Wizard of the Abyss - Chapter 34

WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 34 - Growth (9)

Magic was quite the harsh discipline. Ninety percent talent and ten percent effort.

And—unlike other talents, this one can be measured.

All you had to do was look at someone’s Mana cycles. If you observed the flow of one’s stars, even if you were a wizard of average skill, you’d be able to see the limits of the other person.

Countless mages had already proven it by never being able to exceed their predetermined limits. Some managed it, but only by borrowing from forbidden methods.

Among them, Dercia had seen that Jern’s Mana cycle would never be able to exceed three stars.

And if there was a limit, so too was there a pace set in which they would reach it. If someone was destined to reach nine stars, they would master magic three times faster than those bound to only reach three…

Therefore, Dercia didn’t have high expectations of him.

"It is certainly useful. But—”

"..."

Bang!!

Jern was slammed into the library wall once again, mid-sentence.

And it was Dercia who did it.

"Urgh…”

The building trembled as blood spilled from Jern’s twitching nose.

His eyes were out of focus for a few seconds before he shook his head, steadied himself, and walked over again.

He wiped his nose with a satisfied expression on his face.

"...It’s not strong enough to withstand the water pressure yet..."

"...Perfection doesn’t come with the first step."

Dercia answered, trying to hide what was close to shock.

"’Purge’ is an incredibly simple magic, woven with only the principle of ‘If you know it, you can resist it.’ It is nothing more than a slight extension of elemental magic. That alone won’t enable you to survive the Abyssal Sea.”

Everything she said was the absolute truth. She just withheld the rest.

The speed he was learning it at was just too strange.

"Hmm, I see… Then let’s try it again.”

Dercia slammed Jern into the wall again.

She didn’t show him a shred of mercy. She had calculated the impact to be slightly short of being lethal.

This time, Jern’s arm bent grotesquely as he hit the wall.

"...Krrgh, this seriously hurts..."

Dercia snapped her fingers to reset the bone as she watched Jern.

His mastery over ‘Purge’ had reached near perfection in just a week.

It felt like watching a random chunk of marble thrown to the ground turning into a perfect statue.

She had considered it again but came to the same conclusion that he had no talent for magic.

And yet—

"I could make it hurt less.”

"...Huh?”

Jern, who had just staggered back to his feet, blinked confused at her suggestions, as if she had just said something completely absurd.

"That doesn’t really sound much like you though, Master?”

"You’re the one who keeps saying that it hurts, are you not?”

"Well, true.”

Jern simply shrugged.

"But then it wouldn’t be training, right?”

"..."

As she had said before, he did have a certain talent as a wizard.

Dercia’s lips slowly curved upwards.

"Jern.”

"Yes."

"Don’t you resent me?”

"A little. I do sometimes wonder if it was really necessary to choose this kind of training method.”

Yet Jern’s eyes were completely clear as he spoke.

There wasn’t even a hint of malice or a trace of hatred anywhere to be found on his face.

He simply went through with everything because it was something that had to be done. That was all.

'...Perhaps.'

The actual reason why Dercia had never taken on any disciples was because it was too much of a bother.

More precisely, she believed that there was no point in teaching children who would never be able to surpass her on the path of magic.

She would consider it if it might be an elf, but teaching a human child would be such a waste of time since they would all die long before she would even if they possessed talent. They would never be able to serve as records of her legacy.

So the reason she accepted Jern went far beyond mere curiosity.

It was because he would die soon anyway.

She would do her absolute best to keep him alive, and in the process, she’d be able to gain some valuable knowledge.

But in the end, nothing she did would change his fate. She estimated that he’d have a year. Anything beyond that would be impossible.

Having weighed all the pros and cons like that, Dercia finally decided to take him in.

'Was it a mistake?’

"Ugh—”

A rare bitter expression appeared on her face as she watched Jern stagger to his feet again after having been thrown against the wall.

...It seemed to her that she might be spending more time than just a year with this boy.

* * *

The day of the exam.

Riding in a carriage, I asked something that had been bothering me.

"Why are we taking a carriage? Couldn’t you just teleport us like you always like to do?”

"I can’t."

"And why?”

Dercia rested her head against the carriage wall, visibly annoyed. She wore a wide-brimmed hat and a black veil to cover her ears. I could feel her stubborn determination to keep her identity hidden.

"Because of this damn thing called etiquette.”

What did she mean by that?

Her expression showed just how uncomfortable she was with all of this, so I decided to not ask any further.

Instead, I focused on training my magic.

"Purge."

As I muttered the trigger word under my breath, it felt like I had slipped into a dream.

All sensations seemed to fade. Dercia had said that I had reached perfection, at least against elemental magic.

I hadn’t tried using Abyss magic recently, so I didn’t know how far it would hold up against the Abyssal Sea, but at least I could purge the basic burdens.

That alone was a huge improvement. I smiled as I looked at Dercia.

"...What is it?”

"I just feel happy all of a sudden. Should I give you a kiss?”

"Tsk, what happened to breaking the imperial law?”

As we engaged in this meaningless banter, the carriage came to a halt.

And— as soon as we got out, I was greeted by a shocking sight.

