Infinite Mage - Remake

He had thought about it before, knowing it might happen someday, but he had never delved deeper into the idea.

No, was it even necessary to think about it?

A sword is a tool meant to cut people, and if he had entered this world with the resolve to wield it for the rest of his life, then all other secondary issues—whether conscious or unconscious—had already been resolved. That was the logical conclusion.

Rian: “No, I haven’t. What about you?”

Tess: “A few times. When I went on bandit hunts with my dad.”

Rian: “I see. But why are you asking?”

Rian still didn’t understand. Tess, who still vividly remembered the sensations from those moments, thought to himself.

Tess: “I know what you’re thinking. If you’ve decided to become a swordsman, it’s an unavoidable fate. But Rian, reality is different. You can never truly know until the moment arrives. Only a swordsman can feel the heat of life through the blade.”

Though it’s called a cold weapon because it’s made of metal, Tess had felt the heat of life rushing through the blade, hotter than lava, when he gripped his sword.

Tess: “That’s why I want to confirm your resolve. The enemies we’re facing aren’t street thugs—they’re the Parrot Mercenaries. Professionals who’ve experienced countless wars abroad. If you hesitate even a little, Rian, you’ll be the one who dies.”

In fact, if Tess hadn’t helped during the previous battle, Rian would have been in danger.

Rian: “Hmm.”

Though the words might have been unpleasant depending on one’s perspective, Rian simply fell into thought.

‘Shaking during battle…’

Of course, cutting someone down wouldn’t feel good.

But on the other hand… he felt like it didn’t matter at all.

Rian: “Tess, killing someone is a dangerous and complicated issue. I understand what you’re trying to say, but don’t worry. I’ll never waver.”

Tess: “You fool, I’m saying it’s not that easy. Killing someone is…!”

Rian: “I’ve always killed.”

Tess fell silent.

Rian raised his greatsword vertically, reflecting himself in the blade as he continued.

Rian: “And… I’ve died countless times too.”

He had never forgotten the image of himself swinging his sword on the battlefield.

Rian: “Even when they said I had no talent, even when they told me to give up the sword, even when I really wanted to quit, I kept swinging my sword. I’ve killed countless enemies, and I’ve been killed by countless enemies.”

Rian’s sword pointed forward.

If it had been a statue, it would have toppled over from the weight, but Rian stood firm, as if roots had grown from his legs.

Rian: “Tess, I’ve never held a sword with half-hearted resolve. Whether there was an enemy in front of me or not, I swung my sword desperately. So whether I’ve killed someone or not—it doesn’t matter. I’ll just cut down everything in my way.”

As if nothing had happened, Rian smiled again and sheathed his greatsword.

Rian: “Don’t worry. Before I’m a swordsman, I’m Shirone’s sword. A sword… doesn’t think, right?”

This was the reason Tess had chosen Rian over countless skilled swordsmen at the swordsmanship school.

‘Yes, Rian. You’re a true sword.’

He wasn’t some shoddy imitation but a person who carried a sharp, genuine sword in his heart.

Tess also smiled again.

Tess: “Alright! No more worries! Let’s get started!”

After hearing Rian’s resolve, Shirone and Amy’s eyes burned with determination.

Shirone: “Then, Amy, we’ll go first.”

Shirone took Rian with him and activated teleportation, while Amy and Tess’s team followed.

Two streaks of light dashed through the complex terrain of the forest, maintaining a 50-meter gap between them. Their movements were dazzling, as if reflected in a mirror.

Amy’s crimson eyes flickered.

Amy: ‘There.’

Since magic circles are also mana constructs, her Spirit Zone’s synesthesia clearly captured it.

Of course, if stealth circuits were integrated, the difficulty of detection would skyrocket, but that was an option rarely chosen unless it was a military stronghold.

The cost of an intermediate magic circle didn’t even amount to a tenth of a stealth circuit, so no matter how much money one had, it was a case of the tail wagging the dog.

Amy: “This way.”

Rian cut through the bushes Amy pointed at with his greatsword, revealing a magic circle on a grassy clearing.

Shirone: “Whoa.”

Seeing a magic circle for the first time, Shirone was surprised by its much larger scale than he had imagined.

Amy estimated its size with her eyes.

Amy: “It’s definitely an intermediate magic circle. They must’ve worked really hard to make this.”

The circular border, over 5 meters in radius, glowed in response to the Spirit Zone.

Inside the border, countless ripples were engraved like the gears of a clock, and within them was a diagram so beautiful it could be considered a work of art.

Amy: “Wait. Let me take a closer look.”

Having learned some knowledge in her graduating class, Amy examined the magic circle intently.

