Ascension Through Skills

Chapter 403: Floor 81, Advanced Magic (3)

“Break Butler’s magic so easily...?”

A voice mixed with astonishment echoed through the room.

Taesan remained unchanged. His breathing, his complexion—nothing about him had altered. The attack itself had been as meaningless to him as a child’s tantrum.

“...Our eyes were the ones that were blind.”

In that single trial, all of them realized something. Taesan wasn’t powerless; they had reached a level of strength that they couldn’t even sense.

They were all highly skilled magicians recognized by Zervand. They were not foolish enough to deny what had just occurred before them.

“This is troublesome.”

After the trial ended and Taesan returned, Elia scratched her head awkwardly and spoke with a sheepish expression.

“There was a reason Zervand granted you Advanced Magic. I was too stubborn.”

“Did you suggest the trial?”

“Yeah. Zervand originally had a different approach in mind, but we strongly insisted.”

They had proposed testing Taesan to determine if he was truly worthy of Advanced Magic.

Zervand had agreed to their request.

“So, this is how it turned out?”

Elia looked at Taesan with a wry smile.

“You’re really strong. Far stronger than us.”

“Then is the trial over?”

The seven magicians, aside from the old man, could not reach Taesan. But Elia shook her head.

“No.”

Her eyes were steady and resolute.

“Even so, we’re magicians. We’re curious. How far will our magic work against someone as powerful as you? We have to give it our all.”

They requested some time to set up a new trial, and Taesan agreed.

Two days later, Elia came to take him to the trial room.

“Alright! This time, it’s my turn!”

Though her face looked tired, as though she hadn’t slept, her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Other magicians arrived shortly. Butler, still wobbling from his injuries, managed to sit down.

“My trial will be with my magic. Puppetry!”

She spread her arms wide, and two white puppets flew toward Taesan and Elia, standing before them.

“We won’t fight directly. Instead, we’ll control the puppets and make them fight! If you win, you pass! How about it?”

“I don’t know how to use puppetry,” Taesan replied.

“Don’t worry! I’ll teach you the basics.”

Elia approached Taesan and took his hand. Mana flowed from her into him.

Taesan felt the flow and analyzed it, understanding it almost immediately.

“It’s not something that’s normally possible like this, but you’re far stronger than me. You’ll pick up the basics.”

“Alright.”

[You have learned Puppetry.]

“...That was fast.”

Elia muttered, surprised. She thought it would take at least an hour for him to grasp it.

“So, how is it?”

“It feels awkward.”

“Yeah?”

Elia grinned and swirled her mana.

“Then let’s begin!”

The puppets came at Taesan with swift and intense movements.

It was a battle using puppets, and the puppets’ strength didn’t depend on the user's power. Taesan had only just learned puppetry, so he couldn’t control them well yet.

Given his immense strength, he would quickly get the hang of it, but for now, there was a high chance he would lose.

But Taesan had no intention of losing.

There was no restriction to only using magic.

Taesan connected his mana to the puppets and spoke.

“Work for me.”

[You have activated the Declaration of Motion.]

The puppet jerked its head up.

Boom!

The puppet rushed forward, faster and more aggressively than Elia’s puppet.

“Wha—what?”

Elia, who had thought that Taesan wouldn’t be able to handle the puppets, gasped in surprise.

The puppets clashed, and Elia’s puppet was immediately pushed back.

Elia hastily took control of her puppet. It moved smoothly, as if it were human. She was indeed an excellent puppeteer.

But that was as far as it went.

The puppet controlled by Taesan carried the authority of an immortal. The disparity in their levels was immense. In an instant, Elia’s puppet shattered.

“...I lost.”

Her own magic, her lifelong creation—puppetry—was shattered with a single word from Taesan. Her self-esteem crumbled in an instant.

After that, the magicians each conducted their trials, each one using their own magic.

But none of them could match Taesan.

The plant magician’s trial had Taesan facing plants that burrowed into his body.

The plants never even touched his skin. The trial ended in an instant.

Next was the trial of blocking pure mana condensation.

Taesan simply waved his hand. The mana, which the magician had gathered to the point of exhaustion, was completely wiped out with that simple motion.

“...Huh.”

The magician let out a wry laugh.

It was clear—their levels were no match for Taesan.

Taesan also analyzed their magic.

The magicians’ magic was diverse and unique. Depending on how it was used, it could prove useful to Taesan as well.

But the more he learned, the more something became clear.

“Zervand’s magic is of a higher level than this.”

“...That hurts to hear.”

Elia’s face fell slightly.

“I wasn’t asking how you feel about your magic. I was just answering your question.”

Their magic was indeed diverse and unique.

But that was all.

They had become too fixated on trivial aspects, which diminished the power of their magic. The versatility of their magic was also quite limited.

It wasn’t worth acquiring. Compared to the magic Taesan had learned in the labyrinth, their magic was inferior.

“It might be unnecessary advice, but rather than focusing on creating your own magic, it would be better to keep exploring Zervand’s magic.”

They were strong. Taesan could tell from how effortlessly Elia handled intermediate magic.

They were magicians on par with Shayan, who called himself a grand mage.

If they fought properly, they could possibly match Taesan.

But they had forgotten their true power.

They were too obsessed with creating their own magic, which had shackled them.

