The Competition
"Th-that's...!"
"She seized control of the magic...?"
"What is that thing behind her back?"
The voices of the surrounding spectators were swallowed by the whirring of the circle.
Cloaked in starlight that filled the air around me, I leveled my sword at Leoniss. The onlookers were far more shocked than the man whose magic had just been stolen. Leoniss, as ever, recovered his composure in an instant.
"You've been hiding your strength?"
That was Leoniss's question. The mouth that had been clamped shut finally opened. Hiding my strength? Hardly. It was simply a magic I had tried for the first time after coming here.
I shook my head without a word.
That I could form a Mana Circle outside my body even without a medium like dragon scales was thanks to the flow of mana I had been able to observe inside the Magic Tower. The principle of using mana to bring space itself under one's dominion.
The preparatory stage of teleportation magic.
I had adapted that. Thanks to it, the Mana Circle floating behind my back held its shape without scattering.
Kiiing—!
The instant the blue circle at my back spun faster, the stars around us glittered all the brighter. This was a place where everything nearby arrived as inspiration. Even now. Even the very breathing of Leoniss, who was fighting me.
Tak!
Leoniss began his approach. Unlike before, he did not use Magic Missile. Judging by his speed, he had poured every scrap of spare mana into reinforcing his body and strengthening his mana shield.
The moment Leoniss entered striking range, the countless stars drifting around us spread wide. He weaved between the starlight as though wary of my Magic Missile—but that was not what I was aiming for.
I breathed calmly. The starlight floating around me would become a barrier to protect me, and a path to guide me.
It was a magic I was using for the first time, yet I was certain. Just as I always had been.
Start light. With careful movement. Leoniss's fierce fist came hurtling toward me. The trajectory aimed at my face was unmistakable. The mana gathered in his hand was enormous as well, so dodging would have been the sensible choice.
But instead, I took a step forward. Because I was certain his attack would not harm me.
And that certainty became reality.
An instant before Leoniss's fist could smash into my face, space itself began to warp. At the same time, the stars scattered in every direction started to flicker.
A momentary flash of light.
The next instant, my body was standing behind Leoniss's back.
Short-range teleportation magic.
Blink.
It was still a magic at the crawling stage, so continuous use was impossible. But for now, this was enough. I knew I would keep moving forward. I knew endless growth was my talent. So I felt no urgency.
"Kh...!"
Leoniss whipped around in a panic, his pale face laid bare. It was the look of a man who had never imagined I could use teleportation-type magic.
Bringing a magic composed of such a short string of words into this world was no easy feat. It required an image so vivid it would be branded into the mind. A magic that used mana to leap across distant space in an instant—teleportation.
I had never understood it. Unlike fire and ice, which formed clear, solid images, space-type magics had always carried only a hazy impression.
So I did not rely on the memories of my past life. When the answer sheet was wandering right in front of my eyes, why cling to those old recollections?
"Teleportation...?"
"Don't tell me—Haven's magic...!"
"Did she use an artifact? Or a scroll...?"
The spectators' voices, thick with shock, slowly scattered. They were right. I had taken Haven's magic as a reference and reborn it to suit my own body.
I could not travel vast distances in an instant the way Haven could, but the principle was the same.
Kagagak!
My swiftly swung blade battered Leoniss's body. Even with the edge set, his clothes did not tear and no wound remained. The mana shield protecting him was simply too strong.
"Khhk!"
Leoniss let out a short groan and began to retreat. I sent the starlight after him as he opened the distance. The glittering points of light began to spin, encircling his body.
Wherever the light of the stars touched was space under my control. He could not escape easily.
Kiiing—!
The moment the Mana Circle at my back spun once more, I was already behind Leoniss again. At the same time, a star that had been glittering at his back lost its light and vanished.
One star per move. The instant the spent star crumbled away with a soft pasus, I swung my sword again.
Seven stars rose above the long-extended blade. Immediately after, Leoniss reacted.
Kaaang—!
Sword and fist collided. The wind pressure from the clash of opposing mana burst outward, and a tremendous repulsive force shoved our bodies apart.
His reaction was faster than before.
Had he caught on to my Blink approaches? How?
In that moment, I saw that Leoniss's gaze was fixed on the Mana Circle spinning behind my back.
The whirring. It was the whirring. To use Blink, I needed to rotate the Mana Circle and resonate the mana of the starlight dominating the surroundings. Leoniss had clearly been reacting to that sound.
All the better. If he was focusing on sound, that meant he was using mana to enhance his hearing. The moment I tried to open the distance, Leoniss drove straight into my guard.
A shortest-path sprint toward an opponent on a straight line. Mana erupted from beneath Leoniss's feet, accelerating him even further.
An instant before his fist could reach me, I swung my sword and struck one of the stars drifting nearby.
Tiing—!
The blade that struck the star began to sing. What had been a faint noise drank in the surrounding mana and amplified its own presence.
