Magic Academy’s Genius Blinker

Chapter 208

Old Story (4)

9th Class.

The pinnacle of magic.

The ultimate realm.
T hi s w a s c opi e d f r o m ki n g mt l.o r g

The limits of humanity.

The resonance of this realm was beyond mere numerical evaluation.

An ordinary person might stupidly say, “Isn’t 9th Class right after 8th Class?” but that’s not the case at all.

There was an enormous barrier between the 8th Class and the 9th Class.

To put the difference in magical levels into perspective, it’s as if comparing the gap between the 1st Class and the 7th Class.

The difference between a 1st Class just beginning to walk the path of magic and a 7th Class who has reached the pinnacle of the magical world.

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One might say it’s an exaggeration, but it’s an accurate portrayal.

A 9th Class mage… is such a transcendent being that it’s almost embarrassing to call them a ‘mage.’

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They have glimpsed fragments of the ‘truth’ that exists in this world, gaining special enlightenment, and no longer treat magic as a skill or mathematics but govern it as a natural phenomenon.

In Aether World, there are fewer than ten 9th Class mages.

Why express the number so ambiguously? Because no one in the world knows exactly how many 9th Class mages there are.

9th Class mages can defy the laws of nature, reaching a level where their lifespan becomes meaningless. Among them, some have secluded themselves in the shadows of the world, becoming untraceable.

Thus, no one has grasped the exact number of 9th Class mages.

Haeseong Wol, the Tower Master of the Full Moon, an Archmage.

Along with Eltemon Eltrine, he was one of the few 9th Class mages actively working in the magical world and a living legend.

The story of how he suddenly erected a massive magic tower in the middle of the deathly ‘Saren Desert’ and created a vast oasis, planting the roots of life, is already famous enough to be included in textbooks.

Though much younger than Eltemon Eltrine, at the age of a hundred, he boasted of countless diverse experiences like building a tower of achievements.

But even for him, this situation was a first.

“…So, you’re saying you want to entrust the command of the expedition to that boy?”

“Yes.”

Haeseong Wol sincerely couldn’t understand Zeliel’s judgment.

Entrusting the command of such an important mission, with her father missing, to a mere teenager.

“You must be out of your mind.”

“No, I am more sane than anyone right now.”

“I see. Baek Yu-seol, was it? I’ve heard his name recently due to his rather intriguing deeds. However, does that matter? The mages here would be no less capable than Baek Yu-seol.”

“I know that.”

“No, you don’t. Even though he’s achieved accomplishments comparable to genius mages of his age, he’s still just a teenager who hasn’t even graduated from school.”

Haeseong Wol’s words were reasonable. In fact, anyone would think the same as he did.

Baek Yu-seol was indeed intelligent. Many mages said that in just ten years, he would be a genius who would leave a mark on the magical world.

However… Baek Yu-seol still lacked experience.

Despite his deep knowledge and intelligence for his age, he hasn’t had any substantial experience outside of school.

While his achievements in repelling Dark Mages as a student were remarkable, it was only a few times.

Most of the magic warriors here had at least dozens of experiences in repelling Dark Mages and were experts in handling various mysterious cases, including disappearances.

To entrust the command to Baek Yu-seol in such circumstances… could also be considered an insult to the career and pride of the experts.

“I understand your intent. However, I cannot agree with it.”

As Haeseong Wol decisively concluded, Zeliel lowered her gaze.

A moment of silence.

Eventually, she slowly lifted her head again to meet Haeseong Wol’s eyes.

“…Tower Master.”

Eyes devoid of any emotion. Haeseong Wol, upon meeting her eyes, suddenly felt a chilling sensation.

“Speak.”

“I understand that much.”

-…Yes, of course.

Overshadowed by Baek Yu-seol, but Zeliel also possessed a mind that could be called a genius of the century.

Not only did she excel in the field of magic, but she also jumped into the business world at a young age and achieved tremendous success, proving her intellect.

“I am currently assessing and thinking about the situation more calmly than ever. If it’s for finding my father… I could even offer my soul.”

I was wrong.

Thinking that there was no emotion in Zeliel’s eyes… was entirely a misunderstanding.

She was pleading with emotion. Calm judgment? What a laughable notion.

Zeliel was currently overwhelmed with emotions, unable to make proper judgments.

