The Seed of a World

Zorbanof's training consisted of five stages in all.

The first was the Waterfall Descent — a trial meant to teach the flow of mana, a current identical to the flow of water itself.

"Nature is the foundation and the sovereign of all creation. A mage is a being who constructs a world of their own. That is why one must learn from the primordial, piece by piece, before a world can finally be built."

The second was Buried Underground.

"The earth is the ground itself. A solid foundation — the most basic of basics, from which all life may bloom. Everything that exists in this world was born from the earth. It is the fundamental skeleton. That is why a mage must begin by creating solid ground from which a sprout may rise."

A full month buried in the earth was the result. I awakened to the vast life force and power accumulated in the land, and through that awakening I hardened the life flame and constructed a great expanse of earth at the center of myself.

The third was Drifting Through the Firmament.

"The sky, too, is a foundation no different from the earth. For life to grow, it needs atmosphere, and that atmosphere becomes a steadfast shield that protects life from the outside. It is the same as the body. The flesh is wrapped in firm muscle and skin to guard the organs within. A mage, by nature, always cloaks their body in a film of mana. That film is the atmosphere that protects the mage. That is their sky."

For months I fell and was lifted, fell and was lifted, over and over in the open sky. The wind was like a blade, and it possessed a resistance more powerful than anything I had ever known — a steadfast barrier that received every intrusion from without.

A faint film of mana settled over my entire body. It blocked the life flame seated inside me from leaking out — and blocked the world from forcing its way in.

The fourth was Solar Refinement.

"Inside the body, there exists only darkness. In such a state, there is not enough energy to bloom life. Darkness only becomes aware that it is darkness because light exists. That is why light is indispensable. A mage's world is no different. To construct a world, light is the origin — an element that cannot be done without."

Like a sunflower, I followed the sun with my eyes for months on end. My eyes felt as though they would cook in their sockets, but the mana barrier I had wrapped around myself beforehand barely held the heat at bay.

The light was fierce, and it carried a power more formidable than anything else. Beside me, a sprout that had drunk in the sunlight grew and bloomed with life. In the darkness inside my body, the life flame gradually became a single light. That light cut across the dark, burned with gathering violence, and slowly completed itself into a sphere.

Earth and sky. And a single sun. Before I knew it, a tiny world was taking shape inside me.

The fifth and final stage was the Seed.

"With this, the basic preparations are complete."

Five stages a person had to pass through to become a mage. Having finished four of them, I listened as Zorbanof spoke.

A mage can do anything. They conjure fire, wield lightning, make walls of water spring from nothing. How could they command power so far beyond common sense?

The reason was simple. Inside a mage's body — from the world they had constructed — came inexhaustible power.

Every mage possesses a seed. They grow that ancient tree without rest, until the seed planted in their world becomes a massive tree that seizes the sky itself. They do it to complete a World Tree that will one day take firm root throughout the entire world.

That is the ideal a mage pursues. The goal of their life. The reason mages so greedily crave power, the reason they show their avarice so nakedly, is precisely this.

The pinnacle of all creation. The Archmage who has completed their world. The ideal of every mage who has ever lived.

And today, I too took the first step toward becoming such a mage.

Underground, a seed holding a portion of the life flame was pressed into the earth. It sank in and seated itself there, firm and immovable.

With that, the eyes I had kept closed slowly opened.

I could feel the hair I had not tended in all this time, and a thick, unkempt beard. But more than either of those, an indescribable freshness washed through me — as though the world I had been looking at until now had become a different place entirely.

"You've safely planted the seed beneath the heart of the earth. You've captured the afterglow of starlight and the promise of the wind as well."

Zorbanof stood before me, wearing a satisfied smile.

"With this, you too have reached the first stage of magic."

A mage. I had become a mage.

The time it had taken to get here was a full two years — longer than I had expected. And perhaps because of that, the life flame had diminished considerably compared to before. From the moment I began the path of a mage, I had gained enough insight to regulate the dwindling of the flame, at least to a degree. Even so, the dwindling itself was unavoidable.

"Neophyte of Assiah, the Seed Realm. You have a long road ahead, but you've taken the first step."

Neophyte. The word referred to the lowest rank of mage.

Mages divided the growth of their inner worlds into eleven stages.

These were the stages of a completed world, as mages defined them. And I had just set foot on the first of them — the apprentice mage, Neophyte.

"The Mana Stone Sclerosis hasn't been completely resolved."

"No, sir. I'm still a mage of the lowest level."

"Don't you go around saying things like that. Compared to those empty husks who become mages the comfortable way and still can't even take care of themselves, your results are far better."

"There's a comfortable way to become a mage?"

"There is. Lying still in running water. Sleeping on the ground. Pitching a tent and living up in the sky. Methods like that."

Wait. That was enough to do it?

As I stood there looking dumbfounded, Zorbanof's mouth curled up at one corner.

"What? Did you want to become a mage the leisurely way? If you had, you'd have died long before then."

He was right. With Mana Stone Sclerosis, I had never had a choice. I could have used Instant Death Magic on monsters, but that was a secret even from Zorbanof.

"No. You're right, Master."

"Who's your master?"

"You made me into a mage. Shouldn't I call you Master?"

"Hmph. Strictly speaking, you aren't a mage yet."

Over the past two years, Zorbanof's way of speaking had changed a great deal. He treated me far more comfortably than before.

"You're only a mage once you make that seed sprout. An apprentice has no business sitting at the same table."

