The Stone of Memory

The sky of the Star Continent was filled with stars.

For the people there, the word “star” didn’t merely refer to those tiny specks of distant light in the cosmos.

They were fragments of a shattered world.

Torn continents and seas, flourishing cities and ancient ruins—all floating in the night sky.

These, too, were stars.

Some were as small as a thumbnail, others as large as a fist, and the closest ones were near enough to discern their castle walls or the rippling of their waters.

All these stars slowly revolved around the Tower of Covenant.

No one remained who remembered why the Star Continent had shattered, or why the separated worlds floated in the night sky. They could only guess based on myths.

Long ago, there was a war between gods and demons, and the world broke apart.

Gods and demons perished together in that war, leaving behind only the calamities they had created.

This was the content of the myth.

Whether gods and demons truly existed, whether they really waged war and all perished… these facts remained unknown, but one thing was certain.

The calamities they allegedly created were certainly terrifying enough to be weapons in a war between gods and demons.

They weren’t natural disasters. They were magical calamities targeting humans.

For instance, the “Calamity of Night” referred to monsters—orcs, ogres, and the like. Not creatures with their own ecosystem, but magical weapons existing solely to kill humans, unstoppable disasters.

The “Calamity of Disease” was an incomprehensible plague, and the “Calamity of the Labyrinth” was a disaster that suddenly appeared and caused people to lose their way forever.

The Calamity of Fire, the Calamity of Water, the Calamity of Immortality… there were too many types of calamities, so when people encountered new ones, they simply gave them appropriate names.

A land ruled by calamities.

A land where suffering and despair ran rampant.

Yet hope remained. That hope was magic.

Most notably, there were cities.

Great mages constructed powerful magical barriers that could repel calamities.

People gathered around these barriers, forming cities.

The names of mages who pioneered these cities were passed down for generations as heroes.

However, not everyone could enjoy this benefit.

Less than one percent of humanity lived in cities, while the rest wandered the wilderness outside.

Barriers created by mages existed throughout the wilderness too, but they weren’t as sturdy or stable as those in the cities.

Since staying in one place for too long made it easier for calamities to detect them, wilderness dwellers migrated along the barriers created by ancient mages.

It was a harsh and dangerous life, but even amidst it all, there was romance.

Perhaps their positivity stemmed from the stars filling the sky.

With different lands and cities twinkling in the night sky, the residents couldn’t help but dream.

-I’m going to become a mage too.

-I’ll master magic and earn the right to be a city citizen.

-I’ll become a mage and climb the Tower of Covenant. I’ll see the end of that glittering world.

Though the world had shattered and scattered, it remained connected through the Tower of Covenant—the center of the world, called the homeland of mages.

Becoming a mage allowed one to climb that tower and visit the detached continents and cities.

Magical knowledge also spread widely through the Tower of Covenant.

Mages living in the upper levels of the tower shared magical knowledge to all floors to combat calamities, and over generations, a social and cultural foundation was established to pass on magic to all children.

-Learn magic. Use that power to benefit yourself. Become a mage and subdue the calamities.

Over a long period, mages spread their knowledge and will to every corner of the shattered Star Continent.

Thus, in the Star Continent, everyone studied magic.

Anyone could become a mage.

Of course,

not just anyone could become a mage.

+ – + – +

The crossroad was an area with a mid-to-low-grade barrier where wilderness nomads gathered and dispersed.

The “Green River Crossroad” had a small emerald-colored river forming the core of its barrier.

The eleven students of “Sena School Nomad,” who had arrived at the Green River Crossroad yesterday, were receiving magic theory lessons by the rippling riverbank.

“A mage is someone who challenges and keeps covenants. By keeping your own covenants, or even without making covenants, by succeeding in difficult challenges, you can control more mana. Power dwells in your words and actions. Conversely, if you avoid challenges or fail to keep covenants, you lose mana. So you must prepare. Sometimes you may have no choice but to give up, but if you prepare in advance, you can respond calmly to sudden challenges and moments of covenant.”

Sena, the woman in her early thirties leading the Sena School Nomad, repeated what she always said.

‘Keeping one’s covenant’—this was the foundation of being a mage, so she repeated it like brainwashing.

Sena herself had been educated that way.

However, when one student raised his hand high, Sena couldn’t help but slightly furrow her brow.

“Baek Jun-woo? What is it now?”

Baek Jun-woo was a young boy of Eastern origin.

While both his parents had black, glossy hair, Jun-woo alone had dry, white hair.

White hair was supposedly a symbol of wisdom… but Sena had grown sick of Jun-woo’s questions, which showed not even a speck of wisdom, in less than half a year.

Jun-woo raised his hand high again today and asked a strange question with clear eyes.

“Teacher Sena! But doesn’t mana have specific types of challenges or covenant methods it particularly prefers? And methods it’s more indifferent to… Well, if we knew those standards, we could increase our control more quickly. We could give up on challenges that mana is indifferent to and focus only on challenges that mana shows interest in.”

It was always like this. He wasn’t unintelligent, but he had excessive delusions and told tall tales.

Sena suppressed her rising irritation and answered.

“Baek Jun-woo. Mana doesn’t have types. All mana is the same. All identical! There are schools that claim there are types, but at our level, it’s fine to just consider there aren’t any. And mana having preferences for certain challenges? Covenants? What on earth are you talking about?!”

“Um… but.”

“Enough! Quiet! Keep disrupting class and I’ll throw you out.”

Under Sena’s fierce glare, Jun-woo sheepishly lowered his head.

‘Did I misunderstand again….’

Jun-woo thought there must be something wrong with him.

Everyone else easily understood and accepted the concept of mana, while he alone found it very confusing.

It didn’t occur to him that Sena might be wrong.

Though her circle had broken due to failing to keep a covenant, wasn’t she once a real mage who had achieved the 1st Circle?

Someone like her couldn’t be wrong.

‘I want to become a mage too….’

How much he had looked forward to joining the School Nomad… It was a dream he had cherished since his earliest memories began… Lately, Jun-woo felt like he was constantly shrinking.

“Does he have no sense?”

“Seriously. Know your limits. Always saying weird things.”

“Heh. The mana seems to have different colors~ The mana feels alive~”

“Pfft. That’s spot on. This guy is totally Baek Jun-woo. Hehe.”

The other students’ mockery pierced the back of Jun-woo’s lowered head.

“Quiet! Quiet!”

Sena didn’t particularly scold them. She merely cleared the atmosphere before continuing the lesson.

“Next… magic is broadly divided into Ki-blood magic, Circle magic, and what else?”

When Sena threw the question with her eyes, a voice immediately answered.

It was a cute girl with light blue hair tied back. She looked a couple of years older than Jun-woo.

“Totem magic.”

“Very good, Yuria.”

A smile bloomed on Sena’s face. If Baek Jun-woo was the trap of this nomad group, Yuria was its salvation.

Yuria, who had slightly bowed her head in gratitude for Sena’s praise, glanced aside.

She saw Baek Jun-woo with his head hanging low.

‘Types of mana? Anyway… they’re being too harsh on such a cute kid.’

Her gaze toward Jun-woo contained curiosity and a touch of affection.