Published at 21st of November 2020 09:28:23 PM
Chapter 55: 55
The Great Mage Returns after 4000 Years – Chapter 55 – Contact (6)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
Frey looked around .
Standing beside Dugenjar was a bald man who appeared to be in his thirties who had a sword at his waist and a young man with a gentle expression .
It didn’t seem like these three were in the same part as there was a subtle distance between all of them .
“Unfortunately, Honor Heinz isn’t here today . ” (TL: good…kill him)
Thinking that Frey was looking around for Heinz, Dugenjar gave a snide remark .
However, Frey ignored him and instead turned to the men beside him .
“You are?”
“I am Jerome Berner from the Lucid Swords . ”
“I am Steve Jacks from the Strow Necklaces . ”
“Do you have any business with me?”
“Yes . Well…I think we’re a step too late . ”
Steve smiled bitterly and looked over at Beniang .
Frey realised that these people were scouts from the big circles . He became speechless for a moment when he realised that all of the big circles were interested in him .
As this was happening .
“…”
Dugenjar who had been completely ignored slowly became redder at the face .
He was the worst possible person to send as a scout .
No . He didn’t have any intention to recruit him in the first place .
Dugenjar looked at Frey and said .
“Are you going to join the Traumen Rings?”
“So what if I am?”
“Hmph . Likes attract…”
It was just a murmur, but everyone present was still able to hear it .
Beniang bit her lip .
Frey was sure he saw something flash in her eyes for a moment and couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief .
If she had become submissive here then he would have been very disappointed .
Beniang was timid, but that didn’t mean that she was without pride .
For those who walked the path of magic, a certain amount of pride was important .
Maybe even more so than their lives .
“Frey Blake, do you intend to join the Traumen Rings?”
Strow Necklaces’ member Steve asked straightforwardly .
He was nervous inside .
Even though he had hurried as much as he could, he still didn’t arrive first .
‘The internal meeting took longer than I expected . ’
Besides the Traumen Rings’ hideout was much closer to the 3rd Magic Tower .
Anyway, the circle had come to a conclusion .
And that was to attract Frey Blake even if it meant that they had to bleed a little .
The fact that Frey Blake, who was only 20 years old, had defeated an Apostle was already becoming widespread .
As long as it was a 7 star wizard, every circle, including the Big Three would covet them . Besides, look at his age .
In all honesty, Steve still couldn’t completely believe it .
A wizard who became an Archmage at the age of 20?
Wasn’t that something that even the legendary heroes hadn’t been able to achieve?”
“I’m going to take a look around first . ”
When Frey said that, both Steve and Jerome’s eyes seemed to shine brightly .
“So you haven’t decided yet . ”
“Yes . ”
“Then why don’t you also take a look at our circle after?”
“You mean the Strow Necklaces?”
“Yes . ”
Steve nodded vigorously .
Frey nodded without thinking about it for too long .
“If I haven’t joined a circle by then . ”
“Haha . That’s good enough . ”
As he said this, Steve gave Frey a scroll from his bag .
“This is?”
“It’s a scroll engraved with warp magic . The coordinates lead to the entrance of our hideout . If you tell them my name, they will treat you politely . Mana is required to activate it, but at your level it shouldn’t be a problem . ”
“I see . ”
“Then I’ll take my leave . ”
This seemed to be his only objective for going there .
Before he left, Steve shot a look at Dugenjar .
‘I hope this fool doesn’t do anything stupid . ’
He felt like something would happen .
Not only because of Frey, but also Beniang, the Circle Master of the Traumen Rings .
Everyone in the Circle knew that the Phisfounder Armlets were especially hostile to the Traumen Rings . (TL: probably because of her unrequited love…)
Their pressure had not reduced, even now that the Traumen rings were slowly spiralling downward .
No, instead it could be said that their contempt had increased .
Steve shook his head .
He hoped that Dugenjar was able to at least judge the situation properly .
Jerome came forward next .
“…I apologize but I didn’t bring anything like a scroll . If you ever come to Geotanbul or Silkeed in the Luanoble Kingdom, please be sure to visit our circle . If you talk to the nobles or lords in the cities, they will contact us . ”
It seemed that this was the area where the Lucid Swords was most active .
Again Frey nodded and Jerome left not long after .
Naturally, Frey’s gaze turned to Dugenjar last .
“What did you come here for? I don’t think you came to do the same thing as the other two . ”
“Hmph…there are too many eyes here . Follow me . Master Beniang you don’t have to come with us . ”
After saying that, Dugenjar turned around and started walking away .
As Frey watched him walk away, Beniang approached him .
“…I’m sorry . I think that I am the reason you are getting into a conflict with Honor Dugenjar . ”
It seemed that she had misunderstood something .
Frey gave her a smile .
“That man was already upset because he couldn’t deal with me before . What’s the difference?”
“Yes?”
“Are you going to follow that man?”
“…he said that I shouldn’t come, so I’ll wait here . ”
As she said this, Beniang bit her lip .
