I'm the Only Wizard Climbing the Tower - Chapter 144

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 144

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Thunk!

I drove my staff into the ground.

I drew up the Blue Motes within me and sharpened my spiritual senses.

I began forming a familiar spell array.

As I prepared the spell, Daesik at my side asked.

-What... are you trying to do?

“What else? I’m bringing the land back to life.”

-...You’re going to restore the mana veins? Is that even possible?

“Yep. Totally possible.”

I intended to revive this land.

I would reverse the Earth-Milking magic I had learned on the High Floors. The Black Mages called it Earth Plunder.

In other words, Reverse Earth-Milking Mana Siphoning Grand Art!

I planned to use the same magic I had used against the High Black Mage on Floor 39!

“Though it’ll cost a lot of mana.”

I glanced at the people.

Especially the children.

Every one of them was thin and pale.

They were far too pale for it to be simple malnutrition.

They had probably been poisoned from eating monster meat.

I muttered quietly.

“What kind of kids live by tearing apart monster meat? Kids need to eat good food to grow!”

Kids were supposed to eat delicious, nutritious food and grow up happy!

Not poisonous monster meat like that!

I activated the spell.

Hummmmmmmmmm!

I began with the Earth-Milking array.

Then I reversed its phase and turned it counterclockwise.

A spell that normally sucked dry the land’s mana veins changed into a spell that gave mana back to them.

The Blue Motes turned golden.

Then...

Fwoooosh!

A brilliant radiance spread across the ground.

Golden light began at one side of the open lot, rippling outward like waves.

It spread evenly throughout the space inside the fortress walls.

For a moment, the ground was covered in golden light.

Then changes began to occur.

“Uh...?”

“The ground...!”

A murky energy leaked out of the dark soil.

The black stains vanished, revealing the earth’s original color.

The hard clumps of dirt crumbled apart, and the rotten stench that had stung our noses faded away.

In its place came the familiar smell of soil.

The ground beneath us changed as well.

Blue Motes flowed into the mana veins, which had nearly been severed, forming a loop as they began to circulate.

Between dry roots, stones, and soil...

Mana began moving again!

Then, at that very moment.

Rustle...

Beside a dead stem, a tiny new shoot pushed up through the dirt.

Soon, pale green leaves began poking their heads up elsewhere as well.

People cried out.

“Grass! Grass is starting to grow!”

“What? What’s happening?!”

“Did the land really come back to life?!”

“...!”

Amid the commotion...

“The land... came back to life?!”

An elderly person rushed out from the crowd.

They crouched at one side of the clearing and grabbed a handful of soil with their bare hands.

They clenched it, then opened their fist.

They dug deeper into the ground.

They even put some dirt into their mouth.

Mom, they’re eating dirt.

The elderly person suddenly raised their head.

“It’s alive! Sir Knight! The land is really alive again!”

“...Really?”

“I’ve farmed all my life. This soil will work! We can sow seeds again now!!!”

The elderly person raised their dirt-covered hands as they shouted.

Hearing them, the others rushed to touch the ground as well.

Some smelled the soil and smiled.

Hmm. Playing in dirt was fun.

It brought back memories of playing at the playground as a kid.

Anyway, the land was alive again.

I turned to look at Iing Iing.

-Iing!

She was beaming as she touched the new shoots.

Perhaps the revived mana veins had put her in a good mood.

Heh. Iing Iing was this happy about it!

All that mana I poured in was worth it!

I asked the knight beside me.

“Mister, do you have any seeds left?”

“Yes! We have a small amount of seed grain stored away! We couldn’t plant it while the land was like this, but...!”

“Then that’s settled. You can plant them now.”

“Oh...!”

The knight’s face brightened at once.

He immediately ordered the people to check their seed grain and farming tools.

The people who had been standing around blankly began moving in a hurry.

“Now we can make grain porridge for the children too...!”

“Bring out the seeds! They’ll really grow this time!”

“Angel, thank you! Thank you so much!”

They would no longer have to live by chewing poisonous monster meat for the rest of their lives.

Could a person live on sparrow, I mean Wyvern, legs every day?

They needed bread and porridge too.

They needed some carbohydrates!

I nodded, pleased.

“Phew. I have delivered ‘salvation’ yet again... I saved King Korea, saved the people in the Tower, saved the land, saved everything. Someone praise me.”

