I Was Mistaken as a Genius Mage in a Game Chapter 52

"Calm down."

The lightning spirit, Dajin, told that.

"...Calm down?"

I doubted my ears.

Suddenly, he forces so unknown artifact into my mouth and tells to calm down?

If soone suddenly injected an unknown liquid into your arm and then told you to "calm down," would you be able to calm down?

How could I possibly calm down when I don’t even know if that liquid is a healing potion or a deadly poison?

Even if it is a dicine, it’s a problem. No matter how good a dicine is, doesn’t it sotis turn into poison depending on the symptoms and the patient’s condition?

How could he possibly know if I’ll have an allergic reaction or suddenly vomit or have diarrhea?

This crazy deer bastard.

"Calm down?"

Artifacts aren’t so omnipotent tool for boosting a character’s stats. That’s why I demanded clarification from Dajin in a firm tone.

"...Oh, fine."

Dajin, seeing my intense reaction, looked sowhat flustered.

"Ahem!"

Lir, noticing my rude words toward Dajin, tapped on the back and cleared her throat.

"What’s wrong?"

I turned my cold expression toward Lir and asked.

Startled by my sharp tone, Lir hesitated for a mont before quietly whispering into my ear.

"That... maybe a little more politeness would be...?"

"...Politeness?"

Lir, you’re really driving crazy now.

"Do you think I should be polite right now? So unknown artifact just entered my body."

"Well, that... but it’s an artifact, so maybe it’s a good thing? Maybe just calm down first...?"

Lir seed to think of the artifact as just "sothing good to get," without fully understanding its nature. Given her lack of knowledge about artifacts, it wasn’t entirely surprising.

The only artifact she’d probably ever seen was the "Red Crystal" I carry around on my shoulder, firing beams of light.

The Red Crystal, while an artifact, is pretty boring in terms of effects and has no disadvantages. So I didn’t bla her for thinking this way.

"Calm down, my ass..."

But once Lir learns that so artifacts shorten a user’s lifespan by two years, she’ll likely have the sa reaction as I do.

Since you’re a species that lives over 4000 years, picking up that artifact would cost you about 3978 years.

Would you still be polite after losing 3978 years of your life? Should I test that?

"Well... I get what you’re worried about. There are artifacts that can negatively impact your lifespan, health, or intelligence."

"You know well! So, instead of just handing this thing without a word, shouldn't you have at least warned to be careful with this staff since it's an artifact?"

"No, it's not that kind of item."

Dajin clicked his tongue, staring at with a strange look as I grumbled.

Look at this bastard talking. If soone overheard, they’d think I’m the weird one here.

He’s the one who forced an unknown object into my mouth without knowing its identity, and now he’s acting like I’m the unreasonable one.

"So, explain it. What’s the effect?"

"Hmm! Well, speaking of the staff, it’s...”

"Skip the backstory, I’m not interested."

"..."

Dajin lowered his head, looking a little disappointed after my sharp response.

"Tch. Well, to explain briefly... think of it as a staff that can summon ."

Dajin clicked his tongue and then spoke in a voice that sounded like all the energy had drained out of him.

"...?"

He only spoke about the basics, but I still couldn’t understand, so I stared at him, speechless.

A staff that summons ?

No, I an, it summons you?

"...Huh?"

From behind, I heard Lir’s voice. It seed like she hadn’t understood Dajin’s words either.

"..."

I turned my head and t Lir’s blank expression.

...Did I hear that wrong?

"What’s the atmosphere here?"

"...You said it summons you?"

"Yeah, it’s a staff that can summon ."

"...You an summoning... like, to fight for ?"

"Of course, that’s possible. Do you have a country you don’t like?"

Dajin casually asked, as if it were nothing, like a shopkeeper asking if I needed anything while heading to the convenience store.

"..."

"..."

Lir and I exchanged glances once more.

Thankfully, she also seed in a daze, unable to process reality.

The lightning spirit, Dajin.

A transcendent being, said to be the origin of lightning magic.

In this world, transcendent beings are practically gods.

They possess overwhelming magical power that no amount of magic from all the world’s mages can compare to, unbreakable life that will never die, and omnipotence that completely disregards the laws of physics.

A single wave of their hand can evaporate the entire ocean, turn the earth to ashes. They truly reside in the realm of gods.

A staff that can summon such a lightning spirit...?

"...Crazy."

I couldn’t help but chuckle, looking at the palm of my hand.

It felt like a nuclear bomb had just been handed to .

What the hell is going on here?

"I’ll ask again... This isn’t so artifact that’s going to ss with my health, right? There are no disadvantages, no negative effects on my mana or anything?"

"I already told you, it doesn’t have any such limitations. The staff was created by a mage powerful enough to imprison in this small stone. It’s not sothing made by so random schmucks."

...It’s a cheat item.

It’s really a goddamn cheat item.

If this artifact were implented in the ga, there would be a balance problem, and all players would be mages.

Now I understand why this staff is so unfamiliar to .

"...Isn’t this going to end the war?"

Lir, still in disbelief, looked at with a dazed expression and said that.

Oh.

Right, we’re in the middle of a war, aren’t we?

I had completely forgotten that with this sudden nuclear bomb in my hand.

