New Novel - Read Here
The moment the doping wore off, I collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, and the Tower Master gently caught me.
I was still conscious, but had used up every last bit of strength in my body; I couldn't have moved even a single finger.
"Bring him here."
At his call, Gary quietly approached the Tower Master.
The center of the battlefield had a deep crater carved into it, as if to prove that a single collision alone had shattered dozens of barrier layers.
Just as Gary felt a shiver run through him at the realization that this kid had caused all of that, the Tower Master's voice, unusually calm and subdued, reached his ears.
"He was probably already in an overload state some time ago, but it seems the potion delayed it until it turned into this, so take him back to the academy and have the Order treat him."
"Tower Master, what about you..."
"I'm fine, so don't worry about me and just take the boy."
"Understood."
Gary took me from the Tower Master, floated me up with magic, and began moving.
The gently floating sensation wasn't unpleasant at all, and only then did I finally close my eyes.
Seeing me close my eyes, the Tower Master, apparently assuming I'd fainted, whispered quietly to Gary.
"Ah, when the boy wakes up, tell him this sword is a gift as well. It seems he'll be the only one, aside from Tollek, capable of properly wielding it."
The Tower Master lifted the sword with magic and handed it over to Gary.
……
He gave a light nod and, taking the sword along with him, began heading toward the teleportation gate with Benjamin.
Left alone, the Tower Master slowly raised his own hand only after the two of them had fully left the area.
"It's been quite a while since I've used mana with this much genuine enjoyment..."
He looked at his hand, still trembling faintly with excitement, and let the corner of his mouth curl upward.
"To think I'd assumed all I had left was to wait around for the day I finally died of old age."
The Tower Master let out a hearty laugh before smacking himself on the forehead.
Having read every word of the report on Benjamin, it was true that his expectations had already been considerable.
But no matter how high those expectations had been, he never expected it would turn out to be this good.
He had already been thinking that simply getting the boy to use his Talent would be more than enough to justify placing him on the team meant to counter Silver Ring.
But to his surprise?
This kid was strong enough that he'd actually had to draw out a portion of his own real strength.
"To think he copied it without even a hint of hesitation."
Moreover, Lightning-based magic wasn't something anyone could actually reproduce in practice.
Even when explained one step at a time, no one had ever managed to imitate that particular spell; this boy was the only person he'd ever seen manage it just by watching once.
It had been a long time since he'd come across someone whose Talent was genuinely worth acknowledging.
For a moment, he felt a long buried desire, one he'd given up on ages ago, slowly begin to raise its head from deep within his chest: the desire to take on a disciple once more.
……
Clap! Clap!
"Benjamin! Benjamin!"
Ugh, everything's fuzzy...
My brain felt like it had half melted.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this hazy.
It probably felt something like the time I'd guarded the World Tree's seed for three days straight without a wink of sleep and finally passed out afterward.
Clap! Clap!
"Benjamin! You really need to wake up now!"
I wanted to rest a bit longer, but a sharp, stinging pain on my cheek forced my vision into focus.
"Hmm... not enough? Then I suppose I'll have to use magic..."
"Stop! Stop! I'm awake!"
Right in front of me, I found Gary still deep in thought, hand raised exactly in the position he'd just used to slap me.
Had he just slapped me awake?
What a piece of... no, what a Gary.
"Ah, you're awake. Class time is approaching, so I had no choice but to wake you."
Is class really that important?
I'd just gone toe to toe with the Tower Master and completely worn myself out; couldn't I get one more day to rest?
I felt a flash of irritation, wondering if this was really the extent of the Tower Master's consideration for me.
"Well... yesterday, when I returned to the academy, I ran into Lady Marey, and we ended up heading to the Order together."
Apparently sensing my dumbfounded expression, he started offering an explanation.
But Marey, all of a sudden?
I wondered why the old hag's name was even coming up at all.
"Then Big Sis must know I fought the Tower Master too?"
"...Excuse me? Big sis? Uh... anyway... yes. She seemed extremely worried, given how badly injured you appeared to be, Benjamin."
There was no way that old hag had actually been worried about me.
If she had been, there was no way she could have beaten me up like that.
"And she told me to make sure you recovered somehow and made it to class tomorrow no matter what, or she'd split the Tower in two..."
Ah, so it wasn't that she was worried about me, it was that she was worried about her class.
I found myself somewhat understanding the panicked look on Gary's face as he slapped my cheek so desperately.
"You should be fine assuming the Order's Holy treatment has fully healed any physical damage, but you'll probably still have some lingering fatigue."
That much was true.
I'd woken up from all the slapping, but with my body barely able to muster any strength, I clearly wasn't in a normal state.
"So I brought along some potions and food that should help with recovery."
Following his gesture, I looked toward the table and saw several potions alongside an array of extravagant looking food.
What in the world is this.
Why does the food practically look like it's glowing?
"Gasp... sniff sniff!"
The moment I registered the food, I could tell the entire room had already filled with its aroma.
Was this what it meant for the body to react before the mind even caught up?
I rose sluggishly, like a zombie, sat down at the table, and started shoving the most expensive looking food into my mouth in order.
"Ohh! So good!"
"Just as Elin said, you really do love meat."
Elin again.
Just how much of my life had this man been going around talking about?
