Chapter 104: Unfairness

Would the result have been different if I had given it my all?

If I, like the other mages, had used the preparation time to draw up mana and unleash fire…

Belated regrets and meaningless hypotheticals swirl in my mind.

Stepping down from the ring, I blankly spread my hands.

The figures of countless mages, fallen before a small girl, vaguely flash past.

I must have been arrogant.

A week has passed since the competition.

According to my original plan, I was supposed to leave the magic tower as soon as the competition ended, but I haven’t been able to.

I need time. To fully internalize what I experienced then.

For the past week, I’ve been reducing my sleep time and immersing myself in magical research.

“Haa…”

The hundredth attempt.

Dense starlight mana scatters through the low sigh.

The starlight mana, beginning to move with my gesture, starts to dominate the surroundings.

Inner World Manifestation.

I could grasp the principle of how the magic was activated the moment I saw it.

Using mana to seize control of space and summoning the inner world upon it.

Of course, it doesn’t end there.

It was magic that required tremendous concentration and a vast amount of mana to maintain the summoned world.

I’m left with bitter regret.

If I had experienced that magic when my body transcended humanity, when the dragon’s traces were revealed, I would have learned more.

But this was the price of my arrogance.

I closed my mouth and focused on the inner world.

The beginning was a single light illuminating the darkness.

The twinkling little star was another world containing its own story.

Another star rises above the black-stained space. Thus, the birth of stars continues.

From dozens to hundreds, and again to thousands.

The moment the countless stars began to flow like a river, rings of fire and ice took distinct shape.

The two slowly rotating rings began to concentrate the chaotically flowing stars into one place.

As a clear image was captured, I began to realize the world I was seeing outwardly.

Belief was important because everything had to be tangible. The belief that the world was truly alive.

Memories of my past life were both a blessing and a curse.

Through the memories of devouring countless worlds made of lines of text, I was able to construct my current inner world.

Therefore, I know that all the worlds within the twinkling stars are fictions created by imagination.

Despite directly implementing the magic in my imagination, the recognition doesn’t disappear.

Memories engraved on the soul beyond the world. That held me back.

As a result, the tower built on belief begins to collapse.

This soon meant the failure of the magic. The twinkling stars and the black space faintly disappear.

“Ah…”

A sigh of regret escapes my lips.

The mana remaining after the magic failed only faintly illuminated the inner world I possessed.

Thus, I take another step forward. It might be a step in place.

It could even be a step backward. But I wasn’t disappointed.

Because I know that my talent will eventually complete this magic.

I begin to rebuild the collapsed tower of belief. It feels like the brain in my head is burning white.

The continuous stimulation of mana made the blood in my body boil, which soon resulted in the manifestation of the dragon’s form in my body.

At the same time, the dragon’s arrogance begins to settle in my body.

All that’s left is to build my belief even more firmly through this.

What if it’s a fictional world? If I believe it’s true, it will be.

Continued failures and repetitions, the room filled with mana, finely shattered and sparkling.

It felt like drifting through outer space.

Because the concept of time had disappeared, I couldn’t know how much time had passed since then.

I only vaguely knew that my body had reached its limit.

One last time.

The circle of my heart rotates rapidly, accelerating the slow heartbeat.

The coldly cooling blood begins to boil, and the moment I breathe life into the stars that were losing light, a small realization comes.

If I can’t summon everything, can’t I just summon a part?

Fragments of broken stars begin to gather behind my back.

When the traces of mana, repeatedly failed, receive new light, a second circle rises behind my back.

Kiiing!

The moment the outer circle resonated with the inner circle, the floor I was standing on began to turn black.

As if the light hidden in the darkness was revealed, twinkling stars began to fill the black-stained space of the room.

Inner World Simplified Manifestation.

Star Birth.

I blankly looked around. The small land floating in the black space was the only land I could stand on.

The dozens of stars slowly drifting through the black-stained space were another world I had summoned.

A huge sense of omnipotence covers my entire body.

I realized that everything I imagined becomes reality because this space itself is under my control.

The birth of stars.

Until the end of the stars.

When I spread my hands to the left and right, one of the stars rotating to the side scattered in white and began to be born in a new form on the opposite side.

At that moment, the world I had summoned began to collapse rapidly.

This was due to a combination of factors, including poor condition and lack of mana.

Amidst the collapsing starlight, the shadows of numerous absolutes scattered.

