I Get Lonely Easily (2)
I Get Lonely Easily (2)
Once I entered the Tower of Knowledge, my days quickly settled into a steady routine.
Roughly half of each day was spent with Lady Ariel.
She supplemented my foundational knowledge, which—thorough as I'd believed it was—apparently still fell short in her eyes.
And she even instructed me in magic I hadn't been able to touch before.
Spells that had seemed impossible whether I'd been bashing my head against them alone or racking my brain during magic lectures.
But with Lady Ariel's guidance, the pace became remarkably smooth, as if I'd caught a fair wind.
"When your foundation is solidly laid, building upon it becomes smooth as well."
On the third day, she even praised me, saying my fundamentals were well established.
After Professor Liana taught me the fundamentals of mana and magic,
there had been times when a temptation whispered: you have neither the margin nor the time, so why not skip ahead and just muddle through on instinct?
Overcoming that urge and diligently studying each piece one by one had been worthwhile.
Thanks to that, I could now cut down on the time spent relearning the basics from scratch.
Since my time in the Tower of Knowledge was already strictly limited, being able to save that time instantly brightened my expression.
[Eheheh...]
I also liked the hand that stroked my head.
After days of loneliness, the touch resting on my head lifted my mood even more.
So half the day—around twelve hours—I stayed right at Lady Ariel's side.
We'd sit across from each other at the table on the first floor, or I'd study beside her.
Sometimes I'd go to the practice room to demonstrate magic before Lady Ariel, and I'd observe those demonstrations with my qi sense.
As a result, my magical skill shot up so fast that even "improving by leaps and bounds" felt like an understatement.
A full smile spread across my face at the growth I could so clearly feel day after day.
Considering who my teacher was, it was only to be expected.
The Tower Master of Knowledge herself was personally devoting half her day to teaching me with painstaking sincerity.
Even a total dullard would show clear results if she taught them directly.
If someone like me, whose talent isn't exactly lacking, failed to show obvious improvement, then the problem would be my own attitude—and I'd deserve to bash my head on the floor and die.
The other half of the day was time for solo practice.
Lady Ariel would sit at the table on the first floor and quietly close her eyes for half the day. I hadn't asked why, but whenever she did, the tower's mana currents shifted, so she was probably handling tower-related tasks.
During that time, Lady Ariel wanted me to use the hours for a brief rest or to review what I'd learned.
So I spent that time reviewing and previewing.
.
.
.
Once a session of instruction ended,
I would sit quietly beside Lady Ariel and spend time going back over the day's lessons.
Her teaching was so superb that understanding came easily, but I couldn't yet claim to have fully absorbed it.
So for an hour or two, I'd replay the day's instruction over and over, digesting it until it truly became mine.
Once I felt I'd absorbed it reasonably well, I'd head upstairs and lose myself in various books.
The Tower of Knowledge was overflowing with books.
Books formed of authority filled the place without any sorting by genre, but the magic text collection was especially vast and diverse.
From the most rudimentary beginner magic books—no longer necessary for me to read—to advanced tomes that, at my current level, were a struggle even to interpret.
Materials that would be difficult to find outside were strewn everywhere in abundance.
To put it bluntly, even if I were locked in here for a month without Lady Ariel's direct teaching, I'd still emerge with substantial results.
'...Slow.'
The downside was the slowness.
These weren't ordinary books but clumps of information formed from authority, so I couldn't simply sweep them up with Observation and store them away.
If they were normal books, I'd have quickly saved them via Observation and already be reviewing them repeatedly.
I had to pull out each book, open it, and only after the pages turned readable could I scan them with Observation and commit them to memory.
One thorough read first, then I'd channel mana into the book and receive the information.
I compared what I'd read carefully against the information I received.
Discrepancies inevitably appeared.
Whether my reading was correct or the book's information was correct, I'd analyze each one, comparing them.
After repeating that about four or five times, I'd pull out the next book.
The process took time.
That was only natural.
