The Seven Ascenders (1)

'Very well.'

With a sense that something extraordinary was about to unfold, I awakened the spirit of Dryas, the Fallen King of the Forest.

Goooooh!

Mana streamed out from the spirit stone in my hand, gathering in the empty air and tracing the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shape of Dryas into being.

Unlike before, the form was now steeped in green-tinted spirit energy.

Dryas, fortunately, bore me no hostility.

No—on the contrary, he seemed almost friendly.

"An eternal curse? What is that supposed to mean?"

[On the day I was to succeed the throne of Forest Spirit King, the being that attacked me laid this curse upon me.]

"So that's why you were trapped in this place?"

[That is so.]

What manner of being could it have been, to reduce someone as mighty as Dryas—who had been strong enough to inherit the Spirit King's throne—to such a state?

It was beyond my imagination. I couldn't help but think that only a Heavenly Dragon could possibly have managed such a feat.

[They were not.]

But contrary to my assumption, it hadn't been a Heavenly Dragon.

Then who?

[I do not know who it was. But of one thing I am certain: that being was not of the Sky Tower.]

Then, an Ascender?

Ascenders were the only beings capable of entering the Sky Tower from the outside.

But Dryas shook his head. Apparently not even that.

[It was something akin to an Irregular. It bent and shaped the laws of the Tower according to its own will. Before its power, I could do nothing but stand helpless.]

Hoo.

Before a secret history I had never heard anywhere else, I fell silent. An Irregular. Such a being actually existed?

Wondering if Aleon might know something, I stole a glance at him.

- …I have my suspicions, but I cannot say for certain.

Aleon, rare for him, looked uncomfortable.

A being that could put even the man once called the Grand Sage on edge. All the more mysterious, then.

I listened to the rest of his lament. Rage, despair, sorrow—even down to resignation. His voice carried the weight of emotions that had piled up across an eternity of time.

"So… what happens to you now?"

[My spirit energy is spent. Left as I am, I should have returned to nothingness. Yet for some reason, my original soul endures still. I take this as the will of the gods—that I am meant to meet that being again and settle my grudge. Ascender, would you lend your aid to the untying of my grievance?]

Under normal circumstances, I had my own problems up to my neck—who was supposed to be helping whom, exactly?

'—Or so I would have thought, anyway.'

But I sensed instinctively that this was my chance to take him on as my servant spirit.

"Very well. I will help you settle your grudge."

[My thanks.]

The moment his words ended, a magic circle inscribed with geometric glyphs appeared between us.

It was a language unlike runic script—something I had never seen before.

- That is the spirit tongue.

Thanks to Aleon, I learned it was the language of spirits—and, in turn, that this was the Spirit Contract being formed between us.

The instant I willed it so, two threads of white light branched out from the magic circle and connected themselves to Dryas's chest.

At the same moment, the spirit stone in my hand crumbled away, dissolving into motes of light.

'Huh.'

I stared at the message floating before my eyes with a dumbfounded expression.

'I don't even have the Spiritist trait, and I just picked up the Spirit Contract skill.'

Spirit Contract was a privilege reserved exclusively for those blessed with the exceedingly rare Spiritist trait.

And Dryas, fallen though he now was, had once been a highest-tier spirit. In all the Sky Tower, only a single person had ever contracted a spirit of such caliber.

'Sophie Dubois.'

She alone, one of the Seven Ascenders, had succeeded in binding a highest-tier spirit to her will.

And now I had followed in her footsteps, forming a contract with a highest-tier spirit of my own.

Without even possessing the Spiritist trait, no less.

All of it pointed to one undeniable truth: just how extraordinary my Sage trait truly was.

- However, Dryas has lost the vast majority of his power. Until it recovers, he will be no stronger than a low-tier spirit.

Right. That was why he'd been assessed at only 3-Star (★★★).

If I had contracted him at full strength, he would have been 9-Star (★★★★★★★★★) class.

And a 9-Star spirit could only be summoned upon reaching the 9th floor. He would have remained a pie in the sky until then—so the fact that I could summon him from the 3rd floor onward was a fair trade-off in the end.

Fwoooosh!

Dryas vanished amid a blaze of brilliant green light.

I confirmed that Spirit Contract had been added to my skill list.

'Magnificent.'

A contented smile crept across my face.

"Now, then."

Before leaving the Tower—

I should claim my perk skill first, shouldn't I?

Flaaaare!

A small tree shimmered into being before my eyes like a hologram.

Yggdrasil.

Then, waves of golden light began to ripple through the air before me—the leaves of Yggdrasil.

Just as before, they began to slowly orbit around my body in orderly procession.

'Sage's Sight.'

The moment I activated Sage's Sight, the emblems engraved on the backs of the leaves came into view.

Angels, demonkin, dragons, spirits, staves, swords, tomes, mountains, seas, castles, and more.

Before the countless emblems, I reached out without a moment's hesitation.

This was the perk skill that had been flickering at the edge of my vision ever since I saw it at level 5.

'I might as well grab this one first.'

With my choice made, knowledge of the selected perk skill began to flood into my mind.

Fwah!

Stepping out of the exit portal, I beheld the Forest of the Labyrinth utterly transformed from what it had been before.

The maze-like walls were gone, replaced by flowers of every color spilling their sweet fragrance into the air.

'Ah!'

