WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 625: The Misfit of the Mage Tower

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"Layered magic circles... The magic circle's depth increased by four, but the amplification is only double... Just as I feared. It's far too complicated for the boost it gives."

"Put another way, it means I can obtain amplified initial mana if I use my head a little."

Our research together had yielded something, at least.

My problem was that I had extremely little initial mana. It didn't matter how brilliantly I designed a magic circle. I lacked the mana to operate and control it.

I could use mana to activate or deactivate a completed magic tool, but casting magic on the spot was difficult. Even if I put everything I had into it, I could barely use combat-grade magic.

Naturally, that was a failing grade in this floating castle full of monstrous mages.

"But layered magic circles are too complex. Supplying the mana to activate a magic circle with another magic circle? It's like using chopsticks to pick up a fork, then eating with that fork."

"Oh, I can do that."

I had tried it when I was bored. It was surprisingly doable.

"...I know you're dexterous, Junior! But it's unrealistic and inefficient. Your fingers should be holding the fork, not chopsticks! It makes your response time much slower too!"

"What else can I do if my fingers are abnormally short? There's nothing I can do when I can't do it."

What else could I do? They said mana control and mana sensing were not "ordinary" abilities.

At my indifferent answer, Avant-garde grew even more frustrated than I was.

"Junior. Aren't you upset? You possess that much intellect, yet you'll be driven out of the floating castle because of mana."

"The ordinary people who couldn't come to the floating castle probably each had their own reasons too. Mine isn't any different."

"No! You're different... You, whose knowledge alone has reached such heights!"

A mage's brilliance seemed unrelated to their ability to put emotions into words. Avant-garde kept trying to say something, only to stop before it became a sentence.

As we walked through the Crystal Tower, someone approached us. Avant-garde immediately looked intimidated upon seeing them.

"Hughes. Have you made any progress?"

Tenth floor. Lord Johannes was a mage who had reached the double-digit floors. They were a great mage who was no longer even called a disciple, one who pursued their own research but no longer received instruction.

One of only five mentors in the Crystal Tower.

They had guarded this tower longer than even the Cyan Tower Master, and in certain fields, their knowledge ran deeper. Above all, they were a pure researcher.

The elder looked at me kindly. I bowed my head in greeting.

"Lord Johannes. Thanks to your concern, my research has been going well."

"And the results?"

"I've made some progress, but... to be honest, it falls far short. I suppose it can't be helped when I'm trying to make up for a lacking ability with a shortcut."

"Haha. That's true enough. There's a reason the proper path is called the proper path."

Johannes gave me a calm smile and encouraged me.

"With an intellect like yours, you may find the answer someday. Keep at it."

"Thank you."

"I'll be going now. If you need anything, feel free to tell me."

'What a pity, what a pity. Even a genius like him cannot fulfill his aspirations because he is blocked by the wall of talent...'

They said people grew more generous as they aged. Except for mages.

Mages were people who had to lose themselves in their own worlds. They said old mages were the real deal, their eccentricities concentrated over as many years as they had lived, so one should never associate with them.

Mages were so infamous for their oddities that such sayings circulated in secret, yet the old mage before me looked like a fine person by anyone's standards.

'If Hughes had mana, he would have been an even more troublesome mage than Lankart. He is eloquent and has a good personality too... What a shame. He's smart, so I could have kept him as an assistant.'

Of course, that pity was only possible because I could not become a competitor.

I had a deficiency. Since I had so little mana, I could not directly threaten their positions. Having made that clear to everyone, the Crystal Tower accepted me generously.

What if I gained mana? How would they treat me then? At the very least, Lord Johannes would be wary of me, just as they had been wary of Lankart.

"Junior Hughes. It's not over yet. There are dozens of mana amplification methods. One of them will help you!"

Avant-garde sincerely supported me, but... I didn't know. It was starting to seem hopeless. After the Descent, I would have to study on my own in the Lower World. Could I really find a method without the Crystal Tower's support?

