Episode 20
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“Please allow me to take the ‘Trial of the Tower’ in the Necropolis.”
The tower of the Necropolis. It goes without saying what the tower meant.
It’s a black tower.
And the ‘Trial of the Tower’ that Dale speaks of is a test to prove how high a wizard can climb by going up against the Floor Guardians of the Tower…
Furthermore, it is a kind of ranking game that establishes the ranking among the magicians of the magic tower.
The rookies who take the test for the first time are eliminated before they can even get past a few floors, and only those who defeat the guardians of the upper floors or are reborn can finally obtain the qualification to become ‘Elders of the Tower’.
──Finally, only one person, the one who stands at the top of the tower, is granted the title of ‘Matapju’.
The man before Dale’s eyes… …Like Lord Black.
In addition, among the five-colored towers, the test of the black tower, which is in contact with ‘death’, was famous for being the most dangerous along with the red tower.
“You said it was a test of the tower?”
Dale nodded silently at those words.
“It is an extremely dangerous place where you could easily lose your life.”
As the one who reigned at the top of the Black Tower before being Dale’s father, the Black Duke continued speaking.
“It’s too early for you who haven’t even completed the 3rd circle yet.”
Dale, who turned ten, is a two-circle master of both water and darkness.
And the qualification for wizards to challenge the Tower’s test is to have reached at least 3 circles. In other words, to take the Tower’s test, you need to have officially graduated from the Academy or have an equivalent level of ability.
“You will be able to reach it soon.”
Dale answered that confidently.
The average age for a normal person to enter the Magic Tower Academy and reach the third circle, which is equivalent to graduation, is in the mid-twenties. However, Dale, who reached the second circle at the age of nine, was already confident that he had reached the ‘next level’ even though it had only been a year since then.
Circle 3. The level where one can graduate from the academy and claim to be a full-fledged magician.
“As I said, this is a decision for my father and the House of Saxony.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Once I reach the 3rd circle, then I can prove myself through the ‘Trial of the Tower’.”
Dale continues speaking blandly.
“Through me as a successor, my father’s position as the tower lord will be further strengthened.”
Position as a top player.
Becoming the Lord of the Tower is by no means a matter of bloodline inheritance, and so the ‘succession of the successor’ is by no means a light matter.
So Dale’s desire to be in the spotlight as the Duke’s prodigy was by no means a display of petty self-aggrandizement.
“I too will obtain a trustworthy form of reputation, not the empty boasts of the rich.”
To officially debut in the world of magic and prove the name of ‘the prodigy of the Duke’s family’.
“My proof will soon become my father’s proof.”
He nods and continues speaking.
“And the proof of our father will soon become the proof of our Saxony.”
Proof of the House of Saxony.
“Is that why you volunteered for the Tower Test?”
Dale nodded silently to his father’s question.
“Yes.”
At those words, the Duke of Saxony let out a soft laugh.
Dale has come to a clear realization through recent events.
The power of the House of Saxony, the greatest lord of the empire, was beyond Dale’s imagination.
That is why it is never a good decision to quietly hold your breath underwater. Regardless of Dale’s silence, the Empire’s ambitions towards the Duke will not stop.
Rather, it was necessary to prove itself by using the power of the House of Saxony at full strength before the Empire could strike first.
Obtaining a great reputation that even the royal family cannot easily threaten.
This was only the beginning.
* * *
That night.
Dale sat cross-legged in his bedroom, checking his condition.
Two circles, 2-circle master. Here again, creating and stacking a single mana ring.
Simply put, expanding the circle is ultimately an act of overcoming one’s own limitations.
‘But from the 3rd circle onwards, it’s a little different.’
Unlike before, getting over the wall after the 3rd circle is not a matter of talent or skill.
It is enlightenment.
A realm that can only be reached by deeply contemplating and understanding the principles of magic.
This is why the 3rd Circle is usually considered the qualification for graduation from the Academy and a distinction for a full-fledged wizard.
‘But that doesn’t mean I have the luxury of just sitting back and meditating.’
There is not only one right path in the world.
What Dale chose was a heresy that was hundreds of times more dangerous, but guaranteed more certain results.
The way you acted in your past life.
If we assume that reaching the 3rd circle through enlightenment is an act of jumping over a wall, then the method Dale was trying to take was an act equivalent to crashing into the wall itself with all his might.
An act of surpassing one’s limits as a wizard by risking one’s life and causing a mana outburst.
Phew!
A vortex of magical power swirls around the room, scattering like frost.
A tidal wave of mana begins to play out, teetering on the edge between control and rampage.
‘Let’s try again.’
Dale regained his senses through his fading consciousness.
Explodes mana accumulated to the point where it could explode like dynamite and release it.
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However, the two circles interlocked like clockwork exert a square effect, preventing the mana from running wild.
‘… … Not all 2-circles are the same.’
The level of perfection of the circle built on past experiences and present learning far surpasses that of the previous life.
Even now, at this very moment, the perfection of the circle is endlessly becoming more sophisticated. The sophistication and rotational power are dozens of times greater than what a normal two-circle can handle.
