Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

Chapter 28: It’s Too Hard… Ahh… ㅠㅅㅠ

“……”

Trixie had been looking at me with a subtle gaze for a while now.

It seemed she was almost convinced that I was a scout, but there was only one thing I could say at the moment.

“Let’s focus on the exploration evaluation first.”

It was a general remark about staying focused on the evaluation, but to Trixie, it seemed to carry another meaning.

For example, it could be interpreted as a challenge to prove herself through this exploration evaluation.

“Alright.”

Trixie nodded readily, and I considered adding more details to my explanation but decided against it.

After all, saying that I wasn’t a scout wouldn’t clear up the misunderstanding, and the more determined Trixie was, the easier the exploration evaluation would be.

“What are you two talking about? We’re going for a direct assault strategy, right? Are we?”

Martin shrugged his shoulders as he asked.

Perhaps because Trixie was sticking close to me, the look in his eyes had suddenly turned sharply wary.

“Yes.”

Trixie answered curtly and coldly.

“They don’t have fire resistance, do they?”

She clearly had no intention of taking a detour. She had full confidence in herself.

Trixie pointed her chin toward the demonic beasts ahead. Translucent ghosts were waiting for us—creatures known as Wraiths.

In this world, ghosts are weak to flame elements, which share a similar attribute to exorcism. Trixie’s self-confidence partly stemmed from that fact.

“Wraiths aren’t a problem. As long as we’re heading in the right direction.”

“Oh, if it’s about that, don’t worry.”

Martin grinned and pulled out a scroll from his pocket.

“No need to worry about losing our way. This is a location scroll. It took me some effort to get it.”

Martin tossed it to me.

“You take care of the navigation. You’re just along for the ride, so you don’t have much else to do, right?”

This actually worked out well. I wasn’t too keen on leaving navigation to Martin anyway.

Martin looked at Trixie, hoping for some praise, but she only said a single word.

“Go.”

“Huh?”

“Go.”

“Oh, right.”

Martin belatedly understood Trixie’s instruction to lead the way and enveloped himself in wind elements as he dashed forward.

The disturbed Wraiths began to eagerly chase after him.

But Trixie’s blue flames would not allow it.

Snap.

Trixie snapped her fingers, and that was the end of it. With a screeching sound, the Wraiths were engulfed in blue flames, burning fiercely.

It was impressive, but the problem was the sheer number of Wraiths.

“Whoa!”

Martin glanced back and was startled to see the vast number of Wraiths.

Trixie continued to incinerate them, but their numbers showed no sign of decreasing.

I quietly gathered my mana.

There was no need to act as bait like Martin or directly manifest elemental magic like Trixie.

Support would be enough.

I adjusted the output of the flames Trixie was manifesting. Amplifying the performance of the assisted element was a natural progression.

What was once a mere cluster of flames spread like a wildfire, and soon, the entire swarm of Wraiths was utterly annihilated.

“……”

Trixie looked at me with slightly dazed eyes.

As the one who had manifested the flames, she must have noticed.

She had only produced the flame of a lump’s power, but the output had been amplified by another force.

“It’s easier to burn them all at once.”

“Are there any point deductions?”

She merely asked that. As the evaluation continued, it felt like the misunderstandings about me were growing.

“We’ll talk once the evaluation is over.”

There was no rush to clear things up; I could explain after the evaluation ended.

Checking Martin’s location scroll, which was guiding us well, we moved forward.

We encountered Wraith swarms a couple more times, but by supporting Trixie’s flames, we managed to clean them all up.

“Whew~ All cleared! Flan, how much further do we have to go?”

Martin wiped the sweat off his brow as he spoke.

He was covered in soot from Trixie’s flames, but he didn’t seem to notice his appearance.

“Just a little more to go.”

“Once we return, the highest score is guaranteed. There’s no group that took down more demonic beasts than us. It’s easier than I thought!”

As the soot-covered Martin checked the location scroll with a satisfied look, I sensed a deeply ominous energy stirring.

Instinctively, my gaze followed the source.

It was beneath Trixie’s feet. No, it was the entire path we were about to take.

It was collapsing. Absolutely. It was going to be a full-scale collapse of the ground.

The first thing that came to mind was telekinesis.

I used telekinesis to pull Trixie toward me with all my might.

“Huh, wha?”

Trixie, who was pulled, clung tightly to my chest. If I pushed her away, she’d fall and die, so pulling her was the only option.

“What are you doing? What are you doing?”

A subtle expression spread across Trixie’s face. It was as if she couldn’t comprehend my actions.

Rumble—!

But immediately after, the ground where Trixie had just been standing sank entirely. It was so deep that its depth couldn’t be estimated by sight alone.

A great silence met us.

After a moment, Martin was the first to break the silence.

“This is too much for a trap; if we had fallen….”

It would have been fatal, at the very least.

Trixie, who had been clinging to me, glanced down below and then broke free from my grasp with a cough.

“It’s strange. It doesn’t feel artificial.”

Trixie also had something to say. She was right.

The real issue with the ground collapse that had just occurred was that it didn’t feel artificial at all.

“Hey…. I hear something. Am I the only one hearing it?”

This time, Martin’s voice trembled, as if he was finding it hard to keep his usual bravado. The strange sound coming from the bottomless pit was growing louder.

Screeeeeech—!

