A Talentless Mage Devours a Disaster-Class Future - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 12

Success.

Aion had finally completed his initiation into the Celestial Movement.

Aion sat with a dazed expression after answering Flame’s question.

【Flame: So… you didn’t follow my teachings to the letter. Instead, you adapted them to suit your own pathetic body, is that it?】

“…Yes.”

Aion admitted it honestly.

“The sensations you mentioned—of hands, of other parts of the body—I’d never experienced anything like that at my level. So…”

【Flame: Well done.】

It was unexpected praise.
Had he been his usual self, Flame would have raised his voice first, scolding him for acting on his own. But now he acknowledged Aion without reservation.

【Flame: I was momentarily forgetting the gap between you and me. That was my mistake. In fact, it turned out to be a valuable lesson.】
【Earth: Kheh-kheh-kheh… Well, would you look at that. The old man actually admits when he’s wrong.】
【Flame: Quiet! Besides, look here—didn’t I say from the start that the Celestial Movement isn’t that difficult to learn?】
【Water Flow: You weren’t wrong. Though I did have my doubts.】
【Flame: Tch… At least now it’s been proven.】

It was then, as the Transcendent Points continued their boisterous exchange, that a calm voice cut through their chatter.

【Magic Path: Aion, have you checked the message from Yggdrasil?】

A message from Yggdrasil surely had to do with rewards for completing the Quest.

“Oh, yes.”

【Magic Path: As your Mana control and Celestial Movement level have risen, you’ll naturally feel the difference. Check it right away.】

Aion looked down at his own hands.

‘I just succeeded with the Celestial Movement, but… could I do it again the same way?’

Aion’s gaze fixed on the new Iron Sphere resting on the desk.

‘Now, I feel like I could lift the Iron Sphere without much trouble…’

He took a deep breath and immediately focused.

‘…!’

It was different.

Before, merely sensing the Iron Sphere’s existence with Mana had drawn cold sweat from him. Now, his will extended forth as naturally as breathing.

Click—

With a light gesture from Aion, the heavy Iron Sphere rose slowly into the air.

Thrum-hum—

“Ah…!”

He couldn’t help but marvel at it.

The weight was completely gone. A feather, an Iron Sphere—they felt exactly the same in his grip. It was extraordinary.

【Earth: Hmm. Not bad.】
【Flame: …Yes. Now you’re finally starting to look like a proper Mage.】

Aion felt a surge of confidence and tried to lift the Iron Sphere a little higher.

Thrum—

But that was the moment.

Crack-!

“…?”

With a sharp snapping sound, cracks began spreading across the Iron Sphere’s previously pristine surface.

Crunch-!

In an instant, the Iron Sphere crumpled into a mangled lump of scrap and fell onto the desk with a dull thud.

“…Blast. Again.”

Aion let out an embarrassed cough. He’d destroyed the Iron Sphere twice now—there was nothing more to say about it.

“I still can’t control my strength properly.”

【Flame: That’s to be expected.】

Flame’s voice came through calmly.

【Flame: It’s the nature of Celestial Movement. That’s simply how the magic works.】

“…Is that so?”

【Flame: The less skilled you are with Celestial Movement, the harder it is to control your output—especially when it comes to destruction.】

Flame continued his explanation.

【Flame: As you grow deeper in understanding, you learn the way of gentleness. That’s the nature of this magic.】

“So being inexperienced just means I break everything.”

【Flame: No. Don’t think of it that way.】

Amusement threaded through Flame’s voice.

【Flame: It means you can see further now. Either way, you’ve gained one legitimate magic that most others can’t even begin to imitate, haven’t you?】

Legitimate magic. Not merely moving objects, but exerting physical force itself.

Aion stared down at the crumpled Iron Sphere and clenched his fist.

A weighty pulse thrummed in a corner of his chest.

‘…my magic.’

It had seemed impossible.
To become a Mage without the overwhelming talent that distinguished others from birth, without the rigorous education that had shaped them since childhood—to start so late and still succeed.

Yet he had done precisely that, carving out a realm entirely his own that no one else could even imitate.

***

Aion returned to the Dormitory and made straight for the Terrace.
Though the night air was bitter cold, it was no match for the heat burning in his chest.

Aion leaned against the railing and reached his hand toward the starlit sky.

His Mana was nearly depleted, but to hold onto that sensation, he kept clenching and unclenching his fists at the empty air.

‘My magic… magic that’s mine alone.’

The more he dwelled on those words, the more his heart tingled with joy. Flame’s Transcendent Point, watching him, let out a soft chuckle.

