5th Iteration (3)
5th Iteration (3)
The blue lines sprouting from the man's shoulder were long and straight, like circuit traces, yet they branched at regular intervals like the limbs of a tree.
A superhuman's circuits vary in number, quality, and arrangement from person to person, but they generally follow paths similar to blood vessels and nerves. From that perspective, it wasn't strange to feel as though those vessels and nerves were protruding from his body.
Unique Magic Path.
The stage where magic, which began as imitation, matures into innate talent. The benchmark that bestows the title of Mage.
- Click!
The external circuit extending behind him like a tree branch creaked. It flashed once, generating an intangible pressure.
A ripple surged through the empty air. The ripple generated by the circuit encroached upon the surrounding space.
It encroached and dominated. The mana within his dominion fell under his control, drawn toward the circuit like fallen leaves reattaching to a branch.
Then came absorption. The mana, transmitted in reverse through the circuit, churned fiercely within the man's body.
'It's been a while... or maybe not.'
The man stared at his own hand with a peculiar gaze. The cross-sections of the circuits visible on his skin were so numerous that his flesh was barely visible.
Magic consumes a tremendous amount of mana. The reason an outstanding mana affinity is necessary is that, without it, one cannot even attempt it.
The man's Unique Magic Path was fundamentally designed to overcome this very weakness.
Absorption of surrounding mana through externally extended circuits. And a mobile Spell Workshop through the encroachment of space.
The space within the circuits' influence became the man's Spell Workshop, continuously supplied with external mana. If the environment supported him, the man was essentially inside a Spell Workshop wherever he went, with hardly any risk of his mana ever hitting rock bottom.
"Hoo..."
The mana entering through the external circuits filled his entire body. He let out a deep sigh at the strange, foreign sensation and raised his head.
The four people were at a distance. The three women, horrified and wary of the circuits extending behind him, had drawn their weapons. Lee Ha-yul, concentrating fully, observed every single one of the man's actions in meticulous detail.
'He's doing well.'
The man nodded and reached out his hand. A pitch-black hole split open in the air before him. He reached into the inventory the Tower Masters had barely managed to grant him—
—Scrunch!
"Oh shit!"
He yelped and yanked his hand back. A spine-chilling sensation grazed his fingertips. The subspace pouch, slammed shut, wriggled and its entrance melted back into the void.
"..."
The man, who had been blinking blankly, shifted his gaze. Lee Ha-yul, who had unconsciously interfered with the space, flinched under his stare.
He'd closed it reflexively because of his fight with the 2nd Iteration. And besides, there was no reason to let an enemy open a subspace pouch in the first place...
"...You, that... never mind. Yeah, I guess that's the right call. Hmm..."
The man, who had been stammering, eventually trailed off. Blocking an enemy from pulling something out isn't a mistake. Rather, it was a wise choice.
"Still, uh... even so, I was trying to teach you something... I mean, I understand the swearing part..."
[ ...I'm sorry, it was a reflex... ]
"No, I wasn't necessarily asking for an apology..."
Lee Ha-yul clutched Jeonghwa with both hands and hunched his shoulders. Even though the man was wearing a helmet, Lee Ha-yul could clearly observe his speechless expression.
His earlier action weighed on his mind. Even though he was still deeply displeased about the man insulting Ariel, he could understand it when he considered the circumstances. Cursing and immediately slamming an attack into him... in hindsight, it felt like he'd lost his temper far too quickly.
"Hmm... Tsk, never mind. We'll talk a bit later."
The man shook his head and flicked his hand.
Crunch! The circuits that had bloomed behind his back folded roughly. A portion of the shaped circuits connected into a circle, like a cogwheel.
Mana circulated through the cogwheel. One cycle, two cycles, three cycles... With each circulation of mana, the spell formulas composing the cogwheel manifested.
Magic, instantly multiplied several times over compared to before, embroidered the sky. It poured down indiscriminately upon the cadets gradually gathering in the area.
"As you know, this schedule is an event, so we didn't meet alone, and neither of us has much time."
The wheel creaked violently. The operation of the circuit was incredibly crude and rough. It not only drastically shortened the circuit's lifespan but even risked its destruction, yet the man paid it no mind.
