Descent of the Legendary Archmage

I opened my eyes again at dawn when the sun began to rise.

“......Ugh.”

I have a brain freeze.

I had a severe headache due to the aftereffects of the mana circulation for about 9 hours.

Is it because my body temperature has risen due to intense friction of mana in the body?

I feel like all the moisture in my body has gone away. My lips were dry.

“Water.......”

My voice also cracked.

I moved my hand to the side bag to drink water.

But, I couldn’t open my bag.

‘I have no power in my hand......’

I had no power to hold the zipper.

I have no power in my hand at all. My body was so messed up.

“Ugh.......”

Mana doesn’t move either.

The circle completely hardened.

It may be the aftereffects of absorbing more than necessary mana.

‘It is a good thing that it ended like this.’

It is a miracle that it ended up with a half-dead body. It almost became a real dead body.

‘If I hadn’t prepared in advance, I would have died.’

The main thing was to do image training to control mana flooding in order to weave the circle of Expansion.

Had it not been for reading all kinds of books as Mimir advised, I would have been wandering in the afterlife with mana flooding.

‘Why did mana flooding happen?’

I can understand if it was normal mana flooding.

Yesterday, there was mana flooding beyond the level of common sense.

Why did such a ridiculous thing happen?

‘It is strange that not only mana is flooding, but also the vein is losing power.’

A vein means a ground vein that continuously emits mana.

It is not a structure that emits everything at once and disappears like yesterday.

Nevertheless, the vein is now completely powerless.

‘......Why?’

Was it like a surge?

Does the vein have a lifespan, so when it ends, does it emit everything and disappears?

‘No, I’ve never heard that before.’

I thoroughly investigated the vein in preparation for this trip to Baengnyeong Island.

The vein is a semi-permanent organ.

It is not a structure that disappears with mana flooding.

‘What the hell is it?’

My head was a mess.

My head, which had already been throbbing, hurt even more.

‘I think I will feel better if I drink water.......’

Even if I want to drink water, I can’t because my body doesn’t move.

Far from drinking water, I can’t even open my side bag with water in it.

I don’t have power to hold the zipper right now.

Buzz-!

At that time.

The Infinity Circle made a clear resonance.

“Uh......?”

Mana moved with a resonant sound.

‘Hum, my circle has already recovered.’

The recovery is faster than expected. I thought I’d need at least an hour.

I can’t believe I recovered in less than 10 minutes.

‘Whatever happened, it just went well.’

If the circle has recovered, there is no need to use a hand.

I put my will into the mana.

Mana moved like my hand and clung to the zipper on the side bag.

Zeeep-!

I opened the zipper and took out the water bottle in the bag.

I opened the lid and brought it to my mouth, and tilted it at an appropriate angle.

Gulp, gulp

As if it were raining on dry land.

The water passed through my dry mouth.

“Poo-ha.”

It was a heavenly taste.

My mind instantly became clear.

I think I’m getting better now.

‘By the way, why did the circle recover so quickly?’

Since the circle is a very sensitive organ, it usually does not recover quickly.

It wouldn’t be much different even if it was an Infinity Circle, why did it?

I checked my condition with a slightly clearer mind.

“......Uh?”

And I was embarrassed.

I have something in my body that didn’t exist until yesterday.

‘A huge circle that encloses 3 circles. This is.......’

A huge circle around my body.

A giant circle that encloses three Infinity Circles.

The fourth circle that didn’t exist until yesterday.

“......The circle of Expansion?”

The fourth Infinity Circle in my body, the circle of Expansion, was spinning with clear light.

I couldn’t help laughing.

‘......Is this how it works?’

It seems that last night’s mana flooding filled up all the mana that was insufficient to weave the circle of Expansion.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that time.

The top floor of a hotel near Seoul.

Shin Jihan was talking to someone on the phone.

— You want me to handle Shin Hayul? At this time?

An executive of the black magic tower who was in charge of handling mission failures in the case of Len Smith and Beak Sahyuk, and exterminating Len Smith.

It was the voice of an unidentified man covering his entire body with a robe.

“Yes, is that possible?”

— I can handle him anytime. Unless there is a condition of avoiding the eyes of Kim Seokhyun and the shadow.

“Of course, you have to avoid their eyes.”

— Then it would be hard.

The eyes of the shadow, led by Kim Seokhyun, are sharp and fierce.

Even Shin Hayul is currently under intensive protection of the shadow.

In this situation, it is impossible to deceive the eyes of the shadow.

— As I said before, moving now is the worst plan. We, the black magic tower, don't want our VVIP to disappear.

The executive of the black magic tower advised coldly.

