“Are you serious?”
* “Have you spent your entire life being deceived? I do not tell lies.”
Aleon pouted at my question.
I swallowed and asked him another.
“Then what do I have to do?”
* “Huhu. You must be very curious. Very well. I shall tell you.”
Aleon continued with a triumphant expression.
* “First, I shall explain why you are unable to properly absorb mana.”
The reason?
Wasn’t it simply because of my constitution?
That was what I had believed until now.
However, after listening to Aleon’s explanation, I learned that there was a more fundamental reason behind my inability to absorb mana.
* “The reason you possess so little mana is simple. The Mana Circuits inside your body have withered like the roots of a rotten tree.”
“……!”
Mana Circuits?
It was a concept I had never heard of before.
What were they?
* “Mana Circuits are the pathways through which mana travels inside the body. If those pathways are narrow, not only will the output of your released Magic Power be weak, but storing mana within your body will also become difficult.”
“Ah.”
It was a concept that had yet to be discovered on Earth.
However, if Aleon was correct, it might offer a clue to improving my Mana Rejection Syndrome.
The solution sounded easier than I had expected.
“Then all I have to do is widen the Mana Circuits inside my body?”
I spoke with the confidence of someone who had found the correct answer.
Then—
* “Yes. In principle, that is the correct answer.”
The corners of Aleon’s mouth rose into a grin.
Looking at his expression filled me with an ominous feeling.
* “However, if Mana Circuits could be improved so easily, would everyone not have become an Archmage or a Great Swordmaster?”
Right.
I had known it sounded too easy.
Aleon chuckled as he watched my expression fall again.
* “Do not worry. I was the only person on the continent of Pangaea to be called the Great Sage. I know a method capable of transforming your miserable Mana Circuits into ones comparable to those of a dragon.”
Aleon pointed at me with his left index finger and declared—
* “The Philosopher’s Stone. You must consume it.”
…Excuse me?
The Philosopher’s Stone?
What was that?
When my expression revealed that I had no idea what he meant, Aleon frowned and folded his arms again.
* “Hmph. Perhaps this is what one should expect from a lower-ranked dimension. You do not even know what the Philosopher’s Stone is.”
Master, that is why I am asking what it is.
Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered something called the Philosopher’s Stone appearing in fantasy novels I had read as a child.
Somehow, I suspected that he was referring to something similar.
But wasn’t such a thing usually extraordinarily difficult to obtain?
That was how it had been in every novel I had read.
“Explain it to me.”
At my request, Aleon began speaking with a dissatisfied expression.
* “The Philosopher’s Stone is the most……”
After patiently enduring Aleon’s lengthy explanation, I realized that my assumption had been correct.
It was a legendary medicine whose existence had been passed down since ancient times.
Not only could it completely transform Mana Circuits, but consuming the completed stone could even raise one’s Soul Rank to a higher realm.
It was a Mythic-grade medicine.
“So how do we make it?”
* “The materials required to create the Philosopher’s Stone are……”
Aleon began listing them.
The moment I heard the ingredients, I was left speechless.
“A dragon’s heart, Tears of the Full Moon, elderwood, sacred metal, a unicorn’s horn, dark essence, phoenix ash, stardust, and Mana Crystals…?”
* “Correct. You remembered everything after hearing it only once. It seems your mind is not entirely useless.”
For the first time, Aleon looked satisfied with me.
Should I be pleased that he had finally praised me?
But that was hardly important right now.
“Wait a moment. To be completely honest, I don’t even know what most of those materials are. Are they actually obtainable?”
Wasn’t a dragon’s heart already excessive?
How was I supposed to obtain something like that?
The remaining materials hardly sounded any easier.
I even began to wonder whether he was deceiving me with a recipe he had never succeeded in making himself.
* “Like you, I was born with malformed Mana Circuits. Even so, I crossed that thorn-covered path, completed the Philosopher’s Stone, and successfully reached a new realm. Yet you have already become frightened before taking your first step. Do you possess so little confidence?”
Heat rushed to my face at his words.
Why did it feel as though he had just asked, ‘Are you scared?’
No man could endure being challenged like that.
Especially not me, a man destined to become an alpha male in the future!
‘I obtained a ten-star Trait. Surely I’ll find some way to accomplish it.’
