Chapter 316

C316. Something is Strange (3)

The next day.

Before going to see Heinkel like the previous day, Alon was chatting with Penia.

“Marquis.”

“Evan, where were you?”

“At the information guild for a moment.”

“……Is there an information guild here too?”

“No, it’s not that, but for a while now they appear out of nowhere and come to give me information. More than that, I have something to report to you.”

“What is it?”

“They say that lately, many strange phenomena have occurred in Ashtalon.”

“In Ashtalon?”

“Yes.”

Evan conveyed a piece of news.

“What kind of phenomena?”

“There are several, but the most representative one they call Uncontrolled Fury.”

“Uncontrolled Fury?”

“Yes, they say monsters are killing each other.”

Alon tilted his head.

“…That, isn’t that something that can happen normally?”

In general, monsters have low intelligence and lack reason, so they usually consider anything not of their species as enemies. That is, except for cases of size differences like goblins and ogres, sometimes they hunt each other to devour one another.

But Evan shook his head.

“The point is that they aren’t devouring other species. That is…”

“Cannibalism among the same species?”

Penia intervened in the conversation, and Evan did not deny it.

Penia frowned with a strange expression.

“……Is this the first time I’m hearing something like this? Are the rumors real?”

“It comes from the information guild, so it must be true.”

“How strange. Normally those of the same species don’t attack each other.”

While she looked perplexed, Evan continued.

“Anyway, because of that, they say the forest on the Stallian side is dyed red all the time.”

“Is it a metaphor?”

“No. They say it is really like that. They don’t call it a strange phenomenon for nothing.”

They say that any living creature they see, they kill. Faced with that conclusion, Alon stood thinking.

‘…Was there any case like that in everything I know?’

No. Among the phenomena he had seen in Psychedelia, there was none similar to this.

At least, that he knew of.

‘It’s not a divine possession, nor a portal anomaly……’

While he distractedly reviewed what was happening in Ashtalon:

“Marquis, think later. You have an appointment.”

“……Right.”

Nodding to Evan, Alon stopped his ramblings and got up to go see Heinkel.

[I’m not going.]

Inside the ring, Basiliora, who hadn’t said a word and looked dead the previous day, hid under the bed covers. Ignoring him, Alon headed to the library.

[You arrived.]

“Did the work go well?”

[More or less.]

Heinkel nodded looking at Alon.

But her gaze was slightly averted.

…As if she were looking a little higher.

[Well, let’s continue what we talked about yesterday.]

“That degraded magic contains information?”

Alon came to his senses and replied.

[Exactly. First… how much do you know?]

“Only what I said yesterday: that Ice Spear is a degraded version of Crystal Frost Spear.”

[And nothing else?]

“Yes.”

Heinkel remained silent for a moment and then spoke.

[First, I ask. Tiered magic, obviously you know it, right?]

Tiered magic.

Alon, who used magic through Phrases and Seals, didn’t pay much attention to it.

But, except for the Origin obtained upon reaching the 8th level, in the world of Psychedelia magic is strictly defined according to its level.

That is called tiered magic.

“I know them.”

When Alon nodded, she said:

[Good. All the tiered magic you know are degraded versions.]

She said it with a simple tone.

The silence that followed was to process that phrase.

“…All tiered magic?”

[Well, I said it simplified. In reality, it’s not that they are “degraded”, but… that tiered magic itself is closer to transmitting information.]

“……Transmitting information?”

[Exactly.]

Alon asked immediately:

“How did you discover that?”

[Hmm…]

She seemed to think about how to explain it, and spoke slowly.

[Since before I died, I suspected that tiered magic was not common magic. But I couldn’t figure out its intention.]

“……Its intention?”

[Hmm, how to explain it to you…?]

Seeing Alon confused, Heinkel let out an ah and—

Fwush—

She created an Ice Spear in front of herself.

[You know how to create Ice Spear, right?]

“Yes.”

[Then it will be easy to explain.]

After clearing her throat, she began:

[As you know, a spell is composed of mana amount, structure, and arrangement. And if you change the arrangement a little…]

Crack—

The Ice Spear transformed into a spiral.

[It ends up like this.]

[Similar to the one used in the Blue Tower, right? Now, if instead of the arrangement, you change the structure—]

The Ice Spear distorted grotesquely and took the shape of a sphere with sharp spikes.