Circuits manifested outside the body could simply be discarded once broken. Because of that, he could handle them more efficiently and aggressively.
"So hurry up and come at me."
The man flicked his hand. He fixed his gaze on Lee Ha-yul and drew up his mana.
"I'll give you a quick crash course. You have the Authorities of Observation and Knowledge too, right? Just record it for now and master it on your own later."
Having finished speaking, the man settled into a stance. Lee Ha-yul nodded and tightened his grip on Jeonghwa.
A brief standoff. Lee Ha-yul, reading the distance between them, kicked off the ground. The man flicked his hand again.
Another wheel connected behind his back. Now there were two. One continued to rain magic upon the cadets on all sides to keep them in check, while the newly formed one targeted Lee Ha-yul.
'Manifest.'
A pure white circuit surfaced on Lee Ha-yul's right arm. It was a circuit twisted by spell formulas inside his body. Crackle! He shook his hand, sending out sparks, and a volley of slashing attacks lashed out.
The wheel turned. Hundreds of spells unleashed at once. The magic that collided midway cut each other down and pushed each other back.
The result was mutual negation.
But the wheel had already spun a few more times. He was vastly outnumbered.
Lee Ha-yul acted on observed information. He didn't respond to what he could dodge; he simply evaded it. He intercepted what he had to block and carved a path toward the man.
Crackle! Lightning sparked across the three pairs of wings. Lee Ha-yul's body accelerated, leaving behind lightning afterimages.
Diving through the gaps in countless spells and swinging Jeonghwa and his own magic to intercept them, he closed in on the man in an instant.
The distance shrank. An unfavorable situation for a mage, but the man's eyes remained calm.
He was no orthodox mage.
Mana coiled violently around his pulled-back arm. Boom! The reversed mana surged powerfully and jetted to one side. His palm, propelled by the acceleration, thrust into the empty air.
Mana poured out from the man's palm-strike. It wasn't magic, but a simple emission of mana. Kaboom! The mana devoured the void. The ground swallowed along with it was crushed in a single instant.
The attack didn't end with one blow. A considerable portion of the circuits throughout his body switched to 'Reversal.' All the parts meant for casting magic through 'Forward Transmission' were delegated to the external circuits.
"Hup...!"
The man's limbs moved. Lee Ha-yul, following the trajectories drawn in his mind, extended and swung Jeonghwa, countering the attacks.
The man's offensive style was something he had never encountered. His limbs, freely receiving the acceleration and propulsion of mana, deviated from normal trajectories. An arm that had been still would suddenly lunge forward with rapid acceleration, aiming an uppercut at his jaw. An arm clearly coming down for an axe-handle strike would ignore all inertia and sweep in with a knife-hand to tear out his throat.
'Are the circuits and mana leading his body?'
It was mana that emitted and led the body around. He wasn't accelerating through physical ability alone from the start; his trajectory and speed changed freely according to the emission of mana.
- Kaboom!
The destructive power of a single attack was terrifying. The arc of a swinging limb, engulfed in mana, crushed everything it brushed against. A direct hit would mean critical damage.
And that wasn't all. Lee Ha-yul sharply turned his head at a reaction that appeared within his observation.
Twang! A thin red line pierced through the spot where his eyeball had been a moment ago. Magic manifested by the portion of circuits that hadn't been 'Reversed' and remained in 'Forward Transmission.'
'Magic is mixed into his every movement.'
There were no incantations or hand seals. It wasn't even chantless magic, strictly speaking. The man never once manipulated the mana directly. Magic simply manifested purely from the mana flowing through the circuits.
'Tricky.'
He had to deal with the magic pouring from the wheels on all sides. From the front, a man who could beat down most warriors in a few moves was actively using his limbs, and magic intertwined with his movements was flooding in. On top of that, the areas within the influence of the man's circuits constituted a Spell Workshop, so the corrections of the Spell Workshop and additional magic came flying at him as well.
'I can respond.'
He wasn't being helplessly overwhelmed. Lee Ha-yul read the information heating his mind and moved his body and mana.
