What is the standard for an Archmage?
Naturally, there's no clear definition.
Even for whoever coined the word, it was nothing more than an epithet attached for the sake of praise.
Aicolman Sanchez rose to the position of Archmage in his 20s.
He was the youngest Archmage in history.
But until he earned the title of Archmage, he hadn't known what the ecstasy felt when climbing to a stage was.
One who was praised not knowing the heart of ordinary people: it was a blow to his pride.
And so he strove to climb to a stage.
He tried fishing, reading books, even working at the Imperial Palace.
Then one day, he turned his steps toward the slave market.
Buying Adam that day was pure chance.
He couldn't bring himself to ignore a future where a talented raw gem of a mage became a male prostitute, so he bought him.
It must have been a feeling similar to picking up a lost puppy.
But Adam was much smarter than he'd thought.
An intelligence you couldn't believe belonged to a 5-year-old.
A brain that absorbed knowledge like a sponge when taught.
It felt like he'd gained a friend his own age.
He hadn't bought him to watch a child's cute antics, so if anything, it was good.
Aicolman thought of Adam as a friend and took him along to the market.
Spotting a vagrant child, Adam spoke up.
"Master Aicolman, doesn't this kid look like he's going to die?"
"It's not like picking up an abandoned mutt. You want me to take in even this?"
"I meant please send him off without pain."
Adam had seen countless deaths at the slave market, so he was numb to death.
"He's done for anyway. The syphilis has spread through his whole body."
"Then you want me to dirty my hands?"
"If you really don't want to, just ignore it."
Unable to ignore it, Aicolman took in a new slave.
He wasn't as smart as Adam, but he was endearing, so the mansion got lively.
"Master Aicolman, the mansion's way too big. Why don't you take in some servants?"
"So you're the master of the house now."
"It's just a suggestion, so you don't have to listen to it."
Aicolman brought more children.
All of them from the slave market.
Once the servants were swarming, it reached the point where he expanded the mansion itself.
The servants who'd been slaves all worshiped Aicolman.
"Have you heard the talk about the Archmage lately?"
"They say he's taking in slaves?"
"No. From what I hear, he's raising disciples?"
"Then should we send our son too?"
The rumors about Aicolman spread through high society as well.
Once the rumor spread that his personality wasn't all bad, children of prestigious families volunteering to be his disciples gathered.
If they were lucky enough to become his disciple, it would be an achievement for their house.
Before long, the mansion had become a kind of religious organization.
A strange space where servants who'd been slaves worked together, and even the children of prestigious noble families coexisted with slaves for the sake of training.
That was Aicolman's mansion.
"Master Aicolman, how did you reach a stage?"
"A stage?"
Belatedly, Aicolman recalled the goal that had been buried in his heart.
He'd completely forgotten about it.
Why was that?
Aicolman, who'd grown up a loner from birth, pursued ability.
In truth, it was a common mindset in an era when hearts were cold.
People filled that cold with family, but Aicolman had no family, so he filled that space with ability.
A long time later, one day, Aicolman suddenly looked down at the mansion's garden with a blank face.
-Hey, did you finish cleaning the bathroom?
-I was going to do it after I ate and digested.
-Isn't that today's snack? Let's play a round, winner takes all.
The Archmage muttered.
"It's especially noisy today."
"It is. Is it some special day?"
"Some days are just like this. For some reason, I feel like planting a tree today, too."
Aicolman went down the stairs together with Adam.
As the two passed, the servants followed behind them.
There was no special reason.
By the time the servants had gathered one by one and reached the first floor, the servants following him numbered over twenty.
In the middle of the garden where the servants had gathered, Aicolman put his hand on the ground.
Green mana flowed out and put down roots in the earth, and a giant apple tree shot up high.
"You can make a tree this big?"
"It wasn't this big 10 years ago."
"Wow, that's amazing. As long as you have mana, you can make apples too. Then nobody would starve to death, right?"
"I suppose there's that use for it."
"What, you call yourself an Archmage and you couldn't even think of that?"
The cheeky little brat.......
Aicolman turned his head to look at Adam.
Before he knew it, he'd grown taller than him.
The cheeky little brat had become a cheeky boy.
Walking up to the tree, Adam was the first to pick an apple.
Following him, the servants shared Aicolman's apples.
Today, too, Aicolman's mansion was noisy.
Noise that numbed the ears.
In the middle of the mansion's garden, where there was no such thing as silence, Aicolman looked up blankly at the sky.
Clear afternoon weather.
Tears flowed from Aicolman's eyes.
He himself didn't know why the tears were flowing.
People cry when they're sad, and they cry when they're happy, too.
But one thing was clear.
What was needed to transcend a stage.
What he, who had become an Archmage before becoming a human, had finally regained.
What teachers with great achievements had tried to gain through their disciples.
Aicolman learned that the last blank space was love.
Secretly wiping his tears, Aicolman drew up his mana.
All his senses were vivid.
This must be what becoming a true Archmage was.
But he didn't need it anymore.
Aicolman withdrew his mana.
And then looked around.
Though he'd said he wouldn't take disciples, the disciple hopefuls who remained stayed simply because they liked it here.
Adam asked Aicolman.
"...Are you coming along when I go to the Recruitment Exam tomorrow?"
"I should."
"You're not going to send me to the mountain again if I fail, right?"
"You won't fail. Never."
It had been a life in which he owed a great deal to one person in particular.
The Recruitment Exam.
Settling that debt there would be enough.
***
Interest in the Recruitment Exam was at an all-time high.
