Chapter 61
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Chapter 61
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: FlapFlap's Secret Directive
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🔒 Secret Post
— FlapFlap
I've got a method, so hop on the carriage for now.
You don't need any help from those Archmage Dukes or whatever.
Whether it's saving the academy or beating down the chancellor, you gotta head there first.
— Kim Muggle
What the hell? What's with the secret post?
— FlapFlap
Just trust me and get on it. You're nabbed by that snake professor right now, yeah? You're not fighting her there, are you?
— Kim Muggle
True, I'd die fighting a professor.
— FlapFlap
Then don't get smacked for nothing—get on. The folks up front might lag and fail to block it entirely.
— Kim Muggle
So what's the method then?
— FlapFlap
Ugh; When you reach the field trip site, I'll help you out. Just do exactly what I say.
— Kim Muggle
?? You from my dimension?
— FlapFlap
Pretty sure high probability, yeah.
— Kim Muggle
High probability? What if it's the low probability no?
— FlapFlap
Ugh; Just peg it at 99.98% probability—it's a yes.
— Kim Muggle
How am I supposed to believe that? If I trust you and it's that one-in-a-million wrong, we're all toast.
— FlapFlap
You paranoid dumbass—how'd you end up in that mess if you're so damn suspicious? Just believe me, I saw it myself.
— Kim Muggle
Oh, you got Dragon Eyes? You mentioned that? What's it do?
— FlapFlap
What else? Dragon's Eye—saw the future, so quit yapping and come.
— Kim Muggle
Still smells off... If Dragon's Eye saw the future, why not just show up and help yourself?
— FlapFlap
That's why I've got circumstances. I'm stuck here—if you help, I can bust out. Take it as I'll help if you free me?
— Kim Muggle
Gotcha. But that's weird too? Aren't you Archmages? High-nick ones are top-tier, right? Who locked you up?
— FlapFlap
How many times do I gotta say I've got circumstances!! Can't trust an Archmage?
— Kim Muggle
Fine; I've gotten tons of help trusting you guys anyway. But if it flops, I'm nuking the gallery before I croak.
— FlapFlap
If you succeed in waking me, won't happen.
— Kim Muggle
So you're snoozing at our field trip spot—you saw it via Dragon Eye or whatever. What do I do?
— FlapFlap
You'll sense it immediately when you get there. Look for the thing with the densest mana concentration. You'll know it on sight.
— Kim Muggle
Telling me that vaguely; what then when I find it?
— FlapFlap
Remember that bracelet orb with the ultra-high-tier destruction magic? Yank one out and chuck it there.
— Kim Muggle
Then you pop out?
— FlapFlap
Yeah—your affinity's sky-high, so you'll pick up on it no problem.
— Kim Muggle
Got it. But why the secret post for this?
— FlapFlap
... Circumstances again—don't breathe a word to the other gallery users, got it? Fine to say you've got a method, but not that it's me. Do that and no help.
— Kim Muggle
Sheesh; Fine, I'll give it a shot.
— FlapFlap
Catch you later.
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"Gaaahhhhhhh!!"
A whoosh pierced past my eardrums.
In free fall with nothing but my body, I gripped the broomstick tight and screamed inwardly with desperate prayer.
'Please... fuck, please fly. Fly...!!'
Flying on a broomstick had failed before.
To be precise, I did lift off, but the broom's thin shape made stable flight impossible.
Of course, I still didn't know any stabilization tricks for broom flight.
Hell, I hadn't even had time to think about it amid the nonstop chaos.
But I had to make it work now.
And not on just any flyer—a broomstick, of all things.
If I wasn't gonna soar through the sky on a broom, then what the hell was I supposed to ride!
[Formation Process of Static Buoyancy]
My hard-computed magic kicked in, and the nosedive halted with a whoosh.
But it was still wildly unstable.
[Formation Process of Static Buoyancy] was a spell for levitation via 'buoyancy.'
Lifting something stick-shaped like a broom was nowhere near as easy as floating a boat.
I wobbled and flipped, pitching up and down repeatedly.
Needed to tweak the output more. Even if it felt too high and I might black out any second, I had to keep calm...
A chill ran down my spine.
Just as I'd forced some calm and steady levitation,
a nasty sensation surged from below, something hurtling my way.
"Fuck, that old hag!"
It was the chancellor.
That crazy old bat was chasing me on some magic carpet—or robe?—via flight magic.
She was too far to see clearly yet, but I could already picture her creepy hol-hol-hol cackle.
"Fuck!"
No time for stable hovering or anything.
She got close, and I was done for.
Had to move.
[Simple Method to Adjust Acceleration]
Vrooom—!
The broom shot forward like a dragster peeling out.
No thought spared for fine-tuning output mid-cast.
I blasted rough, then slowly dialed output to match speed.
Body still unbalanced, flipping and spinning every which way.
Somehow not plummeting yet because I was clamped to the broom with hands and thighs.
Not thanks to Power Mage's advice etched in my heart plus spotty strength training...
Just glancing down made the ground a dizzying vertigo pit.
The thought of letting go at this height left me no choice but death-grip it for dear life.
[Propulsion for Light Turns]
[Propulsion for Light Turns]
Fwoosh— fwoosh—
Turning was a bitch almost as bad as the initial burst.
