TBAGM Vol. 2 Chapter 4 Part 1

Chapter 4 – Magic Reform

In the reception room of “Greenpeak,” Mint and Loren sat facing each other and held a discussion.

Of course, it was not idle small talk.

“Hah-hah-hah! You didn’t have to put up this many barriers!”

“You didn’t come here to complain, did you? Let’s get to the point.”

At Loren’s careless attitude, Mint furrowed her brow.

Multiple layers of soundproof barriers had been erected here by Mint, and no one besides the two of them was allowed to enter.

That alone proved how important what was being discussed here was.

“Really? Then let’s get to the point already! I came to propose a Guild Showdown! And once I win, I want you to break your alliance with ‘Veiled Moonrise’!”

“I figured. But there’s nothing in that for us.”

“Is there not? If you win, it’s your chance to climb to third in the guild rankings, you know?”

“We’re not aiming for the top. We like things best the way they are now.”

Mint shook her head side to side and dismissed Loren’s proposal outright.

For her, the top priority right now was receiving Lloyd’s guidance, and honing herself through rivalry with Ellis.

There was no way she would accept a proposal that could sever her connection with Lloyd.

Watching her, Loren reluctantly produced a single book and held it out.

“I wasn’t planning to bring this out, but fine! I’ll use it as leverage! If you accept the Guild Showdown, I’ll hand this over unconditionally.”

“What’s this, a magic grimoire?”

Mint frowned as she looked at the book Loren set on the table.

A magic grimoire was, as the name implied, a book that contained magic.

It was like a magitool that let its reader learn a spell instantly.

Magic that normally took a month or two of training could be used in an instant after reading a magic grimoire. Once the user learned the spell, the grimoire’s effect vanished, making it a disposable, one-time book.

That was why magic grimoires were exorbitantly expensive, and so rare they practically never appeared on the market.

“I don’t need it anyway.”

Mint said that while pushing the grimoire back toward Loren.

She had the skill 【Magic Encyclopedia】. Thanks to it, she could use every spell there was, essentially a cheat skill.

Without relying on a magic grimoire, she could learn any magic immediately. That was precisely why she had carved her name into history as “The Most Formidable Witch.”

“Even if you don’t use it, you can have your teammates use it! Or what, are you afraid you’ll lose to us?”

Unable to get her agreement, Loren deliberately raised his voice.

Most guildmasters were strong-willed. Otherwise, they would never be able to attain the position of guildmaster in the first place.

And if you provoked someone like that, then of course—

“As if. I’m stronger than you.”

Exactly as Loren intended, Mint took the bait perfectly.

“Right? Then let’s settle this in the Guild Showdown and make it crystal clear!”

“By the way, what spell is this grimoire for?”

“If I remember right, it should be 【Water Armor】!”

【Water Armor】 was a beginner-level water-element spell.

It wrapped the body in water like armor and slightly increased one’s durability.

Defensive barrier spells were advanced magic and beyond the reach of ordinary people, so 【Water Armor】 was often used as a substitute.

“Hmmm… that’s nice.”

“It’s beginner magic, you know? For you and the mages here, it’s basically trash!”

“I’ve got someone in mind. And if it’s a trash grimoire, don’t use it for negotiations!”

“Hah-hah-hah! My apologies for that!”

Without a hint of remorse, Loren laughed.

Mint sighed at him, but still signed the documents that had been left on the desk.

“Is this good enough?”

“Yeah! The match is in one week! Let’s make it best-of-three, one-on-one! We’ll both give it our all!”

Having secured her acceptance, Loren left the reception room with a satisfied smile. The grimoire from earlier remained on the table.

Left alone, Mint murmured under her breath.

“Ugh… it was a fight where the gap in strength was obvious, so why did I accept it?”

Loren had shown consideration in his own way.

If it became a siege battle, Mint’s side would get pressed by Gladiators and it would end almost immediately.

But if it were one-on-one, the handicap imposed by professions could be reduced, at least a little.

Even so, there was still a massive difference in power between third and seventh in the guild rankings.

“Greenpeak,” simply put, poured its efforts solely into mastering magic, and it had not trained that extensively for PvP combat.

“Nggh… what should I do…?”

Mint clutched her head at the sheer impossibility of it.

However, her worries were about to be resolved very soon.

†

When I—Lloyd—arrived at “Greenpeak,” a burly man was just coming out through the entrance.

There was no mistake. It was Loren.

“Hm? You’re the guildmaster of ‘Veiled Moonrise,’ right?”

“Hello. Were you able to secure the Guild Showdown?”

“You saw through my intentions! You really aren’t to be underestimated!”

