◈ Episode 354. Poor Welcome Greeting (2)
『The Duel of Proof』
Even in the Magic Tower, only rumors abounded.
The last Proof Duel was quite some time ago, when Senios and Karimzeva faced off against each other as Adept and Senior Mages, respectively.
Linne, the adept mage, chimed in.
“The only one in the current Magic Tower who actually witnessed it was Elder Mage Yugweed! Perhaps we are in luck, Miss Jibril. To have such a rare sighting.”
“Well, I don’t think I’m lucky, Linne.”
“What do you mean……?”
“I mean that the seats aren’t very good.”
Sapphire Hall.
If the Crystal Hall presided over the great and small affairs of the Magic Tower.
The Sapphire Hall existed solely for the duel of proof.
Linne disagreed.
“It’s a shame. This is the position I took after carefully reading the structure of the Magic Tower. It’s also the best seat in the Sapphire Hall, and from here you can see everything! Look, Miss Jibril.”
Linne was right.
It was hard to find a better seat in the Sapphire Hall, packed with mages and players from all over the Magic Tower.
Especially up front like this.
“Wouldn’t we be able to confirm the reason for the unexpected conflict between Elder Yugweed and Chief Lee Hoyeol? At a distance like this, I’ll be able to clearly hear what they’re saying!”
It doesn’t happen often.
This demonstration duel had stunned even the Magic Tower mages.
Linne couldn’t hide a wry smile.
“At first, I thought that Chief Lee Hoyeol had applied for the Proof Duel. Why, in all honesty……. Achievements aside, if you look at influence alone, isn’t Chief Lee is in no way inferior to the other two, is he? It’s his short career that’s the problem!”
However, if Hoyeol wins the duel of proof against Yugweed.
Hoyeol will have proven his worth as an Elder Mage.
At the same time, Yugweed will have failed to prove her worth as an Elder Mage.
It means that the only flaw can be corrected.
“But it’s actually Elder Yugweed who suggested a proof duel! No matter how I think about it, I’m not convinced. This can only mean that there’s a conflict between the two of them that we don’t know about…….”
Linne never tired of talking.
Jibril, who had been quietly listening, finally exploded.
A pinch─!
“Eet?! Miss Jibril, if you suddenly tug on my ear, I’m going to……!”
“That’s why I said this is a bad seat, Linne.”
“Yes……?”
“How can you be so lighthearted, Linne, do you really want to talk like that, when there are so many outsiders around, not just apprentice mages?”
Again.
Linne’s eyes rolled.
“Hmm.”
Jibril was right.
Linne was surrounded by outsiders, adventurers. Those who had earned the right to vote in the election of the next Tower Master had used that right to attend the Proof Duel.
Klee put her hand on Linne’s ear and spoke.
“This is not a happy occasion, is it, Klee?”
She nodded.
Klee shook her head in response. She looked across at the senior mages, their expressions not unlike her own.
Klee made a guess.
‘……Was there some sort of conflict on the Arcana continent?’
It didn’t make sense otherwise.
A duel of proof.
Even if it was a friendly duel held under strict discipline.
The stakes were never light.
Marcelo, the chief mage.
He turned to Vangrit at his side.
“May I ask you a question, Senior Vangrit?”
“What? Of course, Chief!”
“Has there been some sort of conflict between the two of them on the Arcana continent that I am unaware of, otherwise this duel of proofs would never have happened…….”
Of course, there was no saying it wouldn’t happen.
There was a time when even he himself was dissatisfied with the elder mages. He’d played it over and over in his head, imagining himself engaging them in a duel of proof.
But.
“It’s too sudden.”
Shortly after returning to reality on the Arcana Continent.
Less than a day after returning to reality on the Arcana continent, he’d proposed a duel of proof, and he’d responded so readily to such a sudden offer. Marcelo felt uneasy, wondering if he had caused it.
Vangrit, remembering, spoke up.
“Well……. There’s no real conflict between them…….”
If it was serious enough, even Bensch William, the senior fire mage, kept his mouth shut. It was the players who were excited by the mages’ reactions.
“How did we end up seeing something like this?”
“I’m glad I came to vote as soon as I heard about it, man.”
“I can’t believe we got to see this up close.”
They knew well that it was just a light sparring level.
But what excites the public is not the incident.
It was a story related to that incident.
