The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 115

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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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The Return of an EX-Rank Mage Episode 115
“Heh heh. Intermediate-rank mages are actually the truly indispensable ones.”
Apprentices and novices are still clumsy, while advanced and professor-rank mages are excessively inefficient.
Intermediate-rank mages strike the perfect balance—the so-called well-rounded employee.
This situation was no exception.
With modest labor costs, they completed the Blue Signal and made a decisive contribution to the Research Institute Director’s EX-rank clear.
Just then, an apprentice mage who had participated in the Blue Signal’s creation timidly raised his hand.
“Owen, sir. Um, but…”
“How dare an apprentice speak directly to an intermediate-rank mage!”
“It’s related to the Research Institute Director.”
“Of course I’ll listen. I’m not some antiquated mage. What’s the problem?”
If it concerned the Research Institute Director, I had to hear it.
If it was useless prattle, I could always curse him with a hex that made mosquitoes bite him relentlessly.
“As you know, Earth is a lower dimension, is it not?”
“Ahem! Just get to the point. You know how precious an intermediate-rank mage’s time is.”
The apprentice mage spoke in one exhausted breath, his face worn with fatigue.
“The Research Institute Director appears to lack the [Natural Current] skill.”
“What?”
In the higher dimensions, the conquest of the 40s Floors was standardized.
Using the Blue Signal to adjust the currents favorably, one entrusted their body to the Natural Current skill and headed toward the Dragon Palace.
Owen froze.
“Natural Current… why wouldn’t he have it?”
“Lower dimensions don’t have it in the first place.”
“That can’t be right. That’s something you receive like a vaccine at birth…”
Owen’s expression hardened.
In their world, Natural Current was a basic skill administered like a vaccine at birth.
Even if one had it, they wouldn’t know they possessed it.
“Wait, what happens if someone doesn’t have Natural Current?”
Frogs forget their tadpole days.
Apprentices understood practical matters better than intermediate-rank mages.
“They get swept away by the currents and dragged into the [Abyssal Deep].”
The Abyssal Deep. A hidden field within the 40s Floors.
A forbidden realm even the higher dimensions had barely explored.
One explorer had said:
‘Light ceases, and directional sense collapses. An impenetrable darkness where depth cannot be gauged crushes the skin alongside a sluggish water pressure. Everything moves slowly, yet death alone comes swiftly.’
Owen rushed frantically toward the 4th Floor.
[A professor-rank mage is currently conducting research.]
[Entry to the 4th Floor has been denied.]
Owen snapped his fingers and summoned hundreds of amplifiers.
The entire Research Institute resonated with a deafening roar.
“Professor Raymond! We’re going in! Director, we’re going to die like this!! Please help us!”

* * *
The desperate cry of Owen, an intermediate-rank mage, reverberated through the Research Institute.
Shortly after, the community began to react.
[What’s happening? Something’s gone wrong, hasn’t it?]
└EX-rank Awakener, sleeping here
└Why does he have that expression? (photo attached)
└That bald intermediate-rank mage. Runaway situation
└This really seems like a crisis
Unusually, Professor Raymond summoned Lee Byung-gyu, the Seoul Lord.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, Lee Byung-gyu rushed toward the Research Institute.
“…And so, because this mage without ‘fundamentals’ acted recklessly….”
Owen’s scalp flushed red.
I wanted to protest that I had no hair, not a lack of fundamentals, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
“As a result, the director has been put in danger. If he gets sucked into the Abyssal Deep, there’s no way to rescue him. He’ll become lost in the abyss.”
There were indeed cases of self-rescue, but without exception, they all had the accompaniment of high-level explorers above Floor 80.
“All the mages who entered solo for research purposes have gone missing.”
“…Then, what should we do?”
Earth has no one who has broken through Floor 80.
Naturally, there are no explorers of that caliber either.
“I’ll consult with survival specialist professors as well. Gather as many personnel capable of Tower infiltration as possible. As for the various methods to increase the probability of infiltrating the 40s Floors….”
Raymond regarded Owen with deeply skeptical eyes.
Owen stepped forward, his scalp turning crimson with intensity.
“I’ll teach you that method, so reorganize the explorer forces immediately!”
Raymond stroked his chin.
He too was an NPC, and leaving this place came with significant restrictions.
Yet Raymond valued this Research Institute no less than Owen did.
The finest research facility in a lower dimension.
A paradise for experimentation where national borders still exist and EX coins can be obtained.
Such a research environment was precious even to a professor-rank mage.
“Once preparations are complete, I’ll go rescue him personally.”

