Chapter 312: Draconic Magic and Hypermagic

"..."

A stunned expression lingered on the examiner's face. Avia's flurry of relentless strikes hadn't given her even the slightest room to retaliate. The battle had ended in an instant.

Such was the true nature of combat. The rapid clashes between spell and counterspell ensured that the winner would be decided swiftly. Victory belonged to whomever could seize the upper hand first.

"...You pass. I lost completely. I admit I was careless, but I can't deny that your combat instincts and battle experience are superior to mine. If you were equally skilled a magician—"

The examiner, a mage who had been affiliated with several magic spires across a few human kingdoms, had fought her fair share of battles. Unlike purely academic mages who devoted themselves to magical research alone, she understood what combat was like.

And in her judgment, Avia was the superior battlemage. If Avia were a grand mage like her, there was no question that she would have lost to Avia in actual combat. But Avia was simply too young—at her age, there was no way she could be a mage just yet. Surely... not?

The examiner halted mid-sentence. Her expression remained outwardly calm from years of discipline, but her mind was in turmoil.

As the trial barrier receded, so too did the magic suppression array that prevented higher-tier spells from being cast. The examiner could now sense the ripples of mana radiating from Avia's body. She was a mage.

At this age? Her talent had to be beyond terrifying. The examiner, who had been proud of her skill and experience relative to her peers, couldn't help but feel inferior compared to the young woman before her.

She sighed and shook her head wryly.Such mental comparisons were rarely useful. Some people were simply more talented, and who knew what sort of experiences the young woman before her had overcome to develop such monstrous skill at her age? That was no reason to doubt herself. Everyone had her own path to walk. She simply had to focus on herself.

"I stand corrected," she continued gracefully. "You're the most gifted candidate I've seen in years—in magical talent and practical combat alike."

Avia bowed politely, thanked her with calm grace, and turned to leave the arena.

Her brilliance was rarely quite so visible. Part of it came from her reserved temperament. Another reason was that, more often than not, her achievements were overshadowed by the bizarre antics of a certain someone named Wang Yu.

Yet her genius was undeniable when measured against her peers. Her combat instincts had been honed through countless brushes with death. Her magical talent, though perhaps not without historical precedent, was superlative—and not to mention her aptitude for alchemy.

There was a clear gulf between Avia and her peers. Those who compared themselves to her couldn't help but feel inferior in mind and spirit alike.

At the exit of the arena, a staff member upgraded Avia's identity card. Both she and Sieg had earned the rank of Scholar, granting them access to the public research archives of the Tower of the Scholar.

"These quotes from Merlin are surprisingly thoughtful. ‘A sage is not always a sage,' and, ‘When one no longer possesses the strength of a pioneer, it is time to pass on the banner.'"

Avia found Sieg and Wang Yu waiting in the lounge. Wang Yu was flipping through the Endless Pages and discussing his recent transcription with Sieg.

Many of this world's famous figures, he had noticed, tended to say things that sounded profoundly philosophical.

Sieg chuckled, raising a brow. "Ahem. Sure, those sound wise. But have you considered that maybe these were just offhand comments someone happened to overhear and decided to write down?"

"Oh? What do you mean?"

Wang Yu leaned forward, intrigued.

"I've read a memoir written by a friend of Merlin's. Apparently, the context for that famous quote of his was that he only said it because he didn't want to take on a particularly tedious batch of material processing. So he passed the ‘pioneer's burden' onto his friend."

Sieg shrugged.

"...Huh. Honestly, that sounds about right," Wang Yu said, flipping to the page. "Makes sense. The book was written by one of Merlin's own creations. Of course it'd polish its master's image a bit."

Sure enough, while there were detailed records of both the feats and follies of other prominent figures, Merlin's section only reflected the grand and poetic. There were no embarrassing anecdotes or foot-in-mouth moments.

It wasn't surprising. After all, Earth's own history had its share of misquoted geniuses turned into saints by posterity. Context hardly mattered. As long as later generations could draw inspiration from these words, they had served their purpose.

"Done with the trial?"

