The Archmage’s Swordsmanship Is Too Strong - Chapter 34

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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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34
Chapter 34. Roots of the Abyss
***
Absolute darkness.
A space of perfect void where not a shred of light was permitted.
Sitting in lotus position, I felt the hard floor distinctly beneath my knees. In a silence so profound it threatened to numb the senses, I focused inward on the voice within.
The Altar of the Successor.
This place operated on a dimension fundamentally different in quality from the otherworldly dungeons or ordinary Gates of the surface world.
Mock combat designed by the System was possible here, but the sweat shed within these walls converted to neither Experience Points nor Levels in any measurable form.
Even the spoils of victory fell away to nothing; the warm blood drawn from a blade was counterfeit.
Only thought remained.
All that existed was the bitter solitude of confronting one’s own inner self.
For modern Awakened Ones conditioned by the System’s sweet rewards and easy gains, this place might seem a worthless prison yielding no profit.
But for a mage, thought was the very root of power.
The depth of enlightenment determined the boundaries of one’s Circle, and those boundaries in turn determined the scope of one’s authority to act upon the world.
I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing, concentrating on the cold air sinking deep into my lungs and the process of it leaving again, stimulating the alveoli.
My heartbeat fell below forty beats per minute. The grain of Mana flowing through my veins began to register in three dimensions, strand by strand.
As if peering through a microscope, the waves created by countless Mana particles colliding and scattering within my body crystallized in my mind’s eye.
Memories from before the return floated to the surface.
In blood-soaked battlefields and chaos where allies’ flesh scattered and the earth crumbled, whenever a brief opening came, I never failed to close my eyes.
Even in the unbearable agony of Mana backflow corroding my organs and veins tearing apart, I never skipped Meditation.
At the very threshold of death, I clawed desperately to retain reason—that bitter resolve and obsession.
It was the sole driving force that forced my talent beyond its limits and carried me to the legendary realm of the 9th Circle.
After the return and inheriting Kang Tae-yoon’s physique and system, I found no reason to submerge myself inward.
I pushed 1st Circle magic to its extreme, pouring it out through the Shadowless Incantation, and made up the lacking destructive power with Aura-wrapped blade strikes.
My pathetically limited Mana Core—bound by the body’s ceiling—I merely dismissed as “the time hasn’t come yet” and pushed it to the back of my mind.
But now the situation was different.
The weight pressing on my shoulders had become incomparably heavier than before.
A legendary fairy, Lunaris. Complete Synchronization with Airi.
That grotesque output—perfectly replicating the body and powers of an elite-tier boss monster—paradoxically demanded an abysmal consumption rate that mercilessly devoured the caster’s Mana Core.
I’d manifested the Red Warrior for barely three minutes, and already the bottom of my Core was exposed, my entire body seized by a thirst as if my nerves were burning away.
It was time to audit my reserves of power and expand the vessel itself. Fortunately, time flowed asymmetrically within this altar compared to the outside world.
One minute in reality equaled one hour here.
Though my physical body’s growth had stalled, there was no fortress more perfect for refining Mana circuits and deepening the density of one’s soul.
Drawing a deep breath, I sank endlessly into the abyss within.
The severed threads of Mana reconnected one by one. Scattered energy converged into my dantian and began to spiral.
Standing at the center of that spiral, I observed the circular trajectory it traced.
I redistributed the fine threads of Mana to reduce the inefficient friction and maximize rotational force.
“That should do it.”
The voice that escaped my lips was dry.
My scattered breathing had approached near-perfect stillness, and the impurities of Mana clinging throughout my veins had settled cleanly. By my count, five hours had passed.
In the darkness, I made a light gesture toward empty space.
A stream of blue Mana flowed from my fingertips, gathering in the void before suddenly surging upward as if seized by life, twisting and spiraling.
In an instant the stream formed a thick trunk, which split into dozens, hundreds of gleaming branches, taking on the shape of an enormous tree.
A great tree of blue light illuminating the pitch-black interior of the altar. The waves of Mana it emitted tickled my skin.
“It has become far more vivid than last time, Successor.”
Airi’s voice broke the silence, resonating in my mind. Rather than answer, I gazed silently at the tree before me.
The Tree of Sephirot.
While ordinary mages’ characteristics stopped at superficial enhancements like “increase fire magic power by 10 percent” or “reduce casting speed,” the essence of this characteristic operated on an entirely different plane.
Every skill and incantation branched from the roots of this enormous tree, connected organically. Skills intertwined like boughs, creating intricate interactions between them.
The absolute authority to perform overlapping chants of opposing attributes without collision, and to enable parallel multi-processing of incantations.
The world does not call those who wielded this by a shallow title like Element Master.
Though it could not match the EX-Rank characteristic that Kang Tae-yoon possessed, it was an undeniable S-Rank characteristic granted only to an elect few across the entire System.
Without this tremendous tree of knowledge, I would never have reached the rank of Archmage in the first place.
