At the Empire's Ministry of Magic stood the towering Great Magic Caster's Tower.
At that moment, inside a quiet room within the tower, Fluder was still wide awake.
The faint glow of magical lights filtered through elegant fixtures, illuminating the thick book in his hands.
He read with complete concentration, as though the entire world had faded away, leaving only himself and the mysterious knowledge contained within those pages.
How long had he been living like this?
Ten days? Half a month? A month?
Perhaps an entire year had already passed.
For Fluder, the passage of time had long since become blurred.
He had stopped bothering to count the days. His routine was determined entirely by how far he could push his body before reaching its limits.
Of course, that did not mean Fluder had any inclination toward self-torture.
Quite the opposite. His passion for magic and his relentless pursuit of it drove him to constantly test his limits, enduring levels of exhaustion and drowsiness far beyond what an ordinary person could tolerate.
After all, studying magic relied heavily on inspiration, and inspiration was like a shooting star streaking across the night sky. If you failed to seize it in that fleeting instant, it was gone.
That was why he had to remain constantly focused and alert, lest he miss even the faintest spark of inspiration.
A thick stack of textbooks sat on the desk before him, each one containing invaluable magical wisdom.
Among them were Eighth Tier: Elementary, Essentials of Magic Shaping, and General Theory of the Arcane System, Divine System, and Spiritual System, along with several others that thoroughly explained the relationships and interactions between different schools of magic.
The dozen or so books were piled one atop another, resembling a small tower built entirely from knowledge.
Every single one was a rare volume that Fluder had carefully selected from the renowned [Ashurbanipal, the Library of Nazarick].
Although Fluder possessed only the right to use these books, that did nothing to diminish how dearly he treasured them.
Whenever he turned a page, he handled it with extraordinary care, afraid of damaging even a single sheet of paper. He understood better than anyone that the knowledge contained within these books was beyond any monetary value.
Fluder loved his current life.
The deeper he immersed himself in his studies, the more he found himself marveling at the wonders of magic.
As his knowledge accumulated, the world before him seemed to grow clearer with each passing day.
Generally speaking, Magic Casters guarded the techniques, knowledge, and skills they had mastered with extreme secrecy. They would never readily pass them on to others.
Even the former Theocracy had been the same. Anyone who wished to learn its true knowledge first had to swear an oath of loyalty.
And exchanging such knowledge for material wealth was even less likely.
In this world, learning had never been truly free.
Anyone who lacked social connections or failed to understand the ways of society might spend their entire life learning only the surface of things. No matter how talented they were, that talent could easily go to waste.
Fluder found such a system deeply frustrating.
Knowledge was meant to be shared. An individual's time and energy were limited, and only by combining the wisdom of many people could the old be surpassed and something new be created.
For that reason, Fluder had never been stingy with his own knowledge.
He wished he could teach his students even more. He wished even more strongly for the day when they would surpass him.
With a teacher to guide them, his disciples had mastered fourth-tier magic in less time than he had and at a younger age.
Because Fluder himself had never had anyone to guide him, there were times when even his own disciples became objects of his envy.
Fluder saw nothing wrong with that.
Human emotions and desires were simply part of being human. Even he could not escape them. Rather than deny his frustration and envy, he turned those feelings into motivation and used them to push himself forward.
Toward the Sorcerer Kingdom, toward Nazarick, and toward the Supreme Ruler, Fluder felt nothing but profound gratitude.
Because a completely new golden age had unfolded before his eyes.
It was an age that changed with each passing day, an age in which anyone could learn magic, an age unlike anything that had ever existed before, an age that had completely captivated him!
In the past, humanity had been weak and therefore lived in groups. To ensure the continuation of the species, they had evolved by relying on overwhelming numbers.
But now, humanity was undergoing an evolution of the species itself.
Or rather, every race was undergoing such an evolution.
The Sorcerer Kingdom's policy behind establishing Magic Academies was not complicated. Gather every race together, cultivate powerful individuals, and then have those powerful individuals reproduce.