* * *
[You have entered Floor 41 of Seoul Tower.]
A sensation as though I were sinking slowly beneath the surface of sleep.
What enveloped my body was a deep teal stillness.
A world devoid of light, yet the direction of currents remained visible.
My hair scattered in the flow, my clothes swaying with the ocean current.
It was unmistakable.
This place was ‘flowing’.
[Challenges]
1. Defeat 7 Dragon Palace Soldiers
2. Destroy the hidden pearl within Dragon Palace
Once I stripped away the concept of water itself, the ‘flow’ became far more distinct.
Quiet yet undeniable—the entire world moved according to certain rules.
The current brushing against my skin, the pressure dragging at my feet.
The flow was pushing the outsider somewhere.
I considered using a mana barrier to breathe, but it proved unnecessary.
Mayo’s friend-or-foe identification blocked the water’s interference entirely.
‘Surprisingly, water doesn’t affect me as much as I thought?’
Mayo flinched slightly, but soon responded with practiced nonchalance.
-This Mayo has distinguished the water. Friend-or-foe identification operating normally.
-As for the principle… honestly, I’m not entirely certain.
In that instant, my instincts as a mage stirred.
Whenever an ‘exception’ appears in a magical phenomenon, the urge to delve deeper becomes irresistible.
“The heat from the 30s Floors certainly had an effect.”
That place had been scorching.
The warmth had penetrated deep into my lungs, searing my body.
“It doesn’t affect me here?”
This was definitely something worth investigating.
Why does friend-or-foe identification function in the 40s Floors?
The essence of water and the essence of fire—what difference lies between them?
A new list of research topics had emerged during my conquest of the Water Layer.
“If this weren’t about achieving an EX-rank clear, I would have focused entirely on understanding the principles.”
It was unfortunate, but unavoidable.
For my first attempt, achieving an EX-rank clear was the paramount objective.
“I’ve already memorized the layout.”
My ability to comprehend spatial structure had reached a considerable level of mastery.
Professor Raymond had acknowledged as much.
With additional information from the map, my understanding would become even more refined.
A mental minimap had materialized in my mind.
Faintly, I could sense the location of Dragon Palace.
‘Now that I’ll use the Blue Signal, the ocean current to the Dragon Palace will be complete.’
If I entrust my body to that flow, I’ll naturally arrive at the Dragon Palace.
The shortest distance, the minimum time.
After that, following the designated route to eliminate soldiers and destroy the pearls generated at random locations, the clear is complete.
That’s the ‘standard’ strategy in higher dimensions.
Since this is a lower dimension, it’ll be a ‘non-standard’ strategy.
However, one thought struck Choi Kang-mok’s mind.
‘Is that really the best approach?’
Several questions directed at myself.
And I reached an answer.
‘It doesn’t seem like it.’
As always, there was a gap between theory and reality.
A manual is just a manual, and the field changes moment by moment.
Sometimes instinct from the field matters more than theory from a desk.
‘That’s insufficient for an EX+ clear.’
I questioned myself again. Was there truly a reason to ‘traverse’ it?
In other words, was there a reason I had to seek out the Dragon Palace?
Map secured. Structure understood.
And I am a ‘wide-range guided sniper mage.’
‘I might even be able to blow up the entire Dragon Palace using Meteor Shower.’
From that moment on, Mayo watched for an opportunity to offer advice.
Time continued to flow, and clear speed also affected the rating.
If I missed the EX clear, my master’s ‘slight deviation from plan’ would be negated.
‘Our’ existence could be jeopardized.
However, unable to disturb the focused user, Mayo could only bounce restlessly.
Like a person tapping their foot impatiently.
Choi Kang-mok’s expression was serious.
‘Should I consider entering Phase 2?’
If I add Cheongyeon’s Tears to the Blue Signal, the ‘true Dragon Palace’ descends.
It forces entry into Phase 2.
I learned this unintentionally on Floor 7, where I had entered Phase 3.
In higher stages, rewards are amplified accordingly.
‘Higher rewards. Of course, that matters.’
With luck, I might even acquire another Excalibur.
But not now.
Now is the time to prioritize something more important to a mage than such techniques.
‘For a mage, the fundamentals are what matter most.’
I organized my thoughts.
I’ll attempt Phase 2 entry on the next floor. For now, ‘magical potential’ comes first.
Once I decided on a strategy, my mind became clear.
Focus on pinpointing the location of the Dragon Palace.
This place is a Small World composed of ‘currents’.
It possessed a nature that prevented outsiders from approaching the Dragon Palace.
Water pressure rejecting intruders, directional force, resistance.
Paradoxically, that was favorable.
‘Confirmed. Magical damage has diminished.’
Choi Kang-mok realized it.
Floor 41 was an ‘output debuff’ field.
It forcibly reduced the potency of a mage’s power.
The Tower itself functioned as a colossal shock absorber.
‘And I have already experienced an environment similar to this.’
Fortune favored me.
During the assault on the outpost facility, I endured a ‘damage –99%’ debuff.
The mechanism differed, but the sensation was identical.
Applying what one has mastered once is far easier than creating something from nothing.
This time, it would be an expansion.
‘High-tier Spirit Meteorization.’
Multiple conditions were optimized.
If I did not attempt it here, I was no true mage.
‘I will do it.’
I moved my fingers to form the hand seal, manifesting imagination into reality.
[Skill, Meteorization (EX) is activated.]
As naturally as flowing water.
I surrendered my body to the current.
Light as breathing.
The mana circuit, dark for fifteen years, suddenly ignited.
[Please designate the magic to apply to Meteorization.]
[Skill, High-tier Spirit (SSS+) is activated.]
The currents around Choi Kang-mok warped unnaturally.
The ocean current bent as if heat shimmer rose from it.
Bubbles roiled with minute vibrations.
Despite being submerged in water, vapor ascended.
‘A sensation of breathlessness.’
An invisible gravitational force compressed the magic.
And that was precisely what I desired.
The environment suppressed the mana I could not otherwise contain.
Buffering. Balance.
Upon that foundation, I would layer ‘superior magic’.
[The effect of Meteorization is applied.]
[The rank of High-tier Spirit rises.]
[SSS+ ▶▶▶ EX-]
[Activating High Spirit (EX-).]
Space Liberation.
High Spirit – Meteor Manifestation deployment.

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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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