-You...

As I shrugged my shoulders smugly, Daesik spoke in a low voice.

-Why... do you wish to save those things?

“?”

-I do not understand.

I looked down at the jar tucked beneath my arm.

Daesik continued.

-You can feel it too, if you are a mage. They are mundane people who possess no mana. They are a different order of life from us. They are no different from livestock.

“...”

-Why, then, did you use mana for them? Is it hypocrisy? Self-satisfaction? Or some pathetic game of house?

Daesik was preaching mage logic.

This was what mages were like.

The moment one became a mage, the soul’s rank rose.

And from that moment, everyone except those who could wield mana like them seemed insignificant.

They instinctively looked down on those around them.

-I simply cannot understand why you mingle and associate with livestock without regard for rank...

That was how they naturally came to think.

To Daesik, I probably looked like an idiot who had spent mana, as precious as life itself, on livestock like cows and horses.

But still.

“Daesik. When you saw other mages around you, not mundane people who couldn’t use magic, did you feel they were similar to you?”

-Hmph. Of course. Only we mages, who wield mana, are human and possess personhood. Mundane people with no mana are nonhuman, nothing more than talking livestock. Why would we mages care about livestock?

“But you know... even when I look at you mages, you feel like ants to me.”

-...What?

Daesik fell silent.

Several seconds of quiet passed.

Then Daesik asked softly.

-What... do you mean by that?

“Exactly what I said. You on Floor 40, those Black Mages with titles like High or War, all of you feel as tiny as ants.”

-That is impossible. When I met you, I had set foot in the Seventh Tier! And I felt like an ant to you?! You are lying!

“I’m serious. You just felt like a fat ant with a little extra mana.”

-That makes even less sense! Why would you save things that look like ants?

“Why shouldn’t I save them just because they look like ants?”

-...?

“What does how they look have to do with saving them? Do you really not get it?”

What did it matter if they felt like livestock?

What did it matter if they felt like ants?

Saving them made me feel proud and happy.

“It doesn’t really matter whether they look like livestock or ants. I save them because I can, and because I want to.”

The moment I finished speaking...

Sparkle!

The space above my head lit up.

What was that?

Could it be?

I raised my head and looked above me.

Then I saw it.

“Oh! A Halo! It finally appeared.”

-...!

An Angel Halo appeared above my head, scattering a bright, glittering radiance!

I nodded.

“It didn’t show up when I saved people and revived the land, but it’s finally here. Why are you so slow?”

-What in the world... Could it be...!

“Daesik, what’s with that reaction? Do you have something to say?”

-...No. Nothing.

“What? You’re no fun.”

Anyway.

The Halo had appeared!

After saving people and even reviving the land, the cosmetic item I had been waiting for appeared to make me look cooler!

I felt good!

As the Halo appeared above my head...

“The Halo!”

“The Angel has revealed the Halo!”

“Ooooooh!”

People looked this way with eyes full of shock and reverence.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

They prostrated themselves again.

They had been moved by this holy Angel’s coolness!

Unlike them, my party members...

“Hey. It appeared again. That’s weird. But what did he just do? He suddenly stuck his staff into the ground and sprayed some golden dust that looked like poop an absurdly long distance.”

“I’m not sure... I can’t understand what the people are saying either, so I don’t know exactly what happened...”

“But doesn’t that Halo look bigger than before?”

“It’s not even that big, actually. Remember back on Floor 40...”

They were just chatting away in the corner with familiar expressions, since they had already seen it.

Those insolent fools!

This seriously angelic me had displayed a miraculous power! They should have knelt like the others and praised my achievements!

Instead, they were tucked away in a corner having a casual conversation!

Anyway.

I slowly looked around.

The revived land, the people looking at me with reverence, the sparkling Halo.

It was a perfect picture.

But then...

“...Huh?”

Something felt missing.

I turned my head and saw that there was nothing where the fortress gate should have been.

Not only the gate, but the nearby wall had vanished entirely, melted together like glass.

I realized it too late.

‘Hmm. I melted the gate with magic artillery, didn’t I? I completely forgot.’

If the gate was wide open, they would not be able to stop monsters from rushing in later.

Well, I had already revived the land for them.

It would be a shame if they died to monsters afterward.

Should I offer a little extra service?

