Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Magic Genius with Korean Patch 29
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Just like that, two months passed.
While staying at Silvermont, the main thing Jeon did was train in magic with Gilrad.
Of course, preparations for tackling the ruins were also progressing during that time.
But since Alexar Silvermont was personally handling it, there wasn't much for Jeon to worry about.
"Then, let's begin."
"Yes, sir!"
And so, over the past two months.
Jeon had learned a tremendous amount about magic from Gilrad.
This included knowledge of modern magic that went beyond what he'd read in magic books.
And advice on the best ways to build up his circles.
Among them, the most effective method was to cast spells repeatedly to get a feel for them, so Jeon had spent the two months sparring with Gilrad until he was sick of it.
"Here I come!"
3rd Circle Magic
Burning Fox
With the signal, a 3rd Circle spell began casting from Gilrad's hand. A single burning fox leaped out and charged straight at Jeon.
Jeon didn't back down and began casting a spell from his own hand.
It was a 2nd Circle spell: a circle containing two overlapping shapes.
Once the casting finished, a silver fireball rose from Jeon's hand and shot toward Gilrad.
Of course, if they collided like this, Gilrad's spell would win handily, both in circle rank and completion quality.
-Kyaaang!
But Silver, who had leaped out first, slammed into the burning fox.
The silver light emanating from Silver's body made the burning fox vanish.
And the fireball Jeon had fired followed right after, engulfing Gilrad.
"Your linkage of the two spells has become quite natural now!"
3rd Circle Flame Magic
Cone-shaped projectile
With those words, Gilrad fired off another pre-prepared spell.
This time, a cone-shaped 3rd Circle flame spell pierced straight through Jeon's magic.
Not to be outdone, Jeon fired a second pre-prepared 2nd Circle spell.
Boom!
Thanks to the previous spell weakening it slightly, Gilrad's magic collided with Jeon's second spell and exploded.
"Your casting speed has improved tremendously too!"
"Thank you for the praise!"
After that, the two exchanged spells several more times.
Of course, with some handicaps: Gilrad refrained from using 3rd Circle or higher magic, and Jeon didn't use Compression.
But within the agreed rules, they went all out.
So their sparring session dragged on for quite a while.
"Hoo, good work."
"Haaah... Yes, good work."
The moment the spar ended, Jeon collapsed flat on the ground.
Keeping up with a 5th Circle mage's casting speed was incredibly taxing.
It wasn't just stamina—his head throbbed from all the casting.
"To progress this far in just two months is truly impressive. At this level, most 3rd Circle mages couldn't even compete."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. If you went all out, I think you could put up a good fight against a 4th Circle mage."
A mere 2nd Circle mage holding his own against a 4th Circle one.
Anyone hearing that would call it nonsense and lose their mind laughing.
But Gilrad, who had made the assessment, believed it was entirely possible.
'No, in a real life-or-death battle, you might even beat a 4th Circle mage.'
Gilrad appreciated the two rune magics he knew as secret arts for their excellent performance.
But what truly terrified him about Jeon was something else.
'His mana recovery speed via the mana heart method is overwhelmingly superior.'
A 4th Circle mage might have more total mana.
But even after reaching 2nd Circle and gaining more absolute mana, Jeon could still refill his reserves in about 30 seconds thanks to his mastery of the heart method.
If the fight turned into a prolonged battle, the 4th Circle mage would likely drop first.
"Honestly, I never imagined you'd improve this much in two months."
Jeon smiled faintly, inwardly pleased by Gilrad's honest evaluation from their spar.
"So, could I beat Lena now?"
"Ahem... Probably, yes."
Gilrad played along with Jeon's playful joke, glancing around as if checking for eavesdroppers.
"Lately, Lady Lena seems spurred on by you, Sir Jeon. She's been training her magic diligently. She hasn't pulled any of her monthly runaway stunts either."
Jeon had reached 2nd Circle in less than two months of proper magic training.
This was astonishing not just to Jeon himself.
Nor only to Gilrad, his instructor.
It was a shock bordering on trauma for Lena, who had been called a genius since childhood.
"That's a relief."
Because of that.
Jeon had heard that Lena was spending her days taking lessons from Gilrad and the family's senior mages in rotation, utterly absorbed in magic training.
'Well, even I think it's an astonishing pace.'
Lena, who had reached 3rd Circle at a young age, was undoubtedly a genius.
But Jeon's speed was on an entirely different level.
'Thanks to the Korean Patch.'
One of the most essential abilities for a mage was comprehension of the Magic Language.
Knowing the meanings and controlling mana accordingly was important, of course.
But true talent lay in deeply understanding connections between words, their unique traits, and the nuances of each term—to progress faster.
In that regard, Jeon already had perfect comprehension of the Magic Language thanks to the Korean Patch.
So, repeating near-real-combat sparring drills had propelled him to 2nd Circle in no time.
'If anything, it feels less like talent and more like using a cheat key.'
Whatever the case.
The fact that Lena was back to diligently training was good news.
"After reaching 3rd Circle, she seemed to lose interest in magic, which worried us. This is truly fortunate."
"Lost interest...? Was there a special reason?"
