WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 35 - Growth (10)

As soon as Dercia dropped off Jern in the waiting room, she was planning on heading straight back to the library.

At least until the disgustingly cheerful host saw her and approached.

"Ah, Lady Dercia. The reserved seats are this way.”

"Reserved seats?”

"...Uhm, well. It’s the seats on the terrace where you can watch your disciple's matches—”

"I see. I’ll go later.”

Her indifferent tone finally got the host’s smile to crack..

"L-Later? But if you don’t want to watch the match… Could I at least ask when you plan on attending?”

"When’s the final?”

"There is no final. This isn’t a tournament but an exam. Each candidate will duel, and at the end the results will be announced.”

"So when’s the last match? The one that decides who’s first, the winner, the top scorer, or whatever you want to call it.”

"That would be… erm, around 6 in the evening.”

"I’ll attend then.”

"...???"

Leaving behind the host, dumbstruck by her strange behavior, Dercia walked away without looking back.

'What’s the point of me watching this?'

A quick glance around the waiting room was enough.

More than half of the candidates here were slightly stronger than Jern. Even if he perfectly mastered ‘Purge’ in a real fight, he’d probably be pushed back before he could even close the distance to his opponent.

In other words, Jern would win.

Just being slightly stronger was nowhere near enough.

Jern would be willing to even sacrifice his arm if it meant victory.

And no normal child could ever defeat an opponent who was fighting with such a mindset. The sheer difference in the tactics available to them was simply too great.

It wasn’t like the children were lacking; it was Jern who was strange.

His way of thinking was just too different. It was as if…he regarded the entire world, including himself, as mere objects.

"There is such a thing as being too precocious.”

Dercia muttered these words with her mouth covered.

Feeling in quite good spirits, she opened the door and was about to head back to the library when a far less pleasant voice called out to her.

"Look who we have here? Long time no see! Dercia.”

"...Tsk."

Dercia sighed, then turned her head.

A middle-aged wizard, clad in violet robes, looking well past fifty, spread out his arms wide, his lips curling into a smile that didn’t reach his stone-cold eyes.

Dismissing the hostility in his gaze, Dercia replied coldly.

"It’s been a while. Rohymdal.”

"So what brings you here? Ah… could it be because of that disciple of yours?”

"..."

That guy obviously already knew everything.

Her glance flicked to where the host had been. Alas, he had long since left.

That host probably had orders to somehow bring her to the terrace, which was probably why he recognized her even though she disguised herself. This bastard had been eavesdropping on her like the rat he was, then rushed towards her in a panic when he saw her about to leave.

How disgusting, yet getting angry at the matter was pointless.

Such things only had weight when there was parity. This was just on the level of a mosquito buzzing close to her ear. Annoying, but nothing more than that.

That was how Dercia felt about Rohymdal.

"I’ve heard the story. You took in a commoner, and an orphan at that, as your disciple, right? Goodness, I can’t say I understand, but I suppose it’s just like you…”

But Rohymdal had chosen his opponent poorly.

After thinking for a moment, Dercia decided it wasn’t worth the effort to even try showing consideration, so she cut right to the chase.

"Lord Rohymdal.”

"Hm?”

"I’m very well aware of the fact that you harbor some deep feelings of inferiority towards me since Her Highness the Princess has called on me first when she sought a master in magic and not you, the Imperial Court Mage.”

"ㅡ"

"But I neither asked for it nor desired it. That was why I rejected her. To chase me for years, finding any excuse to start a quarrel with me for something that has happened in the past is a bit…unbecoming, don’t you think?”

"..."

His mind froze over, having heard such an unvarnished insult, something no one would even dare to throw at him in high society.

And before he could even come back to his senses, Dercia stripped away even his right to be angry.

"If you dislike me that much."

Her mana swirled around her uncontrollably.

Shrrrrrrrft… As if gravity itself had shifted, the paintings around them slid off the walls and drifted toward her, and ornamental vases began to slide across the floor, traveling in their direction.

This was proof that she was the mage closest to reaching the Heavens.

The laws of reality themselves bent to her will.