“Mundane Knight, I looked around here, and this fortress seems pretty shoddy. The walls aren’t even that high, and the gate was so flimsy that one little hit from me melted it away. Can you really sleep soundly with such weak walls?”

“Pardon? Well... this is the strongest fortress in the northern part of the continent. Of course, without a gate, we do need to repair it as quickly as possible...”

“I’ll remodel it for you. Just wait a moment.”

“?”

I trudged toward the place where the gate had vanished.

Thud!

I drove my staff into the ground.

Then I cast a spell.

“Earth Manipulation, click.”

The spell I used was Earth Manipulation Magic.

It was magic that moved the land itself to create whatever terrain or structures I wanted.

Ever since I had been a weak mundane scrub on the Lower Floors, I had personally paved roads, moved carts, and transported loot.

Unlike back then, my mana pool and the size of my soul had both grown by leaps and bounds.

If I put my mind to it...

Making a wall would be easy!

I shouted loudly.

“Grow, walls, grow!!!”

The moment I activated the spell...

Rumble rumble rumble...

The ground began to shake.

The earth outside the fortress walls cracked apart.

Massive slabs of bedrock rose one after another from below.

People cried out in shock.

“W-What is that?!”

“Is it an earthquake?”

“Ahhhhh!”

As the ground shook and dust rose into the air, people began running around in panic.

Maybe I should have warned them first so they would not be startled.

But this was my first time casting Earth Manipulation Magic on such a large scale.

I didn’t know the ground would shake this much either.

Anyway, I continued working.

Rumble rumble rumble...!

Grrrrr. Grrrrrr...!

Craaaaaash!

Countless rocks and slabs of bedrock rose in a line along the wall’s path.

I piled them high and compressed them into a sturdy structure.

I made the surface smooth and nearly vertical so the monsters could not climb it.

Starting from the wall I had erased...

A gigantic stone wall formed around the entire fortress.

“W-What?!”

“The wall is growing!”

“My God...!”

Massive stone walls nearly fifty meters high wrapped around the fortress.

Before long, a naturally grown fortress wall was complete!

I nodded in satisfaction.

“Hmm! It came out better than I expected! As expected of this Extreme Lunatic Hell construction worker! I should be able to put up a wall in no time!”

“Holy shit... Did you just make an entire wall?! That quickly?!”

“It’s me.”

“What the hell can’t you do?!”

Choi Yejin stared at me in shock.

The wall had suddenly risen out of nowhere, so she must have been extremely surprised.

Unlike her, Hyeji was calm.

“Jiho, please warn us beforehand. You startled me.”

“Hyeji, doesn’t this remind you of the old days? We really had it rough back then. Paving roads, moving carts, transporting loot. It was hard...”

“Still... it’s really amazing. You used to make roads, and now you’re making fortress walls...”

“It’s me.”

Since Hyeji knew about my old civil engineering abilities, she understood that it was no longer strange for me to show this much power.

I glanced at the people.

“The wall...!”

“My goodness. It’s a miracle! Such a huge, thick wall was made in an instant...!”

“As expected of the Angel’s power...!”

They seemed even more amazed than when I purified the land.

In truth, Reverse Earth-Milking had consumed far more mana than building this wall.

Visual impact really was important.

Anyway!

“Phew. Now that I’ve made a wall, what should I name it? Wall Maria? Wall Rose? Wall Sina?”

“Are you still on that Attack on Giant Humans thing?”

“Ah, now that I think about it, this isn’t Paradis Island. There’s no reason to give it a name like that. Good. I’ve decided. This wall shall be called Wall-Baek Jiho! Its alternate name can be Wall-Blue Dot!”

I had created Wall-Baek Jiho!

Anyway, it seemed I had done everything I could.

I killed the invading monsters, restored the mana veins so they could farm because they had been whining about having no food, and rebuilt their walls nice and strong.

With all this, they wouldn’t get beaten up by monsters like Champi again, right?

So...

“You don’t need anything else now, right? Let’s finish the clear and get home already. I’m getting hungry.”

“You had Wyvern meat earlier.”

“I’d rather starve than eat that.”

After pouring mana into someone else’s field and building walls, my own stomach was totally empty-rehu.

I wanted to get home quickly and devour my sister’s soybean paste stew!

“Come on, Iing Iing. Let’s get back to work.”

-Iing!

Pop!

Iing Iing activated Psychokinetic Flight.

My body floated into the air.