The Exalted Mage - Chapter 2: A Youthful Body

Veronica groaned, shooing away some woodland critter that was playing near her face.

A sharp gasp tore from her lips as her eyes flew open a moment later; her chest heaved as if she had just resurfaced from a long, deep swim.

Conscious again, she was greeted by a dense canopy of green; the sunlight peeked through in fractured beams through branches and leaves. She caught a glimpse of a squirrel scurrying away and climbing up a nearby tree.

The next thing Veronica felt was the chill. A biting, invasive cold that prickled at her skin and sent a shiver down her spine. She stirred, groaning softly, the damp forest floor beneath her, digging into her arms and legs.

Her head throbbed as fragments of memory surged forward: the device, the crackling energy, and the last surge of mana as she activated it. She remembered the demon’s laughter, her own blood pooling at her feet, and then—nothing.

Her fingers clawed into the soft, cool dirt beneath her. Every movement felt strange and unfamiliar, but at the same time… it didn’t. Her hands trembled as she stared at them, smaller and softer than they should have been, free of any calluses, scars, and wrinkles. Panic continued to rise as her gaze swept downward at herself, taking in the strangely youthful and bare, unmarred skin of her body.

Something is wrong, she thought, echoing in her mind.

At only 34, the burden of her twin mana cores had aged her drastically; her body, frail and aching, mirrored that of a woman thirty to forty years her senior. But right now? This wasn’t the case at all.

Her breath quickened as she ran her fingertips up along her arms. Her hands then smoothly traced down from her shoulders, her sides, down her thighs, and reached her feet. She didn’t feel the hardness of stone. Only the softness of flesh. Finally, she placed her hand cautiously, but delicately, on her chest, feeling for the wound left by the demon Xerval.

It was gone.

Her chest was whole and complete, skin unbothered, like she had never been impaled in the first place. Her skin was the light tan that she had always recognized, but she still had to make sure of one thing. Slowly, her fingers drifted up, brushing against her cheeks, before finally touching the pointed tips of her ears.

Veronica let out a sigh of relief. That had confirmed it. The device had worked, but it had done more than send her back in time; it had stripped her of her body, leaving her in her more younger past self.

A bitter laugh escaped her lips. “Of course, it couldn’t be that simple.”

And then the cold hit her again, sharper this time. As her mind cleared up the confusion and disorientation, she took one final look at herself and realized something.

She was bare. No robes, no undergarments, nothing. The device had sent her hurtling back in time, and placed her naked, sitting in a forest.

She quickly covered her chest, swinging one arm over herself. Her gaze darted between the trees for any sign of movement. No one seemed to be nearby; there was no rustling, no voices, no wandering eyes. Still, it felt wrong to stand naked in the open.

Quickly, she stood up in a crouch, slipping over to a nearby bush large enough to cover herself. At least, from the front.

She sighed.

A question begged at her mind: where were her clothes?

“Great,” she muttered, her voice trembling with a mix of frustration and disbelief. “What the hell is going on…? I’m younger now, but where are my robes? And…” She looked around where she had just woken up. Her staff was also missing. She scowled. The absurdity of it all was almost too much to bear.

Why am I in the forest and not in the middle of Annesheim?

“Though, I should be glad I didn’t wake up naked in the city square…” she chimed in on her own thoughts.

She looked down at her body again and noticed something odd.

There were no scars or calluses on her arms. The stone was gone; that much was obvious. But even when she was younger, the curse had already spread. But now? Her skin? Her flawless skin?

She let go of her chest and began to probe around her body again. Pressing her thumbs to the top of her thighs.

“No… not here,” she murmured.

For a whole minute, she pressed down hard on her skin—her neck, shoulders, chest, stomach, hips, thighs, calves, even her feet.

“This can’t be…”

She felt no stone. No patches of hardness. She couldn’t remember exactly when the curse had begun to appear. Growing up, it had started as small spots, like pebbles buried beneath her veins. Maybe that was where it was now, and she had simply forgotten when the gray first began to break through.

