The AI Archmage - Chapter 91

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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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AI Grand Mage Episode 91

Tap, tap.
Sion walked quietly through the long corridor. Even as he walked, his mind churned with complex thoughts.
‘Similar to Akasha?’
Did that mean there was a possibility Belusian had created something resembling Akasha?
He couldn’t be certain.
But it was plausible. Belusian had precedent for analyzing the Akashic Records.
If he’d created something based on the information he obtained that way, much like Altair had…
‘It’s entirely possible.’
Sion had never underestimated Belusian’s capabilities.
He knew his close friend was not the sort of person who could be summed up by the title of Grand Mage alone.
[Human, to be honest, I’ve never felt anything like this before. I’ve confirmed that what exists beyond that point carries a ‘wavelength similar to mine’…]
“Meaning you don’t know exactly what it is, whether it’ll help us, or whether it’ll be a problem.”
[Precisely.]
Akasha nodded at Sion’s words.
This time, even Sion couldn’t be certain.
It wasn’t that he lacked confidence in controlling the situation.
It was simply that he couldn’t be sure what kind of being Belusian’s creation might be.
“Well, I’ll find out soon enough.”
Either way, he intended to verify it.
The corridor stretched in a straight line from beginning to end.
As if guiding Sion forward.
Before long, the end of the corridor came into view ahead.
“Not particularly long.”
[The wavelength has grown stronger. The closer we get, the clearer it becomes. What’s beyond there… it’s definitely something influenced by the Akashic Records.]
“Hmm.”
Well, that wasn’t problematic in itself.
After all, the Akashic Records weren’t something Altair alone had discovered—he and Belusian had found it together.
Belusian hadn’t mentioned exactly what he was creating, but there was hardly any need for him to explain.
And the moment Sion reached that end, a vast chamber revealed itself before his eyes.
[This is…]
“Ha.”
Sion let out a hollow laugh as he took in what lay before him.
“So that man created something like this without even telling his own disciple.”
A massive glass tube stood like a pillar in the center of the chamber.
And inside the glass tube, stone slates drifted about in suspension.
“This is…”
[Familiar.]
Akasha continued with words Sion had left unspoken.
[Of course, I suspect this is something the human will feel most acutely.]
“You’re right.”
With those words, Sion took another step forward.
In that moment.
Zing.
Light flowed from the glass tube, and before Sion’s eyes, the phantom of “Altair” he had seen earlier appeared.
– So you’ve finally found your way here, successor.
“….”
– Magnificent! I, Altair, offer my respects to the emergence of such a brilliant successor…
“Stop spouting nonsense and get to the point.”
Sion spoke curtly to the phantom “Altair.”
In that instant.
– My, my.
Click.
The phantom of Altair, who had been speaking with exaggerated expression and tone, froze mid-gesture.
– Is it too much to ask for a little humoring?
“Don’t give me that bullshit.”
At Sion’s words, the phantom chuckled and began to shift its form.
What emerged was a figure thoroughly familiar to Sion.
He wore an old, pointed wizard’s hat—the sort that looked positively ancient—and draped over his frame was a faded blue robe.
Yet despite the threadbare garments, his face was strikingly youthful.
He looked scarcely different from Sion as he stood now.
Between locks of blue hair gleamed eyes of burnished gold, dancing with both mischief and intensity.
Sion spoke his name quietly.
“Belusian.”
The young man laughed.
He laughed at the name.
“So it really was you, Altair.”
Belusian’s face split into a broad grin as he welcomed his close friend home.

* * *

‘What’s this?’
Treben, his mind still drunk on dreams of inheriting Altair’s legacy, felt something go terribly wrong.
‘Why… can I sense presences?’
Even if Treben had little passion for magic, he was a genius at it.
For someone his age to reach the 6th Circle was no trivial achievement.
Presences flickered from all directions.
There were far too many to count.
Over a hundred people were moving swiftly through the spaces around him.
And several of them radiated considerable amounts of Mana.
‘Could it be… the Magic Tower?’
He didn’t know which one, but if this was truly Altair’s secret storage, it would have been stranger if they hadn’t come.
Treben clenched his teeth.
If he failed to produce results here, he’d have no choice but to slink back to his family.
And there was no guarantee he could keep running forever.
“…I have to find it first.”
He would find Altair’s legacy before they did. He didn’t need everything.
Just the most symbolic, the most impressive piece would do.
Besides, of all the presences he could sense nearby, none radiated Mana stronger than his own.
He was hurrying along the path of a map he’d already secured when it happened.
“Found it!”
“…?!”
A girl suddenly appeared before him, and Treben couldn’t help but flinch.
Strange tools hung from her body in bunches, and in her hand she gripped a heavy club.
‘A bandit?’
No way she was a mage, dressed like that. She looked every bit a bandit or mercenary.
Treben gritted his teeth and began readying a spell.
A lower Circle mage could manifest magic quickly enough to—
“There’s a Treasure Goblin here!”
“…?”
The words that tumbled from the girl’s mouth were so unexpected that Treben’s jaw went slack.
A Treasure Goblin?
“Wait, what do you—”
“What?! You found a Treasure Goblin?!”
“Black hair, just like Teacher Sion described!”
Before the girl could finish, other mages came rushing toward her.
Treben stood paralyzed by confusion.
More than that—
“…Sion?”
The name rang oddly familiar.
Now that he thought about it, he’d heard some absurd rumor recently that his younger sibling had become a teacher at the Blue Tower…
“I’ll subdue them first and figure this out later.”
Treben decided his best course was to restrain these young mages blocking his path.
It shouldn’t be terribly difficult.
The difference in Circle would translate to a clear difference in casting speed.
“Mana, grant me your—”
“Magic Missile!”
“…Huh?”
Whoosh!
Before his words were even finished, a Mana Mass streaked past Treben’s face at blinding speed.
“Uh, huh?”
Treben’s head creaked slightly as he turned to look.
‘What in the world—how is that Incantation speed so fast?’
At this rate, it was practically Chantless Casting level, wasn’t it?
“Sion promised glory to whoever captures the Treasure Goblin! That one’s mine!”
“No, no! I saw it first!”
“You’re wrong, Tult! I discovered it first, you bastard!”
Watching the wide-eyed young mages charging toward him, Treben felt the color drain from his face.

