Chapter 156: An Easy Task (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 156: An Easy Task (2)
That afternoon, Calian paid a personal visit to Alan’s office.
“Teacher, could you spare me some time after you finish your work today?”
Until he heard those words, Alan hadn’t thought much of it.
“If you need me, I can come right now.”
That was how he had replied. After all, what was the work Lemain had dumped on him compared to Calian’s importance? Alan was a man who lived by that very creed.
But Calian had only shaken his head.
“To overturn my aura, night is better than day.”
He had then uttered those words, which were utterly baffling to Alan.
Well, whatever the case, if his precious disciple said so, then so it was. If night was better, Alan would have turned day into night just to meet him. Of course.
Fortunately, Calian did not ask for such an extreme measure. He simply requested that Alan wait, explaining that he would find a suitable spot in the forest beforehand and that Alan should come find him there. Alan readily agreed.
Thus, night fell, and a full moon rose.
Alan briefly considered dumping his remaining work on Arsen, but then remembered the boy had left the palace to carry out a task Calian had assigned him.
Left with no choice, he opened the door to the opposite office, strode in, and neatly placed the remaining documents on the desk of its owner. Then, looking at the person sitting there, he confidently announced, “This old man is exhausted, so I shall be heading out first,” before making a grand exit and hurrying off to the forest.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
Just then, a black horse trotted out from the boundary between the forest and the royal palace. It was Calian’s horse—the one with a single white sock on its front right leg, occasionally ill-tempered but exceptionally clever.
“Is your master in the forest?” Alan asked.
The haughty beast slowly raised its head. It stopped in its tracks, snorted, and turned away. Alan let out an involuntary chuckle, interpreting the gesture as a clear message: find him yourself.
He couldn't help but think the horse's temperament suited its master perfectly.
In any case, knowing Calian had already arrived made finding him simple enough. Even in this place touched by Sispanian, magic could still be used.
Not long after entering the forest, Alan located Calian. He snapped his fingers and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, his surroundings were bathed in a moonlit green. His red-eyed, cat-like disciple sat there, drenched in the pure white moonlight.
“Teacher.”
His precious disciple—so cherished that Alan feared a single glance might wear him out, or that walking together might blister his feet, a boy he wanted nothing more than to carry on his back and pamper—called out to him with a welcoming smile.
Whoosh!
And then, with those delicate hands, he unleashed a razor-sharp blade of aura.
In that split second, Alan let out a dry laugh.
Calian had certainly asked him to spare some time, not his life.
Well, what did it matter?
No matter what he did, he was still adorable.
And so, Alan watched the fierce blade rushing toward his throat with a pleased expression. A warm smile spread across his face as a red barrier materialized to block the attack and a large-scale Silent magic simultaneously muffled the area.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted.
* * *
Alan had been busy since morning.
Arsen had been away since that day.
Franz was not in Wilhelm Hall, as he was busy meeting with the knights.
The mages of Valkan were thrilled.
They were thrilled for exactly two hours. Unfortunately, their thrill couldn't last any longer, as Arsen’s entire workload was promptly dumped on them.
That morning, the mages spent two hours deeply contemplating how to divide the remaining tasks: the final cleanup of the Heisia Palace ruins—scheduled to be finished today—and the mountain of paperwork Arsen had left behind.
“I’ll do the cleanup.”
“Cleanup for me too.”
“Me too.”
“Yeah, me too.”
All fifty of them volunteered for cleanup. Then it was lunchtime, so they ate first. Afterward, they drew straws to split the group in half, a process that also took exactly two hours.
Having wasted six meaningless hours, the fifty lunatics hurriedly began to work. Unable to train, they were now forced to work overtime.
Another four hours slipped away in a blur of clearing debris and processing paperwork.
And finally… it was dinner time.
Ah, of course, mages are smart.
They are just also crazy.
At any rate, whether they were crazy because they were smart or smart because they were crazy, the Valkan mages quickly wolfed down their dinner and resumed working. It was late at night by the time they finally finished.
The problem arose afterward.
“What… is this?” Needlen, a pink-haired mage, muttered as he stood in the very center of the Heisia Palace site, where all visible debris had been cleared away.
The other mages, who had been lounging around sipping sparkling water after their late night of not-so-productive work, gathered around. Every single one of them furrowed their brows.
“Wasn’t Heisia Palace built without a basement?”
“It was.”
Wearing expressions more serious than they had ever shown before, the mages stared at a single spot on the ground. None of them dared to step closer or touch it.
“I’ll go get the Corps Commander.”