It felt pitiful for a Circle Master to listen to the words of a circle executive of another circle .
She felt ashamed to show something like that to Frey, who was an outsider .
Frey, who was following Dugenjar, noticed the contempt that was on Beniang’s face .
They didn’t stop walking until they left the city .
Not far away from the city was a large forest . Only after arriving there did Dugenjar turn around .
His face was filled with ridicule .
“Show me your skills, I will judge you . ”
It was completely unexpected .
Frey took a while before answering .
“Judge?”
“That’s right . To see if you really have the ability to take down an Apostle!”
“So you don’t believe what I said?”
If so, it was beyond absurd .
He was probably among the group that had gone to the sight of the fight between Frey and Lukes to clean up .
If he had any doubts then wouldn’t they all be cleared up if he examined the traces that were left behind?
“That’s why I’m telling you to prove your strength . Don’t make me repeat myself . ” (TL:…Lava Blast…)
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“What about the Blacktooth’s testimony?”
When Frey recalled Camille and asked, Dugenjar simply snorted .
“How could I believe the words of other races? I have to see it with my own eyes . It’s not that difficult . You just have to prove it . ”
Thud .
Dugenjar took out a long staff from his bag which knocked against the floor .
Roar .
At that moment, mana was released from his body explosively .
The visible mana fluttered like a haze before gathering to put pressure on Frey .
“…”
This wasn’t the pressure that one would use to scare a rookie .
Such a large amount of mana could be practically suffocating . If the person was weak willed, it would be enough to stop their heart .
“I’m going to enlighten you on how big the world really is . You need to be educated, so I’ll help you . ”
As he said this, Dugenjar slowly began increasing the pressure on Frey .
“Don’t get proud just because you beat Lukes . Even within the 7 stars level, there are different classes . ”
That was the truth .
Although both Lukes and Dugenjar were considered 7 stars, Dugenjar was actually stronger than Lukes .
Unlike Lukes, who could be considered to be in the middle stage of 7 stars, Dugenjar could be considered to be close to the peak .
Although the difference between them might not seem that large on paper, in reality, it was actually enormous .
It was almost impossible for Dugenjar to lose a fight against Lukes .
And maybe Frey had entered the 7 star stage by luck .
With his amount of skill he should not have much control over his mana .
‘I can’t kill you because the Circle already has eyes on you . But I’ll make you crawl on the floor here . ”
At that moment, when Dugenjar had just started smiling .
Crack Crack .
White, cold air seemed to billow out from Frey’s body .
Dugenjar shivered unconsciously .
‘What is this?’
The mana felt cold .
…cold? The mana was cold?
‘He could imbue attributes? Into his mana?’ (TL: yes these were two separated sentences)
His expression stiffened . This couldn’t be true .
It was impossible .
It was impossible for even him to imbue attributes into his mana so naturally .
Frey spoke softly .
“You’re right . ”
“Wh-, what…”
Dugenjar didn’t even realise that Frey was speaking to him informally .
“Even if it’s the same level, there are still different classes . ”
Frey’s face was as cold as ice .
He was angry .
It wasn’t at Dugenjar who was picking a fight with him .
To him, all he felt was mild displeasure and contempt .
No, the reason that Frey was angry was because garbage like this could still confidently call themselves 7 stars .
Crack crack .
The cold air easily pushed Dugenjar’s mana aside .
However, it didn’t stop there . Instead, it began to slowly apply pressure to Dugenjar .
Dugenjar hurriedly cast a barrier while exclaiming .
“Bu-, bullshit!”
Frey looked down on Dugenjar .
At that moment he realised that all this while he had been overestimating these modern 7 star wizards .
Being able to maintain a calm mind without being frustrated regardless of the situation .
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That was the Archmage that Frey knew .
An Archmage should never lose their composure .
This didn’t only refer to pain, but anything that could cloud one’s judgement .
Including emotions like anger, sadness and joy .
This didn’t mean that they had to suppress those emotions . Because humans were not dolls .
It meant being able to feel every emotion clearly, but still being able to maintain one’s composure and think of a way to get out of any adverse situations .
But this man before him .
When the opponent who he was trying to trample suddenly began to pressure him instead, he could not accept the reality and his mana began fluctuating .
This was evidence that he was so agitated that he couldn’t even get his own mana under control .
Frey couldn’t understand how he’d reached his current level .
He couldn’t know .
Maybe he had taken many elixirs like Frozen River or he began deteriorating after reaching 7 stars .
Frey’s eyes were frozen on Dugenjar .
Dugenjar felt his heart quiver .
He suddenly felt that those eyes were incredibly scary .
More than the Circle Rounder or even the Circle Master .
“I…I am an Archmage! A, a great wizard!”
Dugenjar’s face was filled with rage .
Frey simply responded in a cold voice .
“If you subtract your level of mana, you are below the standard in every way . A wizard who just happens to have 7 star mana . There’s no better expression to define you than that . ”
“Uh, uh…”
Dugenjar struggled and tried to cast a spell . Frey shook his hand .
