First Dungeon Assault (1)
"Heh heh, didn't you just blow through your entire research budget on that failed project of yours not long ago? Don't go overextending yourself."
Just as Poing said, Eugene's finances were far from comfortable.
I can't beat him on money. I'll have to offer something else…
A thought flashed through Eugene's mind.
"I'll put Ellen on my list of disciples."
At Eugene's sudden declaration, not only Poing but even Ellen stared at him in surprise.
He must be pretty desperate.
A mage kept disciples who would inherit his research. The master supported a disciple's growth, and the Magic Tower, in turn, granted that disciple treatment befitting the master's name.
But disciples were ordinarily chosen from those already admitted to the Tower, or from graduates all but certain to enter it. Registering someone as a disciple before they had even enrolled in the Academy was exceedingly rare — and all the more so a measure of just how badly Eugene wanted Ellen.
Of course, Ellen had not the slightest intention of becoming his disciple. Settling for a mage of this caliber had never been his goal. Still, the man was more than worth using for a little while.
"Becoming a mage's disciple means…"
Eugene launched into an explanation of the master–disciple relationship among mages, for Ellen's benefit. Naturally, Ellen already knew every word of it.
"If you're willing to support me that generously and take me on as your disciple, then I can enter the Academy without any worries."
Ellen said it looking straight at Eugene. Poing's face fell with open disappointment, and he turned and left. Eugene's expression, by contrast, lit up. He seized both of Ellen's hands.
"An excellent choice. Congratulations on becoming the disciple of Eugene Barmus. Of course, you won't be an official disciple until you enroll in the Academy — but there's no harm in celebrating early."
"Oh my, thank you so much!"
Ellen's parents bowed deeply in gratitude. Unlike their son, who looked thoroughly unimpressed, they were overwhelmed by Eugene's offer.
"Not at all. You two are the ones who raised such a fine boy — the hard work was yours. There's still about half a year until the Academy starts, but I was thinking of bringing Ellen to the Magic Tower ahead of time. How does that sound?"
Eugene meant to stake his claim on the gifted Ellen as his disciple before the Tower, and at the same time to heap on as much kindness as possible so Ellen would already be in his debt.
Mages really are this different on the outside and the inside.
Having dealt with more than his share of them in his previous life — and having spent a career catering to their whims — Ellen saw straight through Eugene's designs.
"I'm grateful for the consideration, but I still have preparations to make before Academy enrollment, and more importantly, I need to help with the family's livelihood. Going to the Magic Tower right away would be difficult."
"Hmm. As for enrollment preparations, I can handle those in the capital, and I can help with your living expenses as well."
Eugene wanted Ellen at the Tower as soon as humanly possible.
"You're already covering my tuition. I couldn't possibly ask my master to take on our livelihood as well."
But Ellen was firm.
"If your will is that set, I suppose there's nothing for it. It's good to see you have a sense of independence."
Eugene's mouth stretched ear to ear at Ellen's use of the word master.
"Thank you for understanding my wishes."
"Right, then. Finish the Academy registration process. Leave everything else to your master here."
"Yes, understood."
Hearing that, Eugene beamed and headed into the lord's castle. Watching him go, Ellen found a fresh spark of anticipation for this new life. The thought that he was now the one using the very mage who had once driven him and his family into ruin for his own ends left a strange, complicated feeling.
Have things actually changed?
On the way home, Ellen's parents barely paused for breath. At first they had been dazed, but as time passed the reality of it began to sink in.
"Our Ellen must take after me, to be this clever."
"Well, looking at the way the boy always had his nose in a book, you could tell there was something there."
They had reacted much the same way in his previous life. Only then, the ending had been a bad one. This time, he wanted to protect those smiles of theirs all the way to the end.
Once they reached home, Ellen held a simple little celebration with his family, then went up to his room.
The impressive debut is done. Tuition problem solved. All that remains is the debt.
Out of habit, Ellen lay back on his bed and sank into thought.
Once I enter the Academy, contact with my parents will be cut off. I can use Eugene, of course, but I won't be at ease until the debt is paid off.
Once he was inside the Academy, his options for leaving its grounds would be extremely limited.
And even if I somehow clear the debt, there will still be problems once I'm in the Academy.
For now he was known as a genius with extraordinary mana affinity, but the moment he entered the Academy that fiction would fall apart. Aside from being able to omit incantations, his talent was not meaningfully different from what it had been in the past.
I'd be lucky if they don't start treating me as some rare constitution and putting me under experiment after experiment.
There was no question his body was unusual enough to set their research instincts alight.
To avoid that fate and still wield influence from Academy days onward, I have to solve the mana capacity problem somehow.
Ellen had a little over half a year before Academy enrollment. In that time, these problems had to be settled — no excuses.
After turning it over for a long while, one possibility surfaced.
Hameron's Dungeon!
Hameron. A great mage who never settled in one place, wandering the entire continent for the whole of his life. Many powers had sought him out, but he refused to stay anywhere. One of his signature achievements was creating the Hameron Breathing Method. He had released that technique to the Magic Towers, and thirty years later mages would train in a far more efficient way of gathering mana because of it.
Hameron isn't famous yet, so the dungeon won't even have a name.
His name would only begin to spread in earnest about five years from now — after he became the first to conquer a dungeon once thought impregnable. From then on, people would call it Hameron's Dungeon after its first conqueror.
Inside Hameron's Dungeon, true to its difficulty, lay countless treasures, each worth dozens of gold or more. There were also artifacts that would become famous once Hameron himself used them.
That place could solve both the debt and the mana problem.
Ellen raised a hand and looked at it. The body that could still manage no more than about three Light spells stared back at him.
First I need to make myself strong enough to at least protect my own hide. There's still time — the dungeon comes after that.
Then and there, Ellen began gathering mana through the Hameron Breathing Method.