"...What is all this?”

"There are quite a few, aren’t there?"

There were literally hundreds of carriages lined up behind the building.

While I stood there frozen, shocked by this sight that resembled the state of a modern day car park for a baseball stadium, Dercia just stepped down after me, reacting nonchalantly.

"I did tell you that this was the end-of-term combat exam.”

"Wait, but it’s not the end of the term, right?”

"For some it is.”

"...?"

I didn’t quite get what she meant by that.

On my way to the waiting room, I passed numerous nobles dressed in elaborate attire, fussing over their children.

"Remember, your ice spears could kill an ox, so try to show some consideration towards your opponent.”

"Yes!”

"I’m counting on you to take first place, son!”

"Of course!”

That was fine and all.

Except for the fact that all these kids seemed to be a few years older than me.

Only then did this creeping sense of unease rise up in me.

"Erm… Wait a second…”

"Yes?"

"This is an exam for the children’s class, right?”

"It for the youth class. For children between 13 and 15.”

"Ah, as I thought. Ice magic is one of the higher-level elemental magic branches—wait, is it even possible for me to win this?”

15. That was still considered young, sure.

However, for a wizard, that meant they had at least received five more years of training.

I had only been training for barely a few months. There was no way I could even begin to compete with those guys.

When I voiced my doubts, Dercia just snorted, as if she couldn’t care less about my worries.

"A mere five hours of my teaching is worth more than five years of a noble’s education. Stop worrying and just go win.”

"Hmm… If you put it this way.”

"And Jern—”

"Yes?"

"..."

Dercia stared at me for a moment, then shook her head.

"It’s nothing.”

She escorted me to the waiting room and seemed to observe the children interacting with their parents.

"My proud son, come here! Let me give you a big hug before you go!”"

"Yes!"

Watching that, Dercia massaged her temple as if her head was hurting.

"So… Erm, do you want me to hug you too?”

"No thanks. You can just go.”

"I will do that then.”

Dercia left, her expression seeming a lot better.

I took a seat in one of the waiting room’s corners, practicing Purge, trying to avoid attracting too much attention.

That was until the host came in and called my name.

"Torjin of House Tylus, and Sir Jern?”

"Yes! I mean, yes.”

"That’s me."

I slowly got on my feet at the announcement.

Instantly, all the eyes of every person in the waiting room homed in on me, as if I were something that wasn’t supposed to be here.

What was going on here?

"Wh-what? Isn’t that him? Dercia’s disciple…”

"The kid who saved the kidnapped children and got rewarded for it…?”

"Wait, but isn’t he 10? Why is he here?”

You tell me.

Deciding to put this matter aside, I held out my hand to the red-haired boy, seemingly called Torjin, who just stood there, frozen in place.

"Let’s have a good match.”

"Y-yeah…”

He shook my hand, his expression showing quite some fear.

I could even feel him tremble through his hand.

...Seriously, what is going on?

Shouldn’t he be thinking something like ‘Hurray, a ten-year-old. Easy points!’

As we walked down the hallway, Torjing seemed to observe my every move, his stride stiff, so I decided to ask him something as politely as I could.

"Forgive me for this mere commoner to speak to you first, but I have a question I would like to ask you.”

"N-not at all! It’s fine, really! Feel free to ask me anything!”

Even though he was a full head taller than me, he was still panicking this much.

Trying not to scare him any further, I asked him cautiously,

"I’ve been busy training lately, so I can’t say I’m sure, but it feels like everyone here already knows me. How did you hear about me?”

"What do you mean…? You really don’t know?”

Torjin just gave me a completely baffled look in return.

When I nodded, he answered reluctantly.

"You’re Lady Dercia’s disciple, aren’t you…?”

"Well yeah, but I’ve only been her student for a couple of months, so this reaction seems a bit overblown to me.”

"Y-you do know that she even turned down the princess, right?”

"Yes."

"Do you know how she turned her down?”

I suddenly felt unease crawl up inside of me again.

"...I don’t.”

"The princess brought her to the Regenstone and melted the entire thing in one go. She then told Lady Dercia that her talent should easily be great enough to become her disciple—”

"And?"

"Lady Dercia rejected her, asking why she should be impressed by her melting some rock…”

To be fair, that was a pretty polite refusal for my master’s standards. Maybe not so much for the one on the receiving end.

No wonder the Imperial Knights seemed so hostile. As I was once again astonished by my master's utter lack of social skills, Torjin continued, trembling.

"S-so…that means you possess talent far superior to the princess herself…”

"No. Absolutely not.”

I cut him off before that fire could grow even bigger.

"Huh, what?”

"Well… The truth is, I’m actually Lady Dercia’s biological son. I didn’t inherit any of her talents, though. She just gave me this chance due to our blood ties.”

"...What??"

"I’m not particularly talented. I’d appreciate it if you could spread the word. Oh, and make absolutely sure to add that I have nothing but the utmost respect for the princess.”

Torjin just blinked, startled, but still nodded.

I had to somehow explain this to Dercia later. This was still far better than the princess considering me her rival.