"I’m always willing to be your sparring partner.”

Her tone and gaze were devoid of any emotion.

Seeing those eyes, Rohymdal came to his senses, forcing a laugh to pass his lips.

"Wahaha! What nonsense are you saying? What would either of us gain from such a fight? There’s no need for us to go to battle because of such trivial matters!”

"...Ah, I see. Indeed."

If he had even the slightest chance of winning against her, he would have challenged her long ago.

But since there wasn’t even a shred of that in sight, he immediately hid himself behind that mask of laughter.

To Dercia, this was nothing but tiresome. He had deep connections with the imperial family, and he had earned his rank as an Imperial Court Mage not through his own power, but through politics.

If only he’d just attack her—then she would have had an excuse to make sure that he never even dared to think about crossing the line again.

However, Rohymdal quickly hid any hint of emotion and got back to the point.

"Ah, listen to me ramble. I came here to warn you that your disciple might be in danger.”

"Hmm."

Dercia blinked, her arms crossed.

Her expression seemed so unbothered to the point that Rohymdal himself felt unsettled.

'...So she really just took that boy as a disciple on a whim, huh?’

If that were true, it seemed like any thought he had spent on this would be wasted.

Showing some uncertainty, he pressed on.

"I tried to stop her, but Her Highness insisted on entering the competition herself.”

"Oh, is that so? Go on.”

"It seems… Her Highness doesn’t hold much fondness toward you. Probably because you refused her. While I did make attempts to stop her, Her Highness, as you know, isn’t easily dissuaded once she fixates on something.”

"..."

Contemplating for a moment, Dercia uncrossed her arms and blurted out something quite strange.

"How fortunate."

"...?"

"If Her Highness really decided to participate, then it’s hard to imagine that she would have any other goal than targeting my disciple.”

"A-ah. Right. I don’t suppose you care much for the boy, but I thought it might be for the better for you to step in and stop them before things get too dangerous.”

How trivial.

Rohymdal knew full well that Jern would never be able to defeat the princess, so what he really wanted out of this was the vicarious satisfaction of claiming that his disciple had defeated hers.

Not all mages were virtuous or dignified. In fact, the higher they climbed, the more likely it was for them to turn into small-minded, petty beings. By then, they would have given their whole life to magic, their characters completely rotting away until there was nothing left.

Dercia sighed inwardly, then nodded slowly.

"We’ll see soon enough. Where’s the terrace?”

"My, let me guide you there!"

She intently watched Rohymdal, who walked ahead of her, forcing a smile to hide her whisper.

"---Return."

"Hm? What was that?”

"Nothing at all.”

At the same time, the faint red line drawn across Rohymdal’s throat vanished.

The 7-star mage hadn’t noticed a single thing.

Not when the line had been engraved on him, nor when it was erased.

"Let us go.”

Dercia followed Rohymdal, acting as if nothing had happened at all.

* * *

As the exam progressed, the number of spectators steadily increased.

That was quite problematic for me, though.

Because with every match, I started to turn more and more into the villain of this competition.

First of all.

The atmosphere in the waiting room had grown increasingly strange.

"Haah..."

"Ugh."

"Kugh."

Even just letting out a sigh elicited such reactions from those around me.

In this awkward, uncomfortable silence, I could feel every single person here glance at me, watching me intently.

"Jern, and Raon! Please come up to the arena.”

"...!"

There was something I noticed every time my name was called in the waiting room. My opponents would always go through three stages, without exception.

Shock, Despair, and—Resolve.

"You can do it, Raon!”

"We'll be cheering for you!”

"...Yeah!"

It wasn’t like he was marching to his death or something.

My opponent, a head taller than me, seemed to be filled with spirit as he fixed his stern gaze on me from across the arena before holding out his hand.

"I’m Raon from House Alemin. Please treat me well.”

"...I’m Jern."

"Please don't hold back. Come at me with everything you’ve got.”

"Erm, well… sure.”

What else could I say to that?

"Start!"

"Haaaah! Sweep and devour!”

Almost instantly, the ground began to shake at his words.