Snapping directions made my stomach churn with nausea.
Even split-seconds imagining a plunge from this height had my whole body shuddering.
The chancellor hag's wrinkled grin chasing behind was nightmare fuel.
I wanted to open the gallery.
Open it and whine to the Archmages for some solution.
Even knowing they couldn't do shit in this spot.
Even knowing those gallery gods were useless if I lacked the skill and effort to apply their wisdom.
This pathetic shut-in loser instinct dredged up such lame thoughts right on death's door.
"Ughhh... raaaagh—! Shiiibaaaal!!"
Eyes squeezed shut, every muscle clenched tight.
Hanging desperately off the broom, barely staving off the drop.
Life flashing before my eyes, huh. Fleeting memories from who-knows-when zipped by.
Looking back, my recollections were just a pitch-black room lit by a single screen.
In that room, I'd huddled just like now, scrolling communities.
What other life had I lived? Family? Job?
No recall. Just endless memories of lurking the gallery in my hole.
Lived in the gallery, slept to the gallery.
Maybe I'd clung to that tiny screen.
It was just a puny display, but back then it held my whole world.
Still wasn't wrong now.
This screen contained a vast world.
It comforted me, gave me strength, made me laugh and cry.
But by itself, it hadn't advanced me one inch.
Fwiiiish—
Lifted my head a bit—still piercing clouds.
Flight uncontrolled, fierce wind battering my face made opening eyes or breathing hell.
How the fuck did I wind up here?
Remembered first opening the gallery, first spell.
And first academy classes too.
Professor Juuri's [Precise Magic Studies] lecture.
First time learning about the world outside the gallery—from the world itself.
Gallery got me through back then,
but I hadn't blindly leaned on it.
I'd pulled it off with 'my' own effort alongside their help.
'If raw output won't cut it, get more precise. Narrow the scope.'
This spell was made for broad-bottomed flyers like ships.
So narrow the hell out of the scope—for stable lift on a thin rod.
Doing that focus amid raging turbulence wasn't easy.
But I kept recalling the teachings anyway.
What 'precise' magic control really meant.
Applied Professor Juuri's lessons and gallery posts nonstop.
Tweaked precision factors—but that's output, before that computation, before order, affinity, imagery, looping back to precision.
Magic's shaped by eight factors, all linked in one flow.
Shooo...
Felt the jittery ups and downs steady out.
Still [Formation Process of Static Buoyancy], but hyper-narrowed scope let it float stable.
Glanced back—the chancellor had closed in more.
Didn't matter now.
No more fear of this flight. I trusted the broom.
Swoosh—it traced a smooth curve and charged ahead.
My wild flailing had drifted me off from the crater.
I gunned max speed toward it.
Even climbing, needed more altitude to reach crater airspace.
Closing in on the crater, I glanced at my bracelet.
The gray orb loaded with ultra-high-tier destruction magic—chuck that one in.
Hugged tight to the broom, yanked an orb free with one hand.
The chain didn't snap.
As if reading my intent, just the gray orb smoothly detached.
"Ian Isaac! What in the world are you—!"
"That crazy old hag...!"
But no letting guard down yet.
The chancellor rocketed up toward me at insane speed.
Wanted to ram her, but couldn't—frustrating as hell.
Just wake FlapFlap first...!
"Cease this!"
Chancellor computed some spell,
and black mist billowed out, swallowing me whole.
Simultaneously, one sword orb from the bracelet vanished, blocking her taboo magic.
But that wasn't her only taboo.
A massive blade hurtled at me like it aimed to decapitate.
Not taboo—couldn't block with the last orb.
One option: speed the fuck up.
Whiiiiiish—
Glanced down—the crater oozed immense energy.
Impossible to miss, just like FlapFlap said.
Just hard to spot from ground level atop a volcano.
Atmosphere felt like a hushed temple.
No time to admire nature's mystic grandeur.
Dropped the gray orb into the crater, then zigzagged wildly to dodge the blade.
Chancellor burst through clouds with a fwump.
Unleashed a barrage of spells at me.
Flew teetering on the brink of crash,
yet wounds piled up anyway.
"Fuck...! Quit chasing me, you crazy hag!"
"Ian Isaac! Stop sabotaging the plan!"
"Fuck, it should be out by now! When you coming, FlapFlap asshole!!"
Yelled at the crater, but silence.
Come to think, that gray orb needed vast mana, right?
FlapFlap's post skipped mana talk, so I'd just lobbed it...
Dread washed over me.
Sreeek—
Then a cold stab—chancellor's serpentine blade kissing my throat.
I maxed speed, twisted every which way to evade.
Whole body writhing. But dodging further—
Flash—
In that instant, heaven and earth seemed to split.
A colossal mana surge I'd never felt—blinding white-blue flash swallowed the world.
The dazzling brilliance seared my vision into flicker.
Moments later, the glare faded. I forced my eyes open.
In the afterimage glow, a figure in blue dragon robes rose from the crater.
The first true 'Archmage' I'd laid eyes on in this world.
One of those gallery legends I'd only chatted with.
Human-shaped, yet radiating power too vast for mere human.
Her blue dragon robes flapped fwip-fwip as she grinned.
"Kim Muggle? You're not what I pictured."
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