Chapter 145: Glacier (1)
The Red Tower and the Tower of the Deep Sea were sworn enemies.
In terms of Origin, it was like fire and water.
The Star of the Deep Sea, Avery Aquins, had tried to capture Harad, but that was because of the Moon's prophecy.
Because if Harad died, the King of the Red Tower, as specified in the prophecy, would be born.
Generally, water seeks to kill fire.
The reason was an old inferiority complex.
It was also the reason why I had promised Anton not to touch the Scouter first.
I was confident I would be attacked.
“What is your na?”
“It's Andison!”
But Pedro was not in front of .
He was testing another mage on the opposite side of Harad.
His long white beard, singed, was quite impressive.
Yet, Pedro did not attack or get angry, but put Harad on hold.
‘Did my fire not look that impressive?’
That hurt my pride a little.
‘Either he's not in a position to judge. Or he postponed it. It seems like the latter.’
If Pedro killed here, his position would be in jeopardy.
The 13 mages would no longer want to be tested. The Liberation Faction is a group of kind or weak dispositions.
For Pedro, it would be a loss of a potential talent.
‘Talent. Is the Otherworld short on mages?’
At least the Red Tower was.
But I didn't know about the other towers.
Thinking back to my past life, they weren't particularly short.
But that was the future. It could be the result of spiriting away continental mages like this.
“That's enough.”
Andison was eliminated.
At Pedro's words, he lowered his head. His magic was a firefly-like light that hovered in the air.
“What is your na?”
Pedro approached the mage next to him.
It was a woman, and she seed more nervous than anyone. It must have been because Andison was eliminated. Pedro smiled benevolently.
“Do not be too nervous. I did not co to find an Origin befitting the Tower of the Deep Sea. Even if it is not water, if it has a deserving value, I will take you to the Otherworld and introduce you to a suitable tower.”
At those words, the woman took a few breaths and said her na. Her Origin was a short, thin piece of iron.
As if he thought it wasn't worth listening to anymore, Pedro clicked his tongue slightly and took a step to the side.
‘He's being careless. Are his expectations low?’
Even so, it wasn't befitting a mage.
In my opinion, he should have asked about the material as well.
‘His knowledge is poor. His intuition seems to be lacking as well.’
I lowered my guard a notch.
Age is a rather important asure, but it is not absolute.
Not all Sword Masters beco noticeably younger.
The sa goes for 5th Rank mages.
Depending on the amount of magic they possess or their Origin, their appearance can change as much as they want.
‘He's not that kind.’
Pedro didn't seem like a special old man, but just an old man.
Pedro consistently took a step to the side.
His pace gradually quickened.
“Na.”
His words also beca shorter.
Pedro's wrinkles, which had seed benevolent, began to feel picky.
“It's Hosek!”
“Origin?”
“It's rubber!”
“Rubber?”
“Yes, yes! It's white and square-shaped…”
Pedro's gaze turned cold.
Hosek, unaware of this, continued to speak.
“It's called an eraser. It can erase things like this.”
The white rubber that manifested in his hand rubbed against the wall.
Then, the scratch on the wall disappeared. The trace of the scratch was erased.
Seeing that, my eyes shone.
That Origin is promising. No, it's useful even now.
“Na.”
Pedro was looking at the next mage.
* * *
“Na.”
“It's Grex.”
“Origin.”
“It's a claw.”
“Hmph.”
Origin is like all things in the universe.
All sorts of Origins existed in the world.
Among them were unfamiliar objects and phenona.
It ant that there are still many things in the world that humans do not yet know.
However, it is people who determine their value.
“Tsk.”
Pedro clicked his tongue again.
He didn't seem to have felt any particular value yet.
‘It's interesting.’
On the other hand, I suppressed my curiosity.
Indeed, there were still overflowing Origins in the world that I did not know.
The sa would be true for their value.
It may seem insignificant for now, but it would show its usefulness at a certain mont.
“What are you?”
“It's Ellen.”
The turn had co to Ellen.
The test for the 13 mages was over.
“Origin?”
“I'm not a mage.”
“What?”
Pedro's wrinkles crumpled.
Ellen hugged my arm.