The Sky Wing Feather, merged like a cloak and spread wide open, blocked the attacks from behind.
He swung Jeonghwa, which had extended its pure white spearhead. Crackle! The circuits revealed themselves on his right arm.
Shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, back of the hand, fingers.
The circuits were intricately worked with spell formulas. As mana flowed, his movements unleashed over a dozen spells.
He manifested a single spell, a dramatic growth compared to just a few days ago when his arm would split apart and break. The stacked and sustained Blessing of Growth within the Tower, along with the man's fundamentally identical body serving as the ultimate teaching material and answer sheet for Lee Ha-yul.
Every moment, his movements improved. The crafted circuits grew more precise, and the spells he unleashed increased in number and output.
'Damn it, he's literally stealing everything from me.'
The man facing him felt it even more acutely. The gap closed in real time. No matter how much he held back, the level of suppression he needed kept increasing.
It was truly dumbfounding. Even considering the Blessing of Growth and the martial realm built by the same person, this speed of growth was far too bizarre.
- Crunch!
The external circuits creaked. Mana coiled and charged within the tree-branch-like circuits.
The amount was less than before. Moreover, the corrections applied to the man were dwindling. He frowned and scanned his surroundings.
The external circuits, which had been spread wide open as if flaunting their might, were bending. Their dominance over the vicinity was being pushed back, and that space was being filled by another dominance.
'Tsk.'
The owner of that dominance was, needless to say, Lee Ha-yul. The space where the man had seized dominion was gradually being eroded.
He was manipulating his mana to block it as much as possible, but it wasn't easy.
Advanced Mana Manipulation and Mana Affinity.
Just as Lee Ha-yul thought, in the realm of pure manipulation, the man currently held the upper hand.
...That likely wouldn't be the case for long. The thing that was growing even now would soon surpass the man in mana manipulation ability as well.
And in aspects beyond that? In every other aspect, Mana Affinity was an overwhelmingly superior version of Advanced Mana Manipulation. The fact that his own Unique Magic Path was folding right now was proof enough.
'...'
All manner of emotions swirled in the man's eyes. The mix was vast and complex, but it was strikingly similar to what the 2nd Iteration had once felt. Hope for a victory he had thought impossible. An inferiority complex toward the genuine article. The helplessness of knowing he himself had been incapable.
'Fuck.'
The man furrowed his brow. He'd grown old and already died once; he was really thinking all sorts of pointless thoughts now.
Then it happened. Circuits surfaced on Lee Ha-yul's right arm, which had released Jeonghwa. Crackle! Sparks of mana flew.
There was nothing special about that between the two of them.
But then, the man's eyes snapped wide open at the presence he immediately sensed.
'Reversal.'
Crackle-boom! The spark turned into a blaze. The reversed mana crashed against a wall, and its momentum surged wildly.
Whoosh! A real blaze erupted. For a Calamity Flame, an unexpectedly bright and brilliant blaze coiled around his right arm.
In that instant, the man lost track of Lee Ha-yul's right arm.
- Kaboom!
"Kugh!"
His head whipped violently to the side. His ears rang, and his jaw went numb, almost to the point of losing all sensation. Fragments of the barrier wall, reflexively manifested, fluttered through the air. His head hadn't burst, but clusters of light scattered as his body was shoved backward.
When he desperately turned his head back, he saw Lee Ha-yul extending his right arm straight toward him, wreathed in Calamity Flame.
The Calamity Flame surged high. The man grimaced, anticipating the Calamity Flame that would soon bear down on him.
'I hate Calamity Flame, shit...'
Calamity Flame was a flame that burned anything quite well, and it also burned spell formulas quite well. If Calamity Flame was splashed onto magic he had painstakingly manifested, it would be reduced to ashes in an instant. Even a Spell Workshop built with painstaking effort would often burn down completely in a single blast of Calamity Flame. The man had it better than other mages, but he couldn't help feeling uncomfortable about Calamity Flame.
- Whoosh!
'Huh?'
The risen flames split into dozens of fragments. Dozens of blades made of flame sprouted up all over Lee Ha-yul's body.