Sighing, I headed towards the exam site. It was a wide-open field with seats for spectators around it not unlike a baseball stadium. Still, the number of people in the stands seemed small compared to the sea of carriages outside.

This just seemed to be the preliminary round or something. As Torjin headed to the other side, a middle-aged man immediately pulled him aside after he spotted me.

I caught some small parts of their conversation.

I was told not to use Tide Sense, but it should be fine if I use the current just a tiny bit.

That way I could deduce parts of their conversation.

[Son, withdraw immediately! That boy is Dercia’s disciple!]

[I-I heard that as well. But I think it’ll be fine…]

[What?! Why?]

[He’s just… ten years old. Just a kid. I think I can win.]

[No, that’s not—]

That was when I decided to turn it off.

Did my conversation with him boost his confidence?

Well, whatever. If I couldn’t clear the preliminaries, I wouldn’t even deserve to stand here anyway.

After waiting for a bit, Torjin, having gained a slight confidence boost, walked back onto the field, his face only slightly stiff now.

A Knight wearing a hat decorated with a white feather, who seemed to be the referee, addressed him first.

"Are you ready?”

"...Yes!"

Torjin immediately raised his mana.

The air around him seemed to shift.

"I admire your spirit, but calm yourself first and put on this necklace.”

"Ah, yes.”

He put on a necklace set with three red jewels as if it was the most natural thing in the world. When I was given mine, I asked,

"What’s this?”

“These jewels will shatter in place of your body getting injured. If all are destroyed, it’s counted as your defeat. Any further strikes are absolutely forbidden, so be careful.”

Oho.

Well, it wasn’t like they could have noble kids bleeding out from a mere test.

Once I put on the necklace, the referee made his solemn announcement.

"Both sides, take your positions!”

We put a distance of about 30 meters between us.

I gently brushed against Torjin’s necklace using my current.

"...?"

He shivered and scratched at his nape, looking as if something tickled him.

I couldn’t actually use this though. I completely sealed away all Abyss magic and took my stance.

"Ready…start!”

"Ha—Haaaaaah!! Blow!!!!!”

As soon as he said the word, a strong gale ripped through the field.

It wasn’t just mere wind; it was razor-sharp as well.

Where I could only create a tiny gust of wind, Torjin was able to control dozens as naturally as moving a limb, shredding at my skin like blades in a blender.

So that was what a difference of five years looked like. I couldn’t help but be amazed by it.

“This is really impressive.”

“...Huh, wh-what??”

Torjin gawked at me, bewildered.

He seemed quite shocked seeing me standing there completely unfazed, seeing how he was looking at his hands as if to check if he did something wrong, his teeth clenched.

Even just holding up my basic Purge was quickly draining me. I could feel the jewels on my necklace trembling.

I took a step forward, muttering the trigger word.

"Purge."

Purge: Wind.

All my mana was solely funneled into resisting the gale. At that moment, the jewels instantly stopped their trembling.

I just kept walking towards Torjin.

"...Eek! Stay back!”

The wind shifted.

It no longer seemed to take the shape of blades to tear me apart but a wall that pushed me away.

It was nothing like the wisps of wind I often used.

But it couldn’t stop me from advancing.

"What? How…?”

Torjin’s eyes went wide with genuine shock as he watched me press through his defenses, closing the distance until he was in my reach.

I just shrugged.

"I’ve been walking 1,230,000 steps a day lately, so I’ve gotten quite used to pushing through these kinds of things.”

"...?"

"Hyah."

Instead of socking the still shocked Torjin in the face…

I simply smashed the jewels on his necklace one after the other.

Even if he wouldn’t actually get hurt by it, I didn’t really want to antagonize the people here.

-Crack, crack, crack

"...Huh."

Torjin wasn’t even able to react properly.

"23 seconds, winner… Jern.”

As the shattered gems disappeared into dust, the referee, his expression showing bewilderment, announced my victory.

"It was a good match. Thank you.”

"...Y-yeah."

I shook Torjin’s hand and left the exam site.

At that moment, I started to wonder if it might actually be possible for me to win this thing.

* * *

From the terrace above, where the nobles watched the arena, murmurs spread, their faces seeming sour.

"Wasn’t that… just some form of Body Strengthening? How vulgar.”

"I heard he was Dercia’s disciple, but what a disappointment. He didn’t even seem like he was using magic.”

The nobles genuinely slandered Jern without a shred of hesitation.

They weren’t completely wrong, since he hadn’t used a single spell. All he did was physically endure the attacks and shatter the gems on the necklace with his hands.

"..."

Among them, seated on a chair seemingly woven from golden thread, was a 15-year-old girl sitting there, not saying a word.

"If he was going to act like that, he should have entered a Knight’s tournament.”

"I heard they forced their way into this competition even though he wasn’t even old enough yet.”

"Since when did we bend to that elf’s every whim? Tsk.”

Their criticism grew ever sharper when—

"Hah."

The princess, Lumia, let out a laugh.

"Is that truly what you think? Fools, all of you.”

"..."

Those mere words were enough to silence all the nobles present.

In that silence, Lumia leaned against the armrest, twirling her blood-red locks of hair, and muttered.