The AI Archmage - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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AI Archmage Episode 21

 

“【Magic Missile】.”

 

Sion’s magic manifested and transformed simultaneously, spreading out in all directions.

 

The Stone Ants that discovered this came swarming out, rushing toward the mana masses scattered in all directions.

 

Kwang!

 

The moment a considerable number of Stone Ants had gathered, they exploded just like that.

 

Hundreds of Stone Ants that had been visible were annihilated without even leaving corpses behind.

 

It was an absurd use of magic.

 

The manipulation ability to separately control over 10 magic masses and detonate them at the appropriate time.

 

All of this required tremendous computational ability and operational ability.

 

Yet Sion was performing this task far too easily.

 

As if this level of work was something he should naturally be able to do.

 

The students couldn’t help but be shocked seeing Sion like this.

 

‘Did we even need to come?’

 

A thought that crossed their minds.

 

And now they could finally understand why Sion had said there was no need to worry.

 

He must have had confidence that he could control every situation.

 

With this level of magical skill, he would be able to handle any variables that occurred without difficulty.

 

But at some point.

 

“I’ve roughly figured it out by now, right?”

 

Sion stopped using magic.

 

Then he moved behind the students, took out a chair from subspace, sat on that chair, and gave instructions.

 

“Now, get to work.”

 

Then he tilted the chair back and lay down just like that.

 

He was even putting on some kind of sleep mask, seriously preparing to sleep.

 

“…Huh?”

 

Among the students who were staring blankly at this sight, Briella was the one who came to her senses the fastest.

 

“W-w-wait! What, what is this? You’re going to sleep here?!”

 

“I told you. Get to work.”

 

Sion spoke, moving only his mouth without even taking off his sleep mask.

 

“If you came out wearing magic tools, you naturally need to raise your proficiency, right? But you don’t have time.”

 

“…!”

 

“By the way, just now, when I provoked the Stone Ants, they would have recognized us as intruders.”

 

“Wh-what what what?!”

 

Briella was shocked.

 

No, if you thought about it carefully, it was actually natural.

 

After causing such an obvious commotion, it would be nonsensical for the Stone Ants not to recognize them as intruders.

 

“Stone Ants aren’t that aggressive normally, but they change when their group is attacked first.”

 

“N-no, hey! Teacher!”

 

“T-Time’s running out.”

 

Sion spoke indifferently while lying down comfortably, still showing no intention of helping.

 

“What are you doing not using magic?”

 

“…?!”

 

And before Sion’s words even finished, creaking sounds echoed as bright red eyes began flashing from all directions.

 

Sion grinned wickedly as he spoke.

 

“It’s time to take your tonic.”

 

“Y-You crazy…!”

 

Only then did the students frantically come to their senses and begin reciting incantations.

 

And toward them, the Stone Ants began charging with bared teeth.

 

– Keeeeek!

 

Briella unconsciously screamed out.

 

“Sion Rostery, you crazy bastaaaaaaard…!”

 

* * *

 

[As expected, they’re inexperienced.]

 

Akasha commented while observing the students’ magic usage.

 

[They learned how to use the Magic Tools quickly, but their application skills aren’t good. Even though the human taught them simple usage methods, real combat is different.]

 

‘That’s right.’

 

Sion replied to Akasha’s words while lying down leisurely.

 

To an outsider, it might look like Sion was irresponsibly abandoning the students.

 

But Sion was already aware of every situation inside the mine.

 

Though the students didn’t realize it, everything inside the mine was under Sion’s surveillance.

 

‘…Hmm, roughly 100 or so seems to be the limit for Magic Transformation.’

 

Though the students hadn’t noticed, Mana Masses that Sion had spread were scattered throughout the mine.

 

They were guiding or eliminating Stone Ants in places the students couldn’t see.

 

In other words, the Stone Ants charging at the students were only in manageable numbers.

 

Of course, he had no intention of telling them this fact.

