Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: The Forbidden Root
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"I want to argue that it's impossible, but since I've experienced it myself, I can't deny it. I've only just realized today what it feels like when common sense is overturned."
Taine gazed at Lander. Now, there was no sense of distance at all. He felt like a person from another world.
"The first time I sensed mana, the instructors teaching me all said the same thing. 'You must never touch the Root directly.'"
"That's the general rule."
Lander replied.
He lowered his gaze. The word 'Root' was the first thing anyone who encountered mana heard.
The path mana flowed through. The source of life. The origin of power. The place where everything was born and everything perished.
The Root, called by many names, still had no clear definition even now. All that was known was that an irresistible force flowed through it like a torrent.
Every living being on the earth could sense the mana emanating from the Root.
Those who were sensitive could clearly perceive its essence with a little guidance, and even the dull could at least catch a chill running down their spine.
Of course, accurately sensing mana was another matter entirely.
He had first accurately sensed and accepted mana at the age of seventeen. When he discovered the pure power flowing beneath his feet, Taine shuddered.
It felt like he could make that power entirely his own just by reaching out. But his instructor had advised him not to give in to the temptation.
"Everyone thinks the same when they first sense the Root. If only I could make even a tiny bit of that power mine. If I just dipped my hand in a little, without too much risk. Let me be clear. No one who acted on that impulse is still alive and breathing."
The instructor, more serious than ever, added:
"There are survivors, sure. But don't delude yourself into thinking you'll survive. They lived because they weren't human to begin with. Don't covet the impossible—do your best within the possible."
As usual, someone ignored the warnings and challenged it anyway, and Taine witnessed their fate firsthand.
She was a student with decent skill and someone Taine was close to. A friend who was especially ambitious and driven within Schola.
Her future had been bright and secure after graduation, but for briefly touching the Root, she had to give up her left leg.
It looked fine outwardly, but the nerves were dead. For someone whose life was the sword, it was a death sentence.
With her ever-optimistic personality, she left Schola with just a single word of regret.
Watching her back as she departed, Taine thought: The Root is an abyss you must never peer into.
That belief only grew firmer with time. The great mages seeking the Empire, the knights of the First-Class Families, even the top instructors worthy of the title 'monster'—all feared approaching the Root.
- The only mana humans can handle is the thin, low-density mana scattered into the atmosphere by the Root.
It was the preface every scholar of note included when explaining mana.
They mentioned a few exceptions afterward, but with samples so scarce as to be meaningless, they hammered home: never covet the Root.
He had heard of exceptions several times, but never witnessed one.
And yet, one stood before him now.
"How is that possible?"
He knew it was a pointless question, but he had to ask.
How had his Imaginary Realm and body remained intact after directly confronting the Root?
Lander smiled.
"Whenever I taught commanders in the military who were interested in martial arts, this question always came up. They were people like you, Sir Taine—gifted and diligent, with real skill. Wonderful people who gained insights from scant explanations and forged new paths from them."
Lander leaned against the wall. His smile softened into an ambiguous expression.
"'How is that possible?' Every time I heard it, I had to smile like this. Because I knew telling them wouldn't help."
"I get it. It requires something beyond talent and effort."
Lander nodded and drew his sword. In that moment, mana taking form gathered around him visibly.
It was a wondrous sight, even on second viewing.
Mana had no substance. Mana that seeped from the Root into the atmosphere stabilized and became invisible.
Mana with color or form signified a power humans couldn't withstand. A viciously unstable state.
Paradoxically, Lander was controlling that unstable mana. Taine imagined touching the hazy, fog-like mana from the Root.
It would probably melt him instantly or explode.
"I thought the only visible mana was from Mana Condensation Rods."
"Generally, yes."
Mana Condensation Rods fueled Giant Soldiers, served as core components in advanced magitech tools, and activated the Holy City's ultimate defensive barrier.
This man had conjured the pinnacle of magitech with a mere gesture.
"His Majesty must have wanted that power."
"I participated in a couple of experiments. They used a mana condenser to transfer the mana I handled into rods."
"It failed, then. If it had succeeded, Giant Soldiers would be rampaging everywhere by now."
"The experiments didn't go as planned, it's true. And even if they had produced the desired result, I wouldn't have made the rods."
Lander swung his sword. The gathered mana dispersed. The embodiment of power that had stiffened Taine's body just by sight vanished quietly.
