—It is an unwritten rule.
He meant that having multiple masters was forbidden among mages.
—One may have several disciples, but one’s master must be only one.
Apparently, there were all sorts of complicated reasons.
A master’s unique magic or research could be leaked, and if one learned different theories from multiple masters, there was a chance they would clash.
And above all.
—Does it not feel unpleasant? How would you feel if your spouse whispered words of love to another man?
“......Isn’t that a little different?”
—You know nothing! Just imagine it. Your one and only disciple goes to another master and looks at them with eyes full of respect...... Ugh, dreadful.
At Purnell’s words, Hio closed his eyes for a moment and imagined it.
If old man Berga were still alive, and Hio brought some other master before him, dragging along this scrap of a ghost......
Mm.
“I think he’d like it?”
Wouldn’t he be delighted?
He could easily picture Berga rushing in with a cry of joy, saying he would learn too.
Not serve more than one master?
What a luxurious thing to say.
Wasn’t that the sort of thing that only worked in an era overflowing with magic and knowledge?
As someone who knew just how great Berga’s thirst for magic had been, Hio found it hard to readily agree.
—Still, it cannot be done. It is disrespectful to your master. As a mage himself, he would not like it either.
Of course, Hio understood what Purnell was saying.
From his perspective, it was surely a notion that had been ingrained in him over countless years.
Even so, he couldn’t give up.
If he failed to obtain the artifact and failed to learn necromancer magic, then there would be no meaning at all in having come all this way.
Rather than changing Purnell’s convictions, Hio layered a new perception over them.
“Purnell, I had dozens of masters.”
—......In your original world, you mean?
“Yeah. Once a year. My master changed, and aside from that, I had one master for each subject—history, geography, language, literature, economics, mathematics, and so on.”
—Is that...... possible?
“No one thought it strange.”
At Hio’s words, Purnell’s eyes went round.
It was something he had never even imagined.
Changing masters once a year, and having countless others besides?
......Could it be?
—You must have been royalty.
Since that was the only way such a thing would be possible, Purnell’s guess was only natural.
“......Huh? Ah, of course! Something like that.”
Hio nodded, flustered.
He had used his teachers from his school days as an example, but hadn’t it worked even better than expected?
—I see...... In that case, it makes sense.
“That’s what I’m saying. There’s no problem at all with you teaching me, Purnell.”
—Mm...... Indeed, when it came to teaching magic, royalty was considered an exception.
“Now we’re finally speaking the same language.”
His conscience pricked at him, but depending on how one looked at it, wasn’t it true?
Hio, too, had been like a prince to his parents......
‘Ah, I was an orphan.’
Well, did that matter anyway?
What mattered was the fact that he could learn necromancer magic.
“And I understand what you’re saying too, but that’s far too old-fashioned. What use is worrying about clashing magic theories and all that nonsense in a world without mages?”
—That is certainly true as well. If not for you, necromancer magic would be forgotten completely.
“That’s exactly what I mean. So you should teach me magic, right?”
—Mm......
Purnell seemed to have accepted it, but he still appeared to be hesitating.
—Will it truly be all right? With your master, I mean.
Apparently, that was what kept bothering him.
“It’ll be fine.”
Hio spoke with conviction.
“Master would definitely have said it was all right. He would have told me I absolutely had to learn it.”
He would have said it with that hearty laugh he always wore.
You worthless disciple.
If you’re going to learn it anyway, learn it properly.
Make sure you squeeze everything you can out of him.
—If that is so...... Very well.
Purnell rose.
No, since he was a ghost, it would be more accurate to say he floated lightly into the air.
—Follow me.
The haunted house was a three-story mansion aboveground.
It was fairly large, but it was an abandoned building with nothing inside.
At least, that had clearly been the concept in the game.
An empty, eerie haunted house.
But Purnell went to one wall as though there were something there.
He exerted physical force directly and manipulated something.
—This is the necromancers’ branch and one of the Magic Tower’s bases.
Boom— With a heavy sound, the wall split apart to both sides.
It was unmistakably a familiar phenomenon he had seen often before.
