Chapter 403
“To break Butler’s magic so easily…?”
Voices filled with shock rang out.
There was no change in Taesan.
His breathing, his expression, nothing changed at all. The attack meant nothing to him—it was as if a child were throwing a tantrum.
“…We really were blind.”
With a single trial, they all realized it. Taesan wasn’t powerless—they simply couldn’t sense a level he had already reached.
All of them were outstanding magicians acknowledged by the God of Magic. They weren’t foolish enough to deny what they saw before their eyes.
“This is a problem.”
After the trial, Elia scratched her head awkwardly as Taesan returned.
“So there was a reason Zervand granted you advanced magic. We were stubborn for nothing.”
“Were you the ones who suggested the trials?”
“Yeah. Zervand actually had something else in mind. But we insisted.”
They’d asked to test Taesan themselves and determine if he deserved advanced magic.
Zervand accepted their request.
“And now, here we are.”
Elia gave a wry smile as she looked at Taesan.
“You’re really strong. Much stronger than us.”
“So are the trials finished?”
The seven magicians, except for the old man, couldn’t even touch Taesan. But Elia shook her head.
“No.”
Her gaze was steady.
“Even so, we’re still magicians. We’re curious, too—how far our magic can go against someone as strong as you. We still have to do our best.”
They asked Taesan to give them some time to design their trials.
Taesan accepted.
He spent his time reading until, two days later, Elia brought him to the trial room.
“Okay! It’s my trial this time!”
She looked tired, as if she’d stayed up all night, but her eyes were shining.
Before long, the other magicians arrived. Butler, still not fully recovered, staggered to his seat.
“My trial is my magic—puppetry!”
She spread her arms, and two white puppets flew over, standing before Taesan and Elia.
“We don’t fight directly. Instead, we control the puppets to battle! If you win, you pass! What do you think?”
“But I don’t know how to use puppetry.”
“Don’t worry! I’ll teach you the basics.”
Elia approached and took Taesan’s hand. The flow of mana penetrated Taesan.
He read, analyzed, and understood it.
“Normally, it wouldn’t be possible to learn this way, but you’re much stronger than me. You should be able to pick up the basics. If you focus on your mana…”
“I’m ready.”
[You have learned Puppetry.]
“…That was fast.”
Elia mumbled with a sour expression. She’d thought it would take at least an hour.
“So, how is it?”
“It’s awkward.”
“Right?”
Elia grinned and spun her mana.
“Then let’s begin the trial!”
The puppet rushed forward—its movements fast and fierce.
A battle of puppets, unrelated to the user’s strength. Since Taesan had only just learned puppetry, he shouldn’t be able to control it well.
With his overwhelmingly higher level, he’d get used to it quickly, but at first, there was a good chance he’d lose.
But Taesan had no intention of doing that.
There was no restriction that he had to use only magic.
Taesan connected his mana to the puppet and spoke.
“Work for me.”
[You have activated Declaration of Operation.] (T/N: What a cheat. LOL.)
The puppet jolted and raised its head.
Thud!
The puppet charged. It was faster and wilder than Elia’s puppet.
“Wha—?”
Elia, who’d thought Taesan wouldn’t be able to control his puppet properly, let out a startled cry without thinking.
The puppets collided, and Elia’s puppet was instantly overpowered.
Elia desperately manipulated her puppet, which moved smoothly, like a person. She was certainly a skilled puppeteer.
But that was her limit.
What inhabited Taesan’s puppet was the command of an immortal. The difference in rank was overwhelming. Elia’s puppet was destroyed in an instant.
“…I lost.”
The magic she had devoted her life to—her own puppetry—was shattered by a single word from Taesan. Her pride crumbled.
After that, the magicians each tested Taesan with their own magic.
But none of them reached him.
The magician who manipulated plants—Constria’s trial was to block plants that burrowed into the body.
The plants didn’t even touch Taesan’s skin. The trial ended instantly.
The next magician’s trial was to block the concentration of pure mana.
Taesan simply waved his hand. All the mana that had been gathered to the point of exhaustion by the magician disappeared with that light gesture.
“…Ha.”
The magician let out a hollow laugh.
The difference was literally in a whole other league.
The magic they had created was meaningless against Taesan.
At the same time, Taesan analyzed the magicians’ magic.
Their magic was indeed diverse and varied. Depending on the application, it could be helpful to Taesan as well.
But the more he learned, the clearer it became.
“Zervand’s magic is superior.”
“…It hurts to hear that.”
Elia looked wounded.
“You asked what I thought of your magic. That’s my answer.”
Their magic was certainly unique and diverse.
But that was all.
By obsessing over niche aspects, their magic lost power. Its versatility was also quite low.
There was little reason to learn it. Compared to the magic Taesan learned in the labyrinth, it was undoubtedly a lower tier.
“It might be unnecessary advice, but you’d be better off continuing to study Zervand’s magic instead of making your own.”
They were certainly strong. The fact that Elia handled intermediate magic so naturally was proof enough.
They were magicians on par with Shaiyan, who claimed the title of Archmage.
If they fought properly, they could put up a decent fight against Taesan.
