What's Needed Most (1)
"You'd like to meet the Tower Master?"
Maxim nodded along far more easily than Oscar had expected.
"That's no difficult favor. You won't remember it, but you and the Tower Master used to debate magic together all the time."
"Did we?"
Everything Oscar Crucian had left behind was materials related to magic and the White Tower. He had kept almost nothing about his personal life, so it was only natural for gaps like this to exist.
"I'll arrange a meeting sometime soon."
"Thank you. Would it be impossible right away, by any chance?"
"Hmm, that's a shame, but even at the earliest, it'll be half a year before you can see the Tower Master."
"I'm sorry—half a year?"
Not half a day, but half a year? Bewildered, Oscar asked again.
"Why not?"
"She's away on business at the moment. She's personally handling every major request that comes in to the Magic Tower."
"Wait, why would the Tower Master herself handle that kind of—"
Mid-sentence, Oscar grasped the reason and let his words trail off.
"The absence of high-level mages. That's why."
"...It's an embarrassing state of affairs."
For things to have gotten so bad that the Tower Master herself had to run out into the field. He had known the White Tower had fallen, but this one fact struck home harder than the hundred sentences written in those documents.
"Forgive me for asking, but what level is the Tower Master?"
"She's a 7th-level high mage."
"7th level..."
Oscar pressed his lips together. At that age, he had been staring down the threshold of 9th level—and she was only 7th? No doubt she had so many things demanding her attention that magic training had inevitably fallen by the wayside.
Just then, Maxim, who had been rereading the report, asked in passing,
"It says here that the cut surface of your wound was remarkably clean. Are you training your offensive magic again as well?"
"Well, only now and then, when I think of it."
"...Only now and then, hm?"
Maxim smiled faintly. Practicing Wind Cutter, a basic spell, once in a while could never produce results like these—least of all for Oscar, a patient with Mana Deficiency Syndrome.
'He's being modest on purpose because he doesn't want to raise expectations for no reason.'
Young in body, but with a mind as deep as any grown man's. When the time was right, the boy would bring it up on his own.
Having read his intentions, Maxim fixed his gaze back on the stack of documents and issued his dismissal.
"We're done here. Go on back."
Back in his room, Oscar locked the door, drew the curtains, and even pried the speaker off the ceiling. There was one reason he blocked outside interference with such compulsion.
'First, I repair the broken physical circuits.'
It was work that demanded intense concentration. A single unforeseen variable could send his mana into a rampage, so meticulous preparation was non-negotiable.
"Whew."
With everything in place, Oscar took a light, steadying breath and sat upright on the one-seat sofa. Then he slowly closed his eyes and cast his entire mind into the universe that was himself.
'...'
The twenty physical circuits that every human being possessed came into vivid focus. These were the pathways that the eastern continental nation of Yeon called the Twelve Primary Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
'What a shabby little universe this is.'
Unlike the body of his past life, where every circuit had blazed like a star, this universe flickered weak as candlelight. As Oscar examined the circuits one by one, he nodded slowly.
'I can't overdo it.'
The original plan had been to unbind all twenty of his bound physical circuits at once. But even after only a brief look, he could tell: if he did that, this body would not endure it.
'Today, I'll open only the first twelve.'
These were the vital circuits known in the East as the Twelve Primary Meridians. With them twisted up like knotted rope, mana circulation and accumulation had never functioned properly. Restore these first, and his mana would finally begin to flow as it should.
"..."
Oscar slowly drew his mana upward. The speed at which it ran along his desert-dry circuits was achingly sluggish.
'This won't do.'
Bursting through circuits bound this tightly would take more mana—a harder impact. Fortunately, the mana available to him right now was more than sufficient.
'The mana from those illicit elixirs.'
Pure mana that he had not yet fully absorbed, still drifting hollowly through the interior of his body. Oscar gathered every last wisp of it and drove it into his circuits in one stroke.
"...Ghhk!"
Pain crashed over him, enough to scatter his senses. It was as if the muscles of his entire body were being wrung out like laundry. But having begun, there was no turning back now.
'From here on, it's a race against time.'