Jagged stone spikes burst forth from the ground, forming a forest of sharp spears.

At first, I thought they were meant to block me from getting closer, but that wasn’t the case.

"Blow!”

The spears began to spin, caught by a violent gale, turning into a gigantic stone spear mixer that could easily shred someone to pieces in seconds.

A combined spell, huh? Its destructive force was incomparable to simple slicing and piercing winds.

"O-ooh…! Raon! You did it! I always believed in you!”

"Hng… My son has already achieved that much…”

"Go, my child! All our hopes rest on your back…!”

Those on his side were cheering him on like civilians might cheer on a hero facing the Demon Lord.

Raon was sweating profusely but kept his expression as determined as before.

"...Kugh, not even your Body Strengthening technique will protect you from this. Three gemstones won’t be enough to mitigate the damage, so it would be best if you surrendered.”

"Hmm..."

I slightly scratched my cheek and let out a light sigh.

Seriously, I wasn’t doing this because I wanted to.

I really wished I could just lose here comfortably and give him the sweet taste of victory.

I mean, imagine how happy he would be if he won against me here? Everyone would cheer loudly, celebrating his breakthrough after finally vanquishing the hated Demon Lord. He’d carry that memory with him for a lifetime, recounting this story countless times. If he were able to use this victory as his stepping stone, Raon would surely grow into an even greater wizard.

But I couldn’t allow it, which only made this sadder.

"It’s not… a Body Strengthening technique I’m using. You could say it’s similar, though.”

"...What?"

I simply threw myself into that tornado.

Raon, seeming startled, gritted his teeth as he showed no signs of wanting to cancel his spell.

"You’ll regret that!”

Indeed, while ‘Purge’ could protect me quite well from blunt impact, it certainly wouldn’t be able to negate all these ultra-fast, spinning, razor-sharp stone spears.

That would be the case if I didn’t use the fact that he was using a combined spell against him.

"Purge."

First, I erased the wind.

I suddenly felt as if I could move much more freely. Then I used my own wind magic to seize control over the incoming stone spears.

Boom!

"Ugh..."

I mistimed a little and took a hit, but it was bearable.

I continued to calmly catch the spears hurtling towards me at high speeds inside this vortex and led them down to the ground.

My magic output obviously couldn’t be compared to my opponent’s. While Raon was capable of manipulating multiple spears, I could only handle one at a time. As such, a few got through, hitting me, but I simply withstood them with my body.

It wasn’t really all too difficult to control them either. All I had to do was sense one coming towards me and smash it down into the ground.

After taking a few hits, it wasn’t hard for me to get the timing down perfectly.

"...Huh? Huuh??”

Raon tilted his head, seemingly unable to comprehend what was happening before his eyes.

From the outside, it probably looked like I had just walked into the tornado and started controlling all the spears inside with ease.

"N-no way, how…?”

Raon’s face turned pale, as if he had just seen a ghost.

His fear was clearly reflected in his magic. The wind controlling the spears had completely vanished, which made the last few remaining spears helplessly crash into the ground.

I leisurely walked up to him, ready to shatter his jewels, but then he suddenly dropped to his knees before I could, giving up.

"Will you surrender?”

"...Yes."

I intended to comfort Raon, who seemed to be on the verge of tears, but decided to refrain.

Anything I said or did now would only sound like mockery to him.

I didn’t expect him to speak up first.

"It seems… I was far too lacking.”

"Huh? No, not at all. You were truly impressive.”

Those weren’t just empty words. That attack had seriously been dangerous enough for me to break out in a sweat.

As I waved off his comment, Raon stood up, wearing a bitter expression.

"How humble. With your skill, you could have seized control over the spears from me with ease. Didn’t you do all this to show how hopelessly outmatched I was?”

"Not really…”

Even if my mastery over wind magic was moderately high, I was no match for him. These kids had years of training on me, after all.

I had gone into the storm, purged his wind magic, and still took multiple hits.

"Still, your next opponent won’t be so simple. We… have no intention of giving up so easily.”

"We? What, is this some kind of team competition?”

"Yes, it’s a fight between us and Dercia’s disciple.”

