Chapter 295 – The Spring of Mana (One)

The gauge that had been filling with terrifying momentum exploded with a small blast.

Bang! Thud-thud!

“It exploded.”

Ray said, looking with indifferent eyes at the fragments scattering around.

Khan, who had frozen for a moment in bewilderment, came to his senses and asked.

“A-Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

“My apologies, I had no idea it would malfunction like that. This has never happened before. Perhaps it developed an internal fault from prolonged use.”

Khan offered a sincere apology and pulled a new measuring device from his desk drawer.

And then.

Bang! Thud-thud-thud──!

“It exploded.”

“…….”

New measuring devices kept being brought out, but they all met a spectacular end on Ray’s hand.

Khan pressed a button on his desk to summon researchers to his office.

“There seems to be a problem measuring the Circle limit. Could you take a look?”

“Yes, understood. But this person here…?”

“This is School Master Ray of the Imaginarius School.”

“Ah, so this is the one…!”

The researchers all turned sparkling eyes towards Ray.

After observing the repeatedly reenacted explosions, they held a heated discussion for a long while before reaching a conclusion.

“It seems the problem occurred because School Master Ray’s Circle limit is beyond the measurement range. We can’t be certain, but that seems the most likely possibility.”

“What…? Beyond the measurement range?”

Khan was dumbfounded.

It was a case unheard of and unexperienced throughout the long history of the magic world.

The highest graduation on the measuring device’s gauge was the 6th Circle, a standard common to models made by any School.

There was no need for anything above that.

While records existed of the 6th Circle having been real, it was a realm that had not appeared in the city for nearly a hundred years.

Anything beyond that, namely, the 7th Circle, was treated as the stuff of legends, fairy tales, or absurd fantasies.

But for the device to explode meant…

‘…Does this boy possess the potential not just for the 6th Circle, but to reach the 7th Circle?’

For a moment, it felt as if the world was telling a huge lie.

The boy who suddenly appeared in the city and advocated the unprecedented theory of imagination.

They had been investigating using every possible method to ascertain his identity, but so far, there had been no major breakthroughs.

And now, that unresolved unknown had deepened even further.

“You don’t seem very happy. It might be a malfunction due to your constitution, but you’ve just been told your growth limit is exceptionally high.”

“I am happy.”

“Don’t people usually express that outwardly? Shouting loudly, smiling…”

Ray broke into a wide smile.

“…My mistake. Let’s change locations first. I’ll guide you to the training facility you requested.”

Khan boarded the elevator with Ray, who didn’t understand why he was apologizing.

Whirrr──

“We just passed the floor with the training zone sign. Aren’t we stopping?”

“Originally, I intended to provide you with the general training rooms used by School members, but I’ve changed my mind. If your growth limit is that open, it’s highly likely an ordinary training room won’t be sufficient.”

Ray stared at Khan’s Vessel.

No particular emotion of jealousy was visible; instead, a strong curiosity and interest in him were evident.

‘Is he testing me?’

Thinking that, Ray steered the conversation to another topic.

“I heard the Harmony School seeks balance and harmony among all elements.”

“That’s correct. Magic is a phenomenon arising from the combination of elements. Discovering what phenomenon appears when all elements existing in the world harmoniously merge is, one could say, the ultimate goal of our School.”

Khan added with a smile.

It was also the reason he held a particularly great interest in the theory of imagination.

“To be able to ignore the rules of elemental combination… with the help of imagination, our School’s research would undoubtedly make tremendous progress.”

“…….”

In truth, Ray already knew what the Harmony School sought to discover.

‘When all elements merge…’

If it’s ordinary Mana floating in the atmosphere, it becomes the pitch-black Element of Destruction.

If it’s Primeval Mana containing light, it becomes the pure white Element of Creation.

Judging by his relaxed disposition, if given a choice, a person like Khan would likely choose the latter without hesitation.

“Wouldn’t it be possible to gain a power like being able to create anything? If you succeed in combining all elements.”

“The power to create anything… truly a divine miracle-like authority. If such power existed, I’d probably create all sorts of resources.”

“Is there a special reason?”

Khan let out a peaceful laugh.

“Fundamentally, aren’t the flames of competition blazing all over the city now due to a lack of resources? If there were plenty to enjoy, such things wouldn’t happen. I don’t know how it sounds, but I dream of a society where all Schools cease competition and maintain harmony.”

Both fell silent, and the elevator’s operating sound filled the space.

After a moment, Ray spoke.

“That’s good.”

“Haha, yes. The bigger you can dream, the better. May I ask a question this time?”

“If I can answer it.”

“I’m curious about the reason you said you’d accept Exchange Scholars from each School. Declaring you’ll disclose everything about the theory is hardly a normal act, is it?”

“…….”

Ray sank into thought for a moment.

To impart imagination to the Exchange Scholars from all Schools.

Uttering that statement wasn’t solely for receiving a high score at the conference.

Spreading imagination throughout the city.

That was Ray’s other objective.

