21st Century Archmage

Chapter 71: The Disciples of Aidal Magic Tower

“We found them.”

‘Finally!’

The short rainy period was almost over. Yesterday, the ten-day nonstop drizzle began to falter, signaling the near end of the rain.

Sometime during the evening, Information Guildmaster Smearns came to see me, his face shining with confidence.

“Where are they?”

“Haha, they were located at a place that is closer but further than expected.”

‘Closer but further?’

As if to prove he was the Guildmaster of an organization dealing with secrets, Smearns lightly skirted my question with a joke.

“You can settle the payment at the Rubis Merchants under my name.”

I had earned 10 million Gold after selling the dwarven goods. On top of that, the monster hides acquired through the monster subjugation were exchanged for 2 million Gold in cash. I was also able to gain a pretty tasty sum from the hides of the dead Temir wyverns. In short, I wasn’t short of money to spend.

“They are in the Laviter Empire. We’ve confirmed their whereabouts very recently through a stroke of luck; this information hasn’t even been shared with other places yet.”

The promise of money loosened Smearns’ lips. He was truly an information merchant who lived and died for money.

“How many are there in total?”

“We were unable to determine those exact details. Ah and this information will soon be sent to the other magic towers.”

‘Eh?’

“We have a 100-year-long automatic contract with the magic towers. It is a contract where information related to the Golden-Eyed Reaper Aidal and his subordinate mages will be immediately relayed to the magic towers for a minimum of 100 years.”

‘Geh! Those vicious bastards.’

The magic towers had more persistence than a frickin’ honey badger. Who the hell demanded information for not just ten years, but a hundred?? If you looked at it another way, you could tell from the magic towers’ actions just how much notoriety Master had garnered during his time in the spotlight..

“Where is their exact location?”

I had to move quickly before the information reached the magic towers. We only had a few mercenary ‘mages’ barely at the 3rd Circle, so high circle mages were desperately needed for territory development. Sadly, cloning myself was impossible.

“They are living in hiding in the Kovilan Mountains.”

“K-Kovilan?”

“Yes, sir. Not too long ago, a few mercenary hunters found themselves deep in the Kovilan Mountains and stumbled upon a cave magic tower inhabited by mages. If those hunters hadn’t made that chance discovery, our Information Guild would have likely been unable to find them.”

“And how were you able to confirm that they are disciples of Aidal?”

“That, too, was simple. According to the information one of our S-Grade guild members found out by getting closer, the spells used by the mages while hunting is an exact match to the offensive magic previously invented by Archmage Aidal in our records. The reliability of this information is 90%.”

“Mm…”

90% reliability from the Information Guild meant that there was nothing more to ask.

“Thank you.”

“You are an S-Grade customer of our Information Guild, my lord. If there is any information you need in the future, please, just ask. We will serve you with a special discount.”

This guy’s ‘special discount’ was definitely the same as those 21st century model scamming methods where either the amount was reduced or additional fees were attached in the name of ‘discount.’ But Smearns was offering me such a discount with a guiltless face.

‘I have a shitty history with ‘free’ and ‘discount!’ You’re asking for a beating!’

Smearns didn’t know that I ended up meeting Bumdalf by getting lured by the word ‘free’ and got hurled all the way in the middle of who knows where. I met his beaming smile with an irritated, bitter one.

“The location is marked here. It is special information, but because of the contract with the magic towers, they will be informed around the time I leave the covert.”

“I understand.”

“Um… But why are you looking for them, sir?”

He was a crafty fox. Even after putting a neat sum in his pocket, Smearns was trying to dig up even more information.

“Didn’t I tell you that you would get hurt if you tried to pry too much?”

A cold smile appeared on my lips.

It seemed a beating was in order.

“Ha, haha. It was a joke, a joke.”

Smearns laughed to clear the awkwardness.

I gave him a dark look. “Am I someone you can joke with right now?”

“I, I deeply apologize!”

Thud!

Smears, who made a lame attempt to defy me, the big fish here, must have felt the danger to his life at my cold words and fell to his knees at once.

“Allow me to give you one last warning.”

“…..”

Smearns listened with his head bowed low.

