AI Archmage, Chapter 5
Within the Blue Tower, the reputation of Zion Rostery could easily be called the worst.
Yet, there were two main reasons Zion had survived until now.
The first was his prestigious family.
No magician in the Blue Tower would dare lay a hand on a member of the Rostery family.
The second was that he had never crossed an intolerable line.
But today, Zion Rostery had crossed that line.
He had insulted the Blue Tower’s idol, Lumia Kabala, in front of several magicians!
Ah, this is going too far.
This was the trigger that pushed the magicians who worshipped Lumia past the point of anger.
Among them, the most notable was Tult, a third-circle magician.
Having studied at the Blue Tower for four years and firmly established his position, he held immense respect for Lumia and had no intention of standing idly by.
“Step forward, Zion Rostery!”
He was confident.
His reasons for confronting Zion were perfectly justified.
He wasn’t especially righteous, but he wouldn’t bend his principles.
Following him, the other magicians who revered Lumia slowly began to gather.
No magician in the Blue Tower had any favorable feelings toward Zion, so the justification was clear.
“You’re not just facing me right now, but also the magicians of the Tower who are enraged by your shameless behavior!”
Just as Tult was about to continue,
creak—
The door opened naturally.
“…Huh?”
Tult flinched involuntarily, not expecting Zion to step out so easily.
Zion smiled and struck an exaggerated pose.
“There, I’ve opened the door for you.”
“Y-You… opened it?”
“Oh my, gathered quite a crowd, haven’t you? You didn’t have to come all at once.”
Shrugging with a completely unfazed expression, Zion continued:
“Is it time for the covert harassment of students you don’t like to begin?”
“…Covert?”
Tult was dumbfounded at Zion’s ridiculous words.
What the hell is this guy?
Had he just called this situation “covert harassment” himself?
It was absurd, but Tult was a proud magician of the Blue Tower. He decided to try reasoning first.
“No. I am standing before you with just cause. Logically, the one who has harassed is you, Zion Rostery.”
“I’m fine. I’ve been reborn since yesterday—so you could call me Zion 2.0.”
“…”
“And as far as justification goes, I haven’t really done anything wrong yesterday, have I?”
“What, you?”
Tult’s face contorted at the audacity of his nonsense.
“You dare forget how you insulted the Tower Master in front of us yesterday?!”
“It wasn’t an insult, was it? It was the truth. If anything, the Tower Master should thank me for pointing out the problems.”
“…”
“Did you even consider that if I hadn’t pointed it out, it could have escalated into a bigger problem?”
Things were bad.
This guy was crazier than expected.
And was Zion always like this?
Tult felt a cold sweat from the combination of shamelessness and the unexpected situation.
“That’s sophistry! You insulted the Tower Master with ridiculous logic, and we cannot forgive it—”
“You don’t have the right to say that, do you?”
“…”
Come to think of it, he did have a point.
Even if he wanted to punish Zion, that should be Lumia’s job, not a low-ranking magician like him.
Something feels off…
Tult stammered:
“You… you weren’t like this before.”
“What do you mean?”
“You used to rage when insulted! You threatened to crush us with the power of the Rostery family!”
“Why?”
Zion scoffed.
Tult didn’t know how to respond to such confidence.
Yet Zion’s mouth never stopped moving.
“There’s no need to rage. Why provoke others with such barbaric reactions?”
“No, you weren’t like this! You were more… instinctive, like a beast! Remember that day…!”
“I’ve been reborn.”
“AAAAAAH!”
Tult roared, foaming at the mouth, while the other magicians looked on, equally bewildered.
Zion grinned and asked them:
“So, when will you start?”
“Start what?”
“The covert harassment.”
“Will we?”
“Not going to?”
“No…”
Tult, feeling the futility of the one-sided conversation, spoke wearily.
He had come intending to punish Zion for insulting the Tower Master, but somehow, his anger had cooled as the conversation continued.
“You have no justification, damn it…”
“I have plenty of justification. Have you forgotten all the misdeeds I’ve committed against you?”
“Y-Yeah… but…”
Tult continued in a depressed voice:
“How can I fight if it doesn’t match up? It feels like I’m just forcing a fight with you…”
“Pathetically so.”
Zion shook his head at Tult.
“You’ve already lost logically before even trying.”
“…”
Frustrating, but not wrong—Tult had no counterargument.
Everyone else was speechless.
“Then I have no choice. I’ll give you all a chance.”
