Chapter 514: Interrogation
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 514: Interrogation
You record what you’ve studied, organize it, and then review it.
It’s the most basic of basics.
And in that regard, magic is no different.
However, there is one distinction: a mage records every last bit of the magic they've learned and the knowledge related to it in their astral.
If you were to ask why the astral and not the frontal lobe, the reason is simple.
It’s not a process that occurs by the mage’s own will.
Among the information unconsciously entered into the brain, only that which is related to magic passes through a sophisticated filter and is transmitted to the astral.
For a mage to even become aware of this process, they need to reach at least the 5th Circle.
In other words, until then, the records simply pile up without any proper organization.
And a lack of organization inevitably meant things would get messy.
If you were to mix together hundreds of theses, all the corresponding magical knowledge, and a vast collection of magic formulas, it would obviously be a bigger mess than any junkyard.
Even if there were no immediate problems, a mage must repeat complex calculations in 0.001-second intervals. Eventually, that vast, unorganized knowledge would put a strain on their brain.
That’s why, in order to ascend to the 6th Circle, it was necessary to do as the Tower Lord said: directly interfere with the astral and organize all the accumulated magic and knowledge according to one’s own set of rules.
Rumble—
A blue planet the size of Venus drifted through space.
Trailing behind it were asteroids of various sizes, some slightly larger than the moon, others smaller.
Click—
With the sound of something locking into place, the planet stopped as if fixed in its position.
Only after confirming this did I let out the breath I’d been holding and collapse backward.
Thud—
“Hah, hah, hah…!!”
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been pushed this far physically.
And for two days in a row, no less.
It wasn’t just my lungs and heart; it felt as if someone were wringing out every muscle in my body like a wet rag.
Experiencing such a physiological reaction while in a spiritual state was a contradiction in itself.
But it didn’t take long for me to realize that it wasn’t my body that was exhausted, but my soul.
Like a tire that had been overused, my soul had just given out.
The primary contributor to this state was none other than the ‘True Word’.
‘Gasp, hah…!! This skill…!! Hah, hah…!! The… the efficiency is absolute shit…!!’
The outline of my soul had become noticeably faint.
As a result, the erosion from the astral began to grow stronger.
Smack!
I slapped away the corruption creeping up my right arm, driving it back.
It was a sort of technique I’d naturally picked up after spending so much time in my spiritual form.
But this, too, was nothing more than a temporary fix.
As long as I didn’t leave the astral, the erosion would continue to intensify.
I had already shown a weakness.
I forced my trembling body up and sat in the lotus position.
Meditation was the only way to recover even a little bit of strength in this spiritual state.
‘Hoo… Haa…’
Inhale and exhale.
I drew in the natural mana and breathed out only the impurities within it.
You might ask how it’s possible to breathe in space, but you must never be deceived by what you see.
This wasn’t outer space, but the landscape of my own mind.
˙
˙
˙
How much time had passed?
After confirming that my condition had improved, I slowly opened my eyes.
Of course, “improved” didn’t mean I was fully recovered.
It was more like I was now able to cling to life.
The aftereffects of using the True Word were more severe than I could have imagined.
I focused on the scene before me.
There, seven planets, dozens of dwarf planets, and hundreds of asteroids of all sizes were gathered together.
It was a magnificent sight you could never witness in the real universe.
For reference, the seven planets represented the seven elements I wielded.
The red planet was the fire element.
The yellow planet was the lightning element.
The blue planet was the water element.
The brown planet was the earth element.
The green planet was the wind element.
The white planet was the light element.
The black planet was the dark element.
The reason the planets varied in size was due to my differing levels of proficiency with each element.
The other dwarf planets and asteroids were the magical knowledge I had acquired.
Well, I didn’t need to worry too much about those.
As long as the planets (elements) were properly set in place, the rest would move on their own.
‘…Now I get why the Tower Lord called me insane.’
A person who hated repeating themselves had repeatedly emphasized the need for selection and focus.
She told me not to foolishly try to take everything, that unless I was a half-long-lived race, it would just be a waste of my life.
At the time, I hadn’t fully understood what she meant.
Of course, I was already aware that reaching the 6th Circle was difficult. After failing over and over, you can’t ignore it even if you want to.
But I never imagined it would be like this.
To reach the 6th Circle, I needed to harmoniously rearrange the seven planets before me.
However, it wasn't magic power that moved those planets.
It was the pure mental power of the soul.
It was like staring at a crypto chart and desperately pleading, “Please go up…!!!” You had to earnestly beg the planets to move.
Does that actually work?
Surprisingly, yes.
The problem is that mental power has its limits, and even if you repeated that process every single day, it would take a good ten years just to move a single planet.
I finally understood why the average age of a 6th Circle mage was in their eighties (by human standards).
That’s why 6th Circle mages like me who wielded multiple elements were rare, and mages of other systems also tended to carve away at what they had built rather than add to it.
All to shorten the time somehow.
But I had a way to shorten that time.
The ‘True Word’, a skill whose use I had stumbled upon by chance.
Of course, using it even once consumed a tremendous amount of my spiritual form, but it was more efficient than using pure mental power.
After all, I could move things in minutes that would take others years.
It felt like dozens of hours had passed since I’d narrowly returned from the brink of death.
I had succeeded in gathering the fragments (celestial bodies) that had been scattered throughout the astral.
All that was left was to rearrange them correctly and retrace the magic and knowledge corresponding to each celestial body from the very beginning.
‘Well… the real work starts now.’
In truth, I wasn’t even halfway there.
