A Talentless Mage Devours a Disaster-Class Future - Chapter 7

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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 7

A full day had passed.
The desk was buried under thick Magic Circle Introductory Tomes borrowed from the Library, stacked like a tower, and Eion’s Notebook had turned grimy from the traces of repeated writing and erasing.

“Hmm…”

Eion rubbed his strained eyes and read aloud a passage from the book.

A Magic Circle is a collection of covenants that impose order upon formless Mana. Points and lines, and even planes—all of these become the language that determines the nature of a Technique.

“Covenants and language, but if they’re not written so I can read them, how am I supposed to understand?”

Flip—

He turned the page irritably, back to that complicated diagram Professor Helsen had drawn on the Blackboard.

No matter how long he stared at it, it looked nothing like an agreed-upon language—only like the winding trail of an earthworm crawling through wine.

“…Nothing makes sense.”

A bewildering obscurity that refused to yield.

【Flame: Tch. I can’t just tell him, and it’s killing me.】

He looked ready to burst with the desire to hand Eion the answer on the spot. But someone at his side held him back.

【Earth: Hold on. If we spoon-feed him everything, what’s the point? We’re trying to raise him into a proper Mage, not turn him into some fool who steals someone else’s answers and pats himself on the back for the score.】

Eion agreed with that sentiment a hundred times over.
Had Flame’s Extreme Point tried to give him the answer directly, he would have plugged his ears without hesitation.

“…You’re right.”

Eion nodded and adjusted his pen.

“If I can’t solve even this trivial Assignment on my own, I have no business becoming a Mage. The Quest itself would be meaningless.”

This Assignment was for Eion, not for the Extreme Point.

【Magic Path: A sound judgment. Yggdrasil is no fool.】

Eion tapped his pen lightly against his finger.
It was something he’d already suspected, but now it was confirmed.

【Magic Path: Should you fail to think autonomously, Yggdrasil will not acknowledge it as your achievement.】

“…As I thought.”

【Flame: …Even simple advice isn’t allowed?】
【Magic Path: There are permissible limits. A gentle nudge is acceptable, provided caution is exercised.】
【Flame: Tch, well, that’s a relief at least.】

How many more pages had he turned?

“…Found it.”

【Flame: Huh?】
【Earth: Hmm…】
【Water Flow: If it’s possible to this degree, there’s hope yet. Truly, myself from the past.】

One of the Magic Circles shown as an example in the reference collection matched precisely with a portion of the Composite Magic Circle.

The name of that Magic Circle was—

“…Rotation?”

One of the most elementary Magic Circles.
The description said nothing more than that it was a simple Magic Circle designed to induce rotation.

“…Why is it the most elementary?”

【Flame: That… well… no.】
【Earth: …Well restrained.】

“If they’re a 5th Tier Mage—a Grand Mage—why would they design an elementary Magic Circle?”

Tier.
A designation of a Mage’s rank.

From a 1st Tier Mage who has only just begun walking the path of magic, to a 5th Tier Mage who has reached the heights where they overturn the very earth and call down flame and lightning.

It was common knowledge that tens of Mages like Eion could not defeat a single 5th Tier Mage.

The path of magic is a journey far and long, but it is no level road.
It is an incline steep and precipitous. Among all its trials, the barrier of the 5th Tier was known as the Wall of Ignorance—so insurmountable that only those who surpassed it had each built their own domain.

Yet such a master, when composing this Composite Magic Circle, had used Magic Circles that were ironically elementary.

‘…There must have been intent.’

Elementary did not mean useless. What if, precisely because it was elementary, it was chosen?

“…Could it be?”

Eion opened the tome and searched through the elementary Magic Circles.

“…Hmm?”

A familiar shape.

“…Found another.”

【Flame: Well done, boy! You’re onto it!】
【Life: Keep going just like this. Eion, you can do this.】

He had found two more Magic Circles in total.

“Tracking… and Vibration?”

Track something, make it vibrate, make it rotate?

“A Combat Spell?”

