The fourth basement floor was a vast cavern.
Unlike the floors up to the third basement level, which had maintained the appearance of an interior, the fourth floor remained in the shape of the original cave.
Magic crystals embedded all throughout the walls, and a single enormous sculpture placed in the center.
As though the three-dimensional diamond-shaped sculpture itself was the reason this floor existed, there was nothing else that particularly stood out.
“······So something like this was here.”
At this level, wasn’t it only natural that no one had found it?
After all, it was a door that would only open if someone who possessed the Pavlenko family’s necklace and had exceptionally keen mana sensitivity discovered this place’s third basement floor.
Just what on earth was that thing, for them to have hidden it away so thoroughly?
The closer he approached, the more extraordinary it felt.
The surface of the three-dimensional diamond, as tall as Hio himself, was smooth without a single blemish, and incomprehensible patterns were engraved upon it.
And directly beneath it lay a single book, which, despite the many years that must have passed, was as clean as if it were new.
Leaving the book aside for the moment, he first tried to decipher the ancient language written on the sculpture, but—
“······Activate? ······Open? Ah, damn it. This won’t work.”
As expected, it was still too much for him to decipher alone, so he opened his subspace pouch and took out a book.
—A Compendium of Ancient Languages for My Useless Disciple
When he opened the book, handwritten characters, written one by one, came into view.
The traces of someone agonizing over how to make the reader understand even a little more easily were plain to see.
After steadying his heart, which had nearly wavered for a moment, he flipped through the book and deciphered the ancient script written on the sculpture.
The result of the translation, which took about ten minutes, was this:
“Learn the Circle. The portal will open···?”
What was a Circle, and what was a portal?
Hio looked down at his feet.
“The answer··· seems to be here.”
The single book that had been placed there.
As expected, the secret was likely contained in that book, written entirely in the ancient language.
Once again flipping through the compendium of ancient languages and deciphering the ancient words written on the cover, he read:
“An Introduction to Magic and······ Understanding the Circle?”
It was a provocative title, so overflowing with intrigue that it made him want to read it immediately.
The only problem was—
“This is going to take a while to translate.”
Even at a rough glance, there were a lot of characters.
If he translated it while comparing it against the ancient language compendium Berga had left him, it would take some time.
“Still, I have to do it.”
Hadn’t he made a vow before his master that he would reach the end of magic?
It seemed he had found a proper grimoire, and this was clearly a great opportunity.
“Urgh··· let’s see······.”
Hio settled down and began translating in earnest.
That passion of his was exactly like Berga’s in his youth.
* * *
To begin this book.
—O descendant of a distant future who will one day read this book. Remember this. In the end, we were defeated, and as the price of prolonging our lives, we had no choice but to lose many things. Remember it, and remember it again. They will surely return.
···(omitted)
If a descendant is reading this book by whatever means, it must mean that your talent for mana is outstanding. Then, do you possess mana? It is fine even if you do not. Through breathing, you will take in mana, compress it, control it, store it, and reach the Circle. I shall teach you in detail what is known as the mana breathing method.
···(omitted)
Once you have gathered a certain amount of mana, you must wrap it around the vicinity of your heart. The method for doing so is······.
···(omitted)
And the most important thing is inscribing the patterns. This is an absolutely necessary process for the Circle to exert its greatest effect, and for that effect to remain permanent so long as the descendant lives. Depending on your proficiency, it may be dangerous and accompanied by pain, so I strongly recommend doing it together with a master, but······ are there any proper mages in the descendant’s era? There likely will be no master either. But do not worry. This book will pass on teachings greater than those of any master.
···(omitted)
Descendant who has completed all processes. Congratulations. You are now a First Circle mage. You may proudly call yourself an initiate mage. You who will once again kindle the embers of magic in later generations! Open the portal! The great Tower of Mages will be waiting for you!
* * *
“Argh······ I’m dying.”
It had been so wordy and the explanations so long that the translation alone had eaten up several full hours.
“Well, it does look like it was worth it.”
After lying sprawled flat on the floor for a moment, Hio sat back up and carefully read through the translated sentences.
“Especially the part about storing and compressing mana through mana breathing······ This was possible?”
If this was truly possible, didn’t that mean he could increase his mana without purchasing the stat?
If such a thing was possible, why had no one attempted it until now?
“First··· should I try it?”
Following the explanation in the book, he sat comfortably on the floor and closed his eyes.
‘If I already possess mana, it said to compress it first and wrap it around my heart.’
Mana existed inside the body, freely dispersed in the form of energy.
And when he used a skill, a certain amount would slip out; that was how he had used mana until now.
It wasn’t only Hio. Every skill user had done the same.
Compressing and controlling that, then wrapping it around the heart··· It was truly a method no one would ever have imagined.
‘Mm······.’
He gathered the mana that had been freely scattered throughout his body and compressed it.
Guiding it along the path described, he brought it near his heart.
‘Oh······?’
Even though he had not specifically controlled it, the compressed mana began to revolve evenly around his heart.
The mana settled there stably, as if it had found its rightful place.
He began to trust the contents of the book more and more.
‘I gathered up pretty much all the mana I had··· but once it’s compressed, it’s really pathetic.’
He had succeeded in compressing and controlling it, then settling it around the vicinity of his heart, but the problem was that the amount of mana was far too small.
He needed much more mana to reach the appropriate level described in the explanation.
Thinking that he would have to try this mana breathing method after all, he closed his eyes again.