“Collecting information is all good, but if you ever outwardly dare to spy on me and my territory, you and your Information Guild will be eternally erased from Nerman. This I promise, on my name of Kyre de Adaron.”

We could be neither close nor distant.

I had to draw the boundaries.

This was my honest advice. Who in the world would want information about them to leak out left and right?

“I will keep that in mind, Your Lordship.”

Smearns bowed, seemingly understanding my intent. In the future, he wouldn’t be able to look down on me in his heart anymore. If he was smart, he should be able to see the veiled dagger in my smile.

“You are dismissed.”

“I wish you a comfortable rest.”

Smearns rose from his spot, bowed, and left. I didn’t respond to his farewell and just picked up the wax-sealed document he had given me.

‘Isn’t the Laviter Empire the main activity area of the Gauss Magic Tower?’

I had a strong feeling that it was dangerous. If they were so cautious that they would keep tabs on Aidal’s mages for a hundred years, the other magic towers would not stand idle.

I unsealed the document with a rustle and examined the place marked as the exact location.

‘To think they have been holding out all this time in the middle of the mountains….’

There were several enormous mountain ranges spread out over the continent. The small ones were the size of a dukedom, while the bigger ones were the size of kingdoms.

There were many places still untouched by humans in those mountains. They were swarming with not just monsters, but demon beasts as well.

‘I’ll depart as soon as the day breaks tomorrow.’

I made up my mind.

The people connected to Master Bumdalf were people deeply connected to me as well.

‘Huhu. You’re all mine.’

I laughed silently to myself.

They were my prey.

Because the master’s possessions were the disciples’ possessions.

* * *

Flap, flap, flap flap flap flap.

‘It’s almost like a lie.’

The rain that had continued to fall until last night had completely disappeared. The low clouds that had blanketed the sky for ten days had all disappeared without a trace, as if they had never been there, replaced by beaming rays of sun that lit up the earth.

“Wow….”

I couldn’t suppress the exclamation of wonder that burst from me as I looked at the land from above Bebeto’s back.

Having received the kiss of rain, the land was different from just ten days ago.

As if transforming from a girl to a woman, the earth was changing its clothes. It was becoming a lady dressed in dark, mature green rather than immature, bright green.

‘This is my land!’

I hadn’t completely made it mine yet, but everyone called me the master of this land, the lord.

“Higher, Bebeto! Higher!”

A certain feeling flourished in me as I gazed down at the earth. The dreams plugged up in my heart thrummed, filling me with energy.

I took a deep breath.

“Haaaaaaaa!”

GUOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Bebeto ascended towards the sky with powerful beats of his wings.

I couldn’t be happier.

Because I had a dream, I had hope, and the courage to defeat fear, my future would unfurl beautifully before me.

I would have it all.

The things only I could make would be created on this land.

Archmage Kyre from the 21st century!

That mighty name would become known far and wide on the continent.

Because my dream was more marvelous and beautiful than any other….

* * *

“Please be careful, Your Imperial Highness. There is a high possibility that they are dangerous black mages.”

“Haha, do not worry. If I were to ignore the fact that there are black mages on empire territory, how could I ever become this empire’s Crown Prince?”

“Still….”

“Didn’t you yourself say it was fine? Stop worrying and let us depart. No matter how strong they are, what worries could there be with you, a 6th Circle Master, and Skyknights of the Imperial Guard around? Moreover, the Skyknights of the ducal house of Yanovis said they would come with us.”

‘To think that the information would fall into the Imperial Prince’s ears…’

One of the court mages of the Laviter Empire, the 6th Circle mage Dorvit, felt bitterness in his heart at the Imperial Prince’s words.

Due to the characteristics of its location, the Laviter Empire was the main point of activity for the mages of the Gauss Magic Tower.

Viscount Dorvit, who was in charge of information for the Gauss Magic Tower, was currently in a conundrum.

When Second Imperial Prince Alskane, with whom Dorvit was close, said he wanted to go for summer break to Yanovis Duchy, the territory of his maternal grandfather, Dorvit had followed without hesitation. The Second Prince was more trusted by the Emperor and other nobles than the Crown Prince. It was necessary to look good in his eyes, so the Gauss Magic Tower intentionally sent Dorvit to get close.

