Chapter 131 - Archmage (2)

Even within the Magical Spire, the best magic educational institution in the empire, there were only a handful of Archmages. As a result, they received treatment on an entirely different level from ordinary mages, who had the same status as Sword Masters.

Henry had finally awakened as an Archmage, a title held by less than ten individuals across the empire.

‘I’m proud of you.’

Henry looked at Elagon in pleasure. Elagon clung to him and rubbed himself against Henry.

Henry knew that Elagon had healing powers, but he never imagined that they would be so incredible.

‘It wasn't a coincidence that my arm regenerated back then.’

When Elagon hatched, Henry's left arm had exploded. However, he thought that the healing power Elagon had revealed then was only a temporary element that accompanied hatching rather than an actual ability.

Henry had not only awakened as an archmage, he also realized Elagon’s true value. It was a good development.

He felt refreshed. The temperature and humidity inside the room remained the same, but there was something different about the room; that subtle difference, the things about his surroundings that he couldn't feel before, refreshed Henry’s mood.

Henry decided to clean up the messy lab first.

“Clean.”

Snap!

Light flashed and the lab became clean in an instant.

‘As expected.’

The power of the cleaning spell now was beyond its power when he had been at the 3rd Circle.

Henry nodded in satisfaction and cast that spell, which he hadn’t used in a long time.

“...Reveal yourself and make things convenient for me.”

Crackle!

Sparks flew in the air and started to gather mana.

The spell was definitely the right one since he had used it the most in his previous life.

The sparks continued and at the same time, a small vortex appeared in the air. A space opened up.

Henry smiled and greeted it like a long-lost friend.

“It’s been a while.”

It was the power that only archmages possessed, the Subspace.

It looked as if space had opened its mouth wide.

Henry reached his hand toward the open Subspace. He put his thumb and index finger together, and slowly pulled them apart, widening the entrance to the Subspace until it was huge. Henry drew a diagonal line with his index finger and shoved the pile of Pink Swamp in.

Snap!

After storing the Pink Swamp, Henry closed the Subspace with another snap of his fingers.

He tidied his messy clothing and hair and walked out of the lab easily.

* * *

After leaving the lab, Henry exchanged casual greetings with the exiles and left the mansion, heading toward the snowy mountains of Salgaera.

There was still a heavy snowstorm outside, but the powerful storm had no effect on Henry.

- Khuuu!

Freed from the bracelet, Elagon enjoyed the weather since he was a spirit with ice attributes. Henry was aware of this, which was why he had released Elagon.

Henry walked leisurely on the snow with his hands behind his back. He arrived at the top of the snowy mountains, said to be the highest point in Salgaera.

The blizzard had turned the whole world white. Henry nodded gently as he looked at the roaring blizzard and the white world beneath him.

“This should do.”

- Khu?

Elagon cocked his head and looked up at Henry.

Henry picked up Elagon and placed him on his right shoulder.

“Watch carefully, I’ll show you something fun.”

- Khu!

Elagon responded eagerly.

Henry closed his eyes and moved his lips, casting a spell.

“...May the blessing of the great architect dwell in this land. Rising Grand Mansion!”

This was high-level magic that created a building from the environment. Right after Henry cast the spell, mana flowed out of his body like a river.

However, even if a large amount of mana left his body, it no longer created significant damage since Henry’s heart was already overflowing with mana.

‘...’

However, after he cast the spell, nothing changed.

- Khu?

Elagon cocked his head once again, but Henry just smiled as he quietly patted Elagon’s head.

Rumble!

The snowy mountains started to shake as if a dragon were waking up underneath. The tremors lasted for quite some time.

By the time the shaking was over, Henry nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Not bad.”

In front of him was a huge spire surrounded by the snowy mountains of Salgaera.

Henry had built a spire with Rising Grand Mansion. It was no ordinary spire. It was a great structure called the Magic Spire. Its foundation was nothing like the ones which mages built.

Since Henry wasn’t a registered wizard, he could only build the spire in secret.

“Fly.”

Henry slowly flew toward the entrance of the spire with Elagon on his shoulder.

Warm air gently embraced Henry as he entered the spire.

“Hmm.”

Henry looked around. There was a spiral staircase in the center that supported the spire and countless floating stones in the air, as well as hundreds of large and small rooms on each floor.

Everything was just as Henry had imagined.