Spotting Avia approaching, Wang Yu tucked the Endless Pages under his arm.

"All done," Avia said with a nod, revealing her upgraded identity card. "Sieg and I will now be able to access Floors 64 through 76 of the public archives. You said there was something you've been meaning to confirm, right? Shall we go now?"

Her card now bore an intricate silver ring that marked her as a Scholar.

"Indeed," Sieg replied. "I have a hypothesis I'd like to test based on my observations from when we saw that gigantic staff in operation."

"I'll fetch the processed ore we sent to the enchanters and schedule my own Scholar trial while I'm at it," said Wang Yu. He waved as the two made for the teleport array.

Given Avia and Sieg's experiences, he judged the difficulty of the exam to be reasonable. While he was hardly a learned scholar like Sieg and Avia, he had picked up a respectable wealth of knowledge through his studies.

The three parted ways. Sieg and Avia vanished into the teleportation array en route to the public archive. Wang Yu turned toward the sector of Skyborne City dedicated to void and wizardry research.

When they arrived on Floor 64, Avia and Sieg found themselves standing before the immense structure of the Scholar's Library. Neatly organized tomes lined shelf after countless shelf. Long wooden tables stretched across the reading hall where many scholars sat buried in study.

Despite the crowd, not a whisper was heard. The silence wards layered throughout the library created a perfect haven for focused research.

There was no need to worry about a book being checked out, either—any removed volume was instantly replaced by a magically generated duplicate.

"I'll go fetch some alchemy references—and the books Wang Yu asked for, about stardew and spatial theory," Avia said, heading up the stairs. Each floor held a different specialization; alchemy was a few levels higher.

Sieg turned to the floating crystal sphere at the entrance and began navigating the projected catalog, an arcane book-finding system.

Following its guidance, he retrieved several texts from the specified shelves and settled at a long table to read.

The pages rustled as he flipped through them. His mind swiftly connected independent pieces of data. With each passage he read, he felt his hypothesis gain traction.

His brows furrowed slightly. He hadn't expected that fleeting spark of inspiration to lead anywhere. But now...

"So that's why draconic magic outclasses standard spellcasting... It's perfectly consistent with the hypermagic hypothesis. Dragons naturally meet the criteria for 'hypermagic' thanks to their unique physiology..."

Meanwhile, Wang Yu walked through the wizardry district of Skyborne City. "The void stinks," he muttered.

Only here in Skyborne City could such dense void energy be tolerated, thanks to the presence of countless enchanted golems immune to its effects. If a magical experiment went awry, they could neutralize the threat immediately.

Wang Yu was here to retrieve the processed ore they'd harvested from the undead realm, materials too volatile for him to handle without a true professional's help.

"BOOM—CRACK!"

As he rounded a corner, he heard an explosion. Bricks shattered. Metal groaned and twisted. Sirens blared from street-side sensors.

"Another lab accident?" he muttered, looking up.

One of the research buildings now had a hole in its roof. Strange-colored smoke billowed out, and flashes of fire flickered behind the breach.

Explosions weren't rare here. High-energy experiments went wrong all the time. Two blown labs every three days was par for the course.

Wang Yu paused. He didn't head toward the noise. In a place like this, that sort of chaos was often void-related—and he wasn't eager to get involved. Best to wait until the golems cleaned it up.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"I'd suggest you leave. Immediately." The voice came from behind—no, above. A nearby streetlamp twisted and distorted. Astartes' voice came from the groaning metal.

"This incident was triggered by a rogue spellcaster, an abyssal magician. He's coming for you. I'm certain you're his target."

"An abyssal magician?"

Wang Yu frowned at the unfamiliar term, but the warning itself needed no further explanation.

He shifted into a combat stance without any hesitation. His fighting spirit surged as he donned his suit of bloodforged armor, his starsteel blade in hand. He turned toward the source of the noise. Something was coming. Something monstrous.

"Brace yourself," Astartes warned, just as Wang Yu sensed it himself.

The wall of a nearby building burst open. A massive tentacle, thick and clawed, violet-gray and veined with corruption, tore through the wall and slammed down toward him with overwhelming force.