"Well... Yes, there were circumstances that could make her feel that way."
Gilrad hesitated awkwardly at Jeon's casual question, then nodded stiffly.
Jeon tilted his head slightly at the reaction.
"But you could say it's a common issue for geniuses. Moving from 3rd to 4th Circle is a whole different realm, so many lose interest or hit a wall and give up."
Gilrad brushed it off as no big deal.
'Doesn't sound like that's the reason.'
Jeon sensed there was more to it from the awkward response.
'...No need to pry into something they're hiding.'
He had no intention of digging into Lena's personal matters without her consent.
"There you are."
As they wrapped up the spar and chatted briefly with Gilrad.
One of the mansion's butlers approached the two.
"What is it?"
Jeon sat up and asked, and the butler nodded.
"Yes. Duke Alexar Silvermont is looking for both of you."
"Both of us?"
Alexar summoning them separately.
It was the first time in two months.
And not just Jeon, but Gilrad too.
Jeon asked again out of curiosity, and the butler continued promptly.
"The preparations for the raid are complete, so he wants to brief everyone together."
Calling them after two months like this.
It seemed the preparations for tackling the ruins were finally done.
A little over two months since his last visit, Jeon entered Alexar Silvermont's office.
Alexar greeted them in the office still filled with various silver armaments.
"Sorry to call you away from your training."
"No, it's fine."
"I heard you're doing magic training and exercise these days... You look more built than when we first met."
As Alexar said.
Jeon devoted his days to magic training and his evenings to exercise.
If asked why a mage needed exercise when they didn't wield swords.
'If you're not just lobbing spells from afar, exercise is essential.'
Most mages didn't exercise much.
They were a group specialized in sedentary research and study, and no amount of exercise would give them knight-level physiques.
But according to Gilrad.
'Battle mages' who rolled on actual battlefields spent considerable time on both magic and physical training.
'You can get plenty strong, even if not quite knight-level.'
By circulating mana, even mages could exhibit physical abilities far beyond ordinary people.
But without exercise or conditioning, there were limits to what mana reinforcement could achieve.
The body simply couldn't handle the strain.
With consistent exercise and care, however, one could endure that strain and unleash even greater physical prowess through mana.
That's why Jeon made time for workouts.
Besides, he didn't need to spend time studying Magic Language comprehension like other mages, so he had some spare hours.
"Hmm, what a shame. With that kind of dedication, you might've made a fine swordsman."
"Haha, I'm happy as is. But you called us for the raid today...?"
As Jeon laughed lightly and brushed off Alexar's regretful words.
Knock knock.
"Duke Alexar Silvermont, the exploration team has arrived."
"Mm, let them in."
The office door opened, and three people entered.
"Who are they...?"
"Perfect timing. These are the members of the exploration team handling the ruins raid."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Kundal Silvermont, leading the exploration team this time."
The man in the center stepped forward with the introduction from Alexar.
He had a sturdy build, not quite as imposing as Alexar but clearly a high-caliber knight at a glance.
"He's a veteran knight with plenty of ruins exploration experience. Perfect for the job. The two beside him aren't quite at his level, but they're experienced enough to be a big help."
Two months of preparation, indeed.
Alexar had clearly put serious effort into readying for this raid.
"I wanted to thank you personally, Sir Jeon."
"Me?"
"Yes. That unraided ruin in Silvermont territory has been nagging at me, and thanks to you, we can tackle it again. Truly grateful."
"Oh, no need for that..."
"No, it's because of you that Silvermont's swords can prove once more that nothing can stand against us."
True to being Alexar's subordinate.
Kundal the knight brimmed with pride in his sword and house.
'Is this a family trait?'
One could excuse Gilrad as a mage.
Risar had been fairly reserved too.
But every other Silvermont knight Jeon met seemed utterly obsessed with their swords.
"The exploration team will consist of 25 knights centered on Kundal, and 8 mages centered on Gilrad and yourself."
"Gilrad, you're joining the raid too?"
Jeon turned to Gilrad in surprise.
He'd trained with him constantly but never heard this.
"Watching you train so hard motivated me. I wanted to help ensure this raid succeeds."
"To go that far for us... Thank you."
Gilrad was a 5th Circle mage and Silvermont's top mage.
His voluntary support was a huge boon.
"So, a total of 33 personnel for the raid."
"No porters or laborers?"
"We already took everything worth taking from the previous raid. And since the ruins are in our territory, we can send a separate team to collect loot after."
"I see."
Jeon's previous team had crammed in slaves as porters since revisiting was tough.
But Silvermont's ruins were local, so no need.
"Our goal is to push past that door that stopped the last expedition. How about it—confident?"
All eyes in the office turned to Jeon at Alexar's casual question.
He was the one who proposed the raid, so everyone awaited his answer.
'Confident...'
Honestly, when he first suggested it, his odds were about fifty-fifty.
But over time, especially the last two months, Jeon had grown confident.
His gains weren't for nothing.
"Yes. We'll definitely succeed."
So Jeon met their gazes squarely and nodded.
The two months of preparation were over.
Now it was time to tackle the ruins for real.