Crackle.
The red sparks faded.
The splitting pain in Aion’s head receded, replaced by a sensation of startling clarity.
Aion slowly blinked.
The infirmary room looked unchanged.
But blue lines now overlaid it all—as if things that should have been invisible had suddenly entered his sight.
Aion raised his hand to touch the light, but his fingers simply passed through empty air.
It had no substance.
Yet he could clearly see it.
Then the voices in his head erupted at once.
【Huh? What is this?】
【What’s wrong with my vision? What are these blue rectangles!?】
【What has that thunderstruck bastard done this time!?】
It was not just Aion. The voices could see them too.
“...Wasn’t this agreed upon?”
【No. This is my first time seeing anything like it.】
【Explain yourself at once!】
As the confusion mounted, the blue lights floating in the air suddenly aligned.
Then a cold, dry mechanical voice pierced Aion’s mind.
『Yggdrasil soul stabilization complete.』
『Classifying entangled identities.』
『New identifier assigned: Earth.』
『New identifier assigned: Life.』
……
Beep—
In an instant, a name tag appeared before each chattering voice, accompanied by an icon representing its attribute.
To Aion, the words appeared like text floating in a system window.
Ding!
【Fire: ...What is this now? The things I say are appearing right in front of me.】
【Lightning: Wahahahaha! How fascinating!】
【Earth: You bastard! You did this without even consulting us!】
Logs rapidly filled his view. A label now followed every voice that rang through his mind.
Just like that, the chaos in his head was organized—literally.
At last, the being responsible for it all revealed itself.
【Arcana: It is finally somewhat simpler.】
【Waterflow: So this was your doing. Well... it does not seem too bad.】
Aion stared at the labels lined up before him for a long while before speaking.
“...Arcana.”
【Arcana: Are you calling me?】
“Explain what this is.”
A brief silence followed.
【Arcana: I intended to.】
Yggdrasil.
As the voice named Arcana began explaining it, Aion leaned back against the bed and listened.
【Arcana: I will be direct. Yggdrasil is an autonomous, evolving mage-training mechanism that I designed.】
【Arcana: It analyzes the user’s current state in real time, calculates the optimal path of growth, and assigns tasks accordingly.】
【Arcana: It operates independently, without outside intervention. Even I, its designer, cannot interfere with its judgments.】
Aion looked at the blue window before him.
A device that assigned tasks to its user and helped them grow.
“...That is a complicated explanation. Did you make it for me?”
【Arcana: Yes. More precisely, to raise you to the level I require.】
The words were calm, but they carried weight.
“The level you require...?”
【Arcana: You do not need to know that yet. What matters is how Yggdrasil functions.】
Aion listened in silence.
【Arcana: Yggdrasil assigns tasks. Complete one, and you receive a reward. Those rewards are granted in the form of inheriting a portion of our powers.】
“Inheriting your powers?”
【Fire: What? Inheriting my power?】
【Waterflow: I do not recall agreeing to that.】
Arcana ignored them and continued.
【Arcana: It was originally designed to pass down only my power, but the others gathered within your vessel have been included as well.】
“...So these tasks are a kind of mission?”
【Arcana: Correct. Yggdrasil itself determines the difficulty of each task and the scale of its reward based on the user’s condition. No one can manipulate those values—not even me.】
Aion slowly considered Arcana’s words, then pointed out what troubled him.
“But are you truly such remarkable beings?”
【Fire: Huh...?】
“I am asking whether inheriting your power is truly that significant.”
【Earth: Heh... this little bastard....】
【Waterflow: You doubt us.】
That was true.
Aion knew very little about them.
“It is closer to a question than doubt. What level of mages are you?”
After a brief pause, Arcana answered.
【Arcana: According to Yggdrasil’s assessment, in all eight worlds, every one of us reached the pinnacle of the laws.】
“...The pinnacle of the laws?”
【Arcana: The limit of a mage. A place beyond which one can advance no further.】
The absolute end a mage could reach.
【Arcana: We were all called Ultimate Points.】
Aion’s pupils shook.
“Ultimate Points? You reached such a realm...?”
【Arcana: Believe it or not. That is your choice. I believe I have explained enough.】
Hmm....
Aion turned to look out the window. Beyond it rose the spires of Axion—a dazzling, immense city of magic.
And now, he had three days to prove his place in that city.
Failure meant expulsion.
His life at Axion stood on a blade’s edge.
