「You have successfully created a Circle.」
「The stat ‘Mana’ has increased by +20.」
Along with those messages, the power of the Circle could be felt with vivid clarity.
Unlike at the beginning, the ring of mana encircling his heart was now rotating vigorously.
“Haha... I’m really going to die.”
Sprawled out on the floor, arms and legs spread wide, he let out a hollow, soulless laugh.
The floor was dotted with sweat.
He had no idea how many times he had died and come back to life.
That was how excruciating the pain had been.
When he woke up, he would catch his breath a few times, then inscribe again.
Then he would writhe under the agony that came rushing back and pass out.
By the time it had happened more than ten times, even his sense of purpose—why he was doing this at all—had grown faint, but even so, he did not stop.
Perhaps because it was the fruit he had obtained after overcoming such pain—
It was unbearably sweet.
“It’s great that my mana increased, but... this thing called a Circle really is fascinating.”
He could sense it instinctively.
That this was the right path.
That magic utilizing this was the orthodox path of magic Berga—his master—had hoped for.
“...Old man, what were you in such a hurry for, leaving like that...?”
You could have held on just a little longer.
If you had, there would have been at least one person by my side today to congratulate me.
Still lying down, Hio raised one arm and covered his eyes.
Perhaps the sixteen inscriptions had been too much.
Unlike himself, he was feeling sentimental.
After some time passed like that—
“Well, in any case, the problem is how to cast magic using the Circle...”
Hio got up and shifted his thoughts in another direction.
He had succeeded in creating the Circle.
Now the question was how to use it.
“It’s definitely not the same method as before.”
It probably was not the way he had done it before, drawing out mana and instantly creating dozens of patterns to construct a spell.
To begin with, had the use of the patterns not felt wrong from the start?
“Hmm... I have no idea.”
There was no way he would find the answer just by agonizing over it alone.
After all, he had only just created a single Circle.
“Come to think of it, it said a portal would open once I learned the Circle, didn’t it?”
A portal.
If a portal really did open, then judging by the circumstances, that three-dimensional diamond in the center of the cavern would probably serve that role.
With that thought, he went closer, but as expected, simply standing there did not suddenly open a portal.
“Learn the Circle. The portal shall open.”
He had learned the Circle as the words instructed.
Then did that not mean he was supposed to make some gesture using this power he had learned?
“For example... trying to infuse mana into this?”
He placed his hand on the smooth surface of the piece, drew mana from the rotating Circle, and infused it.
It was not the vague, loosely scattered energy from before, but compressed mana gathered tightly by the power of the patterns. In other words, the Circle.
As it flowed through his hand into the piece, the piece that received that pure mana soon illuminated its hidden patterns and began to blaze brightly.
Pure white light filled the vast cavern.
Hio’s eyes naturally closed at that brilliant radiance, and when he felt it had subsided somewhat and opened them again—
“...Wow.”
A white portal large enough to touch the ceiling had opened wide in the center.
「The region connected to the portal is Ancient City Tetradia — ‘Mage’s Tower.’」
「Will you enter the portal?」
As if entranced, Hio walked toward the white portal.
「The portal is activating.」
「Moving to Ancient City Tetradia — ‘Mage’s Tower.’」
Before long, he vanished along with the white light.
* * *
On the continent, there were three regions strictly forbidden by imperial law.
One was the Grandina Mountain Range, which marked the border with the Sacred Kingdom to the east.
In that tall, long mountain range, all sorts of monsters roamed in groups by species, and their numbers were so great that subjugation was practically impossible.
Thus, the region had been acknowledged as monster territory, its paths blocked, and it had been designated a forbidden land.
The second was Baal Forest in the south of the continent.
Shrouded in fog all year round, this forest had been called the Cursed Forest before it was designated forbidden.
Because no one who entered Baal Forest ever came out alive.
There were rumors among the public that Black Fang’s base was located there in Baal Forest, but those, too, were only rumors.
Because the fog was so severe and the swampy ground swallowed one’s feet with every step, even high-ranking knight orders had difficulty entering, and so it had been designated forbidden.
And the last forbidden land was a place that drew far less interest from people compared to the previous two.
