Chapter 312: Dragon Language Magic and Metamagic, Abyssal Mage

“……”

A look of shock lingered on the examiner’s face. The girl’s relentless, storm-like barrage had left her no room to counter, and in a heartbeat, the battle was over.

This was the reality of combat: while there was strategy, it played out in mere instants. There were no protracted brainstorms; high-frequency clashes dictated the outcome with swiftness. Whoever triumphed in the exchange of wits became the victor of the fight.

“You have passed the assessment. I lost completely. I cannot deny that I was somewhat careless, but your combat talent and experience are undoubtedly superior to mine. If your strength were on par with m…”

As a Grand Mage, the examiner had served in the mage towers of several human kingdoms in her youth and had seen her fair share of combat during missions. Compared to pure academics who reached this level solely through meditation, her understanding of battle was far deeper.

In her eyes, the girl was a more natural combatant than she. If Elvia were a Grand Mage like her, the result of a real duel would likely remain unchanged. It was a pity the girl was so young; at this age, no matter how one exaggerated, she could only be a Formal Mage.

She spoke the words announcing the result, adding a touch of personal evaluation, but she trailed off mid-sentence. Though her expression remained composed due to her discipline, her heart was struck by a wave of shock and frustration.

The magic barrier was lowered, and the suppression arrays protecting the arena were deactivated. The examiner clearly sensed the fluctuations radiating from Elvia’s mana core: the girl was, in fact, a Grand Mage.

A Grand Mage at this age—what terrifying talent. Compared to this young girl, what was she, a mage who had considered herself a prodigy among her peers?

She shook her head helplessly, correcting herself with a hint of embarrassment. Comparisons were odious; some people were simply born exceptional. There was no need to doubt herself because of such dazzling individuals. After all, they had nothing to do with her; focusing on her own path was enough.

“It seems I misjudged you. You are absolutely the most talented candidate I have seen in all these years, both in combat and in the way of magic.”

The girl bowed to the examiner, offered a polite word of thanks, and turned to leave the arena.

The girl’s brilliance was rarely sharp or exposed, partly due to her reserved nature, and partly because, in following Wang Yu, her extraordinary abilities were often overshadowed by his eccentricities.

But in truth, comparing Elvia to her peers revealed just how exceptional she was: the combat instincts honed through life-and-death struggles, a mage’s talent that was perhaps unprecedented, and a stunning mastery of alchemy.

Any other spellcaster comparing themselves to Elvia would find it hard not to feel the gap between them, a frustration born from the depths of their hearts.

At the arena exit, staff upgraded the girl’s identity card. From this moment, both Zig and Elvia held the status of “Scholar,” which meant the public archives library was now open to them.

“These quotes from Merlin are quite interesting. ‘A sage is not necessarily a sage forever,’ and ‘When you no longer possess the ability of a pioneer, you should hand the banner in your hand to others.’”

Elvia walked to the waiting area, where Wang Yu was flipping through the Endless Pages, chatting with Zig about the anecdotes in the book. He found that the words of the famous figures in this world were surprisingly philosophical.

“Ahem, while these words are indeed very reasonable, is there a possibility that these were recorded by others while they were saying something completely unrelated?”

Zig coughed, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“How so?”

Wang Yu raised an eyebrow, realizing something.

“I read a story about Merlin written by his friend, which mentioned this quote. In reality, Merlin said it because he didn’t want to do the material processing, so he wanted to hand off this work—which only a ‘pioneer’ could handle—to his friend.”

Zig spread his hands, sharing what he knew with Wang Yu.

“Uh, well, that’s actually quite normal. After all, the author of this book is Merlin’s own creation. It’s no problem to beautify one’s own creator.”

Wang Yu flipped further back and found that was indeed the case. The deeds of other famous figures were recorded in full, but for Merlin, only those that fit his stature were kept; any embarrassing blunders were entirely omitted.

It was no surprise to Wang Yu; on Earth, there were plenty of people who took snippets of great men’s words as maxims, regardless of the original context. It was enough for future generations to glean some wisdom from them.

“Assessment finished?”

Noticing Elvia approaching from afar, Wang Yu closed the Endless Pages and turned to ask.

“Yes, I passed. Now, the Professor and I can go to the public archives on the 64th to 76th floors of the Scholar’s Tower to check the records. Professor, didn’t you say there was something you really wanted to verify? We might as well go look it up now.”

Elvia held up her identity card, which now bore a clear, engraved ring signifying her status as a “Scholar.”

