“Is there anything else you would recommend?” as Eugene asked this question, they came to a stop in front of Witch Craft.
“I’m not sure what type of fighting style you have in mind, Sir Eugene. Do you intend to solely use magic when you fight? Even though the Lionheart’s main family is a famous martial family?” Mer asked doubtfully.
“I’ll use them both—magic and a weapon,” Eugene clarified.
“How arrogant of you,” Mer giggled.
Even considering the potential Eugene had shown at such a young age, it still felt absurd that he was planning to use both magic and martial arts together when he fought.
“If that’s the case, rather than the tenth floor, the floor below that will be of more use to you,” Mer said, changing her recommendation. “The magic texts on the tenth floor mainly deal with the proper application of battle magic and how to adapt the magic according to the situation. In other words, their difficulty level is extremely high. Although that’s actually the case for all the magic in this place.”
“But what’s on the floor below?” Eugene asked.
“It has some powerful, and yet simple, magic. The spells of the Fire Wizard and Ice Wizard, who were eternal rivals during their lifetimes. While the ice magic pairs well with water spirits… since you said that you prefer spirits of the wind, it would be better for you to learn the fire magic instead.” Although Mer was sarcastic, her advice was clear and helpful. "Sir Eugene, once you’ve become quite proficient in fire magic, you can also go to the seventh floor. Although the difficulty of the spells stored there is quite high, once you’ve mastered them, there is magic powerful enough to wipe out an army or even a nation in a single spell. Have you heard of the ‘Meteora’ spell, Sir Eugene?”
“Of course, I have,” Eugene answered cautiously. “That’s the spell that rains meteor showers from the sky.”
“Was it around five hundred years ago? It was during an era of constant conflict between nations. The Eighth Hall is dedicated to the wizard known as ‘Disaster,’ who destroyed several armies with his signature spell Meteora during that time. Akron is the only place on the continent that has a complete copy of the Meteora technique.”
Although Eugene didn’t know if he would learn Meteora, he couldn’t deny being interested in it.
Moving on, Mer revealed, “There’s spatial magic on the sixth floor. Sir Eugene, if you wish to fight with your martial arts skills instead of magic, I would also recommend learning spatial magic. As long as you can completely master Blink, you will have an absolute advantage in any magical duel.”
Blink was a short-range teleportation spell. Although the distance that could be teleported differed on the level of the wizard casting it, Sienna used to be able to jump dozens of meters with a single Blink.
As he continued to listen to Mer’s advice. Eugene slowly started to get an idea of what he could do with Blink. While teleporting here and there with Blink, he could either swing his weapon or cast a spell. As long as he was able to adapt to the style properly, he would be able to surpass his strength in his previous life.
‘Since I wasn’t able to cast even a single spark in my previous life, let alone Blink.’
To be able to do something that he couldn’t do in his previous life—Eugene felt a fluttering sort of pleasure from that.
Breaking out of his daydreams, Eugene asked, “...And what about Witch Craft?”
Mer began a long-prepared lecture, “Witch Craft contains an optimized mana application formula designed for Circles. Through this, it can amplify the magical power created by a Circle. It can also simplify any technique, increasing efficiency and removing the need for incantations. It can even allow multiple activations of the same spell through a single casting. Also, it can be used to imprint spells into your subconscious mind and store them there, allowing you to cast the spell immediately according to the situation, and you can even set a trigger so that the spell casts itself in response to external stimulation.”
“...,” Eugene was struck silent by this extensive list.
“Among all these benefits, the most impressive is that its Circle provides the ideal application of force. Although most wizards nowadays already use Circles, Witch Craft’s Circle magic formula is far superior to ordinary Circles. To put it simply, it allows you to exert maximum power with the minimum amount of mana.”
“Sorry, but while I hear what you’re saying, I don’t understand it.”
“Of course, that’s the case. If you could understand it just by hearing it, there wouldn’t be any reason for Witch Craft to be called the greatest grimoire in the history of magic, would there?”
With a broad grin, Mer puffed out her chest.
“Okay then,” Eugene shrugged off the boasting, “And just how am I supposed to read it?”
“Close your eyes and reach out your hand,” instructed Mer. “After that, transmit your mana into Witch Craft, Sir Eugene… if you do that, you’ll be able to read it.”
He just needed to reach out his hand? For a few moments, Eugene stared at the sphere of light that was covered by dozens of rings. Since he wouldn’t be able to understand it if he just kept looking at it like this, Eugene stretched out his hand as Mer had instructed. Although his hand was drawing closer to the light-emitting sphere, he couldn’t feel anything like heat from it.
