Heger.
He was a member of the Conventional Mage Society and at the same time, a skilled mage.
To him, the Conventional Mage Society was an organization absolutely essential to mage society.
I was well aware of the recent complaints coming from younger mages.
Naturally, he also recognized the problems within the Conventional Mage Society.
In fact, he knew them better than anyone.
Because he had been taking advantage of those very flaws to survive.
However, Heger didn’t think that was wrong.
You lot don’t understand. You have no idea how our Conventionals have protected mages all these years.
In the days when magic was seen as heresy, and mages were feared for wielding miraculous powers—
How many mages had suffered during that time, victims of ignorance?
Even his own master, now long gone from this world, had been driven out for delving into things born of that ignorance and, in the end, had taken his own life, hanging from a rope.
Leaving behind only a single letter for Heger, his one and only apprentice.
At the very least, you people speak this way because you don’t know what it was like back then!
Naturally, obsessive convictions filled his mind. And in that sense, the Laness Tower was nothing short of an eyesore.
An irregular who had emerged just when the Conventional Mage Society was reigning supreme in the mage society.
Because of her, how many mages barely kept under control had been shaken?
Even Heger acknowledged Laness’s abilities.
But there’s a reason why an irregular is called an irregular.
Because they are not ordinary.
Normal people can’t be that exceptional. And even if they are, as the saying goes, the nail that stands out gets hammered down.
The reason Laness had survived wasn’t just because of her skill. It was also thanks to her bloodline.
In the Empire, the blood of the imperial family was considered utterly sacred and untouchable.
No one could stop her from running the show.
That much, I can admit. There’s always someone better…no point denying it.
However, Jun who was the newly rising leader of the White Whale Mercenary Corps was different.
He was from outside the Towers.
A man who had descended into Blackout without learning a single proper spell, scraping by as nothing more than a lowly mercenary.
And yet, he dared to criticize the mage society that they had preserved.
“Is there no one?”
Unforgivable.
He wanted to put that insolent mage in his place. The one standing on the podium, spouting such nonsense while clearly meeting his gaze.
“I’ll see for myself just how great your confidence really is.”
And so, Heger rose to his feet to speak on behalf of the Conventional Mage Society.
Completely unaware of the subtle smirk that crept across the cocky young mage’s lips.
***
A formal magic duel.
Such a thing had no place during a thesis presentation.
Naturally, this was an unprecedented situation for the conservative mages, and they couldn’t help but view it with disapproval.
Even Heger was not free from that disapproval.
Because the general consensus was that this had only happened due to Heger’s failure to outmatch the arrogant mercenary mage through logic alone.
He hadn’t seen that far ahead and now he found himself glaring at the young mage standing across from him.
“You know the rules, I assume?”
“Of course.”
“Hmph. Then I’ll go first.”
He had no intention of yielding the first move to the young mage.
Although he looked down on Jun’s magical skill, he was fully aware that Jun was a combat-specialized mage.
Heger began chanting his spell.
As he watched, Jun leisurely observed the unfolding magic.
Indeed, classical magic has a very solid foundation.
It was like listening to classical music. It was refined and polished over many years.
A massive, seamless spell with no gaps.
And Heger, having stepped forward with such confidence, was certainly no mage whose abilities could be dismissed.
Before long, a giant, electrified gear was summoned before him, crackling with intense lightning.
“I’ll see whether your arrogant words match your skills!”
[Lightning Circle Rotate]
“You cast it quite smoothly in a space with this level of mana density!”
“The situation may be lacking in decorum, but well done, Mage Heger.”
Several mages couldn’t help but express admiration for Heger’s magic.
Indeed…. precise.
Jun’s magic was no less precise, but his opponent had achieved a higher level of functionality by incorporating far more magical formulas.
On top of that, the intensity of the lightning attribute infused in the mana made it clear that wresting control of the flow wouldn’t be easy.
Well, of course. That’s what you’d expect from a conventional mage.
Jun immediately cast a spell in response.
But the spell he used…
[Shield]
It was nothing more than a basic [Shield]. A spell even a third-circle mage could cast.
Heger’s expression twisted with disbelief.
The spell he had just unleashed was an exceptionally difficult one, even among fifth-circle magic.
And Heger himself was a skilled sixth-circle mage.
What in the world is he thinking?!
Was he seriously planning to use the excuse that it couldn’t be blocked because it was low-circle magic?
Surely not.
After all, this opponent was someone Laness had personally brought with him.
And just as Heger feared, Jun’s [Shield] wasn’t destroyed.
Bzzzzzzzt!
“Wh-What?”
“What just happened…?”
Heger’s lightning didn’t even leave a scratch on the [Shield] that stood in front of Jun. It simply vanished into nothing.
