Return of The 8th Class Mage

The Rise of the Strongest (1)

“Do you know where the other households are?”

(How would I know? I haven’t met them for ages. Around 500 years, I guess? Maybe more than that.”

“Five hundred….”

After Ian and the Fairy Queen moved the jewels to her nests, they talked a lot while returning to the Royal Palace. The more they talked, the more Ian found how different of a life he and the Fairy Queen had lived, though.

“Who is Laden Zu?”

(I can’t say.)

“It seems you still can refuse to say this. Is it because I am asking about dragons?”

(….. Hmm. I guess so.)

Furthermore, she could refuse to answer some deeper and sensitive questions. It seemed some ‘superior’ power of the household was preventing Ian to access some information that was not allowed.

‘This power is not perfect.’

However, it was good enough. She could refuse to answer some serious questions about dragons, but that was all. In other cases, she had to ‘obey’ his order. It was a very strong power that was even able to order her to suicide.

“By the way, do you have name, my lady?”

(Of course. All of sudden, why?)

“I can’t just call you queen. Ah, in addition, please polymorph to a normal human as long as we enter the palace.

From a distance, Ian could see the walls of the Royal Palace. Ian planned to arrive at the palace earlier than the embassies, and it was successful. He found out that there were still around ten days left until they arrived, thanks to the Crown Prince and Oliver.

(I don’t want to be that humiliated……)

“You had polymorphed to a human easily at the basement.”

(At that time, I had no choice due to the inter-dimensional inventory.)

“Then, assume that you don’t have a choice this time as well.”

Truly, she had no choice again. She had no power to disobey the power of the household. Although she really didn’t want to, she had to transform herself into a human.

“Hmm…..”

(Now what?)

“It’s nothing big, but,”

After Ian looked at the Fairy Queen, he opened his mouth slowly.

“Can’t you be more normal?”

(What?)

“You would draw even more attention than your original form.”

Ian was right. Fairy Queen’s original form was already unique, and her appearance would draw too much attention, unless he hid her in the inter-dimensional inventory. However, her human form would cause even more attention than her original form.

(I can’t help you for that. This is only human form I can do.)

“Is there anything more than a human?”

(You’re a sensitive brat.)

While complaining, the Fairy Queen turned into a different form. This time she had turned into a bird species. It was a ‘peacock’, with a bright pinked shining tail.

(Are you satisfied now?)

“That’s too much as well….”

(Then what about this?)

After the peacock, she turned into a wolf, with bright pink fur. It was a wolf which was bigger than bulls.

What’s wrong with her polymorphs?

“Can you turn into something more…. like a small and ordinary animal?”

(Small and ordinary animal….)

After a while, the Fairy Queen had a spin in the air, and then became a different creature. Again it was bright pink colored, but it was acceptable to Ian.

(Now you like it?)

She turned into a small ‘cat’. Except for its fur color, she looked the most normal among different animals. That was the best she could do.

“Not bad.”

(Humph! You sensitive rude arrogant human.)

It was irony that she called Ian that, but anyway Ian was satisfied. The cat form was a much safer form. People might just regard her as a cat with a pretty color.

‘I was seriously considering to secretly carry her within the flask.’

Ian thought it would be too mean to the Fairy Queen though. It was relief that she could do some transformation tricks.

“Now, may I ask your name?”

(It is an honor for you. My name is not allowed to be known by others. Only my masters can call it. I will speak it once, so listen carefully.)

Why was she so proud about her name? Soon, Ian figured out the reason.

(I am the 7th queen of all fairies, Lysis Kirel Vaspo Ray Lavelaor Espellia Sereman the 7th.)

Ian wasa lost for words. What a uselessly luxurious long name. None of the humans in this world would have such a long name.

(There was a master who especially liked me. The master gave me an additional name whenever he finished his travels through human world. He gave me names of the human he liked or sounded pretty. I know you would think it weird, but it is a precious name for me.)

The Fairy Queen had turned into her original form. As she feeling nostalgic, she smiled gently. It was a short moment, but her face showed no arrogance, only happiness.

“No I don’t think that way. It is pretty name.”

(Do you really think so?)

“Yes. However…. It’s too long for cat’s name. I would pick the name Espel, the shortened version of Espellia.”

Ian chose the name which sounded the best among her long list of names. The Fairy Queen didn’t complain about it either. Every name ‘the master’ gave to her was precious to her.

“It’s time to transform into Espel.”

(I never ever imagined I would transform into a human’s pet cat. I won’t forgive this shame easily. I guess I have lived too long.)