The Grandina Mountain Range and Baal Forest were not located in such remote places, and adventurers or mercenaries traveling the continent would hear about them from time to time, so interest in them was high. The last forbidden land, however, was a place where only rumors abounded.
Beyond the imperial border, in the north of the continent.
A land located outside the empire’s northern border, which was surrounded by high walls so tightly that not even a drop of water could seep through.
A land designated forbidden far, far longer ago than the Grandina Mountain Range or Baal Forest.
The cursed land, Tetradia.
Even back when Bentair was still a game, rumors about Tetradia had been plentiful, but no one knew anything detailed about it.
They only knew it was a cursed land and one of the oldest forbidden lands. No one had gone there, nor had anyone witnessed it.
The reason was simple.
‘The map was never open to begin with.’
The reason was that the map itself was not open to the north of the empire.
Perhaps because there were limits to what could be done in a game, this cursed land had not even been revealed at all.
“A cursed land, huh...”
And there was someone standing blankly in the middle of that forbidden land.
“Hmm... fuck.”
Naturally, it was Hio.
Towering structures.
The blackened earth visible between them.
And...
“Those are Abyss monsters.”
Hundreds of eyes staring straight at him from far away.
Those were Abyss monsters, things that only appeared in the middle to later stages of the game.
Looking closer, it was not just that one.
Abyss monsters that absolutely should not appear at the current difficulty were swarming beneath his feet.
“...This place is sturdy, right?”
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that the monsters had recognized his existence, but could not charge at him.
That was because Hio was inside the Mage’s Tower.
“So this was what Tetradia looked like...”
The original form of the cursed land was one that would never have fallen behind even a modern city.
No, depending on how one looked at it, it might have been even more advanced than a modern city.
However, due to the passage of far too many years, it had crumbled and collapsed. Still, at the very least, the Mage’s Tower where Hio stood remained intact.
“How many floors up am I, exactly?”
He muttered as he stepped away from the glass wall.
He seemed to be at least above the hundredth floor, and yet this did not seem to be the top, so he could not even begin to gauge how incredible ancient construction technology had been.
In truth, the construction technology was amazing, but there was something else that had been capturing Hio’s attention from earlier.
The endless mana originating from this Mage’s Tower.
The mana extending throughout the entire city was so vast and yet so delicate.
Simply sensing it was enough to send a thrill through him.
“The Mage’s Tower... is holding down all those Abyss monsters?”
That seemed to be the use of this intoxicating mana.
If creatures like those were unleashed at the current point in time, there would be no catastrophe greater than that.
Just how many years had it been holding them back here...? He was even beginning to feel respect for the mages of the past, something he had never had before.
“So, esteemed mages. You want me to learn magic here and spread magic throughout the world again... something like that, right?”
When he stepped away from the window and looked around, as if to say that was correct, a dozen or so books were displayed.
A rough glance showed that all of them were magic books related to 1st Circle magic.
“I don’t know how much I can do studying alone without a master, but...”
Even if he had to wring out every last bit of his lacking brain, he had to learn it.
“Before that, just for a moment... can I go back?”
The spacious interior. The luxurious tiles covering the floor.
And in the center stood the same three-dimensional diamond he had seen on the fourth basement floor.
He approached it and once again infused the mana of his Circle.
「The portal is activating.」
「There are a total of 241 connected regions.」
A list unfolded one after another.
「List」
「Mage’s Tower 1st Floor — Lobby of Beginnings」
「Mage’s Tower 2nd Floor — Apprentice Mage Living Quarters」
「Mage’s Tower 3rd Floor — Apprentice Mage Living Quarters (2)」
...
「Mage’s Tower 89th Floor — Room of Golem Researcher Lelendys Arpe」
「Mage’s Tower 90th Floor — Room of Spirit Authority Matherin Misen」
...
「Mage’s Tower 150th Floor — Room of Tower Master Abelard Pavlenko」
Names that were dazzling at a glance stretched out before him.
Golem researcher, spirit authority, and so on.
If he went to rooms like those, just what could he obtain? His mouth watered by itself, but—
「Confirmed mana is 1st Circle.」
「There are a total of two regions you may travel to.」
A cold message appeared and shattered Hio’s fantasies.