When I recalled the overwhelming might of the Great Seven Ascenders, who had defeated the enormous high-floor monster that escaped the tower during the last dimensional invasion, it no longer seemed completely impossible.
“All right. Fine. I’ll just kill a dragon.”
* “Those words mean—”
“I accept. The Philosopher’s Stone. Let’s make it.”
When I spoke with determination, Aleon smiled for the first time.
* “You possess a respectable amount of courage. Very well. Creating the Philosopher’s Stone is no different from fully inheriting my legacy. From this day forward, I shall make you into a true Great Sage.”
With those words, Aleon snapped his thumb and index finger.
SNAP!
[A Main Quest has been created.]
Huh?
A quest?
I had never seen anything like this before.
[Main Quest]
*Quest: Creation of the Philosopher’s Stone
*Grade: Mythic
*Description: Create the Philosopher’s Stone and fully inherit the legacy of Great Sage Aleon.
*Rewards: Trait Grade Increase, Soul Rank Increase, Rebirth, ???
Wow.
A Mythic grade.
Was that why every reward seemed so extraordinary?
I did not know what benefits increasing my Soul Rank would provide, but I knew that Rebirth was an incredible reward.
I had heard that the Chinese member of the Great Seven Ascenders was pouring astronomical resources into achieving Rebirth.
‘I heard he still hasn’t found a proper clue.’
Yet I could achieve it merely by creating the Philosopher’s Stone.
Were quests always this extraordinary?
Or was it because this one was Mythic grade?
In truth, quests did not exist in the current world.
That meant there was a strong possibility that I was the first person in history to receive one.
Then why had such a phenomenon occurred only to me?
Perhaps it was connected to the fact that I was the first person to obtain a ten-star Hidden Trait.
Was I dissatisfied?
Not at all!
This situation benefited me tremendously. If anything, I wanted to prostrate myself before the <Sky Tower> in gratitude.
Still, I was curious about the exact cause, so I planned to ask Aleon when I had time.
He seemed capable of answering my questions.
That was enough idle speculation.
I had something more important to ask him.
“But does the Trait Grade Increase among the rewards mean the grade of my <Sage> Trait will rise? It is already ten-star.”
I still had not fully processed the fact that a ten-star grade existed.
Surely there could not be an eleven-star grade.
…Or so I thought.
* “Tsk tsk. Reaching ten-star merely means that you have gained the qualification to set one foot upon the true essence of the universe.”
The qualification to set foot upon the true essence of the universe?
The way he spoke suggested that a grade higher than ten-star truly existed.
“Then are you saying there really is a grade above ten-star?”
* “Why are you asking something so obvious? Even the <Great Sage> Trait I possessed was eleven-star.”
“……!”
That was genuinely shocking.
There was an eleven-star grade above ten-star?
* “Judging by your condition, it appears we have a very long road ahead of us.”
Aleon quietly clicked his tongue when he saw me standing there with my mouth wide open.
Even so, I could not easily close it.
Eleven-star.
The scale of everything was growing larger and larger.
All I had wanted was to become an alpha male impressive enough to make my ex-girlfriend regret leaving me.
At this rate, I might open my eyes one day and discover that I had truly become the strongest person in the world.
The following day—
I headed straight to the tower with Aleon.
Portals leading to the tower were scattered everywhere.
Because of that, I was able to enter shortly after leaving home.
SHIIIIING!
My vision changed as I entered the Lobby Floor.
The first thing I saw was a vast crowd of people.
I pushed through them and headed toward the numerous active portals scattered throughout the area.
Those portals led to the first floor.
‘The day has finally come for me to stand before one.’
Looking at the portal rippling with blue light filled me with emotion.
I stood there staring blankly for a moment when I felt someone watching me from behind.
Ah!
So this was what it felt like to live as an Ascender.
The person staring at me was probably a non-Ascender.
They must have been looking at me, an Ascender, with envy—
“Are you going through or not? If you aren’t, move aside.”
“Ah, yes. Of course. You can go first. I’m sorry.”
A huge, heavyset man who looked like someone everyone would naturally address with respect glared at me once before entering the portal.
He was an Ascender.
* “Tsk tsk. You are making a complete fool of yourself.”
Aleon’s remark left me looking embarrassed.
