Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Border (4)
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It didn't seem like a topic he particularly wanted to talk about. Old man Richer furrowed his brow and stayed silent for a moment.
But soon enough, he brought it up.
"Truth be told, it's not some big secret anyway. You'd find out the moment you got to the imperial capital."
"Then why the suspense? Are you the master of the Empire's Central Tower or something?"
It was a playful question, but old man Richer looked at Tae-jin with serious, profound eyes.
Staring into those deep blue eyes sent chills crawling all over his body. Could this geezer, who'd only been cracking jokes until now, really be one of the tower masters at the pinnacle of all mages?
"Whoa. You really are a tower master? You're way more impressive than I thought, old timer."
But old man Richer just grinned cheekily.
"Nah, that was just some facial acting. Pretty convincing, right?"
Of course. The old man was getting more childish with age, full of pranks.
"Why make that face? You had me confused."
"Just messing around. You looked all expectant when you asked."
Figures. He was the type you couldn't take at face value.
"If you're not a tower master, then what? If Pavilion knows about it, it must be something famous."
Old man Richer let out a deep sigh before speaking.
"War Mage. A mage specialized in warfare. I've rolled around in that field for a good while. Looks like Pavilion figured it out."
Pavilion nodded.
"Yeah, I figured as much."
"Is that an actual thing? Any mage who goes to war isn't a War Mage?"
"No. Hmm, how should I explain this?"
Old man Richer picked up a stick and started sketching on the ground.
"The best analogy is a hexagonal stat chart."
He'd built up all this atmosphere, but the old man's metaphor felt oddly cheap. Like something out of a console game he'd played at Tae-jin's place back home.
But Pavilion and Oboe, listening beside him, had no idea what a hexagonal stat was, so they just watched with interest.
"A mage's talent is the area of that hexagon. Outstanding ones have a wide area, while the untalented might have one the size of a fingernail."
"And?"
"What, you're already rushing me before I even start explaining?"
"If you don't like it, hurry up and explain."
Old man Richer grumbled a bit but kept going.
The stick in his hand moved slowly, writing letters at each vertex of the hexagon.
"There are tons of stats you could put at the vertices. Mana sensitivity, circulation speed, output, and so on. Doesn't have to be a hexagon, of course. Different schools use different criteria and numbers—could be a triangle or octagon. But let's stick with hexagon for now."
This time, a tiny hexagon appeared inside the larger one.
"Becoming a mage means surpassing a certain baseline in all abilities. Fill this little hexagon, and you're a mage."
"You said even the untalented can become mages, though?"
"Repetitive training expands the hexagon's area. No matter how little talent, decades of steady practice will make you a mage eventually. On the flip side, someone overflowing with talent becomes one just by touching it. Simple, but incredibly rare."
"How rare?"
"Even the current Central Tower Master was famed as a genius. Took him just ten days from starting training to becoming a mage."
Old man Richer made the most annoyed face imaginable.
Pavilion and Oboe probably thought his irritation was aimed at the tower master, but actually, it was directed at Tae-jin.
Tae-jin smirked smugly. After all, his own talent surpassed even the tower master's.
"Anyway, what does that have to do with War Mages?"
"Don't rush me, just listen. Every school agrees on two key stats without argument: sensitivity and output. War Mages are those specialized in output."
"Sounds kinda meh when you put it like that. Why the dramatic buildup?"
"Because the way they specialize in output isn't exactly pretty. The best mages excel evenly across the board, but War Mages are stripped of that path. They sacrifice the chance to reach the peak for efficiency."
"For example?"
"They cut out everything unrelated to output—multi-casting, fine sensitivity, fast mana circulation. Pour all your talent into output alone. Advance it half a step, even if the rest falls five or ten steps behind."
By now, the ground showed a hexagon bloated on one side.
It wasn't a smooth, rounded ring or hex nut. It was long and sharp like an awl, ready to pierce and burrow into anything in sight.
'Still seems off somehow.'
The magic old man Richer had shown earlier was too overwhelmingly powerful to chalk up to just training one field.
"Among all those mages around the Gate, none could output even half of yours. The gap was huge."
