A Talentless Mage Devours a Disaster-Class Future - Chapter 51

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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 51

“Death draws near.”

The words hung in the cottage air for a long moment. Aion gazed down at the Tarot Card in the elf mage’s hands.

A raven perched upon a gravestone.

No matter how he looked at it, the omen was unmistakably dark.

“…Is that all?”
“Yeah.”
“Death drawing near—that’s your entire reading?”
“What else do you need?”

The elf mage moved to tuck the card back into the deck. Aion didn’t stop her hand, but neither did he look away.

“Might you be more specific?”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t believe in this?”
“You said it was genuine.”
“It is genuine. I told you it was.”

Aion’s brow furrowed as he spoke.

“If we end here, I’m afraid that will prove rather… insufficient.”

Insufficient was precisely the problem.
Announce death and then what?

“Divination is always like this. It doesn’t show you everything.”
“Even so, divination has never been quite so irresponsible as this.”
“…Sharp little thing, aren’t you?”

The elf mage muttered something under her breath and began shuffling the deck anew.

“The first card I drew—that’s the color of your fate.”
“So the raven on the gravestone is death itself, then?”
“…How many times have you nearly died in your life so far?”

Aion fell silent at her question, letting memories surface from the depths of his past.

‘Perhaps…’

The elf mage drew her conclusion with striking ease.

“See? You can’t answer right away, can you? Would a human your age ordinarily struggle this long with such a question?”
“Hmm…”

He could not deny it.
He had danced on the knife’s edge between life and death more times than he could count on both hands. There seemed little point in voicing it aloud—it wouldn’t change what was.

“Your life is studded with death.”
“Mmm.”
“A state intimately acquainted with death. You rise from the grave and lay down to sleep in the grave.”
“Yes.”
“A walking corpse. A fate so wretched that if a zombie or ghoul mistook you for one of their own and linked arms with you, they’d have no grounds for complaint.”
“…Perhaps we might set aside the death talk and move forward?”
“Nearly a wretch… ah, forgive me.”

The elf mage apologized without so much as a hint of regret, shuffling the Tarot Cards once more.

Whisper-whisper-

The cards fluttered and mixed themselves.

“The second card you draw will show you what force stains your fate in such colors.”
“A being that brings death upon me… I see.”
“Precisely. Shall we see?”

As she crossed her index and middle fingers, a card drew itself from the deck and settled perfectly between them.

The card’s design depicted—

“A rose and thorns. Interesting.”
“What does it mean?”

A blood-red rose in brilliant bloom, wound about by sharp thorns that clung savagely to the stem.

“Hmm… hmm…”
“…?”

The elf mage’s brow knitted into a frown, and she spoke words that caught him off guard.

“The Tribulation of Women.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“They say heroes are always lustful by nature, but you don’t strike me as the heroic type, if I’m being honest.”

He’d never thought of himself as a hero, but hearing such a thing spoken to his face left a sour taste.

“You mean I’ll be troubled by women?”
“The rose is beautiful, but its thorns cut deep into flesh. The women who entangle themselves around you are like that—they are magnets that summon calamity, or beings that will lead you to your own death. Is there, by chance, a pretty and captivating woman in your company?”

A pretty and captivating woman.
Aion’s brow tightened as he reckoned through the women who had crossed his mind.

‘…’

There were too many.

Layla, Aria, and Seria. And if he broadened the scope, Dorothy could be called beautiful as well.

“The fact that you can’t answer at once suggests this matter troubles you too.”
“Then I should distance myself from them?”
“Who knows? That depends on the last card you’ll draw.”

The air in the cabin turned chill in an instant.

Until now, he had dismissed divination as mere superstition, yet these words spilling from the elf mage’s lips captivated him in an uncanny way.

【Hwayeom: I confess, now I’m curious about that final card myself.】
【Daeji: Believing in such nonsense is foolish.】
【Saengmyeong: Oh? And yet haven’t you been listening intently since we arrived?】
【Daeji: Quiet! We’re getting to the interesting part now!】

Even the Extreme Points held their breath in unison. As Aion fell silent, the elf mage moved her hand for the last time.

“Now, the final card. Tell me—is there a way for you to escape such a fate? This last card reveals the means to stand against destiny.”

Whoosh—

The final Tarot Card held in her hand.

“…This is interesting.”

Snap.

As the elf mage flipped the card, its symbol came into view.

A starving beast with its maw yawning open, a jester in motley garb grinning widely as he thrust his own hand inside—a grotesque pattern.

“The Beast and the Fool.”

Aion stared at the card and swallowed a hollow laugh.

“It looks dangerous….”
“Only the brave forge their own fate. You must walk into the storm to escape the storm.”
“Then….”
“You’ll suffer through tribulation, but you can only endure it. If they kill you….”

Her gaze grew cold.

“Then I’ll bring you back.”

Aion pressed his lips shut at her words, then spoke quietly.

“…It’s not a favorable divination. But may I ask one thing?”
“Enough about the divination.”
“What is your name, mage?”
……

The elf mage hesitated for a moment, then looked up at the ceiling with a grave expression, her chin resting on her palm. She glanced sideways at the clock on the wall, then brushed away dust on the table with her hand for no particular reason.

Finally, she tilted her head and asked.

“Didn’t I tell you my name?”
“No.”
“…Why didn’t you ask?”

***

Nova.

She told Aion to call her Nova. Whether it was her true name or an alias was unclear, though the latter seemed more likely.

Leaving Nova’s cottage, Aion set his course directly for the outer reaches of Mistsveil Forest. The sun was already sinking low, but that mattered little to him.

There was no need to reserve a training chamber in Arcane Hall—the entire forest before him served as an excellent training ground.

“Hah….”

