Sage's Tower 3
The interior of the tree was far wider than he had imagined. A vast circular chamber, much larger than it had appeared from outside. Fireflies emitting green and yellow lights flitted about here and there, while a soft crimson glow bathed the cozy space. The walls were lined floor-to-ceiling with books inscribed in unreadable script. Strange magical devices he had never seen before floated lazily in the air. The source of the crimson light was slender, twisting vines descending from above, and following them upward led to an endless ceiling swallowed by profound darkness.
"No one has come here in hundreds of years."
The old man's voice echoed again. "A lost lamb, or perhaps fate's jest."
Only then did Licht look straight at the elder. White hair cascaded to his waist. His beard reached his chest. Yet it was neatly groomed, as if meticulously maintained. His wrinkled face had sharp, distinct features. He exuded the air of a typical scholar, yet somehow also that of an enlightened sage. But setting all that aside—
8th Circle.
Licht could sense the mana permeating the entire chamber, without even trying. The elder simply sat at the central table, reading a book. And yet his presence was overwhelming. Even including his past life, Licht had never encountered anyone like this.
It wasn't hard to guess the old man's identity.
"Great Sage Laiyel Luerg."
"I was once called that. Sit, for now."
With a glance from the elder, a wooden vine sprouted from the opposite side, swiftly forming a chair. Licht, who had been standing quietly by the door, approached and sat. The moment he did, a teacup appeared before him. Beside it, a floating teapot poured steaming tea.
Space magic.
To wield such advanced magic with mere intent, without a gesture—it was astonishing. Yet Licht remained impassive. The moment itself felt like a dream, a mirage that might vanish the instant he opened his eyes again.
"A soul that has already died once... How utterly bizarre."
The elder, Great Sage Laiyel Luerg, spoke. He had set his book aside.
"What brings you here?"
"You... I mean, Elder, are you truly the Great Sage?"
"Perhaps, or perhaps not. I am but a fragment of memory now."
"A fragment of memory?"
"A small piece of memory I left behind when I created this Sage's Tower just before my death. But I have a question for you. How did you enter this place?"
Licht couldn't answer. Like the other elders, he had simply reached the top floor of the Sage's Tower. Walking through the snowy mountain as his feet led him, he had arrived here.
He said I'm the first.
No one had entered in hundreds of years. That meant Licht was the first human to set foot here. Even among the many tales Schult Markersy had told, there was no such case. It was an anomaly even to Licht. The others had all faced trials, and he had expected the same.
"Hmm... This isn't a place one stumbles into by accident."
"I only climbed to the top floor of the Sage's Tower."
"The top floor? Ah, yes. I left one space for posterity."
"......?"
"The top floor is a separate realm, isolated from the outside and the other levels. Each who enters sees something different, shaped by their own psyche. It's like a mirror reflecting the self."
The teapot crossed the air above the table. A fresh cup appeared before the elder.
"If one gains enlightenment, they advance greatly. If not, they become a wreck. I set it so the unworthy couldn't enter."
Something from the elder's words sparked a memory.
"The magic circle on the floor below?"
"You know of it well. It's meant to activate with mana."
"I didn't activate it myself."
"It doesn't matter. Entering proves your qualification. But tell me—why are you still alive?"
Why are you still alive? Licht hid his inner turmoil at the elder's question.
Because I regressed from the past.
He had died once. But by some miracle, he had turned back time. That's why he lived. Lived to sit here now.
He had his suspicions. Time regression was a feat no one in continental history had achieved.
"It's distorted. Severely so. I've never seen causality twisted like this in a human."
"...What do you mean?"
"You've already died hundreds of times over. No—your very existence is impossible. Do you know why time regression is impossible?"
The elder lifted his teacup, gazing at the rippling liquid below.
"Even a lowly human alters history the moment they return to the past. For someone like you, the continent's history itself would change. It couldn't proceed as it should."
He met Licht's eyes.
"It defies the world's principles. You bear all the inverted causality from that altered history. You've only recently regressed, haven't you? Yet the distortion is this severe. History has already changed greatly. An impossibility—an existence that can't be..."
Only then did Licht understand.
Defying the world's principles demands a price. Vast mana for crossing space, hundreds of sacrifices to revive the dead. That was why Palenia's Pope gathered mages—not for anything else. Reviving the dead or summoning demons required countless lives as payment.
