Celestial Art: Model Garden (1)
As he stepped into the bustling studio, it was filled on all sides with mages training in physical techniques.
As Lennok headed toward the desk near the entrance, the receptionist greeted him with a friendly smile and asked,
“Are you a new customer looking to enroll in classes?”
“I’m looking for someone.”
“I can only assist with course registration. Currently, physical technique classes for mages are divided into three levels—beginner, intermediate, and advanced. May I continue explaining?”
“Just pass along a message. Clarisse Richellen. I believe she’s in this studio right now.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not authorized to share information about other members. At the moment, both morning and afternoon classes are full, so registration is unavailable. However, there are two spots left in the late-night classes on Sunday and Monday. Would that be alright?”
Even as she diligently answered Lennok’s question, the conversation somehow always circled back to membership registration.
With a wry smile, Lennok placed his hand on the desk and said,
“Sign me up for the Sunday late-night class.”
“Here is a training uniform. If you wait in the studio, you’ll have a consultation with Instructor Rancia, and she will guide you to the appropriate class.”
Instead of changing into the uniform the receptionist handed him, Lennok headed straight into the studio.
He hadn’t come to attend a class, but to find Clarisse Richellen.
‘Clarisse’s presence… deeper inside the correction room.’
It seemed she was taking a lesson in the back room where posture-correcting equipment was installed.
Since he had come this far, he had no intention of causing a commotion by calling her out.
Lennok was also somewhat curious about how Rancia taught mages, so waiting for a while wasn’t difficult.
Sitting on a chair lined up along the studio wall, he began observing the mages training in physical techniques.
“If you rotate your shoulder like this…”
“No, that’s not it. If you consider the flow of mana, you should narrow your arm—”
Students practicing movements in sync with the instructor, and mages who had finished class but stayed behind to train individually. Some gathered in groups, reviewing what they had learned and discussing the flow of mana.
Compared to when Lennok had learned Pilates, the space felt overwhelmingly alive with human energy. Yet despite intending to observe the studio, his thoughts drifted elsewhere.
More precisely, to what had happened in the Dark Library he had visited just before coming here.
The subspace archive that collected forbidden arts of the old world—Nox Biblio.
There, Lennok had borrowed advanced techniques including ‘Celestial Art: Model Garden’ and met the lich Naoiz Pen face-to-face.
He hadn’t had time to dwell on it after leaving the library due to immediately meeting Olivera, but lingering doubts remained.
Lennok’s gaze sank deeply as he recalled what had happened in the library.
‘Even though we were in the same subspace, I couldn’t sense him. Either it was a clone from the start, or his true body had greatly weakened.’
Lennok had identified the lich not through overwhelming power or intent, but through his words and actions.
The unimpressive skeleton he met in the library was far removed from the powerful necromancer he remembered.
There had to be a reason why a transcendent being who had succeeded in engraving his existence into the Third World appeared so shabby. Lennok suspected that reason lay in the Dark Library where Naoiz Pen resided.
‘Naoiz Pen said the existence of the library itself was his “price”… but perhaps it’s the opposite.’
If he hadn’t created the library to exist in the world, but rather remained in this world to create the library—
If that was why, even after Ascension, he stayed confined inside translating grimoires—
Then it meant there was something he wanted to find by collecting and translating them.
‘He knew that the grimoire of Fate-Sealing was recorded in the future. He said it was untouchable, but that also means…’
That the inflow of grimoires recorded in the future into Nox Biblio was intentional on his part.
Perhaps Naoiz Pen was waiting for books from a specific “time period” to flow into the library he had created.
And to achieve that goal, he was using mortal beings as librarians to organize and translate grimoires—
……
The only thing he could be certain of was that at the final moment when the library vanished, the entire subspace had “risen.”
Naoiz Pen had said that the Dark Library required a great weight of souls to exist in this world. If so, perhaps the reason it rose while leaving Lennok behind was related to that as well.
It had been a brief encounter with the necromancer.
As Lennok absentmindedly sank into thought over the lich who didn’t match his fearsome reputation—
Voices of mages talking nearby reached his ears.
“You’re doing it wrong. Just extending your right arm won’t rotate the mana.”
“Is slightly bending the elbow not enough?”
“You can change the motion, but the mana flow itself still becomes fixed…”
They repeatedly threw punches, shaking their heads in frustration.
After discussing a particular movement for quite some time, one of the mages met Lennok’s gaze. Startled at first, he soon smiled and asked,
“You’ve been watching us for a while. If you don’t mind, would you like to train with us?”
“…Are you talking to me?”
