Chapter 155. I Am Thy Downfall
After deciding to head for Blando…
A week passed.
I had brought up the topic of the ‘Fairy’s Dance’ a day before our arrival at the academy.
“What’s that, Fairy’s Dance thing?”
“…After days of silence, that’s the first thing you choose to ask?”
“Shh, your voice is too loud.”
“…”
I hunched my shoulders and scanned my surroundings.
It was a dim evening.
The mad dog had left her seat to go eat.
Ah, by ‘mad dog’, I meant Shine.
Whatever that bastard had brought out from the Sword Saint’s Tomb, she’d been picking fights nonstop even during the journey…
‘A proper mad dog, that one.’
I had kept my mouth shut these past few days precisely to avoid giving that mad dog any excuse. Absolutely not because my mood was ruined by what happened in Lorutel. No, it was really just to avoid provoking the mad dog.
After checking around for quite some time,
I confirmed that Shine had gone far enough away, then finally opened my mouth again.
“So, that…”
“The Fairy’s Dance.”
“Yeah, I was wondering what it was that had you so engrossed.”
To be honest, things like the Fairy’s Dance or mana oversaturation didn’t really interest me.
Adventurers might get itchy just hearing about such mysterious phenomena, but for me, it was nothing more than an unusual natural occurrence.
Like hail falling in summer, or flowers blooming in winter, just one of those ‘oh, that’s strange’ sort of things.
But when I looked at Parun, a question came to mind.
‘Just what is that Fairy’s Dance thing that’s got him so absorbed?’
He was the kind who could read through any magic book in a single sitting, yet he’d been poring over that thin stack of papers for several days now. That was strange enough.
Parun stared at me with an unreadable look, then folded the papers and raised his head.
“To explain it simply, it’s a pleasant spectacle.”
“A spectacle?”
“Yes. When mana becomes oversaturated, a ring of light forms above the lake. Since the sight resembles fairies dancing, it’s called the ‘Fairy’s Dance’.”
“…? Mana becomes visible from oversaturation?”
“Not exactly. The light ring isn’t mana itself, but rather a phenomenon caused by mana oversaturation.”
In other words, when mana reaches a state of oversaturation, some kind of magical manifestation occurs.
But then, so what? What meaning did that have?
“The important part here is that the Fairy’s Dance may not be a natural occurrence. It’s faster if you see for yourself.”
Parun straightened his posture and formed a hand seal.
Then he began to mutter unknown words under his breath, and I tilted my head curiously.
Judging by the way the surrounding mana reacted, he was casting a spell, but for a magician of Parun’s level to use both hand seals and chants was unusual.
And yet, it didn’t seem to be a high-tier spell either.
His casting ended shortly after.
“Now, look.”
“That’s…”
Parun gazed at the translucent cube floating before us and began to explain.
“A barrier spell. A crude one, but sufficient for demonstration. Now, I’ll start infusing mana into the inside of this barrier.”
Soon, a blue mist began to fill the cube.
The cube grew completely saturated with that mist, and the color deepened until it looked as dark as the depths of the sea.
It was around then that Parun spoke again.
“This is a barrier that visualizes mana. Now, you fill it with your mana.”
Without a word, I began pouring my mana into the cube.
Someone like Parun could have easily filled a cube of that size, but perhaps maintaining the barrier limited him somewhat.
Anyway, after some time…
Creeeak! Creak!
The cube began trembling as if in an earthquake.
The mana had reached its limit and could no longer hold.
“You’re trying to artificially induce mana oversaturation inside the barrier?”
“Not inside the barrier.”
“…?”
I tilted my head but kept channeling mana, feeling puzzled.
‘Not inside?’
I kept pouring in mana.
Before long, the barrier quivered and began to crack…
Crack! Crack!
That was when Parun’s voice came.
“Enough.”
I stopped channeling and quietly watched.
Parun closed his eyes again, forming hand seals and reciting a spell as he manipulated the barrier formula.
Then…
Rumble!
A torrent of mana burst out from the barrier.
Once it escaped, the visible glow faded, but I could still feel that violent surge through my senses.
“…Huh?”
I finally understood what Parun had meant by ‘not inside the barrier’.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
Around the barrier that was releasing mana,
Light began to shimmer.
At first, it was just one, two faint sparkles, but soon they scattered and multiplied, flickering all around us.
How long did it last?
“Hoo—”
Parun exhaled softly, dispelling the barrier, and lifted his eyelids.
“This is the true form of the Fairy’s Dance.”
* * *
For a moment, I just stared at that breathtaking sight.
Then I turned my gaze.
As if it had all been an illusion, the light rings vanished without a trace. Only the firelight of the campfire remained, flickering softly as Parun’s voice drifted over it.
“Of course, this is still just a hypothesis. The Fairy’s Dance doesn’t occur in fixed locations.”
