Book Eater

Chapter 192: Around the Desert (2)

Kurururung!

The carriage followed the trail of Veronica’s Breath straight through the middle of the desert. It was better than traveling through chest deep sand, but it was hard to say that the path was smooth when it had suddenly become melted igneous rock.

Despite bouncing over stones, and traveling up and down steep slopes, the carriage was still moving. Fortunately, it wasn’t bad inside the carriage since it was bespelled with a lot of shock absorbing magic. It was unnaturally still inside as the sandy landscape flew by. The people inside didn’t break the silence either.

There was the great magician who was notorious in many ways, the Red Tower Master Veronica...

Meltor’s four top prospects, Quattro...

And the guardian of Austen who had been captured, Mujak.

Mujak was technically a criminal, so he wasn’t in a position to speak first. Meanwhile, William and Sylvia found it hard to act freely in Veronica, their superior's presence. Para never spoke unless she had to, and Theo wasn’t good at socializing either.

Therefore, there was only one person who could break this silence—Veronica.

Her husky voice was laced with frustration. “Ah, it’s so boring. And it’s another few days of this?”

She stretched her legs. They still had three days of travel to go, even though this was the outskirts of the Meuse Desert.

Veronica grew bored after looking out the window for a while and spoke to Theo, “Since I have to do it anyway... Shall I start the promised class on Sorcery?”

Theo was surprised by the sudden offer. “Huh? In here?”

“It should be okay? They might be young, but the rest of them are still Tower Master candidates, so they’ll learn it sooner or later.”

“That’s right, but...”

It was fine for Quattro to hear it. However, what about Mujak? What if a sword master learned something key about Sorcery? There was no reason to take the risk. However, Veronica waved off Theo’s concerns.

“It doesn't matter. Aura Abilities are different from Sorcery. Theory alone won’t give them anything to poke at, and it’s hard for anyone who isn’t a high level magician to understand.”

“Then we will listen.”

“Okay, pay attention. I won’t tell you twice.”

The others might not have seven Circles like Theo, but they were magicians who were more enthusiastic about learning than anyone else. The prospective Tower Masters, other than Para, focused their attention on Veronica.

As three pairs of eyes landed on her, Veronica created a few fire hoops in the air and started explaining. “I’m not sure how much you know, but you know that a magician’s Circles are slightly different for each person, right?”

“Yes.”

“In the same way that nutrition and discipline affects your bones and muscles, their composition and form will change with several variables and environmental conditions. Specialization in specific attributes is formed largely from the efficiency of magic power circulation. However, in special cases, it can deviate from the existing magical system. Sorcery is a term that refers to this phenomenon.”

Veronica’s index finger moved, and the hoops merged into a curious shape which was neither circular or spherical. They seemed like dual spheres in an oval shape. But they started to form different shapes at a dizzying speed, from a cube to a triangular cone to a disc and others.

“No one knows what the final shape looks like. It depends on the magician’s lineage, the method of training, the process of growth... There are too many variables for it to be determined. In this respect, it is somewhat similar to an Aura Ability.” Veronica pressed her palms together. “If an Aura Ability is the awakening of a sleeping ability, then Sorcery is the realization of one’s magical transformation. Awakening and awareness are similar, but they mean completely different things.”

“Awakening and awareness...”

“Hmm, is it a little vague? If you take my case for example, I took an hour to understand my Sorcery.”

“A-An hour?”

All three magicians gasped. It was easier to learn Sorcery than an Aura Ability, but that didn’t mean it was easy. Most people took a few months or even a few years. There was a record of a genius doing it in a week, so Veronica’s one hour was truly ridiculous.

However, she laughed like it was nothing. “Well, I didn’t tell you that to boast. I wanted to ask you something. What do you think ‘heat’ is?”

“Y-You are asking us?”

“That’s right. Heat doesn’t just have to do with being hot.”

The three magicians were troubled by the sudden change in topic. Paragranum, the grimoire who possessed a lot of knowledge about science, would be able to answer the question in more detail than anyone else. However, she didn’t reply because she didn’t feel the need to. The three magicians pondered the concept of heat.

Surprisingly, Sylvia was the first to speak. “Invisible fire, the force that moves the phenomenon.”

“Hoh, why?”

“Ice stops every phenomenon. Then heat must be the force that drives all phenomena.”

“Proof by contradiction, it’s an inspired approach,” Veronica remarked. She smiled charmingly. “It’s comprehensive, but not wrong. Yes, heat is the power to move phenomena, a power that can’t be seen with the human eye.”

Veronica’s golden eyes brightened as she added, “They can’t be seen with ‘ordinary eyes.’”

Humans couldn’t observe the phenomena around them. However, Veronica broke the wall of the 7th Circle and stepped into this area having inherited the blood of a red dragon. Her eyes could grasp the movement of power and control it. She went beyond the boundaries and became the ruler of the superthermal realm!

