Chapter 127
A dark and gloomy place located beneath the Academia.
In this spot, illuminated only by a few dim lights akin to candles, two women had been spending the whole day with bugs.
Bracchium managed them thoroughly, while the non-resonating mana expelled any slight forgiveness without hesitation.
As a result, several times the bizarre mouths and bodies of the Scavenger Bugs came into contact with them, but as chills ran down their spines, an intense light of mana erupted immediately.
After about 10 hours.
Alicia and Erica finished their ordeal without injuries (or so the narrative goes).
“Schugenhartz…! I won’t let this go!”
Erica, emerging from the pit, was huffing and puffing.
The tear streaks on her face told tales of past sobs.
“Leaving us to fend for ourselves in that awful pit?! You little brat!”
Erica was drenched in sweat. Her school uniform was soaked, and her hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.
She was so exhausted that she could even feel the cold.
Then, she suddenly turned to look at Alicia, who was catching her breath. Alicia didn’t look any better than Erica.
…except for the fact that she wasn’t fuming.
“Alicia, aren’t you mad?”
“Huh?”
“Schugenhartz irresponsibly pushed us into that horrible pit and just left.”
“That’s… true, but….”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to go in. I was actually going to step in myself! I was going to walk in on my own… But that jerk…!”
The mana lingering in Erica’s body reacted, freezing the surrounding air. The smooth stone floor became slick.
Alicia, likely aware of her fury, awkwardly forced a smile and replied.
“…But he did give us a push with his hands, didn’t he?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I think Young Master had his own sort of consideration.”
“Consideration? Did you just say consideration?”
Erica looked completely baffled, and Alicia, pondering for a moment, added.
“You know that everything Young Master does has a purpose, right? Leaving us behind must have been to save time.”
“…Even so!”
“Besides, it’s true that our mana resonance between Erica and I increased thanks to that Scavenger Bug pit.”
“That’s….”
Erica’s voice grew increasingly quiet. Alicia was right; there was no mistake in her words.
However, the terrifying 10 hours Erica spent in there had emotionally affected her.
Despite sharing the same experience, Alicia’s attitude was entirely different.
Alicia seemed ready to embrace and support everything about Schugenhartz.
…As that thought crossed Erica’s mind, a bitter taste began to brew in her mouth.
“…….”
Like air slowly escaping a balloon that had been overly inflated.
The rage that had filled Erica’s eyes began to leak out.
Reflected in her calmed gaze was a pristine white towel.
“Great job, you two.”
Bracchium, who had assisted them during the 10-hour training, handed towels to Erica and Alicia, who graciously accepted them.
Bracchium continued in a gruff tone.
“That’s enough for today. Go back and rest well.”
For someone who seemed to lack any emotion, he still acknowledged the other’s hard work.
Erica and Alicia each responded in their own way, slowly preparing to leave.
There wasn’t much to prepare, so they mostly just wiped away their sweat.
Even though their wet clothes felt uncomfortable, they couldn’t take them off and instead relied on the warm breeze to dry themselves a little. They needed to get to the dormitory to wash up.
As their clothes dried somewhat, Bracchium explained their current situation.
“With the increase in your mana resonance, both power and stability have improved. The required time has also been shortened.”
“That’s great, Lady Erica! It seems the effects really worked!”
“Yeah… I guess.”
Alicia smiled brightly, happy with the news, while Erica looked a bit ambiguous.
Just as Alicia was about to ponder why Lady Erica wasn’t satisfied, Bracchium answered.
“It looks like you’ll have to go into the pit a few more times.”
“…So it’s not over yet?”
“……”
Erica, already knowing this would be the case, pressed her forehead, clearly having a headache.
Her black eyes, partially hidden by her delicate wrists, conveyed her desperation well.
“How many more times should it be?”
Please let it be a maximum of one or two more times.
With a fervent wish.
“About five more times.”
“Ah….”
“……”
Before moving on to the next training session, they were set for a while longer of the intense coexistence with scavenger bugs.
*
It wasn’t as if I had left Erica and Alicia in the basement of the Academia doing nothing.
Recently used “Essence of Life.”