But they had forgotten their own strength.
They were trapped by their obsession with their own magic.
“At your current level, you can’t learn advanced magic.”
Even Shaiyan could only barely wield primitive advanced magic by relying on the labyrinth’s system and equipment. Those on the same level as him couldn’t possibly handle advanced magic.
“I thought so.”
Elia gave a bitter smile.
She knew deep down that what they were doing was pointless.
But it was suffocating.
No matter how hard they tried, the path to advanced magic was nowhere to be seen. As a result, the seven magicians chose escapism—deciding to create their own magic.
“So Zervand understood and granted our request…”
Elia realized it was to show that, in the end, the magic they created amounted to nothing more than child’s play before a true master.
She let out a groan.
“I guess we really can’t be like Grandpa.”
It wasn’t hard to guess who she meant by Grandpa.
“You mean the master of the tower.”
“Yeah. He’s been here since the tower was built, a magician who reached the peak with his own magic without ever learning Zervand’s spells. He’s also the reason we started this foolish quest to create our own magic. We had an example of someone who actually succeeded right beside us.”
A magician who reached immortality with his own magic.
Elia grinned.
“Our magic might look clumsy and low-level to someone like you who learned Zervand’s magic, but Grandpa’s is different. His trial will give you a hard time.”
“I understand.”
Taesan replied calmly.
The trials continued. Naturally, none could stop Taesan.
Time passed, and only two trials remained.
“This is my trial.”
A short, bearded middle-aged man revealed a massive device.
“The masterpiece of my magic engineering—this machine itself. Make it work without breaking it.”
He grinned confidently, certain Taesan wouldn’t clear the trial easily.
Taesan was undeniably powerful, but this wasn’t a matter of strength, it was a matter of skill. He was convinced Taesan couldn’t pass without understanding the technology.
He wasn’t wrong—Taesan knew nothing about the device’s technology.
But Taesan instinctively knew exactly how to operate and control the machine.
[Kang Taesan’s authority manifests. King of Machinery is activated.]
Mana flowed out naturally. The old man, who’d been silently watching, jumped to his feet. Elia beside him started in surprise.
“Grandpa? What’s wrong?”
The old man didn’t answer, only stared wide-eyed at Taesan.
“…How?”
A voice filled with confusion rang out as the device started up with a whir.
* * *
Taesan moved forward.
He walked a long hallway and opened the door at its end.
Clunk.
A vast space appeared—antique wooden floors and walls.
The space seemed expanded, its end nowhere in sight. When he stomped, he felt a strong rebound from the floor.
“This is a space created by Zervand himself. No matter how wildly you go, destruction is impossible, so don’t worry about that.”
In the center of the vast hall stood the old man.
Holding a staff, dressed in an ashen robe, he looked at Taesan with steady eyes.
“Where are the other magicians?”
“If they stayed here, they might get caught up in this, so they’re watching from elsewhere.”
The old man tapped his staff.
“I am Wirad. Just Wirad.”
He didn’t mention a school. The reason was obvious—such distinctions meant nothing to the old man who called himself Wirad.
“The rules?”
“All power except for magic is sealed.”
The staff pointed at Taesan. A powerful rule bound him.
[Active skill [Heavy Strike] is sealed. Active skill [Acceleration] is sealed. Passive skill [Quick Judgment] is sealed…]
System windows filled his vision.
Nearly all skills except magic were sealed.
“This is the God of Magic, Zervand’s trial. As long as you take the trial, you cannot break the rules.”
Taesan clenched and unclenched his fist. With even passive skills sealed, his whole body felt different from usual.
“What’s next?”
“Make me step out of this circle.”
At Wirad’s feet was a circle just big enough for a person.
“Succeed, and you pass the final trial.”
“Simple enough.”
Taesan gathered all his strength.
The seven previous trials were nothing but a warm-up.
They meant nothing, held no value. Zervand surely knew that, too.
Yet, by accepting their proposals, he made one thing clear.
This magician alone was enough to serve as a worthy trial for advanced magic.
Wirad looked at Taesan with a wavering gaze.
“What are you…?”
“An adventurer of the labyrinth. And someone who has reached the same level as you.”
“No. You’re… different. You’re not the same as me at the fundamental level.”
Wirad fell silent.
After a moment of contemplation, he shook his head and raised his staff.
“Regardless, I am the examiner. Pass my trial.”
Wheeee.
Power flowed from the staff.
It seized the space and began to dominate the world.
“The magic I wield is extremely simple. What does this look like to you?”
Wirad tapped the air with his staff.
A black dot appeared.
“A dot.”
“Yes. This is a dot.”
Wirad pulled his staff horizontally.
The dot stretched into a line.
“This is a line. It’s made by stretching the dot into a straight line.”
Wirad pulled his staff upward. The line stretched upward.
“This is a plane. It’s made by extending the line vertically.”
A black plane appeared in midair.
“Dot, line, and plane. These three are my unique magic and authority.”
Wirad’s robe fluttered.
Mana began to engulf the world.
“Come. Unfathomable immortal. Challenge my authority.”
[Wirad’s authority manifests. Dimensional Definition is activated.]