A neat-looking young man in training clothes, drenched in sweat. He looked far more like a scholar than a martial artist.
As Lennok silently observed him, the man continued,
“We thought it would help if someone could oversee our training.”
……
Only then did Lennok understand what he meant and tilted his head.
As if reading his thoughts, the man spoke gently,
“There are many mages in the studio, so the mana flow is quite turbulent, but there’s no disturbance at all around you.”
“…Even if it’s presumptuous to say, I’ve rarely seen such a well-organized mana field. You must belong to a distinguished magical organization.”
Smiling, the man raised his arm and rotated his shoulder.
“If you could observe our training, we’ll share some useful tips for attending Instructor Rancia’s class. What do you say?”
“Interesting proposal.”
Since he had left his coat and staff behind, it wasn’t strange they didn’t recognize who he was.
Still, it was unexpected that they would go so far as to ask Lennok himself for help with training.
With a faint chuckle, Lennok nodded.
“If you want to try, go ahead. Though I can’t guarantee I’ll have anything to tell you.”
“Pierce. Are you sure about this?”
Another mage, seemingly his companion, asked doubtfully, but the young man called Pierce paid no mind.
“Omer, trust me. When we can’t solve something on our own, sometimes we need a new perspective.”
“It might be inappropriate to ask someone who hasn’t even taken the class yet…”
Though he said that, Omer stepped back as if respecting Pierce’s judgment.
As the other mages watched with interest, Pierce stepped forward before Lennok and raised his fist.
“You’re aware of the clash between Bolt and Treadburn that stirred Vulcan, I assume. I’ll skip the detailed explanation.”
Whoosh!!
As he lightly threw a punch, mana rotated along his arm, drawing a circular magic formation.
Without hand signs or incantations—completing magic solely through bodily movement.
Clasping his hands together after skillfully forming the magic circle, Pierce said,
“To get straight to the point, we are researching the substitute incantation used by Treadburn.”
……
“The idea of replacing hand signs and incantations with physical techniques is the most complete among all substitute incantations attempted so far. Moreover, the fact that Treadburn used it with the flame magic of Blaiver Magic Tower left room for mages like us to replicate it. However, there is a problem.”
“A problem?”
“The physical techniques required for substitute incantation. More precisely, we can’t freely alter the movements as we wish.”
As he spoke, Pierce slowly assumed a stance and began moving his body.
Lowering his posture and twisting his body, mana surged, emitting light, combining in real time into a completed spell.
A substitute incantation relying solely on physical movement without preparatory steps like hand signs or chants.
Yet even as he demonstrated it before Lennok, Pierce’s expression stiffened slightly.
“At best, we can match specific movements to specific mana flows. At this rate, its practicality in real combat is terrible.”
“If we have to dance alone in front of an enemy just to cast a single spell using substitute incantation, isn’t it impossible to use in battle?”
Adjusting his stance with a thoughtful look, Pierce continued,
“The more we study substitute incantation, the less we understand how Treadburn managed to replace incantations with only physical techniques while fighting Bolt. Was it possible because he was a genius beyond standards, or is there a secret we don’t know…”
Pierce turned to Lennok, but Lennok didn’t answer.
He simply tilted his head as if contemplating something.
Just as Pierce was about to bow with a bitter smile at the lack of a solution—
Lennok spoke in a disinterested tone,
“You’ve misunderstood substitute incantation.”
“…Pardon?”
“Replacing incantations doesn’t mean you must rely solely on physical techniques. What matters is the act of artificially controlling the flow of mana.”
“The purpose of physical techniques is to determine the initial direction of mana and intent. After that—”
As Lennok lightly sliced through the air, mana extended vertically along his fingers.
In an instant, it flowed over Pierce’s shoulder, bent low, and began rotating.
It formed a small circular magic circle on the spot.
Piiing!!
As Pierce stared speechlessly at the magic circle floating before him, Lennok said casually,
“You adjust the flow by utilizing external mana and objects.”
“I… see.”
Understanding Lennok’s words, Pierce’s eyes widened.
“So it’s not about completing substitute incantation with physical techniques alone. If we must also consider external mana sources…”
“Come to think of it, Treadburn had multiple strange heat sources surrounding his body during his fight with Bolt.”
Omer and the other mages murmured as if realizing something.
“So those weren’t for enhancing spells or replenishing mana, but preparations for substitute incantation itself?”
“Certainly, the difficulty increases significantly, but it’s not impossible.”
“You’re implementing changes in mana properties outside the body and using them for incantation.”
As Lennok spoke, he raised a cluster of pure white light before Pierce.
