A hazy sensation, as if he had just awakened from a long, long dream.
Slowly opening his eyes, the man pushed himself up at the cold sensation pressing against his cheek.
“Ugh.”
Wiping away the drool that had trailed down the corner of his mouth, the familiar training room came into view.
It seemed he had collapsed into sleep out of sheer exhaustion again, having trained until dawn.
“...Sasha’s going to nag me again if she sees this.”
Lightly stretching his limbs, the man left the training room and headed for the shower.
Swoooosh.
The hot water had been cut off, leaving only freezing water to pour out, but it was rather good for waking him up.
‘Uncle Radan, huh.’
The man would have felt hurt to hear it, but it was a name and a face Gilian hadn’t recalled in a very long time.
Especially over the last few years, since he had been so busy that even taking the time to recall past connections felt like a luxury.
‘It’s okay to fall as much as you want,’ was it?
Back then, he hadn’t understood the meaning behind those words, but now he did.
Just how reassuring and deeply comforting those words had truly been.
A bitter smile crept onto the lips of the man, Gilliot Dominic.
“Those were the good old days.”
Right now, he couldn't afford to fall.
Various circumstances and situations wouldn't tolerate such a thing.
Because everything had changed from back then, when he had strutted around with nothing to rely on under the heavens but his own bare body.
“....”
Whenever he closed his eyes, Lloyd Schultz still came to mind.
The sight of him clad in a crimson robe, standing beside the Master of the Red Tower as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Tsk.”
Just thinking about that sight still made his blood boil.
Of course, he understood. He knew better than anyone.
That Lloyd was not the kind of person to betray them just to save his own skin.
‘He must have entered into some stupid contract again.’
And in return, it was obvious he had extracted all sorts of promises for the sake of the White Tower.
Grit.
Biting his lip tightly, Gilliot slammed his fist against the innocent wall.
“...Damn it.”
No one had ever asked for such things.
For him, and for Sasha, having just Lloyd was enough.
Because as long as the three of them were together, they had the confidence to overcome any hardship and adversity.
Hadn't Master repeatedly told them they could do it?
“....”
Yet it seemed he hadn’t thought so.
He must have thought it was insufficient, and judged that they wouldn't be able to hold out.
That was the part that infuriated him.
Because in the end, it meant that bastard hadn't trusted him and Sasha.
“...That bright red robe didn't suit him worth a damn, either.”
Grumbling for no good reason, Gilliot finished his shower and headed toward the cafeteria.
The foul mood vanished the moment he saw the red-haired girl sitting alone, merely pecking at her meal.
With a smirk, he picked up some bread and canned food, sat across from her, and completely ruffled her hair.
“...Ah, stop it! You’re ruining my hair.”
“Who's even looking at it anyway?”
Puffing up both cheeks and glaring with dagger-eyes, she looked adorable.
Her gaze, which had been glaring at him for a long while, drifted down to his hand.
“What happened to your hand again?”
“Ah, this.”
Gilliot answered, subtly hiding his hand.
“Scraped it a bit while training.”
He couldn't very well admit that he'd grazed it slamming his fist into the shower wall.
Nodding as if it were nothing unusual, Sasha asked casually.
“How’s training going these days?”
“...Well, feels about the same as always.”
Gilliot chewed on his bread, trying his best to act nonchalant.
Truth be told, he was frantically anxious.
Despite training day in and day out without missing a single day, there hadn't been any notable progress for months now.
‘I need to become strong quickly.’
The current White Tower suffered from an absolute shortage of high-ranking mages.
The only reason they were being subtly disregarded despite being one of the Four Great Magic Towers was solely because of that.
‘Above all, there’s no one. No figurehead mage to represent the tower.’
For the time being, Vice Tower Master Hamel Grimwiz was showing his face at external events.
However, he had made his intentions firm from the very start.
That a disciple of the previous Tower Master, Oscar Sage, had to become the next Tower Master.
‘Which means, it has to be me.’
Now that Lloyd had left the White Tower.
Everyone knew that eventually, he himself had to become the Tower Master.
That went for both him and Sasha as well.
‘But....’
One needed to be at least a 7th-circle, Master-class mage to save face as a Tower Master.
Yet that path remained distant.
Because his growth, stalled at the mid-6th circle, showed no signs of breaking through whatsoever.
Just then, Sasha, who had been idly stirring her canned food with a spoon, spoke up.
“Um... Senior brother, you know.”
Her hesitant tone and downcast gaze.
It was Sasha's habit whenever she was asking for a favor or bringing up something sensitive.