And I...
What was he, who had crossed back from the past?
"The Orkin imperial family used the Dragon's Covenant."
His mind in chaos, Licht looked up at the elder's voice.
"Dragon's Covenant?"
"Never heard of it? The pact the first Orkin Emperor made with a dragon."
Licht had no interest in myths. But he recalled a story from Jack, the Sword Runner mercenary, on the journey to El Sion.
"Once a century, a child is born who can invoke a dragon's miracle, once, at the cost of their life. Any miracle. But time regression..."
The elder trailed off.
"Impossible. Even with a dragon's power. That's the domain of gods, not for mere creatures...?"
Suddenly, realization dawned in the elder's eyes, widening enormously.
"God... God... So that's it. That explains your existence. Ha! Such a simple puzzle!"
He burst into mad laughter, utterly different from before. After cackling for a while, his expression turned deadly serious. Licht couldn't speak under that gaze.
"Do you know how many have reached the 8th Circle in history?"
"......"
"One per century, sometimes two or three. More 8th Circle mages than you'd think. All challenged the 9th Circle, ascension."
A wooden orb floated above the elder's outstretched hand. Perfectly spherical, small enough to fit in his palm. No mana emanated from it.
Crack!
It shattered. Splintered fragments fell slowly. After a moment, they rose, reassembling piece by piece into the original orb.
Licht's eyes trembled with shock.
Time magic?
Not restoration. If he wasn't mistaken, the orb had literally reversed time. The miracle said to be possible only for those who reached the 9th Circle unfolded before him.
"8th Circle mages couldn't regress not because they couldn't use time magic. Reversing a broken object's time is feasible. I could, and so could the others, now long dead."
However.
"They couldn't defy causality. They knew they'd vanish from the world before even casting the spell. That's... a privilege for the chosen."
Ascending to the transcendent 9th Circle.
"Born with heaven's greatest talent, yet denied at the final gate. That's why no mage has reached the 9th Circle in history. The three creator gods: Goddess of Light Isteria, Goddess of Darkness Nix, and..."
The mother of all humanity. The primordial flame holier than all.
"Goddess of Fire Helena."
"...The only being who can defy causality. But the three creators never appointed apostles, fearing their vast influence. Until now. Until just now."
The elder pierced Licht with his gaze, as if seeing through his very soul.
"You're receiving love beyond your station."
"......"
"The Dragon Princess's wish was granted for the same reason. Impossible otherwise... but you were chosen. Unlike us."
Orkin's Empress Haide. In his dying moments, Licht had seen a golden glow. And the gem shattering in his hand right after regression.
If the Dragon's Covenant had sent him back...
In a bitter tone, the elder continued.
"Go north. Your fate is already entwined since defying time once. This is beyond your will."
"To the Orkin Empire?"
"You'll meet them, intended or not. It's destined."
He pushed aside the half-empty, cold teacup with his book.
"Your fates are many and tangled. It won't be easy. Whether you fall midway or claim it at the end is up to you."
A foreign sensation in his palm made Licht open his right hand. A silver pocket watch now rested there. One infused with the power of time, felt for the first time in his life.
"Child born to a king's fate—even time will resolve all. This is all I can give."
The scenery blurred, like a dream fading.
"The primordial flame sleeps in your deepest core... You'll know naturally when the time comes."
Those were his final words. With the voice fading, Licht's vision went black.
***
A cold floor. By the time he felt it, Licht was already conscious. He slowly raised his eyelids. An old mage looked down at him.
"This is..."
"Coming around?"
The voice from just before entering the Sage's Tower top floor. Schult Markersy. Realizing this 7th Circle mage had sent him up, Licht naturally rose.
The surroundings were unchanged. A vast library-like space. The black magic circle below, its light gone. And the old mage peering down.
"How... long was I out?"
"About five minutes. The top floor is a separate realm; time flows differently from outside. What did you see?"
The boy's aura had changed. His circles hadn't increased—the faint five rings were the same. But his eyes were different. Deeply sunken, as if he had let go of everything. It made him seem like an entirely different person. And the alien mana pulsing from his right hand.
"...Now I think I understand."
"Understand what?"
"The path forward."
Licht opened his right hand. The silver pocket watch from the Great Sage had materialized in his grasp.
"And..."
Gazing at it, Licht murmured softly.
"The future ahead."