Before the return, I had shed blood crossing the threshold between life and death countless times to cultivate this tree.
There were times I nearly shattered my Core while pruning a misdirected branch of Mana, and I had endured thousands of nights in agony as the roots rotted inward.
But now was different.
I had already completed this vision once. I carried the perfect answer key engraved in my mind.
Which branches of Mana to select and nurture, which offshoots to ruthlessly cut back to maximize Core efficiency.
And above all, how to unseal the true power locked in the deepest roots of this Sephirot tree—I already knew.
I gazed up at the towering tree of Mana and confronted a cold truth. Even power that touched the essence of all things proved insufficient.
Kang Tae-yoon, who had ascended to the realm of the Sword Saint and carved through space itself, was reduced to ash before the breath of the Evil God Dragon Zephyros.
I too, having reached the apex of the 9th Circle, could not pierce a single scale of that overwhelming calamity before meeting oblivion.
The pinnacle of the sword, the limits of magic—both ended in failure. The conclusion was clear. I had to walk a path I had never walked before.
Even if I perfectly absorbed the elder’s swordsmanship and reclaimed the extremes of my own magic, grasping both powers together would not be enough to stop the coming apocalypse.
I needed a variable that transcended all existing boundaries by far.
The foundation for finding that answer lay in the fusion of this Sync ability and the Tree of Sephirot.
“Airi.”
A translucent blue system window unfolded in the empty air.
[Level: 15]
[Remaining Skill Points: 5]
The leftover points earned from annihilating the goblin colony Gate.
Ordinarily, I should have hoarded these precious assets carefully—to raise my proficiency in the Aura Control Technique Charles had been teaching me, or to increase the rank of the Synchronization skill that converts Mana into Aura.
But now that I held the card of Airi’s Sync ability, managing my Mana Core had become the top priority.
If the fuel tank is small, even the most powerful engine will sputter to a halt before reaching its destination.
“Invest all points into Circle Advancement. Expand from the 1st Circle to the 2nd.”
[I must object.]
“Do it.”
[The Successor’s body is currently optimized and forged specifically for the physical combat tree—that is, the Swordsman skill branch.]
Airi’s voice maintained its mechanical tone, yet trembled faintly. Whether from information processing overload or concern over my decision, I couldn’t tell.
[The probability that physical durability cannot withstand core expansion is 87.4%.]
[Forced Mana Core expansion risks causing physical collapse accompanied by ruptured blood vessels and nervous system damage.]
[I strongly recommend postponing the advancement.]
A rational analysis from Airi.
Most Awakened Ones would not survive that collision—their bodies would burst and leave them crippled. But her warning lacked persuasive force against me.
Magic was never something I could abandon. It was my very essence.
“If the world ends, an intact, preserved body is nothing but a cooling hunk of meat.”
An artificial intelligence that hasn’t witnessed the hell ten years hence cannot calculate such variables.
Besides, through training with Charles, I had learned the flexibility of Aura. It was manageable. No—I had to succeed.
“Proceed.”
[Understood. I will consume the remaining points and initiate Circle Advancement.]
The moment the system window’s numbers dropped to zero, a heavy, jagged wave surged from the deepest part of my core.
Mana reversed course toward my heart, raking mercilessly against blood vessel walls. A searing sensation like molten lava forcing its way between bone and muscle engulfed my entire body.
The narrow circuit of the 1st Circle tore open by force, and the expansion pain of a new path cutting through for the 2nd Circle burned through me.
Veins bulged across the backs of my hands and thick beads of sweat formed on my brow, yet I didn’t even clench my teeth.
The five hours of contemplation and Meditation that had just finished had already relaxed my blood vessels’ durability to its absolute limit.
Rather than resisting the pain, I let my Aura ride the current of expansion, fortifying the Mana channels with solid reinforcement.
Behind the sensation of tearing, a new order began to settle into place.
The rough waves soon subsided. The density of Mana circulating through my body became incomparably richer than before.
The once-empty core settled cold and still, now under perfect control.
Along the Mana pathways, twice as broad as before, blue energy began to flow with pristine clarity.
[Successor.]
The moment I confirmed the Circle’s stability, Airi’s alert chimed softly.
[Unclassifiable Awakened One detected outside the Altar—that is, in the Office of this reality.]
Who is it.
This place was the 4th Floor, a thoroughly access-controlled private preparation chamber of mine within the 6th Floor, spanning roughly 2,600 square feet.
If it were Kim Dae-han or Chu Jae-hee, they would have sent word ahead. Charles finds it troublesome to come down. And the door was definitely locked.
“Let’s go back.”
***
Crack!
The Altar’s formless space shattered like breaking glass and scattered. The familiar leather scent and cool air conditioning brushed against my skin.
I rose slowly from the Recliner. I checked the digital clock hanging on the wall.
Though I had spent nearly five hours in the Altar undergoing contemplation and Circle Advancement, only about ten minutes had passed on the clock in this reality.