“What, is there something you want?”
“What am I, a child?”
Frowning deeply, Sasha spoke in a lowered voice.
“It’s just. A good offer came in from the Blue Tower, so I’ve been thinking it over.”
“...The Blue Tower? What is it.”
“They suggested running a joint potion business, and they want me to take the management and supervisory role.”
“No.”
Gilliot shook his head as if there was nothing more to hear.
“Those are the bastards who stripped away all of the White Tower’s market share in potions. And with that kind of nerve, they suddenly want to put a White Tower mage into a management and supervisory position for such a business? That’s nothing more than pure mockery.”
“...Still, the conditions are good. They pay a lot, too.”
“Is that crap what matters right now?”
“Then what does matter?”
Not backing down, Sasha raised her eyes and snapped back.
“To be frank, we don't have any money. If I just sit in that position for a few years, it'll give the tower's finances some breathing room, and you'll be able to focus on training during that time, Senior Brother! Why do you just get angry without even considering it?”
“I said no.”
“So why can't I!”
“When did I ever ask you to do crap like that? Don't let your attention wander and just focus on your own training!”
The Blue Tower bastards' hidden motive for putting Sasha in that position was obvious.
Given their gloomy, malicious nature, they would work Sasha to the bone without even giving her time to train.
‘Above all....’
Lloyd had left the White Tower for their sake.
That had happened merely a few weeks ago; he could not bear watching Sasha try to sacrifice herself for the White Tower as well.
“Either way, the answer is no. Just wait a little longer. Once I reach the 7th circle, things will be much better than they are now.”
“....”
Sasha said nothing in response.
Not even the common question of just when he would reach the 7th circle.
That, too, was surely out of consideration for him.
‘There's no time. No time....’
The look in Gilliot's eyes deepened.
On the day he argued with Sasha.
On the day after that, and the week after that.
There was no progress in his growth.
“Haa, haa.”
Leaning against the wall, Gilliot gasped for rough breaths.
Having attempted to channel mana several more times even after completely depleting it, it was hard to twitch even a single finger.
‘I told her to just wait a little longer.’
Just how long?
He asked himself the question Sasha hadn't dared to voice.
“....”
No answer came.
He knew.
That a 7th-circle Master was not a realm one could ascend to through willpower alone.
Especially in a state where one's heart was as anxious as his was now, it would only slip further away.
At times like this, taking a break and finding peace of mind might actually be more helpful.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
‘But I don't have the time to indulge in such leisure.’
He was different from other people.
He had a magic tower to protect, the people belonging to it, and a precious family and junior sister.
“....”
After brooding for a long while, Gilliot pushed himself to his feet.
A worn grimoire was laid upon the desk.
Gilliot looked down at the cover.
【Gale of Ruin】
Obtaining this book had been sheer luck.
One day, while cleaning the hallway of a sparsely populated floor in the White Tower, he had picked it up purely by chance.
“....”
During the White Tower's proud golden age, the tower possessed a total of 63 kinds of high-tier grimoires.
However, among them, no spell bearing the name 'Gale of Ruin' existed.
‘Yet, that doesn't mean this magic is inferior.’
He, too, was a respectable intermediate mage, and a mage who had researched the White Tower's spells for a long time.
That was why, the moment he opened the book and read its contents, he could tell.
That the profound principles contained within did not fall behind orthodox high-tier grimoires in the slightest.
‘In fact, it makes me wonder why it was never registered as high-tier magic until now....’
Yet, having read it several times over, he came to vaguely understand the reason.
‘The method of handling wind is far too violent.’
Fundamentally, what the White Tower pursued was harmony.
Because no attribute could blend into all creation as naturally as wind.
However, the wind described in this book was strictly a weapon.
A weapon that slashed and tore through everything blocking its path.
‘Perhaps it's a forbidden book.’
Since ancient times, it was said that forbidden books chose their own masters.
Perhaps this book, too, had chosen him as its master.
Since it was strange in the first place that no one had discovered it until now, when it had been lying out in the open in the hallway.
“....”
That was why he had only hesitated until now.
Whether to learn this magic, or to keep it stored away as he was doing now.
However, blocked by a wall and pressed for time as he was.
No matter how many times he thought about it, the fastest way to reach the 7th circle was simply to learn this magic.
‘I can do it.’
He had already skimmed through the contents countless times.
Though the method was somewhat violent, it aligned exceptionally well with the 'speed' he pursued.
In other words, he was more than capable of controlling it.
‘I can do it. If it's me.’
Yet, on the other hand, he was also afraid.