【Flame: That… well…】
【Earth: Stop your fussing, old fool.】

“Indeed, it must be a Combat Spell. ……Or not?”

【Earth: …this is infuriating!】
【Flame: Kekeke… who are you to speak?】

Eion tilted his head and flipped through the notebook.

“The Vibration Magic Circle is divided by tier. …Why?”

After digging through the footnotes to find the answer,

“It was a matter of intensity.”

Eion made a large ‘X’ mark in the notebook.

“Then it doesn’t seem to be a Combat Magic, does it?”

【Magic Path: What made you reach that conclusion?】

“If it were Combat Magic, there’d be no reason to deliberately set the vibration weak. Half the components of the Composite Magic Circle are also of the lowest tier.”

【Magic Path: …I see.】

A brief silence.
He could have asked the Extreme Point for a hint, but Eion had no intention of doing so. It was right to push through to the end on his own.

“The vibration’s power could have been enhanced, but it wasn’t. What if that exact intensity was all that was needed?”

Why?

Why go to the trouble of creating such magic?

Why…

A Mage of remarkable caliber, having reached the 5th Tier.
And yet, a combination of Magic Circles lacking both power and concept.

It was not the sort of magic such a person would create.

‘Why? Why would they create this Magic Circle…’

In that moment, a thought flickered through Eion’s mind.

“There’s one thing I want to ask.”

【Magic Path: Speak.】

“Is the form fixed? For instance, with a Vibration Magic Circle, is there a rule that it must be drawn exactly this way?”

【Magic Path: ……Rules do exist. “Standard” would be the more appropriate term here. Look at the Vibration Magic Circles of each tier. The core structure will be similar, but each will have its own distinctive features.】

“…I see.”

【Magic Path: If you delve deeper still, you could commit even those finer details to memory, but I suspect you lack the time for that now.】

“…I think I understand. That was helpful.”

Rustle-rustle!
…Rustle!

Eion flipped rapidly through the pages, filling the notebook with dense notes.

…Crackle!

Lost in concentration, hours had slipped away unnoticed. The blank pages of his notebook had turned black with ink, and outside the window, darkness had swallowed the twilight whole.

【Flame: This fellow….】
【Water Flow: Not a bad start. Actually, quite fast.】
【Flame: I don’t think I was like this back then….】
【Lightning: Hehehehe! We were idiots! That’s why we suffered through all those years!】

…Thud.

Eion closed the thick book and spoke.

“…So that’s what it was.”

***

The next day, in the Fundamental Magic Circle Design Lecture Hall.
The air in the classroom was so heavy it was suffocating.
Below the platform, students who had already been shot down by Professor Helsen were shuffling back to their seats.

“Could it be… a rapid-fire magic circle that compresses and fires flames… something like that…?”
“Sit down. Monkey.”

Professor Helsen didn’t even glance at the students presenting their theories at the blackboard.

“Um, I believe it’s a defensive spell! One that deflects enemy attacks with rotating mana….”
“Imagination is abundant. Sit down. Monkey.”

He was merciless.
Whether they were elite researchers from the Magic Tower’s youth division or scions of prestigious families made no difference.
The moment they stepped before the blackboard, they all looked the same to Professor Helsen’s eyes—not mages, but monkeys.

“Next.”

The lecture hall froze at Helsen’s flat voice.

“It’s my turn.”

A blond-haired male student seated in the center stood up.

“Kael….”
“He took this class too?”
“Oh my, the young master of House Pairon. He’s surely different somehow.”
“Well, he’s the heir to Pairon, so he’s bound to be different in some way.”

Kael Pairon.

Heir to the storied Pairon Marquessate, and a talent who had passed the entrance examination with high marks.

He walked toward the blackboard with an arrogant expression, glancing around at those seated.

‘…This is easier than blowing my nose.’

Kael picked up chalk and began analyzing the magic circle with supreme confidence.

“The core components of this Composite Magic Circle number four in total.”

Tap-tap-tap—

What he had written on the blackboard were Tracking, Rotation, Vibration, and Stripping.

Kael tapped the blackboard sharply and spoke in a loud voice.