"Because I can clearly see what mass-produced power would bring. Though it might just be my arrogant assumption."
Taine shook his head in response.
"On the contrary, I'm relieved it's you who wields it, sir. If it were me, I'd be crushed by responsibility or lose control."
Pure mana destroyed not just the body, but the Imaginary Realm as well.
Even if blessed with a body that could handle mana innately, without a steadfast mind to back it up, what then?
The Empire would have faced a monster birthing despair instead of a great knight.
It was shameful to have pointed a sword at such a being, yet also an honor.
"Commander."
"Yes."
"Do you think the day will come when humanity conquers the Root?"
"I'm not sure. But if it does, the world will either become far more complicated or vanish altogether."
The aspiration of all scholars. An era where even protruding minor roots were incomprehensible, yet someday, humanity would harness the Root.
Was what lay beneath an ecstatic future or a force to erase civilization?
"Let's end here for today. It was a pleasure, Sir Taine."
"Thank you for the lesson."
Taine clasped his hands behind his back and saluted.
"Sir Taine."
"Yes, Commander."
"I've wanted to say this since a few days ago, so I'll do it now. The insignia on my shoulder is buried in a grave."
Taine blinked a few times, then smiled.
"Understood. Lander."
"Thanks. If there's another chance, let's talk swords sometime. Conversations with you are enjoyable."
"I'll make time to invite you, Lander."
As he replied, he mentally reviewed his schedule. The day after tomorrow was free—inviting him right away might be rude, though. If not then, he'd have to wait until next week.
Taine barely hid his regret as he walked toward the entrance.
* * *
"Name: Sanuaria. Age: forty-nine. Doesn't look it now, though."
Kalligo handed over the compiled report as he spoke. Lander flipped through the pages, scanning the details.
"Listen while you read. She says she met Gilliud three years ago. Apparently, he saved her husband from execution by the Central Cathedral's Heresy Inquisitor."
"He brought back the dead?"
Kalligo wagged his index finger side to side.
"Not fully resurrected—just arranged a brief meeting so she could say goodbye."
"Similar to a Necromancer or shaman's power."
"It's alike but slightly different. She says what she met was her husband's pure self. The language barrier crumbled, and mere touch conveyed all his thoughts in a mystical experience."
"Pure self."
Lander looked at Sanuaria beyond the glass wall. Aged prematurely by magic's backlash, she stared blankly at her desk before suddenly clapping in delight.
"Her Imaginary Realm is a mess. We can't even verify if the info she provided is true. All we have is what she babbled when she snapped out of it."
"Still, it's valuable information we can't deny."
"She rambles incoherently, which makes it believable. She lacks the judgment to hide or lie right now."
The woman beyond the wall gnawed at her nails, then smeared blood from her fingers on the wall, drawing pictures.
"She's definitively telling us what we saw in that two-story house."
Kalligo opened the door and entered the room with the woman.
He soothed the deranged woman like a child, sat her in a chair, and gave her food. She devoured it ravenously.
Kalligo returned, narrowing his eyes.
"Putting together everything we've gathered so far, opening a Realm is unsafe. Whether a complete Realm or an Unstable Realm, those who went there ended up insane, turned into Magical Beasts, or became living bombs."
Lander set down the records.
"Or perhaps Gilliud is the only one who returned from a complete Realm unharmed, and the rest were deceived by him."
"That's likely. For now, the only difference we know between complete Realms and Unstable Realms is time. Go mad quickly, or go mad slowly."
Lander glanced at the woman, who had finished her food and was sucking her fingers.
"What happened to the mages found in Silder's mansion?"
"They're being transported to the Holy City now. Travel by carriage takes time, and we have to stabilize them en route. They'll arrive in about a month at earliest."
"Dangerous ones, so handle with care."
Sanuaria, grinning as she looked at her hands, began glancing around. Kalligo snapped his fingers.
"Good. She seems to be snapping out of it quickly today."
"Can we talk to her?"
"Probably."
Kalligo frowned.
"Investigating this case has me saying 'probably' all the time. I hate vague answers most, but this situation leaves me no choice."
"Everything's uncertain."
It was then, as they watched her. Sanuaria shuddered, then jerked her head. Her wandering eyes focused. She seemed lucid.
"Let's go in."
He entered the room with Kalligo.
(To be continued in the next installment)