While waiting for the old man to wake up, I felt my body growing cold.
The surroundings were cold due to the stone walls. If I did nothing, I would feel the chill to my bones.
I applied fire magic to warm the room.
A small, heated sphere in the palm of my hand warmed both the room and me.
There was a dirty, old chair, but I had no desire to sit on it.
I waited for the old man to wake up on a chair made of solidified air.
It wasn’t long before the old man awakened from his sleep.
His masked face was frightening, but there was no one else I could ask.
“Such patience…”
“Answer my questions. Who are you? Where is this place?”
“You should have learned by now that simply asking doesn’t guarantee an answer.”
The old man’s words reminded me of my father.
The arrogant father who never cared about me.
“Still, I will ask. At the very least, tell me where this place is.”
“Very well. This is the Tower. The Tower of Abominable Wisdom and Madness.”
The old man finally answered. The Tower of Wisdom and Madness… I had no memory of it.
I sighed. I just wanted to regroup with someone.
The Tower of Wisdom and Madness… I tried to recall any memories.
“You are the only one here. This trial belongs to you.”
“Is that so?”
“…Be careful of that monster.”
Saying this, the old man began to sleep again.
This time, it seemed he had fallen into a deep slumber.
Staying here seemed to be pointless now.
The memory of the Sreidgemil family included the Tower of Wisdom and Madness.
It was a tower built by a wizard who had defected from demon worshipers and was said to have conducted terrifying experiments.
Because they engaged in kidnapping, the magical kingdom at that time sent forces to exterminate them, suffering casualties in the process.
All research materials were disposed of at the judgment of the Magic King Jigiru.
An angel likely recreated that tower and threw me inside.
Once again, I realized how terrifying supernatural powers could be.
Mastema usually had a harmless appearance, but was her true nature as a demon also frightening?
“A rather distasteful trial…”
I murmured to distract myself. Honestly, it was scary.
I had finally thought I could rely on someone, yet I had to wander alone in a place like this.
Sepia let out a sigh she had developed during her time as the headmaster and gripped her staff.
Since this was a trial, there must be a way to conquer it.
I had to explore that tower and find it.
There seemed to be nothing else in this room.
Leaving the warm fireball as it was, I exited the room.
Outside the room, silence enveloped me once more. There was no presence.
However, the ground was wet with some strange liquid, leaving traces of something that had been there.
I quickly lit a wide light to detect any anomalies.
Even with that, I had plenty of magical power to spare.
I truly felt grateful to be a skilled wizard.
The path remained a single road.
It was so quiet that the sound of my footsteps echoed with each step, which was a bit bothersome.
After walking a bit, I came across a door straight ahead.
It was not locked.
I slowly opened the door.
Inside, it appeared to be a library.
Numerous bookshelves lined the walls, packed tightly with books.
Curious, I picked up a book and opened it, only to find the pages completely blank.
It seemed that the details hadn’t been fully recreated.
In the middle of the room, there was a desk with a single sheet of writing paper prepared.
I approached the desk and picked up the paper.
The white sheet had nothing written on it.
However, inside was a key and a letter.
As I took them out to read, I heard footsteps.
They were different from the footsteps I encountered earlier.
(Is this… the sound of hooves?)
I heard the kind of footsteps that one wouldn’t normally hear indoors.
It seemed that someone had entered through a different entrance.
I held my breath. To avoid making noise, I slightly lifted my body and hid behind the many bookshelves.
The sound of hooves was circling around the library.
If I stayed still, I would surely be found.
I tucked the sheet of paper into my pocket and moved slowly, matching the sound.
There were two exits from this library: the one I had entered and the one where the sound’s source had come from.
(If I go back, it’s a dead end, so I have no choice but to proceed.)
Hiding behind the bookshelves, I slowly made my way toward the exit.
So far, there seemed to be no other issues aside from the sound of footsteps.
I was just about to reach the exit.
I turned back slightly to observe.
Then I saw the figure of the source of the footsteps.
It was literally a creature that was a centaur.
Moreover, where there should have been a human head was a horse’s head, and the overall appearance was distorted.
The first impression I had of it was that of an ugly beast.
It seemed improbable that it had been born from any normal circumstances.
The horse’s head seemed to notice my gaze and turned towards me.
As I hurriedly opened the door, the sound of hooves transformed into galloping.
I had likely been discovered.
The sound of galloping hooves grew closer and closer.
There was no way I could escape on foot.
Though it was dangerous indoors, I cast the spell for flying while running.
The enormous mouth of the horse snapped just behind me with a loud click.
The speed of the horse’s legs was slightly slower than my flying.
However, it was challenging to fly at full speed indoors due to the many obstacles.
Even if I tried to fend it off, the moment I stopped flying, I would be bitten or trampled.
If only I could reach a wider area…
Struggling around the corner while flying, I spotted a large door.
At this rate, I would crash into it.
In a split second, I used a shockwave spell to forcefully open the large door.
Inside was a grand hall.
As the centaur creature followed me inside, the large door closed automatically.
And then, I heard the sound of locks engaging all around the grand hall.
…I understood. This was also a part of the trial.
If I didn’t defeat this creature here, I wouldn’t be able to proceed.
