How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 92: Flame Ring (7)

It was a deeply alien sensation.

His insides felt hot enough to burn away at any moment—but there was no pain.

The swirling fire rapidly expanded, spinning faster and faster with immense velocity.

The source drawing in mana was the pre-existing circle located in his heart.

This wasn’t a circle awakening—it was the creation of an entirely new, second circle.

Naturally, new mana wasn’t being generated out of nowhere. The mana already stored in his body was being repurposed to form the new circle.

BOOM!!

The mana exploded outward across his entire body in a wave, then gently receded and gathered, forming a complete ring.

It was the same process he’d experienced every time he awakened a new circling or formed a new circle.

The only difference was this time, the new circle was forming not in the heart—but in the lower abdomen.

[‘Flame Ring’ has been acquired.]

<Flame Ring>

Increases the destructive power of fire-element spells by 100%.

Reduces mana cost of fire-element spells by 20%.

Extremely refined pure flame energy purges toxins upon entering the body, granting complete immunity to poisons.

Effects increase or evolve as the circle level rises. (Currently 6-circle)

After checking the message, Karl slowly drew mana up from his lower abdomen.

Though the circle’s position differed from before, there was no discomfort. That was the power of the system.

‘The heart’s circle has vanished.’

Of course, it hadn’t truly disappeared.

It was just that the mana had shifted entirely to the lower abdomen when the Flame Ring circle was formed.

As soon as he reversed the mana flow again, the original Arzak Circle reappeared around his heart in an instant.

The Arzak-style circling and the Flame Ring.

Since the total amount of mana hadn’t increased, activating both circles at the same time split the mana evenly between the heart and lower abdomen.

But that wasn’t a problem.

Depending on the situation, he could simply channel the mana into whichever circle was needed, just as he had now.

Ordinarily, this would cause a catastrophic mana backlash in the body—but not for Karl.

After all, forming two circles in one body was an impossibility to begin with.

It was only possible due to the godlike power of the system.

Just like his seamless spell chaining, the system completely blocked any mana backlash in this case as well.

FWOOOSH!

He activated the Flame Ring again, and cast a basic fire spell—flames surged upward over his palm.

Only, it wasn’t the usual flame. It had transformed into a vivid crimson hue, like the glow of a setting sun.

Perhaps due to the power-enhancing effect of the Flame Ring, the heat radiating from the flame was far stronger than normal.

“This is it.”

The crimson blade aura said to have been wielded by the Founding King.

It wasn’t anything special—he had simply imbued a sword with fire magic and swung it.

It was only possible because the Founding King had been a magic swordsman.

Even if the foundation of magic was altering the properties of mana, the core nature of mana couldn’t be fundamentally changed.

But this flame—regardless of how it worked—was completely different from any conventional mana, aura, or energy.

No wonder the people who lived in the same era as the Founding King never realized it was magic unless he told them himself.

They must’ve thought it was just a very peculiar form of aura cultivation. And naturally praised it as part of his greatness.

‘Anyway, this should be enough.’

Karl grinned and dispersed the flame.

He had finally learned Flame Ring.

All that remained now was setting the stage to display it in front of everyone.

Not as Karl, not as Seion—but as the Fifth Prince, Jurein Marhargel.

Returning the manual to its place, Karl left the archive.

He had no SP left anyway, so there was no need to browse other magic books. Now that he had acquired Flame Ring, none of them even caught his attention.

“So you’ve finally let go of your pointless obsession.”

As he exited the archive, a voice called out to him from the entrance.

[Lv.59]

[Guardian of the Royal Palace Archive of Marhargel]

The archive’s guardian—and a member of the royal family.

Also, Jurein’s great-granduncle.

Karl stopped in his tracks and turned his head.

The old man was looking at him with a gaze full of pity and disappointment.

Karl wondered what the hell he was talking about—then quickly understood.

He had entered the archive and come back out shortly afterward. It must have led to a misunderstanding.

Clicking his tongue, the old man continued.

“I hear all the rumors from above. You forced your way into the expedition and took care of the Third Prince’s royal knights, didn’t you?”

Karl stayed silent for a moment, then replied,

“It was merely an unfortunate accident. I’m not sure what you’re suggesting.”

“What are you hiding? Are you working with some shady underground faction like that fool Thayns?”

The man wasn’t listening at all—just spouting whatever he wanted.

Karl shook his head and turned to leave, but the old man spoke again.

“Those kinds of pests amount to nothing, you foolish boy.”

“......”

“What truly matters is the support of the royal retainers and the noble houses. If you thought hunting dogs from the underworld could threaten the other princes or princesses, I’m deeply disappointed in you.”

Disappointed?

The old man clearly thought Jurein was building an underground force. A complete misunderstanding.

But understandable. Otherwise, how could someone like Jurein—with no power whatsoever—have returned alive after taking out all of Rompel’s knights?

