Chapter 253 : Chapter 253
Side Story 12. Sylvia (2)
“But this Tower Master... are you sure she is human?”
Leviar was already a talkative Hatchling to begin with, but he was becoming more talkative by the minute.
“She is human, so hurry up and break the ice wall.”
“No matter how much I think about it, something is strange. Could she perhaps be a Dark Elf disguised as a human? Even if this is only an illusion, for a human to create an ice wall of this caliber....”
“Then does that make me a High Elf disguised as a human? After all, I am walking around with a Hatchling tied to a dog leash.”
“Come now. Even a High Elf could not do something like that.”
“There are always beings in this world who defy all standards.”
I was one of them.
And so was Sylvia.
Just as I had been a genius of swordsmanship, Sylvia was a genius of magic.
The difference was that I had been without equal, while Sylvia had possessed a rival.
Though she had always seemed to lag slightly behind that rival.
“Wait, you know about High Elves? There is no such race in Kalia.”
After traveling across countless dimensions through the Abyss, even I occasionally became confused.
“Forget it. Just let it go and break the ice wall.”
Leviar tilted his head, then rolled his neck several times to loosen himself up.
“Yes, yes. I am breaking it now!”
Then—
FWOOOOOSH!
A concentrated Breath erupted from Leviar’s mouth.
The heat was intense enough that even I could feel it from where I stood beside him.
Mana churned violently where the flames met the wall of ice.
Although I was hardly an expert in magic, even I could tell that the destructive power of his magic was a notch above Rosie’s.
FSSSSSS!
The tremendously thick wall of ice rapidly eroded under the heat of the Breath.
Leviar’s face turned bright red as he continued spewing flames.
And just as the fire was about to reach the other side of the wall—
“Th-That was practice!”
The Breath abruptly stopped, and Leviar struggled to conceal his ragged breathing.
“So your first attempt failed.”
“I said it was practice, not a failure.”
“Fine. Catch your breath and try again.”
“It is not a retry. The next one will be my actual first attempt.”
Leviar stubbornly insisted on the distinction.
Still, Sylvia seemed to have achieved remarkable growth herself.
To think she could make even a Hatchling struggle this much.
I found myself wanting to meet her as soon as possible and see just how far she had progressed.
***
At the very top of the Magic Tower, pale dust drifted through a vast stone chamber.
A blonde woman stood covered in dust.
Sylvia let out a deep sigh, her face filled with irritation.
“Another failure.”
It was a flat, emotionless murmur.
Failure itself no longer felt particularly significant.
After all, she had been repeating the same failures for months.
But there was one thing about them that never ceased to irritate her.
Every time this magic failed, it generated an enormous amount of dust.
For Sylvia, who considered cleanliness the highest virtue, it was an unpleasantness she could never grow accustomed to.
A moment later, light gathered around her.
The dust clinging to her hair, skin, and even her dress began to dissolve and disappear.
But even that was not enough to satisfy her.
Dust still remained on the floor.
Sylvia stared at it with obvious displeasure.
She found it unbearable for either herself or her surroundings to be sullied.
“Haa.”
Sylvia sighed again and cast Purification Magic over the floor.
FSSSS—
Anything short of complete annihilation was unacceptable.
Not a single speck of dust could remain.
And so she poured in an almost excessive amount of mana.
Only after the very last speck disappeared did the frown finally leave her face.
Once the entire procedure was complete, she looked down at the object in her hand.
A Sharpening Stone.
It was hardly an item befitting the master of a Magic Tower.
After all, Sharpening Stones were tools swordsmen used to maintain their blades.
Sylvia had never actually used it herself.
Out of curiosity, she had once asked someone to give it to her, and she had kept it ever since.
The item’s original owner was Johan Raven.
Sylvia’s longtime friend.
A man who had now vanished from the world without a trace.
‘Where the hell are you? Just wait until I find you.’
She clenched her fist.
How dare he disappear like that without so much as saying goodbye?
If the day ever came when they met again, she intended to unleash all four schools of elemental magic and leave his entire body in tatters.
But Sylvia soon squeezed her eyes shut.
Because she could already picture that infuriating bastard standing there with his usual indifferent expression, lazily flicking his sword a few times and dismantling every single one of her attacks.
Then he would wipe away the single drop of sweat on his brow and say—
Not bad.
“Argh! So irritating!”
The image was so realistic that it only made her angrier.
The reason such fantasies had been growing more frequent by the day was simple.
No matter what she did, she could not see him.
Her perfectionism and obsession with cleanliness were slowly being transformed into an obsession with Johan Raven.
She felt as though she would never be satisfied until she saw him at least once more.
The research she had been conducting for the past several months was related to that very desire.
Through the mana trace left behind on an owner’s possession, she was attempting to estimate the owner’s current location.
She did not even need to determine the exact location.
If she could simply confirm whether he was alive or dead, that alone would have been enough.
Unfortunately, even that remained a distant goal.
It was an entirely new form of magic that had never existed before, so even Sylvia, an Archmage, could not guarantee that her research would succeed.
‘I need to alter the mana formula a little more.’
She was exploring every possible avenue.
She intended to apply and combine every formula worth attempting.
