Chapter 104

Receiving the staff prototype from Fredik marked the end of their business in Melphendes.

It was time to head back to the academy. Mikhail gathered his belongings and stepped out of the inn.

"Safe travels! Hope we see you again sometime!"

"If you ever need spending money, come back and work for us! Those nimble hands of yours made everything so much easier!"

That last one was clearly aimed at Ethan. Mikhail left the innkeepers' farewells behind and climbed aboard a long-distance carriage.

Once the fare was paid, the carriage lurched into motion before long. The scenery outside the window—still as a landscape painting just moments ago—began to stream past like frames through a projector.

The carriage from Melphendes would be on the move for close to a full day.

---

The next morning.

Before he knew it, the view outside had shifted to the harbor scenery near the academy.

Mikhail had been sitting with his chin propped on the windowsill. He set about organizing his luggage for departure and cracked open the box containing the staff.

[Equipment: World Tree Staff Prototype]

[A World Tree staff prototype—plain in form, still too unfinished to bear a name. Yet its capacity to enhance the user's abilities far surpasses weapons of the same tier. Responsive to its owner's traits and growth, it may evolve into subsequent forms.]

[Notice: Mana quality increases under the influence of [Equipment: World Tree Staff Prototype].]

Mikhail studied the sleek black surface, then reached in and wrapped his hand around the resting staff.

The moment his skin met the outer curve, a pulsing sensation began flowing into him.

It's beating in sync with my mana flow. That means resistance between the weapon and its user is almost nonexistent.

So this is what they meant by a weapon that resonates with its owner and grows alongside them.

Mikhail squeezed the staff once, set it back down, and slid the lid shut.

What surfaced next was a mental tally—an accounting of everything gained across three completed free missions.

The stats he'd accumulated over the free mission period had climbed to a level more than sufficient for the next main storyline. If he continued following the same growth trajectory, building his combat strength would keep trending upward.

Then maybe it's time to start thinking beyond that.

Mikhail was just sinking into thought—mapping out his next moves and future progression—when his vision flashed white and a system message appeared.

FLASH!

[Notice: Having reached a turning point in growth, the state of [Origin Mana: Abyss] changes from [■■] to [Bonding].]

…What?

The unexpected message made Mikhail suck in a sharp breath.

The change hit instantly. The world in front of him flooded black, and ice-cold seawater began pressing against his skin.

He tried to react, but it was useless. The rushing water surged up past his lungs and into his throat in seconds.

His air was being crushed out of him, and from somewhere impossibly far away, a whale's cry echoed against his eardrums.

"—Hkk."

The instant breathing became impossible, Mikhail expelled the seawater from his body in a single heaving gasp and slammed back into reality.

Sunlight streamed through the window, rippling white like the trailing edge of waves washing ashore.

He was aware of Ethan's gaze boring into the side of his face, unmoving—but Mikhail said nothing and curled in on himself.

Just now… it said the Abyss's state changed.

His heart was hammering. Mikhail released the hand clutching his chest and pulled up the system message again.

[Notice: Having reached a turning point in growth, the state of [Origin Mana: Abyss] changes from [■■] to [Bonding].]

But the message offered nothing more. It displayed the same content as before, then dissolved into particles and vanished.

"Tch."

Mikhail knit his brow and lowered his eyes. He opened his left palm and gathered mana above it.

Even if the system refused to elaborate, he had no intention of letting this slide without investigation.

FLASH!

Mikhail shut his eyes and focused his awareness. He coaxed mana to the surface of his palm, then opened them.

Whirrrr.

A sphere of dark blue mana glowed above his hand.

Mikhail studied the orb's shape and retraced every step of the process that had produced it.

Controlling the flow of mana. Channeling that controlled flow to a single point in the body. The sensation of releasing what had gathered there.

The texture and weight of the dark blue sphere hovering above his hand. The speed of its pulsing light. The temperature shimmering across its surface.

But to his frustration, the mana he observed showed no visible difference from before.

Click.

"Careful. Don't let anyone notice."

The carriage interior darkened for an instant, and Ethan's voice cut through. Mikhail snapped back to reality. He closed his outstretched hand, drawing the glowing mana back inside.

His reply came threaded with an exhale.

"Yeah."

Silence settled between them. Mikhail pressed his lips shut and replayed the system message that had just appeared.

It had told him the Abyss's state changed because he'd reached a turning point in growth. Which meant that if he kept hitting similar milestones—steady stat increases, acquiring something on par with the World Tree staff—he'd encounter another shift like this one.

And when a new phase comes, I might find additional clues about the power dwelling inside me.

Neiiigh!

The sharp whinny rang out, and the carriage began to slow. Mikhail surfaced from his thoughts, drew back the curtain, and leaned his head out the window.

"Good lord."

Ethan let out a groan from across the carriage as he took in the scene.

It must have been the final day of the free mission period—students returning from distant assignments all at once—because carriages packed with academy students stretched in a line from the main square all the way to the campus entrance.

Mixed among them, healers bearing red-bannered carriages could be seen climbing in and out with notable frequency.

Red banners with a sun crest. Cloelle, then.

Mikhail pulled his gaze from the scene and turned to Ethan.