As I swallowed my gloom and forced a smile, Avant-garde, who had been fidgeting, wrapped her arms tightly around mine. Was this meant to comfort me...? Hmm. Maybe because she had never exercised, her body was soft. It did comfort me.

That was when the elevator doors opened and the Cyan Tower Master emerged. She strode over without hesitation, then spotted Avant-garde and me and watched us with interest. She hesitated for a moment, but Avant-garde's presence was no reason to stop her. The Cyan Tower Master walked right over and lightly patted Avant-garde on the shoulder.

"Hello, Avant-garde. Sorry to interrupt a pleasant moment, but may I borrow him for a while?"

"Y-Yes? Lady Elisha?!"

"You've worked hard keeping my disciple company. I happened to think of something too, so I came to take my disciple back for a moment."

The master of the Crystal Tower. The guardian who preserved the Crystal School's history and knowledge. At the Cyan Tower Master's request, Avant-garde startled and released my arm, stepping away. She kept glancing at me as though reluctant to leave, but there was nothing I could do for her now.

"Senior Avant-garde. See you later. I'll come find you once I'm done."

"O-Okay...!"

Avant-garde nodded and hurried away. She pressed herself against a nearby corner and peeked at me, but I decided to pretend I hadn't noticed.

The Cyan Tower Master asked me, "How are the results?"

"Just as you expected."

"If there were a risk-free way to amplify mana, every mage in the world would be using it. It's only natural."

"Did you come here to make fun of me?"

"Of course not. Even when I tease someone, I don't do it empty-handed. Ta-da."

The Cyan Tower Master held up four gemstones between her fingers. Red mana swirled inside them. They were gemstone crystals I had seen enough of to grow sick of in the Crystal Tower.

"They're high crystals containing mana. Judging by their kind, they seem to be bloodstones."

"Yes."

"If the Cyan Tower Master brought these high crystals herself, they must be special... But I wonder. Can they really solve my problem?"

"My disciple must be under a lot of stress. You're already complaining."

With a broad grin, the Cyan Tower Master closed her hand around the gemstones and gestured to me.

"This isn't something I should show you here. Shall we go to my room?"

"Gladly."

The Cyan Tower Master's room, with both its floor and walls made of crystal, still had an overwhelming presence. Once I sat down, she poured me warm tea in a crystal teacup as usual and handed it to me.

I took a sip and set the cup down. Taking that as a signal, the Cyan Tower Master got to the point.

"Do you know what this high crystal is?"

"A high crystal is a gemstone supersaturated with mana. Since mana must be stored in a gemstone past its limit, it requires the design and control of a highly accomplished mage. And because you, the Cyan Tower Master and a master of the Crystal School, made them yourself, they must be immensely valuable."

The Cyan Tower Master had grown used to my sneak attack of praise and responded indifferently.

"Anyone can offer praise. You're particularly good at it, but that isn't what I'm asking. Tell me what trait you discovered."

Tch. Was it losing its effect already? Pretending to examine the high crystal closely, I read the Cyan Tower Master's thoughts and repeated them.

"Its fluidity is unusually high, so mana is leaking out even though no one has touched it. It's far too unstable to be called a high crystal... You wouldn't have made a mistake, Cyan Tower Master. Is there a reason for this?"

"There is."

The Cyan Tower Master reached out, took my left hand, and rolled up my sleeve. She removed the bracelet I wore, and while I gave up on resisting her bold touch, she exposed the secret that had been hidden beneath it.

A bio-terminal. The Aki Avatar the military state branded into every citizen's body.

Aki Avatar was a flattering name. It was a magical measure of the human body, creating a passage through which mana could be injected from outside. Its primary purposes were identifying and restraining military state citizens.

"Traces of a black magic 'human catalyst' procedure. It looks rather uncomfortable."

Clicking her tongue at the bio-terminal, the Cyan Tower Master inserted a high crystal into it.

