I sit still with my eyes closed, gazing inward as if in meditation.
The first thing I see are five enormous rings, radiating an overwhelming presence from the center.
Next, the leftover mana that failed to become a circle catches my eye, scattered in all directions and going to waste.
When I gather that mana with practiced ease and move it toward the patterns inside the rings, the patterns light up one after another, their power settling into the mana and beginning to move along with it.
Compared to the proud, majestic flow of the rings, it began as rather shabby mana, but after passing through one hundred and seventy patterns, what emerged had already become one vast current.
Following Hio’s guidance, it wraps around the outside of the fifth ring.
Only then does the power of the patterns within it begin to take effect, binding the sixth current to the fifth ring, holding them tightly so they do not come apart and allowing them to share each other’s power.
In the past, it would have already been trembling unstably at this stage.
But now, it remains stable without the slightest wavering.
Until the sixth is bound to the fifth ring from beginning to end.
Suppressing the elation threatening to surge up, I focus once more.
From this point on is the truly important moment.
Now that the binding has succeeded, I have to change the direction of the current.
All circles are formed that way.
For example, if the first ring flows to the left, then the second ring flows in the opposite direction, to the right, and the third returns to the left.
Only then do the boundaries between rings become clear, their individual roles distinctly divided, allowing them to exist as separate rings.
I slowly halt the movement flowing in the same direction as the fifth ring and guide it into a steady current in the opposite direction.
In this process, the order must not become tangled even slightly. It has to turn the other way without scattering, without colliding with the fifth ring, and yet without widening the gap too much and severing the binding.
Hio’s miraculous mana control somehow accomplishes all of that perfectly.
And so, now comes the final stage.
The stage of gradually releasing control over the flow and simply watching.
Though the grip I had maintained with all my might loosens little by little, Hio’s body is, conversely, filled with tension.
If it wavers even slightly here, it is an unconditional failure.
Even after I completely let go, it must continue to flow just as stably as it does now.
Thus, the control withdraws bit by bit.
The tightly constrained flow of the ring relaxes and becomes somewhat looser, but it is still within an acceptable range.
I release more and more strength little by little, until at last I take my hands completely off the current.
Even so, the flow continues to move steadily.
It is too early to rejoice.
I have already experienced it several times—how it can suddenly tremble and collapse all at once.
Maintaining my tension, I continue to watch.
Ten minutes, fifteen minutes…… and when twenty minutes have passed.
Click—
A sound from within, audible only to Hio.
Click— Click— Click—
An exhilarating sound, like some mechanism fitting perfectly into place.
Proof that the sixth ring has settled as a part of his body.
That enormous current, twice as thick and twice as large as the fifth ring, has become wholly a part of Hio.
A sense of fulfillment fills his body in an instant.
An omnipotent sensation, as if he could do anything with the sharply increased amount of mana.
In accordance with that, the rank of his soul rises, and the quality of his body improves.
While he is swept up in the immense ecstasy and satisfaction transmitted from it, a voice reaches his ears, and his eyes snap open.
“Heh heh…… At last.”
Six stars glitter in his gaze.
“Now I can teach you properly.”
It was midday, exactly five months since he had been trapped at the end of the world.
* * *
6th Circle.
The realm of an upper-rank mage.
Everyone knows just how remarkable this is, even without a long-winded explanation.
One can take charge as the head of a school and be respected by all mages as one who has surpassed the wall.
On the continent, it is a realm where one’s name is officially recorded in history as a superhuman, and if one goes further still and finds a personal path as a mage, one can even establish a new school.
That is the 6th Circle, the entry point to the realm of superhumans known as upper-rank mages.
……That was what I had known, at least.
“You made a mere six rings in five months and you are pleased with yourself? I thought it would be faster for me to die of old age.”
My self-esteem is being shaved away in chunks.
All the more because I cannot even begin to guess what Circle this monster of a master standing before me is.
Abelard Pavlenko, the great mage and youngest Tower Master in history, was said to have been 8th Circle at the time, so perhaps this monster had made nine rings?
Nine rings, in other words, the 9th Circle.
A legendary realm said to be theoretically possible but realistically impossible.
A few months ago, I had once asked him in passing, wondering if that might truly be the case, but Kreutzwald merely answered calmly.
— Who knows.
— ……So is that a yes or a no?
— They say that if one possesses nine rings, one gains power comparable even to a god.
— Then you’re not there yet?
— Perhaps. Perhaps not.
— ……What is he even saying? Has he gone senile?
It was only a small mutter, but Kreutzwald heard it like a ghost and picked up his staff.
— Ah, of course I wasn’t talking about my master, who is like the heavens themselves, but someone I know…… Aaargh!
Remembering how I had dangled upside down for several hours, I shuddered and cut off the recollection.
“Still, since you have made six rings, I can finally give you proper instruction.”
It has already been five months since I came to the end of the world.
In this damned world, resting, eating, and washing all have to be resolved with magic.
Naturally, my fine control of magic and my ability to apply it have risen by leaps and bounds, but surprisingly, I have learned almost nothing directly from Kreutzwald.
Using overlapping patterns to activate certain spells simultaneously.
Emphasizing the main effect of a spell to increase its power.
Abandoning fixed ways of thinking and freely altering magic to incorporate it into everyday life—that was about all I had learned so far.
