The Depths of the Sewer Magic Tower
The Sewer Magic Tower.
It was a tower, just like any other. The only difference was that it rose downward instead of upward.
The underground of Guild City holds many things. Steam pipes, subways, a labyrinth of intertwined sewers, massive maintenance tunnels…
Solomon climbed down the emergency drainage ladder, heading straight into that abyss. The stench of the sewers. Yet it was different from the place he had visited when dealing with the creatures of the rat tower.
The rusted ladder stretched far longer, descending toward an even deeper bottom.
But the truly suspicious imagine even more beneath the city. Ancient ruins, writhing evil, beings that lurk in the depths, waiting for their time…
Thud!
How far had they descended? At last, Lord Bawry jumped from the end of the ladder. Solomon followed, planting both feet on the ground. Looking back up at the ladder they had descended, he saw a single ladder dangling precariously along a sheer cliff face.
…We must have come down several hundred meters.
When he turned around, he found himself in a majestically vast underground reservoir. Massive pillars that appeared to be surge tanks rose grandly here and there, standing in silent vigil like ancient ruins.
Lord Bawry spread both arms wide as he spoke. Basilica Cistern.
"……."
Solomon thought, utterly dumbfounded.
Isn’t this just an underground water tank…?
The air was damp and heavy with moisture. The sound of water droplets falling from who-knows-where echoed everywhere. Most came from the ceiling, but a few seemed to rise from beneath their feet.
Squeak. Squeak.
Right then, several rats scurried toward Solomon’s feet, squeaking. He stared at them in silence.
Lord Bawry spoke to the silent man.
"…What are you trying to say?"
"As you can see, you have talent for magic. No, it’s not just talent! What I’m saying is, it’s fucking overflowing! The real deal!"
"……."
Overflowing talent. Lord Bawry continued as he said it.
"What?"
An unexpected proposal. Solomon asked back in confusion.
"That question is exactly the same as asking, ‘You want me to become a fucking idiot mage?’ My heart is tearing apart just thinking about you being lumped in with those idiot morons! Or do you actually have some interest in idiot mages?"
"…No. I was the one who said something stupid."
"I can relate."
The master of the Sewer Magic Tower continued, denouncing his own tower and the underground mages beneath it more vehemently than anyone.
"Not really."
"……."
The reason for living is to leave behind proof of one’s life. Solomon didn’t agree, but he didn’t particularly deny it either.
Assigning a quest to one’s own life was ultimately one’s own responsibility.
Whatever quest the man before him had assigned to his own life, that was his business alone.
After all, Solomon himself was in the middle of completing countless life quests in order to fulfill the goal of survival.
"Which family?"
"……."
Solomon swallowed silently. He didn’t let his agitation show on the surface. He had expected something like this.
"I see."
"Should I be?"
Lord Bawry shrugged in amazement.
"Proof of life?"
Tap. Tap.Lord Bawry pointed at his cleanly shaved bald head.
"…It looks like it’s still perfectly intact and not taken from you at all."
"……."
Solomon didn’t answer immediately. He paused for a moment before asking back.
"Why me?"
Lord Bawry answered.
His roar echoed thunderously through the underground reservoir’s vast chamber.
Even after he finished shouting, the sound lingered as an endless echo that refused to fade.
"……."
"As I said—I am not a mage."
Solomon asked carefully.
"I’ve never received formal education, and I can’t even read grimoires. I just got lucky and picked up a few tricks."
"No matter what you’re expecting, I can’t guarantee I’ll live up to it."
Lord Bawry shrugged, as if deep in thought.
"……."
"Don’t tell me you were spying through the eyes of the Black Spirit?"
At those words, Solomon openly frowned.
"Did you give me that bracelet from the beginning just to spy on me?"
At that time, he had even used spells enhanced by the Veil Family’s unique bloodline traits. How much had the man before him—the very shadow mage of the Veil Family—noticed?
Tsk. So that’s why the back of my head felt cold.
Solomon bit his lip silently.
"Then how did you do it?"
Solomon bit his lip quietly, bitterly cursing his own carelessness.
Damn it.
He had severely underestimated what it meant that this city had countless eyes and ears.
"Why?"
In the world of mages, master and disciple are referred to as Godfather and Godchild.
"I never said I’d accept."
Solomon continued.
"You didn’t call me here for a request from the beginning. This conversation was your real goal, wasn’t it?"
Lord Bawry answered. His request.
"Then what will you promise me in return?"
Lord Bawry said.
"Why would you go that far?"
"……."
Proof of life. That was the quest he had assigned to his own existence. Leaving behind evidence that he had lived.
Before long, Lord Bawry was shouting again, veins bulging in his neck.
"……."
It was no longer mere shouting. It had become something close to a frenzy. For the first time, he revealed an agitation and rage unlike himself—a whirlwind of emotions with nowhere to go.
In the midst of it, Solomon saw it.
The shadow at his feet—at Lord Bawry’s feet—writhing like a living creature.
It was not just a shadow.
It was as if an ocean creature swimming beneath an endless sea was casting its shadow, as if a whale of absurd size was thrashing about. The entire area’s shadow was in a frenzy.
As though he carried an entire sea made of shadow beneath his feet…
Insight successful! Shadow Sea
Wait, why did insight succeed on this?
At that point, he couldn’t help but understand the level Lord Bawry had reached as a shadow mage. He also couldn’t deny that an opportunity offered by a mage of that caliber was extremely rare.
"I can’t give you an answer right away."
Even so, Solomon answered in front of Lord Bawry, who was still shouting in a near-frenzy. He wasn’t foolish enough to snatch up anything offered without thinking.
At those words, Lord Bawry suddenly smiled as if nothing had happened and turned to Solomon. Behind him, the writhing sea of shadow at his feet slowly settled.