The mana-filled crystal was entering my body. I pretended to be startled, but I did not pull my hand away. I had already read what the high crystal was for.

The instant the high crystal seeped into my bio-terminal, even my dull senses felt the overflowing mana.

"Huh? I can feel mana?"

"Bloodstone is the gemstone with properties most similar to the human body. I gave the bloodstone mana and fluidity, so the mana leaking from the high crystal can seep into you. What do you think?"

"I can feel mana... But the gemstone's mana isn't my mana, so it won't move as I wish."

"You can't fill your stomach with one bite. Not even if you're me. More importantly, I haven't finished adjusting it yet."

With a light gesture from the Cyan Tower Master, the high crystal embedded in my bio-terminal bounced out. She checked its condition with mana sensing, then scribbled notes with a fountain pen.

"I recorded your heartbeat and mana flow. I'll adjust the high crystal to match your heartbeat. Then it should be easier for you to use the mana inside the gemstone."

"Oh...! It's not that I have no mana, only that I lack it. If the mana leaking from the high crystal rides along with my mana, I can benefit from a mana amplification effect!"

"Correct, my disciple. Because of the law of putting the cart before the horse, it cannot increase your mana twofold or more. Still, I think it can reach an amplification of 1.8 times."

"Having an excellent teacher really is a blessing! Thank you! I always admire you!"

It was basically doping, and I would return to normal once the high crystal's mana was depleted, but this was still something. Small advances accumulated until they became great discoveries.

As the Cyan Tower Master examined the high crystal from different angles, she casually asked, "How is Avant-garde? You've been together constantly lately."

"Senior Avant-garde? She's a very good senior. Compared to an accomplished mage like you, my teacher, the Cyan Tower Master, her attainment is lower, but she teaches me know-how from a lower perspective, so I gain a lot from her too."

I subtly made it clear that she was my only true teacher. Senior Avant-garde was useful, but could not compare to the Cyan Tower Master. When there were superiors and inferiors, one should naturally praise the superior more.

The Cyan Tower Master gave an inscrutable smile.

"Lankart was right."

"Pardon? About what?"

"I understand now what kind of genius you are."

What was that supposed to mean? Why was she expecting anything from someone who had shown her nothing so far?

As I watched with a blank look, the Cyan Tower Master spun her fountain pen and began to explain.

"Avant-garde is an expert in mana amplification through crystal resonance. She is a mage who focuses on the scale of mana itself. She was only on the fifth floor when you met. Her attainment isn't that high, so she can keep pace with you easily. She's the mage who can help you most right now, yes."

"Yes. That's what she said. She's helped me a great deal."

"How did you end up choosing Avant-garde?"

"I didn't choose her. Senior Avant-garde challenged me to a duel. As the price of victory, I asked her to teach me, and she knew more than I expected."

I had been very lucky. It was not easy for things to work out that way...

"Rumors spread that you lacked mana. Inability to control or sense mana is grounds for disqualification. If someone like you received education from the Crystal Tower's master, there would naturally be opposition."

"People give newcomers a hard time everywhere. I don't mind."

"Of course you don't. You were the one who spread those rumors."

Tch. As I smacked my lips and looked away, the Cyan Tower Master stared steadily at my face and smiled.

"I never told anyone else that you lack mana. What teacher goes around discussing a disciple's weaknesses? Even if you weren't my disciple, I don't point out other people's inferior qualities."

'Most humans are inferior to me, so I would never finish if I pointed them out one by one.'

What an impressive ego.

"Yet the rumor had already spread throughout the Crystal Tower. Someone must have wanted to challenge you to a duel because they were certain of victory. Among the mages studying mana amplification, Avant-garde, who had the lowest floor, would have wanted to step forward most."

"I was lucky."

"Was it really luck?"

The Cyan Tower Master asked with blue eyes that seemed to see through my heart. I honestly nodded.

"Yes. It was luck. Even if I set it up, I couldn't be certain they would follow the plan. People are fickle."

Footnotes:

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