Luke and Third were gradually moving towards a sparsely populated road while engaging in various conversations.
“By the way, Third. Seeing your skin has improved a lot makes me happy. It seems you’ve been applying the medicine regularly as I told you?”
“Yes, that’s right. Thank you very much.”
Third had removed much of the bandages and tape that had always partially covered his face. This likely meant that both his body and soul were healing well through the medicine. As a mentor, this was indeed a gratifying occurrence. In fact, using sacred power on commoners and on mages was an entirely different matter even after gaining divine strength, so he had been observing for now, but he felt relieved to see such recovery.
Meanwhile, Third, sensing that Luke’s condition was different than before, suddenly exclaimed in admiration.
“Congratulations, Master. Your level has increased again.”
“Hmm, you noticed that, did you?”
‘Impressive, Third’s senses are indeed exceptional.’
Well, given that he is sensitive to changes in mana and circles, it’s not too surprising that he would detect his own condition. However, Luke didn’t think Third would recognize straight away that his circle had changed. This is because he hadn’t truly enhanced his level but had merely laid the groundwork for future use, so just by looking, he still appeared to be at the Fifth Circle.
He had only cleared a path; he had yet to reach that point.
Thus, Luke opened his mouth bluntly.
“However, there’s nothing to celebrate. I haven’t properly handled the Sixth Circle; I merely set the shape for potential use.”
“Is that so?”
Just a few days ago, Luke had realized the necessity of the Sixth Circle while extracting poison from his body. The authority of the Sixth Circle is the authority over will and abstraction. This stage allows the concepts of one’s will and abstraction to finally manifest externally, while simultaneously enhancing the will and abstraction existing within oneself. Therefore, if he possesses a Sixth Circle, it implies that even if he becomes poisoned by unknown substances as before, he should be able to exert some will to manipulate mana, and at the same time, mitigate the effects of substances impacting his body from the outside with his will.
It’s not at all surprising that only mages of the Sixth Circle or higher were recruited when selecting personnel for the “Demon Realm Expedition” 5000 years ago.
‘Furthermore, this serves as a ‘minimum requirement’ to confront entities dense in will and abstraction, such as Sigarmata.’
Sigarmata had dealt with death after leaving the Intermediate Realm for a long time, and now exists in a form resembling a thought entity without a physical body. Hence, aid from the Sixth Circle would be indispensable to confront her.
However, his Sixth Circle was currently very unstable and uncertain.
If he were to exert authority with a Sixth Circle that merely had a shape, he would surely find himself in an irretrievable situation. There was a high possibility of Circle rampage occurring, which would be highly detrimental to himself as a Circle user.
But it couldn’t be helped.
Right now, the environment isn’t one in which he could solidify the foundation and grow the Circle through a regular process.
‘I might be in a worse situation than I predicted.’
Initially, Luke expected to have a year once Sigarmata was expelled. But given the current situation, the reemergence of Sigarmata might happen much sooner than expected.
Thus, Luke had to think and prepare for far more than he had planned.
‘Now, what else can I prepare?’
While pondering these thoughts as they walked.
“So, what is the question you wish to ask me, Master?”
“Hmm.”
Snapped out of his thoughts by Third’s words, Luke realized they had reached the location he had wanted. It was a narrow alley where no one could overhear them, and there were no worries about prying eyes.
‘Good, this is a suitable place to talk.’
Soon, Luke pulled out the familiar object from his pocket and flicked it towards Third like a coin.
“Third, catch.”
– Ping –
Third lightly caught the small object that was spinning towards him. It was a bit sudden, but Third wasn’t dull enough to let it slip.
– Thud.
Then Third quietly stared at the object he had caught and muttered.
“This is….”
Third had a puzzled expression. It was a small cylindrical object, roughly the size of a finger joint, with no indication of what it was used for. However, it radiated a subtly unsettling feeling. What on earth was this object?
“This is the shell used in a Dwarf’s cane.”
“This is a shell used in a Dwarf’s cane?”
Luke’s words struck Third with an odd sensation. The Dwarf’s cane, unlike that in severely demon-influenced areas like Draigand, was merely a fancy and impractical toy compared to the relatively straightforward magic that could be used with a simple wand.
Moreover, there was something peculiar about it.
“It seems to look somewhat different from what is commonly known to be used in wands.”
“Oh, it seems you can recognize it to some extent.”
As Luke sensed Third was on the verge of figuring something out, his voice grew a little brighter. Although much of the memories related to the otherworld had faded away with the circle being reflected upon, Third had relearned knowledge of weapons, enough to recognize that this was not the typical appearance.
Understanding that Third harbored questions, Luke nodded.
“Right, you can’t see the projectiles.”
From what Luke had researched, when it comes to projectiles, similar to a cannon, there must be both an explosion within the shell and an actual projectile for something to be fired from a wand. Yet, this contained neither an explosion nor a projectile. It appeared to be nothing more than a container filled with liquid, almost indistinguishable from a vial.
Luke began to explain.
“After disassembling a few of them, it seems they have the ability to instantaneously solidify liquid projectiles and fire them, allowing them to be quickly absorbed into a living being’s body to induce anesthesia.”
“So, this is a liquid anesthetic projectile? If that’s the case, it doesn’t seem very threatening though.”
“It pierced my shield. It even immobilized my internal mana.”
“…What?”
Third was astonished. The fact that it pierced Master Luke’s shield seemed unfathomable. In Third’s understanding, no force could affect Luke unless it possessed the power equivalent to a dragon’s breath.
However, the thought that this small object had breached his shield was something Third found hard to believe.
Was that all? Luke’s internal mana was already overwhelming to the point of exceeding the World Tree’s core, something a typical creature wouldn’t possess. If it could even immobilize such an immense amount of mana, this was no ordinary object.
Luke continued.
“There was a substance inside that acts similarly to the energies of the Demon Realm. Perhaps that’s why it could pierce my shield with magic and harm me.”
Indeed, a substance containing the energies of the Demon Realm. Third recalled the stories told about the air of the Demon Realm. If such destructive power that dismantled all magic and scattered mana were turned into a substance, it wouldn’t be strange if it had similar effects.
However, aside from that, the origin of such a thing remained a mystery. To think it would shoot out energies from the Demon Realm? He had never heard of such technology before.
Third frowned and asked.
“Where on earth did this come from?”
“From a certain facility. Don’t you remember anything?”
“Well…”
As Third slowly turned the object with his finger, he suddenly noticed a pattern.
“Hmm.”
A cross at the center of an equilateral triangle, and a peculiar eye shape at the intersection of the crosses. It felt too unsettling to merely consider it a simple enchantment.
“This symbol is….”
“Do you recognize it after all?”
Luke asked with a hint of expectation in his voice, but Third was still frowning as he stared at it intently. Growing anxious, Luke urged him to speak.
“Say anything. If you have any guesses about this object or the symbol, anything would help.”
“That is….”
But Third’s response only left Luke feeling dejected.
“I’m sorry. I can’t recall anything at all.”
“Is that so?”
Luke’s ears drooped. If Third didn’t know, who on earth could he ask about this object to find a clue? Luke felt utterly at a loss.
“But there are people who would know.”
“Is that so?”
Luke’s ears perked up again at Third’s following words. As Third gazed at it quietly, he thought that although the expressions of his master weren’t visible, his emotions seemed to be quite apparent.
Or perhaps, might he not even be aware that his ears move according to his feelings?
‘Surely, Master knows.’
So, Third decided not to point it out.
