〈 Chapter 325 〉 Turn the Tables (3)
*
Star blesses humans.
Some are loved by the stars, others become chosen apostles, and yet others become devout priests serving the stars.
“If you could have one of those, what talent would you want, oh Ashen Mage?”
It was a question posed during her time on the battlefield.
If you could choose just one of the countless blessings, what would it be? With no hesitation, Raniel answered.
Whoosh The Watcher, the one who reads context.
This was the talent Raniel had always wished for.
Hmph “I whined to the stars every day, yet they never granted it. How much mana did they take from me? Heartless bastards…”
As she grumbled internally, Raniel recalled the Watcher.
True to its title, the Watcher perceives the essence of all things. Reading the flow of mana, it could grasp the complicated circuitry at a glance.
Even that alone was an incredible talent.
It was a talent every mage would envy, but Raniel knew that the capabilities of the Watcher didn’t stop there. She had witnessed a fully blossomed Watcher.
The Mage of Ancient Dragons.
Yormun van Dragonik.
The most famous mage in history and the only one to fully bloom the talent of the Watcher. He once showed Raniel what it meant to be the one who reads context.
“Watch closely.”
“This is my magic.”
Was it a compliment for Raniel, who subdued the Black Dragon?
Was it as a mentor viewing a distant junior? The intent was unclear, but the scene she witnessed that day was deeply imprinted in Raniel’s mind.
Boom The God of Mages.
A spectacle worthy of that grand title.
“…I had planned to teach you this a bit later.”
Raniel looked at the girl before her.
“I thought it’d be too early for you. To be honest, it’s hard even for me. This isn’t something an ordinary human can withstand. So, I was going to test the waters a bit longer…”
A child born with the talent of the Watcher.
An heir to the Ashen Tower who would sit in the seat of the next Master. As she looked at the girl, Raniel let out a long sigh.
“Unfortunately, time is short.”
So, let me ask you in advance.
Raniel looked directly at Resti and asked.
“It’s going to be strenuous. You’ll feel quite dizzy. You may not be able to open your eyes properly for a while. But if you’re okay with that…”
“I’m fine.”
Resti replied without a moment’s hesitation.
“If I can learn in time, I’m okay with anything.”
The eyes of someone who has made a decision.
Seeing the strong obsession in her eyes, Raniel nodded in satisfaction. After she left, the tower was full of fools who had lost the Ashen spirit…
‘As expected, my junior.’
Resti was an exception.
‘This is how a Mage of the Ashen Tower should be.’
Raniel gestured to Resti.
“Close your eyes.”
Resti shut her eyes.
Raniel reached out and covered Resti’s eyes.
The talent of the Watcher focused on the eyes, allowing Raniel to feel the flow of starlight trickling beneath her palm.
“You know the true value of your talent lies in seeing and understanding, right?”
“I know. You told me last time.”
She had mentioned it once.
Resti’s talent wasn’t just about seeing, but also about understanding the essence of what was before her.
“But have you ever felt it was strange?”
“Pardon?”
“When you look at the stars and read the flow of mana, it becomes too easy to understand the essence. What mages have explored for hundreds and thousands of years… to comprehend it in an instant is a bit odd, isn’t it?”
A doubt she had never considered.
Just as Resti was about to respond…
“What you saw was merely a surface glance.”
Raniel touched the flow of mana.
“So now, let’s gaze into the abyss.”
The flow above Resti’s eyes began to shift. A sensation like bugs crawling above her eyelids made Resti shudder.
“Remember this. I’ll do it once, but from now on, you have to do it yourself.”
Resti slowly replied, “Yes.”
Then, Raniel slowly withdrew her hand from Resti’s eyes and stepped aside where Resti’s gaze could not reach.
“Before you open your eyes, I’ll give you a warning.”
Raniel said.
“What I just did was to unbind the protective mechanism on your eyes.”
“…Protective mechanism?”
“Yes. Your eyes are capable of seeing and understanding much more, but there are restrictions.”
Why were there restrictions?
Seeing the question in Resti’s eyes, Raniel made a bitter smile and poked her own eyes.
“Because you might see too much.”
It was simple.
Because you’ll see too much.
Many things will be understood in an instant.
