Training-Addicted Mage In A Progression Fantasy-Chapter 26: Ancient Mages Lair (3)

Leon obtained over 100 cores from the Scorpion Golems.

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He wasn’t sure how much time had passed during that period.

After extracting the cores from the Scorpion Golems and putting all the debris into the Magic Orb, he saw the clean corridor again.

Should I go further......?

Now that he could use magic in earnest, Leon had no intention of stopping here.

The infinite-looking corridor naturally had an end.

“A staircase?”

He saw stairs leading further down from this cave.It seemed to lead to an even deeper place.

These stairs are going up...... are the others in the right corridor?

Leon hesitated but then stepped onto the descending stairs.

The stairs were spiral-shaped.

The stairs, faintly illuminated under the light fixtures, seemed to be carved out of rough rock, but each step had a very regular height and width.

The person who made this must have been extremely meticulous.

Leon was carefully descending one step at a time when suddenly, he held his breath at the sight of the lower floor that came into view.

A knight......?

A massive door stood firmly in front of the stairs.And an ivory-armored knight was blocking that door with his head bowed low.Or more precisely, a Knight Golem.

Did the Ancient Mage like big things?

That knight was also boasting a size about half of the huge door.It was about 3 times Leon’s height.

It was even a bit bigger than the guardian golem Leon possessed.

Next to the knight was an equally large ivory-colored sword.

Leon, who had been holding his breath for a while, realized that the Knight Golem wasn’t operating.

Seeing how the Scorpion Golems moved, it’s probably not completely inoperable. Maybe......

It might try to block if approached to pass through the door.

Leon was convinced it was a golem, but he completed full battle preparations just in case.

He even went into the Magic Orb to refill all his Memorize Magic.

The reason for such thorough preparation, despite it being a golem like the scorpions, was because the sword placed next to the knight was concerning.He couldn’t be sure if the Wooden Sword’s ability would work on the armor it was wearing.

Leon, who came out after using even the Mana Infusion Technique, slightly sent the Wooden Sword towards the inside of the knight’s helmet.

His intention was to make it malfunction like the scorpions.

But as soon as the Wooden Sword entered a certain range of the knight, the knight suddenly raised its bowed head.

And it picked up the sword next to it and instantly deflected the Wooden Sword.

Leon, who retrieved the bounced sword, confirmed that the knight was still operating.

As expected...!

The sword the knight was holding was a completely separate entity from the core possessed by the Knight Golem.

So the Wooden Sword merely being in contact with it wouldn’t make the knight malfunction.

The red eyes, the only thing glowing in the dark face inside the ivory helmet, turned towards Leon.

As soon as their eyes met, that knight rushed towards Leon at lightning speed.As it swung its sword, the massive blade swept towards where Leon was standing.

The speed was faster than expected, so Leon gripped the Wooden Sword and infused magic into the Blink Scroll.

Blink, a lower-tier version of Teleport, allowed instant movement to any visible location within a limited range.

Leon, who appeared right in front of the door, confirmed that there was a lever behind where the knight had been standing.

However, since he still needed to deal with the knight first, he immediately summoned the 4-star Earth Attribute summoned creature of the Arpina Basic Magic.

His four memorized spells, except for Pierce, were all Arpina Basic Magic.

It would be convenient to enlarge the sword through Swell and shoot it with Pierce, but at least at the Basic Magic level, the two didn’t particularly synergize.If one magic was used, the other was dispelled.

The knight turned its body again and approached Leon.

Why do mages underestimate weapon magic?It’s not just because the power itself is weak, but even if it’s strong, the range where that weapon can exert its power is limited.If the weapon itself is good, there’s no problem, but if not, magic that relies heavily on weapons has limitations.

Even magic-enhanced weapon techniques are underestimated, let alone a knight wielding a sword conventionally.

It wasn’t difficult for mages who could enhance their physical abilities with the Mana Infusion Technique to deal with.

Of course, if it’s this big and fast...... it might be a bit more tricky.

Moreover, thinking about the Scorpion Golems, the problem was its defensive prowess that Apprentice Magic couldn’t affect at all.

This time, he nimbly jumped to the side to avoid the knight’s attack as it quickly approached and swung its sword.

The knight’s sword struck the ground, making it tremble.The knight, seeming to be wary of Leon approaching the lever, rushed at Leon even faster.

