"Right, Master. That [Quantum Reading] you mentioned—is it the legendary [Read Magic]?"
Lein's brain stalled for a moment.
On Earth, quantum reading was just a scam to make money.
Did you read it?
As if.
But in a world of magic, Read Magic really could help you read books quickly!
I'm tired. Let it all burn!
Damn it, teaching Downs was just too unsatisfying.
He taught him, but Downs didn't listen. Downs listened, but didn't understand. He understood, but got it wrong—and somehow even got it wrong in the right way.
It felt like the legendary "Schrödinger's" teaching method.
The process didn't matter. As long as you got things started, the result was bound to be good.
After a while, Lein gave up. Fine, he'd teach him. He'd accepted his fate.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Downs was only using third- and fourth-level spells, the sort usually used by High-Level Mages.
With all the [Super Magic Specialties] on Downs's spell list boosting them, his third- and fourth-level spells were all at least as powerful as fifth-level ones, and came close to sixth-level spells. Any naive enemy who mistook Downs for an ordinary High-Level Mage was in for a world of pain.
What Lein didn't know was that the story of the "Parallel Circuit" was only the beginning.
Autumn arrived, and Ganis, an adviser to the Cervantes Kingdom, came again.
This time, he brought two squads of adventurers as escorts, following a mountain trail all the way here.
He had received word early on that a whole cohort of devils had been plastered across a wall by an enraged Legendary Archmage. But hearing about it was one thing; seeing it with your own eyes was another.
"It's beautiful. This thing actually reminds me of an elven artwork from another homeland of mine," the Half-elf Ganis exclaimed sincerely.
Wasn't it?
The once featureless yellow cliff, its color dull and monotonous, now had the appearance of seven-colored glass. It wasn't merely smooth—the sunlight reflected off it in captivating halos, and those halos weren't even dazzling. They carried a faint, sacred aura.
You could tell someone it was a work of art made by an artist from the Order camp, and people would believe you.
But these things, which looked like fired glass, were actually made of devils' flesh and blood.
That was enough to ruin your appetite.
For someone from another world, it was like inviting someone to dinner and telling them that the chilies in the hot pot weren't chilies at all, but cockroaches...
Lein, the very culprit behind it all, had no idea what a horrifying mental scar his improvised giant Convex Lens would leave on those who came after him.
At any rate, the adventurers who had been here before knew the rules, and the newcomers were very well-behaved.
Yes, the sort who didn't even dare breathe too loudly.
The arrival of this party naturally alerted the Fire Bats from far away.
Even though Ganis hadn't noticed the Fire Bats lurking nearby, he once again became certain that that lord's senses really could reach several miles.
As they reached the front of the waterfall, the vast pool before them was already boiling.
"Blub, blub, blub!"
The water before their eyes boiled like a pot of porridge.
Ganis and the others held their bows as they watched the "White Dragon Pond Monster" reveal his True Form before them.
Lein had indeed told Downs to greet Ganis.
"Just give them an ordinary welcome."
That was what Lein had instructed. Naturally, the words had been twisted in Downs's mind.
Ordinary?
Oh! I get it! The kind of "ordinary" a Legendary Archmage would do, right?
No matter what, I can't let Master's reputation down.
This time, Downs didn't swim across. He walked along the bottom of the pool instead.
One step, then another, and another.
Powerful yet docile Wind Elements swirled around him without pause, forming an enormous Elemental Shield that kept every element other than wind away from his body.
And not a single Wind Element strayed more than a yard from him.
Such exquisite control over the elements left Ganis and the others too stunned to speak for a moment.
With a Half-elf's eye for these things, how could Ganis fail to see that although Downs seemed to be a High-Level Mage, his control over the elements had reached the true Master Level?
The only things Downs lacked were accumulated magical power and the knowledge of Master Level spells.
Before the Age of the End of Dharma, it was common to hear of some wild Mage who spent his whole life unable to learn even one Master Level spell, remained stuck at the High-Level, and died with regrets.
With a Legendary Archmage for a Master, Downs clearly wasn't one of them.
To Ganis, Downs's bright future was plain to see.
So Ganis wasn't bowing to a High-Level Mage. He was paying his respects to a future Archmage destined to reach the pinnacle of magic and have his name etched into legend.
Seeing Ganis's sincere and respectful attitude, Downs was pleased. Putting on a mature air, he spoke in his deep voice. "Honored guests, what brings you here?"
"Not at all! We simply thought that Lord Quijote would be reaching High-Level Mage rank soon, and came to offer our congratulations. What a coincidence." Ganis said this aloud, but inwardly, he gave a great sigh of relief.
He had gone against the majority and persuaded the King of Cervantes to send over the High-Level Mage equipment from the royal treasury ahead of time.
His reasons had been, "In the Age of the End of Dharma, there's no one left in our kingdom who can use these things," and, "Since Mr. Quijote will reach High-Level Mage rank sooner or later, why not do him a favor now?"
He hadn't expected that he'd still been playing it safe.
Quijote wasn't "about to" advance. He'd already become a High-Level Mage!
Good heavens! A seventeen-year-old High-Level Mage!
Even in the last thousand years of the Chaos Continent's history, he'd rank among the monstrous geniuses!
Fortunately, Ganis was an old man over two hundred years old who had seen plenty of Archmages. He had a good eye, and could clearly sense that Downs's magical aura was still a little unstable. He concluded that Downs had advanced only recently.
At a gesture from Ganis, a High-Level Paladin stepped forward to serve as a temporary attendant, carrying a large box. He opened it, revealing a robe shimmering with flowing light.
"This is the [Thunder Robe]! This treasure lets you strike back at anyone who attacks you with lightning. It has three charges per day. You can expend one or more charges to surround yourself with a shield of lightning. Any creature that attacks you with a natural weapon or a non-reach weapon will take lightning damage. This effect lasts for three rounds and won't harm you."
"This is the [Purification Mask]..."
"This is the [Ring of the Mind]..."
"This is..."
One after another, High-Level magical treasures that would have sparked a mad scramble before the Age of the End of Dharma were brought out. The country bumpkin of the magical world, Downs, was dazzled by them.
It wasn't that the White Dragon's hoard hadn't contained anything good last time, but the White Dragon hadn't exclusively hunted Mages. There hadn't been many things that belonged to Wizards, and what there was hadn't been high-grade. A White Dragon with a Challenge Level of 9 couldn't possibly have killed a Master Level Wizard, after all.
This time, Downs was truly shaken. He was visibly at a loss.
At that moment, Lein's voice rang out in the air before the waterfall.
It was the...[whole-school broadcast function].
"Downs, just accept them. While you're at it, ask if they need any help."
Take the gifts, but don't owe them a favor.
A fair deal, right then and there.
The muscles in Ganis's face twitched almost imperceptibly. "Nothing much. There's an unclaimed High-Level Mage Tower in Cervantes Royal City that's interfering with the city's defense system. Would Lord Quijote be willing to help us clear it out?"
As soon as Ganis spoke, Lein silently praised him for being "clever"!
Really clever.
It was like taking a relative to the hospital back before he'd crossed worlds, and getting an appointment with a rookie doctor.
A rookie might not know how to treat the illness, but that didn't mean he couldn't call in help!
You never knew who a rookie doctor might be able to call in.
And when it came time for the appointment, the doctor who showed up was the senior expert Lein's relative had been unable to get an appointment with for three months—the one ranked first in the entire province in that specialty.
Before you continue