Aura, mana, holy power.
The three forces a human can possess. Among them, mana is the most universal power and holds limitless potential. No matter what anyone says, it is the mages who wield mana that are advancing the current world.
But such progress does not always head in a good direction. Advancement toward the unknown always holds unforeseen dangers.
The power source of the Magic tower is the greatest invention in human history.
Yet, even the mages who designed, invented, and studied it never imagined that it would collapse at the hands of just one person — and that person, at that, being the most untalented mage among them.
...The Magic tower fell silent.
Not a single breath could be heard from anywhere within the core.
In the desolate darkness, ownerless objects lay scattered across the floor, and a half-eaten sandwich sat lonely on a plate. As if people had simply vanished, all signs of life had disappeared.
Except for one place.
"Cough, cough!"
Verden raised his upper body, coughing. The cracked staff of the Tower Master crumbled away without form.
Blinking vacantly in the darkness, he felt around his body. Very slowly.
The Defying the Heavens magic circle remained intact, but everything else had changed.
His ragged, worn-out body — gone. It was now firm and smooth, like new.
The life force that had been reduced by drugs was now overflowing. Within it surged a power incomparable to before.
And the magic circle that had forcibly bound him to the Tower Master had vanished.
Defying the Heavens had succeeded.
"I've surpassed the 1st-tier…"
Without having undergone Opening of the Body, and without even holding a staff, Verden's current state was the 2nd-tier. It's minor, but he had transcended a limit.
What should've been destroyed by the Defying the Heavens magic circle remained unscathed. No—his reconstructed body was entirely new.
There was now potential, a talent, to ascend to a higher tier.
He had glimpsed a realm so unimaginable it gave him certainty. That he, too, could reach the level of Magus—no, beyond.
Clenching his fist tightly, Verden examined his body.
"But what's with this amount of mana?"
Far too vast to be considered 2nd-tier.
Was it because he had become one with the power source? It was an unexpected result, but there seemed to be no problem. In fact, it was good. Excessive, sure, but he was confident he could handle it.
He stood up and activated his mana circuit.
A 2nd-tier spell. Normally, he wouldn't have been able to cast it, but it activated smoothly.
'Then that means… I can use every 2nd-tier spell I know.'
But it was too early to rejoice.
A plan is only successful if you survive to the end.
Scanning his surroundings, Verden searched for an exit amid the wreckage. Using physical strength and
Back at the control room, the bodies of the two mages had vanished without a trace. Even mana-infused scrolls and magical artifacts were gone.
'Couldn't withstand the power source and disintegrated, huh.'
As expected. The mana released from the power source had far exceeded any individual's limit.
The mages near the core were probably all dead. The rest, farther out, would've fainted.
He felt no sympathy. No regrets. This was also revenge.
Verden pulled a robe off a coat rack and draped it over himself, then moved forward. Traces of humans lay scattered at his feet. Though he saw a few useful items along the way, he couldn't risk introducing variables out of greed.
The janitor's closet tucked in the corner of the hallway. He opened the door, and dust swirled up.
He quickly cleared away the clutter and pushed aside an old wardrobe, revealing a magic circle made up of complex spells.
'Fortunately, no distortion.'
An escape route built over years using all the materials stored in the Tower.
Would it really transfer him safely to the preset coordinates…? The magic circle was so high-level, he couldn't help but be anxious. A miscalculation could bury him underground or sink him into the deep sea.
Just as he hesitated—
Boom! A distant roar echoed. Soon, his expanded sense caught an enormous mana signature, drawing closer by the second. The ground began to shake.
There was only one person capable of causing such a phenomenon right now.
The owner of the Bohemirn Magic tower — Balrog Besias.
He was charging straight toward this very place.
"He actually sensed the magic I used…?!"
His mana was but a drop compared to the Tower Master's, yet the response was absurdly extreme.
Now, only one choice remained. Get caught and be torn to shreds, or move through space.
Shouldering the bag filled with treasures from the vault and alchemical ingredients, Verden poured mana into the magic circle.
Kiiing— Purple light flickered as his body was pulled in.
His destination: coordinates far out of the Tower Master's reach. Light flashed, and Verden vanished completely.
Boom!
Right after, the wall exploded and a middle-aged mage appeared. In his eyes, the slowly fading magic circle could still be seen amid the wreckage.
"Spatial teleportation…!"
Grit. Balrog clenched his teeth in fury.
He tried to track him immediately, but it was too late. With the magic circle completely gone, no mage could do anything now.
He had escaped.
Realizing this, Balrog's eyes turned bloodshot.
"How dare you!"
To not only wreck his Magic tower, but also flee unscathed? In front of him, the so-called Omnipotent?
Unforgivable.
Not as the Tower's Master, not as the Sovereign of Magic.
'A runaway power source and spatial teleportation… he couldn't have done it alone!'
It wasn't likely to be another Tower. No matter the rivalry, this was far beyond acceptable limits.
That meant it must be someone with power equal to a Magic tower, someone hostile to Bohemirn. Several candidates sprang to mind.
Rumble rumble rumble…!