To buy time to summon other creatures, Leon used the Blink Scroll once again.

Leon, who appeared on the opposite side, summoned the creatures of Arpina 3-star and 2-star magic in order.

Two Blink Scrolls left......

He had to use the remaining scrolls more carefully.

In a fast-paced battle, it was difficult to enter the Magic Orb in dangerous moments.Although he could avoid danger immediately, when he came out again, he wouldn’t be able to properly grasp the battle situation.The only method that could make a big variable was Blink.

A wind fairy and a small bird with flickering flames circled around Leon.

The reason Leon summoned these all at once was to draw the knight’s attention and, in the meantime, shoot the Wooden Sword into the gap of the knight’s helmet.It didn’t matter at all if other Apprentice Magic didn’t work. As long as the Wooden Sword touched the knight.

As he summoned three creatures, his magic power started to drain in chunks.

As he immediately spread the three summoned creatures widely around the knight and drew up magic power, the knight briefly took a defensive stance holding its sword.

Seeing this, Leon was convinced that the knight had no means to gauge the opponent’s realm.

Leon chanted the activation word for the combination magic.

“Trillapida.”

A brown-headed mole emerged from the ground, and in front of it, a rock clumped together and flew towards the knight.

The boulder, large enough to cover Leon’s entire body, didn’t stop at one but flew towards the knight three times in succession.

But the knight easily blocked that magic.

Leon didn’t stop and took out a bunch of F-Grade and E-Grade attack scrolls and threw them at the knight.What he couldn’t dispose of while hiding during the Exchange Festival was rather helpful now.

“Wind Cutter.”

Following that, as he manifested the combination magic through the wind summon, dozens of attack spells flew towards the knight.

Dozens of Earth Walls rose around the knight, and flames surged from the ground due to Flame Magic.Numerous Magic Missiles, Triple Fireballs, and Wind Blades also struck.

They weren’t strong magic, but when poured in large quantities, the knight’s attention was dispersed just enough for-.

Now!

“Pierce!”

Leon shot the Wooden Sword towards the inside of the knight’s helmet.

The Wooden Sword, infused with most of the remaining magic power, rapidly rushed towards the knight and lodged into the empty space between the helmet.

The magic that the knight failed to block didn’t even scratch the knight’s body, but that wasn’t what mattered.

The knight’s body tilted to the side with a clatter.

Thud-

Leon, who sighed in relief seeing the knight completely fall, retrieved the Wooden Sword.

Leon approached closely and examined it from various angles, discovering that inside the knight’s helmet was not a face but a round sphere.

It was the core.

The light he thought was eyes was the light emitted by the core operating.

Leon then realized that the inside of the armor was completely empty.

The armor itself was moving......

In other words, it was an Armored Golem.It meant that he didn’t have to shoot into the helmet, just touching the armor would stop its operation.

Well, I’ve won so there’s no need to dwell on it...... but the core is completely broken.

Unlike the Scorpion Golems with damaged circuits, the core of the Armored Golem that was directly hit completely lost its light.

This is just defeating a golem.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say he caught it purely with his own skills, not the ability of the Magic Sword.

Leon, who didn’t need to extract the core and just put the entire armor into the Magic Orb, also turned his attention to the large sword lying separately on the ground.

I should take the large sword too......

Although it seemed like he was only collecting swords despite becoming a mage, Leon put the large sword into the Magic Orb for now.

Before opening the door, Leon entered the Magic Orb to refill his mana and Memorize Magic.

I’ve used up...... a lot of Magic Orb time.

To rise to 4th Grade, Leon used most of the Magic Orb time he had saved before, and when he rose to 4th Grade, he received 400 hours again.

After that, he continued to consume Magic Orb time as he couldn’t complete quests due to immediately participating in the Exchange Festival.

Especially, he used quite a lot to learn the Moonlight Scattering Sword, so the remaining time was 164 hours.

I shouldn’t pretend to be a General disciple anymore......

He needed time to train without being conscious of others anywhere.He became a General disciple to wait just one year and then say he had awakened mana appropriately and no longer be conscious of others, but seeing the Magic Orb time, he decided not to hesitate anymore.

Since there’s also the excuse of the Ancient Mage’s Lair......

......Do I need to return to Widia?

Such a thought briefly crossed his mind, but Ria’s face flashed through his mind.Rowen’s face too.

At least I should let them know I’m alive.