“This Magic Circle detects intruders, then uses Mana vortices and Vibration to destroy their sense of balance before disarming them—it’s a personal-suppression trap for combat applications.”

“I heard you.”
“Yes!”

He wore a pleased smile, waiting for evaluation, but Professor Helsen was looking over the answer sheets from other students who had submitted earlier.

Then, suddenly, he looked at Kael and spoke.

“What are you doing?”
“…Yes?”
“Why aren’t you going back—what are you standing there for?”
“But I…I’m certain I gave you the answer, sir….”
“And?”
“That is… the evaluation….”
“Monkey, stop wasting my time.”

Pfft—

Someone’s laughter escaped. The lecture hall fell quiet again almost immediately.

Kael returned to his seat with a dazed expression.
Professor Helsen did not even glance at his retreating back as he turned the page of answers and muttered to himself.

“Combat Magic… rich imagination, certainly. But unfortunately, your eye for reading Magic Circles falls short of standard.”

He called out the next name without lifting his gaze from the papers.

“Next. Come forward.”

A female student seated in the center of the front row stood up.
Hair touched with a blue sheen and large, round eyes. Her features were sharp and clearly defined—a face whose origin one could not easily guess.

“…Who is that?”
“First time seeing her… isn’t she from an Imperial House?”

As she walked toward the blackboard, the lecture hall fell silent.

Eyes followed her.

Professor Helsen looked up from the answer sheet.

“Laila Draconsis. Where are you from?”

Laila regarded the professor for a moment. It was not hesitation in her answer.
Simply, her command of the Imperial tongue seemed imperfect.

“Rexon. Rexon Kingdom.”

A brief silence. A faint stir ran through the lecture hall. She had used no honorific.
Then someone raised their hand.

“I… student Laila is not yet accustomed to our language, so to the professor….”
“I’m aware. Don’t concern yourself.”

Professor Helsen cut off the student.
Laila watched the process in silence, then turned her body toward the Blackboard.

“A Magic Circle has five constituent elements in total.”

She picked up the Chalk and filled the Blackboard with flowing, elegant script.

Tracking, Vibration, Rotation, Stripping, and Decomposition.

Gasps erupted among the students.

“Ah! So it was Decomposition!”
“That Magic Circle was Decomposition… I thought… ah, I almost had it…”

She set down the Chalk and spoke.

“This is Laundry Magic — it Tracks the target, Strips foreign matter from the surface, removes it through Vibration and Rotation, and then Decomposes it completely.”

The Lecture Hall fell silent for a moment.

“…Why did you think that?”
“All the components are too weak to use on humans. I thought the target must be different.”

Professor Helsen stroked his jaw, studying her intently.

“Not bad.”

The Lecture Hall stirred again. It was the mildest assessment he’d offered thus far.

“I knew she’d be different!”
“…Why?”
“Because she’s beautiful!”
……
“…It is surprising, though. She found Decomposition too? I didn’t see that far…”

Helsen ignored the reactions and kept his gaze fixed on Laila.

“Still, you fell short.”
……
“You should have kept thinking.”

Helsen waved his hand.

“Go on. Monkey.”

After that, countless more names were called out. And every single one of them received the same name from Professor Helsen in the end.

Monkey.

Just before all the students gathered in the Lecture Hall became monkeys, the name of the last one to submit an answer was called.

“Eion Iscar, come forward.”

Professor Helsen lifted his gaze slightly, meeting Eion’s eyes.

At first, the Lecture Hall offered no reaction.
The name was unfamiliar. But one by one, heads turned to look at Eion, and murmurs began to ripple through the hall.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy from the Evaluation Sphere malfunction?”
“Yeah, that’s the one who even had a re-evaluation.”

Eion met that gaze without flinching and stepped up to the platform, chalk in hand.

Then he began writing the names of the Magic Circles on the Blackboard.

Tracking, Vibration, Rotation, Stripping, Decomposition.

“Isn’t that exactly the same as that female student’s answer?”
“Did he secretly copy it or something?”

As Eion set down the chalk, Professor Helsen spoke.