His raging mana shook the Magic tower violently.
"I don't care who it is…!"
Anyone even remotely involved — he would tear them to pieces.
Even if it were an emperor. Even if it were a child.
He would make them regret being alive — cruelly, brutally, and painfully. More than his pride was trampled, he would crush everything they possessed.
They would pay dearly for daring to lay a hand on the Bohemirn Magic tower.
And they would learn, deep in their bones and souls, exactly who Balrog was.
"I will find you! I will hunt you down and kill you alllllll!!"
Uaaaaarghhhhh!
A scream, filled with fury.
Kwagwagwang!
From the dark clouds swirling around the Magic tower, a blue lightning bolt struck down.
***
A deep forest, far removed from human footsteps. A place untouched by the eyes of the Magic tower. A strange light burst forth, and a person appeared, rolling across the dirt ground.
"Urgh…"
Cough! Cough!
They say those unaccustomed to teleportation feel their insides churn — and it truly was an unpleasant feeling.
Coughing repeatedly, Verden barely managed to settle his stomach before looking around.
"A forest I've never seen before…"
He had lived in the Magic tower since the age of eight, so it wasn't like he was familiar with any outside places. Still, the forest he now saw was one he definitely wouldn't find near the Bohemirn Magic tower.
Which meant — the teleportation had succeeded across nearly half the continent. After Defying the Heavens, he had escaped safely and intact.
There was no chance of pursuit. He had erased all traces, and the 1st-tier mage named Verden would now be presumed dead due to the core's explosion. The mana-infused documents used in the Magic tower — those too were gone.
It might be tragic news for Rovellin and the head of the orphanage, but it was the best outcome.
"Heh…"
A smile formed at his lips.
Having succeeded in his plan beyond expectations and now secured his safety, there was nothing that could stop Verden from laughing.
"Hahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!"
He had never laughed like this in his entire life.
What must the Tower Master be feeling right now? He was probably furious beyond words, maybe even smashing parts of the Tower and screaming in rage.
Verden only regretted not being able to see the empty expressions on the faces of his disciples or the mages belonging to the Tower.
"Haa…"
But the Magic tower would not fall so easily.
Many mages near the core were likely killed by the explosion, but in the context of the whole Tower, the loss was small. Especially since many seats had been vacant due to the festival.
'Even if the power source was lost, the Tower Master will come up with a countermeasure.'
Balrog Besias was no easy opponent. His title of "Omnipotent" was no bluff.
Verden was certain — Balrog would rebuild the Bohemirn Magic tower using methods never seen before.
"That's good enough."
While he devoted all his strength to rebuilding the Tower, Verden would use his newly gained talent to build his own power.
At least, enough to face Balrog head-on.
When the time came, he would seek him out directly and crush that lofty pride to pieces.
He would bring down everything Balrog had built right before his eyes — and in doing so, etch the name of Verden into the world.
Revenge and proving himself as a mage.
Those were Verden's only goals.
"A 1st-tier mage defeating the Tower Master, huh…"
It sounded like something from a novel, but not a bad one.
After all, the protagonist was none other than Verden himself.
Letting out a small chuckle, Verden rummaged through his bag.
When setting the coordinates, he had chosen a distant province in a faraway duchy. Even a mage wandering a remote area without preparation was close to suicide.
That's why he had packed a generous amount of money, clothes, drinking water, and a large supply of dried food. It should be enough to survive until he reached the nearest village.
He put on clean clothes, draped his robe over them, and looked down — he truly looked like a proper mage now.
Satisfied with his appearance, he held up a small hand mirror to check his face.
"…Huh?"
What the hell is this?
His hair… was gone. No — not bald, but his brown hair had turned ashen gray.
And his eyes — the black pupils had vanished, replaced by clear blue irises.
"Was there a problem during the body reconstruction?"
He quickly checked, but aside from his hair and eyes, everything else was the same.
The abnormally high mana capacity beyond the usual tiers… whatever had happened, he didn't know for sure, but there were no visible side effects.
Well, theory and reality don't always align.
Unimaginable results showing up in reality is hardly rare in the magical industry.
'I should be cautious, though.'
No need to panic just yet.
…Still, only his hair and eye color changed, and it actually looked pretty good.
How to put it… he looked like a mage shrouded in mystery. His face was the same, but the atmosphere had changed drastically.
He even thought that, should he run into Rovellin by chance, she might not recognize him at all.
As long as his hair didn't fall out or his eyesight didn't fade, this side effect was rather welcome.
'There's no real solution for now anyway, so I'll just leave it be.'
He put the mirror away and took a sip of water.
Chewing on some jerky, he filled his stomach just enough, then unfolded the map he had prepared.
If the coordinates were correct, there should be a populated domain to the north.
Securing a safe place to stay was the top priority. Using the items taken from the Magic tower would come after that.
"Well then, let's go."
Verden stepped into the forest.
The scent of grass and trees brushed past him vividly.
A vagabond mage's life, facing the world for the first time after escaping the hated Magic tower —
It thrilled him more than the day he first rode the carriage heading toward the Tower as a child.