But Heger’s magic wasn’t over yet.
The strength of [Lightning Circle Rotate] lay in its successive strikes, not just a single blow.
Bzzzzzzzt!! Bzzzzzzzzzzzt!!
In a matter of moments, three or four lightning strikes fired off, hammering the [Shield] each time.
“No way… A defensive spell that strong?”
“And it’s not just any spell—it’s [Shield], [Shield]! That’s a basic third-circle spell!”
“How… How is that even possible?”
“You bastard! You’re using forbidden magic! You used forbidden magic!”
Voices erupted from all directions in a cacophony of reactions.
Some even started shouting accusations of forbidden magic, practically jumping up and down, but Jun couldn’t begin to understand their response.
They seriously can’t even recognize the spell I just cast?
It wasn’t as if the spell had flashed by in an instant. It had been maintained for a long time now, and they still couldn’t see the pattern?
But that was only because Jun’s standards were simply too high.
Every mage he had encountered so far had been of an exceptional level.
Even Velles whom Jun had met only relatively recently had recognized the structure of Jun’s magic at a glance.
Yet in this hall, there were almost none who could discern what Jun had cast.
Sure, I’ve reached the sixth circle and my spells have become more refined… but this is just too much.
Of course, it wasn’t because they were stupid.
These weren’t some random nobodies. They were scholars who studied magic.
Given time, they would be able to understand.
They simply didn’t have the skill to immediately identify and analyze a spell in the heat of the moment.
But again, this was only because Jun’s standards were incredibly high.
Take defensive magic, for example.
While its purpose was to block attacks, creating an all-purpose shield was by no means easy.
In fact, using an opposing elemental attribute to weaken an incoming spell was far easier and more efficient.
There was a reason the variety of defensive spells decreased at higher circles.
The higher the circle, the exponentially more destructive the magic became and trying to block such spells with brute force alone consumed a tremendous amount of mana.
“What… What kind of spell did you just cast…?”
But Heger, the one directly facing it, was different.
He was a sixth-circle mage and a high-ranking member of the Conventional Mage Society.
More than that, his role within the organization was that of a hound. One who tracked and countered mages outside the Conventional ranks using logic and magical theory, which meant his analytical abilities were above average.
And that was precisely why he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
How could something like [Shield] contain such dense mana…?
Third-circle magic was something beginners learned when they first started to truly handle magic.
Compared to higher-circle spells, the patterns were laughably simple.
Naturally, that meant it shouldn’t be capable of holding such overwhelming mana.
Forbidden magic…? No, that’s not it.
After all, he was a skilled mage himself.
Even if he was someone stuck in the past, he hadn’t wasted his years of magical study.
He immediately began breaking down Jun’s [Shield], analyzing it piece by piece.
When was the last time he had to push his brain this hard?
It felt like the first time since the day he lost his former master and swore never to follow the same path.
The pattern… it’s not simple at all…!
It wasn’t just a matter of being complex.
It was astonishingly complex…and, just as astonishingly, easy.
At this level, Heger himself could likely reproduce it if asked to on the spot.
Wasn’t it strange?
Complex, yet easy.
Two words that should never be used together, and yet that contradiction had come together to form that spell.
Then, could he actually replicate it himself?
No… impossible…
He could imitate the pattern itself.
But to compress and release mana of that density in an instant, in such a short span of time…that was impossible.
At the very least, he’d need to supplement it with magic from another school.
This guy… he didn’t create that spell to be practical! He made it tailored to himself!
Only then did he understand the true nature of Jun’s magic.
It was like a massive shockwave.
Good grief.
Tailoring magic to fit oneself, instead of fitting oneself into existing magic?
Sure, it was possible in theory.
But no mage would ever devote that much effort to something as lowly as a third-circle spell.
It’s not that they couldn’t. They simply deemed it unnecessary and turned away without a second thought.
This guy’s an irregular too!
It reminded him of when Laness first burst onto the mage society.
Back then, didn’t Laness also appear wielding one self-taught magical theory after another?
At first, everyone pointed fingers at her, calling her a heretic. But when it was later revealed that she bore the bloodline of the imperial family, all those voices quickly fell silent.
They couldn’t openly oppose her, so instead, they chose to simply ignore her.
At the time, that was the best they could do. And how much mental strain did those young mages have to endure as they witnessed her dangerously radical magical theories?
Back then, the Conventional Mage Society had to pour immense effort into persuading and helping those young mages understand.
Even then, they managed to justify it by blaming it on the royal family’s unique bloodline.
That one… he’s going to become an uncontrollable monster!
A chill ran down his spine.
Already, he could see not just admiration but a fair amount of envy flickering in the eyes of some talented young mages in the audience.
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