Chapter 39
"…… Vines?"
Mages, actually, anyone who could see the Ivory Tower at the moment, would be shocked. From the forest that was surrounding the Ivory Tower, hundreds of thick vines erupted and were crawling on the outer wall of the Ivory Tower.
"What? What is going on!"
By watching those scenes, mages lost their mind.
n.o.body dared to answer Helene’s question.
They even couldn’t hear her voice properly.
"You maggots!"
It was a question of one of the mighty Archmages.
But they refused to answer to her?
Helene headed to the edge of the rooftop to check the situation.
At that moment,
"……?"
Vines were crawling up.
What were those things?
With a shocked face, Helene saw Ian.
Still, in the ice, he was looking at her.
‘Is he casting magic in the Ice Block?’
Hundreds of vines erupted from every side.
As they had eyes, they sought the target like snakes.
A red colored target, the caster ordered them.
The vines tried to seek the red target, and soon, they started to move.
"F, f.u.c.k……"
She couldn’t help herself.
Hundreds of vines were targeting her.
*Burrrn!*
Those vines were only targeting Helene.
Helene had burned them.
But the problem was, the vines came endlessly.
Burn, burn and burn.
‘What is this!’
Already a few hours had pa.s.sed, and that chasing had never ended.
Not only her mana, but her stamina had fallen.
Dodging and burning wasn’t the ultimate solution.
There was only one clear solution.
Suppressing the caster.
‘But how?’
The caster was hiding in the Ice Block.
A strong s.h.i.+eld that was formed by freezing mana.
A spell that Ian was supposed to not do anything in.
She had to do something.
‘I need to find a way….’
However, she couldn’t think of any.
No solutions.
"Pant…. Pant!"
As time went by, Helene’s breathing got rough.
Her stamina and mana were draining out.
She started to realize that she couldn’t win this fight.
"Yikes!"
As she started to open her guard, vines quickly stretched towards her.
One of the vines quickly tangled her right leg.
Her fire spells were useless.
The vine was faster than that.
From her arms to legs and finally, her body.
Like a worm forming its own coc.o.o.n.
"Arrrrrghhh!"
The first time she screamed in her life.
The first feeling of shame.
What had she done in this duel?
She couldn’t even touch her opponent’s skin.
She had to fight with these d.a.m.n vines for the whole duel until her stamina and mana had been emptied.
It would be less shameful if she had managed to burn down all of those vines.
But, she had been caught. Like a loser.
"H, how….."
She knew Ian had extraordinary talent.
But this was, nonsense.
He didn’t lose his consciousness in the Ice Block.
Furthermore, he used magic.
And there was a more surprising thing that happened.
"……Haha."
Now, Helene laughed like a mad woman by watching Ian’s next move.
His Ice Block was dispelled.
Did he use his all mana?
No, it shouldn’t be.
Was it too perfect to regard it as a coincidence?
*Step, step.*
Ian approached Helene.
As she expected, Ian dispelled the Ice Block by his own will.
Otherwise, he couldn’t walk to her like that, without any damage.
"Well, now I see why you are called as the Mage of Beginning."
Helene’s voice contained bitterness.
Now she understood the meaning of his t.i.tle.
She could see its power after combat.
He wasn’t an ordinary talented mage.
"I submit. So, will you please remove these dirty vines….."
"Not yet."
Ian lowered his voice.
It wasn’t good enough. He had to bend her will completely.
Not just for Helene, but to all other mages who were watching it.
‘I will show them who I am.’
Young mages just heard the rumors and announcement.
He pa.s.sed the interrogation of Archmages.
He earned the t.i.tle 4th cla.s.s.
However, there was a huge gap between just listening, and watching it for real.
"W, what do you mean…..?"
Soon, Helene asked suspiciously.
Of course, Ian didn’t answer.
Instead, he slowly raised his right hand on his head.
He gathered mana on his stretched palm.
"W, wait! Boy? Ian?"
She now even fixed how she called Ian. She was so desperate. If such a high-cla.s.s aggressive spell landed on her, she would die without a doubt.
"This is just a duel! A practice! Stop it!"
A dark cloud started to gather at the sky of the Ivory Tower.
Its mighty appearance represented its power.
*Grr……..*
The spell Ian was casting, it had a long and complex formula.
And it required a lot of time to be launched.
However, its power was the best of the best among 4th cla.s.s spells.
"Call Lightning."
A thick lightning.
It smashed the rooftop of the Ivory Tower.
Precisely, at the point where Helene was tangled.
*CRACCCKKKK –!*
Helene closed her eyes helplessly.
As well as the other mages who were watching it.
White shards of materials that formed the floor of the Ivory Tower were being blown out.
Even the defensive spell on the Ivory Tower couldn’t bear its power.
There would be no doubt about Helene’s death.
Only If it hit her directly.
"……!"
Helene opened her eyes.
The floor in front of her was smashed.
Not only that, it was burned badly around the landing spot.