But if what they say is true... if they truly are as extraordinary as they claim....
Then perhaps many things would change from now on.
Just then—
Ding—
***
[!] An introductory task has been assigned.
***
『Introductory Task: How to Become a Mage』
— 『Task Overview: You have been registered as Yggdrasil’s user. From now on, you must learn how to use it. A one-time introductory privilege reward has been determined; subsequent rewards will be assessed normally.』
— 『Objective: Succeed at Release.』
— 『Assigned Reward: Constitution +1』
***
Aion looked at the window, then gave a faint laugh.
“...So this is a task?”
【Arcana: Correct.】
“Release... Hmm.”
Aion examined the task objective once more.
A lifelong discipline for all who wield mana.
The first step toward becoming a mage—and the most fundamental of fundamentals.
The problem was that his physical condition was terrible.
【Life: Aion, you should spend today recovering your strength—】
Aion did not let the voice finish.
He was already standing on the infirmary floor.
“Urgh....”
His splinted arm throbbed.
Pain weighed down his entire body. After being rammed by a bicorn, it was only natural.
【Fire: Heh. If he listened to advice like that, he would not be here in the first place.】
【Earth: He was always like this. No one on the continent was better at abusing his own body.】
Aion walked to the window, sat down with his back against the wall, and closed his eyes.
Just as he had first been taught.
He steadied his breathing, turned his awareness inward, and felt for the energy flowing through his body.
...There was only the faintest current.
Regardless of his current condition, Aion’s Release had always been like this.
At most, he possessed a handful of mana.
It was far too little to succeed at Release.
But Aion did not despair.
If he had no teeth, he would use his gums.
Rather than blame what he lacked, he would do everything he could to achieve a better result.
How much time passed?
“Huff... huff....”
Sweat poured from Aion’s forehead, but nothing had changed.
Even Yggdrasil did not seem to judge this process as a successful Release.
Then—
【Earth: Damn it, doing it like that will not work even if you try for a hundred years!】
Out of nowhere, Earth pointed out the problem.
【Earth: Do you think your mana will increase if you keep trying Release with that outdated method?】
The other Ultimate Points responded with confusion.
【Fire: What are you talking about? Are you saying his Release is wrong?】
【Waterflow: The method is not wrong. Aion’s mana is the problem.】
Earth answered firmly.
【Earth: It is wrong. That kind of Release was discarded long ago as an obsolete relic in my world.】
【Waterflow: ...What?】
【Life: There is... a better way to gather mana?】
A moment of silence.
【Earth: Hmph... Among you lot, no one can surpass me in either the quality or quantity of mana!】
Aion’s mind fell quiet. The other Ultimate Points waited for Earth to continue.
Aion stopped his Release for a moment and spoke.
“...Let’s hear it.”
【Earth: The first mage, that fool, compared mana to water. So every mage understands mana as water. They go beyond that and assume water holds the greatest amount of mana.】
“...And that is wrong?”
【Earth: Mana exists everywhere, but the land itself holds the greatest and most powerful mana. If you accept the energy of the earth, you can leap higher.】
【Fire: ...Nonsense!】
【Earth: Shut up! What would senile old men like you know? Listen carefully, brat. Do exactly as I tell you, and you will avoid being expelled from Axion in three days.】
Aion looked down at his hands.
Hands covered in calluses from gripping a sword.
Proof of the training he had continued on his own after receiving his uncle’s teachings.
This was how Aion had always lived.
He never treated instruction carelessly. He made it his own through bloody effort.
And he was ready to do so again.
Aion asked Earth,“...What do I need to do?”
【Earth: Leave the infirmary. You must place your feet upon the ground.】
【Life: What...? Aion’s body is still—】
Aion immediately began the discharge process.
The infirmary’s healing mage adjusted his glasses and said,“Well... there should be no issue if you rest properly for several days. Fortunately, there are no fractures... though I have no idea how you were rammed by a bicorn and suffered nothing worse than bruising. Still, you must absolutely not overexert yourself for the next few days.”
Fortunately, Aion’s discharge was approved.
【Fire: Who did he take after to become this recklessly stubborn....】
【Life: ...Us.】
【Fire: ...】
After leaving the infirmary, Aion headed straight for a park on the academy grounds.
It was early morning, before the spring sunlight had fully spread across the grounds. Small groups of young nobles had already gathered in the park.
Students enjoying their leisure before class.
Aion walked between them.
