Chapter 66. Demon Core (5)
There are many kinds of magical items.
Weapons, armor, special potions—if even a little magical technique is involved, they are classified as magical items. Among them, the consumable kind is the demon core.
Any mage who served in the magic tower knew this, and Verden was no exception.
He was well-versed in theory about what would happen, what reaction would occur, if one absorbed the magic power of a demon core.
Verden gazed upon his own body.
At present, his magic tier had risen by one stage. He had crossed the precarious threshold and reached the upper fourth tier. During the process of absorbing the demon core, his mana circuits had expanded, so this was only natural.
'But this is....'
A faint pressure felt in his right eye.
Magic power far beyond the usual limit had gathered in his eye. Ordinarily, such a quantity would have already burst it apart, yet it remained stable.
What mechanism caused such a phenomenon, Verden simply could not comprehend.
Then suddenly, he recalled what Lito had said.
The essence of the demon core was to become one with the mage, to supplement whatever magical deficiency existed in the body, and to help it grow further.
'But my body is different from that of a normal mage.'
Verden's body was a collection of infinite possibilities. Reconstructed using the heart of the magic tower, a perfect material in its own right.
It was not an exaggeration to say it was the very first body of its kind in all history.
What flaw could there be in it? None.
Infinite possibility, unbound by limits.
Defying the Heavens, overturning what everyone accepted as natural, the sky itself.
Verden, unlike others, had stepped beyond the framework of himself, of the world. Thus, the demon core had produced an unusual reaction.
He was fairly sure of it.
Whoosh.
A flame flickered at his fingertip, pushing back the darkness. Then he pulled a small mirror out of his spatial bag and looked into his own face.
His right eye, filled with magic power.
At its center was engraved the same magic circle of Defying the Heavens that was inscribed upon his body. In that instant, conjecture became certainty.
'How peculiar.'
His pupil glowed with a blue light.
It was different from the phenomenon where overcharged mana circuits overflowed outward. It was as though a new mana circuit had formed in his eye, stabilizing it neatly.
What exactly had changed?
Verden activated his mana circuits.
In response, the magic power in his right eye flared stronger. At the same time, his vision began to shift. The cavern in sight was dyed blue, vast magic power stirred.
Guided by that direction, Verden moved his magic.
Crack!
A spike of rock shot up at the far end of the cavern. It was a variation of terrain manipulation he often used. But Verden could not help being astonished at the sight.
"My magic never even touched it, so how could magic…?"
Magic originates from the mage's own power.
So too with terrain manipulation. Unless one had seized the terrain with magic power, naturally, one could not alter it. Which meant what just happened had defied common sense.
'Could it be that anywhere my vision reaches, I can cast magic?'
Verden immediately set to testing it.
Focusing inwardly, he observed the sequence. Fire, earth, ice, water, lightning. Successive spells shook the cavern, some of the ceiling collapsing.
Through that short experiment, Verden drew a few conclusions.
First, he could use magic at any point within his field of vision. However, the farther away, the greater the calculation load, and the slower the casting speed.
Second, by linking it in parallel with other mana circuits, he could drastically shorten casting time. For instance, a flame plague that only burned the designated target, or Harkan's meteor with its wide destructive power.
'But there is a drawback.'
Third, this method placed heavy strain on the eye. At maximum load, it could be used perhaps twice in succession. Beyond that, the mana circuit within the eye would not withstand it.
At worst, hemorrhaging could occur, and in severe cases, permanent damage to sight was possible.
Verden gently touched the corner of his right eye.
'An eye that invokes magic in space itself… as a mage, I've never even heard of such a phenomenon.'
Perhaps it was merely something he did not know.
The world was vast, and Bohemirn Magic Tower was but one of ten towers.
It might not be common, but perhaps someone else bore a similar eye.
Either way, it was a good thing.
A trump card, to pierce the enemy's opening. And it seemed to have no significant side effects.
Verden smiled faintly at the wholly unexpected function of the demon core.
"Well then, an eye of magic power… I suppose I'll call it a magic eye."
Magic eye.
Not a bad name. More intuitive than just calling it the eye of magic power.
As he gradually withdrew his power, the sigil of Defying the Heavens vanished from his eye.
'So it disappears unless a certain quantity of magic power is infused into it.'
One more lesson learned about the magic eye.
He then collapsed the underground cavern and stepped outside.
Sunlight streaming down, the refreshing scent of grass welcoming him.
Amid that freshness, he took yet another step forward.
***
Back in Cohen, Verden shut himself in an inn for a while.
Having reached the upper fourth tier, standing just before the fifth, he felt the need to once more refine his magic.
He piled water and dried rations by his bed, surrounded the whole room with a magic circle.
A high-level circle, consuming five mid-grade magic stones and the alchemical liquid ingredient 'Dew of the Forest'. In that airtight space, Verden freely unleashed his vast magic.
So profound was his concentration that he lost all sense of time.
All he did was repeat theory, research, and magical training, again and again.
At some point, Verden slowly opened his eyes.
And he smiled.
'At last, I've grasped the clue.'
Harkan's legacy, the so-called sacred-star attribute magic.
Among the five stars he created, Verden had finally seized the key to the second. Based on the memory he had inherited from Harkan, he was certain.