On that day, during class, I confirmed the maximum power I could currently use through a monument armed with various magic constructs and began my training right away.
Only about 20 minutes was used for class during the 6 hours of duration. The remaining time was nearly entirely devoted to enhancing my training.
With no physical harm, I aimed to fully harness the essence’s power, focusing on expanding the near-maximum mana capacity I had left.
As a result, I could finally get very close.
In the days that followed, all my training was invested in expanding my mana capacity and it’s still the same now.
With each step toward the summit.
I felt both tension and excitement.
I didn’t even need to lift my head anymore.
The horizon I was looking at was the vast sea where I could see no end.
Zing-.
Sweat bead on my hands.
The muscles around my closed eyes began to tense up.
In the dark room, sitting cross-legged and concentrating, I controlled my breathing and struggled to extend that last step, which was barely lifting off the ground.
It was the moment I had been waiting for.
Crossing the threshold of maximum mana capacity.
Once I reached this stage, I would finally have all the materials I needed to create the unique spell I desired.
I would be able to complete the unique spell that Vargan had failed to finish.
One step forward….
If only I could take that last step, as if gravity were holding me back stubbornly…!
Finally, the foot that felt like it was glued to the ground managed to lift.
Tap-.
I moved forward.
“……!”
I opened my eyes.
No, they naturally opened.
A world I couldn’t tell whether it was reality or illusion.
A massive black iron door stood in front of me, blocking the way.
When I turned my head to glance around, there was nothing.
An entirely white world.
The place I stood was above the surface, reflecting the white sky in the water below.
The only colors present in this world were the white that coated every surface, the enormous iron door blocking the way, and myself.
I looked back at the iron door.
It was truly jet black.
I couldn’t help but think that if this world were made of paint, it must have absorbed all the colors, turning as dark as it was.
A sight I had never seen before, a world I had never encountered.
A sight to behold, a world I’ve never seen before.
Liam, who was the protagonist, was not a magician, so there was no way he had reached the transcendent tier as described in the original story.
Thus, I too knew almost nothing about this space.
From the scattered tales of those who had reached transcendence, I had heard that different forms appeared according to each person’s imagination, and this is what I had become.
What this form meant, I didn’t know either.
However, one thing was certain.
– When I open this door, the total amount of mana will reach the transcendent tier.
That one truth was so alluring that, without even realizing it, my hand reached out.
How much strength does it take to open it?
I don’t know.
Should I push or pull?
I don’t know that either. However, if I actually burn my hand, I think I’ll find out. Definitely.
If I just… open the door…
“Ho ho ho, could you please wait a moment?”
My hand, which had been reaching out, froze at the voice of the kind old man.
It wasn’t forceful in the slightest, yet it certainly stopped.
Then, it felt like my hazy mind was coming back to me.
My gaze was directed solely at the pitch-black door. For a moment, it felt as if my body and soul had separated.
Now, I had returned and could turn my head with my own will.
In the direction of my gaze stood an old man with white hair.
I know that figure.
“Student, opening that door right now is not a good choice.”
“……”
“You seem eager to open it. Is that the vigor of youth? Ho ho ho, for now, let’s sit down and have a conversation. There’s no one here besides us. Time and space don’t matter here.”
The old man waved his hand in the air, and a table with refreshments appeared. Everything was white, but it had a proper form.
The old man gestured to the seat across from him with his wrinkled hand.
“I’m very pleased to meet a student from our Academia here.”
He is the Chancellor of Academia.
Gulemashia.
A legendary figure known as the pinnacle of magicians.
*
Slurp-.
Gulemashia lifted the pure white teacup and sipped the tea inside. It looked like milk to call it tea, but the smell was clearly that of black tea.
It was awkward to refuse his offer, so I raised the cup and held it in my mouth.
I tried to roll my tongue to figure out what was inside, but it wasn’t easy.
“Ho ho ho, you’re quite the suspicious student. No need to worry, it’s not dangerous.”
I narrowed my eyes, observing his reaction.
A person’s tells when they lie can be subtle.
It’s not always accurately expressed through the body, but it comes out as a habit.
How is Gulemashia here?
Is he really the Chancellor?
