The Reincarnated Archmage’s Journey

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Reincarnation

Puk-! Pububuk-!

Countless black spikes pierced through my body.

At the same time, red streams of blood rained down.

The strange blend of black and red painted my entire body.

“Keheuk……!”

When I dropped to my knees, the first thing that entered my sight was my Disciple, Ed Etar, collapsed and bleeding heavily just like me.

“Etar…….”

And the one who attacked me was also my Disciple.

Draco Tylant.

As soon as Etar noticed that Tylant was attacking me, he tried to stop him, but it was impossible for him alone. In the end, he suffered like that.

Especially since his legs had been targeted relentlessly, he could only writhe on the floor, unable to stand.

“I truly cannot understand. Why do you insist on trying to erase such power?”

Tylant stepped toward the emerald sealing stone beside me.

It was the sealing stone that imprisoned the worst magician, Sylarid—called the Magician of Calamity who summoned monsters.

“They say when this sealing stone absorbs all of Sylarid’s power, it turns black, correct?”

Tylant stroked the sealing stone, about thirty percent of which had already turned black.

“And Archmage Arkis Aimer. You were obligated to destroy the sealing stone once it turned completely black.”

I tried in every possible way to stop Tylant, but every time I attempted to focus my mind to cast magic, his black spikes ravaged my body.

It wasn’t just disrupting my focus—pain so severe that I couldn’t even retain consciousness began to dominate my mind.

It wasn’t only pain.

My vision warped as though eaten away, and even Tylant’s figure looked as though it was being sucked into cracks.

‘Don’t tell me…….’

Beside the fallen Etar sat a teacup.

The tea I had drunk.

He had definitely slipped something into it.

Otherwise, how could someone like me—an Archmage—be unable to cast magic from mere pain?

“I suddenly find myself curious. Are you trying to erase this power because you’re weak? Because you believe you cannot control the mighty power of Sylarid?”

Tylant shook his head and continued.

“How did someone who fears strength become an Archmage? I cannot recognize someone weak like you as an Archmage or as my teacher.”

Tylant placed his hand on the sealing stone and closed his eyes.

“Ahh, I can feel it. Even though this stone has absorbed only about thirty percent of the power, it contains a strength so magnificent I don’t want to let go…….”

Opening his eyes, Tylant looked down at me with a slow, smug grin.

“I will kill someone as weak as you and become the new Archmage. And once I am Archmage, I will wait until this sealing stone absorbs every last bit of Sylarid’s power—then I will absorb its power myself. Unlike you, I am strong.”

“Tylant…… you have never faced him, so you do not know. The power of Sylarid sealed in there is a true calamity…….”

“That is simply because you are weak, is it not?”

I tried desperately to reason with him, but it was useless.

Tylant spread his palm toward the sky.

Kugugugung-!

With a deafening roar, a black sphere the size of the full moon began forming in the air.

“Someone stronger than you will lead the magicians and the Magical Society from now on. Farewell.”

The black sphere Tylant created began slowly approaching me.

Of course, in reality it must have been moving fast.

I had reached the moment of death.

That was why it appeared so slow—like scenes of my life flashing before my eyes.

“Arkis niim-!”

The fallen Etar screamed toward me.

Had the heavens answered Etar’s desperate heart?

As Tylant manifested his massive spell, a small opening appeared that allowed me to cast mine.

I focused as much as I could to counter him, but…… I was already too late.

“The drug works well.”

‘As expected…… he used a drug…….’

Before I knew it, the sphere had reached right before my eyes.

“Ah…….”

With no way out, I shut my eyes tightly and prayed.

‘Master…… forgive me. In the end, I failed to keep the request you entrusted to me before leaving…….’

I will not dare ask for forgiveness.

If we meet in the afterlife, please scold me.

I am a foolish Disciple who failed to complete the task you left behind……

And yet, what a powerless sight this is.

A teacher killed by his own Disciple.

What a miserable death.

But—

If I were to die anyway, I refused to go quietly.

No—I absolutely shouldn’t.

Squeezing out the very last of my consciousness, I barely manifested a white sphere equal in size to the one Tylant had created, making one final desperate struggle.

Bajeok-!

Our spells collided, producing a dazzlingly bright light that nearly blinded me.

---

Pak!

Something struck the crown of my head hard.

“Artel! Sleeping again!”

A man’s shouting voice hit my ears.

“Heheh, he’s getting scolded again.”

“Ugh, pathetic. Seriously.”

Mocking voices of children followed, drilling into my ears.

Voices I had never heard before.

A dream?

Yes, I must have been killed by Tylant’s attack.

This must be something like the flashes before death.

“Artel-!”

Again, a man’s voice filled with fury came flying toward me.

But something was strange.

Shouldn’t death’s visions show things from my memories?

No matter how hard I searched, I had never heard these voices.

I opened my eyes.

‘……A classroom?’

On tiered desks, about thirty students were seated.

They shook their heads at me in disappointment.

And standing on the platform below was a young man with red hair.

His appearance and the platform all pointed to one thing.

A teacher.

All of them were people I had never seen in my life.

Kudangtang-!

Startled, I shot up from my seat, knocking my chair over.

What was going on?

“Well, since you’re up, find the part I just read and read it aloud.”

The teacher spoke.

“Artel, here, here.”

The black-haired girl beside me whispered quietly and pointed at a paragraph in the book.

“Kiena, you shouldn’t tell him.”

Kiena?

That must have been the girl’s name, but her face too—I had never seen her.

