The city of Bergen was famous for its beauty. As the sun set over the Nadun Mountain Ranges that rose into the western sky, the day started to wind to a close. The guards at the academy’s main gate were also ready to end the day. Jason, who was waiting for the shift change with his colleagues, watched the glow of the sunset as always.

I don’t like winter vacation... It’s comfortable because there is no work, but it’s boring without people around.

Only a few students stayed in the dormitory during summer vacation, and even they had gone home during winter vacation. If he included the professors who remained in their offices, there were only around ten people who came and went in one day. It might be bad if someone heard him say it out loud, but Jason’s boredom was severe.

Thankfully, someone was approaching in the distance.

“Pant, pant. Not -pant- not late?!”

The panting and sweat on Jason’s visitor’s forehead showed that he had been running continuously. Jason nodded, and Theo sagged with a sigh of relief. The business with the black market trader had taken longer than he’d thought it would, so he’d almost broken curfew. If he hadn’t sprinted back, he would’ve been late.

In the end, it was a good trip.

He had signed a contract with the black market trader and completed his first batch of appraisals. As a result, he now had a backpack overflowing with items. He was sweating heavily, but he was rather happy with his haul. After all, all that weight would soon transform into his magic power.

Jason checked Theo’s permit and gave it back.

“Third grade, Theodore Miller... Yes, confirmed. You can go inside now.”

“Pant. Yes, thank you.”

Theo was still breathing hard as he crossed the threshold. He had a stitch in his side, but he somehow made his way across the grounds without falling over.

Jason watched him from the entrance and muttered to himself, “What the hell did he do?”

He couldn’t even see Theo’s hair from behind, since the backpack was so tall. Jason wondered idly, but soon forgot all about it when his shift replacement arrived.

Well, who cares?

In the end, it had nothing to do with him.

***

Theo skipped dinner and headed straight to his dorm. Normally, he would’ve gone to the library, but he had something more important today. It was finally time to increase his magic power! He had never been able to buy magic reagents, so he was looking forward to this chance.

When he was safely ensconced in his dorm room, Theo opened his bulging backpack.

Chwarararak!

The objects in the backpack tumbled across the floor. Gloves, a necklace, a broken cooker, a worn out staff... the floor was now covered with objects of various weights and lengths. Although some looked downright decrepit, they were all artifacts that contained magic power. If he found the right item, then it could be worth a few gold. Unfortunately, Theo only found one valuable item.

Still, five winners out of twenty is pretty good. Not every day will be like today.

Theo had appraised a total of twenty items for the black market trader. His speed was on par with an average appraiser. It would be dangerous to show the black market trader that he had the ability to appraise over twenty items. Although he did appraise curse items, Canis hadn’t been suspicious. As a result, Theo had earned fifteen defective artifacts and one common artifact.

“So… shall I feed it one first?”

According to the voice, the simple consumption function was different from feeding it magic books. Thus, he needed to examine the differences. Theo picked up one of the defective products, the magic gloves enchanted with the Grease spell.

“Eat, Gluttony.”

The tongue responded to Theo’s voice and swallowed the gloves.

[Clumsy Hands of a Fool has been consumed. The amount of magic power it possesses is very marginal.]

[It will take three minutes and twelve seconds to fully digest it.]

Three minutes and twelve seconds passed by. The moment the clock hands spun exactly three laps and moved twelve spaces, a voice was heard.

[Your magic power has increased slightly.]

[Proficiency with the 1st Circle spell Grease has increased.]

At the same time, changes took place within Theo’s body.

“Uh...!”

Theo could feel magic power bubbling within him. It wasn’t much, but it moved through Theo’s body like it belonged to him. The two circles on his heart turned like newly oiled cogs, and information about the application of the Grease spell appeared in his mind.

This… It’s different from magic spells. It’s more like pouring knowledge into my head rather than it being engraved. If that’s the case, I don’t need to worry about getting a headache like last time.

When Gluttony ate a book, Theo felt like magic was being burned into his body. However, when an artifact was consumed, it felt like he was being taught how to handle the magic. He was fully confident in his ability to learn. He could handle the feeling in his body even if he fed Gluttony a few items at a time. Therefore, Theo had Gluttony swallow artifacts in rapid succession.

[The Tightening Necklace has been consumed. The amount of magic power it possesses is very marginal.]

[Proficiency with the 2nd Circle spell Hold has increased.]

[Angry Pot has been consumed. The amount of magic power it possesses is very marginal.]

[Proficiency with the 1st Circle spell Freeze has increased.]

[High-speed Hourglass has been consumed. The amount of magic power it possesses is very marginal.]

[Proficiency with the 2nd Circle spell...]

[......]

[It will take forty-five minutes and twelve seconds to fully digest them.]

Despite swallowing fourteen items, Gluttony’s tongue showed no signs of slowing down. There was so much food that the voice continued on for quite a while. Theo paused as he listened to the last sentence.

The digestion time is determined by the sum total of the food.

The digestion time had increased to forty-five minutes. If he added the digestion time of all the items eaten, he would get a similar number, which didn’t seem like a coincidence. Ultimately, it seemed like eating artifacts took a lot of time.

"Forty-five minutes... It is an ambiguous length.”

He could focus on other things, but he wasn’t sure if he should leave or not. In the end, Theo decided to wait. Forty-five minutes later, his magic power started to boil again.

Ohh, this is...!

The magic power in his body was raging in a different manner than when he had eaten one artifact. His two circles creaked as they started to reach their limit of storing magic power. Theo sensed it intuitively and immediately started to concentrate. Much to his surprise, there was a response to his mental call.

Wuuuong-

The voice of magic that only Theodore Miller could hear started to sing as it sped through his blood vessels. It was the sweetest sound imaginable to a magician, and it proved that Theodore wasn’t wrong. As Theo’s consciousness sank deeper into darkness...

... Now!

He started to rotate the magic power gathered in his heart. In a space which contained nothing, he had to draw a perfect circle—a third partner to the two circles he already had. Magic power followed his will as he formed an image of the three circles. If this image collapsed, then everything would be in vain.

His lack of sensitivity meant he had to focus on this to the exclusion of all else. But Theo’s mental prowess was already beyond that of a 2nd Circle magician. Even a senior magician couldn’t compare to him when it came to concentration. Theo’s spirit had unintentionally been tempered by his extremely low sensitivity.

Soon, the third circle started to take shape. Unfortunately, it only went that far.

“Huuuu...”

Theo breathed out and opened his eyes. The result was a half-success. The magic power gained from the artifacts was amazing, but it was just a bit shy of the amount needed to complete the third circle. He had only just managed to form the shape, and he would need to consume more artifacts to actualize a perfect third circle.

“... Was it always that easy to reach the 3rd Circle?”

There was still more than a month left of winter vacation. If he increased his magic power regularly, even if it would be difficult to reach the 4th Circle, Theo could safely reach the 3rd Circle. He didn’t need to worry about the academy’s requirements anymore.

Theo wondered just how far he could go. The owner of this ridiculous monster would never be able to live as an ordinary magician. If so, Theo would go as far as possible.

Well, shall I start by cleaning up the knowledge inside my head?

Theo decided that wondering about the future could wait, as he made his way to the library once again.