The 5th Circle spells he had learned so far numbered six in total, including Blink.
And so, of the spells Purnel had first recommended to him, only four spellbooks remained unlearned.
[Ice Cannon]
[Barrier]
[Anti-Magic Field]
[Gust of Wind]
In truth, there were still attribute spells like “Fire Wall” and “Frozen Fog” left, but he had filtered them out after judging that the effect he could gain from them was not significant compared to the number of glyphs he would have to engrave.
Aside from those, he also had to learn the ancient spellbook he had received directly from the goddess, [The Book of Dragon Summoning], and he needed to find a new divine mage’s house to research another kind of divinity as well.
In other words, he had a lot to do.
That was why, immediately after the clear was over, he had left only the words that he would visit later and returned straight to the Mage Tower.
He placed his hand on the portal and skimmed through the list divided by each floor of the Mage Tower.
「List」
「Mage Tower 1st Floor - Lobby of Beginnings」
「Mage Tower 2nd Floor - Apprentice Mage Living Quarters」
「Mage Tower 3rd Floor - Apprentice Mage Living Quarters (2)」
……
「Mage Tower 89th Floor - Room of Golem Researcher Relendis Arpe」
「Mage Tower 90th Floor - Room of Spirit Authority Matherin Misen」
……
「Mage Tower 150th Floor - Room of Tower Master Abelard Pavlenko」
The Mage Tower was still filled with mysteries, with more places he could not go than places he could.
Hio’s gaze, which had been scanning down the list, stopped and fixed on the name of the final floor.
「Mage Tower 150th Floor - Room of Tower Master Abelard Pavlenko」
The Tower Master of that era, who had lost magic a thousand years ago and, in exchange, held back the Abyss. The greatest mage of his time.
Had he fled before Basterion’s destruction, or had he stood and fought?
Why had he helped in the war but not in the migration?
How had the Space of Trials shown him Abelard Pavlenko’s memories as a trial?
There were only things he could not know, yet now even the one and only god he could have asked had fallen asleep.
The only figures from a thousand years ago, or perhaps even earlier, were the Dragon Knight Regarda and Kreutzwald, who should be somewhere in the Abyss.
So in the end, he had no choice but to find out for himself.
When he infused the portal with 5th Circle mana, the long list that had floated up vanished, and a new window appeared.
「Confirmed mana is 5th Circle.」
「There are a total of 25 areas you may access.」
「Mage Tower 101st Floor - Training Grounds for Novice Mages (Temporary)」
「Mage Tower 102nd Floor - Training Grounds for Apprentice Mages (Temporary)」
「Mage Tower 103rd Floor - Training Grounds for Full-fledged Mages (Temporary)」
……
「Verden Southern Region Independent Base (3) - Mage’s House」
「Verden Southern Region Necromancer Branch (2) - Mage’s House」
「Imenia Magic Academy (1) - Mage’s House」
「Hiberunia Capital (5) - Divine Mage’s House」
「Mage Tower 110th Floor - Necromancy Educational Practice Room」
「Mage Tower 111th Floor - Elemental Mage (Fire) Educational Practice Room」
「Mage Tower 112th Floor - Elemental Mage (Earth) Educational Practice Room」
「Mage Tower 113th Floor - Elemental Mage (Wind) Educational Practice Room」
……
「Mage Tower 126th Floor - Chronomancy Educational Practice Room」
Just as Hio moved his hand to travel, a whitish specter flew toward him.
It was Purnel.
—You mean to learn magic right away?
Purnel flew frantically around Hio, widening and narrowing his eyes while darting them left and right in a frenzy.
—The human mind has limits. You need to rest. Did you not receive infinite mana from the God of Death and continue using magic for hours on end?
Hio raised a hand and lightly pushed Purnel away.
“I’m busy.”
—Ahem. You may look fine now, but eventually your limit will come. Is your body fine, but your mind exhausted, making you want to rest?
“Not at all.”
—……It is good to be young, I suppose?
It was obvious he would only say more strange things, so Hio roughly ignored him and selected a floor.
It was a floor containing the magic of a special school.
「Moving to Mage Tower 126th Floor - ‘Chronomancy Educational Practice Room.’」
Chronomancy.
It was the room of mages who had studied time.
