Book 13 Chapter 13

Episode 7

Talent Donation (2)

“Is this the one?”

A woman with captivating features said.

Her hair, eyes, and even her entire robe shimmered with a dark blue light.

Dark blue is the color of the abyss, the hue of corruption that one would have no reason to adopt unless they were a heretic.

“Yes, Lady Shilla. He certainly said he was the next Dean No.2 of the Osarius School.”

Shilla, who had scanned the little kid, Gizella, from top to bottom, squinted her eyes, unable to describe him as anything but utterly insignificant.

“His magic power is trivial. You brought *this*? Can't you even properly sense magic power?”

“But… the villagers clearly said that the clever child the Dean takes with him did all those things.”

“The Osarius School only has one Atlas (3-star) Dean… and it's a trash school with only one Limites (2-star) ranked individual, so could that be true? The Dean must have done it.”

Under the second pillar of the Black Church, there was a group called 'Pillar's Toes'. The reason why they were toes and not fingers was known only to the second pillar.

Anyway, Shilla was the fourth toe among them, and Lagune, the fifth toe and her friend, had gone missing while performing a mission in this area.

As soon as Shilla finished the task assigned by the Pillar, she led her entire unit to search the region.

‘To find the one who killed Lagune…'

According to information from a puppet planted by the Second Pillar within the Magic Alliance leadership, the Magic Alliance Special Operations Department had failed to subjugate Lagune.

A report confirmed that Lagune had already been killed by someone else.

Therefore, while thoroughly searching the area, Shilla realized that there was a hidden prodigy here.

An Atlas (3-star) ranked mage means a genius among geniuses, one of the top 150 in the Empire. Moreover, Atlante was even young.

‘But not all Atlases are skilled in combat.'

Above all, the Osarius School was a minor school that had never made a name for itself, with the exception of its first Dean, Osarius, who was a Glados (4-star) mage.

“Actually, Lyn did that, didn't he?”

The girl, bound in chains, spoke impudently.

Given the sharpness in her eyes even in this situation, she was no ordinary person. She just lacked talent in magic.

They said most of them were orphans picked up in the city, and already something uniquely beautiful, unfitting for a country bumpkin, was visible. She was probably a child abandoned in the pleasure district.

“You all better be careful. Lyn thinks he hasn't been found out, but everyone knows, except for his younger siblings. That Lyn sweeps away all the rogues, bandits, and monsters in this area…”

As she spoke, Gizella's head was sharply turned. A baby tooth, covered in saliva and blood, fell and rolled on the cave floor.

“Who said you could open your mouth? Seems you thought your unnie was easy prey. You, you've been kidnapped. To lure out that Atlante woman.”

“……?”

“What's important for a mage is composure, right? Making you a wreck would be perfect to cause confusion when that woman comes here, wouldn't it? Shall I start by taking out your eyeballs?”

Shilla pressed firmly between Gizella's eyebrow and eyeball.

“Pulling out an eye all at once is too barbaric. Applying slow, gradual pressure, so that it pops out as the intraocular pressure rises, is the perfect torture.”

“W-wait…”

“Your eyeball will come out while your optic nerve is still connected. I'll let you see your own face with your own eyes. So, how does it feel? This sensation of your eyeball slowly coming out—?!”

Just as Shilla's torture was about to begin, what finally silenced Gizella's scream, which she was about to let out from overwhelming fear, was a tremendous roar.

A deafening boom that shook the entire world.

At the same time, screams erupted into a chaotic clamor everywhere, and the life signals of Shilla's subordinates, whom she had stationed at every key point of the hideout, began to disappear one by one.

“What's all this commotion?”

As Shilla went outside and asked irritably, a subordinate, covered in blood, rushed up and prostrated himself before her.

“It's an enemy attack! It seems the Special Operations Department has arrived! Magic is flying endlessly from unseen places! Lady Shilla, at least you must flee—!”

In that instant, an iron spear suddenly pierced through the cave's stalactite ceiling and accurately impaled the subordinate's neck.

The commotion didn't end there.

The ceiling completely collapsed, isolating Gizella's location from Shilla.

‘It looks like she was caught in the collapse, but she's perfectly protected by a barrier constructed with steel magic…'

Shilla's eyebrows twitched.