Amy: “Hmm.”

When evaluating a magic circle, there were three main things to consider: the color of the light representing mana intensity, the density of the functions, and how those functions were connected in the circuit.

In Amy’s opinion, this magic circle’s color and density were slightly lacking, but its connectivity was excellent.

In other words, it was likely made by a certified company.

Amy: “Sigh, this is going to be a headache. It seems like a certified company worked on this. I thought they’d hire an underground group with their illegal earnings, but…”

Shirone: “Is that the main issue?”

Amy: “The characteristic of a certified company is that they design things by the book, so the connectivity is good. That means the circuit stability is high. Unless it’s completely destroyed, it’ll keep working. Do you still think you can do it in 10 minutes?”

Shirone thought for a moment and nodded.

Shirone: “We have to try. Honestly, the bigger issue is whether we’ll succeed or not.”

Amy: “What? Why are you saying that now? We’re doing this because you said you could.”

Shirone: “Of course, I’m confident. And if we succeed…”

Amy: “If we succeed?”

Shirone mentioned the numbers he had calculated earlier.

Shirone: “We might be able to destroy the magic circle in 1 minute instead of 10.”

Amy: “1 minute?”

Amy’s eyes widened.

For anyone other than a professional dismantling team, neutralizing an intermediate magic circle in 1 minute was nearly impossible.

‘Honestly, it’s a well-made circuit. Even if you crush the ground into gravel, the mana might not disperse…’

In Amy’s estimation, it would need to be ground down to the size of a pea, but none of the spells Shirone used seemed capable of that.

Amy: “How do you plan to do it? Are you sure? Just breaking it won’t work. No, it might even scatter the circuit and make things worse.”

Shirone: “I see. I’ll give it a try.”

From his answer, it was clear he hadn’t thought that far.

Could he really do it?

The thought that failure here would make time even tighter made Amy increasingly anxious.

Meanwhile, Shirone positioned himself at the center of the magic circle.

Expecting a vertical attack from above considering the power, Amy tilted her head at the unexpected situation.

Amy: “What are you planning to do there?”

Shirone: “Trust me. It might be dangerous since it’s my first attempt, so stay as far back as possible.”

The three of them stepped back, their eyes filled with both anxiety and anticipation.

If he succeeded, they could turn the unfavorable situation around in an instant.

Shirone closed his eyes and took a deep breath, spreading his legs shoulder-width apart and slowly bending his waist. His fists lowered to about a hand’s width above the ground.

Tess tilted her head.

Tess: “What’s this?”

There was no immediate visible change.

The peaceful atmosphere continued, as if it were okay to relax even in the midst of a fierce battlefield. Then, Amy’s eyes widened.

Amy: “No way…”

Tess looked back.

Tess: “What’s wrong, Amy? What’s Shirone doing?”

Amy: “…We should step back further.”

Understanding Shirone’s intention, Amy pulled her friends much farther back than their previous position.

Tess felt puzzled at the much greater distance.

Tess: “Explain. What do you see?”

Amy: “No, it’s not what I see but what I feel. The changes happening to Shirone.”

Tess: “Feel? What?”

Amy: “His Spirit Zone. Even though he’s standing still, Shirone’s Spirit Zone is pulsating at an incredible speed.”

Even as she spoke, Amy couldn’t believe it.

How much mental endurance would one need to make their Spirit Zone expand and contract so rapidly?

‘It’s incredible. Even through synesthesia, I can feel the afterimages. This might actually work…’

Shirone wasn’t satisfied.

During magic school tests, he had to expand his maximum radius to 20 meters in diameter, but here, the magic circle’s 5-meter diameter was enough.

The speed would naturally increase, but the question was whether his mind could handle it.

‘Focus. Use compulsion…’

The moment Shirone’s brow furrowed slightly, Amy spoke in a trembling voice.

Amy: “It’s getting faster.”

To put it simply, counting from 1 to 5 and back to 1 was one cycle.

Shirone’s mind was currently racing at 20 cycles per second, or 1,200 RPM.

An ordinary mage would have collapsed long before reaching this point.

But Shirone, with his indomitable mental endurance, maintained his focus until the very end, steadily repeating the pulsations.

Shirone glared forward fiercely, gritting his teeth.

‘I’ve reached it.’

The maximum expansion radius of his Spirit Zone perfectly aligned with the magic circle’s border.

Now, all that remained was to imbue the compulsively pulsating Spirit Zone with a special spell.

‘Stay calm…’

Omniscience and omnipotence combined.

At the same time, sparks seemed to fly from Shirone’s eyes as he activated his self-developed spell.