As night mist began to settle over the forest, Aion continued his training. Even so, his mind churned with the earlier conversation.

【Hwayeom: An elf mage named Nova, you say… That’s likely a pseudonym. Never heard of her before.】
【Daeji: It’d be strange for a mage of that caliber to just reveal their true name. She might be one of the retired archmages.】

The conversation soon turned to Aion’s divination.

【Hwayeom: Enjoy the tribulation? That suits his temperament just fine.】
【Daeji: Don’t waste your energy on that superstition. Honestly, why bring up such pointless things?】
【Hwayeom: Well, enjoying the Tribulation of Women isn’t exactly demanding advice to follow. It’s not bad, is it?】
【Saengmyeong: Has Hwayeom ever formed a bond with a woman?】
【Hwayeom: ……Do I really have to answer that?】

Aion paid little attention to the banter among the Extreme Points and drew his mana upward.

Shhhhhh…

At once, the noisy voices faded. In their place, a graver tone—weightier than usual—pressed into Aion’s awareness.

【Suryu: That’s enough chatter.】

It was Suryu’s Extreme Point form—the one who had taken on Aion’s instruction for the time being.

As a blue sphere began to coalesce in Aion’s palm, Suryu’s stern correction followed.

Whoooosh…

【Suryu: Balista. A truly elegant spell concept—compressing a water bullet and firing it through Heavenly Conduct. But tell me, is Drop’s potential truly limited to just that?】

The Extreme form—Drop.
A spell that compressed vast torrents of water into droplets.

The curious thing was that Aion couldn’t yet manifest even basic water magic on his own.

The fleeting moment of conjuring the water itself was merely a preparatory step for Drop.

【Suryu: Right now, your method is far too crude. You must raise the compression ratio while halving your mana expenditure.】

“If only it were that simple. My skills don’t improve quite so readily.”

【Suryu: What, now? A mage already whining? Proficiency is fundamentally about growing accustomed. There’s no path but relentless repetition.】

“How did you use Drop?”

【Suryu: What do you take me for? You think I’m about to hand you the answer? How to apply it in real combat—you’ll have to discover that through direct struggle yourself.】

In the end, it all came down to Aion.
The training, the accomplishments that followed—all of it.

Suryu’s voice rang out with finality.

【Suryu: I’m shaping you into a true mage, not some mindless tool that only follows orders. Think for yourself.】

Grrrgh…

Aion gritted his teeth.

True to Suryu’s words, the Extreme Points were no tutors who would simply hand him the solution. Once more, Aion twisted Drop’s form, compressed it, ground it down. Again and again.

When his mana depleted, he returned to Grounding.

This cycle repeated countless times. Then, abruptly, a strange sensation swept through his entire body.

“……?”

Grounding’s efficiency—abnormally heightened compared to usual.

The mana flowing through the earth struck him with astonishing clarity and freshness. It was like the relief of rain breaking over a parched desert.

【Daeji: Huh? Wait, hold on. Something feels off.】
【Hwayeom: …Is the Mana always this thick around here? Was Mistsveil Forest ever like this?】
【Suryu: I’ve felt it too. It’s been helping with my training, but… something’s strange.】

The moment even the Extreme Versions sensed the same unease Aion felt, a blue system window flickered before his eyes.

Ding!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[!] A new Task has been assigned.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
『Task: Source of Unease』
― 『Task Overview: The Mana flow in the surrounding earth is abnormally active. Use your hunter’s perception to identify the cause of this activation.』
― 『Objective: Detect the cause of irregular Mana flow.』
― 『Designated Reward: Mana Power + 2』
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Training was nearly finished anyway. Aion wiped the sweat from his brow and rose to his feet.

【Hwayeom: Let’s explore the area first.】
【Daeji: It seems to be close by. The Mana concentration keeps growing denser.】

How long had he walked? Beyond the thick mist, the clear sound of rushing water reached his ears.

“Water…?”

More precisely, the sound of water plunging from a great height.

‘A waterfall, then.’

Pushing through the undergrowth, a waterfall emerged—modest in scale but vigorous, cascading with determined force.

Whoooosh…

Aion absently dipped his hand into the pool below the falls, seeking to cool his fevered body.

His eyes widened.

“…The water’s warm?”

The forest pool, which should have been cold, felt lukewarm against his skin.

The temperature was pleasant, almost inviting to the touch.

【Daeji: This is… there’s something… I can sense it.】
【Saengmyeong: That the water from the waterfall is warm means… Aion, you need to check upstream.】

Nod.

As if enchanted, Aion seized the thick vines sprawling across the cliff beside the waterfall and climbed.

Crrrack!

Above the waterfall, thick mist hung heavy.

As he crested the falls, a small basin revealed itself. From crevices in the rock, water bubbled endlessly upward, forming a large pool.

A natural hot spring, where ethereal steam rose from the surface of the water.

“…A hot spring?”

The water, unlike ordinary spring water, glowed with a pale luminescence and felt far warmer than the torrent below the falls.

The moment Aion beheld that scene, his Extreme Points cried out in unison as though by pact.

【Suryu: This is no ordinary hot spring.】
【Hwayeom: This is…….】

A vivid blue system window flooded Aion’s vision.

Ding—!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[!] Task completed.
[!] Reward granted: Mana Power + 2
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

From the depths of his mind came an eerie chuckle, and Daeji’s Extreme Point spoke.

【Daeji: Hehe… You’ve struck fortune.】

The Extreme Points seemed to know what this hot spring truly was.

The Talentless Mage Devours Calamitous Futures — Chapter 51

Author
Wang Mozhi
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yeon
Cover Design
Dari

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260706063.0051

ⓒ2026. Wang Mozhi

※ This e-book is protected under the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or whole 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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