Chapter 213 - Episode Eight - High Elf Sorcerer, Devin (1)

When I arrived at the Witchs Tower, the most remote part of the Dinrat Kingdom, I left Elia, the carriage, and an Ortem to protect the carriage from the demons, and decided to explore the area with Mea.

I walked around the perimeter of the witchs tower, which is in the shape of a giant cylinder, but I didnt find anything of particular interest.

I headed inside from the main entrance, but after going through the door, I found a narrow passage with clay walls, and beyond that, the grassland was all around me.

The sky was endlessly high and blue, and I could even see the sun.

Ive heard rumors but its really amazing.

Mea grabbed me by the shoulders and hid behind me, scurrying around.

I didnt expect it to go this far, either. If it was the effect of Altamirs magic, the seal doesnt work properly anymore, does it?

It is the domain of the demon, as it remakes space as its own and creates deformed magic beasts.

Ive been expecting that since Altamir has been bound by a special seal letter for so many years, it has turned into a being close to the devil.

But Ive never heard of such she can freely manipulate space, such as the sky and the sun.

The size of the space from the outside is not the same as the size from the inside.

I see. It was clear to me its a meaning that you cant take a shortcut by breaking the ceiling.

Witchs tower, the first level - the meadow.

The danger level of the monsters that appear is said to be F-class only.

Even a newbie adventurer cant die unless he or she gets really badly beaten.

Ah! Abel, look at that!

In the distance, goblins could be seen towing a large cart that looked like it was made out of dead wood.

The two skinny goblins towing the cart were, with a large goblin sitting atop the cart, occasionally screaming and cursing at the two goblins.

Mea has been watching the goblins for a while with interest.

The goblins noticed us and left their hand-made carts and came running towards us carrying a club that they seemed to have carried on them.

I took one of the pieces of Ortem that I had in Meas luggage and moved it with my magic to charge the goblins.

In the blink of an eye, Ortem repelled the large goblin at the front of the pack.

The goblins began to flee in a flash, but Ortem was doggedly chasing after them and soon disappeared from sight.

Youre relentless, Abel. Isnt that a bit not mature?

They looked interesting, so I took care of that for them.

If I had really poured my magic power into Ortem and given him instructions, the goblins would have all been minced by now.

I wonder where Im supposed to go up from here?

Ah! Maybe its over there, isnt it?

Mea pointed into the distance.

I looked at the tip of my finger, too, and there was a raised, grass-clad dirt that was stepped up to form a staircase.

Although it is broken in the middle of the sky, it is clearly meaningful.

There may be some kind of mechanism there that connects the first and second levels.

You-, youre got to be kidding me?

I was astonished to see that unnatural staircase in the great outdoors.

At the same time, I cursed Altamirs bad character.

I had certainly heard previous information that there was a vicious trap inside the witchs tower that reflected the resentment that Altamir had for the kingdom.

But I didnt expect to find such a vile trap from the first level.

Abel, are you on to something?

Seeing me, Mea calls out to me anxiously.

I quietly point to the stairs.

Tha-, that no matter how you see it, isnt it too far?

Huh? Well, yes

Since the tower is not so wide to begin with, I was caught off guard.

I hadnt expected the space inside the tower to be so distorted.

Do you want me to keep walking to the other end of the tower in the refreshing sunshine as if you were harassing me?

The Marren live quietly near a quiet forest and are vulnerable to sunlight. They are a sensitive tribe.

At best, the light is limited to the sunlight filtering through the trees.

I lightly estimate that the distance to the stairs is more than a kilometer.

This is still only the first level.

In addition, that staircase is just too high, even if you can see it. Youre going to make me climb that thing when Im tired of walking.

Tha-, thats right.

Each step is large, and the number of steps is large.

There are roughly more than a hundred steps.

Again, this is only the first level.

Since I hadnt expected to experience this kind of trouble this time around, I hadnt even prepared an Ortem large enough for me to get on.

Since the Asura 5,000 requires a great deal of magical energy to transfer over long distances, I tried to get it to run and follow it from the back of the carriage, but the horse was seriously spooked, so I gave up and stored it in the Palgas Village.

There are no particularly good magic-conducting trees near the witchs tower, and even on this level there are only a few poorly constructed trees.

Im sure I can also use the snake cow demon that Ive acquired from Marias as a vehicle, but the magic field inside the witchs tower is largely broken.

It is not a good idea to bring a demon or spirit animal with little or no ego into such a place from the outside.

There is a possibility of overexcitement and suffering.

Its still good If you have a deep trusting relationship with the demon or spirit beast you are summoning, but if you bring them to such an unbalanced magic field inadvertently, it could lead to discord and break the contract of the summoning crest.

