Episode 10: The Foundation Of Magic

"……."

I clenched my fist as I stared at the woman standing before me.

Heat surged through me, blurring my vision.

"You died more than forty years ago. Abyss—this manner of jest is most unpleasant."

I rose from where I sat and wiped my tears with my sleeve.

"Gang San."

"The man who bore that name is dead. I am Yoo Eun-ha, a seven-year-old girl."

At my words, the middle-aged woman smiled faintly.

"It was only forty years. A wait that amounts to nothing compared to the suffering you endured. Isn't that right, San?"

At that calm tone, that gentle voice, that voice calling me San—tears welled up in my eyes.

"Is it… really you?"

"Of course. San."

At those words, my throat tightened, and the words came spilling out.

"Mom? Is it really Mom?"

"Of course~"

"How did you recognize me? I still don't feel like this body is truly mine."

"What mother wouldn't recognize her own child?"

I wanted to see her face, but the tears kept getting in the way.

"Mom, I kept going. So that no one else would die as unjustly as we did. Because of me, the Mage Association was formed, and many of the mages who killed people are gone now."

"Yes, I've been watching. I watched from within your body."

"I lived such a hard, hard life."

"Yes, I know. I know how much you suffered. That's why I'm so sorry, San."

"Why are you sorry! The one who should be sorry is that wretched mage!"

A hand came to rest gently on top of my head.

"San. We love you."

"I love you too. So from now on…."

"No, San. We are all right. Now, live a life for yourself. This burned-down house has no place in your life this time around."

"But…."

"This is what stopped your world at ten years old. I hope you can move forward now. Look—your foundation is like this place…."

The woman smiled brightly.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

[Multiple Abyssal Entities detected]

[Wearer's physical activity critically dangerous]

[Activating protective magic per emergency protocol.]

"What?!"

In an instant, an orange semi-transparent barrier shot up between me and my mother.

"Release this! I said release it! Hey!"

While I pounded against the barrier, the house that had been standing so precariously began to crumble and collapse.

"Ah."

My breath grew short.

As I gathered Ether to cast a spell, a sharp alarm rang out.

Beeeeep—

[Blood Ether concentration at lethal level]

[Activating forced unconsciousness per emergency protocol]

Beeeeeeep—

My vision blurred in an instant.

*

"Ugh…."

When I opened my eyes, what greeted me was a charred shanty and Abyssal Entities crowding all around.

In the dark night sky, the glittering stars still hung in their places.

"How many hours was I unconscious…."

The tattered, battered barrier gave me a fair idea of what had transpired while I was out.

"Huu."

I rubbed my dry, gritty eyes and checked my body—back to normal.

Whether what I had encountered before losing consciousness was a voice fabricated from memory, or truly my mother's spirit, I could not know.

What I did know was that I despised this world, and the mages who had made such things possible.

"But the one I despise most is still myself…."

What must she have thought, watching her child walk a hellish path drenched in blood?

I refined the dense Ether gathering around me and parted my lips.

"Starting anew, is it…."

If the Foundation meant a new foundation for magic—a fresh beginning—I wondered what this place was meant to signify.

Anticipation for magic? A sea that held countless stars within it?

One thing was certain.

That once I began something, becoming the best at it—that had always been my way of life.

I gathered my Ether and steadied my breath.

"If this is a test of my limits, then I shall meet it without reservation."

Fifty years of a lifetime had been spent walking a road with my head pressed against the ceiling.

This time, too, I would gladly pound against that ceiling.

And at last—I would reach the pinnacle of what it meant to be a mage.

Crack—

The barrier shattered under an Abyssal Entity's attack, and Ether surged and swirled around me.

There was no need to think or calculate.

I simply let the Ether flow, exactly as I had come to understand it.

A shimmering wave of stars poured forth from within me.