In terms of Observation and information acquisition, it was actually far faster than normal reading.
But for someone who, back at Siyoram, had been reading books through Observation even while asleep, the pace was unbearably frustrating.
I'd insisted on keeping "human-like habits" by physically turning pages for books I read directly, but the moment I read at a truly ordinary speed, it felt so suffocating it made my whole body itch.
- Even accounting for Growth Boost, the rate of growth is remarkable.
After entering the Tower of Knowledge,
my growth rate was fast enough to astonish even Lady Ariel, who normally expressed her emotions very stiffly.
One reason for that, she told me, was that the path I was walking closely resembled the one she herself had once trod.
The essence of magic is the materialization of phenomena by weaving mana into formulas.
How those formulas are constructed ultimately varies depending on the manifester.
There are standard formulas recorded by the Magic Council—the kind you could call the "meta" originals—but
on a micro level, each user gradually refines them,
and some forces, like whole families, may even tear apart the formulas and rebuild them into their own unique style, sublimating them.
In other words, once you delve deeply enough into magic, your individual character inevitably seeps into it.
Taking myself as an example: my style revolves around boosting intuitive magical output by focusing on mana purity.
In that process, unlike the intuitive result, the formulas become more complex,
and the strain on the manifester along with the risk of rampage multiplies several times over... but since I can control it, it's no problem.
Magic that is intuitive, straightforward, and yet has decent output—magic favored in combat.
For Lady Ariel, who once wandered the world during the Chaos Period, such spells were ingrained in her bones.
Thanks to that, I could efficiently receive answers from her that would have otherwise required considerable trial and error to obtain.
Compared to my laughably meager magical knowledge of less than a year, the sheer breadth of magical insight she'd accumulated over a hundred-odd years was on an entirely different plane—I'd been admiring it without even realizing it.
I found myself newly aware that the figure before me was a historical great who had played a major role in the axis of history.
At that point, a look of faint discomfort flickered across Lady Ariel's face, but...
Either way, Lady Ariel had once pursued a similar style in the past, and there were points where our approaches overlapped.
"It would be unwise to be overconfident, but I believe I may be able to pass down my own Unique Magic Path to you within the time limit."
Unique Magic Path.
Just as certain martial arts possess innate talent and can be recognized as unique abilities or expansion abilities,
magic, too, can be acknowledged as a unique ability when one attains such innate talent.
There's a tradition among magic users to refer to those who have achieved such innate talent not as "wizards" but as "mages."
A title honoring those who do not merely retread the paths others have walked, but pioneer their own unique way—so the culture goes.
Whatever the case, Lady Ariel's words were more than enough to ignite my motivation.
The Unique Magic Path of the Tower Master of Knowledge herself.
Especially after seeing it demonstrated right before my eyes, I fiercely longed to master it and leave this place with it.
That was why I had to put in the effort.
Even Lady Ariel had been uncertain, saying she didn't know whether I could master it before leaving.
If my own shortcomings or insufficient effort caused me to fail to learn it, and later that led to a serious mistake... I'd end up hating myself so much.
So I was pouring in my utmost effort, but... honestly, I still wasn't satisfied.
It felt stifling, as if my perfectly functional limbs were bound.
Because of that, I couldn't help but resent the time spent sleeping.
This was a place I might not be able to reenter for who knew how long once I left.
To be told to spend such precious time on something as utterly trivial as sleep, which mattered little whether I had it or not...
So I stopped sleeping and just read books during that time.
With my free time expanded, I felt the tiniest bit more at ease.
I also had no sense of taste, so I didn't need to bother with meals.
I'd just munch on a calorie bar I'd stashed in my subspace, finish eating in ten seconds, and get back to reading.
Cutting away the unnecessary like that and wholly devoting myself to training made me feel strangely buoyant.
Absorbed, I guess you could call it.
My consciousness shrank, as if my focus was sharpening to a single point.
The truth was, the reason I was cutting everything else away to immerse myself in training like this
might have been to soothe the loneliness and impatience that kept settling over my heart.