“I'm this man's wife. If he goes to the Otherworld, I'm going with him.”
“...I see.”
Pedro's wariness softened.
It was not uncommon for mages to wish for asylum with their families or lovers.
“You said your na was Harad.”
Pedro's gaze circled the mages once and returned to . His expression was not good.
“Yes.”
I answered promptly.
‘He doesn't know .’
No one in the Otherworld knows my face and na. They all died.
But the Rebellion Faction knows. They don't know that I am a mage.
Pedro seed to be from the Otherworld's side.
The Rebellion Faction had not shared the information of Harad with him.
It was only natural.
The Rebellion Faction had wanted to kill to curry favor with Psina of the Ivory Tower.
There is no reason to tell the sa Otherworld's Tower of the Deep Sea that fact. It would be seen as a lack of ability.
“What kind of fire is it?”
“It is a torch.”
I answered without hesitation.
“A torch?”
Pedro's face hardened.
“The color?”
“It is similar to sunrise.”
“The size?”
“It is small now, but I think it will beco quite large later.”
“Like a mountain?”
A mountain?
‘Can sothing that big be called a torch?’
It was a foolish question.
Origin is like all things in the universe.
“Probably?”
I affird for now.
“Hmph…”
Then Pedro was impressed.
He also seed to be sighing.
‘He was a famous one.’
Pedro seed to know about the torch.
It must be a torch as large as a mountain.
‘A significant clue.’
Ellen squeezed the arm she was hugging tightly.
It was to the point where blood couldn't circulate. Thanks to that, I was able to calm down.
“Am I accepted?”
I asked like an ambitious young mage.
Pedro stared at .
The old man who looked at the ambitious young man with satisfaction was no longer there.
“...Yes. You are accepted. It is an excellent Origin.”
Various sounds were heard from the surroundings.
It was the sound of the other mages' envy.
I clenched my fists and rejoiced.
“Can I take my wife with ?”
“Of course. Your Origin deserves it.”
“Honey!”
I hugged Ellen tightly.
Her face, peeking out from over my shoulder, turned beet red.
“...What do we do now?”
Ellen whispered very quietly in my ear.
“Of course, we have to follow!”
I shouted so everyone could hear.
From an angle invisible to Pedro, I grinned.
It was then that the sound of footsteps was heard.
This ti, there were two. One was Ocellin, and she was coming down the stairs holding the hand of a boy who looked to be about 10 years old.
“If it's not too much trouble, could you take a look at this child as well?”
Ocellin asked cautiously.
The atmosphere changed.
The 13 mages had considered a competitor and had been envious of his acceptance.
They were quietly watching the boy.
They looked quite desperate, as if they wanted the boy to be accepted.
“He's a kind and gentle child. He's like a son and a brother to everyone.”
Rosen, who was next to , said quietly.
The boy seed to be living with the mages in the warehouse building.
‘A mage.’
Young mages mature quickly.
The ones who don't are already dead.
Naturally, he would know about the Otherworld.
But the boy seed calm even in front of Pedro. It wasn't befitting a mage. At the sa ti, among the mages gathered here, he seed the most like a mage.
“Na.”
“It's Duke.”
Duke seed more indifferent than composed.
His eyes, which showed no emotion, were impressive.
In other words, he was unusual.
Pedro seed to have felt that too.
“What is your Origin? Just explain comfortably. As you feel it.”
His words beca longer.
Duke looked up at Ocellin instead of answering.
When she nodded, he opened his mouth.
“It's very hard ice. If you look closely, there are layers. And it flows.”
Pedro's face brightened.
Ice. An Origin suitable for the Tower of the Deep Sea.
“It flows? Ice?”
“Yes.”
“Does it an it's slightly lted?”
“It's hard, though.”
Pedro stroked his singed beard.
“The size? It is small for now, but an Origin grows as it is. You should be able to roughly guess its future scale.”
“It's huge.”
“How much. Bigger than a mountain?”
Pedro asked, conscious of .
“As big as the land.”
“The land?”
“Yes.”
Duke stomped his foot.
It ant it was as vast as the land he was standing on.
It was a childlike answer.
“Hmm.”
Pedro's eyes were buried in his wrinkles.