“Indeed, I do have a hypothesis, but I need more data to prove it. Let’s go check now.”

Zig nodded; he intended to verify a theory he had formed after witnessing the giant staff at the Truth Oversight Committee.

“Then I’ll go retrieve the ore materials I left with the wizards and book my next assessment.”

Wang Yu waved goodbye to the two as they headed for the library. He intended to take the Scholar assessment later; having gauged the difficulty, he felt it wasn’t impossible for him to pass.

Although he wasn’t as learned as Zig or Elvia, he had never slacked in his studies, and his accumulation of knowledge was quite sufficient.

The three parted ways. Zig and Elvia entered the teleportation array for the public archives, while Wang Yu headed toward the area of the Sky Mechanical City where void research and wizard professionals gathered.

Arriving at the 64th floor, a massive library appeared before Elvia and Zig. Dense rows of books filled the shelves, and long tables and wooden chairs were arranged neatly. Many scholars were already seated, studying the books they needed.

Though there were many people, there was not a hint of noise. The presence of a silence barrier ensured the library remained quiet—a place where one could truly settle their mind to learn.

There was no need to worry about a book being unavailable because someone else had borrowed it; any book taken would naturally generate identical magical pages in its original spot.

“I’m going to collect some alchemy materials, as well as the books on the starry sky and space that Wang Yu needs.”

Elvia told the Professor and walked toward the upper levels of the library. The collections varied by floor, and alchemy texts were located several levels higher.

Zig approached a crystal ball at the library entrance and began to operate the mana projection appearing above it. The array, similar to a library management system, helped users find the books they required.

Following the guide, Zig took the necessary books from the shelves, placed them on a long table, and began to read intently.

The pages rustled softly. Zig read through the books on basic mana circuits rapidly, his hypothesis being confirmed bit by bit.

His expression grew complex. Zig had not expected that a spark of inspiration, struck by chance, might actually be true.

“The reason Dragon Language magic is so superior to normal spellcasting is that, under the special conditions of the dragons themselves, they achieve what the Truth Oversight Committee calls ‘Super-Magic’…”

…

“The scent of the void is thick. It’s a good thing this is the Sky Mechanical City, with a large number of alchemical golems that are resistant to the void’s influence, ensuring that if the wizards’ research goes wrong, it can be suppressed at high speed.”

Wang Yu walked down the streets of the wizard district in the Sky Mechanical City. Even with many reality-stabilizing spears set up, the concentration of void energy here was significantly higher than elsewhere.

Wang Yu and his companions still lacked the ability to process the alchemy materials collected from the Undead Plane; they had to be handed over to the wizards here for qualitative transformation. Wang Yu had come to retrieve the processed materials.

“Boom, crack!”

Turning a street corner, Wang Yu heard the sound of something exploding. The sound of crumbling masonry and bending metal rang out incessantly, and the automatic alarm system on the street was triggered immediately.

“Trouble again? These experimentalists are truly something else.”

He looked up toward the source of the blast. The roof of a building serving as a laboratory had been blown open, strange-colored smoke billowing out, with flames flickering at the jagged edges.

In the Sky Mechanical City, such things were common. Experiments always had their mishaps, and explosions were almost unavoidable when high-energy experiments went awry. Blowing up two labs in three days was the norm.

Wang Yu stopped and waited where he was. In the wizard district, such incidents often involved the void, so he wouldn’t go over to gawk and invite trouble. He would wait for the alchemical golems to clean up the mess.

“I suggest you leave here as quickly as possible. The one who caused this accident is a runaway mage. He is an Abyss Mage, and it seems he is coming toward you. Not ‘seems’—he is definitely coming for you.”

Just as Wang Yu frowned at the persistent noise from the lab, a streetlamp behind him twisted and deformed, and Astartes’ voice emerged from it, warning him.

“An Abyss Mage?”

The term stunned Wang Yu, but the warning made him enter a state of combat readiness without hesitation.

Battle aura surged, blood-colored armor manifested, and the Broken Meteorite Blade appeared in his hand. He turned vigilantly toward the direction of the growing explosions. As Astartes had said, something was heading his way, and its target was clearly him.

“He’s here.”

Astartes’ warning and Wang Yu’s perception of the Abyss Mage’s attack arrived at the same moment. The wall of the building in front of him shattered, and a massive, gray-purple tentacle covered in claws burst through the obstacle, crashing down toward Wang Yu below.