【Flame: You’re that pleased with yourself?】

“…”

【Flame: You’re going to split your face grinning, you fool.】

Aion made no attempt to hide his expression.

“You know as well as I do how badly I wanted to become a Mage.”

【Flame: Hah… There’s still a long way to go, you brat. All you’ve done is dent a single Iron Sphere.】

“Still, one day I will. Like the real Mages.”

Aion gazed up at the stars and added quietly,

“…All thanks to you.”

【Flame: What are you on about?】

When he thought about it, it had been nothing but strangeness from the very beginning.

Souls swallowed up without warning, the system of Yggdrasil unfurled out of nowhere.
Everything had begun without preparation, thrust upon him like a sudden blow.

And yet, somehow…

he had made it here.

“…It was all because of you.”

【Flame: Don’t get confused. I am your future self. My kindness wasn’t given for your sake alone.】

“I know. You’re probably right. …But I’ve never once thought of myself as your past.”

【Flame: …What?】

Flame’s Transcendent Point found itself uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

“It doesn’t matter if you think of me as your past. But I… I received kindness. That’s all there is to it.”

【Flame: ……You speak well too. Intelligence goes up and suddenly eloquence follows?】

A brief silence settled between them. The night wind tousled Aion’s hair as it passed.

Whoosh―

【Flame: …I used to imagine things like that sometimes.】

Flame spoke with a flat, measured tone.

“What kind of things?”

【Flame: Meeting my past self, say, and all the things I’d want to tell him… that sort of thing. The kind of daydream people tend to have when their real lives disappoint them.】

A deep regret lay buried in Flame’s voice.

【Flame: I dismissed it as worthless fantasy, but there’s no helping what it means to be human, is there.】

Aion tightened his grip on the railing.

“So, now that you’ve come back to the past, why not say what you want to say?”

【Flame: All right.】

Flame fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a voice very low and heavy.

【Flame: Aion, you’re going to become a truly fine Mage.】

“…….”

【Flame: That’s what I wish someone had told me when I was younger.】

It was far more than simple encouragement.
The aged Mage who had met his end without stopping ruin—words he’d longed to hear from someone his entire life.
Aion accepted them without reservation.

“I don’t know quite how to say it….”

A conversation with his future self, landing so differently than before.

“Something feels strange today.”

A conviction, an affirmation he’d never heard in all his life—it felt awkward, and so Aion steered the subject away.

“Elder, not that—but is there anything you regret? Something that might still happen to me?”

【Flame: Regret something?】

“I mean, if I knew what was coming ahead of time… couldn’t I prevent it?”

Flame let out a bitter laugh at Aion’s question.

【Flame: Heh… Life’s like that—even when someone tells you the right answer, you’re never guaranteed to choose it.】

“…I see.”

【Flame: Regrets? I have plenty. This might be rather dark talk, but do you really want to hear it?】

“My whole story got laid bare, so I’d like to hear about you too, if I can?”

【Flame: …I suppose that’s true.】

Flame fell silent for a moment, as if lost in thought, before asking something absurd.

【Flame: Tell me, boy—what do you think I look like?】

“Since you’re an Aion like me, I’d assume you look just like I do.”

【Flame: Wrong.】

“…Wrong?”

Flame spoke flatly, without hesitation.

【Flame: You and I are different.】

“……?”

【Flame: My face bears a massive burn scar. Not just my face—my entire left arm is covered in scars. One of my eyes is blind, and the shriveled, twisted skin is grotesque enough to turn stomachs.】

Aion found himself at a loss for words.

The old man known as Flame’s Transcendent Point, always so confident and cantankerous, disfigured beyond recognition….

【Flame: I was caught in a major fire once.】

“Then those scars—you must have suffered them in that fire.”

【Flame: Yes. It was such a massive fire that merely surviving was a stroke of incredible fortune.】

“Do you regret it? Being caught in that fire and suffering such terrible burns?”

【Flame: No. This is the path I’ve walked. I came to terms with this unsightly appearance as part of myself long ago.】

Flame’s voice grew quieter.

【Flame: What I regret… are the others I couldn’t save that day.】

“…….”

【Flame: I was weak back then. That version of me was powerless—a Mage who couldn’t cast a single spell worth anything.】

His words trailed off.

Acrid smoke, blazing flames, and screams—Flame seemed to be calling those very things to mind.

【Flame: When the fire started, I ran through the suffocating haze, clinging to consciousness as it blurred away. And then I heard it.】

“…Heard what?”