Because of that, Haeseong Wol’s heart sank.

‘This child is appealing with emotion?’

It was hard to believe. Her father might not know, but Zeliel was a child devoid of emotion.

No matter how much she hid it and acted like a normal person, she couldn’t deceive the eyes of a sage.

Haeseong Wol, who had watched over her since childhood, unable to have emotions… couldn’t believe this moment at all.

What on earth changed her?

Did her father’s disappearance deliver such a huge shock to her?

No, something is different.

Something… extremely intense had been gradually stimulating her over a long period.

And it exploded recently, finally granting emotion to Zeliel, who was more machine-like than any machine.

“…Since that’s your wish, I will concede this once.”

With Zeliel, and no one else, pleading so earnestly, as a friend of Melian, he couldn’t possibly refuse her.

Thus.

A ridiculous phenomenon occurred where a student of Stella led the elite ‘Black Team’ of the magical investigation team from the Tower of the Full Moon.

Of course, the mages of the Tower of the Full Moon could have expressed dissatisfaction, but none showed any signs of it.

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It wasn’t because there was no dissatisfaction.

It was partly because they fully trusted Haeseong Wol’s judgment and also because, as mages, they knew how to restrain and hide their emotions.

‘This is quite a burden.’

Baek Yu-seol wanted this situation, but when he was actually put in charge, he felt a slight burden.

Moreover, with the 9th Class Archmage Haeseong Wol directly observing the situation, one couldn’t lightly open their mouth with just any courage.

However, Baek Yu-seol possessed the protection of Red Spring March and, even without it, was inherently shameless, so it wasn’t much of a problem.

“What do you plan to do now?”

When the mage who originally commanded the Black Team asked, Baek Yu-seol glanced over the magical heavy equipment prepared here and replied.
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“We need the alpha version of the Spirit Rate. The MPM value only needs to exceed level 3, and the sampling rate should be above 300,000.”

“Why do you need the Spirit Rate? If you plan to do magical tracing, you’d better give up.”

Baek Yu-seol’s proposal was quite novel, but there’s no way the mages of the Tower of the Full Moon wouldn’t have thought of ‘novel ideas that the general public couldn’t think of.’

They were mobilizing all possibilities, using any means necessary.

“We tried that too, but we couldn’t gain any results.”

Melian’s disappearance.

It was undoubtedly a magical phenomenon.

The investigation team of the Tower of the Full Moon focused on magic, installing all sorts of magical devices to analyze. They studied the flow of mana over the past month, what magic had been used, what attributes had been flowing, what traces existed.

The flow of mana inevitably leaves a trace, and the investigation team of the Tower of the Full Moon had the excellent technical ability to catch all of them.

But no matter how they investigated with magical tools, they couldn’t obtain any information. It was as if a mage a step higher was playing tricks.

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“I’m not going to attempt anything that senior mages have likely already tried.”

“Then?”

“Can I slightly modify the command code of the Spirit Rate?”

“…Go ahead.”

Every time Baek Yu-seol was about to do something, a question arose, but it wasn’t because they disliked him. It was a reasonable question about whether it was truly necessary for the entire valuable team to move.

“As everyone knows, all humans possess unique resonances within their souls.”

“That’s just a hypothesis. Directly measuring the soul’s resonance is nearly impossible.”

“It might be impossible for other mages. But theoretically, it’s possible with the technology of the Tower of the Full Moon.”

“…What?”

The magical tools with very special performance that existed only in the Tower of the Full Moon. However, they had not yet fully utilized their performance.

Thud! Buzz!!!

“…What’s happening?”

As Baek Yu-seol manipulated the magical tools a few times, strange sound effects buzzed loudly as the machine started operating.

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The bright blue light that came on was evidence that they had captured something properly.
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He gave the machine a final slap with his palm and said.

“From now on, we will reverse-trace the location of the vanished Spirit of Carmenset with Chairman Melian’s soul.”

* * *

Aiselle and Flame.

The two girls ventured out to find the Divine Relic of Silver Age November and succeeded in joining the expedition to the Karakorun Mountain Range led by Gerewin.

Although both were 4th Class mages, the expedition members were initially uneasy because they were too young and unproven, causing some complaints, but those subsided after a few days.

“Alright, five minutes before the chaos!”