At the growl pouring from the sword, Leoniss's body locked up. But he did not fall. Instead, he whipped his frozen body back into motion as if flogging himself forward.
With that momentary brake, I saw his face drain pale. It could not have felt pleasant inside. I swung my sword again and struck a fresh star.
Tang—! Ttang—!
A continuous ringing spread outward. The dragon's roar echoing from every direction began to mesh together and resonate.
"Cough—!"
In that instant, Leoniss spat a stream of blood from his mouth. He staggered as though he could no longer properly support his own body, and the mana shield that had been draped over him like armor had grown faint as well.
Pale-faced, Leoniss wore a frantic expression as he rummaged through his robes—like an old habit. Just as when he had fought me before, he was clearly trying to pull out an artifact.
But nothing would come out. By the rules of the competition, a mage was not allowed to bring anything onto the stage except their own staff.
Leoniss seemed to realize that as well, and his movements stopped. As though he had already sensed his own end. When his gaze, now calmly settled, met mine—
My body had already moved in front of him amid glittering starlight. As the mana of the stars wound around my outstretched arm, Leoniss's mouth opened faster than my hand.
"I forfeit."
My motion slammed to a halt. I had no choice but to scatter the starlight gathered in my palm. Leoniss had already lost the will to fight; both hands were raised slightly, his eyes closed.
"Winner! Ceris of the Tower of Dawn!!!"
It was a somewhat anticlimactic finish, but I had gained a great deal during the match. I slid the sword in my hand back into its scabbard. At the same time, the Mana Circle behind my back shattered, and the starlight that had filled the surroundings vanished in an instant.
"Was Haven's magic something like that...?"
"Haven's magic is stillness. Like a quietly approaching wind. It isn't flashy like that."
"Then whose magic is it supposed to be? I've lived my whole life in the Magic Tower and I've never seen magic like that...?"
"Beautiful."
"I'm going crazy... Where do you go to change affiliations?"
The moment I stepped down from the ring, the spectators' voices gradually swelled. Through the murmur of conversation, I found Rain's gaze. I gave a light wave and ran over to her.
It went without saying, of course, that beating Leoniss did not mean I had won the competition. Match after match, large and small, followed one after another, and I defeated every opponent to reach the finals.
And so, here I was—on the arena floor where the championship match was about to begin.
As befitting the final bout, the vast majority of the mages belonging to the Magic Tower had gathered in this place.
"Who do you think will win?"
"I put my mana stones on the Starlight of Dawn..."
"Ceris may be a talented newcomer, but against Klaus..."
Leaving the spectators' voices and stares behind me, I walked forward at a measured pace. The moment I approached the ring, the referee confirmed my identity and nodded.
"Tower of Dawn! Ceris!"
At the call of my name I stepped up onto the ring, and my opponent's name was announced next.
"Klaus of the White Tower!"
At the referee's call, my opponent began to climb up from the far side. The man in the white robe held a staff that looked heavy in his grip.
A calmly settled gaze cut through his gray hair and landed on me. Looking at me, he opened his mouth.
"I'll be going all out."
I gave only the slightest nod. I, too, had every intention of fighting at full strength from the start.
Klaus. A name I had been hearing throughout the entire tournament. At present, the person closest to becoming a Tower Master. A genius the likes of which the world would never see again.
This was the first time I had faced him directly. I swallowed dryly. Klaus was a classic mage who preferred long-range bombardment. He used the preparation time to begin readying his magic.
Kugugugugu—!
A vast surge of mana began to churn, and a white radiance started gathering inside his staff.
"Insane..."
I broke out in a cold sweat watching it. If this had not been a competition match, I would have charged in and swung my sword before he could finish concentrating his mana.
It was clearly only a short preparation window—so why did it feel so endless? I bit my lip and watched the referee's mouth.
An eternity compressed into a single instant passed, and the referee's lips parted.
"Be—"
Before the word could finish, I was already moving. My sprinting body was driven by a raw sense of urgency, and the circle in my heart spun at breakneck speed, drawing out mana.
And then, just as I was about to draw the sword at my back and swing—
Kung—!
The instant Klaus's staff slammed hard into the floor, pure white light erupted. His mana began to blanket the surroundings.
The mages packing the area vanished, and a pure white sky rose overhead. At the same time, an endless white plain stretched outward, and towering fortress walls surged up from the earth.
Space itself had been overwritten by another person's world. Feeling my mana suddenly seize up and stop, I stared blankly at the opponent before me.
Slowly—very slowly—Klaus's mouth opened.
"Inner World Manifestation"
⟨ White Citadel ⟩
The moment white light filled my vision—
I was lying outside the ring.
"Huh...?"
The dumbfounded sound that slipped from my mouth slowly scattered. At the same time, the referee's voice rang out.
"Winner!!! Klaus of the White Tower!!!"