The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 47

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

The Return of an EX-Rank Mage Episode 047
It was Choi Kang-mok who found himself genuinely startled.
Manifesting sixteen Energy Bolts—that much he could accept.
She was a genius mage, after all, and a top-ranked awakener in the world.
But something else troubled him far more.
“How did you eliminate the damage?”
The magic unfolding before his eyes carried no destructive force whatsoever.
Too intricate to be mere illusion, yet too tangible to be classified as illusory magic.
“Those are Energy Bolts, aren’t they?”
Choi Kang-mok’s eyes began to gleam with intensity.
Christine clearly possessed some magical method to mitigate damage.
Watching Choi Kang-mok approach, Christine smiled wickedly.
“Yes, that look. That’s the one.”
Christine’s gaze burned with a fervor not unlike his own.
Kang Hye murmured nervously, “S-scary, both of them…”
“I missed that look, Strongtree!”
During her exchange student days. Back in the early awakening era.
That was the gaze she had witnessed then.
The eyes of that Strongtree who once declared: ‘Only fools would confine such beautiful magic to mere combat.’
“The eyes of a true mage!”
Christine, who had initially dreamed only of becoming a combat mage, had her path redirected by Choi Kang-mok’s influence, allowing her to become the Grand Mage she was today.
Christine suddenly pulled Choi Kang-mok into a tight embrace.
“You’re an EX-rank Awakener. Now everything makes sense.”
“You still haven’t explained how you reduced the damage.”
“After all this time meeting a friend—no, a student—and that’s all you have to say?”
Hahahaha!
Christine laughed heartily, then whispered close.
“Curious? Then let’s commune as mages together. Like old times.”

* * *
To outsiders, Choi Kang-mok appeared to be an EX-rank Awakener on an unstoppable winning streak.
Yet he harbored a profound concern.
‘The damage output is far too severe.’
An irony that was anything but amusing.
My own magic had grown so devastatingly powerful that my body could no longer withstand it.
So for now, I was developing myself solely as a combat mage.
In the process, I had made considerable progress in mana pressure shaping, penetration attribute bestowal, and Small World research—yet I remained deeply unsatisfied.
‘If only I could control this damage!’
What if I could reduce damage to zero, the way Christine could?
Then I could truly call myself a mage.
Right now, I was nothing but a warrior with spells.
“Curious? Then let’s exchange knowledge as mages do. Like we used to.”
“An exchange match. It’s been a while.”
“Right. But you remember our record, don’t you?”
“Of course I do.”
Choi Kang-mok spoke with absolute confidence.
“23 matches, 23 wins, zero losses.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“I won one, remember? In the final moments back then.”
“I don’t recall that.”
“You’ve really gotten shameless, Strongtree.”
“The shameless one is you, Christine.”
Both of them spoke with unsettling sincerity.
Kang Hye, listening to their exchange, tilted her head in confusion.
She leaned toward Choi Kang-chul, whose expression was decidedly uncomfortable, and whispered.
“Big brother, are they talking about Mock Battle matches?”
“Seems like it.”
“But those two were first-generation Awakeners.”
Back then, the Mock Battle system didn’t exist.
“I think I’ve heard about this.”
First-generation Awakeners fought without the safety mechanism of Mock Battles.
Among mages, it was called magical exchange.
Among warriors, it was called combat.
Among explorers, it was called exploration competition.
The terminology differed, but it wasn’t fundamentally different from modern Tower civilization’s Mock Battles.
“There was an urban legend that more first-generation Awakeners died fighting each other than died in the Tower itself.”
“That… might not be a legend.”
In any case, Choi Kang-mok and Christine both appeared deadly serious.
An EX-rank Awakener and a world-class archmage.
The two of them, just fifteen years ago, are now at each other’s throats over a 1-1 record.
“It’s shocking in many ways.”
The perverted playstyle of first-generation Awakeners too.
“I’m telling you, I won once?”
“I’m telling you, I don’t remember losing?”
Choi Kang-chul understood his younger brother and Christine well enough.
‘One loss is unbearable.’
For Choi Kang-mok, one loss was unbearable.
For Christine, one victory was unbearable.
He understood both perspectives.