Loren laughed with a loud “Hah-hah-hah!” as he walked off.

That grin was the face of someone who had never known defeat, brimming with confidence.

I let out a wry smile and slipped past him.

Loren was not a bad person at heart. But his ability had bred arrogance.

He would probably learn in this Guild Showdown that arrogance could put him in danger.

I called out to a “Greenpeak” member stationed at the entrance.

“Hello. Could you call Mint for me?”

“Hello. And you are…?”

“I’m Lloyd, the guildmaster of ‘Veiled Moonrise.’”

“Understood. This way, please.”

Maybe because the name Lloyd meant something to him, the member seemed satisfied and guided me to Mint’s room.

“This is the room.”

After finishing his escort, the member bowed to me and returned to his assigned post.

I knocked on the door that was presumably Mint’s room. Knock-knock-knock.

“Come in.”

“Sorry. I’m late.”

Mint, looking utterly drained, was slumped limply in her chair.

“L-Lloyd!? What are you doing here!?”

The moment she realized the visitor was me, her eyes sparkled.

She snapped out of her sloppy posture and sat up properly.

“Did you come to give me advice, maybe!?”

“Yes. That’s why I came. Could you tell me the details about the Guild Showdown?”

After that, she spent about an hour explaining the Guild Showdown and the guild’s members.

“This is a pretty harsh situation.”

“It really is. Of all people, it had to be that meathead, Loren’s guild.”

Making it a best-of-three, one-on-one match might have made it look like Mint’s side gained an advantage at first glance.

But there was hardly any profession more fragile than an individual mage. In close-quarters combat, even a healer would probably be stronger.

With the roster in hand, I asked Mint:

“As for the members for the Guild Showdown, your executives Marcus and Alterna seem most likely right now. May I go meet them?”

“Sure. They’re probably at the training grounds, practicing magic like always.”

“Greenpeak” currently had several hundred members.

At the top stood Mint, the guildmaster.

And acting as her right and left hands were the executives Marcus and Alterna.

As you would expect of executives, those two stood out among the members as especially promising.

That said, they apparently had strong convictions when it came to magic, so I was a little worried whether they would follow my guidance.

“Understood. I’ll go take a look.”

I left the reception room and headed for the training grounds.

At this rate, Marcus, Alterna, and Mint would be the three participants in the Guild Showdown.

In the current situation, Mint was on a razor’s edge where it was unclear whether she could barely win or barely lose. As for Marcus and Alterna, it would not even be a match.

Breaking through that critical situation was my job.

—Ugh, the mana density is insane.

The moment I entered the training grounds, I nearly got dizzy.

I had never experienced air this thick with mana, not even in the middle layers of a dungeon. So the reputation of a top-ranked group was not just for show.

Inside the training grounds, several dozen mages freely trained in their own ways: firing spells at targets, or refining their mana to strengthen their control.

Among them, Marcus and Alterna stood out in particular.

“Under the blessing of fire… 【Fire Arrow】!”

“Under the blessing of water… 【Water Arrow】!”

Since they were B-rank, they could wield advanced magic that demanded sophisticated technique without any trouble.

And yet, for some reason, they were firing intermediate spells at the targets.

The reason became obvious the moment I saw the spells they released.

“They can cast simultaneously…!”

Whenever the two of them used magic, three arrows launched at once.

There seemed to be limits to the number, and the power and speed looked inferior to a single spell, but there was probably no mage outside this guild who could manage simultaneous casting.

Maybe Mint had imitated Ellis’s magic and taught it to them.

Ellis’s version largely worked because she had skill-based support, but those two did not possess such skills.

People who could devote themselves to what they loved had an abnormal rate of growth.

“Got a moment?”

““Yes?””

After they finished firing their magic and things settled down, I ran over to Marcus and Alterna.

Since a complete outsider who was not even a member had entered the training grounds, everyone watched me with suspicious looks.

“I’m Lloyd, guildmaster of ‘Veiled Moonrise.’”

“Ah, so you’re the guildmaster of Veiled Moonrise?”

“What did an important person from our allied guild come here for?”

The two of them looked at me and tilted their heads.

Marcus had a sharp, serious-looking face, and he was the type of mage who mainly focused on offense.

Alterna, on the other hand, had a gentle expression and gave off an easygoing air, making him more of a support-focused mage.

“Greenpeak is going to have a Guild Showdown next week against ‘Azure Sea Whitecaps.’”

““I see…””

The two nodded as though it all clicked into place.

Ever since Loren had visited their guild, they had probably seen this coming.

“And I’m here as an instructor to make sure you win.”

As I said that, I used 【Appraisal】 on the two of them.

