How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 77: 6-Circle (8)

The spider swarm had been annihilated.

Well—almost annihilated. A few stragglers on the outskirts of the horde had managed to escape the radius of Earthquake and scattered in all directions.

The swarm had simply been too massive to wipe out completely in a single blast.

Karl had no intention of chasing after those leftovers to finish them off one by one. That would’ve been a pain, and frankly, not worth the effort.

“I might’ve gone a little overboard.”

He scanned the charred landscape before him again.

Not a single spider left with a body intact. The scorched, molten earth still writhed red from the lingering effects of the lightning storm.

He could feel the heat on his skin even from here.

A dull fatigue crept into his limbs. His mana was nearly depleted.

Even after ascending to the 6th Circle and upgrading the Arzak-Type Circling, casting a disaster-class spell like that had left him drained.

[You have completed the Sudden Quest: “Cleanup.”]

[You have received 500,000 SP as a reward.]

A system message popped into his head.

‘No level up, huh.’

The quest completion alert came, but nothing about a level increase.

He’d expected leveling to get rough in the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) 60s, but not this rough. Not even after wiping out an entire swarm?

Well, outside of the commander spiders, most of the regular ones were too low-leveled to give much EXP...

‘Still, I probably got close to leveling up.’

Clicking his tongue in mild disappointment, Karl turned his gaze.

Beyond the sea of charred corpses, he saw a familiar group of people in the distance—Henry, Rail, Uldemir, and a few others.

He’d noticed them some time ago.

‘They followed the spiders? Why’d they come all the way out here?’

Maybe they came to help, just in case.

He appreciated the sentiment, but honestly, they would’ve just gotten in the way. If they’d gotten any closer, it would've complicated things when he started casting.

Whoosh.

Lifting into the air, Karl flew toward them.

With the ground in front of him turned into a molten hellscape, walking wasn’t exactly an option.

Landing lightly before them, he was greeted with a variety of expressions.

All of them had one thing in common: sheer, unfiltered shock. Like they were staring at something no longer human.

“......”

A long silence fell over the group.

They clearly had a lot to say—but none of them could get the words out. So Karl spoke first.

“The queen spider’s been dealt with.”

Their expressions shifted strangely at that.

The queen... Was that even necessary?

He had just single-handedly wiped out an entire swarm.

“...How did you...”

Henry was the first to finally speak, managing to squeeze out the question.

He already knew Karl was strong—he’d seen that back on the transport ship.

But what he’d just witnessed went far beyond strong.

It wasn’t just power. It was divine fury incarnate. Like the wrath of a thunder god made manifest.

No matter how talented Karl was, there was no way a normal mage could unleash something like that.

Henry glanced to the side.

High Mage Kenzel, standing next to him, still looked completely dazed.

His earlier muttering echoed in Henry’s mind—6th Circle.

Even without Kenzel’s slip, everyone here could tell.

You didn’t need to be a mage to recognize it.

The earthquake. The lightning storm. Natural disasters incarnate.

No High Mage could possibly cast spells like that. free𝑤ebnovel.com

Archmage...

Only once the shock began to wear off did they truly register it—just how far this young man had come.

Rail rubbed her arms, goosebumps crawling up her skin.

Karl scratched his head and replied casually.

“I had a bit of a breakthrough while fighting Kain—well, the queen spider.”

Meaning he’d pushed past the wall and reached the 6th Circle during the fight.

The idea of reaching such an epiphany mid-battle was hard to believe—but after what they’d just seen, no one could doubt it.

Count Uldemir was the first to regain his composure, letting out a long sigh.

‘Exhausting... in so many ways.’

The spider swarm was gone.

And with that, no more lives would be lost.

The invasion that had come so suddenly... was resolved even more suddenly. By one mage alone.

* * *

Cleanup was carried out swiftly afterward.

The wounded were evacuated, the dead retrieved, and spider corpses gathered and incinerated.

The queen’s corpse was recovered from the cave by Lugesium’s team—with Karl’s permission.

Once things had settled down, Karl found himself face to face with Count Uldemir again, seated across from him in the office.

“Thank you—truly. If not for your help... I can’t imagine how many would’ve died.”

Uldemir bowed deeply.

His speech had shifted into full noble formality.

Though he was a count and the chief administrator of Lugesium, and certainly older than Karl, he had no hesitation in showing deference. It was only natural.

6th Circle. Archmage.