“If you see too much, your brain will overload. Your mind can’t handle it. That’s why the restrictions exist. I’ve temporarily lifted them now.”
“So…”
“You’ll see too much. You’ll understand too much, in an instant. So don’t grit your teeth and push through; if it gets too overwhelming, just close your eyes.”
Otherwise…
“You’ll go crazy.”
Resti gulped, swallowing hard.
Then she slowly opened her previously closed eyes. The moment she opened her eyes, Resti gasped.
She could see it.
So many things were visible.
As soon as Resti opened her eyes, she realized why Raniel had cleared everything in this room. Mana flowed within this room. It was the mana that naturally overflowed when a mage was present.
Resti’s mana and Raniel’s mana.
Only those two mana sources appeared in Resti’s eyes.
Since mana is related to the stars, Resti perceived it the instant she saw it. She understood. The process took place as before, but its depth was different.
It penetrated deep within.
Things that should not be visible were seeing the light.
The shapes of mana, its properties, information recorded in it, every transaction made with this mana—countless information was forcibly injected into Resti’s mind.
“…Ugh!”
Staggering, Resti closed her eyes.
As soon as she did, click, the sound echoed as the protective mechanisms returned to their original positions. Resti’s view reverted to normal as she looked down at the floor.
Drip, drip.
Blood was dripping. Her vision turned red.
Blood fell from her nose, and droplets of blood dripped from her eyes. Amidst the confusion, Resti struggled to lift her head.
“What the heck…”
“That’s the essence of your talent.”
Raniel said.
“If you don’t want to, you’d only understand by looking at the surface. That alone would be a sufficient talent, but if you want…”
She flicked her finger downward.
“You can delve deep within and extract its essence. It’s a truly absurd talent. That’s why I coveted it.”
Raniel bitterly smiled and licked her lips.
“With just a glance, you can comprehend the essence that a mage dedicates their life to understanding through a lifetime of labor… you can make it yours.”
For example, geniuses are described like this.
They leap across gaps others have crossed in decades in an instant. Then what about the girl before her?
‘She can rewrite it by merely seeing one person’s life.’
The world is incredibly unfair.
Grumbling, Raniel clapped her hands.
“So, go and take it.”
“…Huh?”
Resti blinked.
Raniel grinned slyly.
“Steal what I have built, everything.”
She popped open the buttons of her shirt, pop, pop.
“Try to take it. I’ll show you everything.”
She pressed against her chest.
Circuits whirled across her pristine skin like bugs crawling. Those circuits were everything about Raniel. The essence of the path she walked as a mage.
Her entire being.
Pointing at it, Raniel said.
“For the next month, you just need to make this your own. This is the way to defeat the Elder.”
Resti slowly nodded.
Then, Resti squeezed her eyes shut. With a click, the previously bound protective mechanism was released. Breathing slowly, Resti opened her eyes and…
“Ugh.”
She collapsed to the ground, immediately bleeding from her nose.
It was less than a second.
2.
This would take some time.
Watching Resti crumple, Raniel thought so.
After all, it couldn’t be helped.
This circuit was one she didn’t even remember how she created. A circuit completed in her subconscious.
‘How did I do it then?’
At that moment she sacrificed half her lifespan, Raniel’s brain had overloaded beyond limits. Her vision expanded to its boundaries, feeling time slow to a crawl.
In a world that felt like it had stopped, Raniel searched for answers. She crushed everything she had built and began reconstructing.
How many times did she repeat it?
Continuously crushing and rebuilding.
When mages crush the paths they’ve walked, they often say their lifespan as a mage is over. Using that expression, Raniel must have experienced hundreds of deaths at that moment.
Hundreds of deaths experienced as a mage.
The answer found at the end of those deaths was this circuit.
Raniel had no idea how long it would take Resti to understand this circuit.
‘A month won’t be enough.’
She naturally thought so.
It would be nice if she could at least grasp the feeling.
However, that thought didn’t last long.
The next day, Resti withstood for 1 second. Two days later, she lasted 2 seconds, and when another two days passed, 3 seconds, then 4 seconds…
“Huff, huff…”
On the day where day and night changed twenty times.
Resti, who had successfully held out for 10 seconds in front of Raniel, struggled to hold back tears as her bloodshot eyes pressed together.