What if this really was a forbidden book and it ended up driving him mad?
What if, as a result, he lost his reason, indiscriminately attacked those around him, and ended up gravely hurting Sasha?
Without a doubt, that was an outcome he dreaded more than losing his own life.
“....”
Let's leave.
Let's ascend to the 7th circle alongside this book, and then return with pride.
On the night he reached that conclusion, Gilliot quietly left the White Tower.
He set his training location in a cave within a rural mountain.
Regrettably, the bear that had been the cave's original owner became his food supply.
Because feeling guilty about leaving the White Tower, he hadn't packed very much.
“Phew, shall I begin?”
In the cave, Gilliot devoted eighteen hours a day solely to training.
Whenever his body grew exhausted, he opened the book and read it repeatedly.
So that he could decipher the meaning, the profound principles, and even the mindset of the author contained within.
“...Uh.”
His achievements deepened with each passing day.
To the point where a sense of emptiness washed over him, making him wonder what all his past efforts had been for.
The mana that hadn't budged for months flowed smoothly, as if having found another path.
Once the blocked areas were pierced through, a refreshing sensation spread from deep within his chest.
There was no pain.
His mind was clearer than ever before.
‘Is this really a forbidden book?’
Perhaps it had all been his own misunderstanding.
Perhaps it was actually a grimoire that had merely been awaiting registration as high-tier magic.
Such hope grew larger with every passing day.
With achievements deepening day by day, the smile never left his lips.
‘Even so, I can't let my guard down.’
A week, a month, two months... half a year.
As a result of forgetting everything and devoting himself solely to training during that time, he reached the late 6th circle.
Now, he could sense it instinctively.
That only a single step remained until the 7th circle.
‘If I hadn't learned the Gale of Ruin, it might have taken several more years.’
Along with his soaring spirits, the white tower repeatedly surfaced in his mind.
‘I can go home soon.’
What kind of expression will Sasha make when I appear as a 7th circle?
Will her eyes go wide as she gasps in surprise, asking when I became this strong?
No, knowing her, she'll definitely get angry first, asking why I left on my own.
And then she'll cry again. It'll take an immense amount of effort to comfort her; I'm worried already.
Ever since she was young, she was such a crybaby, requiring so much hands-on care in that regard.
‘There really isn't much left. Should I buy a present on the way back?’
Since the peak was right before his eyes, he drastically increased his training volume.
Perhaps thanks to that, an explosive growth occurred.
“Khk!”
Kagagagak!
A sound resembling the inside of his head being scraped away rang out, accompanied by an excruciating headache.
When he came to his senses, he was sitting in front of a campfire, holding grilled fish.
“....”
He remembered having a headache up to a point, but preparing a meal in the midst of that?
Did he even have fish in the food basket in the first place?
‘...It seems I've been focusing far too intensely on training these past few days.’
Should I rest for just a few days?
After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head.
Because it felt like he could reach his goal with just a little, just a little more effort.
Perhaps due to training without rest, the headaches gradually worsened.
After losing consciousness along with the second headache, when he opened his eyes, he was at a valley far away from the cave.
All around him as he stood barefoot, the area was filled with trees that looked as though they had been sliced down by a sharp blade.
“....”
Gilliot slowly looked down at his hands.
Wounds he had no recollection of were visible, and some of them had even formed scabs.
‘Just... how many days have passed?’
From that day on, the intervals between the head-scraping sounds became progressively shorter.
At the same time, the moments he was fully conscious and active grew progressively shorter as well.
Yet Gilliot did not stop.
‘7th circle.’
Just endure until reaching the 7th circle.
After that, he could stop training, find rest, and cure this symptom.
Thinking that way, he threw himself into his training, and the results were definite.
Before long, the seventh circuit was completed.
“Ha, haha...!”
He did it.
He finally did it.
When he closed his eyes, he could vividly feel the seven pulsing mana circuits.
Without a doubt, it was the realm of a Master that he had dreamed of.
“Ha.”
How long had it been since he left the White Tower?
It probably hadn't been a full year yet.
Would it be about right if he added the unaccounted days he lost consciousness in between?
Gilliot pushed his utterly exhausted body upright.
‘Let's go home.’
He picked up the few belongings resting in the corner of the cave.
Brushing off the dust with light motions, his hands froze as he tied a loosened cord.
Wait....
“Where... was home again?”
No, more importantly.
Who was he?
As if a fog had settled over his mind, his memories and vision blurred.
And when he lifted his eyelids once more.
“....”
It was a battlefield.
A battlefield, sprawling across the plains, choked with corpses.

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