The Return of the EX-Class Wizard - Chapter 48

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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 048
The world’s paradigm had shifted.
In this Tower civilization era, a single awakened one had to master multiple roles to fulfill their purpose.
Even swordmasters now needed to handle basic magic.
Some mages who once dismissed combat magic as useless in battle were gradually reconsidering their stance.
They were beginning to recognize the possibility that combat magic would grow increasingly important.
They were slowly understanding that combat magic could prove quite useful in Tower conquest, depending on how it was applied.
This was a concept circulating among high-tier rankers, but it hadn’t yet spread widely among the general population.
Christine wanted to show them.
The world had changed like this.
‘A curveball!’
A technique befitting a combat mage.
In the past, she’d always clashed head-on.
Direct confrontation allowed for more precise observation and deeper research.
By controlling variables as much as possible and conducting experiments methodically, one could obtain the desired results.
As expected.
Strongtree. That magical genius wielded straight-line magic.
‘That linear bolt is definitely Strongtree’s style.’
He always valued orthodox fundamentals.
So Christine chose a trick to shatter that orthodoxy.
Speed, trajectory, rotation—she wanted to confound Strongtree with every variable.
“A changed era. The feeling of experiencing a new paradigm… huh? What? Uh?”
Her words were grand, but the situation was a mess.
‘Dangerous.’
She understood.
Her energy bolt, infused with variation, had been destroyed.
Obliterated in an instant. Without a trace.
‘Dodge? Block?’
It struck her instinctively.
‘I can’t block that!’
There was no logical reason. It was instinct born from experience.
Now was the time to trust her instincts as a mage.
That energy bolt contained something she absolutely must not be hit by.
Christine shouted urgently.
“I concede!”
[You have been defeated in the mock battle.]
The distant energy bolt felt as though it were inches from her face.
A chill ran down her spine.
“Exit!”
[The mock battle has ended.]

* * *
Christine emerged from the mock battle arena, dropping to her knees and gasping for breath.
“Huff… huff…!”
Kang Hye, who had been waiting, opened her eyes wide.
‘Could it be…?’
She sensed it instinctively.
This was the breathing of a defeated opponent.
She quickly opened the battle record window.
[Mock Battle Record]
[2 Wins / 0 Draws / 0 Losses]
“Insane.”
She rubbed her eyes and checked again.
[Mock Battle Record]
[2 Wins / 0 Draws / 0 Losses]
Still unable to believe it, she asked Choi Kang-chul.
“She beat Christine? Big brother, you can see it too, right? The record?”
“…I can see it.”
Choi Kang-chul was equally astonished.
He knew his younger sister’s potential was extraordinary, but against Christine of all people?
Christine wiped the sweat from her neck and approached Choi Kang-mok.
“What was that just now?”
“Energy Bolt.”
“Insane. That’s an Energy Bolt?”
As a skilled mage, Christine could read the previous situation with relative accuracy.
“I was just overpowered by raw strength?”
A refined trajectory with rotational properties added?
Precise technique? Control?
It didn’t matter.
Christine spoke in disbelief.
“You crushed it with pure physical force.”
“….”
Choi Kang-mok’s face flushed slightly.
Honestly, he wasn’t entirely proud of it.
Christine’s magical refinement was objectively superior, after all.
Christine tilted her head repeatedly, recalling the previous exchange.
“No, is this even possible? You can actually obliterate an opponent’s magic like that?”
There are many ways to nullify an opponent’s magic.
By reverse-calculating mana to interfere with it.
By exploiting flaws in the spell to scatter the mana.
Or annihilate it with magic that has a matchup advantage.
But I’ve never seen raw power applied like this before.
I never even thought it was possible.
Regardless, since it actually happened, I have no choice but to accept it.
“How should I put it… it’s magic, but…”
It was close to violence.
No, it was violence.
“That’s not like you, Strongtree. You were the epitome of precision. Even if the world has changed, I never thought you’d do something like this…”
The moment I heard those words.
A subtle expression crossed Choi Kang-mok’s face.
A single line I had written fifteen years ago came to mind.
[Combat mages are a disgrace to mages lol. Does it even make sense to use this boundless field of study for mere combat? Watching them throw fireballs and assist with sword fights makes me question if they have any academic conscience lol]
“Actually, there’s sophisticated magical achievement woven into this as well.”
Choi Kang-mok said quietly.
“Penetration, non-contact destruction, mana pressure form control, even adjusting the scatter direction of fragments…”
Since this was a profession where you couldn’t survive without precision, my magic was incredibly refined.
It just didn’t show because the damage was too overwhelming.
Within it lay meticulous calculation and perfection.
Christine still gazed at me with a serious expression.
“Still, it’s remarkable. I never thought you’d set yourself on this growth path…”
A mage who does ‘only’ combat magic isn’t a true mage.
Choi Kang-mok still believed that.
Because the applications of magic beyond combat were endless.
However, since this was a time to focus on growth, I had no choice but to develop like a combat mage for now.
Christine grasped both of my hands.
“What high-level players are only now beginning to understand through experience, you already grasped.”
“Hm?”
The rankers were gradually realizing the necessity of combat mages.
Clearing the higher floors becomes difficult without combat mages.
“Right. It wouldn’t be strange to say you have eyes that can read the future.”
To grow beyond a certain level, one must master combat magic.
There is a path within it, and there is growth.
“Then and now, you inspire me. What I only just realized, you already understood.”
…What am I?
Choi Kang-mok didn’t understand Christine’s ‘words’.
“You’re amazing, Strongtree. You really do exceed my imagination. You’re truly a mentor!”
I felt something beyond mere language—the genuine heart of a mage.
Christine was genuinely delighted by my achievement.
I quickly got to the main point.
“Anyway, I won.”
“….”
“24 matches, 24 wins, 0 losses.”
“….”
It was time to learn damage mitigation techniques.

