Chapter 75: 2-Chain Magic Genius (1)
To summarize, I gained a circle after unraveling the secret of the Misty Garden with Ernest.
It wasn’t something I intended to create. It just came into being naturally the moment I absorbed what I presumed to be a legacy or relic of the ancient Archana Kingdom.
This time was the same.
As the jewel shattered and I absorbed the condensed magic within it, another circle was created in my body. I now had two circles.
Ancient Kingdom Archana.
To be exact, the lost magical kingdom of Archana. It was an ancient kingdom whose traces could be found everywhere, but for some reason, not a single trace of its actual ‘magic’ could be found.
But now it was in my body.
Twice.
“…If this becomes known, there will be chaos.”
Just like my eldest sister’s reaction now suggested, archaeologists and mages were still trying to find traces of the magical kingdom. The problem was that the magic of Archana had not been discovered, and now it was all within me.
“It’s a great discovery for humanity, Dane.”
It sounded grandiose, and it was the truth.
“Ah.”
The circle was not the only change. The bracelet I had obtained by chance at a shop while Cidrane was staying at my family home was glowing, but the glowing area was slightly larger than before. Did that mean that as I gained more circles, the glowing area would get wider?
“Already 2-chain… A magical power completely different from others… Oh.” My eldest sister then said to me in surprise, “Don’t misunderstand! There’s no secret about your birth!”
“Yes. I know.”
No matter what anyone said, I was my parents’ son. We just looked too much alike. If they lost me somewhere in the realm, they would have found me right away.
“Chains don’t mean much to you anymore, do they, Dane?”
“I don’t think so.”
The ranks of general chain magic were determined by the number of circles because it took several cycles and filters for the magic to manifest. However, from my perspective—as someone who already possessed highly pure mana—the only thing I had to overcome was code rearrangement.
“Whew. Anyway, something great happened, huh?”
“That’s right.”
As my eldest sister said, I now had two circles—two circles that appeared without me even wanting them.
“Then we have to find the rest.”
I raised my head at my older sister’s words. I had now absorbed two condensed magic and created two circles.
So what next?
“I guess so.”
I’d never imagined it, so of course it wasn’t something I wanted. However, it would be a shame to stop at just two.
“Circles of Ancient Magic… If you complete it, you may be able to learn everything about Archana.” My eldest sister seemed more excited than me, the person involved. “Dane, if you find out anything, you have to tell me first!”
“Of course.”
My eldest sister was also very ambitious as a mage. The ancient magical kingdom of Archana was a place that all mages longed for.
“Still, I have to hide it as much as possible for now. For your safety, Dane.”
Even with that, she was openly carrying Karnas around.
Well, if anyone found out, they found out. It didn’t matter. I didn’t think that would be a problem or that it would put me in danger. After all, I just needed to become strong enough so that I could protect myself.
“I guess I should go to the library first.”
“Huh? The library?”
“Yea. Oh, I didn’t tell you. I went to investigate Karnas.”
“Kikreuk!”
I told my sister that after absorbing the condensed ancient magic and gaining a circle, I could read some Ancient Archanian and that Karnas was actually a dragon.
“…”
My eldest sister sat down with a thud.
Oh, I should have said it slowly, one thing at a time.
It was amazing that an additional circle was created using ancient magic, but dragons and deciphering ancient Archana might have been a bit much.
“…Dane.”
“Yes.”
“What no one has been able to decipher in hundreds of years, my brother…”
My eldest sister seemed to tremble with emotion.
“And… a dragon?”
“Kikreuk!”
Karnas nodded in agreement.
My eldest sister stared blankly at me for a while. I think this was the first time I’d seen her like that.
I squatted down next to my sister and patted her shoulder to calm her down.
“I was surprised at first, too.”
“…Lies. You weren’t that surprised, were you?”
How did she know? I guess family really does know you best.
“Well, what can I do? It’s just like that.”
“…Dane, you’re unreal.”