After all, who knew the danger of the unknown better than mages?
Thus, one of them headed for Arpia Palace, while the remaining mages continued to watch the spot with grave expressions.
Beneath the dirt, where all their gazes converged, a very faint but distinct light was seeping out.
* * *
“Most knights accumulate mana before they awaken their aura. Even though only a tiny fraction of them actually step onto the path of the sword by doing so, everyone does it just in case. You probably did, too.”
The reason Calian had summoned Alan was because of the words of his former teacher, the knight Teilan.
“Mages use the accumulated mana itself, so it doesn't matter to them, but it's different for knights. No matter how much improperly accumulated mana you have, it won't manifest as aura. Then again, how much mana could one possibly accumulate before awakening? If you can gather that much, you'd be better off as a mage. So, the difference is so negligible that everyone just ignores it.”
At the time, Bern hadn't paid much attention to those words either. Teilan had only mentioned it as a point of reference, not because he wanted to change anything. It truly had been negligible back then.
What made Calian recall Teilan’s words was the attack by the wolves.
On that day, Calian had been wielding his sword, drawing out as much aura as he possibly could. Then, concluding that swordsmanship alone wouldn't be enough, he had cast Wind Spear.
The manifested magic had pierced straight through the enemy’s body.
The enemy was an aura user who wielded a red aura to protect himself. Yet, Calian’s magic had pierced through him in a single strike—just like Arsen’s attacks.
'The magic was too strong.'
Even when dealing with the remaining four afterward, magic had manifested.
Recalling that event brought Teilan's words back to mind. He also realized why his magic had been so powerful that day: it was the residual mana that had not been converted into aura.
That was why he had called Alan.
To perform the task of “overturning his aura.”
For Bern, the unconverted mana might have been utterly negligible, but for Calian, it was a different story. The mana of the original Calian, who had received Sispanian’s blessing, was by no means a negligible amount.
Crash!
The tip of his sword clashed against the red barrier.
He struck six times, but Alan didn't budge a single step. He didn't even bother to cast a new barrier to replace the first one.
Hummm!
A blue light shimmered on Calian’s sword. Empowered by his aura, the blade dripped with a cold light.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Calian swung his sword downward, aiming directly at the red barrier.
Slash!
Infused with aura, the red barrier split open as if sliced by a razor before scattering into the air. Simultaneously, Alan vanished, reappearing a considerable distance away.
Alan didn't need a swordsman's eyes to follow such things. The moment he sensed his barrier dissolving, he had already relocated.
Calian’s figure vanished once more.
A relentless onslaught followed.
Whoosh! Clang! Clang!
The red barrier, which had reformed at some point, shook violently before dissolving again.
Deprived of his protection, Alan reappeared in the distance. This time, instead of shielding himself, he conjured a massive spear and launched it.
Whoosh!
A blazing spear of fire lunged forward, aiming straight for Calian’s heart.
Grinning at the sight of his teacher finally attacking, Calian swung his sword in a wide arc.
Clang!
Had it been Arsen’s spear, it would have shattered or been deflected, for his was made of ice.
Alan’s fire was different.
Upon clashing with the sword, the spear of flames coiled around Calian’s blade like a giant serpent, swelling in size as it attempted to swallow his arm whole.
Living fire.
Seeing the nature of Alan’s fire for the first time, Calian’s smile deepened.
Hummmm!
At that moment, the sword in his hand let out a deep resonance, scattering into fragments before instantly reassembling. Deprived of its host, the fire sputtered and snapped before dissolving into the air.
A blue vortex now wrapped around Calian’s sword. Since ice was the best counter to fire, he had imbued his blade with the ice attribute. Holding the sword, which now glowed with a clear, watery light, Calian concealed his presence once more.
Alan’s arm moved quietly, his amusement unconcealed. He was eager to see just how far his sword-wielding mage disciple could go.
Snap!
A crisp sound echoed from his fingertips.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted all around Calian. Burning past red into a brilliant white, the fire threatened to incinerate him instantly, a gaping maw poised to swallow everything.
The sword in Calian’s hand transformed into a broad shield. The blue light shimmering on its surface, now wide enough to cover his entire body, sparkled as if it had captured the night sky.
Whoosh!
Multiple streams of fire, like geysers bursting from the ground, surged toward him. A tingling heat seeped into his body, which had long grown numb to both warmth and cold.
There was no need to confront the flames directly.
Calian plunged into the cascading torrent of fire, moving so quickly that the flames had no time to catch him.
His figure dissolved into the darkness once more.
An instant later, Calian materialized directly behind Alan.