— For now, I think it is best to crouch down and move after the shadow has fallen from the target.

We can’t afford to lose Korea’s best pushover who will bring astronomical amounts of money and information in the future.

“No. If you move later, it will be late. You need to move right now.”

— Hmm. Is there a reason why I have to move right now?

From what I heard from Shin Jihan, the protection of the shadow will end within the next month.

Why is he so impatient when he just has to wait until then?

“Kim Seokhyun, the head of the shadow, is moving to support Shin Hayul.”

— You mean Kim Seokhyun?

As if genuinely surprised, the executive’s voice trembled. He was truly surprised that Kim Seokhyun was considering supporting someone.

“Yeah. I can still see his will to do so, but as long as there is even a slight chance that Kim Seokhun will be attached to Hayul, it is a bad plan to procrastinate. You have to move right away.”

— If Kim Seokhyun is attached to Shin Hayul, it will be annoying in many ways. Starting with Kim Seokhyun, other people may also be under the power of Shin Hayul in earnest.

“You know it well.”

The current situation is not so good.

Currently, the perception of Shin Hayul in the family is rapidly improving.

In this situation, if Shin Hayul wins the Olympiad gold medal, the situation could really be overturned.

Of course, the probability of winning the gold medal will converge at 0%, but it is better to remove any anxiety factor in advance.

“You don’t want Hayul to be the next leader of the Magic Shin Clan.”

— Of course. We are eager for you to become the new owner of the Magic Shin Clan.

There is nothing better than a pushover who is in a high position.

From the standpoint of the Black Magic Tower, it is better for Shin Jihan to succeed the Magic Shin Clan.

“Then.......”

- However, as I said, it is almost impossible to handle Sin Hayul, avoiding the eyes of Shin Inhyuk and Kim Seokhyun.

Situation and hard work are different.

“I know it is hard work.”

Shin Jihan knows better than anyone that it is difficult to quietly handle Shin Hayul, who is protected by the Shadow and Shin Inhyuk, in Korea.

If it was an easy task, Shin Jihan himself would have handled it long ago.

“But, it is just hard, and it is not like there is no way at all.”

— What makes you think so?

Shin Jihan snorted.

“If there wasn’t a way, you wouldn’t have used an ambiguous expression that it is ‘almost’ impossible, am I wrong?”

— Hmm.

The executive laughed meaningfully.

— As expected, you know me well.

Shin Jihan’s eyes were filled with brilliance.

There is a way.

— Yes, there is a way. And the target is not in Seoul, but in Baengnyeong Island.......

“What is the way?”

The executive laughed meaningfully.

— It is the way of disguising the accidental death of Shin Hayul by causing a mana disaster on Baengnyeong Island.

“Accidental death? Hey, can a mana disaster be caused artificially? Is that possible?”

A mana disaster is a kind of natural disaster.

Just as humans cannot control disasters, humans cannot control mana disasters. This is common sense.

— Yeah, it is possible with the current state of Baengnyeong Island.

“The current state of Baengnyeong Island......Are you talking about the high concentration of mana these days? The high concentration of mana alone won’t cause a mana disaster. How are you going to artificially cause it?”

— Hmm. It is the information to be protected. But, okay. As you are a VVIP, I will let you know specially.

The executive smiled deeply as he recalled the current state of Baengnyeong Island.

— Do you know what is in the basement of Baengnyeong Central Research Center?

* * *

It’s been two days since I weaved the circle of Expansion.

It is the third day of training at Baengnyeong Island.

Today’s first training was a relay 1:1 match. It is training that repeatedly changes opponents and conducts the 1:1 match indefinitely.

“Ah, my head already hurts.”

And my first opponent was Soonchan.

“It is my first battle since I made a new circle. Please take care of me.”

“Please be gentle.”

“Okay, I will try.”

“......You bastard. You don’t want to be gentle.”

I circulated the Infinity Circle while looking at Soonchan, who took a posture with an uncomfortable face.

The circle of Expansion.

A circle huge enough to cover all three previous circles.

It trembled gently, wrapped around the other circles.

‘Since there is the circle of Expansion, the stability is different.’

The circle of Expansion is instead a masterpiece that stabilizes the forces of other circles while increasing its efficiency.

My magic has all evolved to the next level since I weaved the circle of Expansion.

“Here we go.”

“Can’t you not come?”

“Don't worry. I’m going to go really softly......at first.”

“Hey, What did you say at the end?......Ugh.”

There was a monotonous battle with my light magic.

A series of light jabs without a straight one.

There was a tedious aspect of attrition warfare.

‘It is much more stable from Deliberation.’

The circle of Deliberation.