However, that became a problem.

Yesterday night, a certain member of the Information Guild came looking for Dorvit.

As the person in charge of Gauss Magic Tower’s information, the Information Guild member gave him information that was said to have come from a contract 100 years ago. Hearing that, Dorvit was dumbfounded and threw the envelope to the corner of his room. But then he left his room for a moment and came back to find the Imperial Prince reading the document inside his room.

It was very fortunate that the Information Guild had encrypted the important phrases with magic that only mages could decipher. Otherwise, everything would have been revealed.

And then, the hunt for the black mage was suddenly on. 18 years old this year and full of spirit, the Imperial Prince got excited by the cover-up Dorvit concocted and exclaimed that they would immediately leave to eradicate the black mages.

‘To think that there were still Aidail Magic Tower bastards alive… Persistent scum.’

Many years had passed, so Dorvit didn’t know the details, but he heard that after the sudden disappearance of Aidal 100 years ago, extensive wars broke out. The magic towers that had cowered under Aidal’s suppression and the empires and kingdoms that had held back their tears and offered Aidal tributes united and attacked. Their targets were the dozens of Aidal Magic Tower branches all over the continent, and the Aidal central 30-story magic tower that was the biggest and tallest in the continent was destroyed.

At the same time, the hunt began. Hundreds of high-circle mages who had learned magic at the Aidal Magic Tower were decapitated, and the extensive clean-up operation lasted for ten years.

In that fashion, the Aidal Magic Tower disappeared into the annals of history.

In the years afterward, Aidal Magic Tower mages were occasionally discovered and killed, and in the last decades, none had appeared. But like resilient cockroaches, there were seeds of the Aidal Magic Tower still growing in the Kovilan Mountains.

‘I informed the magic tower, so they will take action soon.’

He had ascended to the 6th Circle not too long ago, so he wasn’t yet a vice-master, but Dorvit was sure to claim the newly-vacated vice-master position. He even had the thought that it would be good to use this opportunity to properly show some results.

‘Ten Skyknights of the Imperial Guard and ten regular Skyknights. If a 6th Circle mage and the 5th Circle territory mage go as well, then it should be doable.’

As the years passed, Skyknights took a more important role than mages. Even if a mage could cast Fly and an offensive spell at the same time, they couldn’t beat a Blessed Spear that could be pulled out at a moment’s notice.

If need be, running away would be easy, too.

“Sigh… Understood. But you must not stand on the frontlines, Your Imperial Highness. If you were to get injured, then the Skyknights and I will be the ones to pay for it.”

“Hahaha. Don’t worry about that. Who in the world could punch through the Imperial Family’s Skyknights and injure me? Then, let us depart now. It wouldn’t be good if those black mages were to flee.”

Alskane was full of excitement, as if they were going on a picnic. He jumped onto a Gold Wyvern, the representative wyvern breed of the Laviter Empire.

“Depart!” shouted the Imperial Prince with a pull of his wyvern’s reins.

Flap flap, flap flap flap.

Ten golden wyverns followed the Imperial Prince, flapping their wings and surging into the sky, and behind them, Dorvit’s magic tower wyvern and the ten grey wyverns of Yanovis Duchy leapt into the air.

With that, the sudden mage subjugation began.

The Skyknights were just as excited as the Imperial Prince.

* * *

‘How refreshing!’ After flying so wildly that even the flat plains looked curved, we arrived at the Kovilan Mountains, a place we were able to reach after flying six hours straight from Denfors.

Before me now was a dense carpet of forest. The smell of evergreens drifted all the way into the sky, refreshing my mood.

‘It’s not safe here, so we can’t even rest.’

These days, serving me was testing Bebeto’s endurance hardcore. Any other wyvern would have needed an hour or so of rest after flying like this, but Bebeto took it in stride. He wasn’t flying at his maximum speed and he knew how to use the wind currents in the sky, so it was less taxing.

‘So this place is also part of my territory, huh.’