Surely… surely it’s…

She couldn’t form complete thoughts. Her body looked like it was in its late teens or early twenties. By then, the curse should have already progressed significantly. But that wasn’t the case.

Had she forgotten?

Medusa’s Curse—it was gone. There was no stone left in her body.

“No… I can’t…” she whispered, scarcely able to speak.

She ran her fingers across her arms one last time, pressing gently into flesh that was soft and alive. She savored it. This feeling—she had missed this feeling since she was young. She could actually feel again. Warm, responsive skin. Not the lifeless cold of hardened stone. Her eyes watered, but she refused a tear to fall.

The curse that had tormented her for her entire life had vanished completely. She remembered how, by the 8th-tier, magic had pushed her body so far that her right arm had hardened entirely. But now? Now she felt normal. She could move freely. She could feel like everyone else—for the first time.

A wide, genuine smile spread across her face.

Then something abruptly pulled her from her thoughts.

A voice.

[Welcome back, Veronica Everwells.]

She jolted upright, her heart leaping up in her chest. Eyes wide, she spun around instinctively, scanning the trees, the underbrush, the canopy above. But the forest remained quiet and empty.

Then, she remembered that she was still naked.

With a sharp gasp, Veronica crouched back down, pressing herself closer to the leaves of the bush. She folded her arms tight across her chest and lowered her head until only her eyes peeked through.

Her mind was still in a jarred state. She had a headache too, on top of that. Too many things had happened in the last ten minutes. From being impaled, to realizing that a lifelong curse was gone. Now, on top of all of that, she had to deal with a peeping tom? Or perhaps it was an enemy.

“W-who’s there?!” she called out, voice filled with panic but also irritation.

[Do not be alarmed, Veronica.]

The voice was calm, precise, but, more importantly, mechanical. It seemed unbothered by her flustered state. The voice was also strangely reminiscent. It reminded her of someone. Of something. Resonating deep within her head.

“W-what? You’re…” she muttered, slowly raising her head again.

She recognized the voice. But it sounded different. It wasn’t spoken aloud, but directly in her mind.

[Your assumption is correct. I am a Sentient Arcane Guidance Engine. You may refer to me as SAGE.]

“Why… why are you in my head?” And actually—where’s the device you were in?”

[Following synchronization during temporal displacement, my core matrix was integrated directly into your mana lattice. Physical housing is no longer required.]

She blinked. It took her a second to even begin unpacking that.

“You’re in me?” she asked slowly. “Like… part of me now?”

[Affirmative. I now operate as a fused magical-intelligence entity.]
[Current status: passive support mode.]
[Awaiting directives.]

Veronica’s breath stopped.

So, the device had activated. Not only that, but the process had bound it to her.

Of course. Of course it had.

Because surviving a spear to the chest and waking up in the past with a restored body wasn’t complicated enough. She let out a long, slow breath and leaned back into the bush, her hands still firmly clasped over her chest.

“... You couldn’t have at least kept my clothes intact?”

[Temporal reversion did not preserve non-biological materials. Clothing, accessories, and external possessions were not deemed essential for continuity. This includes the previous housing unit.]

“Not deemed essential?” she muttered. “Tell that to the bush I’m hiding in.” There was a pause. The forest rustled slightly with the passing wind.

Veronica shuddered.

“What happened while I was out? I’m assuming the device worked and I got sent back in time,” she asked.

[That is correct. Before your body died due to Xertal’s fatal blow, your soul and consciousness were able to successfully travel back in time and integrate with your past self.]

“That’s good,” Veronica said, standing up slowly. She moved her hands and waved them down her body, and waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

Veronica panicked. What? She immediately crouched behind the bush again. “Sage, what happened to my mana? Why… why is it all gone?!”

She felt inside herself. Her mana reserves were pitifully small. She probably couldn’t even cast a tier-2 spell correctly.

[Magical attributes seem to have been set to match the host body’s current developmental stage. It may be accurate to conclude that your future memories have been sent back in time, and not your biological body.]

