I'll Retire After Saving the World-Chapter 133: Witch’s Lantern (2)

TL: SHW

Sometimes, young mages become completely immersed in their own world.

While meditating or exploring their mana, they can fall into a state where they fail to recognize any external stimuli, sinking deep into their inner self.

If it’s a light trance state, a loud noise or slight shock can break their balance and bring them out of it.

However, Park Seo-hyun was learning about Domains. The absolute personal space of a mage. And her attribute as an eighteen-year-old mage was Shadow. An attribute that clearly exhibits duality in the presence of light. Park Seo-hyun, who had gotten a hint from something Woo Hwijae said during class, was researching how to distinguish space from the external world...

And she created a Domain that, to Kim Chae-min’s eyes, looked like a kind of subspace.

At another time, Kim Chae-min would have been extremely excited and congratulated Park Seo-hyun on her discovery. Understanding the properties of one’s own mana is a huge advancement for a mage and also a step closer to discovering one’s unique magic. She would have shared her own experiences to help Park Seo-hyun apply magic.

If only the strange coincidence and moment hadn’t overlapped, sucking everyone in the villa into the Shadow Subspace!

"But."

Choi Jin-woo, startled at the sight of the wound on Kim Chae-min’s finger, opened his mouth while bringing the first-aid kit.

Choi Jin-woo thought back to when Park Seo-hyun’s feet were engulfed in shadow. The shadow had spread instantly, like watercolor paint soaked in water. Probably even the garden had been covered in shadow. That’s why the people in the garden had also disappeared.

Now, Choi Jin-woo understood what that meant. If it had been when he first entered Pilot High School, he would have just stared blankly, amazed that mages could do something like that.

But the current Choi Jin-woo was a proper mage with a master. He had become familiar enough with using magic that he could feel the sparkles dissolved in mana when he closed his eyes and concentrated.

So he knew.

That the shadow which instantly covered the spacious villa was not something an ordinary mage could do by a simple mistake.

That dragging others into one’s Domain within the brief moment even veteran Hunters couldn’t react to was nearly impossible.

For the first time, Choi Jin-woo felt jealousy toward his master and friend.

Overflowing mana. The skill to handle magic of the opposite attribute at a high level. Then what must her original attribute magic be like?

A feeling he had never experienced before boiled up from deep in his chest. But Choi Jin-woo forcibly contained that feeling. No matter what, it seemed entirely unproductive to envy a friend who had grown up as a mage since childhood!

“Why didn’t teacher and I get pulled in there? I mean, we did go in at first, right? I think we did?”

Choi Jin-woo cleared his suppressed emotions from his mind. The most important thing now was to wake Park Seo-hyun safely and get the people involved out.

At Choi Jin-woo’s question, Kim Chae-min nodded.

“We did go in, but we’re mages, aren’t we?”

“Huh?”

“Cats don’t really mind humans coming and going in their territory, right? Well, some cats might, but in general?”

“Mm… I’ve never raised a cat, so I wouldn’t know, but okay, let’s go with that.”

“I haven’t raised one either. But whether it’s a cat or a wolf, they care less about different species coming and going, but if one of their own kind invades their territory, don’t they raise their fur and growl?”

Choi Jin-woo recalled a documentary he’d seen before. It was about territorial disputes between wolves. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

He couldn’t remember well, but there was something about a lone wolf from another pack being roughly chased out after entering a different pack’s territory.

“Right.”

“Mages are the same. Non-Awakened people are about as threatening as rabbits, and Awakened ones or Hunters are like large gazelles. Herbivores, but if they ram into you wrong, you could get hurt?”

They are definitely not equal carnivores. That’s what mages are.

Choi Jin-woo also realized that fact from Kim Chae-min’s words but didn’t deny it.

“But other mages are wolves. Wicked creatures that can take over your territory.”

“…Even if I’m a disciple?”

“You’re not blood-related. And even if you were, biting and tearing each other is just daily life!”

Kim Chae-min, despite her beaming laugh, spoke words that were rather grim. Seeing Choi Jin-woo, who looked half terrified, she added a bit more explanation.

“Still, because you’re her student, Seo-hyun spit me out intact along with you.”

Kim Chae-min wiggled the finger with the bandage on it. A scratched wound poked out from outside the bandage.

“If I’d been alone, she would’ve chewed me up badly, you know?”

“Ah….”

“You won’t end up like this even if you stick your finger in.”

Choi Jin-woo looked at both Kim Chae-min’s finger and the lump of shadow swirling on the floor, unable to escape elsewhere.

“I’ll be fine?”

And before Kim Chae-min could stop him, he suddenly thrust his hand into the shadow.

“Jin-woo!”

Kim Chae-min panicked and grabbed his arm, pulling it back. Choi Jin-woo didn’t resist and let her pull his arm out.

His hand was perfectly clean, without a single scratch.

“You said I’d be fine, didn’t you?”

“No, still! You can’t just shove it in like that….”

“I’m really fine.”

“…Are all kids these days like this? I wasn’t like this.”

Kim Chae-min had an expression that couldn’t quite be described. Choi Jin-woo pretended not to hear her muttered words and changed the subject.

“You also said there was no way to do anything about this.”

“…Yeah. If Seo-hyun were conscious, it might be different, but if she had been in the first place, it wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

“If my hand was fine going in, then maybe I could go in too?”

“You’re thinking of going in?”

“If we can’t call Seo-hyun from outside, we have to call her from inside.”

“You don’t even know what condition it’s in in there.”

“Still, we can’t just keep waiting. The other teachers are inside too….”

“Because the other teachers are inside…!”

Kim Chae-min stopped talking.

