Chapter 142
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Choosing Elixirs
"Hey, Ian! When you graduate, you gotta join us! Your big bro here will take good care of you!"
"See ya! You know you're enlisting after graduation, right?"
"Catch you later!"
The Founding Festival had drawn to a close. The Imperial Magic Corps' performance was over.
The imperial mages I'd synced up with during that time bid me farewell.
It had only been a week, but I'd grown pretty attached.
Maybe it was the nature of formations—synching with your comrades is key, so it was impossible not to bond.
"Take care, everyone~"
I waved to the imperial mages.
Off in the distance, Captain Howard Max was waiting.
He'd promised to escort me to the Second Vault.
I finished saying goodbye to the squad and turned toward Howard Max.
I followed him to the Second Vault.
We walked in silence for a while before Howard Max suddenly said something out of character.
"I apologize for what happened at first."
My impression of Captain Howard Max after a week with the Imperial Magic Corps was that he was a grumpy old man.
He didn't hesitate to curse at his squadmates or even swing at them.
Of course, it was just waving his staff around at most.
Even so, another impression was that he truly cared for his squad.
He genuinely wanted them to grow into greater mages.
He hated it when they said things like, "I'll bury my bones in the Imperial Magic Corps!"
"Did you eat something bad?"
My first meeting with Howard Max hadn't gone well.
But now, he was just a quirky old grandpa.
"You rotten punk... Tch. At first, I just couldn't believe a first-year was at the 5th Circle. But such talent isn't unprecedented in history. It was my mistake."
"It's fine. I'm not the type to hold a grudge against a balding old man over something like that."
"Heh heh heh..."
I figured he'd hit me on the head again, calling me "you rotten punk."
Instead, Howard Max burst into a hearty laugh that went on for a while.
"You probably know this already, but I'm an 8th Circle mage. Not even fit to kiss the feet of the Archmage Dukes."
His laughter gradually turned into a bitter smile.
He led the Imperial Magic Corps, but he was far weaker than an Archmage Duke.
The gap between peak 8th Circle and peak 9th Circle was like heaven and earth.
Still, reaching the peak of 8th Circle was a realm few achieved.
Of course, from the gallery folks' perspective, it was just bugs squabbling.
"Isn't reaching the pinnacle of 8th Circle great enough?"
"Great... I think so too. But 'great' is a word for those so lofty we can't even dream of aspiring to them. I'm not that. My limits are set in stone."
"You mean you can't reach 9th Circle?"
"Can't you tell by how pathetically I'm aging?"
Mages' lifespans extended with their circles.
The higher the circle, the difference grew exponentially.
A 9th Circle mage could live centuries longer than an 8th Circle one.
At 10th Circle, lifespan shot up near-immortality in an instant.
11th Circle... was beyond my imagination.
In any case, Howard Max was aging now.
That meant he'd been stuck at 8th Circle for a long time.
"Those who've surpassed my circle have long turned their backs on this bugs' play. They've gone off seeking greater realms."
"Even so, there are only a handful, right? Mages at the entry of 9th Circle."
"True. A countable number. But watching my hair fall out like this... it stings that I'm not one of them."
A gust of wind whooshed by.
Howard Max's thinning hair fluttered, revealing his patchy scalp plainly.
"...Even after graduation, don't think about joining the Imperial Magic Corps."
"Pardon?"
"Imperial mages are mages dragged into the 'humans'' petty errands by the imperial family. 'Humans' and 'mages' are different species. A 'mage' must pursue pure magic. Nothing else. Pathetically, I,"
only realized this at my age.
Howard Max spat the words in a hollow voice.
"..."
Having chatted with the Archmages in the gallery, I understood.
The gallery folks utterly despised getting involved in 'human' stuff like politics.
Mages don't care about that nonsense. What matters is exploring magic.
Magic must remain pure.
Only when it's solely magic can one reach the greatest realms. Immersion, maybe?
We walked in silence for a bit. Soon, we arrived at the Second Vault.
Crown Prince Arthur was waiting at the entrance.
"There you are. Thank you again, cadet."
The crown prince said with a benevolent smile.
He ordered the nearby guards to open the Second Vault door.
After multiple layers of locks were undone, the vault door finally opened.
"Take your time picking."
Howard Max had no intention of helping me choose elixirs and just chuckled from behind.
He probably thought a mere cadet like me lacked the eye for good ones.
No help needed. Sure, sure.
I circled the vault, snapping photos of everything.
The vault was huge. Easily over a hundred elixirs.
Title: Guys, help me pick an elixir
Author: Kim Muggle
(Photos of the imperial elixir vault)
Tons of elixirs, what should I pick?
I snapped pics of everything for now
Surprisingly decent stuff, and one's already there
There's Frost Tiger Semen, how the hell did they get that
Two bottles even, wtf
Didn't expect it to be here. Grab one of those at least.
Heh heh...
I posted the photos roughly and resumed seriously browsing the elixirs.
I'd only snapped pics, not examined them closely.
With so many, even the gallery folks would need time to skim.
Raging Wyvern's Jaw Oil
"Oh."
Near the vault entrance, I found what I'd been looking for first.
The "Raging Wyvern's Jaw Oil" that explosively boosts all stats for 10 minutes.
And not just one—five or six bottles.