Hearing Tae-jin's question, old man Richer looked incredulous.
"You think I'm some hack? Anyone can just decide to become a War Mage?"
"Your usual behavior doesn't exactly scream trustworthy."
"Only the most exceptionally talented mages get selected as War Mages. Out of a hundred, you need the top one or two. And among those, maybe one in five or ten shows output-specialized talent. Comparing me to hacks is an insult."
Old man Richer paused there, but Tae-jin could feel the unspoken tail-end: 'And I'm pretty damn good myself.'
"Still weird. The protest mages aside, the Gate guardians were plenty talented. But your output felt ten times theirs."
"That display earlier? Yeah, about that. Let's go back. Why risk regression elsewhere for even a half-step more firepower? Not a great deal for the Empire employing War Mages, right?"
Now that he thought about it, that made sense. Old man Richer continued without waiting for a reply.
"Simple reason. There's a way to multiply your output several times. Remember that incantation I chanted before lifting the ground?"
Tae-jin dredged up the memory. The old man had chanted once with no effect, then lifted the earth on the second.
"Yeah, that?"
"Right. That's why the Empire dominates in mage warfare. It artificially controls the density of mana enveloping you. Simple in theory, brutally hard in practice."
Mages snag passing mana to cast spells. Think of it like a net.
The talented are like fishermen with fine mesh, hauling in loads for powerful spells.
The untalented? Sparse nets, catching scraps.
But boost the surrounding mana density artificially, and you pull in more.
"Your voice echoed like you were shouting in a cave. Related?"
"Yeah. One side effect of sealing mana leaks. Internal sounds distort and amplify. Small differences multiply hugely. That's why War Mages pour everything into output."
"That amplification spell sounds great. Teach me?"
"Didn't you see the blood pouring? Massive backlash. Body strains taking excess mana, and when the spell ends, trapped mana damages you. Abuse it, and you're crippled in a heartbeat."
Pavilion nodded from the side.
"Makes sense. War Mages on the battlefield only cast once."
"What were the ones you saw like, Pavilion?"
"All from the victim's side, thankfully dodged."
"Thought you knew about War Mages from the Empire. Guess not."
"From Merca."
"Long way. Dealt with them four years back? I didn't deploy."
"Yeah. Red-haired woman mage. Spell missed me, or I'd be dead."
"Sounds familiar."
As the two started reminiscing, Tae-jin cut in quick.
"What happened? Don't keep it between you two—explain."
Pavilion rubbed his chin, recounting.
"Soldiers facing the Empire spread out pre-battle to dodge War Mage strikes. But once fighting starts, they clump up. Can't battle dispersed."
Tae-jin nodded.
"Just speak casually, mister. You've been mixing formal and informal."
"Oh, right... yeah. Anyway, when enemy mages layer barriers in one spot, that's the signal. Our mages and archers pour everything at it. Breach quick, maybe block—but reality says no."
Pavilion shuddered.
"That heart-pounding tension sticks. Death scanning the crowd. Fail to break the barrier, somewhere gets picked. Everyone there dies, no exceptions."
Tae-jin had only seen earth-lifting, not killing spells, so hard to picture.
"How'd it go down?"
"Watching tense, then a tiny fireball drifts slow between barriers. Slower than a kid's stone toss, fist-sized. Surprising—expected house-sized."
Tae-jin nodded, listening intently.
"But you know instantly. That speck's about to do something insane. No point backing up. Still, everyone scatters like mad. Don't wanna die. Then it hits ground—boom."
A giant rabbit telling war stories. Surreal. But Pavilion continued gravely.
"No big explosion, no long burn. Intense flames spread a few seconds, gone quick. Plenty to incinerate over a hundred in range. Cavalry pours through the gap, melee chaos begins. That's my War Mage memory. Second time now."
Tae-jin eyed old man Richer. Was this geezer even more badass than he thought?
"You're incredible, old timer."
Richer shrugged.
"Always have been, every moment. Your lowly eyes just couldn't see it. Think those Gate mages groveled for nothing?"
His arrogance twisted Tae-jin's guts.