"Wait, shouldn’t I get a team too then? Otherwise it won’t be fair—”

"Your next match won’t be as easy; we’ll keep growing.”

Completely ignoring my words, Raon flashed a gallant smile before leaving the arena.

"..."

If I could at least use my Abyssal magic, it would feel like an actual battle between mages.

But because I was limited to only using normal spells, I felt so incredibly frustrated.

It felt like I was fighting with both my hands and feet bound. No matter how much this was for training, this discomfort was almost enough to drive me mad.

And that wasn’t all.

[None of my magic worked on him. I guess we’ll have to find another way. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help…]

[Don’t apologize! You did fantastically! You gave it your all. So, next…]

"Tsk."

I clicked my tongue as I consciously deactivated Tide Sense.

It wasn’t like I intentionally went against Dercia’s orders.

Tide Sense would just activate on its own sometimes even if I didn’t want it.

It could be compared to blinking.

To keep it from happening, I had to constantly stay conscious of it.

Continuously. Because the moment my focus slipped even slightly, it would instantly activate.

This was completely outside of my control.

I returned to the waiting room, sighing as I reached for a water bottle.

"...Ah."

And then I realized that the water bottle I was reaching for was several meters away. In other words, well out of my actual reach.

But my Tide Sense made me perceive the distance as if it was "within my reach”.

So I reached out—and the currents just brought it to me.

It felt so natural and effortless; I felt chills running down my spine.

I stared down at the bottle in my hand, muttering under my breath.

"A resident of another world, huh…”

There was something Dercia sometimes said. A bird was made to fly.

And the bird itself had no way to stop it from happening.

Unless its wings were clipped, it could never truly live among mice.

Only now I started to grasp it…

The fact that I perhaps really was residing in a different world.

* * *

Even after that, the students continued their utmost to somehow win against me.

"How about this? You absolutely won’t be able to breathe in this smoke!”

"Yep, I really can’t breathe.”

"?"

So.

"I'll just drown you with this water—”

"..."

Stuff like this kept happening.

Quite unfortunate, if I had to say so myself.

Their once fiery determination cooled down far too easily.

At least something had to work on me to somehow keep them motivated.

But if all they did was throw punches against a wall, the only thing they would gain from it would be throbbing hands.

"Next, please step into the arena!”

"Umm. Can I just forfeit?”

"...H-how about you at least give it a try first before giving up?”

Seeing the gloomy looks on those kids’ faces made my chest hurt.

And yet, the expressions of the spectators, who most likely were the students’ parents, held not a hint of hatred. I had half-expected at least one person to throw banana peels at me.

No, instead—

They seemed quite favorable towards me.

"...Honestly, I thought he wouldn’t be anything special since he’s a commoner.”

"I assumed forcing him to participate was just Lady Dercia’s form of disciplining her disciple, but it seems like he was truly aiming for the top.”

"He hasn’t even shown us a single proper spell, but the reason is quite obvious in my opinion. His master probably ordered him to restrain himself.”

"Haah, seeing that he seems to be about 10, he couldn’t have trained more than just a few months…”

"...He’s the one Lady Dercia chose over the princess after all. His talent is undeniable.”

"It’s hard not to acknowledge him. If he’s ever to be granted a noble title…”

I could hear those people’s praise so clearly even without activating Tide Sense.

Was this also part of Dercia’s plan? Either way, it seemed like things were heading in a good direction.

I kind of felt bad for the kids, but it seemed like I would really end up winning, like she wanted me to.

And I even managed to gain the nobles’ recognition. The princess would probably acknowledge me to some extent as well.

Good, good.

... The only thoughts left in my head were my desire to hurry home and get some sleep.

With such peaceful thoughts in mind, a sharp voice suddenly cut in from behind me.

"-Step aside. Do you not see you’re blocking our path?”

...Our?

Wondering about this strange way of talking, I turned around—

And was met with a noblewoman with hair as red as blood, dressed in a white-and-gold gown looking far more regal than anything the others in this place wore, with two Knights who looked to be well over two meters tall standing behind her on either of her sides.