“The place changes each time, right?”
“Yes. The only constant is that it happens over a lake. But which lake, no one knows. And one more thing.”
“…?”
Parun formed another barrier.
This time, much faster than before.
“A spatial-distortion barrier. It hides or obscures a certain place. How does it look to you?”
I peered at the empty air.
At first glance, there seemed to be nothing there at all, but through my senses, I could feel a strange distortion.
“The flow’s irregular.”
“And?”
“If you look closely, there’s curvature, like… a sheet of transparent glass.”
“Right. We call such things spatial singularities. But in the Amera region, such singularities can’t be seen.”
“Then it’s not a barrier, is it?”
“Could be.”
Parun nodded calmly.
Then, after a pause, he continued.
“There are many theories as to why this happens only in the lakes of Amera. But even if it’s not a barrier, most agree it’s not a natural occurrence.”
There could be countless causes.
An ancient ruin, perhaps. Or an artifact yet unknown to the world.
In any case…
“That’s why it’s worth researching. Of course, it won’t be easy. Even the great houses haven’t uncovered the truth after centuries of study.”
By this point, I could grasp the significance myself.
‘If it is a barrier, it’s the discovery of a new magical frontier. If not, it still holds immense research value.’
Even if it turned out to be natural, it didn’t matter. That would only mean uncovering yet another law of the world.
Hearing all that, even I felt a spark of curiosity.
Not the kind that made me want to dig into it like other magicians or adventurers, but still, I wanted to know its true nature.
So I asked the question that had been in my mind all along.
“By the way, why ‘Fairy’s Dance’? From the shape alone, there must’ve been plenty of other names to choose from. Is it because of some fairy legend?”
“Who knows. That part doesn’t interest me.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Typical Parun.
The moment a topic strays even a little from magic, he shuts the window of conversation.
All mystery dismissed, all interest reserved solely for magical interpretation, the model magician of this era.
Then Parun spoke again.
“Do you have any interest in seeing it for yourself? If you do, I can delay submitting my paper a little. It’s a phenomenon that appears only once every few decades, after all.”
A considerate offer.
But I shook my head.
“I still haven’t found a wyvern.”
I had learned that lesson well in Lorutel.
Meeting Demian aside, from Henji to the Trial Chamber, the headmaster senior, and the Great Forest…
Those perfectly timed chains of misfortune could not have been coincidence.
Until I found a wyvern, I had to lay low.
And hadn’t the young master said it himself?
‘The other mage families have already begun to move swiftly.’
Then could I imagine the Dekulan family not taking part in such a fascinating affair? Not a chance.
They were the sort to dig through alleyway garbage bins if there was nothing else to eat. Not that they always consumed what they found, they’d first take it, then think about it.
Should we eat this, or not?
And if they decided not to?
‘They’d destroy it so no one else could have it.’
Anyway, whether it was Dekulan or another house, getting tangled up with them again would only bring trouble.
Best to avoid it if I could.
“Then I’ll have to visit Lake Amera alone. It’s been a while since I’ve given the assistants something to do.”
“…”
So it wasn’t a considerate offer after all?
He’d only brought it up as an excuse to go himself.
“What about the Infinite Chain, then?”
“I’ve grasped the basics, but it’s still incomplete. I should finish it over the break. However…”
Parun’s eyes gleamed as he looked at me.
“Why are you so obsessed with the Infinite Chain? Looking for something? Perhaps a grimoire…?”
Still suspicious, huh.
I sighed deeply under his sharp gaze.
“Anyway, you’ll finish it during the break, right?”
“Yes. If you need to use it, just tell me then. As long as there’s fair compensation, I’ll help.”
“Yeah, sure…”
Anyway, I decided to postpone using the Infinite Chain for now.
At the moment, the priority wasn’t that, but Shincheon One Gong and the Circle.
I started packing up before the mad dog returned.
Pulling the sleeping bag over myself, I quietly closed my eyes.
Shine returned a short while later.
“What’s this? I could’ve sworn I heard the voice of that savage creature.”
“I know nothing of it.”
Parun was now casually speaking informally to Shine.
Yet Shine didn’t seem to notice, inspecting me instead.
Like a hunting dog tracking prey, her cold breath brushed through my hair.
She examined me for quite some time.
‘Did she leave?’
Just as I was about to peek open my eyes…Her cold voice whispered by my ear.
“Savage thing, how long do you think you can run? Remember this. There are things one cannot escape. And we call those… fate.”
“…”
“I am thy downfall.”
With that, the mad dog turned away.
I shifted slightly and swallowed hard.
‘…Damn it.’
I’d better get to the Blando estate as soon as possible.
Whether or not Shine truly was my downfall, she was clearly sharpening her fangs for me.
And so, that chilling night passed.
We finally entered the city of Hazen.