And all of it had been learned during the first month I spent with Kreutzwald.
For the next four months, all I had done was repeat the process of making the sixth ring and hunting aberrations to secure food.
“Then will you teach me 6th Circle magic now?”
“Before that, let us organize things once.”
“Organize?”
“Yes. Recite every spell you can use.”
Telling someone the spells one had learned felt somewhat uncomfortable, but it was not a problem in mage society.
Even the same spell could differ enormously depending on who used it and how.
All the more so between master and disciple, whose difference in skill was extreme. There was no issue at all.
And so Hio told him everything, from the basic magic of the 1st Circle to the elemental magic of the 5th Circle, and even the necromancy that Purnell had emphasized so much.
After listening all the way to the necromancy, Kreutzwald began clicking his tongue.
“You have learned a great many useless things. Your necromancy is at a level where you must start over from the beginning.”
“……No, I only had five rings until now, and besides, I didn’t have the conditions to make proper use of necromancy……”
“That is the problem. You did not have the conditions to use it? Then you should have made it so that it could be used.”
It is fortunate Purnell is not here right now.
Because the Kreutzwald he had sung praises of with such respect was, in effect, criticizing him.
“That ghost who was supposedly once a specter really taught you strange……”
“In any case, you mean I should reorganize my necromancy from the basics, right?”
Even so, it was hard to listen to him cast doubt on Purnell, who had helped me come this far.
So I cut off Kreutzwald’s words and asked. Kreutzwald looked down at Hio for a moment, then soon answered with that unpleasant, cackling laugh of his.
“Not entirely from the very beginning, but you must approach it with that mindset. Even in battle, you do not use necromancy at all and attack only with elemental magic.”
“I can’t help that…… Necromancy is magic that shines in large-scale warfare, isn’t it?”
“That is what is wrong. You have completely misunderstood the mighty power known as the undead.”
“……Is that so?”
Perhaps Hio’s answer seemed foolish, because Kreutzwald shook his head briefly before continuing.
“How many undead can you summon?”
“As for ones I can summon, about one?”
That one was Theordo, Sylvia’s guardian knight.
To begin with, I had not created any undead, and the most I had done was revive Airaitz through Kreutzwald-style necromancy……
“Then summon it.”
“Right now? That’s a bit difficult at the moment…… He has a mission he’s carrying out over in that world……”
“It does not matter. In any case, when you crossed over to the end of the world, your connection would have been cut.”
“……Excuse me?”
It was something I had never heard before, something I had never even imagined.
My connection to Theordo had been cut?
Because he was not an existence created through normal magic in the first place, only an extremely thin link existed between Theordo and Hio.
A link concerning the death of Hio, the caster, and Theordo’s disappearance. And a link concerning summoning and reverse summoning.
That was why I had not noticed.
“No, then this is a pretty serious problem, isn’t it?”
I had never imagined the connection would be cut when I crossed over to the end of the world.
Why had I come here rather calmly without leaving any particular words for the others?
Because Theordo remained behind, and I thought everyone would know I was fine because of him.
But if Theordo had also been reverse summoned the moment I crossed over……
“They’ll think I’m dead.”
Considering the considerable reputation I had, there must have been quite an uproar.
But well, five months have already passed, haven’t they?
By now, things should have quieted down, and they would gradually forget, eventually returning to everyday life.
I know because I have experienced it many times.
No matter how cruel a death is, no matter how heartbreaking, it is gradually forgotten as time passes.
There are deaths that become lifelong wounds and crush one’s heart every day, but my death should not be on that level.
And most decisively, I am not dead.
I do not know when it will be, but I will return eventually, and then it will be resolved.
I have also established an alliance between the possessed ones and the empire, so the Abyss Gate—in other words, the Tower of the Abyss—should be progressing well, and since I encountered an aberration on the 58th floor, they must have prepared for that as well.
There is no major issue weighing on me.
That was what Hio thought, and Kreutzwald struck Hio on the head with his staff.
“What idle thoughts are you having now instead of summoning it at once?”
“Yes……”
Right. Let’s just train hard.
For now, I have to focus only on becoming stronger.
Because Kreutzwald said that was the only way to escape from the end of the world.
……Of course.
“Then I’ll summon him.”
It was not as if I naively believed every word of that.
Kreutzwald was certainly the best master when it came to improving my skills.
So, swallowing my dissatisfaction, I summoned the death knight, Theordo, without complaint.
Grasping the thinly connected thread, I pull on the existence drifting faintly beyond the far side of the underworld.
Whoosh—the black energy blows in, along with the deathly aura I have not felt in a long time.
And that energy gathers together, forming a large-framed knight.
It is the death knight, Theordo.
Upon seeing Theordo summoned in such a way, Kreutzwald’s expression crumpled for an instant.
“You are telling me this is truly a death knight? Even my skeletons would be stronger than this.”
The moment he heard those words, Theordo drew his deep black greatsword with force as soon as he was summoned.
“Now, now. If your intellect is this clear, you ought to be that much stronger…… Tsk. A feeble fellow with only his pride to boast of.”
— …….
“Hey, hey, Theordo, you hold back. He may look like that, but he’s a thirteen-hundred-year-old monster…… Aaargh!”
Thus began the true instruction and proper magic training.