Chapter 56: Entrance Ceremony (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 56: Entrance Ceremony (5)
What are the odds of a mage winning a one-on-one fight against a warrior?
There are no official statistics, but I’d put it at around twenty percent.
That was my win rate back when I used to fight with my wife.
A warrior knows nothing but fighting head-on, and they can bring out their full potential even when alone. But a mage is different.
While versatile in many ways, a mage can’t unleash one hundred percent of their power by themselves.
Why?
Because magic inevitably requires casting time to manifest.
It’s not a problem when you’re in a dungeon with comrades who can buy you that time, but in a one-on-one duel, it becomes a massive disadvantage.
This weakness is especially pronounced against a warrior, who possesses incredible speed and physical prowess.
You could call it an unavoidable difference in matchups.
And yet, as I said, my win rate was eighty percent.
That means even with the natural advantage, she still managed to beat me about two times out of ten.
The reason for my losses lay in a mage’s ability to prepare beforehand.
There’s a spell called 「Memorize」.
It’s the same one that frequently appeared in the mass-produced fantasy novels of old, so you’re probably familiar with it.
Its function is similar, too.
Depending on your mana level, you can pre-cast and store spells, then pull them out when needed.
That was the secret to her twenty-percent win rate.
She would set up an outlandish combination of spells and unleash them when I couldn't react, leaving me utterly defeated without being able to do a thing.
That is the only strategy a mage can use to win against a warrior.
That was also the reason I thought I was fucked.
Even though the warrior-class professor stepped right up, declaring he’d take control of the situation, the man deliberately dropped his disguise and revealed his identity.
He did this despite the fact that a mage losing to a warrior one-on-one is practically an established rule.
So, seeing him step forward so confidently, I couldn't help but think, at least by my standards:
Ah, that bastard must have prepared something incredible.
That’s why I said I thought we were fucked…
But what’s with those movements? He’s just busy running for his life.
“Why on earth did that guy even step up?”
The fight was completely one-sided.
The professor attacked relentlessly, while the mage was breaking a cold sweat just trying to dodge and block.
“Kuaaagh!”
Whooosh!
Every time the middle-aged professor swung his fist, the auditorium shook with the sound of rushing wind.
“Huk… Ba-Barrier!”
A translucent shield materialized before him, blocking the professor’s fist.
But the assault didn’t end there.
A second strike, a third.
The barrier, a mid-tier spell, shattered to pieces under the barrage of furious blows.
“…Is this some new suicide method?”
If this continued, the outcome was as clear as day.
In a prolonged battle, a warrior would always have the upper hand.
No matter how much the recent trend was for mages to have healthy physiques, they couldn't compare to warriors who had dedicated their entire lives to physical training.
When stamina runs out, breathing becomes ragged.
Ragged breathing means an unstable respiratory rhythm, which leads to a drop in concentration.
Naturally, that would lengthen a spell’s casting time.
“Does he really have nothing?”
Strange.
If he came out with such confidence, he should have at least one trump card, and now would be the time to use it.
If he doesn’t use it now, I doubt he’ll get another opening.
“…Something feels off.”
The man was panting heavily and clearly struggling, yet he didn’t seem anxious.
His life was on the line, yet how could a person be so composed?
I’ve had my share of near-death experiences, and I know for a fact that it’s not easy.
“Then what is it?”
Suddenly, I started to think this whole situation felt contrived.
“Right…”
This entire scenario began when that man revealed his identity.
Honestly, I didn’t understand it from the start.
Why reveal himself?
If he had just stayed quiet, he was in a position where he wouldn’t have drawn even a sliver of suspicion.
“What if he had a reason to reveal his identity…?”
Alright, let’s think this through calmly.
If that man hadn't revealed himself, what would have happened next?
“…They would have launched a massive operation to root him out.”
The exits were sealed the moment some of the Association staff left to provide external support.
That meant there was a spy inside watching everything, and they would have started investigating everyone to find him.
“Ah.”
Maybe he wanted to prevent that investigation.
What if he deliberately revealed himself to draw everyone’s attention, thereby preventing that situation from ever occurring?
“That means there’s someone else here.”
He was drawing all the aggro to protect the identity of someone else hiding somewhere in this auditorium.
“What could it be?”
Mages are treated as high-value assets everywhere. Who could be so important that they’d use such an asset as bait?
No, maybe it’s not about the person.
Perhaps the mission that person has to carry out is that important.
I had no idea what that mission was, but it struck me that this was the perfect time to execute it.
An A-rank warrior and an A-rank mage were putting on a spectacular fight right before our eyes.
Most people would be so captivated by the spectacle that they wouldn’t have the slightest interest in what anyone else was doing.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Look at that.
Even the Association staff, who are supposed to be on high alert, are completely engrossed in the fight.
Couldn't have imagined something like this back in my day. The world’s gotten soft.