"Want to get off here? It'll probably be faster on foot."

Ethan agreed without objection, explained the situation to the driver, and stepped down onto the roadside.

Mikhail cradled the box holding the staff, slung his bag over his shoulder, and walked along the pavement.

Han and Ul shook out their flattened fur with a vigorous fluffing and trotted along at his heels.

Tap.

They'd just passed the windmill and entered the shopping district when light footsteps sounded from behind, and something landed on his shoulder.

"Long time no see."

Lloyd wedged himself between Mikhail and Ethan, threw an arm around each of their shoulders, and greeted them with an easy grin.

"Nothing exciting happen while I was gone?"

"……"

"Ah, so something did happen."

Lloyd spotted the bandage wrapped around Ethan's arm and snickered. Ethan scrunched his face.

"It's nothing."

"Sure it is."

Mikhail watched the storm brewing between the two of them, then changed the subject.

"Speaking of which—is the reception desk crowded right now? I need to submit our mission completion documents."

Lloyd dropped the sparring match on a dime and answered.

"It was packed when I passed by earlier. You're better off dropping your stuff first. By dinnertime it should've thinned out."

"Good idea."

Mikhail gave Lloyd a straightforward answer, then turned the conversation and addressed both of them.

"While we're at it—have either of you decided where you're going for the next academic activity?"

"The next activity… oh!"

Lloyd's eyebrows perked up, and a grin spread across his face.

"The Guild Alliance Joint Suppression Campaign, obviously. There's nowhere better in terms of exposure and payoff. What about you?"

"Same here."

Mikhail matched Lloyd's response—which tracked perfectly with the main storyline's flow—then turned to Ethan.

"Ethan, what about you?"

Instead of answering right away, Ethan let his gaze drift to his injured shoulder and linger there before pulling it away.

But the silence didn't last long.

He released a quiet breath, let his expression ease, and replied.

"No reason to pass up a chance for good experience. I'll head to the Guild too."

---

Creeeak.

The long-vacant dormitory room smelled dry and stale.

Han and Ul launched themselves straight onto the bed and buried their faces in the blankets like acorns tumbling down a slope.

The long journey had apparently worn them out.

Mikhail cracked open the window to air the room, propped his bag against the wall, and made his way to the desk.

As Lloyd had said, the reception desk would be swarmed right now—no point heading there yet. But in the meantime—

I should send a letter to Father… to Joseph, updating him on the situation. I can organize the thoughts I didn't get to finish earlier while I write.

Mikhail sat down at the desk and pulled a pen and stationery from the drawer.

Scratch, scratch. The nib's whisper against paper sounded like children's footsteps crunching through a snow-covered field.

Mikhail watched the white page gradually lose its blank spaces and picked up the thread of thought he'd left hanging.

Up until now, I've been scrambling past one crisis after another, jumping into the main storyline with stats that were nowhere near ready—so I had no choice but to chase every stat increase right in front of me. But where I stand now is different from back then.

He could more than pull his weight as a mage and a member of the main storyline.

So it should be fine to broaden my view. I've earned the breathing room to look around, plan further ahead, and move with the bigger picture in mind.

Mikhail set the pen down for a moment and called to mind the final scene of Tales Chronicle.

Ethan had severed the Great Rift—the source of disasters and anomalies ravaging the world—and been hailed as a hero and a saint of the realm. After that, the ending credits had rolled over scenes of a world rebuilding under the leadership of Lloyd Cloelle, the restorer, as the stagnant land found its footing again.

But in that new world forged from hard-won peace, the Senit family's presence in the North had quietly faded.

Well, I plan to inherit the seat of the North and live well—so that's not happening this time around.

At the very least, he intended to maintain the family's standing exactly as it was now.

Confront what needs confronting. Build what needs building.

Mikhail tapped the desk, turning over the key leverage points he could use, then let his gaze drift down to the back of his hand.

To build a winning hand, two conditions needed to be met.

First: fully unlock and develop the Unique Talent he suspected dwelled within him—[Interpretation].

Second: secure a partial delegation of authority from the North's ruler, Joseph.

Better to tackle the first one first, then.

Earning points by completing main storyline events and sub-quests, unlocking the Unique Talent, and then nurturing its growth. That was the immediate priority.

Before I can set foot at the negotiating table with proper credentials, I should have the strength to back it up.

Mikhail let a quiet hum serve as the closing note on that line of thinking and picked the pen back up.

He wrote Joseph the news that the World Tree branch had been trimmed and forged into a staff, and then added one more line—something he wouldn't have written if not for the thoughts he'd just sorted through.

[I'll come visit before long.]

Tap.

Mikhail finished the letter, set the pen down, and turned his head toward the window.

The sun was sinking low beyond the distant sky.

If Lloyd was right, the reception desk should have cleared out considerably by now.

"Hey, you two. I'm heading out for a bit."

Mikhail gathered the letter for Joseph and the mission completion documents, then called toward Han and Ul on the bed—though he didn't expect them to hear a word of it.

The two were snoring side by side in perfect harmony.

Click.

Mikhail slipped out of the dormitory and set off down the road toward the reception desk.