Chapter 202
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 202
Chapter Title: Training (1)
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Early the next morning.
Jun, who had finished preparing to depart, rose from his spot right away.
There wasn't much to pack, really.
Just a small bag that wouldn't hinder his movements, along with a few snacks and books stuffed inside.
With his dimensional bracelet, he didn't really need a bag at all—but Jun wasn't the type of mage who enjoyed flaunting subspace artifacts everywhere.
Of course, now that he was a sixth-circle mage himself, he didn't have to worry about prying eyes...
But this caution had become second nature to him.
"Hm."
With his preparations perfectly complete, he stepped out of the inn.
"You've arrived."
"Good morning!"
Ranes and Belles were waiting there with a carriage in tow.
'Wait, are you sure you're an eighth-circle mage?'
This was a stark contrast to the cold, calculating Ranes from the game, who only showed that ruthless side after the empire's fall.
"Come on aboard. We've got a long way to go."
"Where to?"
"The sixth layer."
"Pardon...?"
They barely had enough time to reach the fifth layer, and now the sixth? Did he really plan to drag him through a brutal training session and send him packing?
Perhaps noticing Jun's bewildered expression, Belles spoke up first.
"Haha... Don't worry. This is Ranes Mage Tower, after all. Whenever a mage is needed in Blackout, we rush to the scene—it's our tower's ironclad rule."
"Ah."
Though the sudden mention of the sixth layer had thrown him off, Jun quickly remembered the Ranes Mage Tower's mode of transport and nodded.
'Like those magical cars from Harry Potter.'
In other words, a flying carriage.
And sure enough, the carriage before him was hovering on its own, without a single horse in sight.
"Whoa..."
From a mage's perspective, it was an exquisitely crafted artifact.
"Impressive. The prowess of Ranes Mage Tower."
"Hm? Oh, no—this one's Shylock's handiwork."
"Ah."
So Ranes had ties to Shylock as well.
He must have commissioned the carriage from him.
'But considering when Shylock was at his peak...'
That meant the tower handled all maintenance and any additional production now.
"Anyway, we'll talk on the way. Plenty to discuss."
"Understood."
With that, the carriage carrying Jun, Belles, and Ranes sped down the road—only to lift off with a buoyant sensation, soaring through the skies.
While Jun took in the scenery outside the carriage for a moment, Ranes spoke first.
"First off... the reason I'm taking you along boils down to two things."
"Please, go ahead."
"The first is pure personal curiosity."
"Curiosity?"
"I wanted to see how far I could guide someone like you—and what path you'd forge from my teachings."
It was an offer with zero downsides for Jun.
No reason to turn it down.
'Heading to the sixth layer with a guardian in tow. Can't ask for a better opportunity.'
Game experience or not, real combat was a different beast.
As the party's leader, scouting it firsthand would be invaluable.
"The second goal is the Magic Academy."
"Ah, right—it's about that time, isn't it."
The Magic Academy.
As the name implied, it was a gathering where mages shared their achievements.
A forum to present how much magical knowledge they'd amassed over the year and what results they'd produced...
'Though expecting it to serve any real positive function in our insular mage society is a stretch.'
Indeed, Ranes's expression soured the moment he mentioned it.
"There, Jun, I plan to make your presence known."
"Make my presence known?"
"To show how far a battle-tested mage can grow. And to expose just how incompetent mages who never step outside their towers truly are."
"Whoa."
Even from the words alone, this was no small burden.
'So why am I thrilled?'
Maybe because he despised tower-bred mages so much.
Or perhaps from all the disdainful looks he'd endured as an outsider.
He hadn't shown it outwardly, but who knew what resentments had quietly built up inside.
"So heading to the sixth layer is..."
"Exactly. We're going to film a fresh sixth-circle mage taking on the monsters there solo."
"Mm..."
The intent was noble, but...
Jun had his [Demon God Body] to consider.
'Giving it my all means... dropping the speech seal and activating mutant form.'
He didn't want to reveal that much.
Not even with Ranes right there.
'Is this mindset already flawed?'
Well, to receive proper guidance, he'd have to go all out, right?
But broadcasting that to the Magic Academy? No thanks.