Not much time had passed, and I was already homesick—it felt pathetic of me. But when I sensed the Calamity Flame drooping like a puppy caught in the rain, I couldn't deny the feeling.
'Besides... if I fall asleep, I feel like I'll have nightmares.'
Nightmares.
In the past, they'd appeared practically once per day, but lately the word had barely been relevant.
On my first day in the Tower of Knowledge, the instant I'd settled onto the bed, I'd realized:
Ah, if I fall asleep now, I'll have nightmares.
Maybe it was intuition, or maybe delusion.
But the omen that had crawled up from my backside to my head along with the soft mattress's touch had been real.
I had no desire to have nightmares.
- Clack.
The infusion of information ended.
After briefly closing my eyes to confirm the contents, I slid the book in my hands back into its original place.
Then I wiped the nosebleed trickling down my philtrum and went down to the practice room.
.
.
.
When I felt I'd done enough, I'd go down to the practice room and experiment with magic until every drop of mana in my body was exhausted.
- Craaaaash!
The practice room had familiars for magic testing... I could freely draw and command the golems that were scattered all over the Floating Island.
Setting them up like targets and testing various spells drained my mana rapidly.
Since my mana reserves were so vast, it took some time to drain them completely.
After pouring out one barrage of magic, I let out a heavy breath and flexed my fingers.
My mana circuits, having pumped out mana without rest, cried out in fatigue, and I felt a hollow ache from the scraped bottom of my core.
I could easily restore my mana via Mana Absorption, but I refrained from using it in order to cultivate my recovery ability.
Originally, I'd have experimented with techniques from the 5th Iteration as well, but... after receiving both Lady Ariel's concerns and her pointed remarks, I'd been holding myself back.
There was no need—bluntly put—to complete them right now.
I could further improve my mana control and do it later just fine.
I shook out my throbbing arms, plopped down roughly onto the ruined floor, and quietly meditated.
My body might not need sleep, but my mind was as frail as ever and complained of various fatigues.
Still, I didn't want to half-resolve them by having nightmares, so I made do with a sort of meditation-cum-review.
- The curses applied to you, Lee Ha-yul, total three. Two were imposed by those that invaded. And... the remaining one is a curse you, Lee Ha-yul, were born with.
Meditation, originally, should be about stilling thought and seeking peace of mind.
But perhaps because I was still unskilled, all sorts of thoughts kept popping into my head.
Along with them, many derivative thoughts branched out.
I furrowed my brow at the thoughts pointlessly agitating my heart.
After wiping my philtrum again, I stilled my mind once more.
'Huh?'
I tried to still it.
I attempted meditation as usual, but my Observation picked up information different from the ordinary.
- Clack, clack.
Footsteps reached my ears. The soft, light footfalls drew closer.
Though golems sometimes roamed the Tower of Knowledge, they never produced such light sounds.
[Lady Ariel?]
It was Lady Ariel who had opened the practice room door and entered.
Her clear, white eyes looked down at me intently.
'??'
A question mark followed in my mind.
Leaving aside that this was the hour she was supposed to be managing the tower—
For some reason, her clothes were slightly disheveled.
The front opening, normally securely covered, was fully exposed.
Which meant certain rather embarrassing areas were currently on display.
Had she tossed and turned vigorously in her sleep or something?
'...She's lived alone so long, she might not think much of things like this.'
It struck me as a plausible enough notion.
Embarrassing area or not, there'd need to be someone to see it in order for any feeling to arise.
Hadn't she, after all, been by herself for a very long time?
She might well have grown indifferent to such matters.
[Um...]
Still, now that I was here sharing the space with her, just letting it go felt a bit wrong.
So I was about to point out that her front had come loose, when—
"If I may briefly impose."
So saying, Lady Ariel approached with light steps and, without preamble, reached out and lifted me straight up.
[Huh?]
At the sudden floating sensation wrapping my body, my mouth opened and closed.
