Chapter 366
Chapter 366
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 366
Chapter Title: Special Training (1)
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Shirone was registered as an official observer and began his stay at the association. It was Gauld's idea that making a public announcement would be safer before strange rumors could spread.
The first thing he did was write a letter to send home. Gauld inspected it, and it was approved.
When he returned from sending the telegram in the city, Plu was waiting for him on the third floor.
“Did you send the letter?”
“Yes. They said it would take about five days. But… were you waiting for me?”
“Yeah. The Chief Secretary asked me to.”
Shirone was still reeling from the shock of his interview with Gauld. When she said Gauld had asked for something, he couldn't help but feel a jolt of fear.
“Starting today, I'll be helping with your training.”
He had thought Gauld would offer some help during his stay, but he hadn't expected to be taught directly by a professional mage.
Yet, he couldn't feel happy about it, because he was stuck with none other than Plu, the nag.
“What's with that look? Are you sick?”
“Ah, no. It's just… so sudden.”
“What's sudden? The special training, or me?”
“Well… both.”
Plu cackled triumphantly.
“You're in for it now. But don't be too nervous. I won't be teaching you directly.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Plu rummaged through her inner pocket. The way she stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes suggested it was tucked away somewhere deep.
“Ta-da! I got this from the Chief Secretary. Do you know what this is?”
A large, golden key was clutched in Plu's hand.
“Well. It looks like a key, with a high degree of probability.”
“This is the key to the Magic Archives, the very symbol of the Magic Association! We're going into an area no one can enter without the Chairman's approval!”
Shirone paused, trying to think of how to react. How was he supposed to be happy or angry when he didn't even know what the Magic Archives were?
“What are you standing there for? Let's go!”
Though it was a consideration from Gauld for Shirone, Plu was the one jumping for joy.
She led Shirone to the 16th floor of the association.
When the elevator doors opened, a solid iron door stood right in front of them.
Shirone, stepping forward out of habit, nearly bumped his head.
Plu smiled as if she'd expected it and inserted the key.
The door opened automatically, revealing a magnificent sight.
The entire 16th floor was a library, with bookshelves stretching out in neat rows, as if reflected between two mirrors.
“Welcome. You must be the observer student.”
An elegant beauty who appeared to be in her mid-thirties emerged from beyond the confines of the iron doorway.
She wore a business-like black suit, her black hair neatly tied up. She had light makeup, pink lipstick, thinly shaped eyebrows, and large, deep eyes with distinct double eyelids.
“Hello, Ms. Isabelle.”
Plu bowed respectfully, then turned to Shirone and gestured for him to come forward.
“Say hello. This is Ms. Isabelle, a Grade 3 Certified Mage and the head of the Magic Archives.”
Shirone, startled, quickly bowed his head. The cognitive dissonance between her rank and her youthful face was jarring.
“Hello. I'm Arian Shirone.”
“Yes. I heard about you from the Chairman. You're a talent the Magic Association has its eye on, so work hard. Come on in. I'll give you a tour of the archives.”
Isabelle turned first, and Plu and Shirone followed her inside.
“This floor is where the grimoires are stored. There are about 28,000 of them. You can assume we have most of the regulated magic registered in the kingdom.”
“What? Twenty-eight thousand?”
Shirone couldn't hide his astonishment and looked around.
Every book here represented a magic developed by someone. He trembled with exhilaration.
Plu raised a finger as if to say ‘I told you so.’
“See? I told you. Getting to come in here is a huge privilege.”
Shirone barely heard her words.
The archives held thin books of ten pages and thick tomes of a thousand. The cover colors, designs, and even heights varied according to their element and school.
It looked like a work of art that embodied the countless magics scattered throughout the world.
‘Ah, so that's why an Archmage has to manage this place.’
Grimoires contained the complete knowledge and power of a specific magic.
They held enough detailed information for someone with an extraordinary mind who could enter the Spirit Zone to master a new magic through self-study.
An advanced grimoire would be incredibly expensive, and the value of 28,000 volumes was so immense it would be a chore to even calculate.
“I'm sorry. I couldn't believe it at first. You look so young, Ms. Isabelle, not like an Archmage.”
Isabelle covered her mouth with her fist and chuckled. Most mages had strong pride, but she seemed pleased to be told she looked young.
“I know what you mean. But being an Archmage doesn't necessarily mean you're powerful or destructive. I'm in an administrative role. Red Line ranks are determined by fame and achievement points. When I first came to the archives, I was only a Grade 7 Certified Mage. Then, after organizing 1,500 grimoires over ten years and my supervisor retired, I found myself at Grade 3. My achievement points became abnormally high. My fame, on the other hand, is ridiculously low.”
Achievements and fame varied greatly depending on the profession. Thus, even within the same grade, there were mages with high combat power, while others specialized in different areas.
Having worked in the Magic Association's archives for ten years, Isabelle's practical combat experience would be next to none.
But Shirone was impressed for an entirely different reason.
“Fifteen hundred volumes…”
The process of registering regulated magic is done through interviews or correspondence with the magic's developer.
When the full knowledge and power are delivered in the form of a thesis, Isabelle reviews, summarizes, and binds it into a grimoire.
In short, it was a task impossible without an outstanding understanding of magic and vast knowledge.
‘Then again, anyone who organized 1,500 grimoires over ten years would probably become an Archmage.’
