Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

Training Addict Magician in a Growth-Focused Story

EP.25 The Lair of the Ancient Magician (2)

When Leon had first resolved to split from the group, his came up with a plan.

He would use the wooden sword to irritate the scorpions and draw their attention, then escape. Once he was far enough away from the group, he would use his magic to confront them. He had witnessed firsthand that the magic of Apprentice-level magicians was ineffective, but Leon had magic that could surpass that level.

The fact that it consumed a great deal of mana wasn’t a significant issue when considering the space-time orb he possessed. If, after giving it his all, the magic still didn’t work, he would use the emergency designated teleportation.

That was the essence of Leon’s plan.

The lair of an ancient magician?

When he first heard of it, it was merely unfamiliar to him. He thought it would just be a nuisance that would interfere with his training. However, once inside, he became intrigued by the capabilities of the magician who could construct such a vast lair.

‘I expected power inflation, but… could a single magician really create this enormous cave?’

It was natural for him to be curious about the secrets hidden within the lair, separate from his wariness.

Leon clutched the teleportation scroll tightly in his chest. After entering the left passageway and completely losing sight of the others, he immediately used levitation magic.

The scorpions that had followed him closely waved their tails threateningly, but they were out of reach. The passageway seemed endless.

Without sparing his mana on levitation magic, Leon widened the gap between himself and the scorpions and pulled out a green flute from his subspace.

As Leon played the flute, a white golem with green stripes was summoned in front of him. It was about 3.5 meters tall. It wasn’t particularly large, but Leon climbed onto the golem’s shoulder and sat down.

Then, he used basic telekinesis to float the wooden sword in the air.

Leon didn’t intend to use the golem directly in combat. The golem was of D+ rank, only comparable to a beginner Arcane-level magician. It couldn’t possibly handle dozens of giant scorpions that were impervious to the magic of Apprentice magicians.

‘But it’s perfect as a means of transportation.’

Since he couldn’t use levitation magic, basic telekinesis, and the ‘Moonlight Scattering Sword’ simultaneously, this was the best choice. The golem began to run to distance itself from the scorpions. Although it was slower than levitation magic, its large strides were not significantly different from the scorpions’ pace.

‘The duration is one hour.’

Leon moved to the back of the golem and used a memorized spell.

“Pierce.”

He infused a moderate amount of mana and launched the spell to test its effectiveness. He needed to find the minimum amount of mana required to penetrate the scorpions. The wooden sword surged forward and struck the head of the leading scorpion.

Thud-

With a dull sound, the wooden sword bounced off.

‘I can’t penetrate it with this amount of mana…’

“Hm?”

The giant scorpion collapsed to the ground. Although the wooden sword hadn’t even scratched its hard exoskeleton, the scorpion trembled and then fell over as if its engine had shut off.

‘Could it be that the magic of the Apprentice magicians had an effect after all?’

Being the lead scorpion, it must have taken the brunt of the Apprentice magicians’ spells. Even with its hard armor, it might not have been entirely unscathed.

Leon retrieved the wooden sword and began chanting again.

“Power imbued with will, pierce. Pierce.”

This time, he infused a slightly weaker amount of mana.

Thud-

The result was the same. Despite the wooden sword bouncing off even more feebly than before, the scorpion struck by the sword ceased its movements.

“…What is this?”

Leon controlled the wooden sword purely with basic telekinesis and touched the scorpion.

Tap- As soon as it made contact, the scorpion’s movements stopped.

With growing certainty, Leon touched the heads of the dozens of scorpions one by one with the wooden sword.

Tap- Thud- Tap- Thud- Tap- Thud-

“Hmmm…”

An inexplicable sense of futility washed over him. The golem Leon had summoned had already stopped moving. In front of Leon lay dozens of scorpions, all collapsed on the ground with their bellies up. The red eyes of the scorpions had long since turned dull and lifeless.

Leon cautiously approached the nearest scorpion. The giant scorpion lay with its eyes extinguished. Leon circled around it, inspecting its body meticulously.

Up close, he realized something.

“It’s not a real scorpion…”

The ivory carapace was more like intricately crafted armor. Were they artificially created like golems? If these scorpions, with their artificial mana flow, were disrupted by the magical sword, it made sense that they would cease functioning.

Leon glanced at the green-striped golem he had summoned. Then, he slowly raised the wooden sword and lowered it again.

It seemed like it would actually break.

It would be akin to just discarding a D+ rank artifact on the ground.

‘Come to think of it, golems have cores.’

Unlike a magician’s core, this was a magitech core, an artificially created physical object. Naturally, intricately crafted magitech cores were incredibly expensive.

‘And if it’s a golem made by an ancient magician…’

Of course, Leon wasn’t paying attention to it for that reason. He was curious about the magitech ‘technology’ itself created by the ancient magician.

‘Not immediately, but couldn’t I use it someday?’

Having a sentry golem standing guard during training would be incredibly reassuring. Leon climbed onto the scorpion’s back to search for the core. He examined the joints between the carapace but couldn’t find anything resembling a core.

‘I’ll have to flip it over and check its belly or cut it open.’

The problem was how to flip this giant scorpion… Basic telekinesis couldn’t handle the weight. Leon used earth magic to raise earthen walls around the scorpion.

“Swell.”

At Leon’s command, the wooden sword instantly enlarged. He infused as much mana as possible to extend the wooden sword. Using the raised earthen walls as a fulcrum, he used the enlarged wooden sword as a lever to flip the scorpion over.

“Oh…”

In the middle of its abdomen, there was a round, red core embedded. However, the core was flickering as if it were about to go out. He thought it might be dangerous to touch it recklessly.