Just by observing how her subordinates were selectively eliminated with steel magic, one could glimpse an immense magical control ability.

‘Did the Special Operations Department really come?'

Was she caught by the Insight (洞察) of the Mad Dragon Haraderiman? Or was she detected by the Observation (觀測) of the Water Dragon Yeriserica?

‘No, that can't be.'

The 'Anti-Dragon Barrier' that the Second Pillar created by binding the power of the <Forgotten Kings> into spatial rituals must be concealing them in the darkness.

The fact that Shilla had not encountered any restrictions from the divine dragons while performing her mission proved this.

And yet, she was immediately detected upon arriving at this remote village, a place of several times lesser importance, simply for revenge?

‘Magic circle deployment.'

Shilla unfurled the grimoire hanging from her waist.

Abyss attribute magic uses Orvios rune symbols, known as the Forbidden Form (禁忌形).

The magic circle was quadrangular, focusing on earth attributes, but because it used Orvios rune symbols, it transformed into subspace abilities.

‘Mathematical formula deployment and coordinate calculation.'

Even for a Remediere type, a computational mage, calculations to re-derive coordinate values are essential.

Furthermore, there is a process of interpreting the magic written on the parchment back in one's mind.

In all those processes, magic power is injected into the parchment, and the magic gains strength to alter causality.

‘Spatial transference.'

Shilla's body was sucked away somewhere as if devoured by a dark maw, and in an instant, she was transported from inside the cave to outside.

“Wow, is that spatial magic?”

It was clearly a safe zone.

It was a transference to a place prepared for such moments, where no one's eyes could reach.

But wasn't someone waiting there?

“I've always wanted to try it, but it's set as forbidden, so I couldn't touch it. Seeing it like this makes me happy.”

The voice was soft.

Her appearance was even more bizarre. She wore so much fur over her small frame that she looked puffy, like a bear cub looking for its mother.

Just then, emerging from the dark clouds, her face was revealed in the moonlight, where four moons brightly illuminated the grassy field.

“Show me something else, something else! I've been researching earth attribute magic a lot lately, too, you know? But geometry, no matter how much I study it, it feels like there's no end in sight.”

Her face was, to say the least, utterly ordinary. Her light brown hair had a slight curl.

If there was any distinguishing feature, it might just be the ten or so faint freckles scattered around the bridge of her nose.

Her small stature and large eyes made her seem cute, but these were external traits that offered no hint of dignity as a mage.

“You, how did you know I would come here…?”

But why?

Her instincts were screaming a warning. This one is dangerous.

An immense amount of magic power, enough to make her fingertips tremble; a strong scent of blood emanated from that magic.

“How? If the cave collapses, a black mage would escape with their unique subspace magic, wouldn't they?”

Yes, she understood now.

She had heard rumors that the Special Operations Department planted informants in rural magic towers to catch them…

But she never thought it would actually be true.

“But incompetent mages wouldn't be able to properly calculate spatial transfer coordinates in that instant, so I figured they'd leave a catalyst somewhere. And it was here.”

The conviction that the power that had razed the entire cave was undoubtedly wielded by this one, a belief both incredible and unavoidable, surged through her.

Driven by that instinct, Shilla instantly unfurled her grimoire.

She interpreted the Orvios rune symbols, calculated the mathematical formulas, and deployed the strongest black magic available to her.

“Me, an incompetent mage? You milk-smelling brat!”

The magic circle she used consisted of two circles, water attribute magic, but with the Forbidden Form Orvios, the abyss attribute was added.

Countless water droplets scattered.

This was a heinous magic, developed by the Second Pillar and taught to his subordinates, which blew away the point of impact of these water droplets into subspace.

“I learned black magic directly from the Second Pillar!”

A putrid stench emanated from where the abyss surged.

A grotesque stench, born from the twisting of the causality of spacetime that should only follow its natural course.

As droplets rained down, the reverberation of the entire area where the boy stood being sucked into subspace swept heavily across the region.

Whooomph…!

Surely, he should have been obliterated along with the entire area by that wave of corrupted power.

Even if he had somehow survived, he should have been begging for death from unbearable pain.

But the boy… somehow, was looking down on her with disdain from atop a suddenly risen, mountain-like mound.

