WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 623: Challenge to a Mage Duel

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They say extremes meet. I came to understand that while living in the floating castle.

The floating castle, drifting high in the distant sky, and Tantalus, falling eternally into the Abyss. Nothing could be farther apart.

The floating castle, where even the Arcane Federation's finest mages gathered.

Tantalus, where criminals arrested by the wretched military state were gathered.

They were literally as different as heaven and earth, yet I felt something similar in both places.

Isolation.

Study, study, and more study. Ever since becoming the Cyan Tower Master's disciple, I had been living no differently from a prisoner. I attended the Cyan Tower Master's lessons at set times, then spent the rest of my time studying in an archive crammed with books. Whenever there was space in the workshop, I slipped in to experiment with magic.

I didn't even have time to eat. All I did was put food crystals in a bowl and gulp them down.

There was no time to slack off, either. The Cyan Tower Master kept a close eye on me, checking my progress constantly and asking whether something was wrong whenever I slowed down even a little. I had to struggle just to avoid falling behind.

"Amazing. I can see why Lankart praised you as a genius. You mastered crystal structure theory in three days, then even applied it to design a high crystal?"

Because you were watching me practically nonstop! You questioned and grilled me the instant I fell even a little behind, so what choice did I have?!

"Your structural analysis is flawless. With a little exaggeration, it is on par with mine. Some people are particularly good at analysis, but you have surpassed even that level."

Strictly speaking, I hadn't analyzed anything. I had read the Cyan Tower Master's thoughts and repeated them word for word. Still, I supposed that counted as analysis.

"Crystal structure theory, structural analysis, high crystal design, magic-circle applications. You have only been learning for a few days, yet you received S-rank marks in all of them. I, the Cyan Tower Master, guarantee it. But..."

Even I, who received such lavish praise, had a weakness.

The Cyan Tower Master spoke with pure curiosity.

"Why does such a genius lack mana-sensing ability? Disciple, have you been neglecting your training?"

"You've been watching me! No matter what I do, I can't improve!"

My ability to sense and control mana was utterly miserable.

What good was reading knowledge and realizations through telepathy? This damned hardware couldn't keep up. I needed the aid of other sensing artifacts even to detect mana, and I barely had enough mana to activate a magic artifact, never mind cast spells.

I had recently felt myself getting a little stronger, so I wondered if perhaps... but it didn't seem as though my mana had increased. Would it kill my stats to rise evenly for once?

"I know. I watched closely enough to know how hard you have worked despite that lack of talent. I only find the imbalance between your knowledge and mana strange."

"How strange do you think it is for me?! I know the concepts, I know how to use them, and I even have the sense for it, but I still can't do it!"

"Have you perhaps made an enemy of a black mage? Could you be cursed?"

"Huh? Am I cursed?"

"If you were, I could at least remove it for you. Unfortunately, judging by your reaction, it doesn't seem to be a curse either."

"Is my talent miserable enough to be compared to a curse?!"

"Don't despair. It is I, of all people, who am teaching you."

The Cyan Tower Master comforted me by patting my despairing shoulder.

'It really is a strange case, isn't it? Someone else might have said it was unfortunate and moved on, but a genius like me cannot overlook an imbalance like this. There is something unnatural about Hughes.'

It wasn't unnatural, but I had an idea of what might be causing it. I asked the Cyan Tower Master.

"Cyan Tower Master. You said you were with the intelligence agency, right?"

"Yes. Your master also holds the title of FIA Director. Did something make you curious? I should warn you, I cannot tell you any classified information."

"It is closer to a statistic than classified information. What proportion of people in the Arcane Federation are chosen?"

"That is just barely not classified."

'If it were anyone else, I would not tell them. But I have the right to say it, and my disciple has the right to hear it. Hmm.'

Once again, the Cyan Tower Master used crystals to form a graph and show it to me.

"Statistically, a person born in the Arcane Federation has about a one percent chance of becoming one of the chosen. That is several times higher than in other countries. The rates of awakening mana control and mana sensing are three percent and five percent respectively, but they are not independent. Once someone learns one, they are likely to awaken the other naturally."

"Then I am fairly ordinary?"

"You know how to use mana control and mana sensing, which is unusual for someone like that. That is the strange part."

'Of course, now that you have caught my eye, I will solve even that difficult problem.'

The Cyan Tower Master was arrogant, but that arrogance was pointed in a positive direction, so the master didn't seem like such a bad person. Reaching a conclusion, the Cyan Tower Master handed me three blue crystals.

"It may be a problem with your mana capacity, so next time I will find a way to supplement it. Here. Today's lesson is over. Read all of these by tomorrow."

