The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 395

After that.

After relaying as much information as possible about Dissolutio to Mimir, I immediately returned to the training grounds.

‘That’s unexpected. I thought you’d start by adjusting Dissolutio with the Princess.’

For the record, Tey is also with me.

‘Compressing Dissolutio isn’t that urgent.’

Honestly, I was a bit surprised.

It’s only been 30 minutes since his body was destroyed.

To think he’d already finished restoring his body.

I guess he’s not called the Dream Weaver for nothing.

‘Hmm. Well, yeah. There’s no need to use it right now. There’s no reason to rush it.’

‘Yes. Mimir also seemed like she wanted to focus more on her current research.’

It’s like we can read each other’s minds now.

I can tell just by looking at Mimir’s expression.

Mimir is not in a state where she can pay attention to anything else right now.

It’s better to leave her alone until she finishes what she’s currently researching.

‘And I also have something I need to prioritize.’

If I didn’t have anything else to do, maybe, but.

Right now, I have something much more urgent than compressing Dissolutio.

‘The Ring of Nothingness?’

‘Yes. It’s time to finish it up.’

Creating the eighth Infinity Circle. That’s the top priority.

‘Right. That’s the most important thing. It’s been delayed for too long.’

‘Yes. There have been a lot of things happening… I’ve really just been preparing non-stop.’

Tey replied expressionlessly.

‘So, you’re going back to the Luminescent Mana Stone Cave?’

‘Yes. That’s the plan.’

Due to the nature of the Infinity Circle, the denser the mana, the better.

Greenstone boasts a sufficiently high density, but it’s nothing compared to the Luminescent Mana Stone Cave.

There’s no better place to weave a new circle than the Luminescent Mana Stone Cave.

‘Alright. Then good luck.’

Tey turned his body away.

I’ll go my way, and you go yours.

Tey’s back seemed to say that.

‘Are you going to Adela?’

‘Yeah.’

I had expected it.

Given Tey’s personality, there’s no other reason why he would bother to restore his broken body.

‘I won’t tell you not to eavesdrop… but please refrain from being too obvious about it. If Elena notices, it’ll become troublesome in many ways.’

‘Maybe in reality, but I’ll never get caught here.’

A fish in water.

Or a wild horse on the prairie.

Greenstone is like Tey’s home turf.

Even Elena in her prime would have a hard time detecting Tey’s gaze.

Tey has every right to say ‘never’.

‘Normally, you wouldn’t get caught. But I think you might get caught in your current state. That’s why I’m telling you.’

But that’s if it were the usual Tey.

Things are a bit different now.

‘Why would I get caught now?’

‘Because the current Tey wouldn’t hesitate to cross the line.’

Looking at Tey’s current state, he might even tap dance on the line.

The interest Tey has in Adela is by no means light.

There’s a good chance he’ll be blinded by curiosity and cross the line.

‘He might barge into the training grounds, approach Adela, or even summon Adela separately.’

If he crosses the line, Elena will notice.

Then it’ll become troublesome in many ways.

I want to avoid internal conflict, especially now when time is so tight.

‘Hmm… crossing the line. Can’t deny that.’

Tey was lost in thought for a moment.

He seems to have a lot on his mind.

‘Alright. Well, there’s still plenty of time. There’s no need to be under Elena’s intense watch already. Got it. This time, I’ll just watch from as far away as possible.’

‘……’

‘This time’.

It was a statement that would make Elena freak out if she heard it.

I wonder if he’s going to do something to Adela later.

‘Elena will probably stop him, but…’

Considering Tey’s notoriety, I’m a little worried.

He might do to Adela what he did to Mimir.

‘I should pay a little attention too.’

Considering Tey’s curiosity, I need to be careful from now on.

‘But still, nothing’s going to happen right away. Let’s just focus on weaving the Ring of Nothingness for now.’

Nothing’s going to happen right away.

I should just focus on my work for now.

With that thought, I headed towards the Luminescent Mana Stone Cave.

* * *

About a week has passed since Shin Hayul and his group entered Greenstone.

‘……Thank you for your hard work.’

Adela said, catching her breath, and thanked Elena.

‘You worked hard too.’

Elena wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

She’s not as out of breath as Adela, but she’s still breathing quite heavily.

‘It’s getting a bit… no, quite difficult now.’

Elena smiled wryly.

She was definitely very relaxed just three days ago.

To think it would become this difficult to deal with in just three days.

‘At this rate… I might actually lose tomorrow.’

It’s too fast.

I thought it would take at least two weeks.

To think she’d be on the verge of defeat in just a week.

Her growth rate is too fast.

‘No. Not yet…’

Adela took a breath and answered as clearly as possible.

Until yesterday, she couldn’t even speak properly after training, but now she’s not only able to speak, but her pronunciation is also perfect.

That means she has some leeway.

‘She’s become unbelievably stronger in just one day.’

That can’t be explained with the lukewarm term ‘growth’.

It’s more like ‘evolution’.

Like a pupa evolving into a butterfly and being able to fly in the sky.

Adela has made a remarkable evolution in just one day.

‘She broke through another wall in just one night.’

She seemed to have realized something during yesterday’s training.

To think she’d make that realization her own in just one day.

I’ve seen many geniuses, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a genius as absurd as her.

‘How does her growth rate keep accelerating?’

She was definitely a genius that made my eyes widen when I first met her.

But it was never to this extent.

The current Adela is a completely different person from when Elena first met her.

‘Even if she inherited the blood of the Sol Lunari family…’

What kind of body does she have?

What’s even more surprising is that her talent is growing in real-time.

The more she trains, the more her strength increases, and her talent stat also grows.