Mint had already told me the rough outline of their information, but what I saw with my own eyes was the most reliable, so I confirmed it again.

.

[Name]	Marcus (23)
[Title]	Greenpeak, B-rank adventurer, First Squad, Squad Captain
[Stats]	Vitality: B/A Magic: C/C  Ambition: B/A Leadership: C/C  Intelligence: D/D
[Skills]	Mana Coating
[Inherent Trait]	None
[Profession]	Mage
[Attributes]	Hand-to-Hand E/A  Strength E/B  Durability D/B

.

.

[Name]	Alterna (25)
[Title]	Greenpeak, B-rank adventurer, Second Squad, Squad Captain
[Stats]	Vitality: D/B Magic: A/A Ambition: A/A Leadership: D/C Intelligence: A/A
[Skills]	Chant Shortening B/B
[Inherent Trait]	None
[Profession]	Mage
[Attribute]	Mana Control B/B  Agility D/B  Durability E/C

.

Both Marcus and Alterna clearly put in daily effort. With just a little more direction, both their stats and attributes would reach perfectly solid values.

What I could do was keep their strengthening from going in the wrong direction.

Marcus did not have the temperament of a pure mage at all. If he advanced into another profession that used magic, he would become even stronger.

As for Alterna, he needed a trigger. A weapon or armor that could draw out his talent.

Expecting great things from their growth going forward, I held out my hand.

“Let’s work together for about a week.”

However, they shook their heads and did not take my hand.

“I’ll get stronger my way.”

“I can’t accept being taught by someone without ability.”

“We’re just going to pursue magic to the very end.”

“Advice from an outsider will only get in our way.”

Marcus and Alterna spoke in turns, sounding bothered.

It had been a while since someone gave me that kind of attitude, and I wore a wry smile.

Ellis and Nero had only been unusually obedient. At first, this sort of reaction was normal. It had been the same back when I worked as an Advisor for Incarnation of the Sun.

“Even if you say that, Mint asked me to come.”

That said, I could not simply go, “Alright then,” and back off.

Just like I had told Nick before, no one followed someone without ability.

I did not have overwhelming physical strength or mana. No one would naturally want advice from a man like that.

“When it comes to magic, I know more than you do. You’re not even a mage, so you think you have more knowledge than me?”

“Yeah. Even if you’re an Advisor, what can you do in a week?”

Marcus and Alterna gave small laughs, as if they were goading me.

They had probably believed in their magic and kept grinding away all this time.

The fact that their stats had risen close to their limits proved it.

But if they did not know how to make use of those abilities, they would not even be able to make use of their effort.

I put on a fearless smile and told them:

“I can make you into A-rank adventurers.”

““What!?””

They froze at the unexpected declaration.

The other members who had been watching us also erupted into an uproar.

If some random person had said it, everyone would have laughed it off.

But I was a guildmaster. I stood in a position where I had to take responsibility for my words.

“You two understand it too, don’t you? That with this training method, you haven’t been able to grow.”

““Ugh…””

At my words, the two lowered their gazes and fell silent.

For them to grow, they had to destroy their fixed idea of how a mage was supposed to fight.

Those excellent stats were also the shackles they had forged for themselves.

“I’ll make you grow in one week. Enough that you can become mages second only to Mint.”

If you ranked the mages in this country, the one beneath Mint would be Merle, an executive of the second-ranked guild, “Fairy Garden.” After that came several A-rank adventurers.

Marcus and Alterna were executives serving ‘The Most Formidable Witch’, but they were still nowhere near that stage.

And this was also my duty.

If Greenpeak lost this Guild Showdown, their standing would decline.

Loren’s real target should have been my guild. As a guildmaster, dragging an allied guild into trouble was nothing but shameful.

“I’m an S-rank Advisor. I’ve advised hundreds of adventurers, and I’ve trained multiple A-rank adventurers.”

““Huh…?””

When I spoke of my track record, their shock only deepened.

That was what they had wanted: reassurance in the form of proven results.

Their opponent was a stronger guild. If they lost, this guild’s position would waver. They had to be anxious in their own way.

“Please, lend me your strength. I will make you A-rank adventurers, no matter what.”

I was confident. If those two could work this hard, they could absolutely reach A-rank.

Maybe some of that certainty reached them as well.

““O-Okay.””

At my words, the two reluctantly nodded.

“It’s already late tonight, so I’m planning to start training tomorrow. Is that fine with you?”

They nodded again at my question.

With all the other members watching in Greenpeak’s training grounds, it would be hard to go all out. So starting tomorrow, we decided to conduct the training at Veiled Moonrise.

†