Paat .
“,,,!!”
Dugenjar wasn’t even able to make a sound .
‘My, my spell…he negated it before I even began casting it…’
It was unbelievable .
Dugenjar once again tried to use a spell .
“F-, Flame Wave!”
Paat .
It was negated once again .
“I, I don’t believe it…t-, to negate m-, my spells with such precision…th-, this…”
It shouldn’t be possible without reading his mind .
He needed to know exactly what spell he was going to use, know how to cast said spell, speed and instantaneous computational ability to negate a spell .
Above all, he needed to have a lot of self confidence .
It was incredibly difficult to negate another person’s spell .
If they failed at even one step, the person who tried to negate the other’s spell would have to bear a very heavy burden!
At that moment, for the first time, Dugenjar came to a realisation .
He had believed that it was just a weak Apostle .
Lukes was originally a wizard so he should not have been too adept at using divine power .
That was why he believed that this rookie had been lucky enough to defeat him .
But that wasn’t the case .
The man in front of him definitely had the ability to subdue an Apostle .
Crack crack .
Frey’s cold mana covered Dugenjar’s body and he slowly began to freeze from his toes upwards .
Dugenjar’s face was tainted with a trace of fear .
“You, are you going to kill me?”
“It might happen . ”
“You are out of your mind! I am a Force Honor of the Phisfounder Armlets! Don’t do anything that you’ll regret!”
If he went missing then the doubt would definitely fall to Frey .
There were also witnesses like Beniang, Steve and Jerome .
However, he wasn’t certain of his safety .
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Frey was confident that he would be able to completely wipe away any traces, given the need .
However, he had no intention to kill Dugenjar . (TL: although I expected it, it’s still very disappointing)
There was a much better way .
“Stop it! What do you intend to do?!”
“Honor Dugenjar, your life might be in my hands but I have no intentions of killing you . I don’t think you would’ve shown such mercy, but…I’ll give you one chance . ”
He could still change . (TL: the author put this twice…but I figured one time was enough)
Dugenjar would have to make a critical choice .
And if he couldn’t change himself in the end then he wouldn’t be able to melt the ice .
“What are you talking about…”
“It’s a trial . If you can’t melt the ice, you will die . ”
Dugenjar’s gaze turned to the ice that entombed his body .
He immediately realised that it wasn’t ordinary ice .
“H-, how…”
“Don’t panic . The more you do that, the faster the ice will devour your body . You said it yourself . You’re an Archmage . If you can truly act like a 7 star Archmage, then you will be able to melt it . ”
“I…are you testing me? With what qualifications?”
“I am qualified . ”
Dugenjar didn’t know why, but he was not able to deny Frey’s words at that moment . (TL: maybe the part with him being frozen in ice…)
Instead, he just looked at Frey with a slightly dull gaze .
“You…”
“You have one day . In order to melt the ice, you have to let it burrow into your heart . This is my sincere advice . ”
“…”
“I hope you get through this . ”
Great . He’s too Great .
Dugenjar felt that Frey was incredibly amazing .
There was a ripple deep in his mind .
Great shame and regret filled his heart .
“Kuk . ”
Dugenjar bit his lip .
Immediately after, he closed his eyes and began activating his mana . At the same time, the rate that the ice covered his body slowed .
He did not pay much attention to the advice .
Right now, it didn’t matter .
The important thing right now was the time .
At that moment, a day did not seem that long . And Dugenjar could not afford to waste any time .
Frey hoped that he would overcome the challenge and change himself .
There was a chance, because regardless of how arrogant he was, he had, in the end, managed to reach 7 stars .
The ice would not kill Dugenjar .
After a day, it would cover Dugenjar’s entire body, and after two days, it would melt away on its own .
Of course, Dugenjar didn’t know that .
Even if he managed to survive this, he would be filled with shame and keep it a secret of his own volition .
He was the type who would risk his life for his pride . Therefore, he would never willingly talk about his shame .
Of course, that didn’t matter .
If he revealed it, Frey would be able to determine what kind of circle the Phisfounder Armlets was depending on their response .
Honor Dugenjar .
If he was able to abandon his useless stubbornness and arrogance then he had the potential to be a good wizard .
If he was able to abandon his conceited self, he would be reborn as an even better being .
Frey knew how precious a 7 star wizard was .
That was why he didn’t want to kill him unless he was truly determined to be an enemy or betrayed humankind like Lukes .
There are two kinds of humans in the world .
Humans who could change and humans who couldn’t .
Frey hoped that Dugenjar belonged to the former .
(Note: Someone pointed out my inconsistency when capitalizing ‘circle’ so from now on when referring to a specific circle it will be ‘circle’ and when it refers to the organization as a whole it will be ‘Circle’ – which is what I intended but probably forgot at times
TL: I’m a bit disappointed by the way he handled Dugenjar…but I understand the reasoning behind it .
Also, this is the end of Book 2 . )