The scene he had always witnessed when heading to Berga’s underground laboratory.
—It is what we call a mage’s house.
This place was a mage’s house.
* * *
—Those who cannot handle mana will never find the door leading underground in their lifetime. That is a characteristic of a mage’s house.
Hio followed Purnell down underground.
It felt quite different from the mage’s house where he had lived with Berga.
It was wider, darker, and filled with an indescribably gloomy air.
—Necromancers are a little different from the magic you have learned. No, quite a lot different. Fundamentally, mana is the basis, but that alone is not enough. Death energy is required.
Any living being, immediately after death, emitted a thick, clinging energy, and that was death energy.
The energy of death.
Necromancer magic required that energy separately, in addition to mana.
—Gathering this death energy takes a considerable amount of time. The amount of energy that can be obtained varies drastically depending on the grade of the soul during life.
“Then...... does that mean you have to kill living beings no matter what in order to use the magic?”
—Not so. Death energy is needed to create undead, and other spells can be cast normally using mana.
“But if you’re a necromancer, aren’t undead the core?”
—Indeed. That is why this is necessary.
A room underground that he entered while following Purnell.
All sorts of unidentified reagents and papers lay scattered about, and among them was something small that glittered.
—Try putting that on.
It was a ring.
A ring with a rather strange design, with a small skull pattern engraved on it.
「Tetradia School Ring - Necromancer (Unique)」
「A ring issued only to formal mages of the school or higher. It allows the wearer to sense and handle mana and death energy more clearly.」
「Death Energy Collection Rate +10%」
「Stat ‘Mana’ +5」
—That is a magic tool that lets you sense the energy of death more clearly and helps you gather it more easily. Most members of our school wear one.
He put the ring on his hand, but...... for now, he couldn’t really tell.
—You cannot tell right away, can you? It would be good if there were a proper place to train with this...... but this is a kind of base, not a place for learning magic, so it lacks many things.
Come to think of it, wasn’t this also a mage’s house?
“Does this place have a fourth underground floor too?”
—Hm? How do you know that? It does, but only those at branch head level or above can open it. As I recall, this branch head’s necklace should not be here, so we cannot go to the fourth floor......
“Did I ever tell you that?”
Hio pulled out the necklace hidden beneath his robe and showed it to him.
“That my master was a member of the Pavlenko family.”
Purnell’s mouth fell open.
His mouth opened so wide that it eventually covered his own eyes.
—Good heavens!
Then his eyes, nose, and mouth returned to normal, all of them twitching with excitement.
—Then can we go? To the Magic Tower?
Hio chuckled and walked ahead.
He descended to the third underground floor, following the direction the necklace guided him.
When he pressed the necklace against the symbol of the Pavlenko family there.
Rumble— The wall split wide open to both sides.
The fourth underground floor, which had surely opened for the first time in hundreds of years, revealed itself, and before Hio and Purnell, who descended below, that familiar portal appeared.
—Hurry, hurry and activate it!
Hio rotated his Circle and skillfully infused mana into the portal.
「The region connected to the portal is the ancient city of Tetradia - ‘Magic Tower.’」
「Will you enter the portal?」
Along with the familiar message, he was soon enveloped in light.
「The portal is activating.」
「Transporting to the ancient city of Tetradia - ‘Magic Tower.’」
* * *
—I’m really...... truly here...... I’m in the Magic Tower!
Purnell was so excited that he spun around in place.
Was entering the Magic Tower really that good?
“Are you that happy?”
—Of course! Do you know what kind of place the Tetradia Magic Tower is?
“Just, well...... isn’t it like a workplace where mages work?”
—Hah...... How can this be. If you are a mage too, you must keep in mind just how extraordinary this place is. It is where all magical knowledge converges. To begin with, not just anyone can enter, and now there should be no one left here......
Purnell, wildly excited, finally rushed toward the wall of the Magic Tower.
—Does that not mean I can peruse every research document and magic book here? This is insane!
Purnell passed straight through the wall and vanished.
“......What the hell.”
Was that allowed?
Hadn’t he only been able to move through portals according to his Circle?
“I doubt the security is that lax......”