* * *
The Christine I once knew and the Christine before me now were vastly different.
Christine possessed far greater magical knowledge and experience than I did.
Christine continued eagerly, her excitement palpable.
It was a fascinating discussion, but anywhere else, I’d be labeled a madman for entertaining such theories.
“To control damage output, you need to adjust the output values of an exponential mana function. Typically, you set the output formula as E = a·e^(kt), then adjust t or k to reduce the total energy.”
I murmured quietly to myself.
“So you’re reducing the output itself.”
“Exactly. But you also need to be comfortable with logarithmic transformations. You have to handle lnE. You’d need to design all of this numerically and operate with engineering-based mana formulas simultaneously, which makes it complex to apply in actual combat.”
Theoretically, I grasped it easily enough.
But embodying it physically would be another matter entirely.
Still, my eyes gleamed with possibility.
“But maybe you don’t actually need to reduce the output formula itself?”
“Huh?”
“What if you made the output value disappear internally? You keep E = a·e^(kt) as is, but insert -a·e^(kt) as a cancellation operation at the circuit’s terminus. Combined, E_total = 0.”
My words tumbled out faster.
“You’re eliminating the ‘directionality’ of the output. The flow exists, but the point of application vanishes. That’s how you achieve zero damage.”
Christine fell silent for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.
“Wow. Going in circles, but that’s ultimately what I was trying to explain. Of course, to actually apply this to your body would require countless repetitions and practice. You’d need to insert inverse-phase mana into the mana circuit and use phase inversion to cancel out the waves generated at the output node. You’d also need to compensate for nervous system responses. As for the specific structure of the mana circuit….”
“I’ll handle that part.”
Mana circuits differ from person to person.
Like fingerprints.
There’s an overall direction, but infinite variation between individuals.
Rather than learning and copying, it’s best when the caster constructs it to suit themselves.
Besides, I was a ‘damage dealer’.
Stability was paramount.
I grinned with genuine enthusiasm.
“I think it’d be good to design reverse channeling alongside circuit stabilization. Even the slightest misalignment would cause the circuit to go haywire and burn out.”
Unable to hold back any longer, Kang Hye finally spoke up.
“Are you two aliens or something?”