—Do not be like that. Think it over once more, will you? Hm? This is all advice steeped in blood and sweat for your own good……
The reason Hio had come here despite still having four basic spells left was, as expected, because his Endurance had nearly reached its target value.
The magic of special schools—in other words, chronomancy, which dealt with time; blood magic, which was considered a type of black magic; or the magic of spatial mages, which would be below this floor—was extremely difficult and complicated to learn.
And for all that, if one asked whether it was more powerful than other orthodox magic, that was not the case either.
Only after reaching the 5th Circle did some spells that were slightly useful begin to come into view, but they were still far, far too lacking to make into a mainstay.
But did Hio not possess a fraudulent trait that could turn even a handful of flame into a blue sun?
The number of highest-grade skills that had evolved so far by accumulating Endurance was four in total.
Thunder Emperor.
Blue Flame.
Celestial.
God of Death.
The balance was not especially bad.
Thunder Emperor was a power that allowed him to produce lightning-like strength in an instant and become lightning itself, moving at that very speed.
Blue Flame was an extremely destructive fire that read Hio’s will and moved accordingly.
Celestial was a sacred barrier that could block all physical attacks and even extinguish the energy of the Abyss.
God of Death was an indispensable existence that granted him infinite strength against numerous enemies.
If he made good use of just these four highest-grade skills, there should be no reason for him to struggle in most situations.
But would the path ahead be made up of “most situations”?
He did not know what situations or what formidable foes might be lurking ahead, so it would be better to possess as many different abilities as possible.
—Must it be the magic of a special school, of all things? When your mind has been abused like this, let us rather go learn familiar elemental magic! Then rest a little and come back to learn this……
“If I do that, I might not make it in time for the next clear.”
—Then you can learn it by the clear after next, can you not?
“What if a variable arises in the meantime?”
Hio’s rather hollow eyes turned toward Purnel.
“Everything is full of things that won’t go the way I want.”
He was not a god, but a human.
He did not know how to look into the future and move perfectly without making even the slightest mistake.
That was why he had erred.
He had failed.
He had neither purified Ariel as Regarda had wished, nor had he foreseen the failure to clear the 51st floor.
When he wandered through the damaged areas and witnessed the devastation caused by it, he had not shown it on the surface, but how much had he blamed himself when he was alone?
“I won’t make mistakes anymore. I won’t fail anymore.”
Had he not resolved to inherit the conviction of that wretched king?
The most wretched king in the world, yet one who suited the throne more than anyone else.
Had he not said before that shabby corpse that he would carry on his conviction?
A conviction forged because he had loved those around him more than himself, because he had truly lamented their deaths. A steadfast heart that wished to protect them, even if he himself were to die.
The reason King Leorant had failed in that was simple.
Because he had no power.
Power that could stand against any variable.
Power that could repel them all even in the final battle of destruction.
Because he lacked that, in the end, his conviction could not be carried through and was swallowed by the Abyss.
—Do not drive yourself so hard. Did you not say it yourself? That you are human. So long as you are human, mistakes and failures are only natural.
That was why he needed power.
The dream of the last mage.
The hope of the Goddess of Hope.
The conviction of the wretched king.
All those heavy things were with him.
They led him from the front and pushed him from behind, urging him along the path he had to take.
“Then I’ll just have to become a god.”
He could no longer permit mistakes or failures.
He had to drive himself forward more thoroughly, more harshly.
If by doing so, this world he loved could become peaceful…… then it did not matter if he broke any number of times.
Like that wretched king, who had begged for the lives of others in a figure endlessly abject.
“So, Purnel.”
But for now, he was lacking.
His limits were clear if he relied on his strength alone.
“Help me.”
It had only been a year since he had started learning magic.
Though he had achieved the remarkable feat of reaching the 5th Circle in that time, he was lacking and unstable.
There were too many gaps in his knowledge.
—Huh.
At Hio’s serious words, Purnel made a show of puffing up his ghostly body.
—……It cannot be helped. My disciple is asking me, after all.
Then, wobbling like a deflated balloon, he finally settled on Hio’s shoulder.
—If not I, who would understand you?
If not Purnel, who would understand Hio?
After all, he had looked at the world through Hio’s eyes, shared his thoughts, and felt emotions with him.
