Resonance
A token of a Bytenor-style 2nd Circle Master.
[Magic is a tree, and the Infinity Circle is a forest.][The Ring of Resonance strengthens the tree, but the Realm of Resonance strengthens the forest.]
Its effect spreads the Ring of Resonance across one's entire circle, strengthening not just one's spell but the very circle itself.
[In the Bytenor system, resonance is also called transcendence.][Transcendence of one's realm. Those who enter the Realm of Resonance transcend their own level by one stage.]
Transcendence of the Realm.
A 3rd Circle Mage can use 4th Circle magic.A 4th Circle Mage can use 5th Circle magic.
[It's an overwhelmingly powerful effect, but not without drawbacks.][The drawback of resonance lies in its duration.][Because it intertwines circles of differing properties and accelerates them, your body and mind will take strain.][As a 2nd Circle Master, your current resonance duration is around three minutes.][When that duration ends, your circles will stop moving for roughly twelve hours—so be cautious.]
Considering its overwhelming effect of breaking the boundary of an entire circle, the penalty is rather mild.
One only needs to look at Baek Sahyuk for proof.
The Berserker and the IL Chip.Baek Sahyuk staked his life to transcend a single circle.
Compared to that, a short duration and twelve hours of mana inactivity are hardly penalties at all.
[Of course, this drawback naturally resolves itself as your realm rises.][Until then, you must always take care when using resonance.]
And if the penalty disappears later, what's the problem?
"Three minutes is plenty."
I smirked as I circulated mana through my dual yet singular circles spinning fiercely within me.
"Earth Needle."
Mana infused with my will settled around Baek Sahyuk.The same 3rd Circle spell Adela once used—Earth Needle.
It surged upward from beneath Baek Sahyuk's feet.
"Th–Three-circle magic!?"
The mark of the 3rd Circle—a spatial-designation spell.Earth Needle was proof of a 3rd Circle Mage.
"Kh…!"
Sensing the activation, Baek Sahyuk hastily kicked off the ground.But he couldn't perfectly evade a spatial spell he hadn't anticipated.
A single spike pierced his thigh.Blood streamed from the deep wound.
"You worthless trash—how can you use 3rd Circle magic…!?"
Despite the severity of the injury, Baek Sahyuk showed no sign of pain.
Dulled senses.The Berserker was starting to devour his bodily functions.
"Who knows. How do you think I did it?"
"...Defective bastard."
Something cracked in Baek Sahyuk's molars—likely an actual tooth.
"Die, you trash!"
Flame Shotgun flared again around him.Its destructive power had been so immense earlier that evasion was the only answer.
"I've always thought so…"
I smiled as his spell approached.
"You're not just bad at magic—you're terrible at insults too. They're so unoriginal."
"Water Shield."
A jet of water erupted upward.An inverted waterfall clashed with Baek Sahyuk's Flame Shotgun.
Fsshhhh—!
Once again, violent steam billowed out.
"Heh! Still the same defective fool? You couldn't block Flame Ball earlier, but now you think you can block Flame Shotgun?"
Amused by the repeated sight, Baek Sahyuk laughed.His face was hidden behind steam, but he must have been convinced of his victory.
"Well, maybe before mocking my learning ability, you should reexamine your mana detection skills."
"What?"
"Actually, maybe it's your brain that's the issue. You saw Earth Needle, yet you still think this Water Shield is the same as before?"
Having transcended the 1st Circle through resonance, my Water Shield easily deflected Baek Sahyuk's Flame Shotgun.
"Your spells can't even graze me now."
As the last embers of his Flame Shotgun faded, I shaped another spell with my other hand.
"Wind Cutter."
Two Wind Cutters curved like boomerangs toward Baek Sahyuk's back.
Fsshh...
The Flame Shotgun vanished completely.The steam slowly cleared.
Whoosh!
A light gust restored my vision.
"Shin Hayul…!"
Baek Sahyuk's furious expression came into clear focus again.