"End the war? Ah, are you talking about that demon bastard who ca back? Sorry, but that’s a request I can’t fulfill."

"Huh? Why?"

The setting book described the five spirits, the origin of magic, as being so powerful that they could easily rival demons that crawled up from hell.

With Swordmaster and his party around, I thought that if we sent the demon to Dajin, we could finish this war in a month.

"Look at right now. Aren’t I bound to this little stone?"

"Right."

"My power weakens the further I am from this forest."

"...Huh? Weakens? How much?"

"Well, in the noisy frontlines up north... maybe around the level of an old mage traveling with you guys. The further I move from there, the weaker it’ll get. If I head to the northernmost lands where the demon is, I’ll only be able to exert the power of a 6th Circle mage."

"Wait, what?"

Ugh, what the hell.

This is deflating.

"Then... please, a little more politeness!"

Lir, startled by my blunt tone, poked again.

"Well... honestly, Lir, I was a little disappointed too."

"That’s not sothing you should openly show!"

Lir glanced at Dajin and then, once again, cautiously whispered in my ear.

Why is she whispering? Does she think that just because we’re standing in front of a transcendent being, Dajin won’t hear us?

Looking at it, it seems like Lir treats Dajin like the biggest fool.

"Well, if you want to awaken my true power... there’s a way."

Dajin, watching our conversation with a smile, spoke with a cryptic tone.

"If you release the seal that binds to this little stone, you’ll be able to use my full strength wherever you are."

"...It’s sealed?"

I blinked in disbelief, hearing this for the first ti.

"You were told that the one who created the staff and placed inside this stone, right? His na... what was it, I’ve forgotten. A mortal na, difficult as always. An ancient being? That’s what they called his kind nowadays."

This is a new twist.

I had always thought spirits could only communicate through Rune Stones.

In the ga, that was the only way to interact with them, and even then, it was just a few lines of dialogue.

The setting book never ntioned anything like this.

But now, to learn that the Rune Stone, which could connect with transcendent beings, was actually a prison?

"If they were ancient beings, they must have been highly skilled to create artifacts. But even with such skill, to imprison soone like Dajin...?"

Lir looked at Dajin in shock, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It seed like she had thought Dajin was voluntarily residing in the Rune Stone all along.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"The one who imprisoned was a genius mage. He trapped and tried to use like a slave with that staff. An arrogant, «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» genius idea."

Dajin didn’t seem to resent the mage who imprisoned him. In fact, he almost seed nostalgic.

"Well, it was fun dealing with that mortal. He was talented, ambitious, and had the right kind of spirit. I spent years with him because he was interesting. But, as expected of a mortal, he died soon."

"You seem to hold the mage who imprisoned you in quite high regard."

"It’s interesting, isn’t it? All the other mages were too busy worshiping as a god, but that one saw as just a tool for his desires. I like the stubborn ones. I prefer those who trust their talents and act recklessly. It’s fun and amusing to watch."

...That’s when I began to understand why Dajin had given such a powerful staff.

"I heard it feels like you’re just seeing as a toy to kill ti."

"A toy? More like a cherished doll, I’d say. Among all those who ca seeking , you’re the only one with enough talent and the right kind of stubbornness. Plus, you’re carrying a horrific ‘restriction’ that matches that talent."

Dajin wasn’t just interested in my talent. He’d known from the mont we t that my magic only consisted of ‘Bloom’ magic.

That’s why Dajin found so entertaining.

He wasn’t expecting to bow or kneel like Lir.

Not to ntion, compared to other mages, my magic stats were ridiculously high.

But with such abnormal magical power, I could only use one magic.

It wasn’t strange that he was curious and fascinated by .

"...That’s unpleasant."

Hearing my response, Dajin quietly smiled.

"I’m having fun though, what a pity."

A serpent-like smile crept across Dajin’s face. I felt like I was getting closer to the essence of this transcendent being.

"Well, if you really want to awaken my true power... it’s not entirely impossible."

Lir, sensing the delicate tension between Dajin and , quickly interrupted and changed the subject.

She was probably worried I might snap at Dajin.

"I don’t know."

"...Ah, well."

Lir, looking at Dajin’s frank confession of ignorance, didn’t know what to say.

"If you want to release the seal, ask the one who put here directly."

"He’s already dead, right?"

I spoke to Dajin with a tone full of frustration. Asking a dead guy, thousands of years gone, sounds like nonsense.

"His research records should still be in a bunker sowhere in the northern lands... you know, the dungeons you call them."

The northern lands, a late-ga area crawling with level 90 great lords and monsters.

Asking to investigate a dungeon in the land where demons and the demon lord have settled. It was a quest I couldn’t possibly accomplish in my current state.

"...I’ll just make a note of it for now."

Getting by day-to-day was already hard enough. The idea of mastering the true power of a transcendent being was appealing, but I had far more pressing tasks at hand.

"Well, you don’t have to do it yourself. Eventually, a genius, or soone better than you, will co along, as always."

"Sounds like you don’t mind being sealed. Seems like you don’t want freedom."

"Freedom? Doesn’t really matter to . I just need so entertainnt, and I’m fine with whatever."

How do transcendent beings think? There are so many things I can’t understand with my mortal mind.

...Actually, maybe this bastard’s just a weirdo.