Chapter 6: Sage king luminak

Cais initially didn’t know what it was.

He merely thrashed in pain.

Agonized groans continuously burst from his mouth, and his entire body trembled, overwhelmed by intense pain.

The students inflicting the violence paused briefly upon seeing Cais convulsing.

“What the hell is wrong with him? Why is he suddenly acting like this?”

“Did he get hit in the head and go crazy?”

But there was a fear that they might have been too harsh and crippled him.

Amidst this, Cais gradually recognized and accepted the information in his mind with increasing clarity.

The sensation of fragmented pieces slowly fitting together into one grand picture.

‘Is this… my past life’s… memory?’

It was difficult to explain the exact reason why.

But he could be absolutely certain.

That this was a memory of his previous life.

‘Luminark.’

That was the name from his past life.

A being known as the Archmage and Sage King.

A figure who, in the early days, laid the foundation for human prosperity by defeating formidable foes and demon gods on a continent filled with chaos.

The King of Sages, ruling over the thirteen sages.

He also realized the existence of the window that had appeared, which he now recognized as System Magic.

System Magic.

It was an innovative magic assistance technology developed by Luminark in his past life.

Conventional magic involved the cumbersome process of pre-calculating complex formulas, chanting, and then manifesting will with mana.

However, System Magic was a groundbreaking technology that, with the aid of a system etched into the world’s very foundation, delegated all those processes.

System Magic itself was etched into a dimension of origin that transcended the world, thus it continued to exist regardless of Luminark’s death.

‘…So that’s it. System Magic had a mechanism to transfer memories to the next life. But I couldn’t complete it fully.’

The reason was──.

‘Just before completion…… I was betrayed.’

Betrayed by the disciples and comrades he trusted, his past self had died a miserable death.

‘Because it was incomplete, System Magic hadn’t loaded properly for me, the reincarnated one, until now.’

He vaguely surmised why the window had suddenly appeared recently.

‘The betrayal of my childhood friends, and the resulting rage and despair… that must have been the trigger that summoned System Magic.’

It was as if it resonated with the intense emotions he felt when betrayed and dying in his past life, triggering the incomplete System Magic – a miracle.

It was truly ironic.

The terrible things he had recently experienced had made him feel like giving up on life.

Yet, that had become the key to rediscovering his true self.

‘Fate is truly cruel. Both then and now.’

Cais somehow burst into laughter.

The situation was so ludicrous, yet simultaneously sad.

‘So I had to be betrayed and suffer… for this to happen?! Damn it!!!!’

The chuckle that started small soon morphed into maniacal laughter.

“Hahahahahahaha!!”

As he lay on the floor, laughing, his gaze was no longer that of the helpless, frightened boy he once was.

It held an unfathomable abyss, along with an eerie, twisted coldness.

Cais stumbled to his feet.

Then he ran a hand over his forehead.

Even with his face bruised and swollen, his expression seemed relaxed.

Seeing this, the bullies began to provoke Cais again.

“Has this bastard gone crazy after getting beaten so badly?”

“We thought he actually got brain damage and was crippled, you scared us.”

“Get ready to be beaten as much as you scared us.”

Despite their threats, Cais showed no signs of intimidation.

On the contrary, he appeared calmer than ever.

Cais’s eyes, fixed on them, seemed to regard them as mere pebbles on the roadside.

There was no emotion in them.

Anything more would have been an emotional waste.

“System Magic… how did I use it? It was probably like this.”

Cais stretched out his hand and murmured.

“Activate.”

Then a window appeared before his eyes.

[System Magic, Activation Recognized]

[Initiator Identity Under Review]

[Soul Pattern Analysis Result: 99.999999% Match]

[Confirmed as Reincarnator]

[Administrator Authority Inherited]

[Magic Approved]

[Target Magic: 6th Tier Mana Body Projection]

Before he knew it, a red mass of mana, pulsing like a living heart, formed in Cais’s grasp.

It even thumped with a regular beat.

Cais lightly squeezed the mana heart.

Immediately, one of the bullies standing in front of him suddenly clutched his chest and let out a pained groan.

“Ugh…! What, why suddenly…!”

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Say something!”

Despite his friends’ urgent questions, he couldn’t properly answer.