In the center of the first floor,
Lady Ariel settled her hips into the chair she always occupied, and then sat me on her lap.
[Hic?]
In that instant, the soft flesh pressing against my body made me flinch.
Softness—a large, plush mass brushed my face.
[W-Wait a moment.]
At her sudden action, I squirmed.
But my struggling was gently restrained as she wrapped her arms around my back and waist, pressing my head down.
"I am aware that rest may be achieved through various means according to the individual, but you, Lee Ha-yul, currently seem unable to obtain any true rest at all."
The bare flesh valley, revealed with her front undone, enfolded my face snugly.
The warmth and touch I hadn't felt for nearly ten days made my body tremble.
My frame, which had gone rigid the instant I was held, slowly melted under the soft support.
"True training should always be accompanied by stability of mind and body. I cannot wholeheartedly recommend a method of driving oneself blindly onward."
Looking down at me as I gradually melted in her embrace, Lady Ariel carefully placed a hand atop my head and gently stroked down.
The hand that had been petting my hair slid smoothly down my face.
"...Manifest."
Soon, slender fingers rubbed the bridge of my nose.
And the moment Lady Ariel murmured something in a voice laden with mana,
a subtle energy from the tower settled into my body.
'Huh?'
My body instantly grew warm.
Along with the sensation of emptiness being filled, my mind floated upward.
- ...Sniff sniff?
Simultaneously, my nose twitched on its own.
My body gave a start at the faint stimuli tickling my long-barren nasal passages.
The scent of old books and the scent of new books, which I'd only imagined in my head.
The crisp, cool smell unique to a chilly space.
The scent of dyes, a mix of inks and pigments.
Scents so faint they were hard even to notice, all overwhelmingly crushed beneath the sweet and nutty fragrance wafting softly right before my nose...
"I beg you, please accept my insistence just this once. Even if only for a while, kindly rest and sleep peacefully in my arms."
Soon the hand that had been rubbing the bridge of my nose came to rest atop my head.
"Though this body is unworthy and not to be relied upon, in this moment I dare swear an absolute promise. No one shall threaten you, Lee Ha-yul, while you rest in my embrace."
That hand pressed my head down as if to bury my face in her bosom, but even before that, I ducked my head myself and buried my nose between the mounds.
I stretched out both arms and hugged her slender waist tightly, pressing the voluptuous chest firmly against my face.
"Hnn... Hoo, hoooh..."
As I drew a deep breath, the milky scent, richer than before, filled my nasal passages completely.
- Sniff sniff...
I didn't know what was going on.
But I did recognize that my tautly-stretched mind was drifting away in that deep, milky scent.
And that a hand was patting my fatigue-soaked body, and from the voice resonating above my head, I felt comfort and trustworthiness.
The loneliness and pressure that had long been lodged in a corner of my heart crumpled.
In their place, the sweet fragrance, the gentle warmth, the tender touch settled in.
Those sincere emotions made my heart melt into a dazed smile.
'...Sleepy.'
My consciousness gradually submerged.
It always did, but this time I didn't force it to surface.
Yielding to the desire for sleep, I burrowed deeper into Lady Ariel's embrace.
In the hands that soothed me as if affirming my action, I quietly let my awareness sink.
I didn't have any nightmares.
* * *
[「Tower Master of Knowledge」 is interfering]
[...@#@$]
[「Curse of Solitude」 is conditionally weakened (Ariel Segnis Ternovsia, sense of smell, temporary)]
...
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Ariel Segnis Ternovsia
●●●●●○○○○○(51/100)
「Tower Master of Knowledge」 「Magic Council Head」 「Complicated」 「Confusion」 「Question」 「Doubt」 「Gratitude」 「Normal person?」
▽Change▽
Lee Ha-yul → Ariel Segnis Ternovsia
●●●●●●●○○○(51▷70/100)
「Tower Master of Knowledge」 「Magic Council Head」 「M?lk」 「Complicated」 「Confusion」 「Question」 「Trustworthy」 「Gratitude」