The number of theoretical combinations was infinite, but if she narrowed them down to only the realistic possibilities, the experiment would reach its conclusion within another four months.
Of course, there was a far greater chance that all her efforts would come to nothing.
Whenever such doubts surfaced, Sylvia rekindled her determination by imagining herself finally landing a blow on that infuriating man.
Then, a short while later—
“Hmm?”
Something astonishing happened.
The Sharpening Stone in her hand began to react.
It was the first response she had received since beginning this research.
Caught off guard, Sylvia immediately closed her eyes and concentrated every ounce of her attention.
A violent pain surged through her head, intense enough to make her nauseous.
But she had to endure it.
The mere thought of vomiting inside her precious room was horrifying.
A seemingly endless period of endurance followed.
Then an absurd result emerged in her mind.
It made no sense whatsoever.
‘He is this close?’
The tracking magic that had failed for months had activated for the first time.
She had expected to be satisfied merely by sensing whether he was alive, yet the result indicated that he was extraordinarily close.
Sylvia could hardly believe it.
At this distance, it would not be an exaggeration to say they were practically occupying the same space.
‘There is no one in this Magic Tower except me....’
Of course, she was aware that someone was currently entering her Magic Tower through the Passage of Illusions.
But there was no possibility that person was Johan Raven.
In fact, she did not even need to look to know who was coming.
Dejan Berger.
The other Archmage in Kalia.
After all, he was the only person capable of passing through the Passage of Illusions.
Anyone without magical abilities comparable to her own would be utterly helpless before the overwhelming power of its illusions.
And so Sylvia immediately reached a conclusion.
“It failed.”
The fact that the tracking magic had activated now could only mean a serious error had occurred.
But she was not particularly bothered.
After all, failure was something she had been experiencing for months.
***
After passing through all eight trials within the Passage of Illusions, a violet portal appeared before us.
Once we passed through it, we would reach the top of the Magic Tower where Sylvia was.
Leviar was positively triumphant.
“See? I told you we would get through in no time!”
“Hmm.”
It had hardly been in no time, but a Hatchling was still a Hatchling.
He had struggled so much at the ice-wall trial that I had begun to question him, yet he had stubbornly managed to overcome every obstacle in the end.
In truth, if it had not been for Leviar, I would not even have dared attempt some of those trials.
After all, only magic could unravel the mysteries of the illusions.
“Why are you just standing there? Are you not going in?”
Leviar urged me forward.
After taking one last moment to savor the feeling, I stepped into the portal.
WHOOSH—
With the sensation of being sucked inward, our bodies were drawn through and deposited into an entirely different environment.
A vast stone chamber, entirely white.
The almost excessive cleanliness of the place, so unlike a typical mage’s laboratory, revealed exactly what sort of person owned it.
But there was no time to leisurely admire the laboratory.
CRACKLE CRACKLE!
A lightning spell was suddenly unleashed toward us.
Naturally, Sylvia was the one who had attacked.
‘Just like her.’
I could not see her.
She was concealing herself with an invisibility spell.
Of course, that did not mean I could not determine her location.
She could conceal her form and mana, but she could not completely hide the residual traces they left behind.
Leviar appeared to have located her as well.
He immediately formed a hazy Barrier to block Sylvia’s lightning magic, then retaliated with fire magic.
FWOOOSH—
At the empty space where the fireball flew, a translucent Barrier appeared.
A moment later, the silhouette of a woman in a dress with long hair emerged.
She had voluntarily released her invisibility.
Then her sharp voice rang through the chamber.
“You dare play with fire inside my home? Are you that desperate to die?”
That manner of speaking had not changed in the slightest.
A moment later, the Barrier vanished and Sylvia came fully into view.
Her long, straight hair flowed smoothly around her shoulders, and her pale skin was completely flawless.
Although she was nearing fifty, she still possessed the appearance of a teenage girl.
Of course, not every mage could accomplish such a thing.
Sylvia was one of only two Archmages in all of Kalia.
She was simply exceptional.
Leviar could barely contain his excitement when he saw her.
Throughout the Passage of Illusions, he had repeatedly said that he wanted to meet the owner of this Magic Tower.
He needed to see with his own eyes what sort of human could attain such mastery of magic despite not being a Dragon.
He had even wondered whether she might actually belong to another race.
“Wow! She really is human!”
Only now did Leviar finally believe it.
“What is this filthy mutt? Do not tell me it is a Dragon.”
“Oh! Not bad. But did you just call me a filthy mutt? Take that back and apologize this instant!”
“You seem somewhat lacking for an adult Dragon. In that case, you must be a Hatchling.”
Sylvia saw through Leviar’s identity at once.
This was likely her first time seeing a Dragon in person, but there were hardly any other possibilities.
Monsters capable of speaking human language did not exist, and the only beings capable of countering an Archmage’s magic with magic of their own were Dragons.
“What are you doing? I told you to apologize to me right now!”
Leviar shrieked furiously at Sylvia.
But she gave no answer.
She merely smiled at him with interest.
Knowing the Sylvia I remembered, how would she react upon seeing a real Hatchling?
CRACKLE!
Nine times out of ten, she would strike first with magic.