Things That Descended from the Tower of Covenant

What’s the best way to destroy magical power?

Properly arranged mana can drive away magical power.

The 10th class combat suits that repel magical power do this, as does the <Spell Penetration> that Fel imbued into his spear, and even the lightning spewed by the Lightning Calamity has the property of dispersing magical power.

But still… magical power is best destroyed by magical power itself. Like my Ki-blood magic, the blue magical power residing in the Anti-Magic Spear,

And the <Beast of Wind> that causes a storm of magical power!

Crash-slash!

The <Beast of Wind> tore into the magical power singularity. The concentrated magical power was roughly torn away and scattered into the air. The detached magical power no longer clumped together but returned to its normal state.

<Beast of Wind> sucked my magical power dry and rampaged according to my will.

Once more,

Crash!

Three times,

Crash-slash!

And the fourth.

Crack-crash!

With each swing, the magical power singularity crumbled away. It was more widespread and violent than Fel’s spear that concentrated on a single point. The magical power singularity, which wouldn’t even be scratched by ordinary magical attacks, was being torn to shreds.

“Urgh…”

But after swinging four times, it was overwhelming. The magical power dissolved in my blood channels and stored in my Circle was being sucked out indiscriminately.

If I wanted to save some reserves, I should stop here.

Still, <Beast of Wind> had driven the magical power singularity into a groggy state. It couldn’t even spew lightning anymore.

“Haaaaaa!”

Fel, with his morale soaring, charged at the small and faint magical power singularity.

Swish! Swish!

Thunk!

Two thrusts scattered the tattered outer shell of the magical power singularity, and the final thrust pierced its core. At the center, the extremely compressed magical power core shattered with a cracking sound. It exploded and dispersed like smoke.

…

There were no cheers.

Because no one could believe the victory yet.

Whooosh-

The wind blowing desolately carried stinging sand.

Finally, Fel, who had been standing blankly, turned to look at me. With disbelieving eyes, he said:

“Who are you, really? Are you… truly a 2nd Circle mage?”

I answered:

“Did we win?”

“No, this is actually a very important question… haah… Yes. We won!”

As Fel awkwardly raised his spear,

A bit delayed.

Waaaaaah!

A ground-shaking cheer erupted.

“We wooon! Ugh… Urgh… We won!”

“Holy shit! We wooon!!”

The surviving mana users, including the twenty-one who had been in standby, totaled forty-one. Twenty-four casualties.

Six 1st Circle mages survived. Seven casualties.

Three 2nd Circle mages remained, including myself. One casualty.

Thirty-two casualties in total.

They had prepared for total annihilation, so more had survived than expected, but… perhaps because they were high-level personnel who had never contemplated death before, many had heartbreaking expressions even as they cheered.

Sobs were mixed in. Amidst the joy of victory, sorrow for the dead mingled with relief and helplessness at barely surviving.

Everyone seemed happy, but looking closely, they were all covered in tears and snot.

“Are you perhaps…”

Fel kept trying to say something to me, but looking around at the noisy surroundings, he sighed and lowered his head.

“Whew, I have so much to say… but let’s talk later. Anyway, thank you. Thanks to you, we survived like this.”

After going through hardship together, it was awkward…

I also bowed my head in return.

“I too, thanks to you, was able to defeat such a calamity.”

Both of us bowing to each other,

And then…

Whooosh-!

Magical power surged between us.

‘They’re loving this.’

Whether humans were sad or happy, the magical powers that had scattered in all directions rushed toward the survivors as if they’d found a festival. Shamelessly… even those that had been attached to the magical power singularity just moments ago were included.

‘That earlier one was fake!’

‘This one seems more real!’

‘Let’s go back!’

‘I think we’ve found it!’

We had defeated a B-grade calamity, but perhaps because so many people had accomplished it together? An enormous amount of magical power rushed in, but after being divided in various directions, the magical power I absorbed was just over 20%. Of course, this was still a considerable amount.