Questions flooded my mind, making it hard to swallow the tea, but the tea slipped down as if it had a will of its own.
“……”
He slowly opened his mouth.
“You are pushing yourself quite hard, student.”
Not replying, I quietly gazed into the old man’s exalted eyes and realized they were filled with profound wisdom.
As if he were an immortal, he was a person of enlightenment.
“Your body can hold up. Even if you are tenuously walking the last line of endurance, you won’t cross over.”
“……”
“But your soul… both of your ‘two’ souls are quite exhausted, so this old man is worried.”
“……!”
Did he just say two souls?
How does he know that?
In the original story, there was never a mention of Liam’s condition; it was never described…!
The old man chuckled softly as if to say there’s nothing to be surprised about.
“At this age, things you couldn’t see become visible, and things you could see become invisible.”
“…Is it such that when the total amount of mana reaches transcendence, you can know such things as well?”
“…Well, I’m not sure when or why this old man came to be able to perceive the souls and bodies of people.”
“…”
Gulemashia slowly sipped tea again, as if his mouth was dry, before finally speaking.
“Student, what’s the rush? Why are you pushing yourself relentlessly?”
“…I’m not in a rush. I’ve never pushed myself.”
“Then… it seems you’ve lived a life so intense that you don’t even know your own state.”
“…”
Gulemashia stared into my eyes quietly.
I guessed he was trying to analyze my current thoughts and personality through my gaze.
I had no intention of making the other party uncomfortable, but it felt unpleasant, as if he was seeing right through me.
“A peculiar student. You seem to have experienced many things… loss, honor. You feel like someone who has already gained everything that people covet the most.”
Gulemashia said with a wrinkled smile, stroking his long beard and brushing aside his doubts like they were nothing.
“Well, it could simply be because you’re a descendant of Schugenharz, ho ho ho.”
Chancellor Gulemashia possessed an insightful ability to quickly understand people.
Helion also figured people out without much difficulty, but this old man was even better at it.
Not only was his level of magic impressive, but the colorful history of his life formed the very backbone of his being.
He was magnificent and worthy of utmost respect, but at the same time, he could be quite bothersome.
Conversations with the chancellor were undoubtedly interesting, but it might not be wise to continue much further here.
Making that judgment, I cut the short conversation.
“You mentioned I shouldn’t open that door right now; then, when is it okay to open it? And what’s the reason I can’t open it?”
Even when it’s time to wrap things up, I needed to gain information.
If I just left like this, I’d be staring at a picture of a transcendental position as if it were some pastry just out of reach…
“It’s fine now. Feel free to open it when you wish.”
“…”
It’s fine now?
What does that mean?
As I was about to ask that, astonished by the old man’s words, I hastily circulated my mana to check my condition.
Suddenly, I understood what he meant in an instant.
I asked in honest surprise.
“…How did you do that?”
“Ho ho ho, when you research magic for a long time, you can do all sorts of things.”
Mana doesn’t exist in a tangible form like a blood vessel.
However, mana unquestionably exists and roams throughout the body.
In other words, I needed to create a virtual conduit and activate it, but it shouldn’t be possible for the user to expand the width of that conduit. It shouldn’t be…
Yet now, my mana conduit was ready to accept new waves.
My virtual heart transformed anew and pulsated vigorously.
Gulemashia laughed with amusement at my reaction, slowly fulfilling his purpose and beginning to fade away.
I had no idea how he did any of that.
Whether he was coming or going, he was a free-spirited old man.
Before leaving, he gave me one last piece of advice.
“Don’t torment yourself too much. Only by loving yourself will all forms be revealed properly.”
And so, only the black iron door remained in front of me.
“…Huh.”
I let out a bewildered laugh.
After rechecking my condition once more, I swallowed hard.
Out of the blue, I received unexpected warnings and help, but this made my preparation even more solid.
Though I somewhat doubted that the being resembling the chancellor was truly him, it made no sense to pull back now.
I reached out.
This time, it was a deliberate movement, not the instinctive reach from before; this was clear action born of my ‘will.’
At last.
My hand, passing through the air, touched the iron door.
So naturally, so obviously.
Without a hint of alienation.
My total mana had reached the transcendental level.
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