Gray magic gathered in his hand.
Following its afterimage, magic resonated in succession, sketching a constellation in the air. The beginning and middle linked smoothly, but the latter part broke off, vanishing.
Though he had not yet completed the result, compared to when he knew nothing at all, this was a tremendous advance. Once he solved the latter sequence, he would master the second star Harkan had left behind.
A single step, no, not even half a step remained.
'Though, there is one regretful part.'
The first star of the sacred-star attribute, Flowing Star, Meteor.
Among the magic Verden knew, it possessed the greatest destructive power, but the consumption of magic was too immense, and it was impossible to control its range, so its practicality was extremely low.
The disadvantages were as clear as the advantages.
Thus, he had considered many different directions to improve it.
It was something he had been researching ever since the resort city of Briente, but so far he had gained no particular results. The magic itself was already stable, and that was why.
'Well, it can't be helped.'
He never intended to give up just because it failed.
He would endure greater trial and error, repeat effort over and over, and if that still failed, then even more so. This was a task that could only be solved by such means.
Lastly, he registered new magic into his magic tome. Honing his existing magic was sufficient enough at this point.
Now, it was time to move again.
***
The deluxe room of the inn where Verden stayed.
Underneath the door, an envelope was slid inside. At first glance it looked like an advertisement from a merchant guild, but when certain characters were pieced together, the hidden message was revealed.
[Second grade. Designated request.]
It was a letter from Pale.
'A designated request, huh. The first since Count Rodenmeyer.'
Just in time.
He had been thinking of taking a request anyway.
For the first time in a while, he stepped into the streets of Cohen.
The streets were filled with the desolation typical of an industrial city. With winter arriving, it seemed even harsher.
People bundled in thick clothes strolled about with their usual faces.
But there was something different.
'There are a lot of soldiers walking around. Even knights, now and then.'
Patrols were always present for public order, but today he encountered them far more often. It seemed something was going on, but it was none of his concern. He wasn't particularly curious either.
Passing through the slums and underground to reach Pale, Verden entered.
"Welcome, Asher-nim. You came quickly."
"I heard a designated request came in. What's the request?"
As always, Pale brought out the documents.
Then he asked Verden.
"By any chance, did you not notice anything unusual in Cohen? For example, the number of patrolling soldiers."
"There are about three times as many as before… does that have something to do with the request?"
"That is correct. To be precise, the date of the 'Grand Agency' held by the Principality will soon be announced."
"Grand Agency?"
"Ah, so you did not know. Then I shall briefly explain, for understanding."
The Grand Agency of the Principality.
Once a year, without prior notice, it summoned lords of count rank or higher to the capital, to report directly on their domains to the Grand Duke Riviant.
'Now that I think about it, I had heard the Principality ran an abnormal system, was this what they meant?'
Information on the Principality of Riviant, gathered back in the magic tower.
But it was so distant that information was hard to come by, and matters such as state ceremonies were of no use to Verden, so he had not studied it in detail. Nor did he have the leisure for it.
Verden asked.
"Lords gathering to report directly to the Grand Duke, is that even possible?"
It was pure doubt.
For it was, openly, a check upon the nobility, and surely would invite severe backlash.
"In other countries, it would have been impossible. But in the Principality, it worked."
After breaking away from the Kingdom of Estiria, and even after the war ended, the Principality's situation was not good. Not all nobles sincerely followed Duke Riviant.
Some, near the border, accepted reluctantly, others surrendered because their domains were cut off from the kingdom.
Chaos in the system was only natural.
"There were many corrupt nobles as well. Scoundrels who, in the confusion, filled their bellies by plundering others. So, the Grand Duke made a decision."
He chose to rule by royal authority.
It was a dangerous path, risking civil war, but he had the support of Marquis Gardran and Marquis Ravishrun, so his plan succeeded.
He dispatched knight orders, and hired other powerful individuals, to swiftly eliminate bandits and similar threats in the cities and domains.
Nobles guilty of crimes deserving death were executed on the spot. Dirty blood flowed like a river throughout the Principality.
The cornered nobles felt fear.
But the Grand Duke did not let them bite him, instead offering concessions at the right moment. He flogged a few to death as an example, then gave out rewards.
"Clear merit and punishment. Based on the state of domain governance, he selected some to be rewarded, and gave warnings and advice to those who fell short. Furthermore, he declared that past sins would not be questioned, which thoroughly tangled the noble's minds."
In the end, the nobles yielded.
Having barely escaped death, they had no reason to risk execution again by starting a rebellion.
And the Grand Duke's rewards tempted them as well.
Thus time passed, and the unique system of the Principality came to be.
"Of course, there were compromises as well. If a lord was too busy with domain affairs, a viscount-rank aide could attend and report in his stead. Thanks to such flexibility, the Principality has been able to grow this smoothly until now."
This was the background of the day known as the Grand Agency.
The exact date had not yet been announced, but since no news had come until now, it was certain to be fixed within this winter. To prevent any possible incidents, each lord had tightened public security.
"But recently, a statistic has come out that could easily offend the noble's mood."
Pale pulled a sheet of paper from the file.
At the top, the subject of the request was written.
[Surging Missing Persons.]