If this were an exam, I hadn’t even entered the testing hall yet.
I wanted to at least set up a rough framework, but knowing one’s own limits was also an important virtue for a mage.
I narrowed my eyes as I looked at my right hand, which had become noticeably translucent.
VWOOOM!!!!
Just then, the entire astral began to vibrate.
It meant the Tower Lord had intervened.
I didn’t resist, handing over control, and my vision immediately flashed white.
*
Thump-!
Having safely returned to reality, I collapsed onto the floor just like yesterday, letting out ragged breaths.
‘Hah, hah, hah…!! I’m… I’m really gonna die…!!’
The feel of the cold crystal floor, the scent of lavender tickling my nose, my dizzying vision, the sweet taste lingering in my mouth, and the Tower Lord’s voice muttering as she looked down at me.
All five of my senses felt sharper than ever before.
They were all sensations that couldn’t be felt as a spiritual form.
Swoosh—
I drew upon my magic power and internal energy to stabilize the connection between my body and soul.
‘Hoo… I can finally breathe…’
It was a technique I’d learned while overcoming a near-death experience in the astral.
It would have been much easier if I’d used the True Word, but no matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t a skill I could show the Tower Lord.
“Did you forcibly fuse the connection between your body and soul with magic power? That’s a technique only necromancers who have reached a certain level can master… Should I consider this a secondary effect of the prototype?”
Ignoring the Tower Lord’s muttering, I pushed myself up with difficulty.
It wasn’t right to keep lying on the workshop floor.
“Hoo… Thank you for your help, even at this late hour.”
I glanced at the sunset-stained window as I took a seat.
It felt like days had passed, but in reality, it had only been about half a day.
For the Tower Lord, who scheduled her life down to the minute, it was an absurd waste of time, but she herself didn’t seem to mind.
“So, what happened this time?”
“Ah, well, you see…”
She naturally sat down across from me and began to listen intently, like a member of an audience.
Since I had taken a prototype with strong side effects, it seemed she, as the head of development, had many questions.
I felt like a lab rat, but it was true that I had received her help, so I began to explain everything from start to finish.
“…A path to the underworld?”
“For now, it’s just my speculation without any proof. But if demons exist, why not an underworld?”
“Hmm…”
Even now, just remembering the hand that had dragged me by the scruff of my neck sent a chill down my spine.
It was the smell of death, something you’d only encounter at a funeral.
The Tower Lord’s interest was fleeting; she quickly seemed to lose her curiosity.
A person had nearly died, yet she offered not a single word of comfort, let alone concern. It made me miss Delia.
I sighed inwardly and moved on to the next topic. The Tower Lord’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
“Gathering, already? I predicted it would take at least twenty years. Was the prototype’s effect that good?”
Gathering, Alignment, Construction, and Expansion.
These were the four stages the Tower Lord had mentioned for reaching the 6th Circle.
Among them, Gathering was the process of bringing together the fragments (celestial bodies) scattered throughout the astral.
Seeing the Tower Lord’s rare look of surprise, I shrugged.
“Isn’t this proof that I’m exceptional?”
“From what I see, you also seem to have a talent for earning a beating.”
“…I’d rather not.”
Sensing the temperature in the room drop, I immediately backed away.
Even if I was immune to the cold, I’d had enough of being frozen like a block of ice.
Fortunately, it seemed she was joking. As the atmosphere relaxed, I continued speaking.
The Tower Lord maintained a stoic expression the entire time, but her blue eyes, fixed on me, were filled with unmistakable interest.
“The fact that you achieved Gathering in a single day is certainly a great accomplishment, but it’s merely the starting point. Well… if you work hard, you might reach your goal within ten years.”
“Ten years? Isn’t that a rather harsh evaluation?”
Pfft—
The Tower Lord let out a small laugh at me.
“Don’t be arrogant. Ten years is already a generous overestimation.”
“But Han Lael… no, the Gray Tower Lord reached the 7th Circle at just twenty-nine.”
“To place yourself on the same level as that woman… you’re the height of arrogance. The Gray Tower Lord is a talent that appears maybe once in a millennium. If you plan on being a bird that flies toward the sun, I’d advise you to give up early.”
“…”
Han Lael was that incredible?
That lewd woman who got so addicted to my cum she even let me have sex with her in the workshop suddenly seemed amazing in a new light.
“You may leave for today. If you want to live a long life, don’t forget to meditate before you sleep.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I gave a short bow to the Tower Lord, who was waving her hand in dismissal, and slowly rose from my seat.
Or rather, I tried to.
“Tower Lord.”
At my call, the Tower Lord, who had been writing something on a clipboard, glanced over at me.
But she soon moved her pen again, her gaze returning to the paper. It was a silent signal to state my business and disappear quickly.
I looked at her, my lips parting and closing, before I slowly spoke.
“…What time should I be here tomorrow?”
“…”
The Tower Lord’s gaze was piercing.
Her eyes seemed to reprimand me for interrupting her concentration just to ask something so trivial.
Hoo—
The Tower Lord let out a short sigh, then continued in a voice laced with cold.
“Come at the same time as today.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The moment she finished speaking, I shot up from my seat.
I walked toward the door, careful not to get on her bad side.
But in the end, the doorknob never turned.
“Why did you join hands with those demon worshipper bastards?”
CRACK—!!!!!!!!
In that instant, a chill so cold it seemed to freeze my very lungs whipped through the air, and the entire workshop was instantly covered in ice.
Through the transparent ice, the Tower Lord’s eyes, staring at me, were trembling more violently than ever before.