The Reincarnated Archmage’s Journey Chapter 151

Episode 151. Reverse Predation (3)

It was when I was in the middle of a deep sleep.

It felt like someone was tickling my skin with feathers.

Not even for a moment, but it tormented me as if I was being tortured into falling asleep again.

I know it's not really someone tickling me right next to me.

The feeling I have now is that someone has tampered with the Doom Liposol installed in the classroom.

I just raised my upper body and waited quietly.

Could it be that the altar was active again this early in the morning, spitting out monsters?

But that expectation was quickly shattered.

The reason is that the unpleasant feeling continued even after 10 minutes.

A 3rd-level altar is equivalent to a 3rd circle for a magician.

It's so weak that a single hit from my Doom Liposol will make it disappear.

But it still feels like it's been going on for over 10 minutes…

“Who is it?”

That means one of the students is fighting against my doom liposol.

However, I did not immediately jump out of my seat and check who the other person was.

I was going to see how long I could deal with my Doom Liposol.

Time keeps passing and already an hour has passed.

The unpleasant feeling that still tickled me continued.

“Who the hell are you?”

Only then did I get out of bed.

Are you a student or students who have been dealing with my Doom Liposol for an hour?

To see it with your own eyes.

***

“Full Moon, news has arrived from the first floor.”

At the same time, at the top of the main building.

Normally, the gatekeeper wouldn't be looking for Tyrant at this hour, but today he heard some interesting news, so he went straight to him.

“What is it?”

Tyrant asked indifferently and harshly.

There was a good reason for that.

Because being an archmage is a truly tiring position.

The biggest reason was that I was dozing off next to the sealing stone, not knowing when or how it would activate.

Tyrant has never slept peacefully since becoming an archmage.

Having lived through such days for over 300 years, I became very sensitive and my speech became harsh at this time.

“I have two pieces of news for you.”

“Are they both lucky?”

“I think so.”

“Recite it.”

“There was a student on the first floor who was using Doom Liposol.”

“What is that?”

Doom Liposol isn't some terribly great magic trick.

The reason is the caster's ability.

That is because the power varies greatly depending on the magic power.

You could say the same thing about other magic, but Doom Liposol is the only one with unusually sharp curves.

Does that mean it's a rare magic?

That's not it either.

It is an unpopular magic that is simply called old magic.

In fact, most students on the 6th floor of our school know how to use it. However, they just don't use it often.

If you normally use 100% of your mana to create other magic, its power increases to 200% or 300%, but even if you pour all 100% of Doom Liposol into it, its power is only around 30%.

"Mana-eating hippopotamus." That's Doom Liposol's nickname.

Because it consumes an abnormally large amount of mana compared to other magic, it is inefficient.

“You wouldn't have reported to me that you were simply using Doom Liposol. How long did it last?”

“It’s been over a few hours.”

Only then did Tyrant's eyes come to life.

“Exactly?”

At that question, the gatekeeper glanced at the time.

“It’s almost five hours now.”

“……5 hours. Is it just to maintain a simple form?”

“Do you remember Tesla, the double caster of water and darkness from the Ramick branch?”

"Why that student all of a sudden? Could it be that guy who implemented it?"

“Oh, no. That student was fighting the Doom Lipozoals for an hour.”

“Huh? An hour?”

Only then did a smile appear on Tyrant's lips.

Because the implications of this were quite significant.

Beyond sustaining the Doom Liposol, aka the Mana-eating Hippo, for five hours, one hour of which was spent fighting.

Doom Liposol's mana consumption increases dramatically when it enters combat mode.

The mana consumption can be considered the same as bleeding.

If the bleeding exceeds a certain amount, it can lead to death due to excessive bleeding.

In other words, the rapid mana consumption caused by Doom Liposol is not something that even the caster can control or handle, so burnout can be skipped and brain death can occur.

However, the fact that it lasted 5 hours, 1 hour of which was spent fighting, meant that even if you poured that much mana into it, there was still a lot more available mana left.

Even for the students on the 6th floor of our school, the duration does not exceed 2 hours.

Even while implementing Doom Liposol, no other magic could be used.

“So who is the Doom Liposol caster?”

“I’m Artel from the Ed branch.”

“Surely… that student, not only is he a double caster, but he’s also pi (π)?”

“The circumstances… seem to suggest that.”

Pie is a unique designation that represents the amount of mana a wizard has.

A wizard with an immense amount of mana that cannot be accurately measured, to the point where it could be called infinite.

Such a wizard is called a pie.

This is not a term that was decided in the past, but rather a term that Tyrant defined after becoming an archmage.

No matter how advanced this era is, there is no way to accurately measure the maximum amount of mana a wizard possesses.

The reason is that mana is a non-existent object.

It's similar to the idea that when you put water vapor in a sealed container, the weight of the container doesn't increase.

Since mana has no form or weight, there was no way to measure it.

So what is the limit to the amount of mana that the wizard can have?

And how much mana is currently available?

This problem was still a puzzle that wizards had not been able to solve.

So, the method that Tyrant came up with was Doom Liposol.

This is a method to gauge the mana a student has by telling them which magic consumes the most mana among the existing magic and how long it can be maintained.

This is why most of the students on the 6th floor of our school can use Doom Liposol.