He merely grimaced as if writhing in suffocating pain.

“No problem.”

Cais muttered softly and crushed the mana body in his hand forcefully.

*Thud!*

With a chilling rupture, the mana heart burst, and simultaneously, the groaning bully collapsed weakly to the floor.

“What’s wrong with you?!”

“Snap out of it! Hey!”

Soon, the bullies sensed something amiss and glared at Cais.

“You bastard, what did you do?!”

“Do you want to die?! Confess what trick you pulled!”

Cais said indifferently.

“Don’t worry, you’ll all find out soon enough.”

Cais activated System Magic on the two students who were about to attack him, just the same.

“Activate.”

This time, a pulsating mana heart appeared in each of his hands.

The two bullies, who had raised their fists, simultaneously clutched their chests and writhed in suffocating pain.

“You have a bewildered look on your faces. Since this is also an opportunity, I’ll give you a special chance to broaden your horizons.”

Cais showed them the heart-shaped mana construct floating in his hand.

“Do you see these? They are mana projections connected to your hearts.”

Cais slowly kneaded them, as if playing with toys.

“Just by gripping them like this, you feel the same pain as if your actual hearts were being squeezed.”

The heart in his hand dispersed, and this time, a different shape of mana mass formed.

It was a small, spherical object with red capillaries.

“I can do this too. Do you recognize what this is? It’s your right eyeball.”

At his words, the bully gasped in horror and fumbled for his eye.

“Rest assured, your eye is still there. It’s merely a projection. But by doing this,”

He squeezed hard, and the bully’s right eye burst, liquid oozing out.

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

Cais continued indifferently.

“It can be linked and destroyed. Haven’t you seen this kind of magic before?”

“You bastard!!!”

The bully, having lost an eye, screamed and swung his fist.

But it didn’t reach Cais.

Because before that, he projected the heart again and burst it.

“Impatient, aren’t we?”

Now, only one remained.

He was trembling in horror at the tragedy unfolding before his eyes.

He couldn’t even think of escaping, crushed by Cais’s gaze.

“Now, what would be good? Since I’ve done the heart and eye, a more special part would be nice.”

Cais muttered this and once again created a projection with magic.

“This is a part called the brain. It’s the most crucial organ, governing all areas of human thought. You’ve seen it in textbooks, but this is the first time you’ve seen it in a form close to the real thing, isn’t it?”

Cais, saying this, was emotionless.

“How does it feel to have your brain gouged by a finger? It’s a special experience that ordinary people wouldn’t get.”

“S-stop it… Ugh, no. No!”

“Did you listen when I asked you to stop?”

“I-I’m sorry… Don’t… don’t scratch my brain… Aaaaargh…. Stop. Please stop….”

The bully groaned, tears streaming down his face.

“I-I… I won’t do it again. Please stop…….”

“If that’s your wish, I’ll grant it.”

Cais said this and casually poked and pierced the mana brain with his finger.

The bully’s eyes rolled upwards, showing only the whites, and he collapsed forward with a thud.

Tears of fear and pain flowed from beneath his cold eyes, and a mixture of blood and saliva oozed from the corners of his mouth.

Cais looked down at the corpses with dry, emotionless eyes.

Three people had died in an instant.

“Hmm…”

He let out a small observation.

“Is it because I killed bugs? I don’t feel any guilt at all. I was a little worried, you know.”

He had worried that he might be shocked.

Currently, he was both Sage King Luminark and Cais Raynalsword.

Although their consciousnesses had merged, their life experiences and memories weren’t easily fusing and were still somewhat separate.

‘What a strange feeling.’

The boy named Cais Raynalsword was a gentle and weak boy.

Even after enduring terrible things, would he have been filled with enough venom to take someone’s life?

He couldn’t guarantee that fact, which was why he had worried.

‘Even when betrayed by my childhood friends, I didn’t even think of revenge; I just tried to forget and abandon them.’

He was such a gentle boy.

Therefore, as Sage King Luminark, he sympathized with Cais Raynalsword.

‘It’s okay now. You won’t suffer because of those children anymore, Cais.’

Cais bid farewell to his timid and fragile former self.

With his past and present lives merged, he might appear to be more influenced by Luminark.

This was likely due to the vast difference in the years Luminark had lived.