「Mage’s Tower 101st Floor — Training Ground for Novice Mages (Temporary)」
「Berden Southern Region Independent Base (3) — Mage’s House」
He was a novice mage who had only just completed his Circle.
The only places he could go were the novice mage training ground and the Mage’s House where he had been just a short while ago.
“Well, you can’t expect to be full from the first spoonful.”
He would have to translate books written entirely in the ancient language by hand and learn magic from the beginning with no one to ask, but it was more than doable.
Compared to the past two years, when everything had seemed hopeless, at least he could see a future now.
“Let’s see first... Is this title Aqua?”
For his first step, he chose something relatively familiar.
After all, Aqua was one of the spells Berga had taught him.
Of course, the casting method and efficiency were completely different, so as a novice mage, his first step would not be entirely easy.
“Draw out the power of the patterns inherent in the Circle... Ugh, this is hard...”
And so, several months passed.
* * *
The exceptionally cold winter passed, and spring arrived.
Well, for Hio, who had been holed up in the Mage Tower the entire time, whether it was spring or winter probably did not matter, but regardless of that, it was true that an important turning point had arrived.
He had learned all the 1st Circle spells he could learn in the Mage Tower.
No, to be precise, he had learned all the 1st Circle spells that had been prepared.
The training ground for novice mages and the 1st Circle magic books had been prepared as if they had been waiting for someone like Hio to appear.
‘I still don’t have enough mana to inscribe the 2nd Circle...’
So now, he intended to go out into the world for a while.
[Hidden Trait: Violence Is Bad! (Patience: 818 / 1000)]
He would also finish off his fairly ripened patience while he was at it.
“I said I’d go, and then I didn’t for months. Sirbert must have been waiting until his neck stretched long.”
Of course, it would take several more months from here.
Hio did not have any convenient skill that would take him from the edge of the empire to the capital in one leap.
It would be quite a long journey.
“...Shall I go?”
Hio rose from his seat and began taking his belongings from the storage cabinet that had been prepared.
First, he put on a loose mage’s robe.
「Tetradia Mage Tower Novice Robe (Unique)」
「A Tetradia Mage Tower novice robe with decent defensive power and a modest amount of magic resistance. Equipped with a self-repairing durability function.」
「Provides the optimal temperature so the wearer can focus on magic.」
「Stat ‘Mana’ +5」
He placed an absurd cone-shaped hat that did not suit him on his head.
「Tetradia Mage Tower Novice Hat (Unique)」
「A symbol of affiliation with the Tetradia Mage Tower. In the past, it was a symbol of glory, but in the modern age, it is doubtful whether anyone will recognize it. Equipped with a self-repairing durability function.」
「A spell that increases the wearer’s concentration is permanently applied.」
「Magic casting speed +5%」
Then, once he grasped a staff that was about a handspan taller than he was, he was ready to depart.
「Tetradia Mage Tower Novice Staff (Unique)」
「A staff given to novice mages of the Tetradia Mage Tower. Though it is the lowest grade of magic staff, it has been crafted perfectly, befitting the tower’s reputation. Equipped with a self-repairing durability function.」
「Stat ‘Mana’ +10」
「Magic casting speed +5%」
He placed his hand on the portal in the center and familiarly infused mana.
「Confirmed mana is 1st Circle.」
「There are a total of two regions you may travel to.」
「You have selected Berden Southern Region Independent Base (3) — ‘Mage’s House.’」
「The portal is activating.」
When he came to his senses amid the bright light, he was in a familiar place. Berga’s house.
He climbed the familiar basement stairs, fastened the subspace pouch at his waist, and left the house.
“Mm! The weather’s great!”
The spring breeze blew warm and gentle.
The fragrant scent of flowers made his heart flutter.
“I’ll be back, old man.”
Hio bowed his head toward the white flower bud poking up beside the grave, then turned around, a pleasant smile hanging on his lips.
“Let’s go.”
To let the world know of magic.
To save the world from the curse of the Abyss.
As Hio moved his feet, the wind blew softly behind his back.
The pure white flower bud blooming beside the grave swayed lightly from side to side.
“...”
As if telling him to have a safe journey.