And if Artel is truly a pie, then he is a precious material that cannot be exchanged for anything else for Tyrant.

A student with mana equal to infinity.

If he could transform that student into material and absorb it himself, absorbing the Sealing Stone, which was currently at 80% level, without any problems would become an immediate reality.

The more extensive the mana of the student used as material, the more extensive his mental power becomes, and there will be no side effects even if he absorbs the power of the Cyrus.

This news was truly appetizing to Tyrant.

“By the way, how did that student learn Doom Liposol?”

The gatekeeper focused on that part.

Old magic means magic that was popular a long time ago, but is no longer popular.

That is, the question was how a student who had just arrived at our school could freely implement such magic.

“He’s the guy Etar sent. He must have learned it from Etar.”

But Tyrant's answer was simple.

"Come to think of it, even though he's a double caster, Doom Liposol only uses fire. I thought that was strange…"

“Now the picture is starting to come together.”

And it was an expression that seemed to feel something.

"which……?"

"Why did Etar suddenly send Artel to my school? He told me about Doom Liposol and predicted Artel's mana reserves in advance. He was quite clever, unlike Etar."

Could it be that Tyrant's brilliant mind and broad perspective on emotions have now become poisonous?

The scope of his misjudgments has widened considerably.

“That means… Etar also noticed that it was Pie and sent it on purpose…?”

"That's right. I'm sure he sent me because he thought Artel would be my rival. He's a talented pie double caster. But."

Now Tyrant raised the corners of his mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just pick the flowers before they bloom?”

What Tyrant can also know for sure is that Artel is the only card that Etar has.

'You sent them to me without fear, relying solely on those two talents.'

I thought it was impossible for them to prepare so carelessly.

Etar is clearly drawing something.

But it didn't matter to Tyrant at all.

As he said, flowers only become beautiful when they bloom.

What if you trample down the buds before they can bloom?

Even the memory of existence disappears without even being able to demonstrate its true value.

If our school is called Tyrant's own garden, then the students on each floor can be called flowers.

Talented students are quickly noticed like beautiful flowers and quickly passed on to Tyrant, the master of the garden.

So, before Etar's talents could fully bloom and become threatening, all that was needed was to crush and destroy him.

“Bring Artel here as quickly as possible.”

"All right."

“And what’s the rest of the news?”

“This time, we have news about Hey, a student from the Ed branch.”

“What is it? A windfall?”

“I was a little surprised too…….”

The gatekeeper relayed the rest of the news.

“Kuk kuuk. Two good candidates.”

When Tyrant heard the news, he shrugged his shoulders and laughed creepily, wondering what was so funny.

***

It was when I arrived at the classroom door where the Doom Liposol was implemented.

Hwaruruk-!

Clang-!

It's a sound heard from behind a closed door.

'The sound of water… …?'

As I arrived at the classroom, the ticklish sensation became even more intense.

It means that the battle is becoming increasingly fierce.

The sound of water coming from inside.

It was when I opened the door wide to check it out.

As soon as I opened the door, a sight that I couldn't describe appeared before my eyes.

The student Doom Lipozol is dealing with is Tesla, who came from the Ramick branch school.

Doom Lipozol brought both hands together near his chest, gathered a ball of fire, and fired it at Tesla like a cannon.

It's a natural reaction, as it's designed to perceive all students except Banshee, Kiena, and Hei as enemies.

But Tesla.

He was giving me a shock.

He was fending off Doom Liposol's attacks using only the water element.

‘… … Only 6 circles?’

This means that they exchanged such sums for over an hour.

It is shocking that Tesla lasted for an hour, but it is even more shocking that he did not have a single scratch on his body.

I stopped using Doom Liposol for now.

Doom Liposol was like a statue, the flames surrounding its body all disappeared and it hardened.

“Huh? Why did it suddenly stop…? Hey! Try again!”

Tesla didn't know I was coming in, and said to Doom Lipozol.

Doom Liposol is inanimate and therefore inaudible, but Tesla seemed unaware of this.

“Oh, this was really good… why did it suddenly stop working?”

Now he approached Doom Liposol and examined its condition.

His tone of voice and facial expression were both filled with regret.

“What was good about it?”

“Huh? Artel?”

Only then did he realize I had come in.

“Surely… this is your magic?”

Now, pointing to Doom Liposol, he asked the opposite question.

His expression is full of curiosity.

"then?"

Now his eyes were shining after hearing my answer.

"Wow~! You're a really strong wizard, aren't you? What's this magic? Even when I attack with my affinity for water, you don't even flinch!"

“What was good about it?”

I ignored his question.

"Oh, that? I just felt like I'd found a really good sparring partner. So I kept hanging out with him."

Are you playing?

Are you saying that you thought of Doom Liposol as a training tool?

As expected, he is definitely an extraordinary magician.

“Why are you here?”

“Why! You came here to steal the altar!”

He is speaking very confidently.

But his next words grated on my ears.

"There were too many competitors in that classroom, so I came here. There must have been a reason I didn't flock here."

“Are there a lot of competitors in that classroom?”

“Yeah. I heard there were about forty people there.”

“……Forty people?”

For a moment, an ominous feeling came over me.

'Surely, forty people are going to catch one Hey…?'