And in that instant—the two Wind Cutters slashed across his back.
Shkkk!
A chilling sound of tearing flesh.
Despite being struck squarely, Baek Sahyuk neither turned his head nor winced.Not out of discipline—
"You… You used illegal doping, didn't you!? That's how you got stronger!"
—but because he simply hadn't noticed.
He hadn't realized the Wind Cutters had sliced across his back.Hadn't noticed the two deep gashes pouring blood down his spine.
"His sense of touch is completely gone."
One of the Berserker's side effects—total loss of tactile sensation.
"It's over."
By tomorrow, Baek Sahyuk would no longer be able to call himself a mage.He wouldn't be able to feel mana—or even move properly.
Having used the IL Chip, even his brain wouldn't function normally.
At best—vegetative.At worst—crippled.
That's Baek Sahyuk's future, ten minutes from now.
"I don't pity you. You brought this on yourself."
"What nonsense are you spouting now!?"
Mental manipulation magic isn't that powerful.Suggestion, mental nudging, emotional amplification—That's the limit of what Leng Smith's mental control can do.
"If you had any hesitation about killing, or any aversion to murder—this wouldn't have happened."
Baek Sahyuk's killing intent toward me was genuine.Because he hadn't hesitated to kill me, this was his fate.
Everything was Baek Sahyuk's own doing.
"Five years ago. You lost to me and never turned that defeat into an opportunity. You lived consumed by resentment and regret—and this is the price."
Five years ago—a simple youth tournament.
If Baek Sahyuk had taken that defeat as a chance to grow,if he'd used it as motivation like Adela did—this never would have happened.
"The last mercy I can offer is to make your end a little easier."
"Again… again! Those eyes! Those damned eyes that act like you know everything! Don't look at me like that, you trash!"
Baek Sahyuk drew out his mana to the limit.As if on a suicidal charge, indifferent to his body's collapse,he poured out mana recklessly and rushed at me.
Blood gushed endlessly from the pierced thigh.
"If only… if only you hadn't existed! Without you, my life—!"
"Well. If not me, you'd have hated Adela instead."
I raised my right hand toward the rapidly approaching Baek Sahyuk.My body trembled.Mana swirled violently around me.
The Ring of Mind and the Ring of Resonance.Mana laughed in harmony with the two Infinity Circles.
'Kyarrr—''Feels good here.''What are we going to do?'
'Are we going to play?'
Mana whined like an innocent child.
Feeling that pure will of mana, I cast my spells.
"Darkness Blind.""Earth Bind.""Air Bind."
Three spells manifested at once.
Darkness Blind was the first to devour Baek Sahyuk's vision.At the same time, earthen ropes rose from the ground,and cords of mana formed in midair, restraining his body.
'My spell-processing speed is far better than I expected.'
Feeling the power of Resonance as a 2nd Circle Master, I immediately kicked off the ground.
"Like this could—grhhhk!"
Baek Sahyuk channeled all of his mana into physical enhancement.Whether it was blindness or binding spells, he was determined to smash through them with sheer force.
At that level of strength, yes—he could probably break free of everything.
However—
"You're too late."
It was already over.
Tap.
I swiftly seized the position behind Baek Sahyuk and pressed my hand against the back of his neck—the place where his IL Chip was implanted.
"Do you know why using illegally modified A.I. chips is forbidden, beyond the physical side effects?"
"You—you…!"
Ignoring his panic, I focused mana directly into the IL Chip embedded in his neck.
"It's because their stability drops dramatically."
"Gaaah! Y-You bastard! What are you doing—!"
My mana seeped into the IL Chip.
"When you overclock both the chip and the body past their limits, even the slightest external influence can make them collapse completely."
"AAAAAAARGH!"
Baek Sahyuk screamed in agony. Even through dulled senses, the pain was enough to reach him.He must've felt as though someone was drilling straight into his brain.
