Chapter 1328: Prove It!
Chapter 1328: Prove It!
Chapter 1328: Prove It!
After Stern-Mage Weyven Irlis had finished explaining and bowed before Kintar, a few of the other Stern-Mages followed suit, but four remained stubborn.
A Realm Source Mage?
The theoretical peak of all Magecraft that even the progenitor of the art failed to achieve?
It was a lie!
And she was too young, too short!
How could she have possibly reached such a level? What would she possibly know about the Realm Source? Did she know what it took to become a Mage with such a title?
As Kintar took in all the mix of suspicion and praise, she gave an odd, creepy little smile. Somehow, her diminutive stature paired with it made her look even more untrustworthy and uncanny. But she didn't care what these other Mages thought of her. It was, after all, Stern- Mage Weyven Irlis, who had rushed her to the capital of Emeradis, made an urgent call to the other Stern-Mages and presented her before the Monarch as a Realm Source Mage.
What she had done in Bane - killing off millions of Cavern in an instant - had left a deep impression on the female Stern-Mage.
The Monarch believed half-heartedly, Kintar knew. She saw through the look in his eyes. "Unbelievable. Truly magnificent!" he said, beaming, his arms spread wide. He was walking towards her. "I can feel the immense power you are hiding even now. Magnificent!"
'Liar. My armour hides the presence of any energy I emit,' Kintar thought, but no one knew. All they saw was her little smile. She floated forward to meet the Monarch. A few Arch-Mages, the Monarch's guards - part of the sceptical bunch, it appeared - made to restrict her, but the Monarch shooed them away.
He was a chiselled man - notable through his thick, muscular neck- under the gorgeous, turquoise and scarlet robes. He wasn't bald, but he might as well have been. His heart-shaped face was clean-shaven and childish-looking. His eyes were so bright they hid many lies.
Kintar allowed herself to be embraced by him. She could tell he was trying to discern all he could about her - if she truly was a stage beyond Arch-Mage. She allowed it. He wouldn't find out anything about her unless he had a guidance field.
The Monarch drew back.
"You are welcome. Very welcome. You have our many thanks for saving Bane and our treasured Stern-Mage Weyven," he said to Kintar before looking behind her.
Red Rage's glow had dimmed somewhat. He wouldn't have wanted to blind everyone in the massive hall. But even then, the details of his figure remained obscured. He continued to look like a sun with a humanoid shape... and a cape. All who looked at him found themselves bearing a slightly favourable opinion of him already, even without speaking to him.
my master?"
The Monarch grinned.
"Of course. In fact. I would like to meet him as soon as possible to discuss his terms," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "I am more concerned about your identity, however. You have won over a great share of my nation's most powerful forces with one display of power which I regrettably missed. Do you know what a Realm Source Mage is?"
Arch-Mages were practitioners of Magecraft who had mastered at least two forms of Ascended Magic - Magic that used natural essences to cast instead of mana. The most accomplished Arch-Mage of all time, Arch-Mage Remos, had mastered eleven forms of Ascended Magic. However, even he who created Magecraft itself, deemed himself to have not touched upon the Realm Source Mage title.
The highest form of Magecraft, was Absolute Magic. It involved combining runes (stronger, more efficient forms of brands which contain specific magical effects, like skills in a living body) and essences to touch upon the power of Rules. Indeed, it was a terrifying art. Absolute was absolute. There was no revision for anything that was manipulated to completion with
Absolute Magic.
In the labyrinth of the Yoke, Skullius had tasted such magic. Even his Supreme Skill [Flesh It Like You Mean It] had been powerless against it.
(A/N: Refer to Ch.76.)
Arch-Mage Remos had mastered one form of Absolute Magic, however, he deemed it unimpressive solely because of one thing: output.
His output with Absolute Magic was pathetic. He could only affect a limited number of targets with it, and even then, his mana reserves and skill in efficiently converting mana to essence in order to keep the Absolute Magic erect couldn't keep up. He had documented all these regrets and deemed that a Realm Source Mage was someone who could perform Absolute Magic as
easily as spells from a common Patch of Magic.
It was godly mastery.
Many of the Arch-Mages in the hall, fixing Kintar with arrogant, suspicious eyes wondered if she knew any of this. She didn't appear to be from Emeradis, after all.
And they were right. Kintar knew none of it. She knew all the ranks of magic, but had never known what a Realm Source Mage was really supposed to be. In truth, she didn't care. This was why the next words she said nearly caused the Mages around her to attack. "Whatever it is and its requirements, I'm pretty sure it's got nothing on the Impossible Task. And I'm probably a Realm whatever Mage at this point," she said waving a hand airily.
At once, one of Stern-Mages rose, mana blistering around him.
"Then prove it, you arrogant little mouse! Let us be the judge of it!" he cried.
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