The Death of the Incompetent Archmage Arkis Aimer, and the Capable Archmage Who Succeeded Him, Draco Tylant

It was the chapter title she pointed at.

‘Incompetent……? Me……?’

Everything was incomprehensible.

Pak!

While I stood blankly, something struck my forehead, snapping my head back as I fell.

It was a small red sphere—magic cast by the teacher.

It hit me squarely then vanished.

“To think you’re sleeping even in the final class of the term. When will you finally come to your senses?”

Flat on the ground, I stared up at the ceiling.

Tylant’s attack—and when I opened my eyes, I was in a classroom.

Filled with people I had never seen in my life.

And the sensations—touch, hearing, everything—were vivid. This wasn’t a vision before death.

It was undeniably reality.

And that book—what in the world was it?

The moment I finished thinking, my eyelids grew heavy and my vision blurred.

As if someone had forcibly fed me a sleeping pill, my eyelids trembled, then shut.

‘Was it because I was hit by that magic on my forehead just now?’

But that spell was far too weak to affect me……

In the battle against the weight of my eyelids, I lost.

My eyes closed, and I lost consciousness.

“Artel……?”

Kiena shook Artel’s shoulder, but he didn’t move at all.

“Teacher! Artel won’t wake up!”

Startled, Kiena shouted to the homeroom teacher.

“What?”

Seeing Artel suddenly collapse, silence swept through the classroom.

Reji, the teacher in charge of Class 0’s basic lessons, was just as shocked as the students.

“Ki…… Kiena, Hei! You two, take Artel to the infirmary right now!”

“Y-Yes!”

“Understood!”

They were the two students closest to Artel.

Hei, the boy, hoisted Artel onto his back, and Kiena, the girl, gently placed her hands against Artel’s back as if afraid he might slip, then the two hurried out of the classroom.

‘……Did I hit him too hard?’

Reji worried that maybe his magic had caused Artel to collapse.

Because of Artel’s sudden fainting, the atmosphere became too heavy to resume class.

Ddaeng-! Ddaeng-!

At that moment, the bell announcing the end of class rang.

Reji quickly brightened her expression and wrapped up the lesson.

“Alright, everyone. This concludes the first semester. Enjoy your summer vacation. But remember—not too much playing! You are still beginner magicians who haven’t even found your element yet. Magic is founded on knowledge, so spend your break reading various kinds of books!”

With that, class ended. The young students hugged their thick books and chattered their way out of the room.

After all the students left, Reji headed to the infirmary where Artel had been taken.

---

I quietly opened my eyes.

The curtains fluttered softly, and red evening sunlight slipped through the window, falling across my face.

The warmth on my skin had awakened me.

“Artel! You’re awake?”

Suddenly, a girl popped up beside my bed like an appearing ghost.

She looked to be a little over ten years old.

Snow-white skin, black eyes, long black hair.

She was the student the teacher had called “Kiena.”

“…….”

“What? Still not fully awake? Normally you’d jump if I did that.”

I ignored Kiena’s words and raised my upper body.

My vision didn’t blur.

My body definitely felt stable now.

But when I opened my palm, I realized something strange.

“Why is it so small……?”

My hand—

It was small like a young boy’s, with pale skin and not a single vein showing on the back.

Not my original hand.

“Are you teasing me? You always say I’m short, but you’re not that tall either, you know?”

At the word “small,” Kiena, standing beside me, suddenly snapped back defensively.

I turned to look at her.

She flinched.

“……Why are you looking at me so scary like that?”

Chwararak.

At that moment, the curtain around the bed parted on its own and a boy walked in.

He looked the same age as Kiena, a little over ten, but he had a much sturdier build than other kids his age.

He was tall, with black hair and black eyes as well.

“Oh? Artel! You’re awake? Kiena, if he woke up, you should’ve told me right away. I came because I was worried.”

“Hei…… Artel seems a little strange…….”

So the boy’s name was Hei.

“Huh? Strange how? He looks fine to me.”

“Something…… the atmosphere around him changed.”

“That’s weird. I overheard Teacher Reji and the infirmary teacher talking earlier— they said nothing was wrong with Artel’s body.”

So that teacher on the platform earlier was Reji?

“Artel! Let’s go eat! I’m hungry. The infirmary teacher said it might be a health issue, so you should eat properly!”

Hei grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me to my feet.

But I still couldn’t grasp what was happening, and being dragged around irritated me.

“Let go.”

Heavy.

But I couldn’t break Hei’s grip with my strength.

Why?

As I thought it over, I realized the reason.

My body’s strength was unbelievably weak.

Rather, it would be more accurate to say I had a body that couldn’t exert power at all.

“Kiena! You come too! Let’s go eat!”

“Okay!”

And so, led by Hei’s grip, I had no choice but to follow behind him out of the infirmary.

At that moment, I saw the mirror hanging on the wall—and felt my eyes tremble.

“Wait……”

“Huh? What’s wrong, Artel?”

Reflected in the mirror was a short figure with black hair and black eyes, just like Hei and Kiena.

My hair stuck out messily.

It wasn’t me.

Only then did I notice what clothes I was wearing.

A red robe with a flame emblem on the left chest.

Hei and Kiena wore the same clothes.

Clearly a school uniform.

‘Wait……. In the classroom earlier—and especially that book, it referred to me in the past tense.’

Now that my mind was clear, things began to line up.

Even the situation that had happened to me.

‘I…… reincarnated?’

This place unmistakably looked like a Magic Academy.