He seed to be suspicious of whether Duke was lying.
“Define your Origin in one word. It can be a little longer.”
A short, thin piece of iron, an eraser, the sun, a forest fire.
Origin is intuitive. At least to its owner.
“A glacier?”
From the side, Ellen hit hard.
My eyes widened.
* * *
In the past life.
All the mages of Ekampote must have died.
The problem was Rosen's discovery, and the culprit was Wimar.
One or two might have survived by luck.
Anton was a competent manager, and he might have saved a few.
The boy nad Duke could be one of them.
But… it couldn't be a glacier.
I rembered that 6th Rank mage clearly.
That mage whose Origin was a glacier was an old woman.
Her age and gender were different from Duke's.
It was a gap that couldn't be resolved with magic.
The glacier of the past life was a hag wearing a human skin. She was clearly a different person from Duke.
“No way.”
So I instinctively denied it.
Pedro couldn't hear .
He was very excited.
“A gl-glacier. Could you show that ice?”
Duke put his hands together.
It was in a shape as if he were holding sothing round.
When he opened his hands, an ice the size of a human head was manifested. It was a clever magic. I intuited that he had used the moisture in the air as a dium.
And….
‘It's a glacier.’
I had to deny the mories of my past life.
It was a glacier. It may be shabby for now, but in front of was an ice that would one day beco a glacier that would engulf the continent.
“A-amazing!”
Pedro was impressed.
He was purely captivated by Duke's ice.
I don't know if he believed it was a glacier, but the mage nad Pedro intuited that the ice was not simple ice.
“Accepted! Accepted! The Tower of the Deep Sea will surely use you importantly.”
In the past life?
Pedro would not have co to Ekampote.
They would have all been dead. Or did he co and et the lucky survivor Duke?
‘A wrong approach.’
The glacier of the past life was a hag.
But the glacier in front of is in the boy nad Duke.
In this mont, I should not rely on my past life.
“Do I have to go?”
Just then, Duke spoke.
He wanted to hold Ocellin's hand tightly.
“I don't want to go.”
“What?”
“I like it here.”
Duke looked around.
Ocellin and Anton, the 13 mages, were the boy's ho.
Pedro's contorted eyes followed Duke's gaze.
“I see. They are making you weak.”
“Pardon?”
Duke tilted his head.
“The most important thing for a mage is the Origin that resides in him, and the next is his will. They are chipping away at your will.”
Pedro said with a pitiful face.
“That weakness will one day devour you.”
If one's will is weak, one is devoured by their Origin.
Pedro seed to be talking about predation.
“You must overco it. It is beneficial to overco it even a day sooner.”
Tuk. Pedro struck the floor with the staff he was holding. That end was the source of the water. Water flowed out from the staff as the center. The floor was completely subrged in water.
The water flowed bewitchingly.
It went up the stairs, blocking the door, and flowed on the walls and ceiling as well. It was in a shape of being trapped by water.
“Do not move. The one who moves first will die.”
Pedro warned the flustered mages.
Then he looked down at Duke and smiled benevolently.
“Kill them all, and take their hearts. Thus, the Origin that resides in you and your will will beco stronger.”
“……”
“If you do not kill them, I will. And I will feed their hearts into your mouth.”
“I don't want to.”
Duke said, holding Ocellin's hand tightly.
He was a boy with grit.
But he had no power.
Water that shot up from the floor swallowed Ocellin. Ocellin choked in the water.
“I will kill this woman and ask you again.”
Duke's face contorted.
It was closer to killing intent than fear.
Just then.
A voice suddenly echoed inside the water.
“You're being a dick.”
It was Ellen.
My eyes, which had turned, widened. A sword was drawn in Ellen's hand.
Looking at her posture, it had already been swung.
Pedro's head was falling from his neck.
“……”
When I turned my gaze again, our eyes t.
Ellen grinned and puffed out her chest as if asking for praise.
“How was it?”
“……What?”
“You're welco, right?”
Only then did I realize.
Ellen had gotten angry for .
So much that I would be embarrassed.
“Answer.”
I wasn't angry, though.
“……Thank you.”
I answered reluctantly.
“Hee.”
……It was a complicated feeling.
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