.｡.:✧ Chapter 22 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Although there was a commotion, it quickly settled down, and things returned to normal.

Princess Elena had personally ordered to revise the curriculum, and the message was promptly delivered to my mentor. Upon receiving the letter, he scratched his head.

“…Magic is something that requires mastery in various fields to achieve greatness,” he muttered, clicking his tongue.

After pondering for a moment with the letter on the table, he nodded his head as if he had made a decision.

“Then, although it’s a bit earlier than planned, we should have an assessment.”

“An assessment?” I asked.

“That’s right. Rudrick, follow me for a moment, will you?”

With a doubtful look, I followed my mentor as he instructed. We headed to his private research lab in a corner of the main lab. Passing by a cluttered desk with various research equipment and reagents, we stood in front of a bookshelf. My mentor casually pulled out a few books and put them back, and the bookshelf opened, revealing a hidden space.

“…Wow,” I exclaimed.

“There isn’t enough space inside the Imperial Palace to perform large-scale magic. Not only is it cramped, but even though I’m the Imperial Court Mage, if I accidentally miscontrol magic and cause damage to the palace buildings, I would at least be dismissed from my position,” he explained.

“Light,” he added, uttering the activation word for magic. He created a large light orb to illuminate the passage.

“So, this is the only way to secure space… But I heard there’s a nearby passage for the imperial family to evacuate in case of emergency. Be careful not to let the impact reach there. I don’t know the exact location since it’s top-secret,” he cautioned.

“If it’s top-secret, shouldn’t you refrain from telling me?” I questioned.

“As I said, even I don’t know the exact location. I just heard a passing rumor about it,” he replied.

We had this casual conversation while walking through the short passage, relying on the light from the orb. The passage wasn’t very long and soon ended, leading to a space so vast that it was hard to believe it existed within the Imperial Palace.

With a bit of exaggeration, it was about the size of a sports field. No matter how I thought about it, securing a space of this size seemed nearly impossible physically, so I unintentionally muttered, “…Space distortion magic?”

“Correct. I artificially distorted and expanded the space using magic. It took quite a bit of magic stones, but… Well, it’s not like I bought them with my own money, right? Haha. It’s convenient in times like this when you’re affiliated with the Imperial Palace,” he chuckled.

“……”

I silently glanced at my mentor with a loss for words. The amount of magic stones consumed to perform and maintain a space distortion of this scale must have been immense.

No wonder they say art is dominated by the wealthy.

“Those pretenders in the Magic Tower fuss over the results of research, the probability of success, the amount of funding required, and other such outdated matters. At this rate, when will they ever pursue truth and reach the origin? Tsk, tsk,” he scoffed.

“…Is it good that the Imperial Palace doesn’t have such concerns?” I asked.

“Of course, isn’t it obvious? In fact, the research funding is practically unlimited. This fact alone makes me not regret leaving the Magic Tower and joining the Imperial Palace,” he declared.

Magic was indeed a professional field. Whether in my previous life or the present one, there wasn’t much difference. It was easier to understand if I roughly equated it to the people researching science and engineering in my previous life.

…Anyway, if the research funding was unlimited, I supposed the Imperial Palace was still somewhat better than the Magic Tower.

In any case, that wasn’t the important matter, so I asked my mentor to bring his attention back to the topic at hand.

“So, why did you bring me here? I can roughly guess that we’ll be practicing magic here.”

“Exactly. Based on my observations over the past few days, there’s no doubt about your talent, Rudrick. Not only that, but you quickly grasped the subject of alchemy, which you were learning for the first time, and you did well on your own with just the basics I taught you,” he praised.

“It’s a bit embarrassing when you blatantly shower me with compliments like that…”

“I’m not flattering you; I’m merely stating the facts as they are. You need to have more pride in your talent.”

Honestly, it was a bit cringeworthy. I knew I had outstanding talent, but whenever the topic of magic came up, this mentor became more sincere than anyone else, and he tended to get overly excited without restraint.

After roughly patting my shoulder as a form of encouragement, my mentor raised the light magic he had already cast, floating it high like a ceiling light. The vast space was fully illuminated under the light.

It was just an empty space as large as a sports field, with nothing but an endless dirt floor. Rather than existing in reality, it would be more accurate to define it as a subspace that had been distorted and warped by magic, with coordinates fixed in the spatial axis.

“I can see that your talent is undoubtedly top-class, with the exception of Sylphia. Now, I want to assess your practical skills, not just as a mage in the academic sense, but in terms of actual combat,” he explained.

“If you’re talking about being a battle mage, I’ve never considered that career path,” I replied.

“Eventually, when you gain more experience, you’ll have to join the army and participate in activities like exterminating magical beasts to gain practical experience. For now, this is just to assess your current level of achievement, so don’t worry and feel free to demonstrate your magic,” he encouraged.