This is why you always need at least one old commander around.
“Well, I guess I’ll have to find them myself.”
Just as it was a good time to carry out a secret mission, it was also the easiest moment to find the culprit.
All I had to do was pick out the ones doing something different while everyone else was distracted.
But.
“…There’s no one?”
Every single person was focused on the battle between the two.
Aside from Yoon Ji-an, who glanced around every so often, it was a total wipeout. A complete wipeout.
“That can’t be right…”
That mage must have had some scheme up his sleeve to act so boldly.
Otherwise, why would he trudge straight into the jaws of death?
“Ah!”
Then, it hit me. Another possibility I had overlooked.
What if the scheme he’d prepared didn’t involve a person, but an object?
“An object.”
My gaze naturally shifted to the stage.
The place where he had lingered the longest—the lectern with the microphone on it.
I immediately pushed past the special admission students and headed for the lectern on the stage.
The moment I checked the space underneath it, a spot invisible to anyone not standing right in front…
“Bingo.”
I had finally found the answer.
A faint blue light was emanating from a large box placed inside the lectern.
A stream of mana, visible only to me.
I opened the box and found a mana stone inside.
It was a rectangular mana stone, the size of two bricks stacked together, glowing with a deep, pure blue hue.
The moment I saw it, I frowned.
“Isn’t this an S-rank?”
Judging by the color and everything else, it definitely looked like an S-rank mana stone.
“Why the hell is this…”
The blue light was radiating from the mana stone.
And that light was steadily flowing in one direction.
Straight into the ground beneath our feet.
“Beneath the ground…”
I reached out and placed my hand on the stream of mana forcing its way into the ground.
I could feel it.
I could feel how the mana was flowing underground, where it was going.
I traced the path in my mind.
The moment the outline of the image became clear, I realized the situation was heading in a very bad direction.
“This is…”
As I mapped the flow beneath the ground, a single magic circle formed in my mind.
It was enormous, encompassing the entire auditorium.
I’d definitely seen this shape somewhere before, but what was it?
“Excuse me, student. What are you doing over there?”
A voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
It was a middle-aged woman with indigo hair and an expression that screamed ‘strict.’
Like the professor currently fighting the mage, she was one of the people sitting in the faculty seats.
Judging by the near-absence of mana from her, she was likely a professor from one of the combat support departments.
My eyes fell on the pen clipped to the breast pocket of her suit.
“Professor, may I borrow your pen?”
“My pen? Why a pen in a situation like this…?”
“This is a very important matter.”
When I spoke with the most serious expression I could muster, she seemed to hesitate for a moment before unclipping the pen and handing it to me.
It was a fountain pen that looked quite expensive.
“Professor, I’m sorry.”
“What do you mean… Ah!”
I started with an apology.
Then I uncapped the fountain pen, dug its sharp nib into the wooden stage, and began to draw the magic circle I had seen in my mind.
“What in the world are you…!”
The professor, who was about to erupt in anger, shut her mouth the moment she saw my drawing.
I looked up at her and asked.
“Do you recognize this magic circle?”
She pushed up her glasses and leaned her upper body forward.
She scanned the magic circle from a closer vantage point before giving a shocking answer.
“…It’s a teleportation magic circle.”
“Ah.”
So that’s where I’d seen it. It was a teleportation circle!
Teleportation.
Commonly known as teleport, it’s a famous movement spell that anyone who has read a fantasy novel would know.
It works by drawing two resonating magic circles in locations A and B, allowing for two-way travel between them.
When this magic first appeared, people chattered on about how all forms of transportation would become obsolete, but that never happened.
The mana consumption was so enormous that traveling even a short distance would devour an entire mid-tier mana stone. It had abysmal fuel efficiency.
And a magic circle like that was installed beneath the auditorium?
“Professor.”
“Yes, go on.”
“Would you believe me if I told you this magic circle is installed under the floor of this auditorium?”
She shook her head firmly at my question.
“That’s hard to believe, logically speaking. To move this entire space, you’d be lucky if even an S-rank mana stone was enough.”
Of course.
I only believed it because I saw it myself; otherwise, I would have found it hard to accept.
I immediately pulled out the mana stone from under the lectern and showed it to her.
“Would this be enough?”
“Th-that’s…”
The professor’s face turned pale.
She touched the mana stone a few times with her finger, then nodded her head.
“This is an S-rank mana stone. With this, it might just be possible… D-don’t tell me?”
Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes widened as she changed her words.
“…Are you saying there’s a teleportation magic circle installed under the ground right now? And this mana stone is its power source?”
“Yes.”
Now, everything made sense.
Why he revealed his identity, and what he was trying to hide.
I pointed to the mage, who was growing more exhausted as he fought the middle-aged professor, and said,
“Looks like that guy over there is planning to move all of us.”