According to the map of Nerman hanging in my office, half of the Rual Mountains on the boundary with the Bajran Empire and half of the Kovilan Mountains on the boundary with the Laviter Empire were marked as my territory. You could even say Nerman was bigger overall than the neighboring Havis Kingdom.

‘There are less monsters than I expected.’

There were way fewer monsters here than in the Rual Mountains; the two couldn’t be compared. It seemed that was because the Kovilan Mountains weren’t part of the great mountain range formed by the combined Rual and Litore Mountains and even the continent’s Mother Mountains, where the Temir lived. There was probably the influence of Havis and Laviter’s regular monster subjugation, too.

‘Ready or not, here I come~’

The path to find the seeds left behind by Master 100 years ago was more pleasant than I expected, even though I didn’t know what kind of reaction they would show if I suddenly showed up saying that I was Aidal’s disciple.

Whooooooosh.

Swoooooooooooooosh.

The wind blowing from the sea rode up the mountains into the sky. Riding that wind, Bebeto and I played in the waves.

The unlimited freedom offered by the sky.

It was like a first kiss, something you would never forget in your life.

* * *

‘Ara, what’s with that wyvern flock?’

I took a short break to eat jerky and drink some water on the way. In order to reach the center of the Kovilan Mountains, you had to fly at least three hours. That’s why we spent a sweet, sweet break after discovering a small lake, then continued on our way.

But then, I caught sight of a flock of wyverns in the far distance.

They were too far away, so they only appeared as black dots even with the mana scope installed in my helmet. If not for the golden light shining into my eyes, I might have not even seen them.

‘Aren’t they going the same direction as me?’

The unidentified group of wyverns were flying in the same direction as me, going straight towards the center of the large, triangle mountain on the map.

‘It can’t be?’

I suddenly thought of what Information Guildmaster Smearns had said; the information was already contracted, so it would be sent to other magic towers.

This was much faster than I expected, though. I left the next day after getting the information, but I didn’t think they would show up so soon.

I silently pulled the reins, moving Bebeto higher into the sky. Whatever the reason, I decided to just follow them for now.

‘If you lay even a finger on my prey… Just know you’re all dead.’

Murphy’s Law existed for a reason–it wouldn’t be the first or second time a ‘maybe’ became reality.

The number of enemies was pretty significant, but I didn’t fear them anymore.

Just like how children grew up through wrestling, I could now proudly say that I had grown enough to cover my ‘food expenses’.

Of course, if they were unrelated, then that was fine too.

* * *

‘These sons of bitches!’

I had followed them for 30 minutes.

The bastards arrived exactly at the mountain and valley marked on the map from the Information Guild. They circled a few times in the sky before ten wyverns descended and landed.

‘Let’s just see what they do, shall we?’

I was able to confirm that they were definitely not visiting for happy fun times. The golden wyverns were particularly concerning. From what I heard, they were the Gold Wyverns representing the Laviter Empire.

Swoosh.

There were rather large mountain peaks in the area where they were circling, so I carefully led Bebeto and hid somewhere nearby.

“Bebeto, come out immediately when I call.”

Guo guo.

Smart Bebeto nodded in understanding.

The distance to the other party was around 3 kilometers. I landed Bebeto halfway up a mountain and sprang off. I couldn’t cast Fly, so I used mana steps to run through the forest.

‘Magic traps, huh.’

I saw the kinds of magic traps Master liked to use rigged everywhere, ranging from silent sinkhole traps to Air Missile, which would be used for hunting. They were installed all over the forest, and thanks to that, the area was free of monsters.

However, these methods were too simple to catch me. It was like waving elementary literature in front of Confucius or an addition problem in front of a math professor; the traps could not restrain me at all. I lightly skirted the trees and mana traps as I accelerated.

BOOOOM!

Just then, I heard an enormous boom that shook my eardrums.

Ba-ba-ba-bam!

“…..!!!!!”

Then, another explosion.

‘These fuckers!’

These people were doing something as rude as blowing your nose right in front of someone about to eat.

Schwing.

I unsheathed my sword.

If it became clear that the people getting attacked were Master’s disciples, I would reduce these poachers to sorry sons-of-bitches trembling in their own piss.

