Chapter 317

Chapter 317. Something is strange (4)

It had been exactly one week since Alon arrived at the Magic Tower.

[The preparation is finished.]

Alon received notice from Heinkel that the perfect interpretation of the Phrases was complete.

That much time had already passed.

“You finished faster than I thought.”

Alon couldn’t help but say that to Heinkel.

[Really? I finished right on the deadline.]

Heinkel made an expression that said, “Really?”.

“…I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

“Me neither…….”

Penia, who was beside him, sighed and affirmed it with certainty.

The reason was simple: a few days ago, Heinkel had personally taught them how to interpret a spell.

‘Even though Penia and I concentrated day and night, sticking to the work, the progress was almost nonexistent.’

At first, Alon also had some confidence.

Beside him was Penia, who had an innate talent for magic, and until now, even when difficulties arose during their research together, they managed to solve them.

But finding information within a hierarchical spell was harder than imaginable.

It was a level that bordered on impossible.

Heinkel had taken an existing matrix and, as if it were nothing, said, “Let’s take out the unnecessary parts,” and naturally manifested Ice Spear.

Meanwhile, Alon and Penia couldn’t even accurately identify what was “unnecessary” within the spell to be able to eliminate it.

Just yesterday, Penia and he had spent over two hours debating: “Could it be that the idea of information existing in hierarchical spells is just a theory of Heinkel, and for us, it’s nothing more than a fantasy?”

In any case, after experiencing such extreme difficulty firsthand, Alon sincerely praised Heinkel.

[Hmph hmph~ Well, in my prime, I was quite incredible.]

Perhaps because she was in a good mood without realizing it, Heinkel shrugged her shoulders and returned to the point.

[Right, let’s stop the useless chatter. Let’s do it at once.]

“Right here?”

[Why not?]

“Shall we go to the practice room on the first floor?”

But Heinkel didn’t seem very convinced.

[I don’t think there will be a problem if we do it here. It’s just a Light spell.]

“Well… I agree, but on the first floor, there is an artifact that shows the movement of mana in patterns.

I thought that… perhaps we could obtain some additional information….”

Penia added her words cautiously, and Heinkel, after thinking for a moment—

[Well, in that case…]

She shrugged, finally accepting.

To head to the first floor, Alon and Penia moved forward and stepped onto a transport device similar to an elevator.

“By the way, my lord.”

As soon as they got on, Evan leaned in a little towards him, as if he had been waiting for him.

“What is it?”

“The spell you are going to demonstrate… is it Light?”

“Yes.”

“Then… do we really need to check the mana pattern?”

Alon reflected for a moment on Evan’s doubt and then replied:

“…Well, actually, it’s not indispensable.”

Light.

It was one of the first-level spells in hierarchy magic and, along with Magic Bolt, the first one any wizard learned.

Therefore, the three elements that form a spell—mana amount, structure, and matrix—were extraordinarily simple.

In other words, it wasn’t necessary to go to a demonstration room to see the mana pattern.

Any wizard could analyze its matrix just by looking at it.

Alon also hesitated for a moment about whether it was really worth going all the way to the first floor just to use a Light.

But that only applied if the spell really manifested as a common and ordinary Light.

“If it manifests as Phrases, then it’s different. It will be useful for interpreting spells later on.”

“Hmm— I heard something, you know… and for it to be called Light, it sounded too grandiose.”

Evan nodded.

“That is correct.”

Alon felt the same way.

The “sentence made of Phrases” that Heinkel revealed to him after interpreting the entire Light spell had a solemn feeling.

‘I am curious to see how it will manifest.’

And it didn’t take long until they reached the first floor.

They went straight to the demonstration room.

“……eh?”

“Hmm?”

There, unexpectedly, they found a multitude of wizards.

“…There are a lot of people.”

“Right…? And today isn’t even a conference day. They shouldn’t be here….”

While Penia murmured in bewilderment—

“Brother?”

“…Pellin?”

Among the crowd, her younger brother appeared.

He had grown notably since the last time; now he looked like a proper young man.

Alon also remembered that it had been a while since he had seen him.

“What are you doing here? You said you would return to the Marquis’s Household—”

Before he could continue, Penia replied:

“I told you I would be back soon, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you told me… but I didn’t think it was literal.”

“Bah. So, what is all this crowd?”

Penia motioned with her head towards the wizards filling the room.

“You don’t know, sister, but today is the day the joint project with the Green Tower is being presented.”

“? They always do that at the annual conference and wrap it all up there, don’t they?”

“Well, this time the scale was larger. They said they wanted to perfect it even if it went past the date.”

“And they gathered just now?”