"What? You want me to read all of this?"

"Yes. One day should be enough for you, shouldn't it?"

"Of course it isn't. These are grimoire crystals. Each crystal contains as much knowledge as a whole book."

The pinnacle of crystal magic, grimoire crystals. The information from each page of a book was crystallized, then layered atop one another. When illuminated with the White Tower's light magic, the words appeared on a screen.

They could contain and reproduce not only writing and pictures but even practice spells in crystal form. As a means of conveying knowledge, they were practically ideal.

...Except they weren't very good for me.

Because I gained knowledge by reading people, not books!

"Introduction to Mana Amplification? Can't you lecture me on it, Cyan Tower Master?"

"Introduction to Mana Amplification is the most basic of basics. It is also theory you need if you want to increase your mana. If I were to lecture you on even the foundational courses, a whole day together would not be enough."

"I'd be fine spending all day together."

"Don't be cheeky. Do you know how valuable my time is? You already monopolize nearly all my free time."

The Cyan Tower Master put on an angry expression but didn't seem to be in a bad mood. The Cyan Tower Master was the type who enjoyed being interrupted. Why else would the master have a hobby of picking up unenlightened people who seemed talented?

"Naturally, it would be faster if I taught you every detail myself. But mana amplification is not particularly difficult, so study this on your own."

"Sigh. All right..."

"You have already reached the fifth floor in only a few days. It is easier to climb the lower floors, but even taking that into account, it is an impressive achievement. You may be proud. Now then, you should go. There are people waiting for you."

It was an obvious order to leave, so I took the grimoire crystals and left the Cyan Tower Master's room.

I appreciated the encouragement, but that wasn't the issue. I looked down at the heavy crystals and grimaced.

Self-study! I can't self-study!

It wasn't as if I were stupid. I was the King of Humanity, and humanity's traits were high intelligence and learning ability. Even after losing all my power, learning itself was close to one of my specialties.

But it was troublesome.

Books were made of stiff letters, and making them my own required breaking down and digesting every sentence.

By comparison, when I read someone through telepathy, I could fully absorb even their tricks and realizations. I was more efficient when someone taught me.

The Cyan Tower Master was a genius recognized by everyone, and reading a genius made me a genius too. But reading books only made me an ordinary gifted student.

Sigh. What was I supposed to do now...? Study while clutching my head? I didn't want to.

I was slowly walking down the Crystal Tower with heavy steps when I heard murmuring voices. The tower's corridors weren't particularly wide, yet there were many people here today.

This was the fourth floor. It was where the Crystal Tower's mages studied and conducted research, so there was no reason for so many people to be standing in the corridor.

As I walked forward, wondering about that...

"Hughes, disciple of the fourth floor! I challenge you to a duel!"

A mage in blue robes stepped in front of me and shouted.

What was this sudden duel?

As I stood there bewildered, the small mage pointed a staff at me and shouted.

"You dabbled in black magic, yet you surpassed all of us and became the Tower Master's personal disciple! You are from the lower world, but you have enough talent to be taught by the Tower Master at your age? I refuse to accept it!"

"Huh? Are you saying the Cyan Tower Master's judgment was wrong?"

"T-That isn't what I mean! You must have deceived the Tower Master through underhanded means!"

"So you are saying the Cyan Tower Master cannot even see through my deception?"

"No, no! Tower Master! That isn't what I meant!"

Teasing her was fun.

A colleague who couldn't stand watching the flustered mage came over and whispered something to her. Only then did she calm down and burn with fighting spirit behind her glasses.

"Avant-garde, disciple of the Crystal Tower's fifth floor! Let us compete in knowledge!"

"Well, I have no reason to refuse, so I'll accept..."

Was she one of the people the Cyan Tower Master had said were waiting for me? It seemed the master had expected some hazing. Even the Arcane Federation... I loosened my hands and slowly observed my opponent.

A duel? Against a floating-castle mage?

If this had been the lower world, I would never have agreed. I would have escaped somehow or tried to negotiate. If neither worked, I would have surrendered.

But duels in the floating castle were a little different.

It was difficult for mages to fight each other directly. The more time they had to prepare, the more power they could store, and their offensive strength far exceeded their defenses. If they used offensive magic at full power, there was a high chance of a large-scale disaster. There was a reason the Demon King had intervened when the Tower Masters fought.

No matter how powerful mages were, they were human at heart. Even the chosen died if severely injured. Only magic users capable of freely employing innate arcane were suited to battle.

"So, what is the question?"

"Wait! Crystal set. Do, re, mi..."