‘Even when inhaling, I have to concentrate and feel the mana······.’
Inhale and exhale.
Within that naturally repeated process, he had to find a flow.
He had to sense the alien energy of mana within the air he breathed in.
And for Hio, that was quite easy.
‘Is this it?’
To begin with, it felt similar to the mana inside his body.
‘Gather this, compress it, and then move it back to the heart.’
He caught the mana that entered with his inhale and controlled it so it would not be carried out with his exhale.
Once a certain amount of mana had gathered, he compressed it and guided it to his heart through the described route.
‘······Oh!’
It naturally blended with his original mana and settled near his heart.
‘This is fun.’
There was a modest enjoyment to it, and so he continued the repetitive work without realizing how absorbed he had become. After who knew how much time had passed—
「The stat ‘Mana’ has increased by +1.」
A message appeared, saying his mana had increased.
Of course, even without the message, he had known his mana was increasing, but it had not been easy to feel it clearly······ Seeing it confirmed by the message made it feel certain.
‘This actually works······?’
For stats purchasable with points, the limit for each type was 500.
That was why, as time passed, rankers would ultimately end up with similar stats.
But if he continued using this mana breathing method, he might be able to easily exceed 500.
‘Then I don’t necessarily have to cling to fame points.’
Of course, the more fame points he had, the better.
The problem, however, was this damned pacifism.
The fastest ways to gain fame inevitably came with violent force, so one day he might have to choose between fame and patience. But if things were like this, wouldn’t the value of patience rise a little higher?
‘By the way, how long am I supposed to keep doing this?’
He was so absorbed that he had lost track of how much time had passed, continuing only the mana breathing method in a trance.
It felt as though he had reached the appropriate amount described in the book, and yet also as though he had not. It was ambiguous.
The feeling was probably even stronger because there was no one he could ask.
‘Let’s just try it.’
When there was no one to ask, the standard approach was to run into it head-on.
—Once a suitable amount of mana has gathered at the heart, you must move on to the next stage: inscribing the patterns.
Inscribing the patterns.
The patterns mentioned here were not greatly different from the ones he had learned from Berga, and most of the patterns he had to inscribe to create the First Circle were familiar to him.
So perhaps that was why he attempted it with a slightly lighter heart.
‘Well, I managed easily last time too.’
Wasn’t he a genius when it came to mana sensitivity?
There was nothing difficult for him in this field, so he assumed it would be the same this time as well.
The compressed mana slowly revolved around his heart.
He drew out a thin strand from part of it and created a small pattern.
It was true that his talent in handling mana was outstanding, but even so, this was sufficiently high-level work.
Grasping compressed mana rotating slowly, drawing it out in a thin strand, and forming a pattern with it.
With mediocre talent, it would surely be impossible to accomplish even after months.
‘Phew······ Is that about right?’
But Hio managed to create a single pattern with only a few drops of sweat.
It was the simplest shape among the sixteen patterns he had to create.
Now he only had to inscribe it onto his heart.
‘Still, this is my heart we’re talking about······ Is this really all right?’
That thought crossed his mind, but there was no one around who could give him a clear answer.
He had simply done as the book instructed, and so far, there had been no particular problems. No, if anything, it had benefited him.
Slowly······ slowly, he brought the pattern to his heart.
And at last, the moment it reached his heart—
“······!!”
His eyes flew wide open at the enormous pain he felt.
It was only a single small pattern touching his heart, yet pain as if his entire body were burning engulfed him.
He tried somehow to keep his senses, but amid the pain that gnawed at his whole body, his consciousness faded.
‘Fuck······ You should’ve said it would hurt this much······!’
Hio’s unconscious body finally toppled sideways.
Perhaps it was better that he had fainted early.
For within that unconscious body, the work of engraving the pattern continued.
Had he been awake, he would surely have suffered under excruciating pain.
And after some time passed—
“Aaagh, fuck!”
With a thunderous shout, Hio regained consciousness.
“Wh-what is this!”
His body was damp with cold sweat.
“Did I get scammed?”
Why did it hurt this much?
The pain of his entire body burning and being gnawed away was, without question, something he had never experienced in his life.
But that did not mean there had been no effect at all, because he could faintly feel the power of the pattern engraved on his heart.
He did not know exactly what kind of power it was, but it felt alien.
It was as if the bond between the mana revolving around his heart had become a little tighter.
‘So this was the effect of patterns···.’
The patterns he had learned from Berga had not listed precise effects.
Rather than the individual effects of each one, the records had been closer to documenting how one pattern reacted with another.
Perhaps······ he began to think that this might be the original use of patterns.
“That aside, if I want to create something called a Circle, I have to do this fifteen more times······?”
There were sixteen patterns to inscribe in total.
Since he had just inscribed one of them, that meant fifteen remained.
Which meant he would have to faint fifteen more times.
“······What a life.”
Well, what could he do? He had to.
Hadn’t he already inherited so much from Berga?
Even setting aside Berga’s goal, Hio himself had become quite serious about magic now.
He had truly become curious.
Why had magic been forced to decline, and where did the end of properly learned magic lie?
He wanted to confirm it. He wanted to reach it.
And so, he closed his eyes once more and focused his mind.
He drew out mana in a thin strand and began forming another pattern.
With a short deep breath, he brought the completed pattern to his heart.
“······Guhak!”
And writhing in extreme agony, he fainted once again.
Hoping that, when he woke again, he would have advanced a little further.