Of course, he knew that enduring those ten years was an extremely difficult feat.
In that sense, Isabelle was more than qualified to be a Grade 3 Certified Archmage.
“Anyway, just think of me as a big sister. To be honest, the title of Archmage is a bit of a burden for me.”
For Shirone, who had only ever met formidable and extraordinary individuals with the title of Archmage, this was a novel feeling.
But thanks to her, he could browse the archives with a much more relaxed heart.
The grimoires were broadly categorized by school and then further subdivided chronologically.
There were very old ones, as well as magic that led the latest trends.
When he saw a copy of the Photonization magic, a slight thrill ran through him.
After finishing the introduction, Isabelle told them to look around at their leisure and returned to her desk.
As she leaned over her desk, looking at documents, a pen moved on its own beside her.
Having worked at Ogent's Great Library himself, Shirone could guess just how accelerated Isabelle's work speed must have become after a full ten years.
‘At that level of proficiency, 1,500 volumes in ten years doesn't seem impossible.’
Plu slapped Shirone on the back.
“Hey, what are you staring at? Ms. Isabelle is married. Don't tell me you're into that?”
Shirone's expression hardened as he waved his hands in denial.
“Absolutely not.”
Regardless, Plu hugged herself and shivered, overwhelmed with emotion.
“The Chief Secretary said you can look at anything you want. First, let's pick a magic for you to practice.”
*Take anything and learn it.* Shirone guessed Gauld's intention.
It meant that in addition to his training, he should reference various magics and think of hints for the magic that would destroy heaven.
But still, to give him free access to the Magic Archives…
It seemed Gauld hadn't been lying when he said he would spare no support.
Plu wasn't slow either, so she must have known Shirone's special training was related to Gauld's project. But, just as she'd resolved before entering the Chairman's office, she never let it show.
‘No, maybe she's genuinely enjoying this…’
The two of them went to the section with grimoires from the Photon school, Shirone's specialty.
Plu scanned the books on the shelves and offered some advice.
“You don't need to learn overly simple magic. It's inefficient. For example, what would you do with something like this, *'Let's Make a Ping-Pong Ball with Photons and Have Fun!'*? A performance magician might need it, but you don't.”
Shirone took the three-page book Plu mentioned. It described a game of bouncing a flare off mirrors, claiming it was fun for the whole family and perfect for dieting.
“The same goes for magic that was developed too long ago. Since it's old, there will be plenty of known countermeasures. But you don't have time to master high-difficulty magic either. That would take at least half a year, and you have to go back to school.”
“Ah, that's true.”
Pointing out something he hadn't considered snapped him to attention.
He had to consider the time it took to learn a magic as much as its efficiency. The key was to find a magic he could master during his time at the association.
“Of course, the choice is yours. Personal preference affects your mastery. But you need guidelines. First, pick a magic that can cover your weaknesses. Second, pick one that has synergy with the magic you can currently use. Third, balance quality and quantity. That should be enough.”
And so, Shirone came to the Magic Archives every day, flipping through the books.
The sooner he chose a grimoire, the more time he would have to practice, but since this wasn't an opportunity that came often, he wanted to choose carefully.
‘There are so many. It would take years just to look through the Photon school.’
There was magic so trivial it made him chuckle, magic so ingenious he'd never imagined it, and magic that boasted such extreme difficulty he wondered if it was even possible.
It was a whole new world. He was like a kid in a candy store, unable to focus.
‘No, calm down. How frustrating would it be if I run out of time and can't learn anything?’
After getting used to the archive's classification system, Shirone finally began to intensively search for magic that fit the guidelines.
Then, in a corner for magic from ten years ago, he found a title that caught his eye.
*Advanced Teleportation Technique: Scattershot Movement*
“Hmm, teleportation.”
Since he considered it one of his strong suits, he was interested. The fact that the book wasn't very thick also played a part in his choice.
A clean white cover indicated it was a grimoire of the Photon school, and below the title *Scattershot Movement* was the name of the magic's developer, Kindra Bookie.
“Kindra Bookie. I've never heard that name before.”
Though he didn't even know the man's face, Shirone respected him.
Registering an independently developed magic as a kingdom-regulated one is left to the mage's discretion until their death.
Thus, while there were countless unregistered magics in the world, he couldn't help but feel more favorable toward mages who willingly revealed the essence of their magic for the sake of their juniors.
Without them, there would be nothing to learn at magic academies.
“Well then, I'll give it a good read.”
With a sense of reverence, Shirone opened the book and read for about ten minutes.
“Hoh… I see.”
It was a rather ingenious magic.
‘No, this will definitely work. It'll be effective in a real fight.’
Scattershot Movement was a magic where upon casting teleportation, one immediately dispersed photon output in all directions.
From the opponent's perspective, it would create the illusion that the mage was scattering in all directions.
‘Hmm, so you use a passive magic, then transition to an active one. Since the passive magic's effect persists, it can create the effect of being implemented simultaneously with the active magic.’
From the middle of the book onward, the techniques for its full knowledge and power were written out.
As Shirone continued to read, his chin resting on his hand, a brilliant idea suddenly popped into his head.
‘What if I combine this with the God Particle?’
In other words, instead of just photon output, he would fire Photon Cannons in all directions while teleporting.
If Bookie had intended Scattershot Movement as a diversionary tactic, Shirone could evolve it into a movement technique that also possessed offensive power.