disappointed expression.

“Are you saying that knowing that it has no value other than historical value?”

“Yes, I know.”

An ancient relic. It’s literally a relic. It’s a kind of artifact that has been magically treated, but its performance isn’t that great. Like my father said, it’s a relic with historical value. A family heirloom passed down through generations. A valuable antique. That’s the public’s assessment of the ancient relic.

“Surely you don’t really think that the vain delusion that there’s a secret left in the ancient relic is true, do you?”

There are various rumors about the ancient relic. The most famous of them is the rumor that the true power is dormant in the ancient relic.

“That’s just a rumor. The ancient relic has no value. Old magic is just old magic, and myths are just stories embellished with fiction.”

Of course, it’s just a rumor. It’s just that the ancient relics look incredibly magnificent, and because there are relics that appear in myths, such rumors have spread. So far, nothing has ever come out of the ancient relic. That’s why my father is saying that.

“No. I don’t think so.”

But my thoughts are different. There’s definitely something in the ancient relic.

“I think that the legends about the ancient relic and the stories in the myths are all true.”

My teacher’s magic and my magic. The Bytenner style is the proof. If the Bytenner style is this great, how could an artifact born in the era when the Bytenner style existed be nothing?

‘I also saw sentences in the book I read in Mimir’s Well that seemed to refer to the ancient relic.’

There’s definitely something in the ancient relic.

“…You’re still young. To believe in such absurd legends.”

My father said with a truly disappointed expression.

“Okay. Fine. If that’s your choice, I should respect it. I’ll give you the ancient relic as a reward for this matter.”

“Thank you.”

“However, you can only take one. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

Like relics with historical value, the ancient relic is also incredibly valuable. It’s so expensive that you can only buy one even with the enormous amount of money from the 26% stake in the magic stone mining rights.

“I’ll ask one last time. You won’t regret it, will you?”

“No.”

My will is firm. I want the ancient relic that is kept in the deepest part of our family’s vault.

“I want the ancient relic, Ray Bell Bytenner’s robe, that is sleeping in the family’s treasure vault.”

Ray Bell Bytenner’s robe. I want my teacher’s robe.