After a while, my sister calmed down and sat down on the chair.
“Haah.”
She took off her glasses, took a deep breath as if trying to calm herself down, then muttered a few words.
“Dragon… Ancient Archana… Ancient Magic…”
I became more certain as I saw my sister’s reaction.
The things I had now were amazing.
“I’ll let you know what I decipher later.”
“…Yeaaah. Ugh. What the heck is going on?”
“Yeah.”
My sister quickly patted my head, worried that I might be worried. “I’m alright now. I’m just worried. It’s not good to have too much talent. You always have to be careful with people, alright?”
I nodded, trying to say I was fine.
To my sisters, I would always be a child. No, maybe I hoped that would always be so. Now, I was a head taller, and my talents were overflowing. I would go far, but we were still family.
“Yes. I definitely will.”
“Good.”
Perhaps the most important thing I had gained in this life was not talent, but the existence of a family like this.
“…By the way, the records of Archana were all impossible to decipher because there was no key, but now it will be possible.”
Key.
I remembered hearing about it while talking to Ernest talking about the treasure map.
Every decipher required a ‘key’. Simply put, if you knew exactly where each piece of the puzzle went, it was possible to piece it together, although it might take a long time.
However, there had been no such thing for ancient Archana until now.
“If you go to the ancient documents section, people might think it’s strange.”
“Yeah, the head librarian kept staring at me.”
“Oh, Miss Celia. But that’s probably because you’re handsome?”
I chuckled. At the time, I thought I wouldn’t go for a while since there was nothing more I could decipher, but I had to go stamp my attendance card again.
Wait.
Since there was Ernest, a deciphering expert, wouldn’t it be a great help if I brought him along?
“Alright.”
I tried to gather mana for testing purposes, to find out what had changed.
“Hmm…”
I found traces of mana throughout my sister’s laboratory. Of course, this wasn’t all that surprising. After all, I could see those from the moment I absorbed the first condensed ancient magic.
But this time it was a little different.
“Oh.”
Now, I could even see the flow of magical energy flowing through the human body. However, it seemed that this only happened when I focused and drew out my mana very precisely. If I lost even the slightest focus, it would quickly scatter.
This was a huge gain. The flow of mana in the human body could be seen at a glance…
Of course, it would be difficult to use this in real life because it required such concentration. Conversely, it meant that in a place where I could concentrate, I could observe things like a watchtower.
As expected, ancient magic was amazing.
Whoong.
At that moment, my sister’s phone suddenly rang.
“The dean is calling.”
“Professor Dinavo?”
“Yes. I think I should go. He’s been calling me a lot lately.” My eldest sister sighed. “I guess I’ll have to go first. Let’s go together. What’s your next class?”
“I don’t have any in the morning, so I’m going to try some magic tests before lunch.”
“That’s good. Let me know the results later.”
“Yes. I will.”
Even with just one circle, I could see at a glance the flow of mana that others couldn’t, so how about two?
Alright then. Should I go and give it a try?
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Rainypup]
[Proofreader – Harley]
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* * *
Surprisingly, two others had arrived first.
Leila and Ernest.
“What are you all doing here?”
I tilted my head as I looked at the two who had arrived first in the open space in front of Forest of Bonia.
“Can’t you see? We’re training. Hap!” Leila was swinging her sword.
“The wonders of the Academy… This is also a restricted area, but there are only the barracks there… Where should I explore?” Ernest seemed to be planning his next expedition.
“You two came together?”
“Oh, yeah. Training together is less boring. Dane, you come too! Do you want to spar with me?”
“Alright, let’s do that. But just wait a minute.” I approached Ernest first. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, Dane. I was wondering where to go on our next expedition.”
“Is there anywhere that stands out?”
“Um…Not really yet? Actually, there aren’t many places in the Academy that stand out as inaccessible. St. Aimar’s Hall was a bit of an unusual case.”
When St. Aimar’s Hall came up, Leila reacted immediately.