[What does it look like?]

“….The magic used by the mages of the Red Tower.”

Penia answered, and Heinkel kept changing forms: longer than a normal Ice Spear, then more like a huge sword than a spear.

[What did you learn from what I showed?]

“…The characteristics of each tower?”

[Exactly. The five towers take tiered magic and modify it slightly to create their own characteristics.]

She murmured that this was one of the reasons why the towers were divided by colors, and continued:

[But the essential thing here is the “degree of freedom”.]

“……Degree of freedom?”

[Yes. As you know, except for tiered magic, most magic has fixed parameters: mana amount, structure, arrangement. Even the Origins.]

[Increasing mana doesn’t make the magic stronger. And if you twist the arrangement, the magic fails or explodes. But tiered magic is not like that.]

While she spoke, Heinkel twisted and modified Ice Spear freely.

[Even if you exaggeratedly change the arrangement, it doesn’t fail. You can even modify structure and mana amount.]

“……Isn’t it simply a well-made spell?”

[I don’t think so.]

“Why?”

Instead of answering, she dispersed mana in front of them.

It immediately took the form of Ice Spear.

Alon and Penia opened their eyes in surprise.

Not because the Ice Spear had anything special.

But because—

[Do you see it?]

“……Can it be done so simply?”

[Yes.]

It was too simple.

To use tiered magic —or any arrangement— normally one has to go through three mandatory processes.

But the Ice Spear Heinkel created ignored all that and emerged almost instantaneously.

Naturally, any mage would be stunned.

[It’s not because I am a genius. It is still tiered magic.]

“This is it?”

[Hard to believe, but yes. I just removed what was unnecessary for the manifestation.]

Heinkel continued:

[In summary, the creator of tiered magic knew it could be manifested without those processes.]

“So he put information intentionally to transmit it to future generations?”

[Exactly.]

She added that recently she had understood, thanks to Penia, that the processes of magic were “information”.

[Anyway, for you it is a good thing. We cannot use your magic, but you, just by studying tiered magic—]

“…Can obtain magic.”

[Exactly.]

She nodded as if she had been expecting it.

[Do you want to try an experiment?]

“An experiment?”

[Yes. I already finished decomposing the 1st tier magic, Light, to analyze it. What do you say?]

“If you teach me, I’ll try.”

A new experiment began.

Outside the desert city of Colony.

In a landscape of pure desert, inside a cave:

“Huff… huff…”

Seolrang, exhausted, let herself fall on the dark ground.

In front of her, the Gauntlet.

With a tense expression, she looked at it with frustration.

“…Why isn’t it working…?”

She murmured between annoyance and despair. She had been trying for months to overcome the next trial of the Essence of the Golden Mane Tribe, but…

So far she had only failed.

Anxiety appeared in her eyes, and the scene from the past was drawn in her mind.

The gigantic forest burning until it disappeared, the imposing passage of Sin. And she falling in one blow, unable to offer resistance.

“…No.”

She shook her head abruptly.

Like that, she could never protect her master.

That’s why, with greater despair than before, she gritted her teeth in front of the Essence of the Golden Mane Tribe.

—And then:

[Do you need power?]

A voice.

Small, like a whisper that barely grazed the ear.

But clearly audible.

Seolrang turned her head.

There—

[If you desire power, I will give it to you.]

A black dragon, dark as the abyss, observed her from the cave.

[What do you say? Do you desire it?]

A tempting voice.

Seolrang’s eyes trembled for an instant. The dragon, believing he saw an opportunity—

[Accept me, and I will give you power. A power that does not depend on those trials…]

Just when he said that which Seolrang desired most—

“……Huh?”

With her eyes still trembling, Seolrang suddenly remembered something and let out a slight exclamation.

Then, she smiled.

[?]

The dragon was bewildered.

“Then lend me a little of your strength.”

[Good, you chose wisely. Accept me and you will receive infi—]

Seolrang interrupted him naturally:

“No, no. I don’t need you to give it to me. Just lend it to me for a moment.”

[…?]

“I’ll use it quick and give it back.”

[…??]

The dragon stood paralyzed with a stunned expression.

And Seolrang looked at the Essence of the Golden Mane Tribe again, swallowing saliva with determination.