“Hmm, seems stronger than the black mage I beat up last time… or not? Maybe they're both equally weak. Even if this drags on, you probably can't show me any decent black magic.”

Her fighting spirit (戰意) broke.

Her will to fight (鬪志) was crushed.

“Oh, damn it, I had high hopes, but you're not even strong enough for me to test my beast magic. That's a bit annoying, isn't it? You have such a cool background, corrupted for [the strongest], but why are you all just small fry?”

What was revealed in that single magical exchange was the reality, an overwhelming disparity in skill that could easily be called the difference between heaven and earth.

‘Did he open a grimoire? When? The rune interpretation? The mathematical calculations? Was there time for that?'

Earth attribute magic that transforms an entire area like that is at least 3-star.

Considering the time it generally takes to cast 3-star magic…

There's no way he could have blocked the black magic Shilla launched by surprise in that moment of carelessness.

‘No, there is a way.'

If he were a Jorgen-type mage, like the Second Pillar.

‘If he were a being capable of mentally calculating and executing all magic in an instant.'

Her denial of reality, that it couldn't be, was utterly shattered as three layers of magic circles began to brilliantly spin on the boy's palm.

‘The symbol of the Jorgen type…'

Using 1-star magic in the Jorgen style is possible for any Atlas (3-star) rank. There are quite a few masters who use 2-star magic in the Jorgen type as well.

“It's magic I couldn't test on your friend, want to get a taste?”

But 3-star super-fast mental calculation…?

“If you can block this and tell me how tasty it is, I'll let you live. Seriously.”

That overwhelming mathematical prowess was likely a realm that could only be barely glimpsed by the 10 mages known as the Empire's great scholars, the Glados (4-star).

Who exactly is this one?

Such desperate questions repeatedly assaulted Shilla's mind.

“You, who exactly are you…?”

The boy grasped the magic circle.

A clear sound, echoing brightly throughout the entire night, in stark contrast to the murky resonance of black magic.

The Jorgen type manifests its power by shattering the magic circle rotating on the palm.

“…How did you obtain such power at that age?”

The ground trembled, and the iron particles embedded in the soil sharply gathered, taking the form of iron spears.

Their number, hundreds.

Before Shilla's body was torn into bloody shreds by the countless iron spears erupting from the earth, the boy yawned and gave a profound answer to her foolish question.

“Instead of kidnapping kids, you just need to solve one more math problem.”

* * *

After eliminating the insignificant black mage No.2, I pierced the ceiling of the place where the next dean candidate No.2, Gizella, was, using earth attribute magic.

I roughly made a ladder with steel attribute magic, so she should have managed to get out on her own.

Worried about her pitiful intelligence, I even made signposts at every passage leading to the nearby village.

I want to make it absolutely clear that this was not done out of concern for Gizella.

I saved…

…the gorillas from Gizella…

…the ecosystem of the snow mountain gorillas…

And it's also hard for me to concentrate on my studies when Big Brother is running around all night instead of focusing on his rank exams.

Gizella returned to the magic tower the next day.

When her younger siblings, crying with worry, clung to her, she even managed to smile.

“I felt like trying to run away from home for the first time in my life. I seized the opportunity when the Dean wasn't around and went for it.”

She's an incredible kid.

Truly immense mental fortitude.

If it hadn't been a black mage, the safety of the gorillas would have been in danger.

“Gizella, are you really okay? I clearly sensed traces of black magic…”

“I'm fine, Big Brother! I just went out for a bit of fresh air. It's Lyn, that guy always says mean things.”

Gizella glared at me, but I pretended to concentrate on my grimoire.

Anyway, afterward, I studied math as usual, but for some reason, she seemed more docile and obedient than usual.

After I taught her a formula and was about to read my grimoire for my own studies, Gizella suddenly said this:

“Thank you, Lyn.”

“For what?”

I feigned ignorance, not taking my eyes off the grimoire. I have no talent for lying. I can't look people in the eye when I lie.

I've even been told that I'm so bad at lying, how could I survive in the slums?

Then Gizella suddenly came so close that the warmth of her breath reached my earlobe, whispered this, and then gave a soft smile.

“I said thank you for teaching me the formula. Why, is something bothering you?”