The mana he had just forced in was far too vast for his twisted circuits to bear. Sustain this state for too long, and they would finally give out and snap. He had to burst through the bound circuits as fast as possible and open up room to breathe.
'Faster. Even faster.'
The mana that had flowed as placid as a shallow brook turned violent in an instant, swelling into a flooding river. Blood seeped from between Oscar's lips, and beaded sweat gathered on his forehead.
'Here it comes—the first one.'
He clenched his fists and braced for the coming shock.
KWAAAAANG!
An explosion detonated inside his skull, and his whole body convulsed.
"...!"
Having forced his way through the first path of the Twelve Primary Meridians, Oscar steeled his wavering resolve and pressed on to the next gate.
BANG! KWAAANG! WHAM!
Every time he met a new gate, thunder cracked through his mind. The pain swelled and swelled, and as each circuit burst open, the mana raging through them accelerated in turn.
'Just a little more. Just a little further.'
The ninth, the tenth, the eleventh...
In a flash he reached the final gate, and bit down hard on his lip to keep his fading consciousness from slipping away.
'One more!'
KWAAAAAAAAANG!
Along with a roar like celebratory fireworks, a distant, consuming agony surged in—and swallowed whole the consciousness he had been barely clinging to.
Chirp, chiiirp!
At the sound of small birds singing, his eyes drifted open. He scanned his surroundings quickly and realized he was walking through the flower garden on the 10th floor of the White Tower.
'...'
The good news was that he was not a sleepwalker. The bad news was that being one would have been preferable. The curse was that vile.
'That damned dream-curse.'
It was the very reason he refused to sleep with an obsession bordering on madness. Because of the curse carved by the Nightmare Baron—that damned rat—every time he fell asleep, he dreamed of his past.
They said forgetting was one of the blessings granted to humanity. Apparently that did not apply to him.
'Even back when I was a 9th-level mage, this one curse was beyond me. Honestly, when I entered this body, I'd half hoped the curse would unravel on its own...'
Evidently it had been carved not into his flesh, but into his soul.
Shaking off his disappointment, Oscar watched the memories of his past play out like a man attending a theater. After all, there was nothing he could do—not so much as lift a finger.
"Now, let's hold today's lesson out here. Sound good?"
"Yes, Teacher!"
When Oscar turned and asked upon reaching the wide open ground, his rabbit-like disciples answered in one voice.
"What were we supposed to learn today?"
"You said you'd teach us about mana systems."
His dependable eldest disciple, Lloyd, answered crisply. "You explained that a mage's or knight's mana system falls broadly into four categories—that they're called the Four Mana Systems."
"That's right. Mana all looks the same, but in truth it's divided into the Speed System, the Reinforcement System, the Harmony System, and the Unique System."
"The White Tower pursues the Harmony System, right?"
"Correct. The Harmony System is the one that suits wind magic best of all."
Just as the Yellow Tower, obsessed with speed, championed the Speed System, and the Red Tower, devoted to firepower, represented the Reinforcement System, the Blue Tower and the White Tower stood as the standard-bearers of the Harmony System.
Just then, his second disciple, Gilli, thrust his hand into the air with a request.
"Master, I want the Speed System! Slow stuff makes me antsy!"
"That's a shame, Gilli. A mana system isn't something you choose—it's something you're born with."
"Then how do you find out what you were born with?"
When Sasha asked, scrunching her brow, Oscar pressed a finger firmly between her eyebrows and answered.
"Smooth that out—you'll get wrinkles. And as it happens, testing your mana system is simpler than you'd think."
Swish, swish.
Oscar picked up a tree branch and traced a spell formula into the dirt floor.
"Sasha, point your index finger and try casting this, would you?"
"It's the first time I've seen this formula, so it might take a little while..."
"Take all the time you need. Go on."
"Yes, Teacher."
Having answered with spirit, Sasha crouched down in front of the formula, and only after a long while did she cast the spell. Then a single thread of mana bloomed up from her fingertip like a candle flame.
"Hmm. Not as fast as the Speed System, and not nearly as potent as the Reinforcement System—so you're Harmony, Sasha."
"Same as you, Teacher?"
"That's right."