I quietly accepted the magical powers.

Due to the Lightning Calamity, there were unusually many black and red magical powers around.

When black magical power enveloped my body, it felt rough like a scrubbing cloth, and a bitter taste lingered in my mouth.

Red magical power stung like needles and tasted spicy.

‘Someday I’ll have to unravel this secret too.’

The colors of magical power that others can’t distinguish, their tastes and textures, their properties. I vividly sense all of these.

Although I used that to gather magical power a bit faster… it seems I haven’t properly developed that potential yet.

‘If magical power was the body of gods and demons… what do the colors signify? Racial differences between gods and demons? Differences in organs like skin, intestines, or tongue? Or… just individual characteristics?’

After forming a few hypotheses in my mind, I set them aside.

It’s better to think lightly for now, with insufficient information. It’s not good to create unnecessary preconceptions.

Whoooosh…

While continuing these thoughts, the magical power that had been endlessly drawn in gradually weakened. I completely gathered the magical power and took a deep breath. I felt slightly dizzy.

‘It’s hot.’

The heat rising to the tip of my nose. Not yet magical fever. But I could feel it. My capacity for magical power was approaching its limit.

Now just one more step forward and I could reach the next level.

If I were to give up either Circle or blood channel, I could immediately reach 4-Star or 4th Circle without even taking that extra step.

It was time for another choice.

‘Circle, blood channel, or… both?’

Initially, I thought Circle was the obvious choice, but now I’m not so sure. The remnant image of the ancient god I met in basic training level 5 lingered heavily. I couldn’t shake the premonition that blood channel magic might hold far greater possibilities than we know.

I decided I needed to resolve this issue before challenging the calamity’s relic site.

Just then, Fel also finished gathering magical power and shouted energetically:

“Well then! Shall we launch the victory flare?”

He took out a long wooden tube from his chest and waved it.

“Waaaaaaah!”

Seeing this, the caravan people wiped away their tears and snot and burst into applause.

The flare launched after subduing a calamity.

It was a signal of victory and simultaneously a firework announcing the beginning of a festival.

When brilliant fireworks decorate the sky, all the people of the Sand Plateau and Floating Island would see it and realize the calamity had been vanquished. From that moment, a week-long festival would begin across this vast land.

The authority to announce that festival belonged to these people. For warriors who had completed a difficult battle, this moment was like an exhilarating reward.

“Well then! Let’s start the countdown!”

As Fel raised the atmosphere,

“Wooooah!”

The people of Jack Caravan, with faces streaked with tears and snot and horribly distorted expressions, sent out cheers. Though their appearance was unsightly, like animals about to grow hair on their bottoms… it was touching.

“That was incredible.”

Just then, someone tapped my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Ahur. A 1st Circle mage and member of Fel Jack’s personal guard. A middle-aged man with pure love who had secretly admired my mother in his youth.

His face was calm, as if he had neither cried nor laughed. But in his eyes looking at me, all sorts of emotions swirled.

He swallowed hard and said:

“We survived thanks to you. Thank you. It was an honor to fight together. And…”

He paused mid-sentence and hesitated for a moment.

His lips moved several times as if trying to say something, then stopping. Finally, he barely managed to utter one more sentence, tapped my shoulder, and walked away.

“Your mother would be proud.”

In that dazed moment,

Like a dream, the countdown shouted by Fel and the caravan hit my ears.

“Ten!”

“Nine!”

…

+ – + – +

At that time, all citizens of Lanciel City had climbed onto the city walls to look at the distant Sky Bridge.

Earn Jack, the mayor of Lanciel City, was also gazing endlessly at the Sky Bridge through the window from his sickbed.

“The lightning… has stopped.”

He barely spoke with labored breathing. His voice cracked like a dried-out old tree.

“Yes. Soon the flare will go up, and the young master will return.”

