Floating Island (2)
Floating Island (2)
- Clank! Clank! Clank!
'Ugh...'
Perched atop my staff, I surveyed the ground with a look of pure disgust.
Dirt and green vegetation are hard to come by on the floating island's surface.
This island is an artificial construct on a scale exceeding even Siyoram, so the material is fundamentally different.
- Boom! Boom! Boom!
Across that ground, Golems packed the space as thick as bean sprouts in a steamer basket.
With their mana gleams burning, the Golems maintained orderly formations as they pursued me relentlessly.
'How long are they going to keep multiplying?'
Back when I first faced the Golems,
I'd gone so far as to use hand seals, indiscriminately pouring out magic and grinding down even the Golems trying to reform with my bombardment.
But no matter how many I cleared away, new Golems kept popping up from the ground right after.
'There are way too many.'
Not just the hundreds I initially faced — the sheer number cramming every inch of the ground made me recoil.
- Crunch, clank!
A gauntleted arm shot up from the ground and planted itself against the surface.
Like pulling a body free from mud, a Golem surged upward and seamlessly joined the pursuing ranks.
'The material is identical to the ground. They're being manufactured in real time.'
No matter how many I smashed, they just kept multiplying.
After grappling for roughly an hour,
I concluded I'd only end up pinned down at this rate, so I made the tactical decision to flee.
The floating island was more than vast enough.
Everywhere I went, Golems standing guard picked up the chase and merged in,
while more Golems kept sprouting from the floor to latch onto my tail.
The result was this massive chase spectacle.
- Boom!
Then it happened.
A unit of Golems simultaneously stomped the ground hard and stopped.
Then, as if in a single motion, every one of them drew its hand back.
Crrrrk...! As magic manifested, complex lines of mana raced across the weapon clutched in its grip.
An instant later, they hurled those weapons with tremendous force.
- Shwooooosh!
A complex trail of sounds split the wind.
Watching the trajectories of countless weapons soaring into the sky, I swung my hand.
- Grrrrroooom...
A ray discharged with a heavy reverberation.
The straight-line beam shot out and struck down the incoming attacks.
I then swept the unrelenting beam sideways, slicing through the Golems' ankles.
Boom-boom-boom! Golems whose ankles had been severed in an instant tumbled across the ground.
Behind them, some Golems tripped and fell over them, but most simply ignored the obstacle and continued the pursuit.
I observed the magic manifesting.
I wove hand seals and wrapped myself in dozens of layers of defensive barriers.
- Craaack!
The barriers crumpled miserably under the closing pressure.
The sound of them being crumpled and torn from the outside was chilling.
'What is this? Spatial magic? Or wind magic?'
The harassment wasn't just from the Golems — it was coming from the floating island itself.
Typical examples were the dispel magic that had been trying to slam me into the ground since earlier, and the attack magic targeting me directly like just now.
I swiftly cleared away the shattered barriers and cast new ones.
While intercepting the attacks flying up from below, I stalled for time.
'Hmm...'
I lingered there a moment, checking the swelling ranks of Golems and the floating island's periodic harassment, then fell into thought.
'They're definitely going easy on me.'
The Golems, and this floating island... the Tower Master of Knowledge is most likely taking it easy on me.
I observed the magic formulas inscribed on the Golems.
I observed and recorded everything in my mind — their bodies and armor, their materials and components, the inscribed formulas.
There were things I couldn't comprehend too.
There were advanced techniques that my current level couldn't even begin to interpret,
and magic whose functions I could at least identify, even if I couldn't fully interpret them.
One thing was certain: the Golems right now aren't using their full capabilities.
They've placed limits on their functions and are going easy on me.
It was strange.
There was no way Golems made by the Tower Master of Knowledge could be this shoddy.
The Golems I fought in the original work weren't this weak.
Of course, the 11th Iteration reduced them to dust in chunks with a mere flick of his forehead, but still.
It was strange that my current sloppily fired magic was tearing them to shreds.
