WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 28: Magic Study
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The Frozen Tower.
Though they did not compare to the Labyrinth itself, the city of Labyrinth had several grand, towering buildings.
One was City Hall, where the officials and nobles who governed the city resided. Another was the Magic Tower.
Whoooooosh.
In an age with scarce resources and poor technology, the sheer act of building a structure dozens of floors high was enough to display its power.
“Wow...”
“So this is the Magic Tower?”
“It truly deserves to be called one of Labyrinth’s sights. Doesn’t it look like it could reach the sky?”
Leaving the tourists behind as they craned their necks in awe, I gave the towering Magic Tower a brief appraisal.
“The noise between floors must be awful~”
After that short impression, I moved on. At the entrance, a bespectacled mage yawned as he served as a guide.
“What brings you here?”
“I’d like to rent a laboratory.”
“Outsiders may only use the outer laboratories. Please fill out this pledge agreeing to compensate us for any damage... How long would you like to use it?”
“One day.”
“That’ll be fifteen silver coins.”
Fuck, I expected it, but it was still fucking expensive.
Still, the Magic Tower was the only place with equipment like this, so I tearfully paid the fee...
Tremble, tremble.
“Could you let go of my hand?”
“Ah, I have a hand tremor.”
“Yes. Ian, an 8th Rank Expedition Party member. Your identity has been confirmed. Take your key and proceed to Laboratory 12. Do you need any catalysts or other magical materials?”
The bespectacled mage asked like a clinic manager trying to sell me veneers or teeth whitening.
Judging by the enthusiasm in his voice, he probably got a cut whenever he sold this stuff.
‘Magic Tower catalysts.’
Their quality was excellent.
The problem was that they were fucking expensive.
Someone starting from the bottom like me couldn’t afford them yet.
‘Besides, I already prepared some things.’
“No, I’m fine.”
“I see.”
The bespectacled mage smirked.
At best, it was the look someone gave a cute junior. At worst, he was mocking me.
Hm. I’ll remember that face.
You dared laugh at this genius mage?
Just wait.
Instead of entering the Magic Tower, I headed around it.
Beside the tower stood tightly packed single-story buildings, like a villa complex. They were spaces where wandering mages unaffiliated with the Magic Tower could conduct experiments. Definitely not a way to fleece kind mages like me.
“Number 12. Number 12.”
The sights around me were a spectacle.
“Mm, there are plenty of crazy bastards here too.”
Boom!
“Aaaaaah!”
Explosions regularly went off near the laboratories packed together like chicken coops.
Catalysts and magical materials were sensitive by nature, so it happened often.
That wasn’t all.
“Uuuuugh...”
One mage had lowered their entire body into an ice-cold well with a rope, their teeth chattering. Another screamed as they quickly shoved a hand into and out of a blazing furnace.
Fwoooosh!
“Gyaaaaaah!”
There was even a lunatic wearing a chunk of highly conductive metal, rubbing static-producing leather while shaking from head to toe in an attempt to learn the Lightning affinity.
“O heavens!”
This was roughly how people in this primitive world raised their Grimoire proficiency.
They exposed their bodies directly to the elements their Grimoires liked.
It was fucking barbaric, but it worked.
Hadn’t I learned Frost Burst while crossing the snowfields?
And besides...
‘It’s safer than blowing myself up while handling catalysts with half-baked knowledge!’
It was practical too!
Of course, a genius mage like me had no intention of researching magic through such primitive methods.
‘Tch. What barbarians.’
I’d use a more elegant, scientific method, like the mages holed up in that Magic Tower.
Click.
Since explosions happened all the time, the small laboratory was built from thick bricks.
Inside were black scorch marks from things that had burned, along with basic equipment like flasks, distillers, clocks, and scales.
“Mmm, smell.”
Shall we begin?
I took out the items I had prepared for the experiment.
Cheap strong liquor, silver powder and gold, magnetite, rock salt, distilled water, a Mana Stone, and shards of glass.
A little later.
[Electric Spark]
[Frost Burst]
Bubble, bubble.
As steam rose from the flask, the water inside, which had been boiling, froze on its own.
A strangely shaped needle at the end of a wire made from copper, silver, and magnetite flashed with a crackle, then summoned lightning with a thunderous roar.
Cough, cough.
“Ugh...”
After continuing my experiments for some time while coughing amid the dust, I finally smiled.
‘Grimoires like new knowledge and phenomena!’
‘It was basic knowledge on Earth, but this world doesn’t have it!’
[Arcane Barrier]
[Lightning Arrow]
[Rising Water Jet]
New spell parchments surfaced within me.
“Bwahahahahaha!”
After such a huge haul, I left the wrecked laboratory with my shoulders shaking.
* * *
Mages were the only beings who brought warmth to this frozen world, the guardians of human civilization.
Everyone revered mages, but beneath the surface, mages had their own circumstances.
A hierarchy, so to speak.
Mages were broadly divided into two groups.
Wandering mages who had simply awakened, and elites affiliated with the Magic Tower.
Widen was an official apprentice of the Magic Tower.
‘This is boring.’
To earn research funds, Widen stood guard at the Magic Tower entrance as a side job, guiding visitors.
The work was terribly dull, but it wasn’t entirely unbearable.
After all, watching losers was fun.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
“Ultimate Sword Dance! Good grief! Failed!”
Widen watched the wandering mages who came to rent the outer laboratories and sneered inwardly.
They probably thought they had the whole world once they became mages.
But there was always someone above them.
They could use very few spells, and even those were nothing special.
At least those with Fire or Earth could make a living. Other affinities made even that difficult.
That was why wandering mages joined the Expedition Party and entered the Labyrinth, hoping to learn new spells and fund their research.