“Much better.”

The Rising Grand Mansion expanded the building according to the caster’s imagination.

The basic model of the spire he’d envisioned was none other than the empire’s first Magical Spire, which he’d built himself next to the imperial palace.

Henry was the first wizard to build and own two Magical Spires, although it was an unofficial record since Henry was technically dead.

Since it was his second spire, Henry built it much larger and more extravagantly than the first one.

Henry stood at the center of the first floor of the massive spire.

There was quite a lot of space.

Henry had left it empty to install something even more important than the very pillars supporting the spire.historical

- Khu khu khu!

Elagon flew in the air from Henry’s shoulder. He was fascinated by the floating stones.

Henry didn’t pay attention to Elagon; instead, he took out several special brushes, dipped them in his own blood, and cast another spell.

“Magic Hand.”

Poof poof poof!

As the spell activated, several hands wearing white gloves appeared in the air.

Henry gave the hands the brushes dipped in his own blood.

Henry quietly crossed his arms and started to draw magic circles by manipulating all the hands, filling up the empty space.

Despite all the hands, the process of drawing the magic circles lasted quite a long time. The hands’ brushstrokes were smooth and solid; they never made mistakes, nor did they stop for even a moment.

Finally, the empty space was filled with countless runes.

“Stop.”

As soon as Henry gave the command, the magical hands stopped moving and waited. Henry put his hands behind his back and started examining the magic circles.

‘Not bad.’

Everything was perfect since he was the one who’d drawn them. He was only reviewing them because he had a very meticulous approach to magic.

Henry got rid of the magical hands and placed the luminol anklet he was wearing on top of a completed magic circle.

Henry stretched out his hands, closed his eyes, and started condensing mana into his fingertips.

Shhhh!

Green mana started to flow through Henry’s body. His heart and core worked in unison to release both Aura and mana.

With his eyes closed, Henry murmured a long spell. His palm glowed with a bright, pure-white light.

Henry went down on one knee, put his hand on the edge of the magic circle, and said, “Teleportation gate, open!”

Flash!

As soon as the light touched the magic circle, the blood-colored runes instantly transformed into pure white as the circle started to connect with Henry’s mana.

Buzzzzz~

The spire started to vibrate and the spread-out runes instantly gathered toward the spot that Henry had touched.

A giant gate rose from the floor.

Crack!

The floor cracked and fixed itself several times. The gate was massive; as it finally revealed itself, it looked more like a large, ornate mirror than an actual gate.

The vibrations stopped and the dust and light also disappeared.

The cracks also patched itself up as if the floor had never cracked in the first place.

Henry gently touched the large and elegant mirror in front of him and the corners of his lip rose.

It was a teleportation gate, one of the brilliant abilities of an archmage. The gate was maintained by the caster’s mana.

The Magical Spire also had a similar object, but the Magical Spire’s teleportation gate had a strong symbolic meaning, so its use was prohibited.

‘But this one’s different.’

Henry had no intention of putting a lock on this gate. After all, he hadn’t expended so much energy just to create whatever symbol.

Henry placed his hand on the surface of the mirror.

The mirror rippled.

The gate had no coordinates attached to it yet. Henry started muttering as he set the coordinates he was thinking of.

These coordinates would be set permanently, so he had chosen secret places where he wouldn’t get caught teleporting.

After inputting the coordinates, Henry removed his hand, and the mirror rippled again.

Henry shouted his destination in front of the gate.

“Shahatra.”

Buzz~

He felt his mana drop, but unlike Teleportation before, the loss of mana didn’t affect him at all. Henry smirked in satisfaction.

‘As expected..!’

One of Henry’s most cherished treasures was the luminol anklet. It was a priceless treasure for wizards as it absorbed mana from the ground and passed it to the wearer. However, Henry had used this inestimably valuable object as the core of the teleportation gate.

As a result, the teleportation gate powered by the luminol anklet started to absorb a huge amount of mana from the lands of Salgaera.

It was a satisfactory result.

Henry was sure that this would become a symbol representing Salgaera’s Magical Spire.

“I will call you the White Gate from now on and I will name this spire the Snow Spire.”

The White Gate inside the Snow Spire was surrounded by a snowstorm. Henry had put a lot of thought into these two names.

Henry walked into the White Gate with a satisfied expression, heading to Shahatra, the land of the sun.