Leon, who had fully recovered his magic power, returned to reality.

As Leon pulled down the lever, both sides of the door slowly began to open, dragging on the floor.

Rumble-

The cave was vibrating.

A small gap large enough for Leon to enter was created, but Leon didn’t enter and waited until the entire inside scene came into view.

The scene revealed when the door was fully open was not much different from the corridor Leon had passed through before descending the stairs.

The only difference was that there were rooms on both walls at regular intervals along the corridor.

The size of the room doors, while not as big as the door the knight was guarding, was still large.

Leon reached the door of the closest room with the Wooden Sword floating around him and slowly pulled the lever.

Rumble-

As the door opened, the space revealed in front of Leon was more cramped than expected.

Now it finally looks like a place used by a mage......

Leon discovered a table placed alone somewhere with no decorations or furniture.

On the table was a scroll that looked surprisingly intact.Next to the scroll was a red book and a quill pen.

The letters written on the scroll remained very intact for the most part, without any faded or discolored parts.

Was it magically treated?

To my dear colleague Marcellus,My friend, are you still striving to approach the source today?Your beautiful dance of magic power must be enveloping the world today as well.Researching other methods to restore the bird.The scroll was a letter to someone.Leon continued reading the scroll.

......The world is blinded by elemental magic and neglecting our noble magic.They call it technology, but this too is the 'source'.Fascinated by brilliant flames and raging storms, they fail to see the wonder of life creation we have achieved.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■I'm sending a part of my research results, so please reply if you're interested.Your support and friendship are always a great strength to me. Even if our path is lonely and arduous, I'm grateful that there's a colleague watching over this.The golems were indeed...... made by the Ancient Mage.

Leon turned his attention to the red-covered book placed next to the scroll.

He couldn’t send this letter...... I wonder what happened?

Leon opened the red-covered book.

The complete basic theory needed for golem creation......

Starting from the history of golem creation, it contained explanations about the materials used, the structure of golems, core manufacturing, and the basics of connecting magic circuits.

I thought it was just a Magic Engineering book, but this is magic too......

Golems could be made to operate according to a set manual, but they could also be controlled at will through magic.

I wonder if there’s an advanced version.

Leon searched here and there in the empty room but couldn’t find the advanced book.

Let’s check the other rooms.

Leon came out of that room and immediately approached the room opposite.

The space revealed when he opened the door was certainly larger than before.

Leon discovered ivory armor piled up on one side of the room.The remains of the knight’s armor that guarded the entrance were scattered around, with only the helmet missing.

Is this the place where the golems were made?

Leon, who put everything into the Magic Orb, then checked other rooms, but most were similar.Most had piles of Scorpion Golem remains, and there was also a room where a Gargoyle Golem with a human-like body and wings existed with only its head detached.

All ten rooms were like that.

This is a floor for manufacturing golems...... Why did none of these Gargoyle Golems appear before?

Leon opened the door of the last remaining room with somewhat cautious steps.

It was a large room that gave a rather empty feeling, just like before.

But there was a clearly different part.

A training room...... maybe?

A large circular stone plate was raised in the center, and magic circles were engraved on the floor and walls all around it.

Protection Magic Circles.

Leon had never actually seen them, but it was said that high-level mages’ training rooms are covered with protection magic circles to reduce the impact of magic.

And various golem remains were scattered around the circular stone plate.They were all golems with cores implanted, but most were Gargoyle Golems.

Unlike the golems that moved on their own, these didn’t move despite having cores implanted, perhaps because they were directly controlled golems.

It was said that hundreds of golems could be directly controlled......

Of course, that method wasn’t written in the basic magic book of the Secret of Creation.

Seeing traces of magic use around the stone plate...... either the Gargoyle Golems could use magic, or the master of this lair could use magic other than creating golems, it was one of the two.

I feel uneasy about going in.

He hesitated to enter because he couldn’t confirm if it was simply a defense magic circle.

Let’s give up on this place.

Just as he made up his mind and turned his body.

A flash of light burst out from the magic circle.The light affected Leon who was standing outside the door as well.

Leon reflexively covered the light with the Wooden Sword and chanted the activation word.

“Swell!”

A blinding flash engulfed Leon’s vision. When his eyes adjusted, he found himself in a darker, more confined space than before.

And the Wooden Sword that he had clearly used enlargement magic on had disappeared from his sight.