‘No, no, I can’t know for sure!’
That mage from earlier might have been unusual.
After all, there couldn’t be many mages capable of wielding such a short Incantation.
“!”
“!”
Boom-boom-boom!
“Oh, damn.”
Before that thought could even settle, 1st Circle Chantless Magic came pouring down on Treben from all directions at once.
And Treben quickly decided what to do.
‘Run!’
“Gaaaahhhhh!”
Desperately dodging the barrage of , Treben bolted without hesitation.
But the students of the Blue Tower, already scenting Treasure Goblin blood, had no intention of giving up.
“Grab it, ! …Dammit, I missed! It got away!”
“I’m first!”
“No, that one’s miiiiiine!”
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
Treben pushed the thoughts crowding his mind aside and ran for his life.
Survival came first, after all.

* * *

— Good to see you.
Belusian smiled softly as he spoke to Sion.
— I knew if anyone was Altair, you’d know how to use that Ancient Artifact.
“You’re not Belusian.”
Sion assessed the being before him with unwavering certainty.
“I don’t know if he’s alive or dead right now, but you’re definitely not the real thing.”
— Correct.
Belusian continued.
— Really, it’s more like a recording—an automated response system with an enormous amount of scripted dialogue prepared.
“…….”
— Still, I can give you a rough answer to your questions.
Belusian went on.
— Just don’t ask too many questions. I haven’t prepared dialogue down to that level of detail anyway.
“Understood.”
Belusian smiled softly as Sion’s words ended.
It was the kind of response that suggested he’d anticipated Sion’s reaction to some degree.
— I don’t know whether you overcame your Incurable Disease or used some “other method.” But the fact that you’re listening to me means you’ve overcome that disease one way or another.
“…….”
— You’re the kind who can do it. Mana turned its face from you, and yet you still achieved something greater.
Belusian continued with his prepared speech.
— Anyway, getting to the point: I’ve scattered “clues” around this place for anyone connected to you to find.
“Are you insane?”
— Even if I am, there’s nothing to be done about it. I simply made my preparations. There’s one at the Council too, and the Artisan Union and Rostery probably have one each—or maybe just one between them? Once one is discovered, the others are automatically destroyed.
“You must have enjoyed that.”
Sion could easily picture Belusian grinning to himself while pulling off such a stunt.
So why had he done this?
As if anticipating that very thought, Belusian continued.
– One way or another, I judged it would be of use to you.
“What?”
– I don’t know the exact mechanism myself, but I knew you would reach this outcome—listening to my records like this.
Sion tilted his head at those words.
Right now, Belusian was speaking as though he had seen the future.
“What the hell is this…….”
– It was a spell I created through the Akashic Records. Only once, mind you, but I saw this result coming. If you’re truly hearing my words now, this will be proof of that.
With that, Belusian began walking toward the glass tube.
– This is it.
A stone slate floating inside the glass tube.
Looking closely, it was etched with intricate magical formulas.
In places, designs that appeared to be Altair’s handiwork were visible as well.
– It’s the result of my attempt to implement the Akashic Records in my own way. You would have used it to bend fate, but I sought to use it for peering into possibilities.
“Interesting.”
This was rather fascinating.
To interpret the Akashic Records in a way entirely different from his own…….
Using it to glimpse fate—did that connect to what Belusian had just said?
A kind of foresight ability.
[How fascinating. So what’s inside that glass tube is the Archmage’s invention, created in an entirely different direction than myself.]
“In a way, you could call them half-siblings.”
[Quite intriguing.]
Akasha, too, seemed sufficiently captivated, unable to tear her gaze from the glass tube.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh!
The glass tube suddenly opened, and the stone slate drifted toward Sion.
– Take it. I prepared it for you. You’re the only one who can use it, and the only one who can truly understand it.
“……Only I can use it? You mean it’s that complex?”
– Yes and no.
As though anticipating Sion’s question, Belusian answered once more.
– It’s a Magic Tool designed to calculate the most probable future.
“Impressive.”
– But there’s a problem.
Belusian spoke with a playful expression.
– I never finished it.
“…….”
– I tried activating it once, and it broke after predicting only this one situation.
At those words, Sion quietly observed the stone slate hovering before him.
Looking closely, it appeared damaged in various places.
– I had originally planned to use it as the core for my Tower, but……well, that won’t work now.
“Damn it.”
Sion let out a dry laugh and grasped the slate in his hand.
This bastard had quite the gift of gab, didn’t he.
– I’m asking you as a friend.
“…….”
– Once you finish it properly, it’ll definitely become something extraordinary. I’m counting on you.
“What the hell…….”
Sion was about to say more, but before he could, Belusian quickly spoke his final words and vanished.
– Do your best!
Snap.
Belusian’s illusion disappeared in an instant.
Sion quietly watched him go, then spoke.
“Akasha.”
[Yes, Human.]
“I think I’ve found a dream.”
Sion smiled wryly as he spoke.
“Whether I find that bastard dead or alive, I’m going to find him and beat him half to death.”
[I shall assist you, Human.]
For once, Akasha shared his sentiment.

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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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