“Yes. Since other towers were also interested, quite a few people came. But—”

Just as Pellin was about to complain that the presenters were wasting time, he looked at Alon and asked:

“Do you need to use the demonstration room?”

“Yes.”

“If you want to use it right now, I don’t think there’s a problem. We haven’t finished our preparations yet. But if it’s something confidential… it will be difficult to clear everyone out.”

Alon was going to look at Heinkel, since although he would be the one demonstrating the spell, the person who interpreted it was Heinkel.

But—

“?”

Heinkel, who was there just a few seconds ago, had disappeared without a trace.

Alon searched around and then noticed a face peeking out from the tower’s ceiling.

For some reason, Heinkel was hiding her identity.

‘Do what you want.’

Alon read the movement of her lips.

“It’s fine, it’s not that sensitive.”

He replied to Pellin.

“Then you can use it right away. But… may I ask what spell you are going to demonstrate?”

Pellin could not hide his curiosity.

After thinking for a moment, Alon replied:

“Light.”

“…Light?”

“Yes.”

“That Light?”

“Ah, move aside!”

Perhaps because she was in front of someone she knew, Penia’s character surfaced.

She shoved Pellin mercilessly and advanced with Alon toward the room.

“Hm?”

“That is…”

“Marquis Palatio?”

The room filled with murmurs.

“I heard from one of his disciples at the entrance that Marquis Palatio will demonstrate a spell.”

“Marquis Palatio?”

“Yes.”

“Oh—”

“But they say the spell is Light.”

“…Hmm? Light? The level 1 spell?”

“Yes.”

“…And for that, he came to the demonstration room?”

The voices spread quickly.

Alon, ignoring the murmurs, let out a slight sigh.

‘Maybe I should have done it after the general demonstration…’

Although he had received the Phrases and sentences from Heinkel, what he would use was still, in the end, Light.

And that made the expectations in the room feel awkward.

But they had already entered. Leaving now would be more ridiculous.

He remembered Heinkel’s words.

‘To extract the information from a hierarchical spell, the first thing is to eliminate what is unnecessary.’

He pronounced the Phrases he had to use.

‘Once the original form of the spell is exposed, you start the interpretation. It’s not difficult.

With the three Phrases you will use, it is enough.’

And then—

‘Only the two sentences remain. It’s not complicated to find them. You combine the previous information again,

but this time you don’t look for similarities in the matrix, but in the mana structure. And then—’

“Light, heat, fixation,”

‘Even if you couldn’t obtain the Mark, you will be able to extract all the information a hierarchical spell can give you.’

“Silence of Darkness.”

After reviewing everything, Alon formed the seals in silence.

At first, Pellin thought he had misheard his sister.

But now he understood.

It wasn’t a mistake.

In the middle of the room, Alon stood there, and in front of him floated a small light.

A light so weak that even a level 1 wizard would probably make it brighter.

“What is this? Is it really Light?”

“……A joke?”

“He doesn’t seem like someone who would make jokes like that…”

“True. But… it really is that Light.”

“…A rookie would do better.”

Behind Pellin, murmurs and disappointment could be heard.

But just when that feeling began to dominate the room—

Alon murmured something else.

And then—

“…Hm?”

One of the wizards let out a strange sound.

Starting with him, the entire room fell into absolute silence.

Because an anomaly was detected in the Light spell.

‘The light—’

‘—is being devoured.’

Literally.

In the center of the spell, something transparent had appeared.

And that began to devour the light, making it grow.

The faint light was sinking, and the darkness was swallowing it.

First the room.

Then the audience seats.

Then the eyes of the wizards.

And finally, the entire enclosure.

Voraciously.

‘That… is Light?’

That thought crossed Pellin’s mind—

and the minds of all the wizards present.

But no one could deny it.

They were seeing it with their own eyes.

That was Light, a spell derived from level 1.

When that finally finished absorbing all the light and showed its complete form, the wizards held their breath.

And the silence was broken by a collective shudder.

Because—

“This is…”

“Impossible…”

What had emerged in front of Alon, once all light was extinguished, was—

Chichichichiiiiic—!!!!

A small sun.

It looked like the sun itself.

A miniature sun capable of melting everything around it.

“The Eye of the Sun.”

With that soft murmur from Alon, the small sun left his hand.

KWAaaaaAAAA—!!!

It effortlessly pierced through the multiple layers of magic barriers in the room, breaking the outer walls.

The room remained in a silence different from before.

It was a silence full of reverence.

‘W-what… what is this……?’

And Alon, in the midst of it all—

‘This… is Light?’

…He was also thinking something similar.