The Fairy Queen, or rather, the pink cat ‘Espel’ sighed for this twist of destiny.

“Sir Ian asked me to do him a favor by delaying the returning schedule of the embassy as soon as he disappears.”

“Delay? Why?”

“He didn’t tell me the reason. I haven’t seen such illusion magic sir Ian had shown to us but I’m guessing it’s related to that. Even the Tower Lord was shocked by his new spell.”

The main person who delayed the embassy’s returning plan was the captain Oliver Raywood.

“There must be a serious reason that he had to use such high class magic. I guess he needed some extra time to cover his problems.”

The Crown Prince accepted Oliver’s suggestion. In the name of a successful council, he held many parties, and by using the soldiers’ health issue as an excuse, he reduced the speed of the march. Furthermore, he took a rest whenever he had a chance.

“Hahaha! By my word, those Coldwood and Lo became silent! And consequently, I said to them ‘this magic is a unique magic of my country, so give us extra territory for distribution!’ so then….”

Even though they were only about ten days away from the palace, he was delaying the march. At the relatively big village, he stopped the march and held a little party. Who? The Crown Prince, knights and soldiers.

“Hmmm…. I am repeating this too much, aren’t I?”

“Huh? N- not at all, your majesty. It doesn’t bother us at all. It is a true heroic story that pumps our heart in excitement. If you allow us, we want to hear it again and again.”

The middle aged soldiers said so as representatives of the other soldiers. However they seriously enjoyed the Crown Prince’s success. If Ragnar had such success, they wouldn’t be surprised as Ragnar used to be a man on a different level from the world, but it was totally a different story for the Crown Prince.

“Is that so? Haha! Then I will keep talking. Where I had stopped? Ah! So I said to them that ‘this resource detecting magic is our very unique technology’, so I asked them to ‘give us more territory!’ the first time, they kept giving me excuses, so I….”

It was a kind of ‘vicarious satisfaction’ to them. A few days ago, the Crown Prince was laughed at for his foolishness and uselessness. Although few felt he had changed, the majority underestimated him greatly. They thought he was just an untalented prince who was born in a good family luckily. However, such a man led the council and brought numerous advantages to their country. It was the Crown Prince Hayden, the idiot Crown Prince.

On the other hand, the 5th prince Ragnar, who watched such scenery from a distance, he left to a tent while grinding his teeth. It was the tent of the Tower Lord.

“Your highness.”

The Tower Lord was reading some letter. As it was written in paper, it seemed that the letter was a secret report.

“Now what?”

Ragnar asked coldly. He knew this whole situation and council was originally planned by the Tower Lord. It was a plan made for Ragnar, only. However, he couldn’t do anything. Only that idiot Crown Prince took advantage on this stage.

“And what have I told you before? Ian Page must be eradicated before he becomes more of a threat to us, wasn’t it? And I have told you this since years ago, am I wrong?”

“Indeed, you said that to me, your highness.”

“And what did you answer with whenever I told you about him? You gave me excuses that you would turn him into my piece as a powerful weapon, so wait for a moment, didn’t you?”

“That is true, indeed.”

“But, now what? Is Ian a useful weapon to me? He is a weapon that blocks our way and is destroying our plan.”

Even at Ragnar’s sharp question, the Tower Lord kept his smile. While checking the report, he said gently.

“My apologies, this old man made the wrong decision. I should’ve dealt with him quickly, with haste. Who would expect him to create a magic that hadn’t existed before?”

According to the report, Ian’s illusion appeared at the Royal Palace as well. It meant that he made more than one of these superior illusions. Now he didn’t feel angry about him, rather he respected him. Respect from a mage to another mage.

“Your highness, I won’t give you anymore excuses. I won’t guarantee anything this time. However, our waiting is over.”

“Over?”

“I asked you to wait previously, and today is the last day for waiting. Everything is prepared now.”

With the word, as the Tower Lord gestured, surprisingly, someone was revealed from the corner of the tent. Although the mysterious person’s whole face to body were covered by black robes and hoods, the person’s bodyline was obviously a lady’s.

“Creating a totally new spells, it is not only Ian Page that had such successes. Come on Helene. Greet our highness.”

With his order, the lady with the black robe, the one who caused the entire maelstrom at the Eastern Great Grass Field by handing over the special illusion to the Shaman King, ‘Helene’ revealed her face. Soon, she kneeled down and bowed to Ragnar.

“It…. honor….. greet ….. your….. highness….”

However, her voice was strange. It was slow and dull. Furthermore, her voice was very dark. Ragnar knew Helene very well. She used to be the arrogant one, didn’t she? Her current voice was totally out of her common character.