Lets go back.

Si-, since were already here, lets go for it! Elia is also looking forward to your souvenir story!

Elia told me on the road that she looks forward to hearing from the adventurers she carries about their experiences and achievements of the day.

Although she was mostly silent on the first trip to the Zeshum Ruins, recently she has been talking about herself in bits and pieces.

Today, she had just said, with a slightly shy and embarrassed smile, Im expecting a lot from Mr. Customer because youre always involved in unusual incidents..

It was probably because of our past rapport and expectations that she was willing to accompany me to such a remote and backwater location.

Its not easy to betray those expectations.

Also, Im sure it will be a great memory here! Its okay! Mea will carry your stuff and Ill give you a massage if you hurt your foot!

Mea happily says, waving her hands out in the air.

N, no, If its at least on one side, I think we can get through it but after walking this distance, and then going up the stairs is a bit If its this wide, I might as well bring the carriage inside the tower

The entrance is narrow, so I think thats a bit difficult to do

Why dont we just break the carriage once and build it up inside?

When cornered, Abel thinks great things Ummm, hmmm maybe Elia-san wont forgive you

While Mea and I were planning this and that, we heard a commotion like a hectic beast.

When I looked towards the voice, I saw the Ortem happily chasing around three goblins.

Those guys were towing a cart, werent they?

I waved my wand and chanted the incantation.

Flame, form, ball

A ball of fire appeared from the tip of the wand and bounced loudly as it fell to the end of the goblins path.

The goblins flew in different directions, screaming with their mouths wide open.

The goblins crawled to the ground to escape, and I thrust my wand at the forehead of the leader, the large goblin.

The goblin stops moving and begins to sweat profusely, perhaps from fear.

With my opposite hand, I pointed to the abandoned, battered cart.

Ten minutes later, Mea and I were on top of the cart, towed by three goblins, and headed for the stairs.

The ride was awful, as it rattled, and the distressed goblins would occasionally look back at me with resentment, but it was much better than walking.

Its kind of pitiful do you want Mea to get off?

Its fine, Its fine. They are the ones who attacked us as soon as they saw at us.

Tha-Thats right, but

Nevertheless, the sun is hot, and its pretty shaky, this also somehow takes a lot of energy.

I grumbled, and the goblin leader stared at me with resentful eyes.

As we approached the staircase, I noticed a crack in the space at the top of the stairs, creating a sort of distortion.

Do we go upstairs from there?

I guess. Theres a lot of stuff here that could be helpful, including the tower system and the seals.

I was observing the stairs and the distortions on them, hypothesizing about the control of space and writing magic formulas in my notebook, jotting down this and that as I thought of them.

When the stairs were just around the corner, I suddenly had a thought and pointed my wand to the sky.

Whats wrong, Abel?

Although the space here is distorted, it cant really be high enough to the sky. Perhaps in that area where the staircase is interrupted, there should be a ceiling hidden by something like an illusion Im sure its not going to be easy to break it, though, since its just a mass of warding, but I wanted to see how the sky reacted when it was hit a little too hard.

I I see. I get the gist of it!

She was listening to me desperately, but after a moment of awkwardness, she stared into my eyes and said this in a slightly more emphatic tone than usual.

This is probably the reaction you get when you dont understand so much.

Flame, form, ball

I cast a spell, transferring multiple layers of intricate magic circles.

I wrapped the flames from the tip of my wand in a small-scale spherical ward, compressing it, adding firepower to expand it and repeating.

When it became a pure white ball of light, I shot out in a straight line at the sun.

As I predicted, the ball of light stopped when it reached a height of about a staircase cut off.

With the ball of light at the center, ripples spread out through what appears to be a wall, and a number of magic circles are unfolding.

The sun deforms and mixes with the sky. The color of the sky turns bright red, and what looks like a messy whirlpool spreads across the sky.

Abel maybe that was a bad idea

N, no, I didnt put that much magic into it!

I cant trust Abels that much! Its time to get it figured out! Wai-, wait, this one, lets go out once! The tower might collapse!

There was a tremendous roar, and the ceiling was transformed into a brick-like structure like the exterior of the tower.

In the ceiling, there is a large hole.

Underneath, the brick floor was densely covered in grass, a bizarre sight.

I, I see. It might be that the magic power of Altamir, which slipped through the wards and flowed in from above, filled the interior, creating a bizarre space at each level.

Perhaps the sealing formula that covered one level has now loosened and the influence of Altamirs magic has weakened, so the sky and the ground have regained their original shape.

Whatever the case, it was good to know that I could make a hole and move up.

The goblins took their hands off the cart and stared at the large hole in the ceiling, Were not needed here, arent we? as if to say that, while quietly staring at me.