“Write your answer however you like. Explain to me the process you went through to figure out what this Magic Circle is.”
“Yes, understood.”

“I focused on the fact that the Mage who devised this Magic Circle was a 5th Tier Mage.”
“And why did you focus on that?”
“Because you said so, Professor.”

— It is a Composite Magic Circle devised by a 5th Tier Mage. By the next class, I want you to deduce how many different Magic Circles comprise this Composite Magic Circle.

Professor Helsen immediately countered.

“I mean, why did that particular remark stand out to you? What reason would make the phrase ‘5th Tier Mage’ feel significant?”
“Well, it was the last thing you said…”

— I have never spoken an unnecessary word in this class.

Soft gasps rippled through the lecture hall. How many students had actually retained that statement?

“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Wait, hold on…”

Murmurs spread among the students. Some of them had grasped what Eion was driving at.

“If you’d only wanted us to interpret the Composite Magic Circle itself, there would have been no need to mention that it was devised by a 5th Tier Mage.”
“Go on.”
“For a Magic Circle devised by a 5th Tier Mage, the composition is far too elementary. With this level of output, it couldn’t deal meaningful damage to an enemy.”

Professor Helsen folded his arms, saying nothing.

“Then I concluded it must be Life Magic, not Combat Magic. Life Magic requiring Rotation and Vibration… cleaning or washing.”
“And?”
“I searched for Magic Circles in that category.”

Murmur, murmur…

“The answer’s the same as Laila’s though… that’s weird?”
“Yeah? Something’s… different somehow?”

Eion spoke without hesitation.

“What I found was Stripping and Decomposition. I was certain it was washing rather than mere cleaning because of the Rotation Magic Circle.”
“There was more content after that in the answer sheet you turned in, wasn’t there?”
“Yes.”
“Write it.”

Tap tap—

Another Magic Circle, which Eion inscribed upon the Blackboard.

Water Ball.

“It seemed strange to me that Laundry Magic would draw water directly for use.”
“…Why is that?”

Professor Helsen’s eyebrows shifted ever so slightly.

“A Mage who found even laundering so tedious that they devised such a complex Magic Circle wouldn’t draw water themselves—that much seemed obvious.”

Scratch-scratch—

Eion traced over a section of the Magic Circle with chalk, emphasizing it.

“This part here. Where the Magic Circles intersect, I thought it resembled a particular Magic Circle.”
“…So it’s a Water Ball.”
“Exactly.”

Another Magic Circle, hidden between the five primary ones.

Eion set down the chalk and met Helsen’s gaze directly.

“…Why do you think so?”
“There’s something the answer key doesn’t account for.”
“What’s that?”

Every eye in the room turned toward Eion.

“The Magic Circle contains no mechanism for disposing of the water contaminated by washing.”
“…Why would you assume a Mage of this caliber gave thought to drainage?”

Eion didn’t hesitate.

“Because they’re a 5th Tier Mage.”

A brief silence fell.

And then—

Tap.

Professor Helsen approached him and took the chalk from his hand.

Whoosh—

As two curves layered over the existing lines, Eion’s eyes narrowed.

“…What is this!?”

Hum-hum-hum—

Light emanated from the Magic Circle drawn on the blackboard, and a blue sphere materialized above Professor Helsen’s palm.

The Water Ball repeated cycles of Rotation and Vibration, and then, in an instant—

Whoosh—!

It dissolved into water vapor and vanished.
Everyone realized that the Magic Circle drawn on the blackboard had unfolded from within Professor Helsen’s grasp.

The lecture hall held its breath.

“Eion Iscar.”

Professor Helsen looked at him squarely.

“You are no monkey.”

Ding-!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[!] Quest completed.
[!] Rewards granted: Intelligence +3, Wisdom +3
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Talentless Mage Swallows a Calamitous Future — Chapter 7

Author
Wang Mo-chi
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yeon
Cover Design
Dali

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260706063.0007

ⓒ2026, Wang Mo-chi

※ This e-book is protected under the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part of this work may be reproduced or modified 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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