How was I supposed to know that he was an Ascender heading to the first floor?
Ordinarily, someone who exited the tower from the first floor would reenter directly through the first floor.
Unless they had left through the Lobby Floor, there was no reason to climb through the lobby again.
In other words, that heavyset brute must have deliberately used the Lobby Floor the last time he exited the tower.
Why was he entering and leaving through the lobby and confusing people?
* “Stop wasting time and climb already!”
‘Yes, yes.’
I answered Aleon halfheartedly while looking down at the golden ring on the ring finger of my left hand.
Hmm.
The ring form was definitely convenient.
The Mythic-grade magic tool I had obtained, the <Tome of the Sage>, had transformed into a ring.
Perhaps it was because the item was Mythic grade.
Astonishingly, it could alter its shape like this.
Carrying the <Tome of the Sage> around as a physical book would have been inconvenient.
Wearing it as a ring made everything much easier.
Especially when one considered the effects of the <Tome of the Sage>……
* “How much longer are you going to stand there without climbing?”
I quietly clicked my tongue, my thoughts about the <Tome of the Sage> interrupted.
‘Good grief. He is terribly impatient.’
That damned little elf.
I had wanted to enjoy the envious gazes directed toward someone who had successfully awakened as an Ascender.
“I’m going!”
With those words, I threw myself into the portal.
SHIIIIING!
FLASH!
When my vision returned, an entirely different landscape appeared before me.
“Wow……”
Modern electronic devices did not function inside the tower, so until now, I had only heard descriptions of the Sky Tower’s first floor.
At last, I was seeing it with my own eyes.
A translucent aurora rippled beneath a vast blue sky.
The scene was breathtaking.
Most impressive of all was the colossal tree that seemed to touch the heavens.
It was pure white from its roots to its leaves, as though covered in snow.
‘That tree is the God Tree.’
The God Tree.
Or—
The sacred tree known as the Ability Tree.
* “It has been a long time since I last saw it.”
Aleon spoke as though he had seen the God Tree before.
‘Do you know what that is?’
At my question, Aleon stared at me in disbelief.
It was the expression a mathematician might make after being asked, ‘Do you know what numbers are?’
* “Why are you asking something so obvious? That tree originated from one of the roots of Yggdrasil in my homeland, Pangaea.”
‘Yggdrasil?’
* “Correct. It is a sacred tree also known as the World Tree.”
‘Interesting.’
It was fascinating information.
Although this was my first time seeing the God Tree, even I, a former non-Ascender, had heard countless rumors about it.
Why?
‘Because the tutorial is conducted through the God Tree.’
Its official name was the Sacred Ritual.
However, because participants received their first skill from the God Tree and used it to battle monsters within a virtual space, the process was widely referred to as the Sky Tower’s tutorial.
Some people even worshiped the God Tree as a true deity.
And now I had learned that the God Tree originally came from Pangaea.
In any case—
‘You said I need to obtain the highest-grade reward from the tutorial, right?’
* “Correct.”
I swallowed nervously at Aleon’s answer.
The result of the Sacred Ritual—
More precisely, the way a person fought the monsters inside the virtual dungeon—
Determined their evaluation and initial reward.
Aleon had instructed me to attain the highest possible grade.
He added that doing so would make it considerably easier to plan my future development.
“Phew.”
I stared at the God Tree with nervous eyes.
‘To be honest, I’m not particularly confident.’
Unlike other people, I had never received early Ascender training.
How was I supposed to attain the highest grade?
However—
I possessed several things I could rely upon.
The first was my Special Skill.
‘Sage’s Aura.’
It was a skill that currently increased all my magical attack power by more than ten times.
It had made me realize once again why my Trait had received the ten-star grade.
At first, I had failed to properly understand its value.
However, after hearing Aleon’s explanation, I understood why the Aleon who possessed the <Sage> Trait had once been called the strongest and most fearsome being in Pangaea.
And the other thing was—
‘The Tome of the Sage.’
A <Mythic>-grade Artifact.
When I recalled the information about the <Tome of the Sage> that I had examined the previous day, my faltering confidence began rising once more.
Before beginning the tutorial, I should examine it again.
‘Inspect the Tome of the Sage.’
At my silent command, information about the Mythic Artifact, the <Tome of the Sage>, appeared before my eyes.