His left arm was wrapped in bandages, and bruises covered his body. His clothes were half-wrinkled, and dirt still clung to his hair.
Naturally, attention turned toward him.
“Isn’t that the guy who got rammed by a bicorn a few days ago?”
“Yeah. He still looks like that.”
One noble youth, standing with an arrogant posture, scoffed.
“He will be packing his bags soon enough. Showing up like that the moment he gets here.”
Low laughter spread through the park. No one even tried to hide it.
【Earth: Ignore them. Focus on what you need to do.】
...Tell me the method.
Speaking aloud here would get him expelled for insanity rather than fraudulent admission, so Aion asked only in his mind.
Fortunately, communication posed no problem.
【Earth: So impatient. Fine. You know there is a gap of fifty years between your world and mine, correct? Naturally, magic in my world has advanced that much further. What I am about to teach you—Grounding—is an evolved form of Release.】
...Grounding?
【Earth: Release is a way of rolling a snowball. You roll the mana inside your body, making external mana stick to it. It is a safe method, but it has a fatal flaw for someone like you.】
Aion silently looked down at his hand.
...When the snowball is too small from the beginning.
【Earth: Exactly. With mana that is not even a stream—less than a pig’s piss—you have no idea how long it will take to gain momentum. Grounding is the method that overcomes that weakness.】
【Fire: Stop dragging it out and tell him the method.】
【Earth: Plant both feet on the ground, then empty every bit of mana in your body beneath them.】
Silence.
Aion frowned. He had expected something shocking, but not this much.
【Fire: That is just mana exhaustion!】
【Earth: I know. Grounding deliberately induces that exhaustion.】
【Life: Why...?】
【Earth: Because what is empty is easily filled. Mana is the same. Into an empty vessel, the mana of the earth flows on its own.】
Tingle—
At those words alone, Aion felt something brush against his fingertips.
【Earth: It is why we were swallowed by this bastard in the first place—because he was empty....】
...The method.
【Earth: Hm?】
After moving to a deserted corner of the park, Aion spoke.
“Tell me the method.”
【Earth: ...Fine. It is simple. As I said before, empty all your mana beneath your feet. It will hurt at first. Endure that pain. After that, you will know naturally what to do.】
【Fire: What a crude method...!】
“...All right.”
【Life: ...There is no point trying to stop him, is there?】
Aion attempted Release again.
With his eyes closed, he gathered every bit of mana within his body into one place.
He faced that single handful of mana once more.
Aion slowly moved it down to his abdomen.
Then he let it flow naturally downward.
The meager amount of mana dispersed into the earth through the soles of his feet.
Whooosh....
Moments later, mana exhaustion struck him with enough force to make his mind go blank.
Stagger—
【Earth: Endure it! Keep both feet firmly planted on the ground!】
Thud!
Aion forcefully stomped down and assumed a horse stance.
His lower body stabilized, but he felt as though he would faint at any moment.
“Ghhk...!”
Veins stood out on his forehead, and his teeth ground together.
In a few seconds, he might lose consciousness.
Then, at that exact moment—
As if it were a lie, he felt the presence of a hard, solid energy through the two feet planted on the ground.
【Earth: Brat! Imagine that you have become part of the earth. Make the earth mistake you for one of its own.】
Aion followed the instruction at once.
The act did not feel unfamiliar. His uncle’s teachings had included similar principles.
To hunt a beast, one had to carry the beast’s scent.
To conceal one’s presence, one had to become like the environment around them.
Aion quickly forgot himself.
【Earth: ...I did not expect him to manage it this quickly.】
【Fire: It is because he has not been away from the sword for long.】
Whooosh....
Through Aion’s soles, a hard, rough energy seeped into him.
Aion felt nothing.
Still as a rock, he observed his body.
He watched as far more energy than he had expelled earlier settled throughout him.
Then—
【Earth: Now! Close it!】
Flash!
The moment Aion opened his eyes, he ended the Release state.
The mana within his body lost its path to escape and remained there.
At that exact moment, Yggdrasil’s messages appeared before him.
***
[!] Task complete.
[!] Reward granted: Constitution +1
[!] Stat increased.
[!] Magical Power increased by 2.
***
Yggdrasil had recognized his success: an evolved form of Release.
【Earth: What do you think of magic theory from fifty years in the future, brat?】
Aion looked down at both hands.
“...This is Grounding.”
Three days remained until the reassessment.
What the result would be was now in Aion’s hands.