Whether it was Hong Seok-young or Woo Hwijae, the Daseon Hunters were all experienced individuals. Knowing that Park Seo-hyun’s attribute was Shadow, they would have immediately understood that this was a case of mana outburst. Inside, it would be hard to get an accurate grasp of the situation.

And if they were thinking that, then naturally they would be waiting, figuring that it’s better to let Archmage Kim Chae-min handle it. That’s the standard way to resolve it, and it would place less burden on Park Seo-hyun.

Kim Chae-min, too, could wake Park Seo-hyun if she tolerated some discomfort, but as she had said, she couldn’t completely prevent the shock from reaching Park Seo-hyun.

“No. Even so, you shouldn’t go in.”

She couldn’t push the back of a child who had only just begun to resemble a mage. Even if he could enter safely.

“If Seo-hyun perceives you as an enemy once you’re inside, it’ll only get worse.”

“…Then what should I do?”

“Don’t go in yourself….”

Kim Chae-min slightly narrowed her eyes.

Shadows are ultimately created because there is light, and they disappear because of light.

“Try putting your magic in.”

***

Excluding unique magic, the measure of a competent mage is the speed of casting.

To perform well inside dungeons, where the outcome of a raid can be decided in the blink of an eye, faster magic was essential. Woo Hwijae hadn’t asked young mages in Myeong-dong about their shield casting speed for no reason.

Fast spell casting and one’s own unique attribute magic.

Only with both of these can a mage be recognized as competent.

Of course, Choi Jin-woo was not yet a competent mage, nor could he be called a fully independent mage.

At best, he could be called a talented magic trainee with a promising future.

“Got it? Remember what Seo-hyun told you, and the most important thing is what’s within your mana…”

“My magic. You’ve said it so much I’ve grown calluses in my ears!”

“It’s your first time trying such a large-scale spell. You always have to be careful of mana exhaustion. If you start feeling dizzy in the middle, stop.”

Kim Chae-min couldn’t hide her worried expression at all. If this method worked well, it would be ideal. If it didn’t, they’d have to resort to forceful means.

Choi Jin-woo closed his eyes. He steadied his breathing and focused. In the blocked vision, there should be nothing visible, but it looked as though someone had released fireflies, faint lights floated in the darkness.

He’d heard that those lights needed to become so bright they could blind. Those barely distinguishable lights in the dark were likely the current level of his power.

In old movies or novels, the mages there often chanted long spells filled with archaic words to use magic. Kim Chae-min explained that in the old days, they really did say those spells. They weren’t particularly useful, but were used simply for the flair, or so she said.

Then, as fast casting became a virtue, those elegant incantations disappeared, and the last place they were used was to help mages visualize their attributes while practicing.

Kim Chae-min whispered softly.

“Say the words that come to mind.”

Light. Darkness. Fireflies. Light. Light. Light.

“Really? That’s all?”

“……”

“What exactly are you trying to do right now?”

Seo-hyun's... domain, put magic there.

"Magic? How do you put magic?"

With my magic, to wake her.

“To wake her?”

The Domain...

“The Domain?”

“To illuminate it.”

Light.

What was it that Park Seo-hyun said while teaching her grandfather’s magic?

‘You mustn’t be afraid of light.’

'Originally, shouldn't darkness go in there instead of light? Like night.'

‘Mm... well, you know how your eyes hurt when you look at bright light. Like when you look at the sun.’

‘Right? So you mean you shouldn’t be afraid of that? Even though it’s just a physical reaction?’

‘Mages are beings who have to go against all physical reactions.’

Park Seo-hyun explained, brushing back strands of her hair.

‘How ridiculous would it be for a fire attribute mage to get burned by their own flame. That’s the idea.’

‘That’s the idea?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I think I get it... maybe.’

‘Grandpa wasn’t good at finding his way. He didn’t have a good sense of direction.’

Her eyes, half-hidden behind her hair, curved gently into crescent moons.

‘So at first, he tried to use magic to remember directions inside the dungeon. Like how Hansel and Gretel used breadcrumbs to remember the way they came. Like that.’

‘You can do that kind of thing with magic?’

Her peer-aged master just smiled without saying anything. Park Seo-hyun continued calmly.

‘Then he thought, maybe he could find paths he hadn’t been to yet. Light is fast, right? So if you send the light first, you can grasp the dungeon’s structure much faster… that’s what he thought.’

‘So your grandfather’s unique magic is…?’

‘It’s fine to start by figuring out what you want to do with your magic. It’s good to have a goal. That might be better than just trying to use my Grandpa’s magic as it is? Teacher Chae-min also said she learned her grandfather’s and father’s magic but changed it to suit herself.’

‘Hmmmmm…’

‘You can take it slow. Even I say all this, but I still haven’t figured out my own attribute yet!’

A small voice with an embarrassed laugh.

Talk about finding one’s way inside a dungeon was still too early for him. But this wasn’t a dungeon. There was no need for him to find a path. He only needed to light up the darkness. He hoped that Park Seo-hyun would regain consciousness upon seeing that light. That the people inside could safely come out.

Even a faint light was fine for now. If that light gathered and gathered, it could eventually become as bright as the sun.

Then the flickering light began to move.

A piece of glass to contain the light formed. A structure to hold that glass formed. It still looked old, creaky, and like it would break from the slightest impact, but

Choi Jin-woo reached out with a wide smile. The lantern shone. Choi Jin-woo did not stop the words blooming from his chest and let them out.

“Your, deu, bui….”

Unlike what he had hoped, the words spinning in his throat caught and failed to form a complete sentence. Even the pronunciation came out wrong. As if to say this was still as far as he could go.

But even so, it was enough for now.