Master's Grace as Vast as the Heavens
Long lavender hair cascading down to her waist, eyes sparkling like gold.
A faint smile of delight at seeing her prized disciple after so long, contrasting with her world-weary, bored gaze that seemed to have seen it all.
Arkythia, the 8th Circle archmage and director of the Central Imperial Magic Library, had returned.
It had been nearly a year. She had no choice, with duties taking her across the entire continent.
"Come here, child."
As my master spread her arms wide, a heavy sense of weight spread outward, defying gravity.
Her outfit already clung revealingly to her curves, making it all the more intoxicating.
Hmm, Master. You haven't changed a bit in a whole year.
"Master, I'm twenty-two now. It's been two years since I graduated from the academy. Men and women shouldn't sit so close past the age of seven, especially not with a vigorous young man like me—"
"Hush."
Arkythia snapped her fingers, and space warped, closing the distance between us in the blink of an eye.
Soon, I was enveloped in the soft, pillowy texture of Romanium chewy cookies.
"My Yujin has grown so much."
At this point, I decided to just go with my instincts.
Squish. Fluff.
Here's a pro tip: tilt your head slightly and bury your nose in the cleavage to maintain breathing even under the overwhelming mass.
Master's sheer outfit makes it even easier to breathe, so keep that in mind.
After thoroughly enjoying our mentor-disciple reunion like that...
"This place is just as I left it. Nothing out of the ordinary, I hope?"
Master set off on her library rounds.
"And Wiki?"
"Doing well. He's back in the corridor resting now. Shall I call him?"
"No need. I'll be in the capital for a while anyway. You're the first besides me that he's taken to so well. Take good care of him, Yujin."
"Master! No one looks after Wiki like I do. He should be grateful."
It's true. I even excused him from the assistant librarian punishment duty—which was supposed to be two days—because he whined about not wanting to do it the next day.
Keep spoiling him and he'll get spoiled rotten, but damn, I'm such a softie.
"Hee-hee."
Master chuckled lightly at my reaction.
"And... this must be Claude Penwick?"
"It's an honor to meet you, 'Illusionary Archmage' Arkythia Piel Athena, Director of the Central Library. Apprentice librarian Claude Penwick at your service."
Claude Penwick bowed his head politely in greeting.
His bearing was impeccable—better than most butlers, for sure.
Master seemed to have a favorable first impression too, replying in her gentle tone.
"I've heard about the Lancaster viscountcy incident. My condolences."
"Not at all, Director. Librarian Yujin here—no, Sir Yujin—provided tremendous help in solving the case."
"Indeed. I never knew our Yujin had such talents."
That signature benevolent gaze of hers.
Her already alluring, down-slanted eyes made it downright hazardous when she looked at you like that.
Back in the day, it would make me flinch, tickle inside, and toy with a teenage boy's heart—dangerously so.
Now, I barely react anymore; I just wonder when she'll finally outgrow that look.
"Well then, Yujin. Shall we see just how impressive your achievements have become?"
"Huh? Out of nowhere?"
"I've heard the rumors. Building a solid partnership with Liana Aishinkiore and raking in gold like mad, and now even influencing the Investigation Bureau."
"Well, that was mostly luck. And as you know, Master, I've been frantically upgrading the Dimension lately—"
"Hush now."
Master spread her pale palm wide.
The magic circle etched into it activated, instantly swallowing me and old man Claude.
Behind us stretched a vast plain.
That's right—the Cube space itself.
I couldn't help but sigh.
"Another new move I've never seen..."
"Has my Yujin grown chatty in my absence? I want to see if your magical prowess has kept up with that silver tongue."
Arkythia's golden eyes flashed as she unleashed her mana across her body.
Boom. The entire space shuddered under the pressure, startling even Claude beside me into stepping back.
"Mana limit: fifty thousandfold suppression."
The solar blaze of mana enveloping her body was sucked inward in an instant.
She had artificially lowered her realm.
By the mana I sensed... about 4th Circle?
Still two circles above me, even so.
That's the realm of an archmage for you.
"Here I come? Space Severance."
A supreme slash that cleaved everything it touched hurtled toward me.
Super-fast ultimate technique. As expected of my master.
Claude Penwick. He was a former butler, now an apprentice librarian.