Of course, Ranes wouldn't reveal the [Demon God Body] itself.
'Whatever... I'll deal with it when the time comes.'
"We've got plenty of time until we arrive, so let's discuss the details slowly."
"Understood."
* * *
Four days later, the trio arrived at the sixth layer, 'Dortka's Fury'.
"This carriage's performance... it's incredible."
From the third to the sixth layer in a mere four days.
By land, it would've taken around four months.
He knew such carriages existed, but not that they were this efficient.
"With your skills, you'll have one in no time."
"Mm. Thanks."
Perhaps his envy showed too much, because Belles offered some encouragement.
The two had grown comfortable enough over the past few days of conversation to drop formalities.
"By the way, Master Ranes—any special reason for coming all the way here?"
Dortka's Fury was infamous for its tricky field effects.
A space filled with lava on all sides.
The jagged terrain and occasional sharp obsidian spikes made even walking a cautious endeavor.
"This is where a red dragon met its end long ago."
"Ah... so that's why."
Jun's eyes could already pick out the unstable flows of mana.
"For a mage, casting spells in a place like this is borderline suicidal. The fire mana here could incinerate your mana circuits if you're not careful."
"Mm."
"But it won't affect you."
Ranes was aware of the fire attribute orbiting Jun's circles like a satellite.
"Separating attributes from your circles and orbiting them for use as needed—an achievement even I never conceived."
"You've never tried anything like it?"
"I've thought of similar ideas. But they weren't suitable for me personally."
Anyway.
"And from what I see, you're not planning to settle for just fire attributes."
"...You're right."
"That's why we're here. A new attribute to etch into your heart—one that's water, I presume?"
"Nothing gets past you."
"Javier told me."
Jun's gaze naturally drifted to his dimensional bracelet.
Inside lay the heart fragment of the ice serpent, gifted by the two imperial royals.
"A piece of a dragon heart—no less than from an ice serpent that perished from old age. Adding a new attribute shouldn't be impossible."
That said, the risks were sky-high, needless to mention.
Even Jun had brushed death multiple times just separating his fire attribute from his circles.
"You chose this place to weaken the water attribute's power."
"Precisely. And to get you accustomed to water while we're at it."
Why come to a fire-saturated Dortka's Fury to familiarize himself with water?
The answer was simple.
"Casting water magic in a space utterly devoid of it will make it second nature that much faster."
The catch? The insane difficulty.
But Ranes knew Jun could handle it with ease.
"To start... yes, that red lava over there should do nicely."
Red Lava.
A monster in the form of a larva made entirely of molten red lava.
One might dismiss it as a mere grub, but its size was far from ordinary—no mere insect, but on par with a shipping container.
With its body composed purely of lava, fire-resistant gear melted away like snow, and upon death, it detonated in a spectacular self-explosion.
"Not just kill it outright, I take it."
"Right. Kill it without letting it burst."
"A tough order."
To prevent a Red Lava's self-destruct, you needed an opposing attribute.
Jun knew this from his gaming days, when he'd met the conditions to farm its drops.
'Needed its essence back then. Essential for fire gear sets.'
But it was no easy task.
Setting up pure water gear was hard enough.
'Even a hint of physical damage triggers the boom.'
And now, in a fire-drenched zone like this, to draw solely on water mana to strike it?
A typical mage would glare at Ranes, wondering, 'Is he just messing with me?'
It was that challenging.
"Master, mind if I join in?"
"Go ahead. It'll help you too—time to add attributes to your circles."
"Yes, sir."
With that, both Jun and Belles channeled their magic without complaint, meeting Ranes's conditions.
Soon, sweat beaded on Belles's forehead.
'As expected. Not an easy feat, just like Master said.'
He knew the theory.
And it wasn't just theory—Belles had cast ice spells in similar environments before.
'But never with such pure attribute demand.'
Back then, a mix of attributes still let the spells manifest fully, with solid performance.
But what his master wanted now was purer.
Gathering only the opposing attribute in a fire-dominant space? Extremely tough.
And yet.
[Spell activated successfully]
Jun, standing right beside him, pulled it off in under a minute.
And the real shocker?
"You're out."
Even though the Red Lava died without exploding, Ranes declared Jun the failure.