Clash! Boom!
Calian held nothing back. Drawing out every ounce of his aura, he brought his sword down toward Alan’s neck.
As the red light flickered, Alan’s protective barrier vanished again.
Without missing a beat, Calian thrust his sword toward Alan’s exposed back, aiming for his heart.
Whoosh!
As expected, Alan vanished. In his place, another spear of fire flew toward Calian. He twisted his body to evade it, kicking off the ground to leap again.
Clang! Clang!
It was a clash between a mage and a knight.
No, it was a clash between an Archmage and a Sword Master.
Every spot Calian stepped on erupted in flames. Every spot Alan vanished from was sliced apart. Only the two of them remained completely unscathed, relentlessly aiming for each other’s lives.
Clash!
Alan attacked while constantly teleporting, and Calian pursued, parrying or evading each strike. There was not a shred of hesitation in his attacks as he chased the fading traces of his master. When a spell flew in, he deflected or blocked it before immediately following up with a thrust or a slash.
A wide smile curved Calian’s lips.
He had always known Alan was strong, but he hadn’t expected him to be so overwhelmingly untouchable.
Clang!
Once again, Calian’s sword struck the red barrier. Blue and red light intertwined before the barrier crumbled to dust.
Normally, Alan would have teleported away by now, but this time, he did not.
Without even conjuring another barrier, he simply extended a hand forward.
Before Calian could react, a fireball the size of a horse’s head materialized and hurtled toward his abdomen.
Sensing the immense danger, Calian instantly transformed his sword into a shield. He gathered all the aura protecting his body and wrapped it around the shield, overlaying it with a barrier of ice. Fearing even that wouldn’t be enough, he cast a Shield spell.
BOOM!
Consuming the surrounding air in an instant, the fireball erupted into a brilliant white explosion, as if mocking Calian’s frantic defense. It was incomparable to the mana bombs of the Blue Warbler or Arsen’s fireballs; this was on an entirely different level.
Crack! Crash!
The moment it made contact, the Shield shattered, and the ice evaporated.
The massive force, strong enough to make his blue aura flicker violently, sent Calian hurtling through the air. Had it not been for his aura, the impact would have torn a part of his body clean off.
Letting out an involuntary groan, Calian pushed himself up and immediately conjured his sword again.
Hummmm!
A blue light, noticeably fainter than before, enveloped the blade. Tirelessly, Calian charged at Alan once more. Alan simply snapped his fingers again.
A spear of white flame lunged toward Calian’s face. His arm, reacting faster than his mind, swept it aside.
Sizzle!
The severed tip of the spear struck the ground, causing the earth to glow red-hot. Without a second glance, Calian was about to charge again when…
Crack!
The sound of something solid shattering echoed through the forest.
The sword in his hand dissolved into the air.
He tried to channel his aura, but nothing rose from his empty dantian. There was nothing left to use.
'Finally.'
Sensing his depleted core, Calian stopped in his tracks. Barely supporting a body that screamed with exhaustion, he exhaled a long breath.
His red eyes slowly closed.
Thump!
When the aura was completely empty.
When not a single shred remained.
And thus, when the mana of the original Calian—the power that had only ever manifested as magic—could finally be converted into aura.
He had reached that very moment.
Thump!
Calian’s heart pounded.
The only person capable of unleashing an onslaught so relentless that it denied him even a moment to naturally replenish his aura took a step back.
The vast mana that the original Calian had accumulated through Sispanian’s blessing—the mana that had formed three circles—flowed out from his heart and surged toward his dantian.
Without even time to sit, Calian began to convert the incoming mana into aura, continuously channeling the incredibly pure power surging from his heart.
The stream of power began to fill his dantian to the brim.
Thump!
A cold, desolate energy gathered around Calian. The earth, which had been seared by the flames, began to cool. A magical power as sharp as a razor blade—the same energy Arsen had once felt—swirled around his body.
The mana, converted into aura by his dantian, flowed back into the circles of his heart. It returned as the power forming the three circles, which were still spinning vigorously.
Thump!
If there was one thing that had changed…
Before, only the fourth circle held the power of aura. Now, all four circles possessed it. Consequently, he could convert all the mana forming those four circles into aura. He could now generate a proper aura based on the full mana accumulated by the original Calian.
And perhaps, he would no longer need to hide it in front of Evan.
“Now…”
Standing in the center of the blackened earth, Calian bowed deeply.
“It is complete, Teacher.”
Resembling the original Calian, and resembling Bern.
A dark red sword was held in Calian’s hand.