* * *

“Protect His Highness!”

Cl-cl-cl-clang!

“Inferno!”

Whiiiiirrr.

In a clearing in front of an enormous, open cave around 10 meters tall, Gold Wyverns were grounded side by side, and the Guard Knights protecting the Imperial Prince were standing with their swords drawn.

Then, the court mage Dorvit raised his mana staff and cast a 5th Circle fire AOE spell, Inferno.

The mage’s mana, the staff’s mana, and the atmospheric mana gathered in front of Dorvit.

Flaaaash.

But that only lasted for a moment—after a 2 second delay, the large and red mana ray on the staff shot off towards the cave.

Flash!

At that moment, as if anticipating Dorvit’s attack, a blue mana light appeared from within the cave.

Whiiiirr.

And then, a wave-like Water Shield was cast over the entrance.

Booooooom!

The 2 meter large flame magic crashed into the shield and exploded with a loud boom.

‘These sacks of shit!’

Dorvit usually conducted himself as a noble mage, so he didn’t often curse.

But right now, he was becoming a laughing stock in front of the Imperial Prince. When he sent magic towards the cave, a spell came from within the cave to counter it. They were only 4th Circle shields, but they squashed his magic every single time.

‘It isn’t a high-circle mage, but a 4th Circle mage at best. But the bastard has the mana quantity of a 5th Circle mage.’

He was a mage, so he knew exactly what was happening. They had exchanged spells five times already. The 5th Circle Yanovis mage had attacked twice, Dorvit three times. However, the magic attacks failed each time.

“Sir Dorvit, how much longer will it take?”

Not a single hair of the enemy mage could be seen, so the Imperial Prince was slightly annoyed. His golden, curly hair and stubborn eyes and lips directly reflected his personality; he was someone who always had to achieve his goal.

“I beseech you to wait a short while longer.”

Since he was in front of the Imperial Prince, Dorvit couldn’t even frown. He bowed his head a little as he spoke.

‘You bastards, have a taste of this.’

Dorvit, who was humiliated while trying to eliminate the booby trap spells at the entrance, clenched his teeth as he raised his staff in order to cast a 6th Circle spell.

“Song of fire, o’ children of flame filled with hot desire, cast thy breath here and now!”

The incantation for a 6th Circle attack spell flowed from his lips.

Whiiiiirr.

As soon as the incantation finished, red mana the size of a watermelon gathered around his staff.

“Flame Cannon!”

A furious ball of flame hurtled towards the cave entrance, so hot that the air around it shimmered.

Ziinnng.

Naturally, a counter spell came flying from within the cave. They must have perceived the danger, because three Water Shields like the one before were cast in quick succession.

Booom! Booom! Boooooom!

However, a 6th Circle spell wasn’t a 6th Circle spell for nothing. Dorvit’s Flame Cannon punched through the shields and disappeared into the cave.

BOOOOOOOM!

A lump of flame exploded within the cave.

Fwooooooooosh.

Then, unable to control their power, the flames rushed out of the cave with a wave of heat.

“OHHH! 6th Circle magic is indeed beautiful!”

Completely unconcerned about the life or death of the people inside the cave, Prince Alskane exclaimed with excitement.

Even an imperial prince wouldn’t have many opportunities to see 6th Circle attack magic. Once one became a 6th Circle mage, most people would become ranked nobles or high ranking executives of a magic tower, so they could not be carelessly ordered around.

‘Huhu, if they’re alive, they’ll crawl out.’

According to the information given by the Information Guild, the cave wasn’t that deep. And with this level of magic barrage, they would have no choice but to come out. A properly cast 6th Circle fire spell was strong enough to melt a thick steel door.

“They’re coming out!” shouted the knights looking into the cave after hearing something.

Everyone in the clearing craned their ears to hear the several pairs of footsteps coming from the still-blazing cave.

“!!”

“W-What!”

Everyone watching the cave with anticipation exclaimed in astonishment after they saw what was slowly emerging from the cave.

Because of the magic, the clothes the people were wearing were almost completely burnt off.

No, they weren’t people.

Surprisingly, they were not humans.