Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 103. The Sephiroth Magician – Andromallius Family (1)

The wealth disparity in the city was so extreme that without significant economic separation, the gap became starkly apparent.
For lower-class citizens, one cent was barely enough for a meal—roughly equivalent to 4,000 or 5,000 won—but for upper-class citizens, one cent was worthless, like a mere 10 won.
Comparing it to Earth’s standard of living, if I calculated prices and standards roughly, the average of fourth-class citizens seemed closest to Earth’s level.
Fourth-class citizens received mandatory education and didn’t need to subsist on mana rations or energy blocks.
Starting from third-class citizens, they belonged to the privileged class, making comparisons meaningless.
Of course, that was just the average. Among fourth and fifth-class citizens, there were those classified as wealthy.
Entrepreneurs and mercenaries like those in the Shadow were typical examples.
However, such people were extremely rare.
Conversely, there were fourth-class citizens living in extreme poverty, no different from seventh-class or lower.
Unlike the wealthy, such people were disturbingly common.
A textbook example of the average paradox.
Still, from fourth to sixth-class, there was at least the possibility of dragons emerging from gutters, but from seventh-class onward, even that possibility vanished.
“If a subspace magical artifact costs 30,000 dollars and mana rations are 3 million servings… that’s enough for ten thousand impoverished people to survive nearly a year.”
Come to think of it, food prices were absurdly inflated, but because magic had developed so extremely, magical artifacts weren’t as expensive as I’d expected.
The department store Andromallius had led me to catered to the upper echelons and was inflated with markup, but if I’d purchased magical artifacts in the Outer City, I could have gotten them far cheaper.
Of course, quality and reliability would have been questionable.
The tendency to solve most problems through magic due to food and resource scarcity seemed to have contributed significantly to magical advancement.
Setting aside the horrific economic and social problems, this world’s history held many fascinating aspects.
In a world without magic, magic was suddenly discovered, and over centuries, civilization gradually transformed from mechanical to magical.
Then, suddenly, mysterious “mutation phenomena” caused monsters to appear. These mutations affected flora and fauna indiscriminately—humans were no exception.
Mutant monsters emerged worldwide, and civilization teetered on the brink of extinction.
To use an analogy, a zombie virus emerged that didn’t discriminate between plants and animals, with unknown transmission routes. Monsters appeared even in safe zones untouched by infected contact, making countermeasures impossible.
But fortunately, as if foreseeing this catastrophe, the Prophet and thirty-two great mages following him created a city as a final ark, which became the City of 33 Magic Towers.
I didn’t know what magic they used, but mutations were severely suppressed within the final city. When word spread, people flooded in.
The 33 Magic Towers selected those among the influx who could aid city operations or expansion, designating them as special citizens—the origin of today’s citizenship rank system.
Today’s first through third-class citizens are descendants of the city’s founding contributors.
Meanwhile, seventh-class and below citizens are recorded in history as descendants of those who rebelled against the city or oppressed the Prophet.
I couldn’t say how much of that I believed.
The Prophet. Something stinks about this.
Well, naturally, as an ordinary commoner, my suspicions changed nothing.

* * *

Since arriving in this world, my daily routine had not changed much.
I would wake around dawn, practice martial arts out of habit, eat breakfast, search for information, and then practice magic alone.
Once Andromallius returned from work, he would teach me various spells, and I absorbed them like a sponge soaking up water.
After about a week of eating, sleeping, waking, and doing nothing but magic training, I reached a milestone.
I had successfully laid all my mana circuits throughout my astral body and filled them with mana.
“A Class 2 Master in just one week—still insanely fast. Now that you’ve reached Class 3 by increasing mana density, you could join a guild right away once you learn a few more spells.”
“Tsk, I thought I’d get to loaf around for at least a month.”
I didn’t want to work.
At my disappointment, Andromallius laughed heartily.
“Ahahaha! How arrogant. Don’t worry—you’ll need at least another half year of study. Credit’s astral body growth is fast, but his spell-learning speed hasn’t caught up. Do you know how many years students spend just learning Class 1 magic?”
Certainly, I was now a Class 3 with high stats but no actual technique—all flash, no substance.
In truth, most mages could reach Class 3 eventually if they simply never stopped training their astral bodies, no matter how dull-witted they were.
Real talent began at Class 3, where one increased mana density.
Most mages spent their entire lives in Class 3, the stage of increasing mana density.
Before astral bodies were created, those at the current Class 3 Master level were apparently once called great mages.
Still, I had memorized and learned to use all the Class 1 spell references Andromallius had taught me.
However, the Class 1 applied magic he had downloaded for me to learn numbered in the thousands compared to the references.
If the references were merely three books, the applications numbered close to ten thousand.
Though the references started with just three books, through countless variations and modifications, many spells in the applied magic tomes had become so distant I wondered if they truly derived from the references.
Perhaps this is why imitation is called the mother of creation.
My astral body had entered Class 3, but I had only just begun Class 2 references, so the claim that I needed another half year of study was likely no exaggeration.
“But do all students learn this many applied spells during their studies?”
“Of course not. Most just finish the references and move on. Applied magic—students usually learn and master about one book suited to their temperament, school, or career path, if they’re lucky.”
Certainly, at this volume, I’d grow old and die just learning Class 1 magic.
“You said students spend years just learning Class 1 magic?”
“Exactly. They’re all so lazy it takes them years.”
Andromallius seemed to genuinely believe this.
“I’ve downloaded all the applied magic books for you, but I’m not asking you to learn them all. Just master the two books I’ve compiled with only the magic essential for survival and combat, and learn the rest as your heart desires.”
“Understood.”
I had already scanned all the downloaded Class 1 magic books using my reincarnation clone’s body and backed them up on multiple storage devices.
Though the magic phone and the 50th-century Galactic Martial Arts World devices weren’t compatible and didn’t even share a language, I set the phone screen to display text and the scanner to automatically turn pages, so storing nearly ten thousand books took only a few days.
Scanning two pages per second meant a 400-page book took 200 seconds, and nearly ten thousand books were scanned in 25 days.
Winter break had nearly ended by the time scanning finished, but with automation in place, I only needed to worry about the battery once a day.
Truly, 50th-century human civilization is remarkable.
When Siu saw the magic phone and asked what this ancient-looking artifact was, I was slightly flustered, but she accepted it when I said it was a toy.
A smartphone is indeed an ancient relic by 50th-century standards.
Just as oracle bone script inscribed on stone tablets or parchment are ancient relics by 21st-century standards.
I trained diligently under Andromallius in magic.
Unlike learning martial arts, I encountered no obstacles whatsoever.
I wondered if perhaps I should have learned magic first instead of martial arts, but upon reflection, learning martial arts had not been a bad choice.
Because I possessed martial arts, I was able to save Andromallius, and in doing so, I forged this wonderful connection.
But then again, was I perhaps born into a family with ties to the ‘Demonic Blade’?
My ‘Rebirth’ avatar was born into the Cheon Family, a clan with deep connections to the ‘Azure Wood Sword’, so the possibility existed.
Wait—did I create my magical avatar near Andromallius in the first place by pure chance, or was it something more?
This seemed like a topic worth pondering further.