‘Talent is something you’re born with. It doesn’t change easily.’

Her talent is growing.

It was a phenomenon I couldn’t understand at all.

‘At this rate, it’s not just a dream for her to surpass Hayul.’

If this growth rate continues, she could reach the 9th Circle within a month.

It’s not just a dream for her to surpass Shin Hayul…

‘……No. No matter how you look at it, that’s not possible.’

Elena shook her head.

Thinking about it again, that’s not possible.

‘There’s no way Hayul’s growth rate is slower than Adela’s.’

Just as Adela’s growth has accelerated, Shin Hayul’s growth rate must have accelerated as well.

No matter how outstanding Adela’s talent is, it can’t compare to the talent Shin Hayul possesses.

‘At or slightly below Hayul’s level. That’s the realistic limit.’

Shin Hayul and Adela.

Elena, who has experience training both of them, could be certain.

The day Adela surpasses Shin Hayul will never come.

‘Just like no matter what I did, I couldn’t reach Ray’s feet. Adela can’t surpass Hayul.’

There’s a huge wall that can’t be crossed between a Vaitern user [a user of a unique magic system] and a general magic user.

Adela’s talent might be able to break that wall to some extent.

But that’s it.

She can never break down that wall.

That’s the way it is.

‘To think that even with that much talent, she can never reach the top.’

It’s a truly unfortunate fate.

‘If…’

A bad thought flashed through Elena’s mind.

‘What if Adela’s personality had leaned even slightly towards the bad side?’

She probably would have been corrupted by evil.

‘……I don’t want to imagine it.’

Wouldn’t she have despaired at the fact that she could never be number one, harbored jealousy, and eventually become Shin Hayul’s enemy?

‘I wonder what they’re doing right now.’

Adela muttered to herself with a worried expression.

Her expression and words genuinely worried about her two friends who were working hard in training in a different place.

Elena smiled faintly at the sight.

‘Is being the eternal second place a blessing rather than a curse for Adela?’

Adela never envies Shin Hayul.

She doesn’t envy or resent Shin Hayul’s talent.

‘I wonder how strong Hayul has become by now.’

Adela is just happy.

That there’s a friend running ahead of her.

That there’s a back she can chase.

That there’s a rival she may or may not be able to catch up to in her entire life.

‘Adela. I’m so proud to have a disciple like you.’

‘……?’

Adela tilted her head slightly.

Her expression was as if she was asking why she was suddenly saying that.

Was this a situation where praise was appropriate? That was the expression she had.

‘I’ve been thinking about it all along.’

‘……Um, uh…’

Adela groaned, not knowing how to react.

‘……Th-thank you?’

After struggling for a while, she gave a short thank you.

Elena’s lips curved up even more.

She looked like she was dying of cuteness.

Elena hugged Adela.

‘E-Elena?’

‘Just stay still.’

With one hand, she stroked the back of Adela’s head, and with the other, she hugged Adela tightly.

‘……Okay.’

Adela froze in place, stiff.

She had an expression that said she didn’t know how to take this situation.

It was a very Adela-like reaction.

‘……How can you be so cute?’

That clumsy appearance is also cute.

Elena brought her cheek to Adela’s cheek.

It was a skinship [physical affection] that Elena only did to people she truly trusted.

‘Um, Elena… I can’t breathe.’

‘I think it’s warm and nice?’

‘It’s warm, but… ugh…’

Adela struggled, not knowing what to do.

Elena, as if enjoying Adela’s reaction, hugged Adela even tighter.

‘Even if you can’t breathe, please bear with it for a little while. There won’t be many days left when I can hug you like this.’

‘……’

Adela’s shoulders trembled.

‘That’s… right.’

Elena’s current body is a virtual body created using the Dream Stones in Greenstone.

It will disappear as soon as the training is over and she leaves Greenstone.

‘So… just for a moment… like this…’

Just as Elena closed her eyes and buried her face in Adela’s shoulder, it happened.

Kugugugugung-!

Suddenly, the air trembled.

A tremor that she had felt countless times since entering the Halmanium site.

‘……As expected of the originator of black magic. He can’t read the mood.’

It was a mana quake caused by the dragon’s mana.

‘It’s big.’

Adela’s expression became serious.

‘Yes. It’s been quiet for about a week, but this one is particularly big.’

Since entering Greenstone, there have been a total of four mana quakes in about a week.

But that was just the ‘occurrence’ of mana quakes.

‘The dragon that appeared this time is at least 70%.’

‘Yes.’

The level of the dragon that can be detected by the mana quake this time is estimated to easily exceed the S-rank danger level.

It’s at least one level stronger than the one that appeared before.

‘The progress is faster than expected. I thought it would be at least one to two weeks before something of this level appeared.’

My prediction was wrong.

‘This could shorten the training time significantly.’

If Veil Stole shows another move that seems to be stepping on the accelerator, then we can’t just stand by.

Even if it means ending the training early, we have to respond.

‘Shouldn’t we respond?’

‘Yes. It should be fine this time. Because Sein Vinosch is there.’

No matter how much mana a 70% charged dragon has, it’s no match for Sein Vinosch.

There’s no need for us to move.

‘And… if they need help, they’ll contact us.’

Elena turned her gaze towards a small communication device placed on one side of the training grounds.

A special communication device jointly created by Shin Hayul, Mimir, and Terun.

If something happens, there will be a reaction on that communication device.

‘So, there’s no need to worry about this…’

Just as Elena was about to reassure Adela, it happened.

Beeeep-!

The siren went off on the communication device.

‘This is…’

A red siren.

It was a signal requesting emergency support.