Chapter 85

The three suns were directly overhead.

Since the suns on the 3rd floor were close enough to reach if one used flight magic, it became unbearably hot when they were directly above.

Even I, who had completed level 5 physical enhancement and become a 3-star Ki-blood magic practitioner, was dripping with sweat… so the Mana Users were suffering enough that their clothes would drip if wrung out.

Still, we didn’t slow our march. Last time we had passed through quickly using Mobility discs, but now we were traveling relatively slowly on horseback, so we had no choice but to endure the hardship to shorten our schedule as much as possible.

Mobility discs were ancient relics. We had banned their use due to potential threats that might be attracted. At least until we gained enough strength to protect ourselves…

Clank.

The metallic sound of something clicking shut. It was Lytol checking his pocket watch again from behind. “Haaah…” A deep sigh followed that seemed to sink into the ground. What was this grown man doing, repeating this almost every 30 minutes?

Speaking of pocket watches… I thought those only existed on Earth.

“Excuse me.”

Yuria called out to Lytol.

He put the pocket watch back in his chest pocket without responding.

“Excuse me! Mr. Flash!”

Lytol’s eyebrows shot up.

“What…? Mr. Flash? Are you talking to me?”

A mage’s title is a name imprinted on magical powers.

If compared to Earth, it would be like an official seal or a brand identity (BI)—an important concept. That’s why mages often have a habit of revering their own titles. If people respect them, magical powers will recognize them too, or so they say.

But “Mr. Flash”… even I, who had humiliated Lytol twice, wouldn’t dream of addressing him like that…

But Yuria didn’t seem bothered at all.

“What’s that? Show me.”

Her finger pointed to the gold chain peeking out of Lytol’s chest pocket.

Lytol glared at her with irritated eyes, then glanced cautiously at me before pressing his lips tightly together. He clicked his tongue and urged his horse forward, ignoring her. But she followed right behind him.

“Where did you get that? Did you make it yourself?”

Lytol still wouldn’t respond.

So she began talking to herself.

“Tick tock tick tock… Why does it make that sound? Something’s hitting. Like a pendulum swinging back and forth… The sound is so regular. What could it be used for, making such sounds? Is it a musical instrument?”

Suddenly, Lytol’s shoulders twitched.

“I hear something spinning with a whirring sound. I can also hear small metal pieces interlocking… Tick tick tick. Tick. Ting! Ah, what is that sound… Oh! I get it! This isn’t powered by mana! It’s moved by coiled spring steel with good elasticity! Goodness… how on earth…? Is this knowledge from another world? Or perhaps an ancient relic!”

Finally, Lytol’s gaze turned toward Yuria.

But she had her eyes tightly closed, completely absorbed in her own world.

“Ah, it sounds so nice. The more I listen, the more I can hear how many sounds are mixed together. It seems about the size of a 10-light mana coin… How is this possible? How many metal pieces could be packed into such a small body?”

Ahem… Ahem!

With a forced cough, Lytol finally opened his mouth. It was the warmest voice I’d heard from him since we’d met.

“1,111 pieces.”

Yuria’s eyes snapped open.

“Gasp! That many?”

“It’s a pocket watch my master gave me to commemorate becoming 4th Circle.”

“A watch… To think that small thing can tell time…!”

Yuria’s eyes were wide. A satisfied smile spread across Lytol’s lips.

“The 1,111 parts symbolize the four Circles. By the way… you have extraordinary senses. Can you really hear all those sounds?”

Lytol took out his pocket watch and let it dangle. Yuria’s pupils followed the pendulum-like movement of the watch.

“Yes. I can hear everything.”

Yuria’s Magic Eye (魔眼) affects all her senses. Her hearing is superhuman too.

She swallowed hard.

“I’ve never seen something so intricate.”

“As you said, it’s made with technology from another world.”

Her sky-blue eyes sparkled.

“A memory stone, right?”

Lytol grinned.

“You know your stuff. Those who inherited memories from second-dimensional watchmakers restored and developed it. It took many years to reach its current level. Since the laws of the second dimension and our world are subtly different, there were frustrating obstacles with basic technologies like metallurgy. But they overcame these with magical smelting techniques and other methods. It truly represents the culmination of technology built up on the Star Continent.”

“Wow… amazing.”

“Heh, I too inherited some mechanical knowledge through a memory stone. So I understand how difficult it is to recreate otherworldly technology in our world. This watch is truly miraculous. Technology from another world that we not only recreated but improved upon! Doesn’t it symbolize humanity’s limitless potential? Every time I hear this ticking, I think: Yes. Even if not now, someday humanity will overcome the calamities…!”

“Oooh! Me too! I also received a memory stone. Mine contains memories of a second-dimensional mage. But I can’t use any of it yet… Will I someday be able to implement that knowledge in our world? Can I contribute to humanity’s progress?”

“Indeed… I thought you had an unusual eye for detail… so you’re a memory stone inheritor. Your wish, though difficult, is possible. As long as you don’t give up!”

Lytol and Yuria united in their dreams and hopes.

Yuria had already switched to informal speech, but neither of them seemed to notice.

