Chapter 15 — Your Talent Is

1

On the way down from the tower.

Manus and Pearson didn’t say anything.

However, their breathing was quite in sync.

Pearson decided not to use attack magic at all.

It would only be a hindrance.

He thought so at first, but as they continued to fight, it turned out that wasn’t the case.

Pearson knew many spells, but there were only two he could use skillfully.

[Plus]

[Lavio]

Both were buff-type spells.

If [Altus] was a buff that added power to magic, these two spells affected the mage’s body itself.

[Plus], which forcibly helps strengthen the body and circulate mana.

[Lavio], which removes debuffs and various lowering effects.

He didn’t know the importance of these two spells.

But fighting behind Manus, he understood.

He could keenly feel how helpful these two spells were.

‘The speed itself is different.’

Is it because it’s Manus?

Or is it the power of magic?

The two raced through over 10 floors very quickly.

And so they reached the 1st floor.

“How did the Academy change like this? I just came to find one item-.”

“You’ll understand as you climb the tower.”

As expected, Pearson nodded, thinking Manus’s answers were often vague.

The entrance was quiet.

The door was closed.

Pearson ran to the front door, exerting force to open it.

Click-.

No matter how much force he applied, it wouldn’t open.

Pearson’s hands moved faster.

Click click-.

Even pulling the door frantically, it didn’t budge.

“Why-.”

“Wait.”

Unlike the anxious Pearson, Manus was calm.

Pearson whipped his head around.

His eyes were a mix of fear and despair, his pupils blurry.

“Wait? We’re trapped now! In a space we don’t know, with no food! No water!”

We have to wait for rescue that might never come?

What if we die?

We might die scratching at the walls without being able to do anything!

He glared, losing his reason.

He couldn’t understand why Manus was only trying to stop him.

So he shouted.

Haa-.

Manus let out a small sigh.

His hot-tempered nature and tendency to be easily swayed by his surroundings were his flaws.

In the original work, this often caused trouble with the protagonist.

It must have certainly seemed frustrating to him.

-Still.

“Shut up and stop babbling.”

“…”

“Are we close enough for me to indulge your childishness?”

A strange light filled Pearson’s eyes.

The process of his fear of the unknown changing to fear of the enormous power before him was visible.

Pearson’s eyes trembled.

He had forgotten for a moment, losing his mind.

His opponent is Caesar Manus, called the Tyrant.

Over the past year, there had been many rumors about him.

He had just yelled at such a terrifying person.

“Th-that’s-.”

“Shut up and stay still. This is the last time I’ll say it with words.”

“…”

Pearson closed his mouth and nodded.

Fortunately, Manus didn’t say more and turned his head.

The door will open soon now.

He looked at the golden clock.

The moment that clock moves, the door will open.

Between one day and the next, the door doesn’t open.

“Stay still. Your friends will come soon.”

Manus turned and headed towards the room where the demons lived.

There was something he needed to obtain there.

Warning him once more to prevent Pearson from doing anything unnecessary, Manus opened the door.

Pearson watched his back disappear with a swoosh and ran frantically to where he had been.

Where on earth did he go?

What on earth is this situation-!

He cried out, but there was no one to hear him.

-In the end, all he could do was crouch in a corner and sigh endlessly.

2

The beings welcomed their visitor.

Even the poker they played daily was getting boring.

A new face was always welcome.

“Oh-. Have you come for another round today?”

“I’ve come to craft items.”

There were quite a few materials he had farmed while climbing to the 12th floor.

Black snapped his fingers, and a huge table appeared.

A table entirely black with a soft sheen flowing.

A faintly glowing mana light body.

He thought even the high-end tables in the ducal mansion wouldn’t exude this level of aesthetics-.

Manus laid out the materials from his bosom.

These were essential for the next boss battle.

Not tools to hinder party members’ growth, but items to save innocent lives.

In the process of heading towards the ending, far too many had died.

That’s how this game was.

‘Characters were treated as meaningless extras, doomed to die for the plots sake.’

This is reality.

In the game, you might just pass it off as ‘how tragic’, but not here.

This is a place where their screams, cries, fear, and death are fully felt.

“What do you want to craft? Ah, you need mana stones for crafting too, you know?”

Manus laid out mana stones as well.

Needing many things, he had climbed the tower beating every demon in sight.

Seeing the amount of mana stones, the two beings’ eyes widened.

To gather this many mana stones, how high did he climb?

And how many demons did he kill?

His mana had also increased significantly.

How would he explain this?

“Qu-quite impressive-. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say you’re the highest level among humans, huh?”

“I told you, White. This person will soon stand before us. As an equal.”

She licked her lips, her eyes shining.

One might get goosebumps from her snake-like eyes, but Manus was calm.

He recited the items he wanted to order matter-of-factly.

“Holy Water of Eternity, Oil of Arrogance, Cursed Nails.”

“Are you going on some rescue mission?”

“As many as possible. Please.”

White’s eyebrows twitched.

She seemed a bit uncomfortable.