“Wasn’t there a commotion the morning? It’s a huge topic of conversation in our Swordsmanship Department. I had so much trouble keeping my mouth shut.”
“It was the same at Amaldi Hall. Everyone was talking about what happened yesterday. It seemed like the students in the Theology Department were on high alert.”
“There’s also talk of an investigation team being dispatched from the imperial family.”
I wondered how Priscilla was doing now.
“Well, I don’t think they’ll find out. So, um, there aren’t many places that stand out?”
“Yeah. Well… uh… if there are no clues, there’s no reason to go. Exploration starts with having a reason to go places. Just going somewhere at random is just stupid.”
As Ernest said, we needed some clues. There were many secret places in the Academy, but you couldn’t go there without a reason.
Then…
“What about the northern island of Atalia that Saint Aimar spoke of?”
“The North? The island of Atalia? That’s… Ah! That’s where the jewel was discovered!”
While I was at it, I also told them about the gem. Leila and Ernest looked equally dumbfounded, if not quite as dumbfounded as my eldest sister.
“…Ancient magic?”
“What I saw at the fountain…”
I figured that since we had been through life and death together and would be together again in the future, I shouldn’t hide things intentionally.
“This is a scam.”
“Dane! You’re so cool! With you here, exploring won’t end!”
Well, it didn’t seem like a bad reaction.
“Northern Atalia Island. Alright. It’s far, but it’s not like we can’t go.”
“You should be able to teleport to the northern point. Then you can take a boat, so it’ll be a lot faster.”
Ernest was delighted with my suggestion. “That would be even better! We could go during vacation, too! But why there?”
“I’m going to go to the cave where Saint Aimar found the jewel.”
“Oh, good idea. There’s a reason treasures are placed where they are. Hmm. If we go, we’ll know why that jewel was there. Should we prepare for a harsh expedition?”
Alright, we’d decided on one thing to do during the vacation.
“Dane, what are you here for?”
“To test my magic.”
“Then, when you have time, please take a look at my swordsmanship.”
“Why don’t I take a look now?”
That was how I came face to face with Leila.
On one side, Ernest was watching with interest.
Shlink.
As I pulled out my practice sword from my subspace, Leila also pulled out her practice sword.
“Should we spar? Or should I just defend?”
“Of course it’s a spar!”
I chuckled at Leila’s reaction.
“Alright.”
Then, Leila and I clashed.
Clang!
“Haa!”
Leila gave a powerful shout and quickly swung her sword. This was typical of the swordsmanship of House Thermion.
Fast, precise, and flawless. It reminded me of my past life. After all, I died facing that swordsmanship.
However, that didn’t mean Leila was at that level.
Clank!
“Ack!”
If there were no gaps, just make one. Leila stepped back and grabbed her wrist as I deflected the sword. It looked like it stung.
“How did you bounce it off like that?”
“Third sword form. You need to make your stabbing motion a little faster. You can’t hesitate.”
Leila sighed, clearly displeased at being seen through at a glance.
“How can you see that?”
“Just…”
“Alright. I’ll try again.”
Leila was indeed a genius. At my words, the third sword form with the stabbing motion I’d just mentioned became a little faster.
She was growing quickly.
“How’s that?”
“Very good. I think it would be better if it was just a little bit faster.”
From then on, we exchanged sword strikes every once in a while, so much so that calling it a spar was meaningless, but Leila seemed to like it.
“I should have asked you earlier. I’ve been thinking about this since before I entered the academy.”
“Have you?”
“But how can you see this?”
Well, because I’d experienced it.
“Just…”
“…”
“But it’s definitely good. And you saw it firsthand, didn’t you? It works in real combat.”
Leila was definitely a genius. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to fight the undead without issues at her age. It was a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but her talent just seemed relatively buried because of me.
“Be proud. You are a Thermion.”
“…I would have been so happy if someone else had said that.”
Well, that was a shame.
Anyway, after watching Leila’s swordsmanship to some extent, it was now Ernest’s turn.