The reason why she was capable of awakening the dragon blood, which was weak in her body, and exhibiting a strength equal to a pureblood was due to Veronica’s Sorcery.

“You know, my case is very special. A dragon’s bloodline has a greater impact on Circles than any other variable, so I was able to roughly guess the result of my Sorcery.”

A dragon’s blood could survive the most challenging circumstances. Veronica had inherited the lineage of a red dragon and was also a magic genius, making her the youngest Red Tower Master ever. These two perfectly matched elements generated an unprecedented growth rate. It was why she could comprehend Sorcery so quickly. In other words, this was what she wanted to tell Theo.

“There is no need to be hasty. Take a look at yourself. Theodore Miller’s magic, Theodore Miller’s strength... You are more aware of the possibilities inside you than anyone else. Instead of trying to change yourself, look at yourself in the mirror and think.”

The advice of an experienced person was better than anything from a book. Theo felt like he was on the edge of capturing a clue, so he didn’t hesitate to bow his head.

“Thank you, Tower Master.”

“... Don’t thank me. One day, you have an obligation to teach this to someone else.”

The essential principle of the Magic Society was to pass on their knowledge. Theo smiled faintly as he was reminded. Perhaps his guileless smile was too charming, but Veronica’s cheeks turned faintly red.

Meanwhile, the carriage fell into silence again. However, this time it wasn’t awkward. The magicians were engrossed in reflection.

Theo gazed up at the air and contemplated deeply.

My own magic...

Theodore Miller slowly looked back on his 20 years of life.

***

Exactly three days later...

Every time the road ended, Veronica would use Dragon Breath, and they would keep moving. But this time, the carriage suddenly ground to a halt. As the successor of the White Tower Master, William examined it but couldn’t find any problems.

Mujak watched him and said, “It is no use. We will probably have to walk from here.”

“Ah, there was that. I forgot.” Veronica didn’t wonder why they would have to walk and nodded easily.

As confusion filled everyone else’s eyes, she pointed to the distant horizon and explained, “I don’t know why, but whenever the drought happens, it affects the duration of magic in the Meuse Desert. Artifacts like this carriage will stop working. Think of it like pushing magic power into a broken jar.”

Theo frowned. “Then we can’t use secondary magic?”

“Spells like Battle Song are okay, but Haste will be a waste of magic power.”

This certainly was troublesome terrain. Theo wasn’t the only one to think so, as William grumbled at the now obsolete carriage. The carriage had cost an enormous amount of money to make.

“Damn, you know how much this costs...”

Sylvia asked, “Can’t we take it on the way back?”

William sighed. “It’ll be covered in sand in under an hour. It’s a pity, but it can’t be helped.”

It had been comfortable up till this point, but it was now time to brave the desert. As soon as the six of them left the carriage, they were greeted by a sandy breeze. They triggered the magic on their robes, but sand had already burrowed into the gaps.

Veronica’s brows furrowed. “Damn Imperial bastards, making me come here...”

It was irrational, but no one was idiotic enough to point it out. They were fairly close to the destination, so Veronica didn’t shoot a Dragon Breath. She wanted to save her magic power in case of misfortune or an unexpected event.

In this situation, there was one larger issue.

William hesitantly spoke, “Um... My detection magic isn’t working. No matter how much magic power I use, it doesn’t go beyond twenty meters.”

“It can’t be helped. This is one more penalty.” Veronica looked around with a hard expression. The sand dunes rose and fell, which limited their visibility.

The Andras knights were at the ruins, so this wasn’t a situation. Magic might be neutralized, but aura was still working. At that moment, Theo thought of a method.

“Can you wait a minute?”

“Huh? Do you have a method?”

“Yes, perhaps…”

The party stopped moving while Theo concentrated. He was looking for the contract Satomer had given to him. This was the connection with the crow, Hugin.

I would have liked to borrow Mitra’s strength.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible. Maybe it was because Meuse Desert wasn’t naturally created, or it was due to the power of the sand dragon. Either way, elementals couldn’t be called here.

Fortunately, summoning seemed to work regardless of the environment.

“Come, Hugin!”

As soon as Theo moved his magic power, a crow popped out of thin air.

Kuwaaack!

“A s-summon?” Veronica was surprised and examined Theo again. The effectiveness of summoning magic had decreased over hundreds of years, which made it rare in this age. When had Theo learned summoning magic?

“Summoning magic... You learned a fairly minor branch of magic?”

“It was by chance.” Theo smiled wryly as he guessed her meaning. Was it because he hadn’t used summoning magic in quite a while? Hugin was enjoying the sky after having not appeared in the physical world for a while.

Do you see this, Senior?

Theo briefly recalled the skinny face of the summoning magician who had handed over all his knowledge and dreams to Theo. Everyone in this era remembered him as a loser, but he was the summoner who had summoned Fafnir.