 

They needed to feel a sense of crisis to grow.

 

[Aren’t you worried that something might happen to the students?]

 

‘Not at all. Do you think I’m that bad at calculations?’

 

He had already run sufficient calculations and concluded that nothing would happen to the students.

 

That’s why he was leaving it to the students.

 

Of course, some students would get bitten by Stone Ants, but it wouldn’t be dangerous.

 

And through that process, they would quickly learn how to utilize the Magic Tools.

 

So what was Sion doing in the meantime?

 

‘Even hunting Stone Ants with Magic Transformation leaves me with spare time.’

 

Sion was eliminating almost all the Stone Ants in places the students couldn’t see.

 

With 100 Mana Masses causing explosions every second and smashing Stone Ants, it was only natural.

 

What to do with the spare time that had been created.

 

Of course, he had already decided on that too.

 

‘…Should I conduct a more in-depth detection of the mine?’

 

When he had checked earlier, there was nothing special except for the large number of Stone Ant groups.

 

But should he call it intuition?

 

Something kept bothering him. As if he had forgotten something important.

 

So while the students were conducting practical training against the Stone Ants, he decided to examine the mine more thoroughly.

 

[Don’t you trust me, Human! I’m hurt!]

 

Akasha, who had swept through the mine once following Sion’s instructions, expressed her grievance.

 

Of course, Sion had his prepared response.

 

‘I’m bored.’

 

[Ah, being bored can’t be helped. Well, the results will be the same anyway.]

 

Leaving Akasha’s words behind, Sion once again spread his mana to detect the area.

 

Of course, he somewhat agreed with Akasha’s words too.

 

Re-detecting a place that had already been detected once wouldn’t change the results significantly.

 

But couldn’t this resolve his uneasiness?

 

If he could just find the reason for this uneasiness, this much effort wouldn’t be wasted.

 

While spreading his mana like that.

 

“…Hmm?”

 

There was something detected by his mana.

 

A very minor reaction.

 

So minor that normally he would have passed by it without a second thought.

 

But Sion delved into that minuteness.

 

‘There’s something here?’

 

[Huh?]

 

Akasha showed signs of confusion.

 

As an artificial intelligence boasting excellent completion, she hadn’t thought there could be something she had missed.

 

[That can’t be right?]

 

Akasha hurriedly investigated the reaction that Sion had confirmed.

 

And after a moment, Akasha cautiously voiced her thoughts.

 

[Human, could this perhaps be… a treasure of the ‘kind I cannot discover’?]

 

‘A kind you cannot discover?’

 

[Yes, that’s right.]

 

Something that Sion could detect, but Akasha could not.

 

Akasha is fundamentally an artificial spirit who shows competence in all aspects.

 

But in the process of changing fate once through the Akashic Record, there were things that weren’t lost without reason.

 

For example…

 

‘It’s an Ancient Artifact.’

 

– …An Ancient Artifact?

 

‘That’s right.’

 

Sion knew very well which of Akasha’s functions were currently deactivated.

 

Since he was Akasha’s creator, it was only natural.

 

And one of those deactivated functions was…

 

‘There was the recognition function for Ancient Artifacts. It wasn’t a priority, so it would have been the first function to be deactivated.’

 

– Are you certain about that?

 

‘I can’t guarantee it.’

 

– ….

 

Akasha looked at Sion with extremely irreverent eyes, but he didn’t care at all.

 

Anyway, what mattered was that there was a possibility that what was buried below was an Ancient Artifact.

 

A precious object that even the Empire, the hegemon of the Continent, possessed only five of.

 

Even the Magic Council, the pinnacle of the Continent’s mages, caused all sorts of commotion whenever they tried to use an Ancient Artifact.

 

Ancient Artifacts had that much value.

 

But there was a possibility that such an Ancient Artifact was buried here?

 

‘I have to do this.’

 

It wasn’t even worth considering.

 

Even if what was buried wasn’t an Ancient Artifact, there was nothing wrong with checking.

