NOVEL NEXT chapter 38
38 – Wizard’s Tower – 1
“For now, everyone sit down.”
The top of the mage tower.
When we arrived at the office of the sage, Charlotte Isolde, we sat side by side on the sofa following her words.
She also slumped down in her chair across from her, crossed her legs and looked this way.
“Master said the class will start again next Monday, so I guess I can go back on Saturday.”
It’s Tuesday, so five days from today. Actually, it’s four days.
If it’s short, it’s short, if it’s long, it’s a long time.
“Hey, what are we doing for five days?”
“Well? I haven’t thought of anything else yet.”
To Sophia’s question, Charlotte shrugged her shoulders and answered.
It didn’t look like a lie.
If you think about whether this was the case in the original work….
To be honest, I didn’t remember very well.
This episode is certainly important, but whether I remember it all is another matter.
I think it was a similar flow.
“You should start by looking at the level, right? I’m sure you have talent, but I don’t know what your skills are like right now.”
Charlotte touched his chin and put the macaron from his table into his mouth.
“First of all, it would be better for the two ladies to learn directly from me…. You.”
As she snapped her fingers, her door opened and her maid in her maid outfit entered.
“Did you call, Master?”
“Hmm. Where is Arvein now?”
“I think you are probably in a private lab.”
“Take this guy to Arvein. If you tell me to use it for that discontinued research, they will understand.”
“Okay. Please follow me.”
The lady-in-waiting looked at me and she gently lowered her head.
It was like a gesture to follow me.
“I don’t think I need to explain it to you.”
“Tell me at least lightly.”
“Well? It’s hard for me to explain in words too. To put it simply….”
At Charlotte’s answer, I slowly got up from her seat and followed her maid.
“Maybe it feels like watching something interesting?”
★
The lady-in-waiting brought me was downstairs.
It is said that the higher the floor in the Magic Tower, the higher the skill level, so it means that the opponent called Arbane has a fairly high status here as well.
As if to disprove him, the door to the room was as huge and splendid as Charlotte’s office.
“Arvein. Is it okay if I come in?”
“… Do whatever you feel like.”
At the call of her maid, a dull male voice came from within her room.
After she gave her permission, I entered the room first according to the maid’s guidance. Inside, a man wearing a fancy mantle from the Mage Tower was waiting for me.
He had shaggy gray hair and glasses, and for some reason he looked very tired.
“Who is this guy?”
“I heard that they are the students brought by the Master from Arcana. All you have to do is tell Arvein-nim to use it for that interrupted research last time.”
“… I get it. You go out.”
“Yes.”
The lady-in-waiting who took me bowed her head and left the room.
The only thing left in her room was me and a man called Arbane.
“We haven’t finished what we are doing yet, so please wait quietly.”
“Okay.”
I approached the chair prepared in the corner and sat down.
What should I say?
Simply put, it was a spacious and sturdy looking room.
As if it were designed to last no matter what.
“Frozen skies. Burning earth. Collapsing world. Everything under your will. Miracles manifest here. Ring out, the giant’s bell.”
Arbane stretched out her hand toward the wall and chanted quietly.
“….”
But nothing happened.
As if getting used to the phenomenon, he brushed his right hand lightly, turned to me, and opened his mouth.
“What do you think I just did?”
“Is it the development of new attribute magic?”
There was no attribute magic with such a chant that I was aware of.
“That is correct.”
Arbane said so and slowly took off his cloak.
“Let’s see if the basics are in place.”
Then I heard it in the corner of the room.
“Get your posture. I have no intention of seeing you.”
What he aimed at me was definitely a sword.
… I feel like I’ve had this kind of experience once before.
Suddenly, I had an idea.
Strong.
After clashing swords with Arvein, I knew for sure.
It was difficult to intercept because of the unique rhythm of the sword, which looked slow but aimed precisely at vital points.
A swordsmanship that has never been dealt with before.
If you think of anything similar, it was your father’s sword.
“Suck!”
I narrowly blocked the sword going to my side.
It certainly wasn’t so fast that I couldn’t react.
Rather, the opponents I’ve dealt with so far, such as Helen, the Crown Prince, the Black Wolf, and Rex.
I could guarantee that it was noticeably slower than them.
But for some reason I’m being cornered.
I was the one who was attacked one-sidedly.
I couldn’t figure out why.
“Keuugh!”
As Arbane struck the back of the sword with precision, a tremendous vibration ran through his wrist.
And in the ensuing attack, I had no choice but to let go of Neia.
But for me….
“Did you aim for that from the beginning?”