He had told me it would take a long time for a seed to bloom — so long that a mage without talent would die without ever growing theirs in an entire lifetime. I had heard that from Zorbanof himself, and I resolved to devote myself to it.

"As the seed grows, your world will grow as well. And with it, the power to exert influence on the outside will grow stronger."

"That influence is the power of magic."

I was beginning to understand why mages were such terrifying beings. Every last one of them was someone who had constructed a world of their own. There was no way an ordinary person could win against such people. Before a world, a human being is far too frail a thing.

"Take this."

Zorbanof tossed a thick book at me.

"What you've constructed is only a world. What you do in that world depends on your ability. So as you grow the sprout of your seed, take in as much as your eyes can hold of what you will create in that world."

So this was what they called a grimoire. I had heard that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grimoires written by high-level mages were things even other mages could not buy for any amount of money. The thought that I had been given such a secret text made my chest stir for no reason I could name.

"Master, I'll study hard."

"You little—! I said I'm not your master. Don't go around calling me that. It's embarrassing."

Zorbanof waved his hands in irritation.

Living with him for two years, I had learned he was eccentric, harsh — and secretly full of affection. He talked like that, but of all the mages I had ever met, he was the best person among them. Proof, if nothing else, that there were all kinds of people among mages as well.

Of course, that did not mean I trusted every mage. The majority of them, having constructed worlds of their own, looked down on and dismissed ordinary people who lived without a world at all. In their eyes, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ordinary people were not fellow humans. They were livestock that happened to talk.

Even humans know how to pity beasts. Mages do not. Their arrogance is something that must be corrected.

"That's enough. Get out of here, and once you've made your seed bloom, come find me again."

"You won't be giving me any more advice, Master?"

"That's your seed, isn't it? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Is it mine? In the end, making a seed bloom is each person's own task. It's not a problem that gets solved by someone else's advice."

"How could I be a stranger to you, Master?"

"If I could just shut that damn mouth of yours, you'd be a stranger soon enough."

I decided to keep my mouth shut from there.

"Remember this. You are a thing that was made to find the Primordial Fragment."

"Yes. As soon as I make the seed bloom, I'll come see you again and devote myself to finding the fragment."

"Tsk. Even if you don't come, I'll drag you back anyway. So just get going already. Haren."

I started to leave at his words, then looked back. Zorbanof had already vanished into the cave.

Had he called my name, at the end? A hollow laugh slipped out of me. For all his bluster, he was a bashful old man.

When I stepped outside, warm sunlight wrapped around me. How long had it been since I had moved around on my own? After being holed up in the mountains for a year, everything felt wondrous.

I followed the slope down for a long while.

I was a mage — but an apprentice mage. I still had no ordinary magic I could properly use. Instead, a faint mana was wrapped around my body. That alone had changed quite a lot.

The reason mages and ordinary people can never stand on equal ground is ultimately because of this mana.

The vitality of the body was different. A body that had constructed a world could do anything.

After I had gone down for quite some time—

"AAAAAH!"

A scream reached my ears.

The mountain where Zorbanof stayed was a dense, nameless stretch of wilderness. As such, there were quite a few herb gatherers who came to pick medicinal plants — and no shortage of monsters that preyed on those gatherers.

From the direction of the sound, I felt two presences. At the same time, the Third Eye flashed open for the first time in a long while.

Far off, two flickering flames were visible. One a murky violet. The other white.

The moment I saw them, I kicked off the ground, stepped onto a thick tree branch, and leapt. My body was light as a feather. The mana wrapped around my entire body granted physical abilities unlike anything I had possessed before.

I crossed another tree, and there was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠man whose leg had been severed. In front of him, a monster with five mantis heads was chewing on the severed leg, grinding it between its jaws.

"Urgh... hh..."

The man thrashed, sobbing through the pain. The monster immediately raised a foreleg so as not to let him get away. A ghastly blade stood along the length of it. Looking at the wound, that was clearly what had taken the man's leg.

"S-someone — someone please save me!"

Shiiiiing!

The monster's foreleg swept toward the man. Just before he was about to be torn to shreds—

Tak—

The instant I landed, I seized the man by the scruff of the neck and flung him backward. Then I reached toward the foreleg flying straight at my face.

A heavy impact registered in my palm. The blade on the monster's foreleg did not sink into my hand at all. The mana wrapped around my body was serving as a protective barrier.

The monster noticed me belatedly and rolled its eyes. Having made its judgment, it roared and charged straight at me.

Judging by its size, a mid-class monster. In the past, meeting a charge like that head-on would have meant death. It did not matter to me now.

I drove myself into the charging monster's body instead. Then I stretched my hand with everything I had toward the fiercely burning flame inside it.

The charging monster lifted into the air as if it had caught on a rock, then stopped. Its body froze in place, unable to move an inch.

Inside the monster's body — I had the life flame in my grip.

A flame I was replenishing for the first time in a long while. I would swallow it with everything I had.

With it, a vitality and vigor I had never possessed before coursed through my body.

Pasak!

Along with the sound of the mana stone inside the monster crumbling to powder, its body collapsed.

The absorption rate was far faster than before. On top of that, the flame's nutrients were supplied in full to the seed as well.

My eyes flashed.

If I swallowed monsters, I could promote the growth of the seed.

I had become a mage — but what I had to do remained the same.

Hunt down every last monster and devour them.

That had always been my one unchanging goal.