I realized at once—this change had come about because the Forest of the Labyrinth had become the Forest Garden.

'Not bad.'

Which meant I had brought about this change with my own two hands.

A swell of pride bubbled up from somewhere deep in my chest.

And right at that moment—

a system message arrived, one beat too late.

Three level-ups in one go.

A single dungeon clear had catapulted me from level 11 straight to level 14. Anyone who heard that out of context would've told me to stop spouting nonsense.

'One more level and I hit 15.'

The level at which I'd earn another perk skill.

Anticipation was already soaking into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my bones.

And how could it not? One look at the perk skill I'd just selected, and even the anticipation I didn't know I had came surging up.

'Ha.'

Dragons.

A perk skill that would let me wield the power of that most majestic of races.

At the very name dragon, my heart trembled beyond all restraint.

'The 100 Magic stat requirement is a shame, though.'

But a perk skill this overwhelming was bound to come with a restriction. That much made sense.

What, because my magic growth is trash, the 100 Magic stat requirement is too steep for me?

Still, I could understand it. Dragons were the strongest, most fearsome race of all Pangaea, after all.

And the 100 Magic stat mark wasn't quite the despair-inducing wall it might have seemed. Because—

'Bonus stats count toward it too, right?'

- Yes. That is correct. Had it demanded a pure Magic stat of 100, you would never have been able to wield this perk skill.

Given my manure-poor magic growth rate, Ellaon was right.

But with bonus stats factored in, the picture changed entirely.

The Magic boost from the Sage's Tome and the Sage's Robe. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The Sage's Staff I would acquire in the future, on top of that.

With each tier upgrade would come ever greater magic gains, and the day I blew past a 100 Magic stat would arrive sooner rather than later.

'On top of that, I should start hunting down more gear that grants bonus magic in advance.'

Just as I sank into thought for a moment—

an unpleasant surge of mana pressed in from beside me.

Zeeeeeng!

'What the—?'

When I frowned and turned my head sideways, I found a familiar face grinning wide at me.

"Found you. Mask."

'That bastard—!'

It was the toad-faced man of Tiamut.

Shwaak—!

He thrust his hand toward me without warning. Lightning-fast.

KA-RAAAANG!!

His hand collided with the Forest Ward, scattering blue sparks of mana in every direction.

"Well, well?"

As his strike was stopped cold, a crooked smile spread across his face. Apparently he'd expected to subdue me in a single move.

'Strong.'

I backed away, fixing him with a long, hard stare—and a level materialized above his head.

[Lv 71]

[Shin Myeong-jun]

'Level 71.'

I'd checked it before, but seeing it again, it was still a dizzyingly high number.

Gripping my Forest Guardian Staff in a combat stance, I aimed it at the man. And he let out a snickering laugh.

"Don't get cocky. It'd be in your best interest to come along quietly."

He drawled on, sneering.

"Fine. I'll give you one chance. Kneel here and now, of your own accord, and I promise no further harm will come to that body of yours."

This son of a bitch.

The more I looked at him, the filthier I felt. Was he seriously the one who attacked me out of nowhere just now?

Okay, fine. I'll grant that wearing the Hahoe Mask and clashing with Tiamut at the Black Hand auction house gave him cause.

But when I flat-out ignored him, his eyebrows twitched.

Yeah, I get it, you're level 71. So what? What are you going to do about it on the 2nd floor?

Bound by the Tower's restrictions, he could only exert the strength of a level 20.

'Which is another way of saying—'

right here, right now, I was stronger than he was.

'Sage's Aura.'

HWAAAAAAAH.

A golden aura ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blossomed from my body.

'Sage's Sight.'

Red points of light shone through his frame.

Was it because his level was fundamentally higher? The red points were extremely few, and small in size.

But—

seeing them was all I needed.

With my level of mana control, they were more than enough to strike.

"Now I'll be the one placing you under restriction. Back off quietly, and I guarantee not a hair on your head gets touched."

"You little—"

The toad-faced man bristled at my words and opened his mouth—

but his sentence never finished. Because a Fireball conjured from the Forest Guardian Staff was already screaming toward him.

"A measly Fireball—!"

He thrust his hand out to meet it head-on. Blue light gathered in his palm—some kind of defensive skill, by the look of it.

Buddy, trying to block my Fireball like that is going to end very, very badly for you.

Even Sage's Aura + Sage's Sight + Mythic-grade Fireball alone had shown destructive power beyond its tier.

And right now, the damage amplification of a Legendary-grade staff was stacked on top of that.

"Wha—"

Perhaps sensing too late that something was wrong, he scrambled to pull his hand back.

Too late.

FLASH.

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG—!

A colossal flame demon swallowed him whole.

"GRAAAAAGH!"

His scream of agony rang out from within the inferno.

"Lord Daeju!!"

"ATTACK!!"

From far across the clearing, the Tiamut operatives who had encircled me all lunged at once.

I had known they were there since the moment the toad-faced man ambushed me.

I'd expected them to charge, too.

"Good. I'll roast every last one of you."

Curling my lips into a smirk, I aimed my staff at the Tiamut Ascender leading the charge.

"Fireball."

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG—!!

Another colossal emerald flame demon erupted across the field.

And that sight—

was witnessed in real time by the countless people gathered nearby, and the rumors began to spread at that very moment.