“I’ve never really used magic with the intention of killing someone, but…”

Regardless, since the stage had been set, it would be awkward to back out now. It wasn’t like I was trying to avoid it like the typical men in this world who couldn’t even kill an ant. I had simply started learning magic to pass the time and because it was fun to learn, without giving much thought to it as a serious career path.

But since the opportunity had been presented, I had to do as instructed.

I had heard that other mages used tools like staffs to facilitate the absorption and emission of mana. In some other world, there might be an old man with a long beard who doesn’t use his wand for magic but instead uses it to beat people. However, in this world, the proper use of such tools was to assist in the use of magic.

But I didn’t particularly use such items. It might sound arrogant, but I found it easy to use magic without relying on such tools.

“…Then, as you wish,” I acknowledged.

It hadn’t been long since I realized my uniqueness. I had heard that ordinary mages had insufficient mana within their bodies, so they had to borrow mana from nature to use magic. However, for me, it was as if I had an inexhaustible fountain within me, and I never ran out of mana, as long as I focused my mind and introspected.

I had simply considered it a good thing without much thought. For now, I concentrated my mind, and mana flowed into my fingertips.

The basics of magic consisted of three stages: visualization of the magic one wanted to manifest in the mind, refinement, and emission.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure if this was the correct process. However…

‘Since that’s what the theory books say, it must be right,’ I thought.

First, I visualized a pillar of flames. To create those flames, I refined the mana and let it flow to the tips of my fingers.

As the refined mana circulated through my internal mana circuits and gathered at my fingertips, reaching a critical point…

The moment I opened my closed eyes, I released the accumulated mana all at once, like opening the floodgates of a dam.

In the illusion of time flowing slowly, the flow of mana was beautifully and vividly etched before my eyes. The gathered mana transformed into a tiny spark, and the transformation of that feeble spark into a massive firestorm was a matter of an instant.

Boom!

With a tremendous roar, a pillar of fire soared into the sky, reaching an unfathomable height.

…And to be honest, I was quite surprised.

Usually, when I used magic, I did it alone in the garden of my family estate, as a way to pass the time. I never dreamed that when I used my full power, magic of this scale would be manifested.

The sinister flames swirled like a snake’s flickering tongue. It was a magnificent scene of destruction that was hard to believe had originated from my fingertips.

“…The coordinate formula I was maintaining almost collapsed,” my mentor muttered beside me with a slightly pale face.

“It’s my first time using magic at full power too…” I admitted.

“I understand. But without trying it like this, you can’t gauge your own limits,” he replied.

My mentor waved his staff to subdue the flames. He forcibly scattered the mana that constituted the flames and then fell into deep thought, as if pondering something.

I stood awkwardly beside him, not wanting to disturb his contemplation.

After some time had passed…

“Rudrick, I’ve decided,” he announced.

“Decided what?” I asked.

“You also need to experience your talent firsthand. Although it’s a bit early, it would be good for you to have some practical experience,” he explained.

“Ugh,” I groaned.

“I’ll make a request to Her Highness the Princess to arrange an opportunity soon. Until then, feel free to research any topic that interests you. After all, the research funding is unlimited,” he added with a laugh.

“…And it’s not even your money, right?” I remarked.

“Of course not! Haha.”

…I wondered if this country’s financial situation was really okay. It seemed like money was leaking everywhere.

Well, it wasn’t my money anyway.

“Then, I have somewhere to go for a moment, so I’ll be back soon. In the meantime, stay here and try to get a feel for your full power,” he instructed.

“…You’ll really be back soon this time, right?” I asked skeptically.

“Of course. I’ll be back very quickly, so feel free to use magic freely while I’m gone,” he assured.

Although he had disappeared for long periods without a word after making such promises before, making it difficult to trust him, my mentor confidently declared his intention and retraced the path we had come from, disappearing from sight.

And so, I was left alone.

Still, since he had told me to use magic as much as I wanted and that it would be good to have practical experience, I started preparing for the next attack magic.

Around that time, I felt an eerie sensation.

“…?”

It was as if I had entered a cold cave in the middle of summer, giving me goosebumps, and I had the illusion that the surrounding air had suddenly become chilly.

‘…Breath?’

No, it wasn’t an illusion. Every time I exhaled, white breath escaped from my mouth. The air had rapidly turned cold.

And like a scene from a horror movie, I had the illusion that someone was behind me.

I really hoped it was just an illusion. I didn’t like horror movies. I couldn’t even finish watching a movie about a possessed doll because it was too scary. Please, no!

With that thought, I slowly turned my head to check behind me, and at that very moment…

“…We finally meet again, Rudrick,” a voice filled with wistfulness spoke from behind me.

…Suddenly?

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