But Lytol… despite appearances, was he truly a member of the Academy after all? He often showed me his skeptical side, but now I see he can make embarrassing speeches just like Fel.

“Hehe, such things are not difficult to see in the city… Yuria is quite adorable.”

Suddenly, Hwarin, who had approached my side, whispered. Hwarin. 18 years old. A female mage from Lanciel City. 2nd Circle. She had just joined our nomad.

I opened my eyes wide.

“These are common in cities?”

“Well, of course I’ve never personally seen such an expensive watch… but they’re introduced even in common magazines. No one would be so amazed by them.”

Hwarin covered her mouth as she laughed.

“Magazines?”

“Ah… how should I put it, they’re like picture books with magical copies of images of interesting or famous things. You won’t find them in serious places like magic schools, but they’re very common in cities.”

“I see.”

The gap between wilderness dwellers and city residents.

The urban life she described was… closer to life on Earth than to the wilderness life I knew.

For instance, mechanical watches that I thought could only be seen on Earth. The difference between Yuria, who didn’t even know such things existed, and Hwarin, who grew up seeing them in magazines.

Only then did I understand why Lytol and Principal Ruttle had looked down on me.

‘To them, nomads from the wilderness were barely different from barbarians.’

If I hadn’t inherited memories from an Earthling, if I couldn’t see magical power and mana, my judgment and magic would have been exactly that barbaric.

Just like the prejudice Lytol was showing again now while talking with Yuria.

“But why do you keep checking your watch?”

“Because… it’s a waste of time.”

“Why? We’re exploring a relic site, aren’t you excited?”

“Hmph! It’s just as dangerous.”

“But we passed through safely last time.”

“That’s exactly my point! You damaged it as you passed through last time! Listen carefully! Once you disturb a demon’s relic site, you must finish the job. If you meddle halfheartedly and leave, it creates an even bigger calamity! By now, that relic site is probably too difficult to approach even with our current strength! We’ll end up having to turn back? This is basic common sense… Damn it. Is it because you’re from the wilderness that you don’t even know this…?”

“Are you looking down on people from the wilderness?!”

“Ah, no. Not you. Your leader. Baek Jun-woo, the cap… tain! If he’s a leader, he should study what he doesn’t know… or at least listen to others! Damn it… what is my master thinking…?”

As Lytol was grumbling, his eyes met mine.

He made a tsk sound and averted his gaze.

Right. It’s understandable.

We’ve seen different things.

It must be difficult for Lytol to deny what he’s learned. After all, he became a 4th Circle mage by learning that way.

But there’s one thing he doesn’t know.

Paradigms are meant to change.

When a paradigm breaks, everything becomes different from how it is now.

+ – + – +

As we passed through the Land of Iron-Eaters and approached the demon’s relic site, the ominous air spread increasingly.

“The wind is suddenly picking up.”

That’s what Yuria said, but in fact, it wasn’t wind. The abnormally concentrated magical power was beginning to be perceived by ordinary people as sound and sensation.

Originally, the Tower of Covenant has a very high density of magical power. But not as extreme as now. The density of magical power—similar to what had gathered when I became 2nd Circle—now dominated the entire area. Moreover, the concentration of magical power intensified as we approached the demon’s relic site. Magical power was being sucked toward the relic site like a massive hurricane.

Blue, green, red, white, black. Among the five colors of magical power, black and red were disproportionately represented. The landscape before my eyes was submerged in a dark crimson.

Yes, black and red. Many calamities had an affinity with those two colors of magical power.

“What is that…? It’s like a heat haze…”

When Yuria narrowed her eyes, Lytol complained.

“See this? Magical powers are abnormally gathering! Don’t you get it yet? Shouldn’t we retreat while we still can? Don’t needlessly put the Jack Caravan people in danger!”

So noisy.

People who can neither see nor hear.

I observed the countless magical powers brushing past me. I listened to their murmurings.

‘We must gather. Stronger power.’

‘We must create. A stronger sacrifice.’

‘Powerful enough to rewrite the Akashic Record…’

Beyond there, a magical power singularity was forming. A massive concentration of magical power unlike anything I’d seen before.

It felt different from the Lightning Calamity in many ways. I couldn’t even guess what was happening beyond, what past actions the magical powers were repeating.

‘What could it be?’

My lips became parched.

‘Why are they gathering like that?’

My heart felt like it was drying up.

‘What secret lies there?’

What dominated my mind wasn’t cold crisis awareness, but rather a thrilling excitement.

Yes. Of course, the calamity might kill us all.

But if this calamity is related to that demon’s relic site… perhaps the method… I don’t know, anyway, I can’t miss this.

“Continue advancing! We’ll decide our next move when we’re half a day’s journey away!”

“…It might be too late to retreat by then. If we’re going to retreat anyway…”

Lytol tried to persuade me with a slightly softened tone. After all, I was the nomad’s leader. Having made a covenant, he couldn’t keep directly contradicting my words.

Of course,

“We’ll decide when we’re half a day’s journey away. Whether I’ll go in alone. Or all of us will go in together. That’s what I mean.”

After hearing my follow-up, he frowned deeply.