The overall output of the magic increased and the consumption of mental strength decreased as it became a more stable form covered by the circle of Expansion.

“You monster....... Your mentality has evolved since you’ve become a 5 circle? Did you use a cheat code for the infinite mentality?”

“Yeah, it is very relaxing.”

The output increased and the consumption decreased. This naturally resulted in an increase in the number of magic uses. The number of magic uses has increased so much that it was incomparable to before weaving the four circles.

Thanks to this, I can carry out this attrition warfare, which could not be done before, without problems.

It is very satisfying.

“Then, the jab ends here. I will go for real from now on.”

Deliberation has been fully tested. Now, it’s time to move on.

“......Hey, you are not going to use 5 circle magic, are you?”

The next power to be tested.

The circle of Resonance.

“Don’t worry. It won’t hurt if you get hit lightly.”

I reinforced the magic using the circle of Resonance.

The reinforced magic flies toward Soonchan.

“Hey! You crazy guy! This is killing me.”

Soonchan freaked out.

He was not hit because I threw it at a moderately avoidable angle.

‘As expected, it is much easier to use Resonance.’

The disadvantages of the circle of Resonance were refined and the number of resonance uses increased.

As the efficiency increased,the power of the resonance also increased by about half a circle.

I can’t say for sure because I haven’t used Vibration yet, but the duration and the power would have increased.

‘I should try the Vibration when I go back to Seoul.’

I should check the duration of the vibration and its penalty.

‘Next, let’s use the circle of Interference.’

I pressed Soonchan using all the magic except Destruction and Vibration.

“You went too much!”

“No, I didn’t.”

I went easy on him and Soonchan’s magic was specialized in defense, so he endured it well, but.

“Stop! I lost! I lost!”

In the end, the limit came.

After about 2 minutes of confrontation, Soonchan declared surrender.

“Great job. You endured well.”

The battle is over.

“......Did I endure well? You just take it easy on me. Oh, I’m so annoyed.”

Soonchan approached me, scratching his nape.

He had an enraged face.

He seemed to be annoyed when I teased him using Interference in between the attacks.

“You. Can’t you stop using Interference? How did you become a more selfish person?”

“Was it because it’s easier to use it as the circle goes up? It worked really well.”

The circle of Interference has also stabilized considerably.

Overall penalties are reduced and efficiency is increased.

Naturally, the burden of using Interference to the opponent's magic has been reduced and its scope has increased.

“You cheater.”

“Why are you exaggerating? I didn’t even use Destruction.”

Soonchan snorted.

“Hey, do you want to use Destruction while battling with me?”

“Yes, I want to use it.”

“......What a jerk.”

So do I want to use Destruction?

Although it was not used in this battle, I can use it much more stably and smoothly.

The previous Destruction was a high-risk double-edged sword, however, it had become a special move.

“Huh. I’m annoyed, but on the other hand, I’m glad.”

“Why?”

“I’m glad you are on our team. If I think you were an enemy......oh, it’s terrible.”

In this way, my magic evolved as a whole.

My power increase is indescribable as I have been able to use 4 circle magic on top of this.

“Oh, and haven’t your eyes gotten better? Your movements are not usual.”

“Did you catch that?”

“Of course. I can tell right away.”

Finally, my spiritual eyes evolved with the growth of the circle.

It is the magic eyes that evolve together in accordance to the circle.

The overall output of spiritual eyes has increased like a circle of expansion.

Mana’s color, the magic formula, and even the essence of magic are much clearer.

On top of them, the short duration, which was tantamount to a chronic disease of God’s eyes, has been resolved to some extent.

‘Hooray for the circle of Expansion.’

The achievements of the 4 circle were sweet.

It was too sweet.

Just thinking about the circle of Expansion makes me smile.

“Oh, by the way. The concentration of mana has gotten higher today. Well, it is hard to adapt to it because the concentration changes day by day.”

Soonchan grumbled.

Since the concentration of mana changes when he gets used to it, he seems to be starting to get annoyed.

‘Will it change tomorrow, right?”

“......Maybe.”

There was a brief joy.

An abnormal phenomenon of falling on Baengnyeong Island.

Thinking about the concentration of mana that is getting higher every moment made my head complicated again.

‘No matter how much I think about it, it’s too fast for the concentration to get high.’

The cause of the vein disappearance and the mana flooding that occurred when the circle of Expansion was woven the day before yesterday was still unknown.

I feel uncomfortable.

I think something big is going to happen.

I’m nervous for no reason.

‘Even if I give up training a bit, I should look into it in detail.’

There is a Central Research Center in Baengnyeong Island.

I will go there tomorrow and get some detailed data.