“Surely there must be a conflict, right? I’m not sure, but how obnoxious would that look from an elder mage’s point of view? A stone with a stone stuck in it that rolled in with a harsh word…….”
Seriously, the speculation never ends.
“Would you shut up?”
What stopped the players’ chatter with threats?
It was Rockid, the last seat of the Shadow Mercenaries.
Under normal circumstances, backstabbing at Commander Lee Hoyeol?
He wouldn’t just tolerate it, he’d join in. He didn’t know anything else, but his overly colorful fashion was not very good, and he secretly added a comment.
“I’m not in the mood to talk right now.”
But Rockid wasn’t in the mood right now.
“This big incident should have ended before I bet!”
Marcelo will be the next Tower Master!
It was Rockid who put all his money into the selection.
Now, out of nowhere, they’re having a proof duel.
Isn’t this the kind of duel where the winner ends the unity and gets the votes?
Rockid grits his teeth.
“Damn! If I lose this time, I won’t even be able to drink at the bar……. Kichi gave me an advance payment without any conditions, but there’s no way Wolf would allow that…….”
he take out his anger for no reason.
“So stop fussing and watch, okay?”
“…….”
Rockid’s sternness quiets the room.
The tension seems to increase.
In the silence, Bensch, who had been keeping his mouth shut, opens it.
“Good job, muscle mass.”
And then, on time.
Sapphire Hall.
“…… is here.”
The two doors facing each other open, revealing the protagonists of the duel. They move toward each other. They face each other in the center of the Sapphire Hall.
Yugweed is the first to speak.
“Chief Lee hates to be late for appointments, so I’m right on time. How about this? Are you able to participate in the duel of proof with satisfaction, Chief Lee?”
What that meant was simple.
Because I am ready.
Chief Lee, this means that you too are ready to act sincerely.
“Also……!”
Is it because it occupied a prestigious position?
Linne, who had been listening to the entire conversation, was stunned.
“See, there’s something about this place that just doesn’t feel right.”
But Jibril and Klee.
They don’t answer or even glance at Linne, instead focusing on Hoyeol, for the answer that comes out of his mouth will tell them what this Duel of Proof means.
Of course, once again, it’s more than they could have imagined.
“Elder Mage Yugweed.”
“I’m listening, Chief.”
“Do you think you can handle my sincerity?”
“……!!!”
*
Should I just say it out loud?
‘Please, just do it?’
When I first checked Yugweed’s letter, I thought it was right. I was a little shocked by the cold saying that even cold water has its ups and downs, but it means that I recognized the hidden meaning behind it.
‘You want to do it, next Tower Master!’
I, Lee Hoyeol, could have sworn it.
If I had to take on the role of the next Tower Master, I would be so overworked my head would spin. Right now, the only breaks I had in the day were tea breaks.
‘…… Well, I do drink more tea than most.’
But that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have enough personal time, does it?
Besides, from the moment the portal opened to the Arcana Continent. my radius of activity will double, and the number of things I’ll have to worry about will more than double.
So Yugweed’s letter was a kind of salvation for me. And now you’ve requested a Duel of Proof, Elder Mage Yugweed……!
“Do you think you can handle my sincerity?”
Yugweed taunts.
I swallowed hard as I watched the spouting snout of doom walk in, and I blamed Yugweed. No, you’re still that ignorant, aren’t you?
‘All you had to do was ask, and I would have given in.’
How’s that for proof?!
『For Grandfell, humility did not exist. Underestimation required proof, and overestimation required making it real.』
If it was proof, he welcomed it with open arms.
How could he refuse?
It was twisted, but perfectly twisted.
So here I am, standing in the Sapphire Hall, facing Yugweed.
Yugweed chuckles at my bold statement.
“Good for you, Chief. That’s the attitude I wanted.”
Then she unleashes her magic.
My hair stands on end under the pressure.
I feel it every time we meet……. It was clear that mages above the senior level of the Magic Tower had reached areas that were inaccessible to ordinary players.
‘How many magic stats do they have?’
The Mage Family, one of the most prestigious in the vast Arcana continent. A Magic Tower that only the most talented among the bloodlines of the Mage Family could enter. Senior and above mages who are at the pinnacle of their class.
Their talents can be analogized to players…….
‘I’m sure they have a bunch of unique stats and unique skills.’
But wouldn’t it be odd for me to look down on them?
with a bunch of unique stats and unique skills.