“What? But I was a third-tier mage when I was 12. Yet I feel like I’m not even a Tier-1 mage right now. Why does it feel like this body is completely un-attuned?” She looked back at her hands, and then the rest of her body. It was obvious just looking at herself that she wasn’t that young. She should have been a fifth-tier by now, at least.

[Apologies, but there is insufficient data for me to offer an accurate explanation. Temporal reversion has caused various anomalies within your body. This includes the absence of Medusa’s curse.]

Her jaw clenched. “Of course,” she muttered. “Why wouldn’t that be the trade? Strip away the curse—fantastic. But while you’re at it, just erase over thirty years of growth and training, too.”

[I can display your current status and attributes, if you would like.]

“Status?”

At the mention of the word, something jumped out at her. A transparent panel, hovering with information right before her eyes.

Name: Veronica Everwells
Current Tier: Tier-0 Mage
-
Primary Path: Unattuned
Secondary Path: Unattuned
-
Mana: 200/200 MU
Mana Regeneration: 20 MU/hour
-
Quests:
Attune to a path and achieve Tier-1
Form a Tier-1 Mana Ring

“Sage? What is this?” Veronica looked at the screen. It moved with her vision. Her hand even went through the projection without interrupting it.

[These are your current stats that I have compiled, showing information I deem relevant for your knowledge.]

Her eyes narrowed as she read each line. Her brows creased as she read the portion about her mana. “What is MU?”

[MU stands for Mana Unit.]

“That metric doesn’t tell me anything,” she said.

[Apologies.]

And that was it. Just a simply apology, and no further elaboration. An MU, was probably some fake metric that it had come up with.

She continued reading. “What are these quests you have listed?”

[These are what I suggest you work towards if your goal is to prevent the demon invasion.
Martin designed my primary function to assist, and these quests, as outlined, will prove to be the best goals to strive towards so you can reach Tier-10 once more.]

Martin… always doing unnecessary things, she thought.

“Why are they called quests? Wouldn’t these just be goals?”

[They are called quests because I have rewards available to you after their completion.]

Veronica arched an eyebrow. “What kind of rewards?”

[There are many quest rewards. These include new spell formulas, methods, or magical techniques. Such as double casting or buffering spells.]

Veronica’s eyes went wide with shock. “Wait… you can help me double cast? That’s an advance technique that even I never learned how to do. People who can double cast say it takes intense focus and abnormal mental strength. Martin was actually holding out on me? Why can’t you just give that stuff to me now?”

[Affirmative. There are several rewards available that only I, as a Sentinel Arcane Guidance Engine, can assist you with. However, some of my functions will only fully unlock once you become more powerful and can power these functions. Consider the quests not as a mission, but as a necessary prerequisite for the quest rewards. ]

“Alright… if you say so.”

If what Sage was saying was true, then this would prove to be extremely useful. Double casting was something that required an immense amount of focus to generate two simultaneous spells at full efficiency. Just achieving the skill to double cast Tier-1 spells was a rare feat. And there were even more rewards aside from that?

Maybe technology wasn’t that bad after all.

“Alright. Then what kind of rewards can you give me once I reach the 10th tier again?”

[The rewards are calculated as you progress and are not determined beforehand, except for a few select options. 10th Tier is too far for an accurate reward estimation at this stage.]
-
[However, with a 8% confidence, one such late-stage reward may include a new synthetic attunement path. One besides the main and secondary paths you choose. A tertiary path.]

“What?!” she exclaimed, standing up reflexively. She immediately covered herself and crouched again. “You can just make up a third attunement path?!”

[Hypothetically. Further growth and data is necessary to raise confidence coefficient.]

Veronica’s mouth stayed wide open for a few moments longer, stunned at the statement. But it didn’t stay that way for long.

[Veronica, there appears to be a group of humans being attacked by a monster 400 meters east.]

“What? There is?”

[Likelihood coefficient is at 62%. It appears they are losing and may require immediate assistance.]

Veronica stood. Her expression turned serious. Her clothes could wait later.

“Lead the way.”