* * *
The mana circuits that had been invisible to ordinary sight began to reveal their outlines one by one before his eyes.
At first, they were merely faint afterimages, but as time passed, the flow became increasingly distinct.
Several circuits opened and closed repeatedly, meticulously adjusting their output values.
“I’m getting the hang of it.”
After approximately an hour had elapsed.
Choi Kang-mok immediately entered Tower Floor 4 and conducted an experiment.
“It works!”
I had successfully mitigated the magical damage.
Thwack!
The dummy was swept away by the mana pressure.
“…It didn’t work?”
Theoretically, I had succeeded.
But even the reduced damage was far too overwhelming.
“In the end, it’s a failure.”
Still, a glimmer of hope had kindled.
“Thank you, Christine. Thanks to you, I found the thread I needed.”
“…Yeah. Okay.”
Christine could sense it as well.
That Choi Kang-mok had succeeded in mitigating the damage.
Still, she wanted to see it with her own eyes.
“Can you show me in front of me?”
“That’s not possible.”
“Why?”
“You’ll die.”
“….”
Christine didn’t press the matter further.
She had felt it during the mock battle earlier.
A mock battle with the setting that one would never die.
‘That was truly chilling.’
Since she had already decided to stay in Seoul, it seemed she would need to gather more data while observing from his side.
Her gaze never left Choi Kang-mok.
A genius she had encountered again after fifteen years.
Familiar yet strange, and strange yet still astonishing.
‘He understood it in a single explanation and even implemented it.’
And all while wielding that absurd destructive mana.
His experience and knowledge had certainly accumulated further. Yet she felt he remained unchanged from back then.
Choi Kang-mok was a mage.
The mage had returned to this world.

* * *
A massive transformation had begun.
[The Tower Conquest has ended!]
[1st place has been confirmed!]
1st place goes to Seoul.
Busan, automatically disqualified due to the absence of a Lord, ranks last.
Now the ‘Busan Tower’ would bear a new name.
[Tower (Busan) is being redesignated as Tower (Seoul 2, Former Busan).]
[The tower’s name can be reset by the victorious Seoul Lord.]
Seoul Lord Lee Byung-gyu designated the Busan Tower as the Former Busan Tower.
This was the age of tower civilization transformed into city-states.
A city’s name often becomes a source of pride for its citizens.
Removing ‘Busan’ entirely would have invited resistance from the populace.
Besides, keeping the regional designation made it easier to distinguish.
In any case, the Seoul Lord took control of the Former Busan Tower.
The Seoul Guild would now receive double the tribute payments.
[The Former Busan Tower is being synchronized with Tower (Seoul).]
Literally, the Seoul Tower had been duplicated to become the Busan Tower.
Floors 1 through 20 were recognized as EX-cleared.
[Wasn’t the first 10 floors basically Seoul anyway? Just think of it as an extension and have a drink~]
└What nonsense. All the tribute goes to Seoul? It’s a completely different world now
I never thought Busan would get messed up like this, damn it.
If I were a Busan citizen, I’d honestly be so embarrassed I’d want to hide under the Gwangan Bridge lolol
[Just a passing Busan citizen, but honestly I think this is amazing (seriously)]
Isn’t Busan Tower better than Seoul Tower? You’d be getting a better deal lol
└Only those who’ve experienced it understand. This is truly a blessing
Why does it matter if the tribute money goes to Seoul lol? It’s got nothing to do with me.
└Trading pride for access to the world’s strongest tower? I’d do it 100 times over
While some Busan citizens vented their wounded pride and resentment, others rejoiced at gaining access to the world’s greatest tower.
Overall, the reaction was favorable.
But the most groundbreaking change was something else entirely.
[Wow, this is insane. Did you see the EX Floor privileges?]
Information began spreading about what was happening in the ‘EX Floor’ that had experienced the conquest.
It was a world first.

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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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