‘Photon Burst!’

Now even Tess could see it. The radiant particles of light enveloping Shirone’s Spirit Zone.

The golden sphere, pulsating with afterimages, began to shine so brightly it hurt the eyes.

It was too terrifying to simply admire as beautiful.

The mass contained in each particle of light pushed against the air, creating a gust of wind.

At the same time, a low dust cloud rose from the ground Shirone stood on, and cracks began to form.

Tess: “It’s… breaking.”

The moment Tess spoke, the ground split into a massive chunk, then exploded into thousands of pieces.

Tess: “Ugh!”

As sharp fragments shot out, Rian and Tess finally understood Amy’s words.

The Photon Burst continued.

The mass barrier relentlessly pounded the thousands of rocks, crushing them to the size of grains, and the hollowed ground gradually took on a hemispherical shape.

Shirone: “Huuuu!”

Buried in the ground, Shirone’s face was pale from enduring the cycles.

Even with his indomitable mental endurance, it was difficult to withstand, but the power was equally outstanding.

Finally, after 20 seconds, the Photon Burst stopped.

Shirone’s Spirit Zone no longer sensed the magic circle’s mana.

Shirone climbed out of the pit, wiping his sweat.

Shirone: “Whew. Amy, is this good enough?”

Amy: “……”

There was no answer. Everyone was speechless, staring at the result Shirone had created.

Amy spoke with a bitter expression.

Amy: “That’s a ridiculously brute-force spell.”

Shirone: “What? I worked hard on it. Anyway, the magic circle’s destroyed, right?”

Amy: “…Yeah. Probably.”

Everything within the Photon Burst’s radius had been reduced to dust, so there was no need to even enter the Spirit Zone.

‘Amplifying photons using mental pulsations.’

Though she called it brute force, it was a testament to the spell’s impact.

‘Imbuing divine particles into mental pulsations. The medium is photons. The effect is roughly crushing the ground within 20 seconds.’

The mass contained in a single photon wasn’t significant, but the incredible speed and repeated cutting action made it devastating.

Above all, without Shirone’s mental endurance, this spell wouldn’t have been possible in the first place.

Amy: “What made you think of a spell like this?”

Shirone: “I didn’t think I’d use it in a situation like this. The Photon Cannon is powerful, but I lack defensive spells. So I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Then the idea of mental pulsations came to me, and I combined it with divine particles.”

Amy: “Hmm, a defensive spell.”

Since it’s a spell centered around the mage, there’s no room for argument, but the result was excessively violent.

With the ground being shredded in tens of seconds, any living being within the area would be crushed in moments.

Tess: “Shirone, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Unfamiliar with magic, Tess checked Shirone’s body first.

The Photon Burst was the most destructive spell she had ever seen, and Shirone, who had been at its center, seemed oddly fine.

Shirone: “I’m fine. It’s not as dangerous as it looks.”

Tess: “Not dangerous? Do you know how worried I was that something might happen to you?”

Shirone: “Yeah, I’m fine. A spell that harms the mage can’t be called a defensive spell, right?”

Shirone looked at his friends.

Shirone: “We’ve found a way, so let’s do this properly. With this, the strategy of destroying the magic circles should work, right?”

Even Amy, who had been skeptical, changed her mind after seeing Shirone’s spell.

Amy: “Yeah, with this, we can isolate the enemies. Let’s avoid combat as much as possible and focus on destroying the magic circles. If we take out more than ten, the enemies will go crazy. Then we can wipe them out in one go.”

Shirone: “Alright.”

Shirone’s party split into teams of men and women and activated teleportation.

Two flashes of light darted through the forest, searching for the second magic circle.

Shirone: “Radiant Burst.”

As a burst of light erupted around Shirone, the magic circle was obliterated without a trace.

They had already destroyed seven magic circles.

As they had anticipated, the Parrot Mercenaries attempted a surprise attack, and in the process, seven of their enemies had been eliminated.

However, Shirone’s party felt a sense of regret.

Contrary to their expectation that the enemies would recklessly charge in, the mercenaries remained calm and professional, avoiding unnecessary waste of their forces.

‘They’re quite composed. Even though their blood must be boiling with each magic circle destroyed, they’re not diving in recklessly.’

When the number of destroyed magic circles exceeded 15, the enemies’ reactions began to change.

They were growing anxious, realizing that if things continued like this, all the magic circles on the mountain would be gone.

In reality, the Parrot Mercenaries were growing restless.

Mercenary A: “Damn it! How long are they going to keep this up?”