* * *
Christine spoke with absolute certainty.
“You can’t possibly be an interception-type tank. You’re definitely a mage.”
Choi Kang-mok didn’t particularly refute her.
Christine wasn’t really seeking an answer either.
The very texture of that mana already proved it.
“A mock battle. One round. Like old times. But more systematically this time.”
Christine continued to smile with barely contained excitement.
The magic instructor who had gifted her the Wall of Lamentation fifteen years ago stood right before her eyes.
“Honestly, I’m curious about you.”
Long conversations weren’t necessary.
For mages, conversation through magic was enough.
The nature of mana, its direction, its attribute, the vibration of its wavelength.
Within all that lay the true essence of one’s opponent.
“It’s different from back then. As you know, I’m Christine now. You ready for a mock battle?”
“That’s a bit problematic…”
I trusted the safety mechanism of a mock battle, but Penetration was the issue.
My level had already climbed to forty.
Penetration’s damage might shatter the mock battle setting itself.
If it exceeded the damage cap and triggered fundamental destruction, that would be catastrophic.
Choi Kang-mok didn’t want to harm Christine, whom he’d reunited with after so long.
“The reason is…”
“Aren’t you curious about damage mitigation techniques?”
“I wanted to exchange knowledge with you anyway.”
The current world’s greatest mage—what could possibly be the issue?
There couldn’t be one.
“Fine.”
[A mock battle request has arrived from ‘Str2’.]
[Do you accept the mock battle?]
The nickname was a bit odd, but.
In any case, Christine continued speaking.
“I’ll set it as a no-item match.”
A no-item match.
Fighting a mock battle with nothing but raw power, without the aid of equipment.
No-item matches were the best way to verify each other’s pure skill.
Real mages, especially among the mainstream of the magical world, considered this the true test.
“All items including talismans are prohibited. And let’s equalize our levels too. The gap between us is too large.”
Christine had recently broken through level 100.
If the level difference was too great, damage wouldn’t land properly.
In mock battles, ‘level equalization’ was essentially the critical setting.
Choi Kang-mok also spoke.
“Keep your promise.”
“Damage mitigation technique?”
“Yes.”
“If you beat me, I’ll teach it to you one-on-one.”
Christine’s lips curved upward.
Strongtree—the magical ideal from fifteen years ago.
Now that I had met him again, I could teach magic as much as I wished.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[The mock battle begins.]
“The map is set to Stage Map. One hundred meters by one hundred meters. Just a flat plain with nothing else. Let’s keep it clean.”
The so-called ‘Stage Map’.
An orthodox arena without obstacles.
A place where only pure skill could determine the victor.
“We’ve both equalized our levels to 40. What magic are you going to use?”
“Energy ball….”
Choi Kang-mok fell into slight deliberation.
‘I’d like to try this.’
Just before this, I had cleared the 20th Floor.
In truth, the grimoire I wanted to obtain from the 20th Floor was the ‘Malevolent Spirit’ grimoire.
But the grimoire I actually acquired was somewhat different.
Rather than clearing the Darkness-Darkness-Darkness-Darkness-Darkness phase.
It ended with Darkness-Destruction.
───────
[High Spirit]
Grade: Legend+
Required Level: 40
Required Intelligence: 40 (!Intelligence Insufficient!)
Attribute: Void
The spiritual force of high-ranking spirits sweeps across the surroundings.
───────
Yet this is a Legendary+ tier offensive spell.
It appeared to be a higher-tier attack than ‘Evil Spirit’, but there was no recorded information about it.
I would need to learn and use it directly, but my insufficient intelligence prevented me from acquiring it.
‘I could raise my intelligence, but….’
My remaining stat points were sufficient.
However, if I raised my intelligence and used the spell?
I might become a cripple who could never cast magic again.
The damage increase from raising intelligence was far too steep.
“Right, Str. I have the Mock Battle Emperor title.”
“Mock Battle Emperor?”
“Yeah. Raise my intelligence by 7.”
Christine laughed lightly.
“I’ve fought countless mock battles. This is what experience means. A one-time novice wouldn’t understand.”
“I have the Mock Battle Absolute title.”
“Don’t be stubborn for no reason.”
Mock battle records were public information anyone could verify.
Choi Kang-mok’s mock battle record was 1 win, 0 losses.
“Raise my stat points by 10.”
“Are you serious?”
“I give it to those who defeat opponents with a level gap of 50 or more.”
“…What?”
Christine refused to back down either.
“I’ve consumed Olivia’s Tears as well!”
“Ah, so you’re the one who bought it a year ago for hundreds of billions?”
“No? I spent over a trillion?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You should tell me beforehand. That there’s an unavoidable intelligence gap. That way it’s fair.”
“I raised mine by 10 too.”
Though not intelligence.
“Huh? How?”
“I consumed the inner core of the Human-Faced Tree Lord.”
“That’s the one you released the strategy guide for to us. Our kids each got 5 points from it. You’re saying you got 10?”
“I gave them 10 points each.”
“Right. 10.”
“You understand, yes?”
“Yeah… huh?”
Christine’s eyes widened progressively.
“Wait. Did I mishear something? Is my Korean still rusty? Did you just say 10 each?”
“Yeah. 10 each.”
Raised 10 each?
“You lunatic! That means you raised 40 total, not 10! Why would you phrase it like that!”
Christine’s body burned with heat.
The stat difference was significant, but it was something experience could bridge.
Now came the turn to converse through magic.
Choi Kang-mok examined the High Spirit Grimoire with considerable reluctance.
Still not yet. I set it aside.
“My spell is Energy Bolt.”
“Good. Fundamentals are absolute truth.”
Both of them loaded Energy Bolt.
Christine grinned and spoke.
“No tricks—let’s just collide our spells head-on!”
[Skill, Energy Bolt (S) activated.]
[Skill, Energy Bolt (A+) activated.]
The two Energy Bolts collided.
Then Christine cried out.
“Or so you’d think, right?”
Christine’s Energy Bolt suddenly began to spin.
Intense rotation. The magical trajectory twisted.
“These days, even mages need to know how to throw a curveball… huh? What? Eh?”

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