“Are you really leaving…?”

I nodded at Rain’s question and climbed onto Nightmare’s back.

It had been a while since I had ridden, but I was able to settle in skillfully.

“Stay a little longer…”

“I’ll come back later.”

“It’s a two-year mission…? You’re planning to complete it all and come back…”

“Hmm.”

Rain looked up at me with a sullen expression.

Thanks to Nightmare’s height, I could look down at Rain.

“Aren’t you disappointed?”

I nodded and looked into Haven’s eyes.

The question of whether I was disappointed was directed at me, who couldn’t learn the magic I wanted because I had lost the competition.

Haven’s eyes were said to mimic the eyes of a dragon.

Magic that changed the way you looked at the world.

I raised my right hand and rubbed my eyes.

If it was just a simple imitation, it was unnecessary magic for me.

I could tell because I had been wearing the dragon’s form on my body for a long time while researching magic.

That one day, my eyes could surpass Haven’s eyes.

“If you’re thinking of visiting your hometown, head to the floating pier.”

“Floating pier…?”

I tilted my head at Haven’s sudden words.

Because I had never mentioned my hometown to him even once. Not even to Rain, who I was close to.

“Were you thinking of crossing over in another way?”

“Crossing over? Where to?”

Haven frowned at my question. And asked me back.

“Where else, the Blue Veil you crossed over from.”

A strange silence descends.

It seems Haven is misunderstanding something strange.

Looking at Rain next to me, she’s the same.

I recalled vague memories. The end of the east.

The place called Blue Veil was a place where thick fog floated, where ships that had left for exploration disappeared without returning, a mysterious sea.

Why did Haven mention the Blue Veil? What’s beyond it? I slowly nodded and looked at the two people.

“I brought this just in case. If there’s a problem, you can show that letter to your parents.”

“A letter…? Do you know my parents?”

I asked back, receiving the luxurious paper envelope that Haven handed me.

Then Haven said to me with a strange smile.

“It’s not common for beastmen to wear the dragon’s form.”

“Beastman…”

“Don’t worry. If you show them that letter, they’ll let you go easily.”

The information about the Blue Veil that is generally available is very limited.

Because there were no adventurers who went to that sea and returned, there was no information to be conveyed.

But Haven and Rain seemed to know about what was beyond it. I swallowed hard.

The unknown world that I had put aside because I couldn’t go was approaching me quickly.

This was definitely an opportunity that would not come again.

“Where is that floating pier?”

Fragmentary information began to float in my head. I grabbed my pounding heart and asked Haven.

“Rain.”

“Yes! You want me to guide you to the magic circle, right?”

Haven nods at Rain’s question. I ended up leaving the Tower of Dawn with Rain’s guidance.

The place she led me to was outside the walls surrounding the magic tower, in a quiet forest.

While walking along a narrow forest path for a long time, the view opened up and a wide space appeared.

A huge stone slab that didn’t match the green forest at all was deeply embedded in the ground.

What was written on the stone slab was a huge magic circle, and the figures of the mages standing as if guarding it came into view.

“Are you planning to use the magic circle?”

A mage standing around the magic circle asked. Then Rain nodded and replied.

“Yes.”

“How many people?”

“One horse and one girl.”

“Hmm… It’s not the amount for one horse…”

At Rain’s words, the mage looked at me and Nightmare and let out a small groan. And then nodded and said.

“Come this way. We need to hurry to make it in time for the airship’s departure.”

I looked back at Rain. She nodded at my gaze and gestured towards the magic circle. As if to say, get up there.

I was a little uneasy, but there was no reason not to follow.

I pulled on Nightmare’s reins and headed onto the magic circle.

Then several mages stepped out of the magic circle and began to move mana.

“Immediately after the transfer, you may experience some dizziness. It’s a temporary phenomenon, so you don’t have to worry too much…”

The moment the magic circle reacted to the flow of mana, the mage’s words began to stretch out.

A sensation as if space itself was distorted. It was the teleportation magic that Haven used.

Paaaat-!

The next moment, after a white light covered my vision, Nightmare and I were standing in the middle of the pier.

It didn’t take long to realize that this area was the sky. You could tell by the hazy clouds floating around.

“Wow…”

Numerous mages were busily moving around.

I looked up at the large ship that was showing off its huge presence in front of the pier.

The ships of this world also fly in the sky.

Like a whale flying in the sky.

I burst into laughter towards the blue sky.