“A… chance?”
“To attack me with just cause.”
“J-Just cause?”
They couldn’t understand what he meant.
“How?”
“From now on.”
Zion placed a basket down.
“One silver per offensive spell.”
“…?”
At that moment, everyone present thought the same:
What the hell is this guy doing?
After much contemplation, Lumia came to a conclusion:
“…I guess I need to talk to him again.”
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.
She also wasn’t sure she could trust him yet.
Even if he hadn’t reported to the Rostery family, it was clear he belonged to them.
Which raised the question: what was the behavior he had shown until now?
For three whole years, he had been the Tower’s troublemaker, the target of everyone’s fingers.
The number of times Lumia had groaned in frustration because of him was countless.
But if all of that had been a deliberate act, why?
The Zion Rostery who had revealed himself before her didn’t seem to have favorable feelings toward his family.
He had no intention of reporting her “research” to them either.
That meant…
Could it be…?
Lumia reached a conclusion:
All along, he might have had no choice but to act that way.
The Rostery family, while not highly skilled in magic, wielded enormous wealth and influence.
And they were not exactly clean.
Much more complicated than most noble families.
If Zion harbored resentment toward his family’s ways, it made sense that he had to play the role of the troublemaker.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense—his power to dispel magic directly couldn’t have appeared overnight.
Then the next question arose: if he had hidden himself for three years, why reveal himself now?
To understand everything, she would have to talk to him again.
“…Alright.”
She rose, but just as she was about to leave the room—bang!
“Ah, Lumia…!”
Deputy Tower Master Serentia burst in.
“What is it?”
“Z-Zion! Zion is…!”
“…!”
Lumia stiffened, worried that something had already gone wrong.
Could it be, Zion is attacking…?
“He’s provoking the Tower magicians to extort money!”
“…?”
Lumia froze, unsure what to do.
“Great root of the Bluewood, please grant your blessing to my hand in accordance with the will of dawn…”
“Boring and pedantic.”
Snap!
Zion snapped his fingers lightly, and the spell the student was casting dissipated.
“My… my magic…?!”
“Next.”
Tapping the basket, Zion accepted the next challenger.
The students watching had realized:
That was a Dispel, wasn’t it?
A counter-magic that only works if the level gap is significant.
It’s called nullification, but in reality, it’s a skill that suppresses opponents’ magic using computation far faster than their spell.
The implication was simple:
Zion Rostery is far above us in skill.
“No… this can’t be…”
Arms crossed, Zion waited for the next challenger.
Making money is easy this way.
Even a silver wasn’t much, but it was useful.
He needed money as an individual, not from the Rostery family.
[Is it okay to reveal your skills like this, Human? You’ve maintained the image of a useless troublemaker until just a few days ago.]
It doesn’t matter.
It’s better to hide them anyway. Am I some kind of vigilante at night? To go around secretly?
[True.]
As long as the setup convinces people of the basics, that’s enough.
Zion, having lived as Altair before, valued time above all and didn’t want to waste it unnecessarily.
[Then why stage such a farce?]
Because it’s fun.
Watching these kids struggle to beat him was entertaining.
Earn money, change my image—throw one stone, hit two goblins.
[I can’t deny that.]
He turned his attention to the next challenger: Tult, representing the students.
“Finally, you’re up.”
“…Zion Rostery.”
Tult asked, disbelief written across his face:
“What… what have you done?”
“Well… I haven’t really done anything wrong.”
“Your magical talent is clearly…!”
Tult shouted, but Zion’s answer was obvious:
Perhaps you overestimate your own talent? If you senior couldn’t detect my level, what’s the answer?
Tult knew.
Zion had reached a level that made him look like a “mere” magician.
No matter how much he denied it, he could not deny reality.
“Hm.”
Zion glanced at the speechless Tult and then pushed the basket aside.
“I’ve earned enough. Let the last challenger be the senior.”
“…!”
“But the last should naturally be special, shouldn’t it?”
He spread his hands. Mana swirled violently around him.
“…Huh?”
<Mana Field>
Without any incantation, Zion’s magic activated.
Splash!
Blue mana surged like waves, enveloping the area.
For a moment, silence fell.
No one could comprehend what Zion had done.
Breaking the silence, Tult muttered:
“N-N, no incantation?”
Everyone else thought the same.
“This… this can’t be…”
Even Lumia Kabala, youngest 6th-circle genius and head of the Blue Tower, was shocked.
