Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: First Steps Toward a Dream (2)
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Shirone, history book in hand, unleashed another round of nagging.
“Get up and bring your book. We're studying.”
“Ugh, the training has been so brutal lately.”
After sending Rian to the study, Shirone sat down and opened his history book. Lately, the on-site work had been finishing faster than the paperwork, leaving him with a fair amount of free time.
Once he began to focus on the book, the pages flew by in an instant.
Top left, bottom left, top right, bottom right. Four glances, and two pages were done in a snap. Moreover, his rhythm rarely broke until he had finished an entire volume.
This meant that the scope of knowledge in his head had surpassed the scope of the books. Having devoured 650 history books, he could digest the remaining 200 as easily as drinking water.
“Hey, Shirone. I found a cool book.”
Rian approached, waving a book. But he soon spotted Shirone flipping through pages at an incredible speed and didn't dare disturb him. He, for one, had once taken over ten hours to get through a single page. He'd been reading, sure, but when he opened his eyes, it was morning.
Rian took the seat next to Shirone and opened the book he'd brought. The interesting book he'd found had this title:
Swordsman VS. Mage.
“Preface. You must have asked yourself this question at least once. If a swordsman and a mage were to fight, who would win?”
As Rian read aloud, Shirone's hand, in the middle of turning a page, paused. For an aspiring mage, it was a topic that made his ears perk up.
“To find the answer, I wandered the world. Even now, when I close my eyes, the memories flicker. The Artusna Mountains, 6,000 meters above sea level. There, a carnivorous tree that preys on mountain birds…”
Rian slammed the book shut.
“This is boring as hell.”
“What? I think it's interesting!”
Startled by Shirone's outburst, Rian flinched. He'd been pretending not to care, but it seemed he'd been listening with ears pricked up like a fox.
“What's so interesting about it? There are no pictures, and it doesn't even talk about sword techniques.”
“How can you say that when you haven't even read a single page!”
“An author should be more considerate of their readers. The beginning should be exciting, the end moving.”
“This isn't a novel. Give me the book. So, who does it say wins?”
“What does it matter who wins? Are a mage and a swordsman crazy enough to have a straight-up duel? They'd attack if they have the advantage and run if they don't.”
Shirone opened ‘Swordsman VS. Mage’ to the middle and flipped through the pages.
“But there might be times when they have no choice but to fight. If that happens, who would win?”
“Well… If I had to guess…”
“Obviously, the swordsman wins.”
A sharp voice came from beyond the bookshelf. Then, a man with a cold demeanor appeared. He wasn't as brawny as Rian, but he was much taller, with long, slender limbs.
It was the second son of the Ogent family, Ogent Rai.
Though brothers, his aura and appearance were quite different from Rian's. For starters, his hair was jet-black.
Two undiluted bloodlines ran through the Ogent family: blue hair and black hair.
The family head, Bischoff, the eldest son, and the second son inherited the black hair, while the aqua-colored hair was passed down to the second daughter and the youngest, Rian.
Additionally, Rian's grandfather, a nationally certified Grade 3 swordsman, also had hair of a bluish hue.
Of course, the family members were connected by strong bonds.
But it was interesting how they sometimes divided themselves along bloodlines. The question of which bloodline was superior went back and forth with each generation, but this time, the black-haired line of Bischoff and Rai was dominant.
“Ah! Good day, sir.”
Shirone hurriedly bowed his head. No one in the family knew he was friends with Rian. If Rai had overheard their previous conversation, even a harsh punishment wouldn't have been enough.
“The swordsman wins? What makes you so sure? Because you're a swordsman?”
Rian, knowing this as well, tried to hold Rai's attention with a sarcastic tone.
“Is there a need for a grand word like ‘sure’? It's a fact that becomes clear just by knowing the standing of mages and swordsmen on each continent.”
Fortunately, Rai didn't seem to care about his relationship with Rian, but Shirone couldn't relax. He felt it every time Rai came to the library; he was a difficult man to read.
“Position has nothing to do with it. This is about a one-on-one fight. You're not going to say that on a battlefield, are you? ‘I outrank you, so stand down.’ Something like that.”
Rian let out a triumphant laugh, as if he'd landed a solid blow.
But Rai paid him no mind and turned to Shirone with an indifferent gaze.
“What do you think, boy?”
“Um… Assuming we're talking about the highest level, magic has immense power, so it could inflict a fatal wound on a swordsman. But swordsmen have superior physical abilities, so if they attack before the magic is cast…”
“No, you're wrong. A mage cannot defeat a swordsman.”
Shirone felt a surge of indignation. He was still only an aspirant, but being a mage was his dream. It was unpleasant to hear that his dream was absolutely inferior to something else.
Seeing his friend being dismissed, Rian, now angry as well, shot back.
“Who are you to say that? You think you're some kind of representative for all swordsmen?”
Rai's lips curled into a smirk. It was the sneer Rian hated so much.
“The pride of a swordsman isn't something just anyone can obtain. But a mage's knowledge? You can just buy it with money.”
Rai's words had a deeper meaning. In fact, swordsmen possessed a method to nullify magic.
It was an artifact known as ‘Anti-Magic’.
Anti-Magic generates a special wavelength that disrupts a mage's Spirit Zone. If the Spirit Zone is disturbed, the power of magic inevitably plummets.
Anti-Magic artifacts are processed into crystal orbs and embedded in armor, shields, or swords. Because they require the heart of a dragon, which emits magical waves, the highest-grade artifacts were so expensive that even a typical noble couldn't dream of affording one.
Furthermore, equipping ten artifacts with 10 percent efficiency each didn't mean you could defend against 100 percent of magic.
Waves resonate, so even if you added a new wave to an existing Anti-Magic wave, there would inevitably be an overlap.