The same went for the floating island.
'This floating island is the Tower Master of Knowledge's workshop.'
A workshop.
A domain that a mage stains with their own color.
It's a fact I hadn't discovered in the original work, but I figured it out now by observing the entire floating island.
This island is made of magic.
The ground consists of metal and stone, but those are objects the Tower Master of Knowledge materialized through magic.
Furthermore, beneath the surface, complex three-dimensional formulas are inscribed with not even a hair's breadth of gap.
It was magic so far beyond my level I couldn't even guess at it — magic for which the word "madness" felt fitting.
All of it is the Tower Master of Knowledge's magic.
Designed by a Tower Master, built by a Tower Master for their own use.
This place might as well be the Tower Master of Knowledge's workshop.
And the fact that I could run my shoddy magic without significant issue was proof that the Tower Master was going easy on me.
'Huh...'
An island of this scale is a workshop... and floating in the sky, at that?
For me, it stopped at simply amazing and exhausting,
but if someone infatuated with magic witnessed this, they might just faint.
I was even curious what kind of reaction Baize would have later, when I show him — since he'll eventually handle orthodox magic.
'The Tower Master of Knowledge... maybe isn't as much of a lunatic as I thought?'
Of course, there were still suspicious actions, but it didn't seem like their sole ulterior motive was to turn me into a hotteok.
If their genuine aim was to kill me, what would have rained down wouldn't be shoddy Golem punches but a carpet bombardment of magic.
'Should I head to the Tower of Knowledge like this? Or should I train a bit more first...'
I turned the thought over for a moment.
Realizing the Tower Master of Knowledge was taking it easy on me did settle that strange sense of crisis somewhat.
'...Should I push a little longer before going?'
The conclusion came quickly.
My condition was still fine for heading to the Tower of Knowledge.
My limbs weren't torn to the point of being beyond healing, and my core hadn't necrotized.
I wasn't particularly exhausted either, so I figured I should push my body and mind a bit further.
This is training I came to do alone, leaving Seo-yul behind as it is.
If I don't achieve clear results, I won't be able to face her.
With that resolve, I sprang off the staff I'd been sitting on.
- Fwooosh...!
The sensation supporting my rear vanished, and a dizzying free-fall swallowed my whole body.
My clothes and hair fluttered in the rough wind.
Thwack — I gripped the staff tight with both hands and raised it high over my head.
The staff in my grip trembled violently, as though about to snap.
'Hardening.'
Crrrrk... Lines of mana streaked vividly across the staff.
The uneasy vibration stopped.
I manifested more magic in succession.
'Shock Wave, Earth Flow Crushing Strike, Diffusion...'
I overlaid new formulas onto the staff.
This wasn't an expansion ability.
I was simply cramming multiple magics into the staff as a temporary measure.
This would drastically shorten the staff's lifespan, but that didn't matter since I planned to ditch it soon anyway.
My body fell vertically.
Plummeting toward the center of the Golem formation that had been chasing me from below, I swung the staff down with all my strength.
- Craaaaaash!
The moment the staff struck and crunched apart, the formulas detonated.
The shock wave radiated in all directions, and the ground surged like a wave.
My ears rang from the instant explosion.
- Grrrrr...
The powerful shock wave staggered the formation, and Golems toppled onto the undulating ground one after another.
[Executing Suppression Command]
Despite the disruption, some Golems still charged in.
A Golem clad in already-heavy armor surged forward, leading with a massive shield.
Feeling the pressure as though a building were bearing down on me, I discarded the wrecked staff and subtly extended one hand.
'Hoo...'
I sharpened my focus to a razor's edge.
I couldn't afford a single mistake.
Carefully, I manipulated my mana.
Kiiigik... My outstretched hand twitched.
My circuits twisted, and it felt like my hand would twist along with them and snap off.
I Harmonized it.
I had practiced this secretly a number of times already.
At first, my hand was severed, but now I could regulate it.