There were only a handful across the entire continent who’d reached that exalted rank.

Even in the Kingdom of Sehton, there was only one—Court Mage Flip Hines.

Even the mighty Empire had fewer than ten martial or magical figures at that level.

Uldemir glanced at Karl again, blinking slowly.

Such a young face. So calm.

And yet, this was the same person who had wiped out the prisoners on the ship... who had called down storms and quakes and obliterated an army of monsters.

‘I still can’t believe it...’

He was only now realizing just how absurd the person in front of him truly was.

To reach the 6th Circle at that age?

Even calling him a once-in-a-century genius didn’t feel like enough. There was no precedent, not in all of history.

He was like a legend ripped from the songs of bards—some mythical hero who shouldn’t exist in the real world.

Despite not having the temperament of a noble, Uldemir’s mind instinctively began calculating. The political ramifications, the shifting balance of power on the continent...

‘He said he’s from the Altius School, didn’t he?’

He ran the numbers.

Vice-Dean of Altius, four on the council, two in the combat division, and one in the arcane research branch.

Altius had eight Archmages.

Now, with Karl, that made nine.

‘...Altius is about to make another massive leap.’

And it wasn’t just about the numbers.

Karl’s age was the most important part.

To have reached the 6th Circle this young—he’d already surpassed what even the greatest mages of the modern era had done.

Uldemir was confident.

He would bet his lifelong sword on it.

Hera Runeslet, Archmage of Altius. Romain Page, guardian of the Empire and head of the Candaeum School. And the Black Tower Lord.

In the not-so-distant future, the world would see the birth of a fourth Great Mage.

The Black Tower Lord’s background was shrouded in mystery, but both Hera and Romain hadn’t reached the 6th Circle until after thirty.

And the young man in front of him had already surpassed them.

Uldemir was truly grateful for Karl’s help. He had saved countless lives.

But more than that—he needed to form a connection with this man. Somehow.

“If there’s anything you desire, please don’t hesitate to ask. Within my power, I’ll repay you however I can.”

Of course, even as he said it, Uldemir knew there wasn’t much he could offer someone like Karl.

The only thing he could think of was an honorary noble title, but something like that meant nothing here.

An Archmage could walk into any nation and receive a peerage equal to or greater than a count.

Outside of the likes of Sword Saints and Great Mages, the archmage tier was the highest power a kingdom could possess.

Land grants were a separate matter entirely—but even those were beyond Uldemir’s authority.

“Hm... A reward...”

Karl trailed off.

Uldemir swallowed nervously.

“Could you expedite the departure of the next trade ship to the Mon Continent?”

“...Pardon?”

The unexpected request caught Uldemir completely off guard.

Karl shrugged.

“If there’s anything I want, that’s it. I need to get to the Mon Continent as soon as possible.”

“Ah—yes, of course... That can be arranged immediately...”

Uldemir responded, still a bit dazed.

He’d nearly forgotten—Karl hadn’t asked for anything back on the transport ship either.

This young mage seemed strangely detached from worldly desires.

‘...Maybe that’s why he was able to achieve something so unimaginable.’

Uldemir exhaled a silent sigh. The anticlimax was almost disappointing.

Then Karl looked at him curiously and asked:

“By the way, do you happen to have any magic books?”

“...Magic books?”

“Yes. If you have anything special in your collection, I’d like to take a look.”

Uldemir paused in thought, then shook his head.

“I’m afraid not.”

Even though Lugesium was large and heavily populated, it was still a prison island. Why would it have magic books worth the attention of a 6th Circle mage?

“I see.”

Karl nodded, clearly not expecting much in the first place.

Uldemir hesitated, then offered:

“If you’d like, I could send an urgent report to the royal—”

“No need for that.”

Karl quickly shook his head.

He had no time to waste going all the way back to Sehton’s royal palace.

Sure, the royal vault probably had some tempting spells, but he wasn’t keen on dealing with that level of attention. Not to mention, they’d never offer up any real arcane secrets anyway.

Besides, as a member of Altius, the last thing he wanted was to attract more political baggage.

‘If only I had another one of those ancient magic books... Wait. Didn’t I...?’

Karl froze.

The ancient grimoire he got from House Rubedom after stopping the orc invasion.

Right. That thing.

He hadn’t even looked at it since. It’d been buried in his inventory all this time.

Back then, he hadn’t had the Circle level to learn from it... but now?

Now he was 6th Circle.

There had to be something in there he could use.