Banging a ladle and pot, Flame shouted, and the expedition members began lining up with their trays.

Aiselle looked at the scene with an astonished expression, her mouth agape.

“Wow, in so many ways, she’s truly amazing….”

The expedition members, being veterans at their core, initially treated Flame and Aiselle as mere porters without proper communication or assignments.

However, Aiselle never complained about the situation, stepping forward to solve tasks others hesitated over, like fending off monster attacks or entering dangerous areas.

Additionally, Flame demonstrated a higher level of affinity, mending the expedition members’ clothes with her skills, repairing light equipment with a spanner, and single-handedly taking charge of their meals when it was time to eat.

It’s astonishing enough with stamina and such diligence, but it’s a mystery where she learned such skills beforehand.

Students of prestigious magic schools like Stella typically could only use magic.

“Hey, you’re good at cooking too, right?”

“Yes? Well, yes.”

Aiselle, in fact, possessed the traits of [Jack of All Trades] and [Versatile], managing these tasks exceptionally well. Of course, Flame’s cooking skills were on par with professional chefs, so it might not have stood out as much.

“Wow, these Stella kids are surprisingly useful?”

“Right. It was a good idea to bring them.”

“I still can’t believe I’m eating real food while on a mission assignment.”

The meals Aiselle assisted in and Flame cooked boasted a quality that could pass as sold in a professional restaurant.

Although many ingredients were sourced from the wild, making it slightly lacking, compared to reminiscing on watery porridge or jerky, it was a feast beyond belief.

Even after meals, Flame’s role didn’t end.

“Hey, Stella kid. I think there’s a problem with the contact circuit in my robe. The mana shield is crackling….”

“It’s a circuit connection error. Hold on. Aiselle, can you fix it? I’ve got to chisel this.”

“Okay….”

Both Aiselle and Flame studied alchemy as a minor subject. Was it thanks to observing the century’s genius alchemist Baek Yu-seol up close? Such minor tasks weren’t particularly difficult.

“Haha! Thanks! If anything happens, I’ll definitely protect you!”

“Oh, thank you.”

Being versatile and dexterous, they contributed significantly to the expedition. Moreover, thanks to their exceptional beauty that was hard to come by, the atmosphere of the expedition bloomed brightly, and their presence only grew more significant with each passing day.

Though to build such affinity, they had to be busy during rest periods when others relaxed.

“Yo, kiddos. You look good.”

“Kaila unni. Can I fix something for you?”

“No. Want to have a beer?”

“Uh, we’re still in the middle of the expedition.”

A subtle light escaped from the camp set up temporarily on the mountainside.

The camp was magically shielded so that the smell and light hardly leaked outside, reducing the risk of monsters finding them. Still, drinking recklessly was quite dangerous.

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“Then I’ll just drink alone.”

“No, please refrain during the expedition.”

As Aiselle snatched away the beer from Kaila’s hand, she smacked her lips in disappointment.

“I didn’t raise you like this…”

“When did you raise us?”

Having finished tidying up, Flame and Aiselle were preparing to go to sleep. Thanks to taking charge of miscellaneous tasks, the two girls weren’t assigned a night watch.

However, Kaila, who didn’t share the same fate, grumbled about the bother of the watch duty.

“Ah, but I’m glad it’s the early shift.”

Slumping to the ground, she looked up at the sky.

“Hey, kiddos. Do you see that constellation?”

Aiselle and Flame simultaneously looked up at the sky.

The constellation shone exceptionally brighter than in the city, filling their view. It felt like they were floating in the Sea of Starlight.

“It’s beautiful.”

“…That’s not the point.”

Noticing something, Flame furrowed her brows.

At Stella, they taught numerous skills to survive in the wild, including checking the stars to determine one’s current position, coordinates, and time.

Hence, something felt off.

“Uh…what…?”

“Did you finally notice?”
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With a bewildered expression, Aiselle covered her mouth with both hands and slowly uttered the unbelievable reality.

“The constellation in the sky… it’s rotating backward?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

With a chuckle, Kaila said.

“As we delve deeper into this mountain range… we might be walking toward the past.”

Her words sounded like a beautiful verse from poetry, but unfortunately, this moment was reality.

Aiselle and Flame couldn’t even muster a response.

End of Chapter