Well, he would take care of himself.
How much must he have missed this place?
A mage who had lived as a specter for hundreds of years, his mind suppressed.
Hio could not dare imagine what feelings he had as he wandered around the Magic Tower now.
“Since it’s come to this, I should hurry with the inscription work.”
He had gathered enough mana to reach the 2nd Circle.
What remained now was entering the 2nd Circle through inscription.
And once the 2nd Circle training hall and magic books were opened, he would learn from them.
If he learned necromancer magic from Purnell at the same time, he would be able to spend his time quite productively.
“Whew...... Let me prepare myself first.”
The pain of inscription was beyond imagination.
Moreover, the number of inscriptions needed for the 2nd Circle was nearly twice that of the 1st Circle.
Even Hio, who prided himself on being fairly used to pain, could not help feeling tense.
He rummaged through his subspace pouch and took out a book.
It was the book that had been placed in the novice mage training hall.
A book containing the patterns needed for the 2nd Circle’s inscriptions.
“How did mages in the old days endure this bullshit?”
If even the 2nd Circle was like this, then just how painful a process did one have to endure to reach the 4th Circle, the 5th Circle, or the 7th Circle and beyond, where one received the title of Sage?
He was on the verge of developing a deep respect for the senior mages.
He opened the book beside him and sat down on the floor in the most comfortable posture he could manage.
Closing his eyes, he focused his mind and sank into himself.
He drew out compressed mana as thin as thread and completed the pattern stitch by stitch.
When he engraved the completed sentence onto his heart.
“......Guh!”
Excruciating pain came for him.
Under the surging agony, he collapsed onto the floor and convulsed.
Sweat poured down like rain, but he could not feel any of it; he was entirely occupied with holding on to his mind as it tried to grow distant.
Even after struggling like that, his consciousness eventually faded, and after a brief faint, when he came to again, the inscription was finished.
“......Ha.”
He let out a short sigh and committed the next pattern to memory.
He steadied his breathing and immediately closed his eyes again.
Because he knew the weakness in himself—that the longer he rested, the more painful it would become, and the less he would want to do it.
“......!”
The agony came again.
It felt as though his entire body was being gnawed away, and his heart pounded so violently it seemed ready to burst.
The pattern engraved on his heart exerted its power, and his heart and body, unable to adapt to that power, cried out in pain.
Naturally, he collapsed to the floor again, his body trembling.
And so his consciousness faded once more.
He came to again.
He caught his breath and memorized the pattern.
He drew out mana, moved it to create the pattern, and then engraved it as it was.
After being tormented by the agony, when it gradually subsided, he caught his breath again.
......Once that repeated nearly twenty times, no matter how strong a person’s mental fortitude was, their stamina and mind could not endure it.
His vision swam, and even opening his eyes was not easy.
Above all, his heart...... hurt too much.
‘......How many...... are left?’
He forced his blurring eyes shut, then opened them again and barely managed to focus.
But there were still more than ten patterns remaining.
Even so, he memorized the pattern without hesitation, moved his mana, and inscribed it again.
Horrific pain came for him.
His mind grew hazy, and when he barely opened his eyes again, his clothes were drenched in sweat.
Blood was flowing from his nose. His mind was reeling.
He tried to raise himself once more, but now he had truly reached his limit.
His body would not move, and even the eyes he had barely kept open were slowly closing.
Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a voice reached him.
—You! What state are you in? Are you all right?
At Purnell’s voice, Hio tried to say he was fine, that he had only been doing inscription work, but his mouth simply would not move.
He could feel his consciousness slipping away.
—Do not tell me...... you hammered the patterns into your heart?
Even amid that, Purnell’s voice, full of shock, rang clearly in his head.
—Good heavens...... What an ignorant fool! What madman creates a Circle in such a manner? You could die doing that!
Even as his head spun and his mind grew distant, he felt utterly dumbfounded.
—Tsk, tsk...... It seems I have a mountain of things to teach you.
The sound of clicking his tongue reached him.
Just before fainting, Hio squeezed out the last of his strength and barely opened his mouth.
“You should’ve told me sooner...... fuck.”