* * *

Three months had passed since I began studying magic.
My Astral Body had surpassed the mid-3rd Class threshold, and after mastering all the 2nd Class reference spells, I was now studying 3rd Class references.
To maintain a comfortable pace, I had learned many derivative applications from 1st and 2nd Class magic along the way, and somehow my progress had accelerated dramatically.
If not for my interest in these tangential branches and the various techniques I’d picked up, I would have already achieved 3rd Class mastery a month ago.
“This is absurd. We had estimated six months as the bare minimum.”
“Ha, indeed. Your progress is faster than expected.”
Andromallius checked my advancement and was astounded, while I laughed sheepishly.
“At this pace, you’ll achieve 3rd Class mastery within a month—or perhaps even two weeks.”
He laughed, remarking how impressive it was when so many mages spend their entire lives floundering in the depths of 3rd Class, never achieving mastery.
“So you’ll join the organization in two weeks?”
Was my time of leisure coming to an end?
“No. There’s no urgent matter, so I think it’s better to take things at a leisurely pace. Let’s proceed with joining as originally planned—in three months. I’d also like to study that ‘martial arts’ magic more thoroughly.”
Andromallius wasn’t lying about wanting to learn martial arts; he was already studying it under my tutelage.
He even had talent for it—in just three months of study, he’d reached the 3rd-rate realm, and after learning lightness technique from me, he’d even succeeded in recreating a weightless state.
It had taken me three years of consuming all manner of elixirs just to reach 3rd-rate.
“I’ll select some additional spells beyond the references that would be good for you to learn.”
Andromallius recommended two 1st Class grimoires, four 2nd Class spells, and five 3rd Class spells.
“And before you join, I’m planning to arrange a meal with the other members. Everyone’s been clamoring about when you’re finally going to reveal yourself.”
“It’s good to get to know the people you’ll be working with beforehand.”
“Thank you for understanding. I’ll keep the week after next free then. Since you’re on the verge of 3rd Class mastery, it’s best not to be distracted by other matters.”
Andromallius resumed the magic lesson.
He wasn’t particularly talented at teaching—his explanations were rigid and tedious—but they were methodical and sound.

* * *

Two weeks passed in a blur.
I continued to cultivate my astral body’s mana density with the same disciplined habit as practicing martial cultivation techniques.
The mana density kept increasing, but when would I finally achieve mastery?
According to Andromallius, there comes a moment when one feels such suffocating pressure that a breakthrough becomes necessary, and mana growth reaches a plateau—yet I felt nothing of the sort.
Contrary to my expectations, had I already hit the ceiling of my talent?
Well, my progress had been remarkably swift, after all.
I’d only been studying magic for just over three months, and I was already mid-tier 3 class.
Browsing the mage community on the intranet, I frequently encountered posts from practitioners lamenting their inability to create an astral body even after years of effort, or seeking explanations for why their astral bodies remained in a childlike state despite diligent training.
Complaining about why I hadn’t achieved tier 3 mastery after merely two weeks of practice was utterly shameless.
Besides, my mana density was still steadily increasing even now.
As the appointed time to meet with the Andromallius Family drew near, I paused my cultivation, rose from my seat, and stepped out of the room.
In the first-floor hall, Andromallius, who had been conversing with Heidi, smiled upon seeing me.
“Oh, as expected. Have you already achieved mastery?”
At his words, I shook my head in bewilderment.
“What? No, I’m still far from it.”
“What? But the mana density you’re emanating is… May I examine your mana for a moment?”
I nodded at his question.
Andromallius pressed his index finger against my chest and concentrated. Then he asked, visibly astonished.
“…You haven’t achieved mastery yet? There’s still room for growth here?”
“Yes, it seems I still have quite a ways to go.”
“That can’t be right… Heidi, would you contact them and let them know we’ll be running late?”
As Andromallius’s expression grew grave, Heidi, though not fully understanding the conversation, nodded in acknowledgment.
“Let me run a proper examination.”
I followed Andromallius down to the underground level. This was my first time venturing down here since I’d been living in this residence.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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