“Ugh?!”
Arvein didn’t let his guard down until the very end.
As if he had already noticed, he immediately bounced the Diana I had taken out of his belt.
At some point, Arbane’s sword was aimed precisely at my neck.
“….”
I saw it for the first time today, so I thought I would respond right away to this.
I slowly raised both hands and declared defeat.
“I lost.”
I thought I had failed the Arbane test.
It was a matter of course.
That’s right, I’ve never been able to successfully launch a proper attack.
But after the sparring, what he said was unexpected.
“Not bad.”
“Are you okay?”
“Of course not. Rather, it was better than expected. Originally, I thought I would run out in less than 5 minutes, but I lasted exactly 8 minutes and 51 seconds.”
“But Arbane-nim is a mage of the Mage Tower. I am an aspiring knight. The difference….”
“Hmm?”
Ar Bane frowned at him as if he were puzzled.
“Do you, by any chance, not know who I am?”
“… I am ashamed of my ignorance, but I am.”
“It doesn’t matter. Because it has already been 10 years.”
Arbane wrapped his cloak back on his chair and continued his words.
“I thought I couldn’t lose to a young junior, so I worked hard, but I thought wrong in the first place.”
“Yes?”
“Because I was a high-ranking knight active on the front line until 10 years ago.”
You can’t help losing.
Arvein clearly said so.
He did not lie when Arbane said that he belonged to the Knights until 10 years ago.
Because his cloak was decorated with a gold glittering high-ranking knight’s medal.
“Ike Access. The second son of the Axus family.”
It was only then that I could understand why it felt similar to my father’s sword.
Basically, when you join the Knights, you learn a new swordsmanship.
If the aspirants before joining the knights had sharpened and polished their swords to deal with people.
From then on, I only trained with a sword to kill demons.
With the exception of a few knights like the Central Knights, most of them are trained to kill monsters.
If it was a high-ranking knight who rolled on the front line, it was only natural that I couldn’t win.
Looking at it objectively, my current skill level must be that of a low-ranking knight.
“Surely enough for research.”
“Can I know what the study is about? All I’ve heard is that it’s a study on body strengthening magic.”
“… Let’s take a break and briefly explain.”
Arbane slumped back in his chair, and he slowly opened his mouth.
“Physical strengthening magic. It is magic that literally strengthens the body by spreading mana throughout the body. It’s a simple but important and powerful magic. But there are obvious downsides. Do you know?”
“Yes. Since it is a type of magic that continuously consumes mana, it gradually becomes tiring.”
“That is the correct answer. So, the method used to make up for that shortcoming is the circulation of magical power. By circulating the mana before it is released, consumption is reduced, and when the body becomes accustomed to the flow, it exhibits higher performance than normal body strengthening magic. Of course, it’s a method that doesn’t need to be used in general.”
Of course, this was a story I already knew.
And if this research means that there is a next step, I wanted to know unconditionally.
It was already clear that the future wasn’t going the way I knew it.
Ike’s role in the original work is a perfect minor role.
But if I was certain Rex was targeting me, I couldn’t be relieved because he was a minor role.
I had to become even a little stronger.
“The cycle of magical power. It’s a very easy story to hear. But by no means is this easy. Because I had to forcibly stop the movement of the magical power that was about to be released, and keep the flow going. No matter how much you get used to it, there is bound to be a gap once in a while.”
Arvein’s words were correct.
At first, I couldn’t maintain the flow of magic except for the middle position.
Even now, after getting used to it, there are times when I miss the flow.
Of course, it wasn’t a huge problem because the body strengthening magic didn’t stop.
“Just now. You probably thought it wouldn’t be a big deal since the body strengthening magic didn’t stop anyway.”
I was startled by Arvein’s assertion and opened my eyes.
“… How do you do that?”
“Because I also thought about that a lot until I belonged to the Knights and fell on the front line.”
Arbane raised the corners of his mouth and made a mocking expression.
“But when you fight monsters called demons on the front lines, you realize how stupid that idea was. There are times when that momentary gap can take away the lives of those around you.”
There was nothing I could say.
I’ve been through life and death in my own way, but I’ll do less than Arvein in front of me.
“You are right in most situations. Even if you fight a monster, it’s rare to die that much. Because that’s a knight but once in a while. It only happens once in a while.”
“Perhaps, Arvein-nim.”
“Yes. My research is to find a way to close even that slight gap.”
At Arbane’s words that followed.
“Finally, I have a partner with whom I can confirm my achievements.”
A cold sweat broke out on his back.