‘If the foundation of commonly used magic is unified by imagination, then the experiments being conducted in various Mage Towers will lose their meaning and disappear.’

Then, someday in the future, even if a magic prohibition order is issued and lifted again, the amount of Black Clouds generated would drastically decrease.

“There’s no need to hide it.”

“An interesting reason.”

While conversing, the elevator had already arrived at the 1st floor.

The two who disembarked there boarded the elevator again after passing through several security checkpoints in a room they arrived at.

Whirrr──

As their view descended, grayish rocks surrounding them on all sides came into view.

“Where are we going?”

“There are many things beneath the city. When constructing buildings, mineral layers are sometimes discovered, and artifacts are excavated. That tendency is stronger the deeper you go, where human hands haven’t reached. And the place I’m guiding you to now might be older than this city itself.”

That was the moment the elevator stopped.

Before their eyes appeared a massive cavern filled with stalactites, with a hole as deep as an abyss at its center.

Drawn by an instinctive pull, Ray approached and stood before it.

“…….”

Inside the pitch-black hole, Mana of various colors shimmered quietly with vivid Radiance.

Mana of reasonably high purity.

However, the density itself felt abnormally thick.

It felt as if all the Mana of the Sky Island was concentrated in a narrow space.

Khan, who had followed and approached, looked down into the hole and spoke.

“It’s a Mana spring. Mana of such high purity that it materializes is densely pooled here. Normally, it’s Mana’s nature to disperse to areas of lower density rather than pool, but I suspect some property of the surrounding rocks is trapping the Mana, binding it to the spring.”

Khan added that this was a place discovered by the Harmony School’s founder and had been used as a training space by successive generations of key figures, including the School Master.

“No place I’ve experienced so far had a higher Mana density than this spring. In other words, there likely isn’t a place that can provide stronger stimulation for the Ring’s revolution than this.”

Ray tilted his head.

“What’s the reason for showing me such favor?”

“My curiosity and interest are great. You could say I wish to see someone break the 5th Circle Barrier in my lifetime. And since rapid growth potential entails corresponding risks, strictly speaking, it’s not entirely appropriate to call it pure favor. It’s more accurate to say I’ve given you an attractive option rather than favor.”

Abnormally high Mana density.

That was akin to saying if one failed to properly control the flow inside the spring, their body would explode and die.

Khan operated a panel on a small stand near the spring, bringing up a screen, and said.

“The spring tends to show a rapid increase in Mana density the deeper you go. Consequently, not a single person has succeeded in reaching the bottom and returning. The recommended method is to use it only down to a depth where safety is secured and then return. The data of all past users is stored here.”

While Khan’s explanation continued, Ray’s senses were directed downwards into the spring.

At an immeasurably deep place, down there, something that made his heart race was felt.

‘…A Stone Tablet?’

A familiar yet unfamiliar sensation.

There was something more besides the Stone Tablet.

Even if not just out of curiosity, it was an opportunity to accelerate the Ring’s growth, so there was no reason to refuse Khan’s offer.

“I’ll go down.”

“Good. I’ll have preparations made right away.”

When Khan pressed a button on the panel, researchers descended via the elevator.

With seamless movements, they activated the equipment around the spring and then fitted Ray with equipment like gloves and boots.

“These are devices engraved with wind-attribute magic. By injecting a small amount of Mana, you can freely ascend and descend inside the spring.”

“Please press this button in an emergency. We will descend for rescue as soon as the signal arrives.”

As Ray quietly let them handle his body, he suddenly asked.

“You don’t know what’s at the bottom of the spring?”

“No, sir. Many investigators have been dispatched so far, but all returned without even reaching halfway.”

“The highest record is 57.4 meters, set by School Master Khan. The total depth of the spring is estimated to be roughly 100 meters.”

The researchers engaged in varied discussions among themselves about the spring’s bottom.

Then someone spoke.

“There must undoubtedly be something unimaginable at the bottom. There was an inscription in Ancient Script in the middle section of the spring. One who is qualified, reach the deepest place and receive the due reward.”

The exact meaning was unknown.

But it was sufficient to amplify the boy’s questions and expectations.

As Ray finished preparations and got ready to enter the spring, Khan said to him.

“If you feel it’s dangerous, you must abandon greed and come up immediately. You can still enjoy considerable growth effects even at a certain depth.”

Nodding, Ray pushed off without hesitation and leaped into the spring.

A rapidly descending view.

Mana of various colors shimmering on all sides.

Whoosh──!

A strong wind generated from the device lifted his falling body.

It felt like swimming in water.

He could freely swim through the air according to his will.

Pausing for a moment, Ray focused his senses on the Mana filling the spring’s interior space without gaps.

‘The pressure is definitely high.’

It is Mana’s nature to flow from areas of high density to low density.

The dense Mana of the spring clung to his skin, trying to flow into his body. An ordinary Wizard would have fainted from shock, unable to withstand it.

Ray circulated the Ring’s Mana throughout his body.

After equalizing the Mana density inside and outside using his skin as a boundary, he began heading relentlessly downwards into the spring.