However, he did feel a tremendous amount of mana. Ignoring his uneasy goosebumps, Eugene drew out his mana using the White Flame Formula. Would it be alright if he just poured his mana in as it was? Or should he apply it through the pseudo-circle that he used whenever he cast a spell? As he hid these worries, for now, he just poured in his mana.
Suddenly, he lost all sensation in his body. He couldn’t hear anything, and he couldn’t smell anything. Although his eyes shot open in alarm, he couldn’t see anything either. He couldn’t see Mer, who had been right next to him, nor could he feel her presence.
“Ah,” he tried to voice this sound, but the noise failed to reach Eugene’s ear.
He couldn’t even hear the sounds of his own body. It was only then that Eugene was somewhat able to grasp the situation he was in.
This was a world formed within his own mind. Eugene’s body didn’t exist within this space. Once he had connected to Witch Craft, only his consciousness was dragged into the depths of this place.
‘It’s similar to a dream… but also different.’
Things weren’t changing according to his will, like in a lucid dream. And he wasn’t seeing any unpleasant hallucinations like in the bullshit pulled by Night Demons. Instead, he just felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. Since his body did not exist, he couldn’t move anything.
Among all of his senses that had been blocked off, only one sense remained accessible.
His sensitivity towards mana. This mental world was packed full to the brim with mana. Although this place was constructed in Eugene’s own consciousness, Witch Craft’s mana had flooded his head, creating an infinite sea of mana.
In the middle of this sea, Eugene’s sense of self wasn’t even as large as a grain of sand. He couldn’t even wander around and explore as he wished. So all he could do was contemplate the situation and wait.
‘The mana… I can move it a little.’
A little?
‘Oh, that’s right. So this is all the mana that I have currently.’
Eugene realized that the mana he could move was the mana that belonged to his own consciousness. But within this sea of mana, Eugene’s mana was just as small and insignificant as his sense of self. If he gathered in all his mana, would he be able to get out of here? That was probably the case, but Eugene didn’t want to test that just now.
After all, he hadn’t seen anything yet.
Eventually, the mana—no, the sea began to move. A huge wave formed in front of Eugene, only to become a single ring.
It was a Circle. The single Circle began rotating slowly, then at some point, it accelerated so fast that he couldn’t even tell it was spinning. With each rotation of the Circle, the mana that flooded this world was drawn into the circle’s rotation, copying it. Through this, the Circle multiplied one at a time.
Of the levels of magical aptitude that was divided into Circles, the highest level was the Ninth Circle.
However, the copied Circles did not stop at nine. The moment the Tenth Circle was created, the mana that had been drawn into the Circle’s rotation stopped, leaving an immense line of Circles. These ten Circles separated, but after pulling apart, they joined together once more to form a single giant circle, and the center of this circle was filled with an infinite amount of mana.
That alone would have been alarming enough, but the phenomenon wasn’t done yet. Countless Circles began to be created within the larger Circle. One, two, three, four…. At this point, Eugene gave up on counting. Having drawn out an infinite amount of mana, the greater Circle was creating an endless amount of Circles within it. These Circles kept multiplying, dividing, intertwining, multiplying once again, dividing, and….
Although he was simply looking at it, just the sight of it alone was shaking Eugene’s consciousness. It felt like an optical illusion that exhausted the mind and caused motion sickness, But no, it wasn’t an optical illusion. Within that Circle, an infinite amount of Circles truly were repeatedly multiplying, dividing, and intertwining.
‘Even if I can see it, I don’t think I can understand it.’
All the magic that he had learned in his life until that point had felt like child’s play.
That was what Lovellian had said.
A glimpse of the truth.
That was how Melkith had described it.
Both of them were correct. His consciousness wavered. The transformations taking place with those infinite circles and all the possibilities that they contained—Eugene definitely couldn’t fully comprehend all of them.
However, he knew this much for sure.
The Wise Sienna, she was the most astounding and powerful wizard in human history.
‘Hold on….’
His consciousness began to collapse. Eugene sensed what was currently happening to him. An unstoppable shutter was about to close in his mind and cause him to fall unconscious.
‘I don’t want to faint, but…. Hold on, no way!’
—It might be better for you if you wear a diaper?
—Why?
—You might just wet your pants a little.
Melkith’s earlier words weren’t just a joke. Just when did he last… go to the bathroom…? Eugene desperately attempted to keep a hold of his consciousness, but in this world that was connected to Witch Craft, Eugene’s consciousness was pitifully weak.
Resistance was impossible.
‘No way! Please, my excellent body, you can’t let me down.’
Don’t let me piss myself.
With this earnest prayer, Eugene lost consciousness.