"In cases like yours, where the chip itself is over-fused, all I need to do is match its mana frequency and pour mine in…"
"Gkhhh! S-Sto—ooop!"
"…and this happens."
Heat radiated from my palm pressed against his neck.The IL Chip, already scorching hot, overheated even further.
Only one thing remained.
"Ah, right. One last thing—I should thank you."
I adjusted the mana's frequency one final time to shut down the IL Chip's functions.
"Thanks to your insane stunt, I think I can squeeze something quite valuable out of the Baek family again."
"...What?"
"This time the scandal will be on an entirely different scale from the last one. I'd say... maybe a 30% mining share in mana-stone rights—no, 40%."
"You…!"
"Thanks. You really were a tree that kept on giving until the end."
"Shin Hayul!!"
With that last shout of my name, Baek Sahyuk's mind and body crumbled.
The battle was over.
'Now, to wrap things up.'
Looking at Baek Sahyuk's limp body still caught in Earth Bind, I pulled the phone from my pocket.
"Father. It's me, Hayul."
Then I immediately made the call.
—So, what's the matter at this late hour?
I gazed up at the dawn sky and spoke quietly.
"You don't have to feign ignorance. I know you've been watching."
—"You don't have to feign ignorance. I know you've been watching."
"Hm."
Hearing Shin Hayul's voice over the receiver, Shin Inhyuk let out a faint, amused hum.
"And what makes you think I'm watching?"
—"Even if it's a deserted park at dawn, for such a large-scale battle to go on this long without police intervention? That's impossible unless someone's blocking their dispatch."
"Blocking the police doesn't prove it's me."
—"No. It can only be you, Father."
Shin Hayul spoke firmly.
—"There are many who could suppress the police. But only you would stand back and watch until the battle ended. Anyone else would've either helped me or stabbed me in the back long ago."
If the Black Magic Tower or Shin Jihan had been pulling the strings, they would have acted the moment Baek Sahyuk began to falter.
—"Besides, on my way home from meeting with my brothers, there's only one person who could have placed a watcher on me—Father. My brothers couldn't, not while your two-month protection order is still active."
Shin Inhyuk chuckled softly.
"You're right. I had Seokhyun accompany you tonight."
Kim Seokhyun—Shin Inhyuk's most trusted subordinate.
Since his sons were gathering, he had assigned Seokhyun to watch over Hayul, just in case.
"I assumed you hadn't noticed since you didn't ask for help… but it turns out the opposite was true."
A wry smile crossed Inhyuk's face.
"You knew I was watching—and you deliberately refrained from calling for aid. You wanted to show me a 3rd Circle spell."
—"Yes, sir."
"There's no way you advanced further in such a short time. You've been hiding the fact that you could already use 3rd Circle magic, haven't you?"
It was too soon for such a rise in realm.That meant Hayul had been capable from the start.
—"Yes."
"Why did you hide it?"
—"Because I still lack strength."
"Oh?"
A gleam flickered in Inhyuk's eyes.
—"3rd Circle and 2nd Circle magic are different. If I revealed my ability to use 3rd Circle magic, my brothers' suppression would have been relentless."
"So you concealed it?"
—"Yes."
"And the reason you chose to show it to me now?"
—"Because I saw it as my only chance to display my true achievement—only to you, Father."
"Only to me?"
—"Yes. A perfect opportunity to prove my worth to you, without letting my rivals find out."
Hayul smiled faintly.
—"So? Do you finally see my true value?"
"What? Hah-hahaha!!"
Shin Inhyuk burst into hearty laughter, baring his teeth.
"You really are the most confident brat in the world! I can't imagine what you've been doing for the past year!"
—"So, do you dislike it?"
"No," Inhyuk smirked.
"It's not bad at all."
Confidence without foundation is arrogance—but confidence born of proof is pride.
And pride is a virtue essential for the head of a magical family.
He couldn't help but feel pleased.
—"I knew you'd say that."
Hayul smiled faintly once more.