"Heehee, then I like it."
Beaming and giggling, Sasha gave way to Gilli. No sooner had he cast the spell than his mana flame shot upward at once.
"...Gilli, you're Speed."
"Yes! All hail speed!"
Suited him, perhaps—the rowdy, impatient little rascal. Oscar chuckled and turned his head.
"Now, last but not least—Lloyd, you're up."
"Like this?"
Lloyd unfolded the formula with practiced ease, and astonishingly, a single flower bloomed atop his index finger. Sasha stared at it and clapped her hands in delight.
"Wow! A flower! So pretty! It's like magic!"
"It is magic, you dummy."
"Lloyd, you're a Unique."
"...Master, once a mana system is set, it can't be changed?"
When Lloyd's face visibly darkened, Oscar patted him on the head.
"According to the Imperial Ministry of Magic's research, the Unique System belongs to a mere 0.2 percent of all mages—a rare mana system indeed. Why on earth would you want to change such a precious one? Not that it can be changed in the first place."
"I like Harmony better. The same as you, Master..."
"Hmmm, do you now? Then what am I to do about this?"
Oscar put on a look of great trouble. He was, after all, the person who best understood how to handle this young disciple.
"And here I was planning to give you the most private lessons of anyone, Lloyd. I suppose I'll have to go looking for a way to change your system?"
At that, Lloyd's ears perked up like a rabbit's.
"...The most private lessons of anyone?"
"Of course. The Unique System is awfully hard to grow on your own without a proper teacher."
At those words, Lloyd lifted his head as if he'd never been sulky at all.
"Well, thinking it over, a Unique System isn't so bad. In exchange, you have to promise me the most private lessons."
As Oscar looked down at the small pinky the boy held out, he hooked his own around it.
'Come to think of it, wasn't this kid's nickname the Promise Devil?'
No matter how grown-up he pretended to be, a child was still a child.
Taking one last look at his disciples' faces, Oscar let himself drift slowly into the rising weightlessness. It was time to wake from the dream.
"..."
He'd gotten lucky. Dreams of his disciples usually never made it to the 'corruption' stage.
He checked the clock—about five hours had passed. Perhaps because he'd slept soundly for the first time in ages, body and mind both felt refreshed.
'No... maybe it wasn't just because of that.'
His mana was circulating more smoothly than it ever had before. Twelve of the twenty bound physical circuits had come free, and his mana circuits had doubled from one line to two.
What was more, thanks to having absorbed the pure, docile mana so thriftily, he could feel a reservoir of power far beyond his level.
Oscar let out a hollow laugh.
"A day I never imagined would come—rejoicing at becoming a 2nd-level mage."
In this world, there were concepts that no passage of time could change. The sun setting and the moon rising was one such thing; the arrival of spring after winter was another. The same went for the level system, the yardstick by which mages and knights were measured.
'The standard for levels is the number of mana circuits installed in the body.'
One line for 1st level. Two lines for 2nd. Three for 3rd. Four for 4th...
Each time a new mana circuit was installed, one was recognized as having ascended to a higher level.
'In my past life, I was a 9th-level mage.'
An absolute being who had installed a full nine mana circuits within his body. The road up to that position was anything but easy.
'...It wasn't easy, but there's nothing I can't do again.'
After all, it was a road he had climbed once already. His memory had grown hazy, and he might hesitate for a while at the forks along the way—but he would never stray onto the wrong path.
'Step by step, let's climb it again.'
Having set his mind on a brighter note, Oscar sat up.
'Come to think of it, what mana system does this body have?'
He raised his index finger and cast the system-verification spell, then smiled roundly. A modest flame of mana, blooming neither slowly nor fast.
'So this body was Harmony as well.'
A system with no glaring strengths—and, by the same token, no glaring weaknesses. All-purpose, offense and defense alike. Its one and only flaw was that mana accumulated more slowly than in any other system.
But he didn't imagine he'd need to worry about that.
'I'll just do what I did back then, roughly.'
A mana breathing technique that could be sustained twenty-four hours a day—creating it and thereby erasing the sole weakness of the Harmony System had been one of his achievements in his past life, after all.