 

[Looking at the point the human detected, it seems quite deep down. Do you plan to proceed immediately?]

 

‘Of course.’

 

With those words, Sion casually lifted his Sleep Mask and looked at the students who were engaged in fierce battle with the Stone Ants.

 

‘There’s plenty of labor here.’

 

I should use them at times like this – when else would I get to use them?

 

* * *

 

“…Huu.”

 

Tult breathed heavily and prepared his Magic once again.

 

Thanks to the Magic Tool’s assistance, the burden of using Magic had definitely decreased significantly.

 

That much was true.

 

‘But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.’

 

No, it was damn difficult.

 

No matter how much assistance the Magic Tool provided, the level of Calculation power required for Magic Transformation was very high.

 

For Tult, who was only a 3rd Circle mage, it was no light burden.

 

‘But teacher accomplished this… without even using a Magic Tool?’

 

Even as a 3rd Circle mage, he couldn’t help but know how absurd that was.

 

Thinking normally, it should be impossible, but that teacher had accomplished it as if it were nothing.

 

Emotions like jealousy only arise when the gap is somewhat approachable.

 

Faced with that vast difference, Tult could only feel awe and think of nothing else.

 

‘Moreover, teacher’s education was always ultimately correct.’

 

Even when it seemed reckless, following Sion’s teaching methods obediently had resulted in rapid improvement in his magical abilities.

 

It wasn’t just proficiency with Magic Tools.

 

Naturally, it seemed like his magical abilities had also increased efficiently.

 

“…Explosion.”

 

Boom!

 

Wracking his brain to explode the Stone Ants that had gathered nearby, Tult got to his feet.

 

The other students were also busy using magic to explode the Stone Ants.

 

Since they had heard that Stone Ants themselves were practically like tonics, the students squeezed out every ounce of strength they had to exterminate the Stone Ants.

 

Of course, there were some students who got bitten by Stone Ants and swelled up…

 

That level of injury could be quickly healed by going back for treatment or resting for a few days.

 

The students who used magic in an almost trance-like state were finally able to achieve victory in their fierce battle against the Stone Ants.

 

“Is… is it over?”

 

Briella looked around while struggling to support her body.

 

No Stone Ants were visible to the naked eye anymore.

 

All that could be seen were the Cross Stones brilliantly illuminating the inside of the mine.

 

“…Phew.”

 

Briella soon turned her gaze toward where Sion was.

 

Sion was still just resting with his leisurely attitude.

 

However, she couldn’t ignore it.

 

Sion remained surprisingly unaffected in that state.

 

What did that mean?

 

It meant that even in that state, he hadn’t allowed the Stone Ants to approach.

 

That also meant he had been paying attention to ensure the students didn’t face any major problems.

 

Though she really didn’t want to admit it.

 

“Teacher, it’s finished.”

 

“Ah.”

 

At Briella’s words, Sion removed his sleep mask and got up from his chair.

 

“It’s definitely finished. Congratulations. You’ve successfully exterminated the Stone Ants inside the mine.”

 

“Th-then it’s over, right?”

 

“Stage 1 is over.”

 

“Stage 1?”

 

“Yes, Stage 1.”

 

Sion grinned and continued speaking.

 

“By exterminating the Stone Ants, you’ve become quite familiar with Magic Missile variations. Now that you’ve got the hang of it, we should really pick up the pace, shouldn’t we?”

 

“Wh-what are you going to make us do…?”

 

Briella couldn’t help but tremble in fear at that smile.

 

But Sion pointed downward as if it was nothing and spoke calmly.

 

“【Dig】.”

 

Earth Digging Magic.

 

With Sion’s gesture, the ground in front of him caved in deeply.

 

“Now, Stage 2.”

 

Sion pointed to the clearly dug ground and spoke.

 

“From now on, we’re digging the ground.”

 

“…!”

 

At those words, the students’ mouths fell wide open.

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