Manus continued speaking without changing his calm expression.

“And also-.”

“Also?”

“Black magic. I want to learn [Frex] and [Ignabus].”

Of course, you need to give a certain amount of mana stones to learn those too.

Naturally, he had brought enough to pay this price.

He hadn’t collected mana stones through all that effort for nothing.

‘The efficiency is a bit lower in the early stages.’

In the beginning, the efficiency is really poor, but as you progress to the later stages, the value of mana stones given by demons increases exponentially.

It reaches a point where you don’t need to grind even if you hunt casually, leading to comments about failing to balance the difficulty.

Still, whether you struggle in the early stages or not can determine branching paths in events.

Since the route itself changes, there was no choice but to grind in the early stages.

“You know black magic is classified as forbidden magic in your world, right? You still want to learn it?”

“Yes.”

Manus’s answer was short and firm.

White smiled with her eyes.

No one could match her knowledge of magic, especially black magic.

Genius.

She was such a being too.

She was also the only one who knew about all black magic.

“With this many mana stones, there’s nothing I can’t teach. You’re giving them all to us, right?”

“As you wish.”

“Fufu, I like how decisive you are. Alright. I’ll teach you. Try to follow along.”

She spread her hands.

A strange magic circle was drawn.

Black magic and regular magic only differed in structure, but their essence was the same.

The magic [Frex] that lowers all of the opponent’s defenses.

That strangely shaped star rose brilliantly.

White was truly a genius of magic.

She stopped just before activating the technique, clearly showing the structure of the spell.

“Can you follow?”

“…”

Manus’s blue eyes looked at the magic circle for a moment.

Black had many complaints about her teaching method, but didn’t say anything.

After all, she had agreed to educate those climbing the tower.

The problem was that she had quite a few disciples trained like this.

And it was also amazing that those disciples were making names for themselves among beings.

Ah, come to think of it, they all had something in common.

“So this is how it’s done.”

That they were geniuses.

That teaching methods didn’t matter to them.

What geniuses needed was simply the knowledge.

Those who prioritize results over methods and can produce more, better results.

Only such people learned magic from White.

-This young man is the same.

Look at the magic he unfurled.

It was perfect magic.

“Wow-. You… are a genius?”

Black magic.

The technique drawn opposite to regular magic added complexity.

People seek familiarity.

The body doesn’t try to forget remembered habits.

-However.

For Manus, such habits were no constraint at all.

Understand, and follow.

For Manus, it happened as naturally as breathing.

“I’ve got Frex now. I’d like to learn Ignabus before I go.”

“Alright. Ignabus is a bit more difficult. Like this-.”

Another magic circle was drawn over 32 lines.

It was a bit more complex, but Manus managed it in one go again.

“…Good grief. I didn’t know the education scene would be this miserable.”

“Why~. It’s fun. You’re saying that while having those lying eyes.”

“…This is something I can control.”

White’s eyes sharpened.

Clearly, Black must have said he shouldn’t have.

There was a sound like her blood vessels popping out with a crack.

Her chest swelled.

Manus stepped back and gently covered his ears with both hands.

“You bastard ―――――!! You’ve been opening those lying eyes to cheat at poker all this time, you son of a ―――――――!!”

“I’ll be going now.”

A flustered Black.

White spewing curses mercilessly.

Leaving that hellscape behind, he quietly left the room.

3

Tower lobby.

Pearson burst into tears seeing the suddenly opened door and the two people rushing in.

He must not have been able to hold back his tears when facing the people he so wanted to see.

“Waaah-. I really only believed in you guys! Senior Manus was really too scary-. How could he go off somewhere alone when there were two of us! This is really-.”

“Be quiet. Don’t get your filth on me!”

Anais peeled off the clinging Pearson.

His appearance of crying with tears and snot flowing was just like when he was rescued after accidentally entering a dungeon like a child.

He’s still the same-.

While Anais was pushing his head away, Kael who came with her carefully asked.

She was looking for the person she considered more important than Pearson.

He wasn’t visible yet.

“Where’s the senior?”

“He probably left first! That ruthless senior-.”

“I’ve arrived.”

Manus’s voice was heard.

The figure of Manus coming out from the corner of the tower was clear and distinct.

It certainly looked that way.

Kael smiled deeply.

“You’re safe.”

“I was delayed because of one idiot.”

“-.”

Pearson, who knew who that idiot referred to, closed his mouth.

To be honest, he had nothing to say.

Everything had been a misunderstanding.

Even though Manus said that, it was true that he had saved him.

-And hadn’t he even helped him find his talent?

Manus spoke while looking at Pearson.

“Mages are originally beings that fight from the rear. Their fighting methods are truly diverse. I hope you won’t be an idiot next time.”

Leaving those words, Manus walked out the open door.

The remaining three stared blankly at his back.

Anais turned her eyes to look at Pearson.

“Did you cause trouble again?”

“N-no, I didn’t-.”

An unjust excuse lingered in the lobby.

–TL Notes–
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