She looked a few years older than me and was taller than me as well. I hurriedly bowed and stepped aside.

"My apologies. It seems I didn’t see you.”

"...Hmm."

And then—

She suddenly grabbed my chin and pulled my face closer to hers.

I furrowed my brows, wondering what the hell she was trying to do here. But no matter what I thought, the girl kept scrutinizing my face as if she were trying to dissect it.

Naturally, I too looked back into her face. Her skin was so pale that it almost seemed translucent, and her eyes held such a vibrant, saturated color unlike anything I had ever seen before, neither in this world nor on Earth.

She was still quite young, but her appearance was so breathtaking that I started to wonder if that was what one would call peerless beauty.

"...What an unpleasant pair of eyes you have.”

"Pardon?"

"Wait here. Don’t even think of running.”

Leaving that harsh evaluation behind, she shoved me aside and approached the student who had just been about to forfeit.

"H-h-h-h-h-h-huuh…”

It wasn’t just that guy, but all the other students and even the noble spectators, who immediately shot to their feet and bowed their heads in unison.

"Y-your Highness, we greet you.”

"We pay respects to Her Highness, Princess Lumia!”

...The princess?

Did they just make her a princess because of her face or something? As I absentmindedly stroked my chin, the princess approached the student, who seemed about ready to faint, and calmly asked,

"I shall take your place in this match.”

"...Yes? I mean, yes! Yes!”

"There is no need to repeat your answer thrice. We do have ears.”

With that, the princess casually tossed him some sort of parchment.

"I already secured the organizer’s permission. With this, you won’t have any objects, I trust?”

"No objections, none at all! Of course not, how could I?!”

The host nodded several times, while Princess Lumia frowned, clearly annoyed.

"...Really, how many times do we have to tell you not to repeat yourself?”

Slowly starting to get the full picture, I seized the chance to activate Tide Sense.

I was absolutely sure that if anyone would be watching this right now, it would be Dercia.

In just a short while, the range of my Tide Sense had grown absurdly, now capable of covering half of a small town.

Even I was startled by it. I hadn’t expected it to be this bad already.

Anyway, my hunch was right. I spotted Dercia’s languid expression on one of the terraces high up.

She was far beyond my current’s reach. Instead, I flicked some sand into the air, carried it over using wind magic, and used it to tap against the glass window covering the whole terrace.

Anyone else would just ignore this faint noise, deeming it nothing.

[Your range has grown considerably.]

However, Dercia noticed right away and replied.

I had trusted that she would notice. I flicked a few more grains of sand her way.

Toktoktoktok. This time trying to express my anger and confusion.

Dercia just shrugged, though.

[This isn’t something I can stop.]

Tok.

[You just have to win, of course.]

TOKTOKTOKTOKTOKTOKTOKTOKTOK.

[Calm down. I’m not just telling you to win for no reason. The princess is fiercely competitive, and for some reason, she seems to hold you in very high regard.]

Tok, tok.

[Yes. Letting her win is not an option. If she realizes that you’ve been holding back, she’d be even more furious than if she lost. She absolutely won’t let that pass. Hmm… Ah.]

It seemed as if an idea had appeared in Dercia’s mind.

[Now that I think about it, this could make for some great training.]

Tok.

[I’ve been watching your matches. You’ve been overpowering those children far too easily. I knew you would win, but like this you won’t be able to properly train to maintain your breathing during combat. At this rate, I might as well have beaten you up myself.]

Tok, tok.

[You won’t die. I would have quite some trouble controlling my strength, so it probably wouldn’t make for a good fight, though. So, I hope you’ll make good use of this situation. The princess is on a completely different skill level than the students you’ve been facing up to this point, so just try to hold on for about five minutes. That alone would make for some excellent training.]

Tok.

[After that time is up.]

Her lips pulled into a sinister, evil smile.

It might be a bit harsh to describe my own master’s smile like that, but to call it anything else would be nothing short of dishonesty.

[Well, I guess I should make sure that she never dares to try something like this again. I permit you to use your Abyssal magic.]

...

Tok.

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