As that cycle continued, newborn children would possess greater and greater talent, while the upper limit of each race's Racial Level would continue to rise.
The Realm of Heroes would no longer be a distant dream. The Outlier Realm would no longer be beyond reach. Even the Realm of Myth would one day become reality.
Merely imagining such a future made Fluder's blood surge with excitement.
What he needed to do was simple. Contribute to this era by studying magic, researching magic, and creating new magic.
That was his work, and it was also the pursuit to which he had devoted his entire life.
"The day's work begins at dawn. Meditating in the early morning helps increase magical power."
The hands of the clock were approaching five in the morning.
Without him noticing, the entire night had quietly passed.
Today was the Empire's monthly morning assembly, and Fluder always set aside one day each month to attend.
He had no real need to listen to what was discussed, but if he failed to show up, his dear Jir, or rather, His Majesty, would probably come looking for him personally.
They were teacher and student, but they were also sovereign and subject. In some respects, their relationship even resembled that of grandfather and grandson.
Magic was important, but Jir was important too.
If Fluder were truly forced to choose between the two, he would probably choose magic without the slightest hesitation.
But if it were only a temporary interruption, then he did not mind setting aside his magical research for the sake of the child he had watched grow up.
After taking a sip of refreshing black tea, Fluder closed his book. He intended to meditate for two hours before heading to the palace.
Just then, however, the violent ringing of a bell broke the silence.
Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!
It was an alarm triggered by perception magic.
Fluder, who had been about to sit down cross-legged to meditate, stopped.
"You're Fluder, right? Some old guy asked me to invite you over for a chat. He said you'd understand once you saw this."
A hazy, illusory figure emerged inside the room.
He had the appearance of a Dragonoid, dressed in pale white clothing, with a pair of pure white dragon horns rising from his head.
It was none other than the Clear Light Dragon Lord, one of only two survivors who had escaped from the Roble Holy Kingdom aside from Naohara and the others.
"Showing up uninvited and barging into an old man's residence is hardly a good habit."
Fluder stroked his long beard and gave a faint chuckle as he studied the unexpected intruder.
He was not particularly concerned about his own safety.
As a descendant with the blood of the Supreme One flowing through his veins, as well as one of the Apostles, his death would inevitably be sensed by the source of that bloodline.
His fate had long since ceased to belong entirely to himself. Even death was no exception.
"Tsk. I deliberately let my presence leak out..."
The Clear Light Dragon Lord sounded somewhat impatient.
If he had truly wanted to enter without anyone noticing, the perception magic here would never have detected him.
When it came to mastery over space, he dared claim that he was unquestionably the strongest in the New World.
Not even the Kuyō Divine Right's spatial blockade in the Roble Holy Kingdom had been able to trap him.
It was just a shame about that dead ox.
He had no idea what had become of the fellow.
Hopefully, that guy was still alive.
"Stop wasting this Dragon Lord's time, old man. Just give me a straight answer. Are you going or not?"
"What if I refuse?" Fluder asked tentatively.
"Hm?!"
"All right, all right. This old man will go."
"But I need to make a few preparations first. Otherwise, it may cause unnecessary trouble."
"Fine. Just try to hurry."
Seeing the strange look on the Clear Light Dragon Lord's face, Fluder smoothly changed the subject.
The moment he saw the item in the Clear Light Dragon Lord's hand, Fluder had already realized who wanted to see him.
Even so, he could not help wondering why that person had suddenly remembered him after an entire century.
After giving it some thought, he decided that he should make the trip.
Fluder folded the letter he had written and placed it somewhere conspicuous.
The Clear Light Dragon Lord extended his right hand and rested it on Fluder's shoulder.
At that instant, a brilliant light suddenly flared to life, completely enveloping the two of them.
In the blink of an eye, the light vanished.
The Clear Light Dragon Lord and Fluder, who had been standing there only moments before, had disappeared without a trace.
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