"Ahem... exactly how much has Professor Elin been saying about me?"
"To summarize, she basically said a highly promising student had joined the Magic Department, and asked that we look after him well. Though she did say a fair number of things I couldn't quite follow along the way."
Why on earth was she going around saying stuff like that?
What had I even done?
Was copying that spell before really that impressive an achievement?
"Actually, mind if I ask you something?"
At my question, Gary sat down across from me at the table and nodded.
"So I copied a spell during Professor Elin's class before... was that really impressive enough that professors are going around gossiping about it?"
At my question, he tilted his head slightly, then let out a small laugh.
"I don't think you've fully grasped what exactly you did there, Benjamin."
"Huh?"
"You didn't just copy Professor Elin's spell. You copied her Talent too."
"...Talent?"
"She has a Talent that lets her conceal exactly what spell she's using. And you reproduced that. Doesn't that strike you as remarkable?"
I remembered the vividly colored blob of mana she'd created, telling me to guess which element it contained.
So that was her intentionally hiding the spell's form using her own Talent.
No wonder it felt somehow different from the magic knowledge I'd been familiar with before the regression.
It wasn't something possible just because she was a professor; it was because her Talent itself was unusual.
That also solved another lingering question of mine.
Copying Marey's Fire Fist, copying the Tower Master's lightning spells.
Even completing the Cursed Flame Baptism hadn't knocked me out, yet copying Elin's spell had left me collapsed with overload.
I figured this must be some kind of side effect from copying an actual Talent, rather than just a spell.
Which explained why I hadn't collapsed even after using much more powerful spells.
"Seems like you've got something on your mind."
Seeing me pause mid-bite, deep in thought, he opened a nearby potion bottle and held it out to me.
"But for now, recovery comes first. Lady Marey really would split the entire Tower in two, you know."
I took the potion he offered and drank it without hesitation.
It wasn't like this man had any grudge against me, and, on the contrary, he had no reason to feed anything harmful to someone about to become an ally of the Tower Master.
He was also someone who'd kept fighting Silver Ring even after the Tower Master's death, so there was no need to worry about betrayal either.
"What's this potion?"
"Ah, that's from the Tower Master, saying he felt he'd handled you a bit too roughly. It's probably one of the Order's high grade Holy Potions."
A high grade Holy Potion?
If my memory served correctly, a single bottle of that alone should be worth at least 100 gold.
I felt a genuine wave of gratitude, sensing the Tower Master had actually put some real thought into this.
"How do you feel? Has your fatigue eased up a bit?"
There was no way it wouldn't.
To begin with, this wasn't some ordinary energy drink; it was one of the Order's high grade potions, capable of jolting even a dying person back onto their feet.
"The Tower Master sent along a few other extra items as well. Here, please take this first."
I tilted my head, looking at the long, narrow box he held out.
I felt like I'd seen this same box just yesterday.
"Isn't this the sword Tollek used to wield?"
At my question, Gary nodded.
"Apart from Master Tollek, it seems you're the only person left who can properly wield this sword now, Benjamin."
That was probably true.
I hadn't known when I first received this sword, but through the battle with the Tower Master, I'd finally learned its actual name.
[Greedy Leech]
I'd originally assumed, as they'd told me, that it also drained mana from its own wielder, but since it couldn't find any mana in my body, the cursed sword seemed to have redirected itself toward absorbing whatever residual mana lingered in the surrounding area instead.
Just how much it had absorbed was evident from the fact that even while a dozen spells rained down every single second, causing residual mana to explosively pile up, the actual timing of when I could trigger the Cursed Flame Baptism spell had ended up noticeably delayed.
Of course, the performance it delivered was well worth that kind of risk.
"And in case of any unforeseen dangerous situations, he also sent along a supply of Level Ten Doping Potions."
Following the direction of his gesture, I looked toward one side of the room and saw boxes of Doping Potions filling nearly an entire wall.
'That's actually exactly what I needed... well, guess it's a good thing, then.'
"Please pass along my thanks to the Tower Master."
"I think it'd be better if you thanked him in person later."
"Ah..."
"I'm sure he'd be absolutely delighted."
Seeing Gary smile as he said that, I felt a strange sense of nostalgia wash over me.
Before the regression, when he was Tower Master, his nickname had been "the Iron-Blooded Golem."
It was a nickname people had coined for him after watching how he never revealed his emotions and always moved without the slightest flicker of feeling, no matter the situation.
I suddenly recalled the moment I'd first met him.
'If you use that spell right now, even the prisoners of war will be killed along with them!'
'...And what exactly is the problem with that?'
'Are their deaths really nothing to you?'
'It seems there's no death here that concerns me. Please step aside, Saintess.'
Before the regression, there had been an argument between Gary and a saintess over what to do with a city that had fallen into demon hands.
Back then, I'd only thought that a man speaking so coldly must simply be an unpleasant, insufferable person.
But maybe the death he'd said "concerned him" had actually referred to the Tower Master he'd been unable to protect.
Learning this side of him I'd never known about made the man once called "iron-blooded" feel a little different to me now.
"Ah! I hadn't realized so much time had already passed while we were talking. I have fourth year classes to attend as well, so I'll be heading out now. See you again soon."
Not knowing what I was thinking at all, he kept smiling as he spoke.
In a way I'd never seen from him before.