I left the circuits that shouldn't be twisted alone, and forcibly twisted only the ones that needed to be manipulated.
I jammed them tight so the mana couldn't circulate anywhere.
- Grrrrg...
The surface of my arm bulged and roiled as if boiling lava were churning beneath it.
My pure-white skin instantly flared red and swelled, then flushed violet and contracted.
It was the internal backlash reaction.
'Urgh...'
Trapped inside and forced backward, the mana rampaged through my arm with nowhere to go.
I gritted my teeth and flung open one side of the blocked circuit all at once.
The mana, which had been raging without relent, shot out in an instant through the opening that had suddenly appeared.
- Craaaaaaash!
For a moment, my eardrums shrieked.
Then sound vanished entirely.
The torrent of mana discharged from my extended right arm swept over the Golem, erasing its form without even a trace.
The torrent didn't stop there — other Golems caught in its path met similar fates.
And so, the stretch where the torrent had swept through was left with nothing.
All that remained was empty ground, as if a huge spoon had scooped out a chunk of it.
[......]
[......]
[......]
The Golems too seemed to realize that the power far exceeded their expectations, as their mana gleams flickered unsteadily while they stared at me.
'So the 5th Iteration used this like breathing...'
Amidst all this,
I observed the limp state of my right arm and clicked my tongue.
The special perk the 5th Iteration selected was the unique ability "Mana Manipulation."
In some ways, it's a simple and plain unique ability,
but in that iteration, after it later evolved into "Advanced Mana Manipulation," there was no one who could match them in the manipulation of mana.
'Mana Affinity and Mana Manipulation...'
Both grant immense correction when it comes to mana, but their directions are slightly different.
If I had to split hairs, Mana Affinity is the higher-ranking ability, but Mana Manipulation isn't something to scoff at either.
Mana Affinity is an all-encompassing unique ability for mana —
changing the properties of mana, dominating and interfering with mana of other properties, and generally receiving correction for any phenomena caused by mana.
But Mana Manipulation, as the name suggests, is a unique ability focused solely on "manipulation."
It can't pull off feats like easily subjugating mana or instantly interfering with another entity's mana dominion the way Mana Affinity can.
But in handling "one's own mana" — over which dominion has been established — it excelled.
Still, the sheer accumulation of years and experience is different to begin with.
Easily mimicking the 5th Iteration's absurd feats would be a greedy thought.
'But I've gotten the feel for it. I'll improve with continued practice.'
At first, my arm split in two.
Later, just releasing mana was enough to make my arm fall off.
Now, though, it ends at a bit of injury.
With more practice, I should be able to handle it skillfully and turn it into a fairly decent card to play.
'Alright...'
And right nearby I had plenty of sandbags that were taking it easy on me.
I nodded, healing my right arm with that thought in mind.
Then, from the formation of Golems that had been standing around awkwardly, one Golem came clanking and clattering toward me.
'Huh?'
I was about to smash it the moment it approached, but its demeanor was strange.
A mana gleam trembling faintly.
Then the Golem that had drawn close abruptly knelt on one knee and bowed its head low.
[Th-The trial is over.]
[Please do no further harm to your own body.]
[We will escort you to the Tower.]
'?'
A question mark instantly floated over my head.
'What's this bastard up to?'
Without realizing it, my mouth opened and closed as I activated the Confession Necklace.
[...You hit me first, remember?]
[...We will escort you.]
The Golem... or its master beyond it, fell silent and quietly turned around.
'Seriously, what's this bastard up to?'
The Tower Master of Knowledge might actually be an outlandish lunatic after all.
With a dumbfounded expression, I healed my limp right arm and followed behind.
* * *
[Your Unique Ability 「Mana Affinity」 grows.]
[The Tower Master of Knowledge recoils in shock.]
[Ah$ how could$% why...! ]
[The Tower Master of Growth sends jeers.]
[The Tower Master of Harmonization sends jeers.]