That was why the floating castle had reached an agreement. When mages wished to settle victory and defeat, rather than engage in mutually assured destruction, they would fight in a more moderate way.

Through magic quiz battles!

A magic circle set with seven jewels appeared in the air. Avant-garde slowly moved her staff, touching the jewels in sequence according to a musical score. Clear tones spread outward and formed a chord.

Avant-garde proudly displayed the magic circle she had carefully made and shouted.

"A scale magic circle! This is the Pythagorean school's basic magic circle, the 'musical staff,' which constructs magic in the form of a score! I will cast basic crystallization magic using the musical staff, so find the error!"

Whenever the music reached completion, ice crystals formed in the center of the magic circle... but just before they fully formed, they collapsed. Avant-garde had deliberately created an error.

Finding that error was Avant-garde's quiz.

'As far as I know, that arrogant bastard has poor mana-sensing ability! No way he could notice a musical staff, which requires delicate mana sensing...!'

Yes. If it had been a problem I encountered in a book, I might have spent a long time thinking about it.

But...

'No way he could notice that I changed the clef midway through drawing the staff!'

"You changed the clef partway through. That twisted the crystal, causing it to collapse in the middle."

"Gasp! How did you know that?!"

I couldn't possibly get a question posed by a person wrong. Unless the person who made the question didn't know the answer either.

As if celebrating the correct answer, the magic circle burst with a pop. Avant-garde was showered in fragments of blue mana and fell flat on her back. Her face was full of shock.

"The musical staff has been obsolete for over thirty years because of how difficult it is, yet you recognized it...?"

"Not only did he sense the mana, he even understood the flow of the musical staff?"

"That's impossible. There is a limit to how much of a genius someone can be...!"

Ah, easy. I wished every duel in the world worked this peacefully. Would the Sanctum not consider adopting this system?

'An unenlightened person from the lower world could not have studied such a difficult magic circle! How did he know? Did he infer it in reverse by watching the ice crystal form?'

"It was an obvious trap. The ice crystal itself was already forming strangely. It was clear that the mismatch between the first and second halves caused the collapse."

"As expected...!"

"And if you were going to change the clef, you should have changed the crystal's mana midway as well. The tone and the magic didn't match."

Admiration rose from the people around us. I heard mutters that the Cyan Tower Master's eye had not been wrong, that I was a damned, irritating bastard but they had no choice but to acknowledge my talent.

There were worried murmurs asking whether I was the return of that Lankart bastard. I had no idea what he had done.

"...This is ridiculous! I spent three days and nights thinking just to create one musical-staff question...!"

By the way. Her name was Avant-garde, right?

A floating-castle mage was a genius in every sense. A completed genius, produced after a genius of the Arcane Federation studied in a good environment with abundant support.

Avant-garde alone likely possessed more knowledge than the entire military state's corps of magic officers. The military state's overly uniform education was part of the problem, but still.

Good. You were the one.

"But it was an impressive magic circle. The musical staff is intuitive and difficult, but it seems to have the great advantage of amplifying mana through harmony. Is that right?"

"...Uh, yes."

"If you can handle a musical staff like that, you must have mastered mana amplification, Senior."

"I received an A-plus evaluation..."

I hadn't asked about her grade. Was that a shameless little self-promotion? In any case, she was exactly the person I wanted. I held out the grimoire crystals and extended my hand to Avant-garde.

"Senior Avant-garde. I ask for your guidance."

"Huh?"

"I want to learn Introduction to Mana Amplification. It is essential for supplementing my mana, and I need your help."

"Huh? Introduction to Mana Amplification? That is foundational material I learned on the second floor..."

"I would like you to help me with those exact fundamentals. I have not been learning for long, so I need someone to fill those gaps."

"W-Why would I..."

'Teaching a monstrous genius will only make me look pathetic! No! I don't want a genius laughing at me...!'

"Because I won the duel. Knowledge is the reward I demand for victory, isn't it?"

"Urk!"

"Enough, come with me. I have to finish reading all of this Introduction to Mana Amplification today. Explain it beside me until I do."

Since duels were like this, the rewards for winning were also limited to knowledge or magic. I could call it mage-like, or perhaps peaceful in a way that didn't suit their madness.

I liked it. So far, at least.

I had acquired a good grimoire... no, a mage. She would sit beside me, read Introduction to Mana Amplification, and explain what she understood. I dragged Avant-garde toward a nearby research room.

'He has already been learning magic for days, yet he is still studying?'

'Before being a genius, he is diligently insane. He even calls people inferior to him "Senior" without fail.'

'Is he really Lankart's friend? He is so different from that bastard.'

Leaving the other mages' thoughts behind.

Footnotes:

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