‘···She’s a real tough cookie.’
Seeing Resti, Raniel clicked her tongue.
Countless amounts of information would flood her mind, making it hard to remain sane. Resti endured that pain and managed to withstand for 10 seconds.
It was a mental strength that made her want to tell Kalt, who screams at a mere twisting of his limbs.
“I think I’m starting to grasp it a little.”
Raniel said in surprise, as Resti, too, felt amazement at the circuits Raniel had shown her. She was attempting to dive deep to gather information but was unable to reach it.
It was too deep.
The information contained in that one circuit and the path this mage took was too rough and perilous. It was hard to even imagine what kind of life she had lived.
“…Professor, how on earth did you create this?”
Resti asked.
“Well…”
Raniel smiled bitterly.
“I did it by just doing it.”
The same words as always.
Hearing those words, which might feel increasingly nostalgic, brought a smile to Resti’s face. Since it was just a joke, Raniel properly answered her again.
“I crushed it. I crushed and crushed and crushed.”
Common sense, the path she had built, everything about her.
“Even while crushing it, some usable pieces emerge, you know? I kept picking those usable ones and fitting them together, just like assembling a puzzle.”
She had built and demolished hundreds of towers, pulling out usable pieces from the heaps of rubble.
‘…This is what you’re showing me now.’
The most precious treasure for a mage.
Feeling immense gratitude towards Raniel, Resti bowed her head. Raniel waved her hand dismissively as if to say it was nothing.
“Go on. You should have dinner with the Elder.”
Resti nodded and left the research room.
During the day, she learned from Raniel, and at night she spent her time talking with the Elder.
It was the longest month of her life.
Not a single second wasted, Resti split her days into pieces. That time was now drawing to a close.
3.
“Elder, I’m here.”
“Ah, Resti. You’ve come.”
The sunset faded.
A scarlet shadow rippled across the highest floor of the tower.
“Come closer and talk. My hearing is not what it was.”
The Elder’s voice lacked strength.
The time given to the Elder was nearing its end, and his condition was worsening day by day. Resti bit her lip tightly.
Even if she had mentally prepared herself, the pain was unavoidable. Struggling, Resti exhaled heavily.
“Just a moment. I’ll change the flowers.”
“Very well.”
Today, the air inside the room felt particularly heavy.
It seemed the mana purification plant she had left was not functioning properly. As she thought this, she walked over to the flower pot by the window.
Just as she reached for the mana flower…
Stop.
Resti’s hand froze in the air.
“…”
The flower had withered, blackened, and twisted.
Resti’s gaze narrowed.
She slowly lifted her head. The window came into her view. The window reflected the Elder, who was sitting against the bed.
The Elder was smiling.
Resti swallowed a dry gulp at that eerie smile.
“…Today, I learned magic from the professor.”
Resti said without turning to the Elder.
Pretending to change the flowers, she closed her eyes. Click, she heard something release. Slowly, she steadied her breathing.
Then, with her eyes still closed, she turned her body.
It was the moment Resti tried to open her eyes.
“You’ve realized, haven’t you?”
Boom, a sound reverberated.
The bed shattered. The ground trembled. A sudden claw snatched at Resti’s neck.
“That eye.”
Resti struggled to open her eyes.
What she saw was not the Elder.
“That damned ancient dragon….”
Her vision captured a bizarre being that had swallowed the Elder, something unified with Elder’s form. But the process that should have followed did not occur.
She had seen it.
But, it didn’t make sense.
Something incomprehensible resided there. Blood streamed from Resti’s eyes. Clank, the protective mechanism arbitrarily blocked her view.
“Y-you…”
Held by her neck, Resti managed to utter in a thin voice.
“Who… are you?”
At that question, the Elder’s lips stretched into a grin.
“Who else would I be? I am your respected teacher and father. Why not call me that, Resti?”
Something that had swallowed the Elder called out to her with a gentle voice using the Elder’s memory. At that call, Resti felt revulsion.
“Did you ask who I am?”
The Elder’s eyes gazed into Resti’s.
Those eyes were like an endless abyss. Shadows wriggling within whispered to Resti.
First Light.
It laughed.
The One Who Lost His Name.
His madness echoed.
*