Beyond the blackout curtain, I felt the distinct wavelength of another presence. I held my breath and analyzed the color of that signature.
‘Hong Tae-hwa?’
Hong Tae-hwa, the mad dog of the Ability Management Team, called the Raging Demon.
When Kim Dae-han had said he’d recruited him, I’d anticipated a collision at some point.
But the Mana signature seeping from behind the curtain wasn’t his.
His Mana has the rough, sharp wavelength of a beast, tinged with the scent of blood.
What I sensed now was bitterly cold, yet hollow at its core—and most importantly, it carried not a single trace of killing intent.
A shallow wavelength drifting aimlessly through the space—the kind that could be subdued with a flick of a finger, devoid of any real tension.
Click.
I moved without sound, dispersing the pressure of my footfall across the floor to eliminate all noise entirely.
The thick carpet underneath swallowed even the faintest vibrations. I pulled back the edge of the blackout curtain and stepped out of the maintenance room into the office space.
Only the glow of a Laptop Computer on the desk dimly illuminated the space.
And there.
A woman in a black rider jacket was pacing around the desk.
Her dark blue hair, cascading down to her waist, reflected the monitor’s light in an eerie shimmer.
She leaned forward without caution, trying to peer at my Laptop Computer monitor. It was a defenseless posture.
Whoosh.
No need for flashy movements. I erased my Aura and slipped into the blind spot using raw physical ability alone.
Before the woman could sense the change and turn her head, my hand coming from behind caught her right forearm in an iron grip.
“Jesus Christ, you scared the hell out of me!”
A sharp scream shattered the silence, echoing through the office.
***
The woman twisted in panic, but the arm locked in my grip remained utterly immobile, like stone wedged in a crevasse.
Her shoulder muscles tensed and her body arched backward.
Her brown eyes trembled violently as she looked up at me.
The moment I recognized the face of this intruder, a page from the team member profile document that Kim Dae-han had given me flickered across my mind.
‘What was her name again?’
I couldn’t remember. My brain probably deleted it because the information wasn’t important to me.
‘Ah…’
The F-Rank phantom hunter with an Unclassifiable Rank—the one who’s on the Ability Management Team roster in name only, showing up once a month just to sign the attendance sheet before vanishing.
The very person we’d agreed to give half of the 4th Floor to. She was rude and her mouth was crude. I spoke without releasing the arm I held.
“You’re the one who waltzed into someone else’s office without permission.”
She scowled and shot back at me, straining to pull her arm free, but my fingers pressed harder against her muscle.
“No, I didn’t! The team leader said this half is my space! And hey, the door wouldn’t open, so I came in this way instead. Ow! Let go, would you?”
She thrashed her feet, struggling like a cornered animal. Her pathetic excuse was so ridiculous that I clicked my tongue.
Through my fingertips, I felt that dangerous threshold—the weight her bones could barely support reaching its limit.
It was light force for me, but her body seemed to struggle even with that.
“Ah…! It hurts, stop! You’re crazy!”
“Right.”
Realizing there was no killing intent, I withdrew my Aura, but with F-Rank durability barely above that of an ordinary person, my unconscious grip strength alone could crack her bones.
The woman grabbed her flushed wrist and glared at me with venomous eyes.
Her breathing came in ragged bursts.
“You’ve got some grip—you trying to break someone’s arm? And I’m not the type to sneak around spying in other people’s rooms, okay? I called out from outside several times, but there was no answer, so I came in to check if anyone was here. Sorry about that!”
Excuses poured out like machine-gun fire. I observed the subtle muscle twitches in her face and the dilation of her pupils.
There was no cold sweat or eye evasion—the physiological responses that appear when someone lies. Her words were true.
I had been absorbed in Meditation inside the Altar of the Successor, completely shutting out external sound, so there was no way I could have heard her calling from outside no matter how loud she screamed.
The locked door opening was the only mystery. But someone this sloppy and transparent with her emotions couldn’t possibly be a spy. Once the situation became clear, annoyance washed over me like a tidal wave.
I was about to turn away, seeing no point in responding.
Clang—
The hallway door swung open and someone poked their head in abruptly. It was Kim Dae-han. He surveyed the scene and broke into his characteristic sly grin.
“Oh, Se-hui, you’re here too? Ha, I actually came up myself to get both of you. But…the atmosphere between you two…”
“Team leader, cut the act.”
“Se-hui~ I’m just joking.”
I wondered if Kim Dae-han had finally lost his mind. He chuckled in that infuriatingly likable way of his and waved a file folder.
Did even the most basic courtesy of knocking exist in this godforsaken office?
One person barges in recklessly, and the one in charge opens the door like he owns the place.
The violation of my personal space had reached an intolerable level.
It looked like the first thing I’d need to do tomorrow morning was install an Orichalcum Lock Device on this door—one that not even an S-Rank Hunter could break—and layer it with warning enchantments at the 7th Circle level.

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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
—————