Truth be told, becoming a butler was no small feat, not even as an empty compliment.
They managed the entire estate, sometimes handled the family's finances single-handedly, and served as the closest aide to the family head—a sort of 'chief secretary' and 'security chief' rolled into one.
Thus, a baseline level of combat prowess was a given for any butler.
Not knight-level, but they had to hold their own 1-on-1 against your average silver-plate mercenary riffraff.
But Claude possessed experience far beyond the typical butler.
The previous Lancaster viscount had been a war hero. Claude had served as his adjutant at his side.
After the war, when the viscount was ennobled for his merits, Claude followed suit, serving the family as butler.
So he had a solid benchmark for strength.
He had an eye for it.
But...
What the hell is this?
Space split in half. Literally.
And Yujin Feltro leaped through the cleaved space.
He'd declared himself a 2nd Circle mage.
But that attack wasn't something a mere 2nd Circle could block.
(In fact, Yujin didn't block it. He just dodged at the perfect timing as space was severed.)
No matter how weakened, it was still from one of the continent's scant seven archmages?
Then, Yujin's purely defensive momentum shifted.
He grabbed at space with his hand. A circular magic circle materialized in the air, followed by the tolling of some massive grandfather clock.
Dong, dooong—.
Silver chains poured from the magic circle, shooting toward Arkythia.
Of course, Arkythia flicked them away effortlessly with a gesture.
Truly effortless.
Like swatting away dust, she twisted Yujin's attack aside.
Yet Yujin didn't stop.
He fired the chains again and again.
"Yujin, you've picked up some fun new tricks, but the power's the same. You're still lacking in raw strength."
Hovering lightly in the air, Arkythia said that as she drew up more mana.
She clenched her fist. The chains assaulting from all directions crumpled like wadded paper.
At the same time, the magic circle shattered with a pop.
"Law Circle Destruction!!"
Claude knew little of magic, but he understood what she'd just done.
She'd overwhelmed and shattered the very flow that was the source of the spell with sheer force.
Now the opponent couldn't use that magic anymore.
Once a law circle was crushed, it was damaged beyond repair without fixing it first.
This was Yujin's utter defeat, by all accounts.
But then a pitch-black shadow rippled behind Arkythia, making Claude flinch for a moment.
"Jack the Ripper, execute."
He'd felt that aura before.
Viscount...? No, that was just an illusion. Then...
The shadow took form in an instant and lunged at her, jaws gaping wide.
Arkythia's eyes twitched for a split second. She might have been slightly caught off guard this time.
Even an archmage wouldn't notice without seeing it directly?
Never mind how astonishing that was—Yujin's ambush had landed.
The shadow and Arkythia were practically touching.
When a mage allowed close range, who the opponent was hardly mattered.
For a fleeting moment, Claude thought maybe Arkythia had let her guard down.
"Hmm? A summon? What a fun-looking thing."
She chuckled pleasantly and twirled her finger.
Whirl, whirl.
The shadow, poised to devour her, got sucked into a vortex and vanished.
And pop! The law circle shattered as expected.
Yujin shrugged as if he'd known it would happen, raising both hands.
"I'm still a long way off, huh."
Soon, Arkythia descended to the ground with a satisfied smile.
"Still, you've grown so much compared to last year. How'd you manifest those chains? And what was that weird summon?"
"It's a source I implemented in the Dimension... In a similar ritual space like the Cube, I can use stuff like this to a limited extent."
"Neat. Boost the output, and you could even take on a 4th Circle."
"For real?"
"Yeah. In that sense, you've made real progress. Planning to develop more? Like that shadow thing."
"Of course! I'm tackling the RPG genre next, and this seems perfect for data extraction. I'll even store people's physical info—"
"Hmm? Need my physical data too, by any chance?"
"Uh... Using you as a model might bump the genre? Or rather, the recommended age rating."
"Oh? Then never mind."
"But just in case, let's save it. Not as a heroine, maybe an advisor role or something..."
"Hee-hee, seeing you so excited makes me happy too. You've achieved plenty on your own, and you seem set on a clear direction now. I'm proud."
Claude Penwick, who was just a somewhat skilled butler, couldn't make heads or tails of the bizarre conversation between these two mages.