The lightning smashed right in front of Helene.
"Pa, pant! Paaant!"
She finally could breathe.
She survived. Somehow, she survived.
But why does she feel her heart burning?
Actually, it wasn’t her heart that was burning.
It was the heat which was coming from the burnt vines.
Without the vines, she would be burnt badly.
"Stop."
Ian, who was standing out of the area of effect of lightning, made small gestures, then the vines released Helene.
Helene fell down.
She couldn’t manage to keep herself standing.
"Helene."
Ian approached Helene very closely.
"D,
Helene shouted unconsciously.
Her instinct refused Ian.
"Is there anymore,"
However, Ian never cared about her reaction.
Rather, he sat down and looked straight at Helene.
"You want to teach me?"
Helene shook her head desperately.
Any more to teach?
What was he intending to?
Helene couldn’t understand it, also didn’t want to understand.
She just wanted to run away from Ian.
Otherwise, she couldn’t calm herself, from the unknown fear, and her beating heart.
"Then, excuse me, I got to go."
With those words, Ian walked away.
As he approached, mages stepped back.
And naturally, they made a way for Ian.
At the end of the way, Ian could see some special guests.
Middle-aged mages, who were great seniors to most of the mages.
Including a few Archmages and the Tower Lord, Habert.
They came to the roof when they saw those vines climbing the tower.
"Excuse me…."
Ian said while watching them.
"Can you step aside, please? I feel tired."
They stepped aside with confused face.
A new Archmage defeated Helene.
The Ivory Tower, which was used to being silent, faced a new era.
Especially, young mages were moved greatly.
"He cast magic while in Ice Block….."
"He’s on a level of creating magic, isn’t he?"
Wherever they go, it was about Ian, Ian Page.
There were no gossips that didn’t include him.
However, not all members of the Ivory Tower got excited.
"Is she still inside, without coming out?"
"Yes. She refused to eat for days."
"Hmm."
The 19th floor where individual research rooms were located.
There was only silence on this floor.
More than silence, depression.
"Helene, can you hear me?"
In front of Helene’s research room.
With a knock, the Tower Lord called her.
"I understand what you might be feeling. However, you can’t just stay there without eating. Let’s have a conversation, yeah?"
With a warm voice, the Tower Lord unlocked her research room.
While he was entering to her room slowly,
*Clank!*
Tower lord quickly cast a s.h.i.+eld magic, to block the bottle which was thrown at him.
Inside of the research room was the worse than he could’ve imagined.
"Ha….."
A bunch of wine gla.s.ses was rolling on the floor.
Gla.s.ses which were laying down on the floor were smashed.
Including books, there were nothing that stayed clean.
"Helene."
"Get out."
"It won’t solve any……"
"GET THE h.e.l.l OUT!"
Unsettled hair, lightless face, full of the smell of alcohol.
Literally, she looked wasted.
It wasn’t only the result of the defeat.
She was defeated shamefully, in front of numerous audiences.
She screamed like a loser and begged for her life.
However, she couldn’t find any solution to beat him.
She only barely managed to run away.
Her pride couldn’t accept any of these situations.
Her pride was ruined completely.
"Firstly, we better forbid alcohols to be brought in. Have a meal after you get clear headed. The body of every single mage does not belong to them. It belongs to the Ivory Tower. You know it very well, don’t you?"
"Leave me alone. Please…. PLEASE!"
"……. Alright. I will come again tomorrow."
The Tower Lord left the room.
"Tsk tsk. Look at her face."
He clicked his tongue.
His face was getting ugly.
He made an immature decision. He had planned to kneel down Ian Page at the very beginning. However, he instead smashed Helene ruthlessly.
‘It’s not a matter of taming him.’
On the day, when Ian Page stomped Helene, Ian Page said to him, ‘please step aside.’ Including him, there were great seniors on his path.
What a brave and arrogant kid.
‘He is not a dog who suits a leash….’
A leash was a tool which only can be used on dogs.
It wasn’t designed for a ferocious beast.
A beast may try to bite the master whenever it can.
‘Rather he was a wolf."
A beast that can’t be tamed even at its young age.
Now he better choose a different way, to make him a loyal servant to the Ivory Tower.
Actually,
‘To make him ‘MY’ loyal servant.’
A clearer, unofficial trick.
A secret trick that even other archmages shouldn’t know.
Ian deserved such special treatment.
‘I need a lot of time, a large amount of time.’
Soon, Habert reached the 22nd floor, the room of the Tower Lord.
There, a familiar face awaited him.
"h.e.l.lo, Tower Lord."
"Your highness."
A boy who dared to sit on the chair of the Tower Lord.
The fifth prince, Ragnar Greenriver.
The boy welcomed him.
"Sorry for being late."
"I’m okay with it, by the way, please keep telling me the story you have said."
"What kind of story….."
"Ian Page."
Two men who put masks on their own face.
Actually, they suited each other quite well.