【Flame: Someone… was screaming. Pleading for help. Begging to be saved.】

Aion swallowed hard.

【Flame: There was a massive door, blocked by debris, sealed tight from within. From beyond it came a voice—distinctly, unmistakably. But I…】

“…Old man.”

【Flame: I pretended not to hear. I ran. I told myself that someone else would save them—someone stronger than a coward like me. Someone truly heroic.】

Flame’s Transcendent Point seemed to recall that moment even now, his voice wavering with an unease he couldn’t quite name.

Even though it had been so long ago.

“What happened to them?”

Aion asked carefully. Flame fell silent for a moment, then answered in a flat voice.

【Flame: The hero… was simply too late for them.】

……

A heavy silence settled over the Terrace. Earth’s Transcendent Point, Magic Path, Thunder—all of them heard it, yet none of them spoke.

When the mood grew too suffocating, Flame barked out loudly as if to dispel it.

【Flame: Hey! You fool, didn’t I tell you not to bring up gloomy topics like this? Don’t go stirring things up!】

“…I didn’t know it would be so dark.”

【Flame: Enough! Get inside and go to sleep!】

Aion soon felt a little relieved.

A Transcendent Point was the self of the future. There had been days when he was confused about how to treat them.

Perhaps these too were simply weak Mages in their own right.

That’s what he thought.

***

A face he longed for wavered before Aion’s eyes.

— Aion. Please, I beg you to see to the rest.

Don’t go.
You….

…Crash!

Consciousness that had sunk beneath deep sleep was forcibly dragged upward by a faint sense of unease.

“Cough….”

Aion jolted awake in his bed with a start.

“Hah… just a dream.”

It had all been a dream.
Aion, hollow with disappointment, closed his eyes again and tried to sleep.

But it was hot.

Even after he kicked off the blanket, the heat didn’t subside. His breathing felt oddly labored.
Had the air grown stale from keeping the window closed while he slept?

“……Cough.”

A dry cough tore from his throat.
His throat felt raw and scratchy, and something acrid and murky seemed to seep into his lungs.

Aion’s senses picked up the disturbance, and he snapped his eyes open at once.

Still caught between sleep and wakefulness, Aion sniffed the air.

‘…burning smell?’

Was he imagining it?
But the scent was far too strong for that.

It was more than just the smell of something burnt.
This was the stench of something… a massive conflagration.

Suddenly—

Boom.

A tremor traveled faintly through the bed springs.

Outside the window, night still reigned.

A pitch-black landscape.

‘Wait…?’

Warning lights flared in his mind.
This heat, this smell, the vibration—his instincts were screaming danger so keenly it sent chills down his spine.

That’s when it happened. The Transcendent Points shrieked inside his head.

【Water Flow : This—!! Wake up! Now!】
【Life : It’s dangerous!! Get out of here, hurry!】

His skull felt as though it would split from the force of the screaming.

“…Dammit!”

Smoke billowed through the crack beneath the door.

Smoke seeped in through the gap under the door.

In an instant, flames erupted from all around outside the window.

The world beyond the glass was no longer pitch-black. It blazed crimson.

Whoosh!

A rush of searing red firelight flooded the room, illuminating it like the light of day—or rather, like the depths of hell.

“What—”

【Water Flow : Damn you! Why didn’t you tell us!?】

The fury of the Transcendent Points.

The urgent atmosphere, so different from any day before, sent a chill down Aion’s spine.

What… what in the world….

“……Old sage? What is this about….”

Then Flame answered, his voice terrifyingly cold.

【Flame: …Do you remember what I asked Magic Path here before?】

The question Flame’s Transcendent Point had posed to Magic Path’s Transcendent Point.

— Should I tell this wretch about the things I’ve experienced? The information I know…?

He had asked Magic Path that very question. A dilemma about whether revealing future events was truly right.

“Surely not….”

It was something we’d discussed just before sleep, after all.

That was the name of this very dormitory building where Aion now stayed.

Whoooosh…!

Amid the chaos of screams and explosions, a red system window materialized before Aion’s eyes.

Even in this horrific moment, Yggdrasil’s notification made its presence known without hesitation.

Ding-!

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[!] You stand at a crossroads of fate.
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The Talentless Mage Swallows a Catastrophic Future — Episode 12

Author
Wang Moji
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yeon
Cover
Dali

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260706063.0012

ⓒ2026, Wang Moji

※ This e-book is protected by the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or entirety of this work may be reprocessed in any form without the permission of the author and publisher.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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