As the old man said, the underworld’s strength wasn’t even worth calling a force.

That was why the other royal heirs had left Thayns alone even as he built those shady connections—it simply wasn’t worth their attention.

The idea that rats who lived in the shadows could stand alongside the true rulers of the nation was absurd.

Of course, if it were someone on the scale of Aranhel, it would be a different matter entirely.

But Jurein wasn’t hiding an underground force.

Karl tilted his head and looked at the old man.

‘He sees Jurein as a complete child.’

Granted, he was still a child—but he wasn’t stupid.

Annoyed by the man’s dismissiveness, Karl opened his mouth again.

“I believe I told you last time to stay out of it.”

“Tsk, you can’t even accept a piece of advice...”

“Advice? Ha.”

Karl let out a dry chuckle before continuing.

“Why should I listen to advice from an old man rotting in a basement, with his eyes and ears shut?”

“......!!”

The old man’s expression went blank.

As if wondering whether he’d really heard that right. Then his face flushed red with rage as he glared at Karl.

“What did you just—”

“Even someone as young as me is risking everything—my life, my future—just to keep moving forward.”

Karl cut him off sharply.

“But what about you, who doesn’t have much time left? What have you done, exactly? Hiding down here, clinging to what little time you have left, pretending like that was duty. Telling me to let it go, to ignore my brother’s death and run away. Pathetic.”

His words weren’t just blunt—they were outright scornful. The old man’s face turned beet red.

“Shall I say aloud the truth everyone else is pretending not to see? My brother was assassinated. By the Second Prince, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Camon. And I believe Duke Seinpier was involved as well.”

“......”

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve faced death? Even among siblings, it’s kill or be killed. The royal family’s dignity is rotting away. And you—a member of that royal family—refuse to do anything to set it right?”

“Shut your mouth, you little...!!”

The old man jolted, trying to rise in fury.

And then froze.

The look in Karl’s eyes—it wasn’t merely cold. It was terrifying.

“Are you angry? Because a much younger descendant dared to speak to you like this?”

That wasn’t a gaze someone barely past adulthood should’ve been capable of.

The old man suddenly realized his own body had gone rigid. He stared blankly at Karl.

“Then why don’t you go ahead and send an assassin, like my other brothers did? Just the thought of it is amusing.”

“......”

“And do you really think what I’m hiding is just some petty underworld force?”

Karl turned away.

“I’m the one who’s disappointed.”

That final line pierced the old man’s chest more deeply than any insult.

“What... are you planning to do?”

That was all he could manage to ask as Karl’s back receded into the corridor.

Karl paused.

“I’m going to overturn the entire capital.”

“......”

“If you plan to keep doing nothing, then at least don’t get in my way.”

And with that, he walked away again.

There was no specific purpose behind the venomous words.

He’d just found the old man’s smug cowardice too disgusting to ignore.

The man’s name was Krassen.

According to Jurein, he was a true neutral within the palace—aligned with neither faction nor heir. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

Even so, as an elder of great age and the archive’s guardian, he still commanded blind devotion from certain royal retainers.

Perhaps, after today’s conversation, the old man might change his mind and begin to support Jurein.

Or maybe he’d feel nothing but wounded pride and turn hostile.

Either way, it didn’t matter.

From this point on, it was war.

Karl ascended slowly toward the surface, hoping that within the chaos he was about to unleash, he might find the clues he sought.

* * *

Back in Hall of Radiance, Karl immediately canceled Polymorph and sought out Jurein and Sephiel.

“You’re back.”

Sephiel bowed politely.

Jurein, reading Karl’s expression, quickly asked,

“Now tell me. What did you mean when you said I could still carry out my original plan?”

Sephiel didn’t speak, but the curiosity in her eyes was clear.

It had been several days since Karl promised to explain after returning from the archive.

It wasn’t surprising the two of them were getting antsy.

Karl extended a hand toward Sephiel.

“Let me borrow your sword for a moment.”

“...Excuse me?”

She tilted her head but handed it over obediently.

The moment he took the sword, Karl cast a fire spell.

Crimson flames surged up the grip and wrapped around the blade.

“......!!”

Shock filled both their faces.

Their eyes darted between Karl and the brilliant red flame as if the earth had just quaked.

“Y-Your Grace. Wait. Don’t tell me...?”

It was impossible for ordinary flames to burn this vividly red.

The same thought occurred to them both at once.

And Karl’s next words didn’t disappoint.

“It’s the original Flame Ring.”

“......”

How...?

They stood frozen, mouths agape, unable to speak as they stared at the rippling flame.

Karl grinned and said,

“It’s time to set the stage.”

The royal family, the royal guards, the court retainers, the nobility—

All of them would soon witness, with their own eyes, the moment when the Fifth Prince, Jurein Marhargel, became the first in history to inherit the Founding King’s legacy.

A massive upheaval in the capital’s power structure was imminent.