Chapter 27: The God of magic

The door closed behind her on its own.

Lylia turned her head, half expecting something dramatic to happen. Nothing. Just silence.

Before her stretched a single dark-blue crystal path, glowing faintly under a blue sky that also looked like crystal. The air shimmered softly, like light reflecting on water. On both sides stood enormous trees made entirely of blue crystal, their trunks glowing faintly, their roots disappearing into the vastness below.

It was beautiful, like a world trapped inside a gemstone.

Lylia leaned forward, peeking down. Beneath the path was a sea... no, an endless stretch of glowing light-blue water. The crystal trees grew straight out of it, their reflections dancing with the ripples. She flinched slightly.

“…Wonder what happens if I fall,” she muttered. 

Turning around, she decided to test the door again. No handle. Curious, she pressed her palm against it, and it swung open by itself.

“Oh, that’s fast, you’re back already?” said a calm, golden voice.

It was the same god who’d sent her here before.

“Ah, no,” she replied quickly. “I was just checking if I can… go out anytime.”

The door closed again with a soft hum.

Lylia stared for a moment. “…Guess that means I’m supposed to go straight.”

So she did. Her footsteps echoed faintly on the glassy path as she walked. Everything around her looked too vast, too still, and too unreal. The water below seemed to stretch forever, the trees taller than anything she could imagine.

Some of the trees bore glowing fruit, round blue orbs as big as her. Maybe even bigger.

“Are those… mana?” she whispered. “They're... big."

She walked for a long while, her curiosity slowly being replaced by mild worry. “How far is this place anyway…?"

There was also the coins in her pocket being heavy. "Ugh, to suffer from success…”

Just when she was about to complain again, she spotted a figure in the distance. A tall silhouette standing motionless on the path.

“Oh, finally.”

As she approached, the man spoke without turning around. His voice was deep and smooth, yet every word carried the weight of someone who could end a continent by blinking.

“What brings you here, otherworlder?”

He turned.

Lylia stopped mid-step.

The man, if he could even be called that, was enormous, twice her height, with skin the color of deep ocean blue. Lines of glowing light-blue energy ran along his body like living veins. His eyes shone faintly, as if filled with trapped stars. His long blue hair moved slightly, though there was no wind.

He wore a robe as blue as the world around them, covered in strange moving patterns. Stairs, books, and circles that shifted like illusions when one looked too long.

Lylia blinked, regaining her composure. “…Excuse me, are you the God of Magic?”

“I am,” he said simply. His tone was perfectly calm, monotone. “Now tell me, what compels a mortal such as you to intrude upon my quiet?”

Lylia scratched her cheek awkwardly. “Ah… I’m not quite sure myself. If I’m honest, I just got curious. I’ve met the God before, so I figured, why not meet the others too?”

“Curiosity,” Azurel said, “Truly, such a noble reason. Shall I also fetch you tea while you admire the scenery?”

She laughed nervously. “Haha… that won’t be necessary. So um, are you… by chance… taking disciples?”

“Am I taking?” His glowing eyes narrowed faintly. “How bold. You stand before the God of Magic, and the first thing you request is tutelage? Tell me, little one, what right do you have? You can barely carry the weight of your own mana, much less mine.”

Lylia coughed softly, still keeping her polite smile. “Fair. Then… what can I do to earn your approval?”

Azurel fell silent for a moment. Then, with a lazy gesture, he raised one hand. Blue energy surged outward like mist.

Five figures formed before him, five people standing perfectly still, their expressions blank like dolls.

Lylia’s eyes widened. She recognized one of them immediately. “…Rai?”

“My requirement is simple,” Azurel said, tone perfectly steady. “Defeat the copies of the Archmages I once approved of. All at once.”

“…Huh?” she blinked. “Wait, they’re the Archmagi?”

He didn’t answer.

Lylia examined them closely.

There was Rai, of course. Next to him stood a woman with short white hair, dressed in a dark blue dress with puffed sleeves and a long white vest. A white flower rested on her ear, and she held a staff decorated with flowers and a small clock.

“She’s beautiful,” Lylia muttered under her breath. “Is that… Everyone or something how do I pronounce her name again? Her eyes look like clocks. Are those… contacts?”

Beside her was a short girl who's very colorful, everything about her appearance was a rainbow. Wearing a witch hat with a single eye at its middle, twitching like it had a mind of its own. While its pointy end, instead, seemed to resemble a flexible arm that moves relentlessly for some reason. She wore a gothic dress that's also as colorful, even her eyes, and a kinda messy long hair.

And beside her was… something. A black stick creature with wobbly legs, a mouth with four tiny black wings attached on it. It kept drooling. It has legs so it was indeed standing on its own.

“…Is that her staff? Creepy. She seems like a kid... though I have a feeling her height is just lacking."

Then came a tall blond man in golden robes, short hair, golden eyes, holding a fine brush like a weapon. His hat looked like a festive cone.

“Ah. He must be Rai’s nemesis or something.”

And lastly, a towering figure, at least seven feet tall, wearing a white robe with red triangle patterns on the edges. A black mask with two yellow hollow circles as eyes, stars on the cheeks, and a long, curved white mustache.

“…Is that mustache real? Or glued?”

Azurel’s blank expression didn’t change.

“So,” she said carefully. “You want me to fight all of them at once?”

“That is the condition,” he said smoothly. “Or do you prefer I summon a few more for warm-up?”

She raised both hands quickly. “No, no, no, that’s fine. Maybe… someday.”

Her eyes flicked among the summoned figures again. Something felt off. “Wait… are they really all the Archmagi?”

“There are three more towers all over the world, making a total of four. While these individuals are just the archmages of the west continent tower.” Azurel replied.

“Oh? Do you mean, a different set of them? So there are more? Can I see them too?”

“If you intend to fight them as well, by all means.”

“…No.”

“Then your eyes shall remain unspoiled. You need not see what does not concern you.”

Lylia pouted a little but didn’t push it. “Fair enough.”

Then it hit her. “Wait. Aren’t there supposed to be six? archmages here too”

Azurel’s gaze lingered on her, the blue light in his eyes dimming slightly. “You need not concern yourself with matters beyond your reach.”

She immediately straightened up. “.... Right. Got it.”

The god lowered his hand, and the Archmage copies faded into dust.

“I believe your curiosity has been sated,” Azurel said. “Return now, mortal. Come again only when you are worthy of the title ‘Archmage’ or at least, close enough to pretend.”

Lylia hesitated. “Can’t I stay a bit longer?”

“Must I repeat myself?” His voice didn’t rise, but the sarcasm was sharp enough to make her flinch.

“…No, sir. Understood.”

She gave a small bow and turned around, walking back toward the door with slightly faster steps than before.