That was also why he knew.
“Then stop talking nonsense and let’s go already. There’s a lot to do.”
—……Did you perhaps set the mood just to shut my mouth……?
That even if he kept urging Hio to rest, Hio would not listen in the end.
* * *
He could not blindly learn the magic of every special school.
Since it was work that consumed many glyphs and much time, he had to choose carefully.
In particular, since his Endurance had almost reached its target value, the effect of the spell he learned this time would likely evolve into his next highest-grade skill.
He could not help but agonize deeply.
That was why he had narrowed the candidates down to four.
Chronomancy, which dealt with time.
The magic of spatial mages, who studied space and made use of it.
Shadow magic, specialized in concealment and assassination by assimilating with shadows.
And blood magic, which dealt with everything related to blood.
They were all tempting spells, but he could not learn them all.
Putting aside whether he had enough time, he lacked the space for glyphs.
“Let’s drop blood magic.”
He first excluded blood magic, which was fairly attractive but not greatly necessary.
Then three remained.
“Now this is where the problem starts……”
All three were forms of magic with their own appeal.
When he predicted the effect that would follow as a magical effect, each of them was clearly capable of granting him tremendous ability.
That made choosing even harder.
What Hio wanted was the ability to respond to various situations.
In combat, he moved like lightning using “Thunder Emperor,” but its limits were clear.
It was not a skill meant for that purpose to begin with.
In that sense, the three types of magic—space, shadow, and time—would become excellent auxiliary means.
That was why his worries deepened all the more.
—If judging by the spells alone, I cannot say any of the three are particularly outstanding. But when considering how they would link with your trait, there is no doubt that all of them would be tremendous. So let us think realistically.
“……Realistically.”
—Indeed. In truth, you know it well yourself, do you not? What is best for you to learn right now.
At Purnel’s words, his gaze once again moved to the portal list.
Starting from the chronomancy floor, the highest floor among those he could move to, he had gone downward and checked the magic of every special school.
So, as Purnel said, Hio knew the answer as well.
“Right. Realistically, this is the correct choice.”
He boldly selected a floor.
It was the room of spatial mages, who freely handled space.
「Moving to Mage Tower 125th Floor - ‘Spatial Mage Educational Practice Room.’」
—A wise decision. It would be right to learn the rest after you raise your Circle further.
It was for realistic reasons.
In truth, the most appealing auxiliary means was chronomancy, which dealt with time, but that required so many new glyphs that it was almost on the level of engraving the glyphs again from the beginning.
Moreover, in that field, it was such an otherworldly discipline that even Purnel could not offer much advice.
On the other hand, spatial magic had quite a number of overlapping glyphs, and since Hio had studied it to some extent while learning Blink, it was the fastest and surest to learn.
Having made his decision, Hio crossed the spatial mage’s room on the 125th floor of the Mage Tower.
A floor so vast it was hard to believe it was inside a tower.
Dozens of spellbooks placed there.
They were high-grade spells he had not even dared think of before reaching the 5th Circle.
That was what it meant to handle space.
Such magic, for which the 5th Circle was merely the beginning.
—Promise me just one thing.
As he was approaching the spellbooks, Purnel blocked Hio’s path with a fairly solemn expression.
—After spatial magic, it must be necromancy, no matter what.
“Why?”
—Why, you ask? Have I not told you repeatedly? The human mind has limits. If you use magic alone the way you did in this clear, your mind will not endure it.
“You’re saying…… necromancy doesn’t require that?”
—From the 5th Circle onward, yes. Well, you will see when you look. So next must be necromancy, no matter what.
“Got it.”
After making that promise, he turned his gaze back to the spellbooks.
Among the dozens of spellbooks placed before him, there were some he could learn now, and some he could not even dare to attempt.
[Spatial Movement - Subspace Transfer]
[Spatial Movement - Portal Creation]
[Spatial Severance - Extinction]
[Spatial Distortion - Separation]
[Spatial Compression]
[Spatial Expansion]
[Spatial Manipulation - Distance]
[Spatial Manipulation - Path]
[Spatial Manipulation - Size]
[Spatial Manipulation - Rotation]
……
[Spatial Creation]
One among these would have to evolve into his fifth highest-grade skill.