Mercenary B: “This is getting dangerous. No matter how many magic circles we have, there’s a limit to how many we can use in a specific area. At this rate, we’ll have to abandon some of our strategies soon.”

The subordinates were eager to fight.

Mercenary C: “Boss! What should we do? It looks like they’re determined to ruin everything we’ve built.”

The boss was equally frustrated.

The money they had poured into fortifying the northern forest amounted to half of their income over the past five years.

If they let this continue, even if they managed to kill Shirone’s entire party, it would still be a loss.

Boss: “…Gather everyone. We’ll trap them and finish them off.”

A messenger used spatial teleportation to relay the orders to the other squad leaders.

The other leaders, thinking the same, responded immediately.

Shirone’s party could immediately sense the shift in the atmosphere of the battle.

The enemies’ movements, even the look in their eyes, had changed.

The biggest change was that instead of guerrilla tactics, they were now focusing on a coordinated encirclement strategy involving dozens of fighters at once.

This was the situation Shirone had hoped for, but the enemies’ aim wasn’t annihilation. Instead, it felt like they were luring Shirone’s party to a specific location using their numbers as bait.

Tess: ‘It’s a trap.’

On the other hand, she couldn’t help but admire the enemies’ tactical adaptability.

This level of skill wasn’t something you developed after just one or two battles.

Tess: “This is a problem. While the situation is unfolding according to our strategy, the enemies are using it against us. We’ll end up being led around by the nose unless we completely revise our strategy or find another solution.”

Amy: “They have two mages. They’re not foolish enough to engage in an all-out battle. In that sense, the place they’re luring us to is likely a trap designed to eliminate the mages.”

Shirone didn’t want to retreat.

In a situation where both sides had taken a step back, what remained was momentum.

Shirone: “It’s fine. Even if there’s a trap, we’ll break through it. It’s more satisfying to move according to the enemies’ intentions than to take the easy way out. This is a situation we’ll have to face sooner or later anyway.”

Tess: “Are you sure? The enemies are targeting us.”

Shirone: “Yes. I’ll find a way to break through. Cover me.”

As Shirone charged ahead, Tess whistled in surprise.

Tess: “Wow. What a man.”

For Amy and Rian, this was a familiar sight, but for Tess, it was clearly unfamiliar.

She had only ever seen Shirone as kind and calm, so this was unexpected.

‘He’s more of an action-oriented person than I thought.’

Though she had asked Rian if he could kill people, Shirone had also been concerned about the same thing. It was just that, as a mage, he didn’t dwell on it.

But once the battle began, he became more aggressive than anyone else.

‘His temperament is the complete opposite of a swordsman’s.’

A battle where adrenaline wasn’t felt.

While extreme excitement transcends the fear of death, Shirone seemed to have stripped away his emotions entirely.

It was the difference between fighting with your heart and fighting with your head, but Shirone’s approach was more chilling.

Amy: “It’s a bit strange, isn’t it?”

Amy wore a bitter smile.

Amy: “At first, it was hard to get used to. It felt like he had become a different person. But Shirone is just hyper-focused on solving the problem. His level of concentration is so intense that it feels cold. It’s like the ‘remaining mind’ of a swordsman, I suppose?”

In a life-or-death duel, a swordsman pours their entire being into a single strike.

As humans, it’s natural to be shaken by the outcome of such a choice.

The ‘remaining mind’ is a swordsman’s unique mental state that erases such turmoil and refocuses on the present situation.

As a swordsman herself, Tess could gauge just how remarkable Shirone’s state was.

Achieving perfect ‘remaining mind’ in the chaos of a real battle, where blood and flesh fly everywhere, is nearly impossible unless you’ve reached an extraordinary level.

Tess: “A ‘remaining mind’ so profound that it makes him seem like a different person.”

Amy: “Yes. Shirone already possesses what’s most important for a mage. That’s why I acknowledge him. Don’t worry too much. No matter what happens, Shirone will always be Shirone.”

Tess’s lips curled into a smile.

She thought she understood why Amy, who seemed like she’d kick any man’s butt, was so swayed by Shirone.

‘Haha. You were really worried, weren’t you, Amy?’

But her moment of contentment was brief. Tess quickly composed herself. That, too, was the ‘remaining mind’ of a swordsman.

Tess: “But breaking through a trap is no easy task, is it? It even feels reckless.”

Rian: “We’ve lost time destroying the magic circles. If Shirone says he’ll do it, I won’t stop him.”

As Rian moved ahead, Tess could no longer object.

Both Amy and Rian trusted Shirone’s judgment implicitly.

Amy: “The men are fired up. Should we back them up this time? Keep an eye on the terrain. Something feels off.”

Tess: “Off?”