Leon backed up and used the wooden sword to poke around the core. The area where the core was embedded seemed relatively weak, as the wooden sword pressed in easily.

Additionally, he confirmed that the core did not lose its light even when touched by the wooden sword.

‘It seems the magic sword doesn’t absorb the golem’s core.’

After confirming this, Leon used the wooden sword to pry out the core.

Crackle-

The core fell to the ground, flickering a few more times before losing its light completely. Leon used basic telekinesis to bring the core in front of him. The sphere, about the size of an adult’s outstretched palm, had intricate engravings on its surface. The engravings were far more elaborate and complex than those on the green flute.

‘Even if I examine it now, I won’t understand it immediately.’

Leon considered collecting all the cores from the scorpion golems but realized it would take too much time.

‘Should I put them in the orb and have Kito handle it?’

However, he quickly dismissed that idea. Although the golems had stopped functioning, he couldn’t predict what might happen if he placed them inside the orb. He would have to extract each core manually and then collect the remaining parts.

Considering that the remnants of the scorpion golems could be used as materials later, it was a necessary task.

‘But moving all of them one by one will take even more time.’

At that moment, Leon heard a sound.

Sssrrk- Sssrrk-

Dozens of scorpions were approaching from the opposite side of the passage he had entered.

“Sigh…”

Although he shouldn’t have, Leon felt a slight sense of annoyance. He had to touch each scorpion’s head with the wooden sword, extract the core from the deactivated scorpions, and then move the remnants into the orb. It was no different from monotonous repetitive labor.

*****

At that moment.

“They’re not following us anymore!”

“Let’s stop!”

The apprentice magicians who had headed down the right passage realized that they couldn’t see the end of the tunnel and decided to stop for a break.

“Huff…”

“Haah…”

Once the tension eased, they collapsed on the spot, gasping for breath, having run with all their might. The man with the loudest voice among them, Mavel, forcibly calmed his breathing and spoke.

“Rowen, have you heard anything from Merlin?”

His tone had returned to being polite. Rowen, who had been standing blankly, clutched her necklace.

“…I sent the signal, so he should be on his way.”

Mavel, looking at her vacant expression, thought of the boy who had disappeared, drawing the attention of dozens of scorpions with just a wooden sword. Although they had hesitated in the sudden situation, the magicians would have ultimately fled, leaving the ordinary disciples behind. Their slow judgment was only because they were inexperienced apprentice magicians; it was the predetermined course of action. Even if they had made that decision, they couldn’t guarantee safety afterward.

In that critical moment, it was the boy who had stepped forward. A boy with black hair and a calm face that was impressive despite his young age.

Mavel asked cautiously, “Were you well acquainted with that boy?”

Rowen shook her head. “Not really.”

“Then why are you so distressed…?”

Rowen glared at Mavel with sharp eyes. “Are you saying we shouldn’t worry about someone who went into danger for our sake?”

Mavel was not without a sense of shame.

Mavel also felt gratitude towards him.

However, he was curious as to why Rowen, of all people, would say such things. Rowen was quite a well-known name in the magical city of Widia. Her surname alone was Mardelia, a family that had produced countless outstanding magicians. It was also a family known for its strong sense of magical superiority.

“He’s a commoner… isn’t he?”

“Hey!”

“I don’t think that’s a good thing to say…”

A young boy with blue hair, Felix, interjected, fidgeting with his fingers as he spoke.

“The courage to sacrifice oneself for others… isn’t something easily found… not in any magician…”

“I misspoke.”

Mavel admitted readily. It was indeed not easy to muster such courage. The fact that it was a commoner, whom they had subtly looked down upon, made the gap seem even wider.

“If I… if I survive and return, I will propose that we reveal the full story and find a way to commemorate him.”

“I will assist. Erecting a memorial day or a statue to ensure his death has meaning…”

“I’ll speak to my master and ask for cooperation!”

“Me too.”

“We must ensure his name is remembered…”

Perhaps thinking their chances of survival had increased, voices began to emerge from all around.

“His name is Leon.”

Rowen spoke firmly, and Mavel gave a wry smile.

“We were talking about commemorating him without even knowing his name.”

Rowen spoke again.

“And it’s too early to assume he’s dead.”

“Do you think he can survive until the entire ruin exploration is completed?”

“He will survive.”

Rowen knew she had no answer if asked how. She clenched her fist tightly in secret.

‘If only I were a bit stronger…’

At that moment, a chilling sound began to emanate from the opposite side of the passage they had entered.

Sssrrk- Sssrrk-

None among them were unaware of the source of that sound.

“Scorpions!”

“Damn, they’re on the other side too…”

As they found themselves once again plunged into the depths of danger, having barely escaped the previous peril, everyone fell into confusion. They gathered their strength and hastily prepared for battle.

At that moment, small sparks began to fall like rain from the ceiling of the cave.

Mavel’s face lit up.

“It’s Merlin!”

Each spark carried a force that seemed capable of melting anything it touched. The intensity of the fiery rain grew fiercer, like a torrential downpour, turning the area where the scorpions were gathering into a sea of fire. Waves surged and a typhoon raged within the inferno. Then, suddenly, the sea of fire vanished without a trace. The scorpions within it were gone as well.

“Rowen!”

A man descended rapidly from the sky, scrutinizing Rowen’s appearance before speaking in a gruff tone that contrasted with his concerned demeanor.

“Are you hurt?”

“…No.”

“Good. I don’t know how you ended up in the lair, but it’s fortunate that it’s only the first floor…”

The man, who had briefly shown a mix of relief on his face, cleared his throat and returned to his stern expression.

“Let’s get out of here quickly.”