Wei Dun, the gray-haired chief secretary, answered. He was a 2nd Circle mage who had devoted his entire life to House Jack.

“This is already the third calamity that the young master has subdued. It’s just like seeing you in your younger days, sir.”

At Wei Dun’s words, Earn Jack barely moved his lips to smile.

“Better… than me.”

At that weak response, Wei Dun looked down at Earn Jack with sorrowful eyes.

In the past, when he was healthy, he would have answered like this:

‘You rascal! I was told not to keep flatterers close, should I reconsider you? Haha, don’t you know? At that age, I could barely defeat a C-grade calamity!’

But now he struggled even with a single sentence.

Magical power addiction.

Originally, magical power was not a force humans were meant to handle.

When one accepts magical power, the body transforms and bears a great burden.

This is evident in the magical fever experienced when magical power becomes saturated. Though the fever seems to heal cleanly when advancing to the next level, damage continues to accumulate beneath the surface.

Depending on the person, age, and level, the time when symptoms appear varies. Some never show symptoms until they die of old age.

But what’s clear is that if one advances levels too quickly, the probability of developing magical power addiction increases dramatically.

That’s why mages advance to the next level only in highly controlled environments.

For 1st and 2nd Circle, covenant ceremonies can be performed at wilderness crossroads, but from 3rd Circle onwards, they must visit the Tower of Covenant. This was partly to avoid the calamity’s gaze, but also largely to prevent magical power addiction. However, usually only the risks related to calamities were widely known, while the risks of magical power addiction were not well publicized.

All mage organizations established laws requiring level advancement to be done at the Tower of Covenant, but they restricted information about magical power addiction.

Magic is the most important force sustaining the Star Continent. They worried that if people learned magical power could eat away at their own bodies, they might develop negative attitudes toward magic and lose their aspiration to improve. Especially young mages.

But Fel knew exactly what magical power addiction was. After all, it was the disease his father suffered from. Nevertheless, Fel did not stop fighting calamities.

Because of this fact, Wei Dun’s heart ached.

In the past, Earn Jack had risen to 4th Circle on his own, without visiting the Tower of Covenant, to kill the suddenly appearing ‘Night Calamity-Troll Gargoyle (B-grade)’.

It was to avenge his first son, Ceylon, who had died at the hands of the Troll Gargoyle during a Sand Plateau inspection, and to save his second son Fel and third child Ann who were fleeing.

Earn was victorious in that battle and led Lanciel City’s golden age as an unprecedented 4th Circle mayor. But five years later, magical power addiction manifested.

Wei Dun’s heart ached. While other mayors remained cooped up in their cities for their own safety, House Jack’s mayor and his children had risked inspection and subjugation tours for the stability of the Sand Plateau and Floating Island.

Moved by these heroic actions, Wei Dun had devoted his life to House Jack, but… seeing the hero endure such a miserable end of life… it felt like his heart was crumbling.

Is there really justice and fairness in this world? He wanted to grab the supposedly dead gods by the collar and resurrect them.

But Earn Jack himself didn’t blame anyone. He didn’t regret or change his thinking.

His son Fel, who had witnessed everything, fought against calamities even more bravely than his father and brother.

Earn was proud of such a son rather than worried.

“He really… grew up well. Wei… take good… care of him.”

Looking at the faintly smiling Earn Jack, Wei Dun swallowed his tears and replied.

“Yes. I will properly hold the position so that Young Master Fel can return after resting well in the Tower of Covenant. Now that Miss Ann has also grown up, Young Master Fel doesn’t need to push himself too hard. Lanciel City will be fine.”

Earn Jack nodded slowly as if reassured, then turned his gaze back to the window.

He was waiting for the flare that would soon rise.

“Young Master Fel is quite mischievous. It seems he’s probably doing a countdown and making us anxious again.”

Wei Dun laughed as if Fel couldn’t be helped, and looked out the window together.

But…

The flare they had been waiting for so desperately never rose.