Ultimately, the more artifacts you equipped, the lower the efficiency became, and the key was how much you could suppress that decline.
The greatest existing artifact was the ‘Armor Set of the Five Generals,’ created by the Great Mage Yakra. The helmet, armor, gauntlets, boots, and shield were all embedded with artifacts, each demonstrating a maximum individual efficiency of 20 percent.
According to research, the suppressive force one could gain by wearing the entire Armor Set of the Five Generals was a staggering 65 percent. Having one's magical power weakened by 65 percent was as good as having one's hands and feet tied for a mage.
Another troublesome item was the ‘Essence of the Spirit’. These essences, which crystallized in extremely small quantities in nature, came in four types—fire, water, wind, and earth—and when equipped, they not only allowed the user to cast magic but also provided a perfect defense against that element.
The number of essences discovered to date was only 17 worldwide—2 fire, 3 water, 5 wind, and 7 earth—and the value of a single one was enough to exceed the budget of a small kingdom.
Shirone imagined it. If a master of Schema, equipped with the Armor Set of the Five Generals and all four essences, were to swing their sword, what mage could possibly stand against them?
Of course, this was only possible in theory. The Five Generals set was scattered across the world with its whereabouts unknown, and the Essences of the Spirits were impossible to obtain unless you were a nation.
Equipping multiple Anti-Magic items was also a problem. Even Yakra, a master of wave equations, had poured ten years of his life into tuning the Armor Set of the Five Generals.
Carelessly stacking Anti-Magic items was a surefire way to just waste money. The efficiency wouldn't increase unless the interactions between wave formulas, resonance frequencies, and magical power were perfectly synthesized.
The saying that a noble could lose half their fortune trying to raise Anti-Magic by 1 percent was no mere joke.
This was where the swordsman's dilemma began. Rather than investing vast sums of money to raise their Anti-Magic, it was far cheaper to simply hire a mage who had learned Anti-Magic spells.
Rai's words had implied all of this. Mages were nothing more than subordinates to swordsmen. And he had said it himself: a mage's knowledge could always be bought with money.
The ones who developed Anti-Magic into artifacts were not swordsmen, but mages. Countless mages, even at this very moment, were researching the effects of a dragon's magic on the Spirit Zone. This was because achieving results could bring them immense wealth and fame.
Rai was pointing out the irony of mages, who live by magic, researching ways to weaken magic. He was saying that mages who sold themselves out for mere money could never defeat a swordsman.
“So? You seem to like books. Magic can just be blocked with Anti-Magic. But a swordsman's body is different. Our physical abilities can only be obtained through pain.”
Shirone understood Rai's point. But he didn't agree with his thinking.
“That is precisely what a mage is.”
“What?”
Rai was perplexed by Shirone's statement. It would have been normal for a boy who loved magic to get defensive.
“A mage is someone who tenaciously delves into the harmony of all things. Therefore, it's not strange for them to research ways to suppress magic. What they value is not winning or losing a fight, but whether they know something or not. Consequently, artifacts are also a product of that boundless intellect. To then claim you can defeat a mage with them is, I believe, based on a flawed premise from the start.”
Rai was not straightforward like Rian. He was the type to use any logic necessary to overwhelm an opponent if it meant he could win.
And yet, the reason his jaw was clenched tight was that he couldn't find a rebuttal to Shirone's logic.
Rian desperately tried to stifle his bursting laughter. Seeing his brother, who always spoke as if he knew everything, rendered speechless by Shirone's words was incredibly satisfying.
‘*Puhahaha! Serves you right. Isn't my friend's way with words amazing?*’
As time passed, Rai's expression twisted. His brow furrowed and a vein throbbed on his temple. But that didn't help him conjure up a new argument.
“Ideals are different from reality. Whatever their intentions, the fact that they can't win in a fight doesn't change.”
Rai turned coldly and left the library. At the sight, Rian puffed out his cheeks, trying to hold back his laughter, and covered his mouth.
‘*Different from reality? Is that all you can say? Ugh, you reek of stupidity. Get going. Hurry up and leave.*’
Then, as the library door closed, he could no longer hold it in and burst out laughing.
“Puhahaha! Shirone, you're the best! I've seriously never seen my brother make a face like that before!”
Even as Rian hugged and shook him like a doll, Shirone kept his gaze fixed on the spot where Rai had left.
Swordsman versus mage.
The single book Rian had brought had given Shirone much to think about. Perhaps reality was different, just as Rai had said.
But Shirone believed.
That the spirit of the mage, who would unhesitatingly place even their own weaknesses on the dissecting table, was the very reason intellect existed in this world.
* * *
The grand library felt chilly, almost desolate. The bookshelves, once packed tight with knowledge, were now empty, and the luminous lamps that had lit the place like day were turned off.
A single ray of golden sunlight poured through a fourth-floor window, imprinted on the floor. Bathed in that sunlight, Shirone turned a page.
One page, then another. And finally… the last page was finished, and the cover was closed.
Shirone stroked the back of the reddish-orange cover. Flipping a book over is an easy thing to do. But to finally flip it over after traversing the valley of hundreds of pages was not something just anyone could do.
850 volumes of history.
Shirone had read every history book in the grand library.
‘*It's over. This is the spine of my knowledge.*’
It was warm. A feeling like being filled with light.
Shirone could now understand the world. Though he was the son of a hunter, he would have no trouble engaging in a discussion about the world at large with any noble.
It was the result of selection and concentration. Talent only points toward an efficient path; anyone who read 850 history books could come to understand their place in the world.
The library relocation project had also concluded after a year and a half of major construction. He could go home anytime, and he no longer had to worry about his family dying.
It felt like a dream.
Countless events flashed through his mind like scenes from a dream.