We looked down the pit. Something was rapidly rising.

And it didn’t take more than two seconds for us to realize that it was the upper half of an enormous skeleton.

Skeletons normally don’t make any sounds because they lack vocal cords. But if they did make a sound, it would be proof of a high-level entity.

“Hey, hey, hey. What’s that? It’s coming our way. What do we do?”

Martin stammered as if he were broken.

It was alarming, but I tried to remain calm. Once that massive thing fully emerged, it would likely bring the entire area down.

We had to deal with it before it fully surfaced. No matter what.

Trixie triggered a series of explosions with her blue flames along the surrounding walls.

Though the walls crumbled, burying the gigantic skeleton under a heap of dirt and rocks, it wasn’t enough. It didn’t stop its ascent.

“It’s not working. It’s too big.”

“Bring out all the scrolls.”

Martin hurriedly pulled out two scrolls. Trixie, confident as she was, hadn’t brought any scrolls with her.

『 Emergency Escape 』, 『 Petrification 』. Without a moment’s hesitation, I grabbed the Petrification scroll.

By focusing heavily on efficiency, it was possible to overcome this situation.

I unfurled the scroll.

The giant skeleton’s white surface began to subtly turn gray, but that was it. It only slowed its movements; it didn’t fully petrify.

‘Modification.’

I visualized the spell contained within the scroll. Various magical applications and geometric patterns flashed through my mind.

I minimized the ‘range’ of the petrification but maximized its performance to the extreme. This went beyond mere support, veering into modification.

Crunch, the skeleton’s massive arm solidified into a gray stone.

Screeeeeeeeech—!

The face wasn’t petrified, so it emitted a bizarre noise, but with its arms turned to stone, the creature had no way to climb the cliff.

With a monstrous cry, it plummeted back down.

“…Wow. That scroll really worked.”

Martin muttered quietly, then suddenly shouted.

“Come to think of it, this is weird! I’ve never heard of the ground collapsing inside a Magic Labyrinth, or of such a huge skeleton existing!”

It was definitely bothering me.

It wasn’t just a matter of ‘lack of prior research.’

There was not even a hint of anything artificial around us; only ominous vibes filled the area.

Martin’s anger suddenly turned toward me.

“Did you guide us properly? Are we in the wrong place?”

“This is the right way.”

Even though I gave him a clear answer, Martin snatched the scroll from my hand and checked it himself.

But as I said, there was no issue with the navigation itself. Nonetheless, his anger didn’t subside.

“You’re no help…. Trixie’s been taking down monsters, and I’ve been baiting them. We’re doing everything, and you’re just riding along comfortably, aren’t you?”

“You.”

However, Trixie glared at Martin coldly.

“Don’t breathe. Shut your mouth.”

“No, this is too much! Without my scroll just now, we’d have been in serious trouble….”

Fwoosh, Trixie’s arm was engulfed in blue flames. Only then did Martin reluctantly close his mouth.

“Take another route.”

At Trixie’s composed reaction, Martin muttered something under his breath and complied.

As we retraced our steps, Trixie once again quietly moved closer to me.

And then she said one thing.

“Well done.”

◈

Following behind, Trixie examined the man walking ahead.

The boy’s back wasn’t broad enough to seem reliable. Yet, right now, it looked quite broad.

Walking and walking, she recalled what had just happened.

He had superbly supported Trixie’s blue flames. It was called support, but in reality, he had intervened and controlled them himself.

If it had been another student, she would have rightfully been angry….

‘But he’s not just another student.’

Yes, the moment she considered Flan not as a fellow student but as a scout, everything made sense.

Being a commoner, hiding his skills—all of it. Every piece of the puzzle fit perfectly into the image of a scout.

Above all, the enhancement of the Petrification scroll he had demonstrated earlier was decisive.

In a bewildering situation, he calmly selected the appropriate magic and maximized its effect.

…He was beyond what could be considered a student.

‘He’s probably testing me.’

It was clear that he was holding back his power.

Martin, the ignorant one, didn’t notice, but Trixie picked up on it well enough. He was probably subtly offering her hints.

To show this level of competence, as if saying, “This is the kind of performance you need to join the guild you want.”

‘I’m confident.’

The mysterious canyon guild, famous for its magic, had been her dream guild since she was young and the guild her mother had been part of.

She was only a first-year student now, but she was well aware of her exceptional talent.

Therefore, she would do whatever it took to earn recognition and definitely join.

“What are you doing? Just standing there.”

Suddenly, Martin spoke to Trixie.

Without realizing it, she had stopped walking. Trixie shook her head.

“Don’t open your mouth.”

Trixie followed Flan, who was walking ahead.

Then, she had a sudden thought and opened Trivia.

[ ▶ I’m being evaluated right now! ]

[ ▶ It’s so hard… Ahh… ㅠㅅㅠ ]

This contact was starting to become a habit, too.

Rumble—!

But right after she sent the message, the walls on both sides began to crumble.

As the walls on either side collapsed, other groups walking through different paths were gradually revealed.

Two groups at first.

“Uh, hey. Flan….”

On the left path was Becky’s Group 5.

“Hmph.”

And on the right path was Hailey’s Group 1.

As she watched the two girls’ gazes simultaneously fixate on Flan, Trixie thought quietly.

‘…Have they noticed as well?’