This was not simple shaping of Calamity Flame, but the manifestation of magic. At this sight, the man's eyes flew wide open.
Using magic through Calamity Flame was impossible. That was because Calamity Flame burned away the spell formulas meant to process its properties. Even using a manifestor's own flame, rather than the Calamity Flame itself, to manifest magic was no easy feat.
Lee Ha-yul's gentle Calamity Flame was shaped into magic.
'Extreme Flame Dance.'
A mid-tier fire-attribute magic spell.
Whoosh! Dozens of blades rushed at the man. At this sight, the man let out a breath of pure admiration.
'Wow, I never thought I'd live to see... to see someone use magic with Calamity Flame after I'm dead.'
The man, aghast at the still intense, though gentle, Calamity Flame, raised his hand, but then checked the time and lowered it again. He deliberately blocked the magic that was about to unfold as an automatic reflex.
Dozens of blades violently slashed at a single point. Boom! Finally, the red-hot blades caused a fierce explosion.
The night sky was momentarily dyed crimson. The magic wrought through Calamity Flame boasted destructive power at least several dozen times greater than the original.
[ Huh? ]
Lee Ha-yul's mouth fell open. He had observed the man's final action. He had naturally assumed the man would block it. But the man purposefully didn't.
'Why?'
[ Event Entity Subjugation Complete ]
[ Thank you all for your hard work until the very end ]
[ Cadets, please wait momentarily at your current locations ]
A voice rang out from the sky, as if driving a wedge into the moment. As Lee Ha-yul stood still, blinking blankly, Hong Yeon-hwa, who had discreetly retreated to the rear, approached lightly.
"What's wrong? Didn't you just subjugate it?"
At first, Hong Yeon-hwa had actively stepped into the fight with the man. But upon witnessing Lee Ha-yul fighting and growing in a manner unlike usual, she had retreated a few steps back along with the others.
[ ...Yes, I did. ]
"Was there a problem?"
[ Uh... no. It's nothing like that. ]
"Then why is your face like that?"
Hong Yeon-hwa, with a worried expression, kneaded Lee Ha-yul's cheeks. When he discreetly observed his own face in response, he sensed an extremely complicated expression.
"Did your melancholy act up again?"
"Junior, it's all over now, so go in and get some good rest."
Baek A-rin and Lee Ji-yeon, who had also rushed over, chimed in with their worries. Lee Ha-yul shook his head, telling them not to worry, and secretly observed the pit created by the Extreme Flame Dance.
'I wanted to apologize...'
He still wasn't happy about the man cursing at Ariel, but he had wanted to offer a small apology for losing his temper and taking a swing at him once it was all over. He'd thought there would at least be some time for a proper conversation at the end, but he hadn't expected the man to just abruptly end it like that.
Lee Ha-yul fiddled with Jeonghwa, looking sullen.
.
.
.
As they waited for a short while, the cadets caught by his observation rapidly disappeared. Starting from afar, the cadets turned into clusters of light and vanished. Soon, even the people waiting with him by his side disappeared.
Whether intentional or coincidental, he was left for last.
Lee Ha-yul sighed deeply. He observed the pit with a final hint of lingering regret, but nothing changed. In the end, Lee Ha-yul simply waited for the spatial interference that would soon envelop his body.
[ ? ]
Instead of being summoned back, something else popped into existence.
At the sensation caught by his observation, Lee Ha-yul blinked his unseeing eyes.
"What? I told you earlier we'd talk later."
In the large pit created by the violent slashing and explosion of the Extreme Flame Dance, the man was slumped at its center. He shrugged nonchalantly upon seeing Lee Ha-yul's expression.
- Hmm... Tsk, never mind. We'll talk a bit later.
[ Ah. ]
He hadn't realized it because they were in the middle of a fight, so he'd brushed past the idle words.
"You don't have anything urgent right now, do you? Lend me a bit of your time."
The man rubbed the jaw where Lee Ha-yul had struck him.
"Let's have a chat, you son of a bitch."
"..."
Lee Ha-yul, breaking out in a cold sweat, descended into the pit and sat down meekly in front of the man.