However, he would fundamentally be closer to Cais, and Cais’s influence would gradually grow stronger in the future.

‘Even if it’s the same soul, this current body has evolved to be more attuned to Cais. Naturally, Cais will take precedence.’

If one were to pinpoint a difference from Luminark’s perspective, perhaps he could be said to have become gentler than when he was the Sage King?

If Luminark had been revived solely remembering moments of revenge, he probably wouldn’t have been this calm.

‘Luminark’s aggression and Cais’s gentleness have created a perfect middle ground.’

Make no mistake, even with memories of his past life, Cais was still Cais.

His family was Raynalsword, and his older brother and sister were still precious family.

‘However, given the current situation, Luminark’s emotions are more prominent. Under normal circumstances, they might be fainter than this.’

Cais looked at the three people he had killed.

Their deaths would soon be known at the academy, but there was almost no chance of him being blamed for it.

As far as he knew, there was no one in the academy skilled enough to investigate 6th Tier magic.

Even elite mages only used up to 4th Tier magic.

The 6th Tier was a skill only achievable by renowned mages in the kingdom.

“Besides, this body was originally an inferior student who couldn’t even use 2nd Tier magic, so there’s even less chance of suspicion. Now then.”

Cais looked at Olga, who was lying beside him.

A friend who had shielded him and gotten beaten alongside him.

Even after regaining his past life’s memories, he was still his friend.

He was grateful yet sorry that Olga had taken his side.

Cais, about to use healing magic on Olga, stretched out his hand and realized his own dreadful appearance.

“My own appearance is quite a mess right now. ……Activate.”

[System Magic, Activation Recognized]

[Initiator Identity Review]

[Confirmed. Approval Granted]

[Target Magic: 5th Tier Breath of Eternity]

Not only his own body but Olga’s as well were enveloped in a blue light, and all their injuries began to heal.

“My body currently lacks mana, so using it consecutively makes me a little dizzy.”

However, when using System Magic, the amount of mana consumed is greatly reduced.

Only about 5% of the original mana amount is required for activation; if that is invested, the remaining 95% is activated with mana that System Magic automatically draws from the dimension.

In other words, a magic that could ordinarily only be used once could be used a whopping twenty times.

‘I should dispose of these guys’ corpses somewhere.’

Cais activated magic again, sinking the three corpses he had killed into the shadows.

This was 3rd Tier magic, so the mana consumption wasn’t significant.

After some time, the magic would end, and the corpses would resurface, but,

“Well, it won’t matter.”

Cais carried the unconscious Olga on his back.

“You shielded me so many times. Thank you, Olga.”

He then carried Olga on his back and headed to the dormitory.

But on the way, another group of bullies provoked them.

“Hey, Cais. Where are you going with Olga? Are you two planning to have a hot night or something?”

“Or have you already done it?”

Cais, hearing their insults, subtly furrowed his brow.

‘Honestly… this is irritating. Should I just destroy this academy as it is?’

Luminark’s emotions took over Cais.

‘Even a direct hit from 8th Tier magic would obliterate it without a trace. There’s no one here I need to protect. Even if my mana is insufficient to unleash its full power, it’s enough to destroy this place.’

Apart from the person on his back, nothing else mattered.

Excluding Olga, no one in this academy held any value to him───.

That prejudice was shattered in an instant.

“Looks interesting. If it’s alright, can I join in? Of course, I’m on this side.”

With that, someone with shimmering silver hair stood beside Cais.

Cais blankly uttered her name.

“Erica…”

Erica, who stood in front as if shielding Cais, looked at the students who had been threatening them and asked.

“What are you going to do?”

At Erica’s appearance, the bullies couldn’t utter a peep and moved away.

“Are you okay?”

Hearing that, Cais felt tormented.

Cais’s original emotions had resurfaced.

He felt afraid of himself for having wanted to destroy this academy, even if only for a moment.

‘Why did I try to destroy this academy? Just because it annoyed me… And there are kind children here like Erica.’

Seeing Cais’s pale complexion, Erica worriedly called his name.

“Cais…?”

“Ah, thank you…. Erica.”

“Are you on your way to the infirmary?”

“No, the dormitory….”

“Then I’ll walk you to the front.”

Cais quietly followed behind Erica.