Guess it's not that hard to obtain.
Keeping that in mind.
Next came elixirs like "Frill Ocean's Deep Sea Water" and "Dawn Dew on a Sleeping Moon Rhino's Horn."
I had no idea what most did.
Then comments started rolling in on the gallery.
Everyone's talking about Frost Tiger Semen first.
Indeed, there was a bottle labeled Frost Tiger Semen in the corner.
A sparkling, transparent liquid that looked frosted.
If the whole gallery was recommending it, it had to be good.
And rare, yet two bottles.
Even if it was great, drinking tiger semen was off-putting.
Did I really have to pick this?
Is this really good? Tiger s*men for real...
It's good, though the taste is iffy
What does it even do
Simply put, you gain the Frost Tiger's spirit
Not directly magic-related. But it calms your mind in crises, sharpening judgment
Hmm... real Frost Tiger spirit, but doesn't directly boost magic power
Cool judgment is essential for all mages. Optimal spell choice in every situation requires it first.
No point in skill if emotions shake your calculations.
Anyone not a dragon type has ways to control emotions anyway lol
That's my specialty
Optimal judgment without other factors is basic, right?
Hmm. Fair enough.
I got the effect of "Frost Tiger Semen."
As the gallery said, for mages, impulses, greed, emotional judgments are poison.
At least in crises, steadying judgment is key.
Thinking back, I'd let fear cloud my judgment before.
Won't it erase emotions? Scary turning psychopath
Nah, just cools the mind when shaken in crises
Think of it as cooling tension
Don't whine if you're gonna whine
Bet you won't whine about this after drinking lol
Quit whining after you drink it
Ugh, tell you it's good and you bitch, just don't drink it then ffs
Ah ok ok ; sorry sorry
I got chewed out for whining more.
Seemed no issues to worry about.
Makes sense—with no downsides, the gallery hails it as top-tier.
"I'll take one of these."
"Ho... You rotten punk have a good eye. Picking something that rare."
"If it's so rare, why are there two? Milking tiger semen sounds tough."
"Wasn't milked directly. Found in a corpse during a northern expedition. Thought it was a barbarian at the time, but now... no ordinary barbarian would die there."
Arthur mused over old memories.
Not extracted fresh, then.
Now for the second one.
Unlike the first, opinions were split.
"Thousand-Day Apple's Pure Juice" is obviously best. Clears your skin
Ugh why eat that crap ffs
Live long in the woods and you know how hard skin care is!
Ugh elf trash ffs
Ignore that elf, pick "Enraged Lava Elephant's Sweat Drops." Muscles rage up, great for melee too
That's the one!
Agreed
The hopeless trio reunites after ages
Still can't fathom why those guys are in the gallery ugh
Boosting stamina is common sense, no?
...Some weird recommendations aside.
There were jokes, but plenty of solid ones too.
Elixirs boosting training efficiency, mana capacity directly.
Or specialized ones like upping fire magic output, calculation speed, etc.
"Hmm..."
Tough choice.
None bad, but nothing jumped out.
Just generically good—replaceable stuff.
I still leaned toward "Raging Wyvern's Jaw Oil."
Gallery said 10-min boost was pointless, but...
If it let me grasp FlapFlap's 6th Circle...
"Raging Wyvern's Jaw Oil" <- Thoughts? Serious
Ugh that's useless
Where you gonna use Super Saiyan trial
How many times do I gotta say shitpal
Why keep eyeing that
No ; FlapFlap told me a 6th Circle before, still can't use it... Wonder if this helps grasp it
Still can't?
Didn't exactly tell you to use it tbh
Forget dragon magic, how about explosion spells? Plenty good 6th Circle ones
Your spells are all suicide ones
That's what explosions are!!
Learned dragon magic but no magical girl transform?!
You should be a battle mage;
Didn't I say before? Anyway, thoughts on my idea?
For that purpose, seems decent.
But might fail. Dragon magic's imagery hard for humans.
Wyverns distant dragon kin though, so might actually help.
It'll help... Elixirs carry root influences... heh heh...
All similar, that might be best
Gallery opinions converged.
The wyvern link could help grasp FlapFlap's spell imagery.
I agreed—unlocking dragon magic beat others.
SubsidyRiceEater's thought acceleration alone let me beat 6th Circle Karin Dol.
FlapFlap's would pack similar punch.
Dragon senses... who knows what it'd enable.
"The other one's this."
"Hmm... Thought you had an eye."
"I need it."
"Fine, decided then."
I took the two elixirs as promised and left.
Said goodbyes to Howard Max and the crown prince, finally departing the imperial palace.
"I have business in the capital, so I'll head back later."
"Yes. See you at the academy."
"Yeah. Thanks. See you at the academy, Ian."
Yoo-una had stuff to handle.
So I boarded the capital-to-academy carriage with just Kim Chur.
Vroom—
The imperial luxury carriage set off with smooth comfort.
Palace and capital scenery faded beyond the window.
Empire visit due to Akail issue, even dipped into imperial intrigue.
Gallery said mages shouldn't care, but...
Won't know if it's my last imperial trip.
Brief reflection.
I turned from the window.
Leaned back on the comfy seat.
Cool breeze brushed my nose.
Back at the academy, I cracked open the elixirs right away.
Title: Chugging elixirs now