“With your current level, you won’t be able to learn Advanced Magic.”

Even Shayan, using the labyrinth’s system and tools, had only barely managed to wield primitive advanced magic. These magicians, equal to him, had no hope of using advanced magic.

“Is that so?”

Elia smiled wryly.

She had already realized that what they were doing had no real meaning.

But it was frustrating.

No matter how hard they tried, the path to Advanced Magic seemed out of reach. As a result, the seven magicians had chosen to escape into creating their own magic.

“Did Zervand know this, and that’s why he agreed to our request...?”

Elia realized that the reason they were given this opportunity was to show them that the magic they created was nothing more than child’s play to a stronger being.

She let out a heavy sigh.

“Guess we’re not like Grandpa after all.”

The identity of the “Grandpa” she referred to was not difficult to guess.

“You mean the master of this tower.”

“Yeah. He’s the one who reached the highest level without ever learning Zervand’s magic, creating his own path. That’s why we started this futile effort of making our own magic. After all, someone like him achieved it right next to us.”

A magician who reached immortality through his own magic.

Elia smiled.

“Even though our magic seems awkward and low-level compared to Zervand’s, Grandpa’s magic won’t be like that. His trial will give you a real challenge.”

“I understand.”

Taesan responded calmly.

The trials continued. Of course, they did not stop Taesan’s path.

As time passed, only two trials remained.

“My trial is this.”

A short, middle-aged man with a long beard showed Taesan a massive contraption.

“It’s the culmination of my magic, made with magic engineering. It’s the machine itself. Try to activate it without breaking it.”

The man grinned, his face full of confidence that Taesan wouldn’t easily clear this trial.

Though Taesan was monstrously strong, this was a matter of technique, not power.

No matter how strong Taesan was, he would have to understand the technology before passing the trial.

The man’s prediction wasn’t wrong. Taesan didn’t understand the machine’s technology at all.

But the answer to how to operate and handle this machine was already in Taesan’s mind.

[Gang Taesan’s divine power manifests. The King of Mechanisms activates.]

Mana naturally flowed out. The old man, watching from the side, stood up in shock. Elia, who was next to him, jumped back in surprise.

“Grandpa? What’s wrong?”

“....”

The old man didn’t answer. He just stared at Taesan with wide eyes.

“...How?”

A voice full of confusion echoed, and the machine began to activate with a mechanical hum.

---

Taesan continued walking.

He passed through the long corridor and opened the door at the end.

Click.

A vast interior appeared before him. He could see the antique wooden floors and walls.

The space itself seemed to expand, with no visible end in sight. When he stepped forward, he felt a strong rebound from the floor.

“This space was created by Zervand himself. No matter how much you struggle, it’s impossible to destroy, so don’t worry about that.”

At the center of the expansive room stood an old man.

Holding a staff and wearing a gray robe, he looked at Taesan with quiet eyes.

“Where are the other magicians?”

“They’re watching from a different place, so they don’t get involved.”

The old man tapped his staff.

“I am Wirad. Just Wirad.”

He didn’t mention a school. The reason was easy to guess. For the man who called himself Wirad, such distinctions didn’t matter.

“What are the rules?”

“All powers except for magic are sealed.”

The staff pointed at Taesan. A strong rule wrapped around him.

[The skill [Strong Pressure] has been sealed. The skill [Acceleration] has been sealed. The passive skill [Quick Judgment] has been sealed...]

A system window blocked his vision.

Almost all skills except magic were sealed.

“This is a trial from the God of Magic, Zervand. As long as you follow the trial’s laws, you cannot break the rules.”

Taesan clenched and unclenched his fists. His entire body felt different, as if his senses had been muted by the sealing of his passive skills.

“Next?”

“Make me leave this circle.”

At Wirad’s feet was a circle, large enough for a person to step inside.

“If you succeed, you pass the final trial.”

“Sounds easy.”

Taesan began to draw on his strength.

The previous seven trials were nothing more than distractions.

They held no meaning or value. Zervand surely knew that.

But accepting their request meant one thing.

The magician before him.

That being alone was enough to create a trial worthy of Advanced Magic.

Wirad stared at Taesan with fluctuating eyes.

“You... what are you?”

“I am an adventurer of the Labyrinth. And I’m someone on the same level as you.”

“No. Something’s different. You... are fundamentally unlike me.”

Wirad fell silent.

After a moment of contemplation, he shook his head and raised his staff.

“Anyway, I am the examiner. Pass my trial.”

The staff crackled with energy.

It began to seize control of the space, bending the world to his will.

“My magic is very simple. What do you see this as?”

Wirad tapped the staff in the air.

A black dot appeared.

“It’s a dot.”

“Right. It’s a dot.”

Wirad pulled the staff horizontally.

The dot stretched into a line.

“This is a line. It’s created by stretching a dot into a straight line.”

Wirad pulled the staff upward. The line stretched upward.

“This is a plane. It’s created by extending the line vertically.”

A black plane appeared in mid-air.

“A dot, a line, and a plane. These are the three aspects of my magic, and my power.”

Wirad flicked his robe.

Mana began to engulf the world.

“Come, unknown immortal. Challenge my power.”

[Wirad’s power manifests. The Dimension Definition has been activated.]