Because I was the same way.
Even.
‘If we add the halo of the Claudi family, it’s not bad.’
So, I also slowly raised my magic power.
[Magic Power: 727]
When it comes to absolute magic power, I have no choice but to lag behind.
Even if I put all my stat points into magic power, it wouldn’t have been enough.
I’ve invested points in Strength, Agility, and even Luck to develop a non-mage demon hunter, but I have enough unique skills to more than make up for the loss of points.
[Tenacity: 6].
Starting with [Tenacity], which is a variable stat.
[Transcendent: Your transcendent mastery is sufficient to be called a Transcendent. – Current Achievements: Circle (1,000% increase in all magic manifestations) / Sword of Pride (currently unleashed: Path 1) / None / None…….]
Circles forcibly liberated through elixirs.
Up to [Blessing of the First World Tree].
So even if you’re Yugweed, who is currently the strongest member of the Magic Tower.
She can’t overpower me by following the rules of the Proof Duel.
With that quote.
I was proud even though I was trembling.
……, but somehow Yugweed’s momentum is getting stronger.
kudeudeudeug─!
The ground shakes at the same time as it senses the feeling.
Like the Crystal Hall, the Sapphire Hall has special rules. It’s unlikely that the impact will reach the Magic Tower or even the nearest seats.
But it was being transmitted to me.
I could feel it in my gut.
Yugweed, she’s summoning a golem.
Yes, she is.
The same golem that brought the runaway Eunaxus down into the Zero Mountains.
She was summoning it in the Duel of Proof.
This is a strict violation of the rules……!
‘Practical magic, even the highest level magic?’
Even if it’s called a duel of proof, a duel is still a duel. Even Senios and Karimzeva, who were enemies to the core, hadn’t manifested enough magic to compete with each other in the duel.
But to summon a golem from the start?
No wonder Grandfell’s snout was not pleased.
“I see you’ve made up your mind to break the rules.”
It’s a harsh tone.
But does that mean she knows it?
Yugweed replies.
“Sometimes it is necessary to break even strict rules. Of course, I won’t force you. Because our Chief Lee cannot use his own will when it comes to discipline. however…….”
Guuuuung—!
A magnificent resonant sound.
At the same time, the golem’s magic heart glowed.
Yugweed, now on the golem’s palm, laughs.
“Do you think you can handle me without breaking your discipline?”
Shhhhhhhhhhhh!
The golem raises one of its legs.
As if it really wants to trample me.
A huge shadow casts overhead.
At that point, I was convinced.
‘Yugweed, I never meant to follow the rules in the first place.’
I wondered why she’d broken the rules, why she was being so unreasonable, and why she hadn’t asked me if she simply wanted to be the next Tower Master.
I finally realized why.
‘…… if my guess is correct.’
Yes, I was able to fit in as much as I wanted.
by the way.
I think you still don’t understand Grandfell nature.
Discipline, or procedure.
To Grandfell, even if it means death.
it must be followed!
Summon Golem, the highest level of magic.
In order to prevent the golem from digging the land
You must manifest the highest level of magic with equivalent power.
But I didn’t manifest any magic.
As I said.
In the Duel of Proof.
I was not allowed to manifest magic above intermediate level.
“……!”
As I fully recovered my magic power, I felt the presence of the golem stopping for just a moment.
As expected, it wasn’t sincere as I guessed.
Elder Mage Yugweed.
But there’s no need to revise those plans now.
I’ll fit in on my own terms.
I will.
I will deal with you in a disciplined manner.
“……Isn’t that a battle, not a duel?”
“Why are you just standing there watching, Lee Hoyeol?”
“Why aren’t you manifesting your magic?!”
The crowd roared.
To face an elder mage who has manifested the highest level of magic without using a single bit of magic power? To an outsider, it sounds ridiculous, but I have realized something even more ridiculous.
And.
The nonsense that came to fruition like that.
It is called like this.
[The legend, “Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol” materialized].
Flutter─!
“You’re overly confident, Elder Mage Yugweed.”
Black wings spread out, threatening to completely envelop the Sapphire Hall.
Yugweed lets out a hollow laugh.
“Haha. You’re heavier than a real dragon, Chief Lee……!”
The flapping wings of the dark dragon.
Looking at the golem staggering around.
I said to Yugweed.
“I believe that you are not expecting my sincerity to that extent.”
“……!”