“Ah, I greet you. Hele…… What the….!”

Ragnar saw Helene’s eyes. His heart was shocked. He barely managed to not faint. Helene’s eyes weren’t human’s anymore.

“Y- your eye….?”

There were no white parts on her eyes. Her eyes were full of black. She looked like a devil from an old tale.

“Do not panic, my lord. She is still human, and my loyal servant and now she is your loyal servant.”

As the Tower Lord gestured, she covered her face with the hood again. From her, no more arrogance nor any emotions were expressed.

“And that pesky pest mage friend will soon devote his life on you. So please forgive my previous mistakes generously.”

During the previous 5 years, or maybe even more than that, the Tower Lord researched ‘Black Magic’ secretly. The wild card of the Tower Lord, which he didn’t need in his former life, was about to revealed.

(ED Note: Guess Ian won’t have constant smooth sailings. Hopefully the TL will be exciting and won’t be just wrecked although he probably will just be steamrolled.)

About 7 days left until the embassy’s return, at the front of the Ivory Tower’s field, numerous mages, except the Tower Lord and Archmages who joined the embassy, had assembled at one place. Of course, Ian was there.

“This is the newest version of mana storage. In terms of the class of a mage, this can store mana…… a lot. Around 6th class I guess?”

‘Vans’, who used to be the novice engineer of the ‘Thram’s workshop’ 5 years ago, was now an official engineer and regarded as the most talented young engineer in the workshop. He explained the new mana storage’s features.

“Honestly, since we don’t have any data higher than 5th class, it is not guaranteed, but do you remember you asked for a test last time? At that time, this mana storage contained 90% of the Tower Lord’s mana very easily.”

Vans’ explanation was relayed to every mage who was gathered here. The giant device that was delivered to the front field of the Ivory Tower was a mana storage, the capacity was enhanced much more than the previous mana storage.

“B- but Sir Ian. Excuse my rudeness, I don’t know of any hextech devices that requires this much mana storage. I wonder what is this for….. Y- you don’t need to tell me if it’s private!”

But still, Vans’ face was full of curiosity. If he needed a huge amount of mana, then it was much cheaper, and compact to use multiple standard mana storages that were connected, rather than this needlessly giant storage.

“It’s been long time since I renewed my class registration, and I will do it today.”

“Class registration?”

Class registration.

Whenever an official mage of the Ivory Tower overcame his or her class level, they registered their new current level. And Ian hadn’t done it with his full power. Hence, in record, Ian was officially known as only a 4th class mage.

‘Thanks to that, many rumors were circulating.’

Some said he was hiding his full potential, and some said he just met his limitation. Many rumors were created, and most people agreed with second rumor. So, most of mages knew Ian Page as a 4th class master, but no more than that. Still, he was the second strongest mage, so what he had achieved on the record was already great enough.

“Don’t other Archmages usually do class registration by using multiple connected mana storage? As far as I know, the Tower Lord does it the same way….”

“I think I will need more than that.”

“What?”

Ian didn’t reply to Vans anymore. Instead, he brought the giant mana storage to the middle of the field with his magic. Everyone’s eyes became round.

“I- is that even possible….?”

“I don’t think so.”

The gathered mages started to make some noise. There was only one reason that they had gathered here. Ian suddenly claimed he was doing a class registration. Although 5 years had passed, Ian was still the ‘youngest’ Archmage, the second of the Ivory Tower, and the idol of young mages.

*Smash!*

The giant storage could be seen by everyone now. Ian put his hand on the storage.

“I am sure you guys already know why I am here. During the Archmage induction, I awakened the next level of magic. Now, I want to show my new achievement to my colleagues, first.”

Ian had a short and powerful speech. What kind of enlightenment gave a new level of magic to the mighty 4th class mage? Precisely, how strong is he now? The mages’ eyes were full of curiosity.

“Originally, it is polite to wait to show this registration after the Tower Lord returns from the mission, but I can’t stop this excitement anymore. Hence, although I know this is rude, I want to show my new achievement as soon as possible.”

By Ian’s word, many mages nodded. They were mages. Mages were born with an inborn sense of curiosity and investment. All of them knew the excitement of stepping into a new level.

“So I hope you guys can understand my excitement, happiness, and acknowledge what I have experienced. Actually, I am sure you all will understand.”

Ian was sure they would understand. It was the only sincere part of Ian’s speech. Before the Tower Lord came back, Ian would register his new level straight away.

‘From now on, I am the strongest.’

Re-edited by FlawFinder