When two clusters of light with different colors collided, they rebounded, splitting and merging repeatedly.
Crackle, crackle!!
Vivid mana light pulsed violently in midair as if alive.
While the other mages gaped at the unreal manipulation of mana, Lennok continued,
“Amplification and repulsion, resonance and overload, diffusion and projection. Prepare the field according to various situations, and use physical techniques to replace incantation.”
“That is the essence of replacing incantation.”
“…Truly remarkable.”
As Lennok lightly shook his hand and withdrew the mana, Pierce muttered blankly,
“I’ve never seen anyone explain another archmage’s incantation with such depth and clarity. May I ask your affiliation?”
“Why do you ask?”
“My apologies for the late introduction. I am Pierce Drickman of the Matterhorn Mage Tower.”
As Lennok responded indifferently, Pierce hurriedly pulled out a business card.
“If you ever visit our tower, we would like to invite you as a magic advisory instructor…”
“I am Vibius of the Enolas Mage Tower. Please visit ours as well…!”
“I’m Omer Luart of Garbatia. I was deeply impressed by your insight.”
“I’m Kendrick from the Clare Research Institute!”
As Pierce brought out his card, the other mages quickly followed, introducing themselves.
They understood that Lennok’s explanation had clearly resolved their doubts while pinpointing the core of substitute incantation.
Through this exchange, they recognized him as a mage with an extremely high level of understanding.
However, Lennok shook his head at the mages eagerly offering their cards.
“No interest. I don’t plan to stay here long, so I’d rather not hear pointless proposals.”
“…I see.”
“My apologies. That was rude of us.”
Though somewhat disappointed, the mages stepped back obediently.
Given the independent nature of mages, many disliked such invitations.
But Lennok smirked as he looked at them.
“You misunderstand. I didn’t say I wouldn’t explain substitute incantation.”
“…Pardon?”
“Didn’t you come to this studio because you were interested in it?”
Lennok glanced aside.
“Until the person I’m looking for arrives, I can observe for a while.”
“Sir…!!”
“You’re truly kind. To think we’d meet someone like this today…”
Lennok began offering advice to the mages practicing substitute incantation before him.
“Your center of gravity is too high. Refine the flow before adjusting mana.”
“You haven’t decided what mana movement to assign to each motion. You need more practice.”
The reason he explained and advised in detail about substitute incantation he had used under Evan’s identity—
Was partly to observe and learn the system magic embedded in the mages’ practice.
But more importantly, substitute incantation was not a technique that could be perfectly replicated simply by teaching it.
Unless one could predict and judge every aspect of battle in real time like Lennok, most mages couldn’t even imitate a tenth of Treadburn’s performance.
Yet simply by observing and advising, the mages’ skills in substitute incantation began improving visibly and rapidly.
They quickly reached a level where they could alter movements freely to replace incantations, rather than matching movements to spells.
Realizing this, the mages continued to praise Lennok.
“You explain things so clearly. If I may ask, are you a professional instructor?”
“I never thought I’d meet such a kind mage in a great city.”
The mages spoke to him familiarly, as if they had trained together for days.
Perhaps they were deeply impressed by Lennok’s willingness to guide them.
Soon, a crowd gathered around him, freely sharing their thoughts.
“With such insight, you must have many disciples. I envy them.”
“So magic inheritance and development really do come from continuous exchange and communication.”
“Bolt, who settled in Vulcan, should learn this as well.”
“Indeed. Instead of interacting with other towers, he shuts himself in alone…”
As Lennok merely smiled silently, the other mages chimed in.
“When they said a mage tower would be established in Vulcan, I thought it would elevate the status of mages in this city.”
“I acknowledge his talent, reaching such a level at a young age, but if he continues alone without nurturing successors, he’ll only gain enemies.”
“Although Bolt won the battle against Treadburn, it’s not like Treadburn had nothing to say, right?”
“Not only his substitute incantation, but his mastery of flame magic was exceptional.”
“It probably won’t happen, but if they fought again this time—”
“Bolt…?”
At that moment, the mages’ smiling expressions froze.
From behind Lennok, an incredulous voice rang out.
Clarisse, holding a towel in one hand, stood there staring at Lennok with a bewildered expression.
“Why are you here?”
“…”
A chilling silence fell.
Only then did the mages realize the situation, their faces turning pale like corpses.
“I have something to discuss regarding the deal with Olivera.”
Lennok spoke leisurely among the frozen mages.
“Let’s clear out all listening ears first.”
“…Sigh.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Clarisse looked at the trembling mages and shook her head.
“The management room is empty. Let’s talk there.”