The ‘limits of one’s own’ that one must overcome are much higher than one might expect.
But that didn’t mean I could stop.
‘Again!’
At the end of a vicious cycle of forcibly pumping the mana in the heart to produce mana exceeding the capacity of the 2nd circle.
To accommodate the endless supply of mana, two circles were subjected to extreme acceleration and rotation.
‘It’s not enough yet.’
I had to accelerate faster, turn faster, and push myself to the limit, almost like stepping on the accelerator so hard that the car engine RPM couldn’t handle it.
“… … !”
Right then.
Finally, completely free from the Circle’s control, the rampaging mana engulfed Dale’s entire body.
Swish, swish!
My breath stopped.
A large amount of mana screams and begins to absorb the surrounding thermal energy.
A grayish frost formed along the window, the room froze, and a biting cold air swept through.
And──.
Phew!
“… … ?!”
Suddenly, a burning pain struck my back.
The feeling of cold iron. The tip of the sword sticking out from tearing through my chest, radiating a cold frost.
‘The Holy Sword, Durandal’s Blade… …?’
When he came to his senses, Dale was now standing in the middle of a pure white field.
Not a cozy duke’s room.
A white and dark winter night. The line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred.
After realizing that fact, Dale scoffed coldly.
As Sepia said… …magic is the mirror of the mind.
And now Dale was in a mirror projecting his own mind.
Rather than waiting for enlightenment to come, step into the ‘world of enlightenment’ with your own two feet.
The abyss of thought.
A white and dark winter night.
The bottom of the night is pure white, but the sky is extremely black and dark.
Every wizard has his or her own world, and the training of a wizard is the process of completing that world.
The wizard’s ideal is to overlay that world onto reality.
It is no exaggeration to call the clash between high-ranking magicians a ‘clash between worlds’.
And this was Dale’s real world.
Pale, gray sleet flutters across the endless horizon of space.
There was really nothing here.
His father, his mother, his younger sisters Lize, Sepia and Charlotte.
‘I had nothing from the beginning.’
When I realized that, my mind became incredibly calm. A cold chill seeped into my chest.
Clang!
The illusion is shattered, the cold disappears. I lower my head.
There was no grand enlightenment.
“… … .”
Nevertheless, before I knew it, the ‘three circles’ were working, interlocking like clockwork, centered around the heart.
What he gave in return was simply encountering his true world.
When I went from Circle 1 to Circle 2, I realized that I had become ten times stronger.
And at this very moment, when I have attained the realm of the 3rd circle.
It goes without saying that it is not the ‘ordinary 3 circles’.
There were countless weapon projections, spell improvements, and additional formulas that I wanted to try out right away.
But alone in the castle’s interior, Dale couldn’t even dare to test his magic.
* * *
The next morning, in the Duke of Saxony’s office.
“It became a 3 circle.”
Dale reported blandly, and his father, the Duke of Saxony, swallowed in surprise.
“… … Is that true?”
Dale nodded silently, experimentally spinning three circles centered around his heart like clockwork.
The mana that pours out like an explosion is processed into the form of magical power by the three circles organically interlocking.
With memories of dark and white winter nights.
Black and blue, darkness and cold magic swirls from Dale’s fingertips.
The dual properties of refined darkness and cold cold.
It was only then that Dale realized that it was no coincidence that he had chosen the water and dark magic lineage.
When Sepia first became his teacher, he could have refused her teachings. But he didn’t. At first, he thought it was his own will.
──No, it wasn’t.
‘Dale’s World’ took that.
“It’s hard to believe even after seeing it.”
The Duke of Saxony answered with a bitter smile.
“… … Now all that’s left is to prove my abilities at the top.”
At those words, the Duke of Saxony, his father, smiled quietly. It was a smile that seemed very complicated.
The Black Ball would know this too. Dale’s talent was already far beyond the realm of genius.
Even though he knew that fact, Dale did not hesitate. Even if it was a monster, he would still love his child.
Moreover, above all, the time has passed when children would remain silent and bide their time. Regardless of Dale’s silence, the Empire, the Crown, and this world will continue to move indefinitely.
Taking the test of the tower and proving yourself with all your might.
“Trust me, Father.”
So, no matter how he looked, now was the time to just move forward.
* * *
Some time later. The city of the dead, Necropolis.
And the pitch-black spire towering in the center of the city. A procession of noble carriages and knights was marching towards that black spire.
The ‘Black Cavalry’, armed with black armor and wearing gray surcoats embroidered with night crows.
That appearance meant only one thing: the Duke of Saxony’s personal guard, the Knights of the Night Raven.
And the man riding in that carriage was the one who reigned over this city of death, the tower, and the entire northern region.
With his young son, the most brilliantly gifted man in the entire empire.
The ‘Trial of the Tower’ is a test and ritual given equally to all the Tower members, and even the Tower Lord cannot be an exception. It was not Dale’s sole responsibility to endlessly prove his existence.
So, two rich men who made a living from dark magic crossed the road to Necropolis.
Each towards the test that awaits them.