Yet the Labyrinth was a harsh place.
It normally took months to learn even one spell, and many took years.
Most wandering mages lost sight of their original goal. They failed to advance their mastery.
They settled and resigned themselves.
‘Hehe. Pathetic fools.’
Why not just join the Magic Tower, then?
To become a disciple of the Magic Tower, one had to prove both talent and ability.
Most wandering mages had only been lucky enough to be chosen by a Grimoire. They could not even begin to explore magic properly, much less cross the Magic Tower’s threshold.
Naturally, their achievements were slower than those of Magic Tower mages, who received the knowledge of excellent teachers and abundant support.
The gap between the two classes of mages widened even further.
It was a vicious cycle.
‘It would be difficult for anyone but someone like me.’
Widen sneered at the wandering mages, full of superiority.
Then he thought of the silver-haired wandering mage who had left a few hours ago.
He could not even remember that mage’s name, but that silver-haired wanderer was no different.
The guy had apparently heard something somewhere and brought all sorts of strange materials. If magical research could be done with things like that, why would the Magic Tower have officially approved catalysts and materials, as well as research documents shared only with the direct disciples of each school?
‘Just don’t die. Don’t make this troublesome.’
It would be a relief if Widen didn’t have to clean up a corpse caused by a failed experiment.
Just as Widen snorted and dismissed Ian...
Rumble!
A booming sound suddenly rang in his ears.
A faint tremor followed, and the world before him flashed.
Lightning had struck from a clear sky.
As a mage, Widen immediately realized that this strange phenomenon had been artificially caused.
“What was that?”
What? Who was it? Who could summon lightning this powerful where there wasn’t even water?
This was the sort of thing one would only see inside the Magic Tower...
As Widen panicked, someone came running out of the Magic Tower, panting.
“Who is it?”
It was an old man in an expensive embroidered robe, his expression twisted.
“Ah, Master Castlelight.”
Sir Castlelight was one of the high-ranking mages who led the Magic Tower.
He was the master of the Astrafe School, which wielded Lightning. A great mage beyond comparison to Widen.
Master Castlelight ignored Widen’s greeting and asked about what had just happened.
“That lightning. What was it? Where did it strike?”
“One of the laboratories prepared for wandering mages.”
“Take me there!”
“Y-yes!”
What an ill-tempered old bastard.
Widen cursed Castlelight inwardly, but he was curious about the phenomenon too, so he headed for the outer laboratories.
Crackle, crackle...
The outside of the laboratory had been blackened by the lightning’s aftermath.
A chunk of metal hung from the building’s roof, giving off smoke and the smell of charcoal.
The faintly written number was...
12.
The laboratory used by that silver-haired wandering mage.
Castlelight stared intently into the laboratory, then asked Widen, “Who is this person?”
“Pardon?”
“Who used this laboratory?”
“Uh, um...”
The person had worn a hooded robe, so Widen only remembered the silver hair.
Still, there was a document with the visitor’s details...
Widen searched his clothes, then froze.
Huh? Fuck, where did the paper go?
“Ah!”
A small movement at his waist.
Widen realized that the small familiar he kept had eaten the silver-haired wanderer’s contract.
“I-I’m sorry. It seems my familiar ate the record...”
Smack!
“Argh!”
Castlelight’s staff immediately struck him.
“You stupid bastard!”
“I’m sorry, Master Castlelight.”
Pain throbbed through Widen’s skull, and tears welled in his eyes as he hurriedly bowed his head.
“I’ll clean up this mess at once. And as for the person who dared disrupt the Magic Tower’s order, I’ll make sure to...”
“What bullshit are you talking about?”
“Pardon?”
“Are your eyes crossed? Can’t you see that exquisite, supremely beautiful work of art?”
Only then did Widen look inside the laboratory.
“...!”
Geometric formulas covered the floor, while light reflected off broken mirror fragments formed complex lines.
A flask sat over a furnace that still held a faint warmth. Oddly, ice crystals had formed above it.
Instead of his usual severity, Master Castlelight’s face held pure admiration.
‘Supercooling! Total internal reflection of mana!’
‘When friction energy caused by conflicting mana exceeds its critical point, it finds the path of least resistance and pours into the ground!’
‘He piled highly conductive materials into a tower and summoned lightning!’
‘Wait, what is that substance?’
‘I’ve never seen a method like this!’
‘Beautiful!’
Even to someone who had practiced magic all his life and conducted countless experiments in laboratories, it was beautiful.
A mere wandering mage had accomplished such astounding elemental research?
That mage was...
‘Without a doubt, a genius!’
Castlelight turned his gaze toward Widen.
“You, aren’t you one of Marianne’s subordinates?”
“Y-yes!”
“Widen. Right. You’ve been in the Magic Tower for two years, yet you still haven’t shed your probationary status. You’re an idiot running errands.”
“...”
Widen’s face turned bright red at Castlelight’s cutting words.
“I have an errand for you.”
“B-but Master Castlelight isn’t even my direct teacher...”
After being insulted and humiliated again and again, Widen tried to offer a timid protest...
Crackle!
“Eek!”
Powerful lightning burst from around Master Castlelight, and Widen shut his mouth.
“Find the guest who used Laboratory 12, no matter what! Find him and bring him here respectfully! If you fail, I swear on my name that I’ll have you expelled from the Magic Tower!”
F-fuck?
Only then did Widen realize how serious the situation was.
‘I’m screwed!’
The one with poor insight and a useless mind was Widen himself, the person who had entered the Magic Tower through luck.
“Do you understand!?”
“Y-yes, sir!”
At Castlelight’s furious roar, Widen cast aside all the dignity of an elite Magic Tower mage and ran off in a panic.
Footnotes:
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