Cheers poured in at the Archmage's appearance.
But apart from the audience's fun, the mood in the exam committee was the worst.
"Master Aicolman!"
The chairman pleaded with Aicolman through the crystal ball.
"You've already overturned half the soil! Please, take it easy!"
"I'm only doing the task you lot assigned me. Didn't you tell me to eliminate the applicants?"
"We also wrote additional notes below that!"
Below the task were precautions.
There were also additional instructions like 『Please take it easy』 and 『Stop when the participants are reduced by half』.
But Aicolman ignored the other rules.
Not because he was dyslexic.
He simply hated being a piece that moved according to the Empire's plans.
"Master Aicolman, do you know how much the national treasury swings with this match? The Imperial Palace Recruitment Exam is the day nobles bring the most money into the coffers! If you wreck it, public sentiment will be in an uproar!"
"So it's money in the end?"
"No, it's not about money... At this rate, there won't even be any passers!"
There were already fewer than 200 participants left.
The rest were all hiding, their stamina drained, making it hard to continue.
At this rate, there wouldn't be any more passers this year.
Aicolman stopped the forest's expansion and shouted into the crystal ball from atop a tall tree.
"Whether they lose money or fail the exam, it's the fault of those who invested, and if they're eliminated, it's because the applicants' level is low."
The chairman's jaw dropped.
It was over!
The Archmage's words had reached the ears of every noble gathered in the stands.
"The era is still in the thick of war, and as long as there is the curse called mana, there will be no peace, yet every one of you is as spiritless as a deflated balloon."
Aicolman's provocation echoed.
Examinees and audience alike fell silent at the Archmage's bitter words.
The crystal ball camera lit up Aicolman.
"You're after wealth and power, yet you came to play house like 5-year-olds? Where did you leave the blood boiling deep in your chests and the resentment in your hearts, I ask you!"
"Archmage, it's true that this exam is gambling. But it's also true that thanks to the talents who pass this exam, the Empire still maintains a mighty military and political system."
"Oh, good talent, is it? How amusing. As you say, battles where lives are on the line make people grow. I'll grant you that. By that logic, my existence will be the stepping stone that gifts your Empire the finest talent, will it?"
Aicolman roared at the top of his lungs, loud enough to be heard.
"Now, beat me! If you survive against me, you'll be able to boast to the Palace as the undeniable strongest standard-bearers!"
The stands murmured.
"Do not bend your spirit, do not fear the strong, and prove your justice by defeating the evil that is 'me'!"
The examinees looked up at Aicolman.
"Gamblers drunk on pleasure, wretched applicants, if you have complaints, step forward before me! Is there no hero who'll take me on?"
At those words, the chairman's pupils dilated.
It was well and truly over.
Now he saw that from the start, the man had set out prepared to become the enemy.
But the reaction from the stands, where a large-scale riot was expected, was different from what he'd expected.
"Wooooooah!"
"The Archmage sets our hearts ablaze!"
"Damn, I should've entered too, instead of just sending my boy!"
Contrary to the intent, people got excited, rose from their seats, and chanted his name.
The speech set fire to the warrior's soul in the chests of those who'd been watching the exam.
Aicolman's speech had touched their pride.
The exam site was no different.
Examinees who'd been hiding and watching for their chance stood up one by one.
Behind those watching for their chance, someone spoke.
"Cut down the trees first."
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
Without knowing whose order it was, all the examinees joined forces and charged the tree Aicolman was standing on.
Taking on dozens of warriors from the ground wasn't easy.
With a huge roar, the tree began to shake and topple.
'Already?'
When the tree lost its waist and collapsed, he fell along with it.
Aicolman turned his hand into wood.
Then he wrapped himself in a giant vine and swung like Tarzan.
Having fallen, Aicolman hurriedly put his hand on the ground.
But the tree roots he'd planted showed no response.
'Since when?'
There was no need to think.
"Adam!"
He shouted as he saw the swarm of knights coming at him.
A group hiding behind the knights and charging at Aicolman.
The examinees didn't attack first; they got into position.
Then they'd all stab at the same time.
They were sure that even an Archmage would get hit by one.
But the examinees' swords couldn't pierce the wood.
And even if Adam threw his spheres, with this many people around, they'd be explosive spheres for keeping him in check to help the examinees.
There was still a chance.
What Aicolman wanted was a 1-on-1 fight with Adam.
He'd meant to lose to him gracefully from the start.
Adam dug through his pocket.
And then pointedly generated 10 explosive spheres.
Explosive spheres drawing on all the mana he could use in a day.
"You crazy bastard......."
At the sight of those explosive spheres, his blood ran cold.
"You, you punk, are you serious?"
"...Family or not, you've got to do what you've got to do."
Adam knew Aicolman.
He was a man you could never beat if you gave him time.
The only chance to beat that monster for sure was the single instant he'd lost his power.
No need for keeping him in check or thinking.
End it in one blow.
With a clean judgment, without the slightest hesitation.
Bring down Aicolman.
"You puuunk!"
He'd raised his kid well, all right.
"Goodbye."
For 0.5 seconds, his hand hesitated briefly.
A moment of affection made his fingertips waver for an instant, but he soon steeled himself.
The instant the knights charged, he threw 10 explosive spheres at once.
"Aicolman."
After that, a pillar of fire too huge to fit in the crystal ball shot up into the sky.
"You son of a biiitch! I! I! Was going to let you win!"
The pillar of fire, rising high into the sky like a geyser, swallowed the observation magic tool.
The screen in the stands lost its color for a moment.