Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 105

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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 105. The Magician of Sephiroth – The Andromallius Family (3)

The exact number was thirty-two.
They were all members of the Andromallius Family.
“Not everyone could make it, but most of the members are here.”
Well, since Baejimildo had skipped the gathering, it wasn’t strange that there were other absences.
Some might have unavoidable duties, or simply disliked these gatherings.
“The people here are those who know they are Shadow, members of the Andromallius Family.”
Andromallius’s words sparked a question in my mind.
“Are there members of the Family who don’t know they belong to it?”
“Quite a few. The administrative staff and supply workers who keep Shadow running—and since Shadow operates on the principle of remaining hidden, we publicly manage several shell companies. Those shell company employees are also part of our Family, but they don’t know it and simply go about their normal corporate lives.”
According to his explanation, while nominally shell companies, they operated as legitimate businesses.
The core layers of the City Government and the top executives of the 33 Magic Towers were aware of Shadow, but the lower-ranking officials and administrative staff were not, so there was always the possibility of audits or accounting investigations.
When such investigations arose, the upper echelons of the city naturally blocked them, but there was no need to invite unnecessary scrutiny, so the shell companies operated properly.
Andromallius addressed everyone gathered here.
“This is Credit, our prospective new member. Originally, I planned to introduce him three months from now when his formal induction was scheduled, but everyone kept pestering me to show him, so he’s come a bit early. Please don’t go overboard.”
“Yes, Captain!”
“A new recruit! Everyone, toss him!”
Before the words about not going overboard had even finished, all thirty-two members rushed toward me and suddenly began hoisting me into the air.
“Long live the new recruit!”
“Long live the new recruit!”
I was suddenly lifted without understanding what was happening.
“Whoa!”
Being thrown upward and falling made my head spin.
I nearly instinctively used martial arts to right myself in mid-air, but I forced myself to hold back.
If I shifted my posture in the air here, someone could get hurt.
After being tossed high several times, I finally landed on the ground, only to be bombarded with handshake requests.
“So you’re the benefactor who saved our captain? I’m Lucky. I’m a mage who specializes in magic.”
“I’m Kim Min-chae. I’m a former Enhanced Soldier.”
Enhanced Soldiers—people who had been injected with enhancement magic through body modification.
“Li Xiaolin. I have a mutation ability.”
Mutation ability users—those who accepted and controlled the factors of the mutant monsters that had destroyed the world.
“I’m Asada Nagi. I possess a unique magic.”
Unique magic—in other words, psychic abilities.
“I’m Howling Wolf and Dance. I’m a mage.”
I shook hands with them in bewilderment.
The mages had all introduced themselves with aliases, most of which were strange or seemed to lack any real thought.
Among the thirty-two, the largest group consisted of twelve former bio-modified Enhanced Soldiers.
Next in number were nine individuals with mutant abilities.
Three unique mages, or four if I counted Heidi.
Five servant mages and three pure mages.
There was a reason Andromallius had mentioned that pure mages were far rarer.
Heidi approached my side and spoke.
“While each person specializes in different abilities, everyone here is also a servant mage.”
“Really? Is servant magic that common?”
Servant magic referred to magic like Andromallius practiced—forming contracts with special magics and borrowing their power.
“Of course not. Servant mages are actually rarer than unique mages under normal circumstances. Everyone here has contracted with Andromallius and is in a state of ‘borrowing’ a portion of his authority.”
Servant lending—when a servant mage mediates between the magic they’ve contracted with and others.
When the entity providing the magic possesses clear will—for example, when contracting with an actual demon—that entity maintains control.
However, since Andromallius’s servant magic lacks proper will, the mediator Andromallius himself holds the initiative in the contract.
In simple terms, it was a contract through which Andromallius created subordinates.
While he could use the servant magic’s authority without limit, he could restrict his subordinates to using it only a few times per day, or impose conditions on its use.
“I see. So you can expand your forces this way.”
Did the other Shadows operate similarly?
Then what about the five who introduced themselves as servant mages?
Were they people without separate abilities?
I learned later that they contracted with separate servant magics to wield magic.
Of the five servant mages, two had contracted with demons, one with an angel, one with a spirit, and the last with the soul of a mage ancestor.
“But is accepting that servant magic something you must do?”
At my question, everyone looked at me as though questioning my sanity.
“Why are you all looking at me like that? It’s not like I necessarily want it.”
At my words, Howling Wolf and Dance spoke.
“I mean, there are restrictions, but I never imagined someone would refuse free magic with no cost. In that sense, I have to ask—are you in your right mind?”
“What, just because I don’t want one magic spell, you’re questioning my sanity? Servant magic carries risks, doesn’t it?”
At my words, the five servant mages smiled wryly and nodded.
“The captain can set the risks too. Of course, if you want lower risks, you receive lower-tier authority, and if you want higher-level abilities, you’re given corresponding risks, but still.”
“I see. But ultimately, there are still risks.”
All the more reason not to be tempted.
At my reaction, Andromallius smiled as though pleased.
“You see? This is exactly why I wanted to scout Credit.”
At his words, Kim Min-chae, who came from the Enhanced Soldier corps, spoke.
“That’s quite an eccentric thing to say. You two will get along great.”
No, if someone had a safety-oriented disposition like mine, couldn’t they also refuse servant magic?
I thought that, but considering this city’s current situation, I couldn’t be the mainstream.
In a dystopian world, someone who refuses power merely because of risk would naturally seem insane.
Many of these people had likely crawled through the lower Underground, so they’d hardly empathize with my position.
“I’ll tell you about the abilities and risks you can receive later, so don’t think too negatively about it and consider it carefully. It’s more useful than you’d think, and some of these abilities are essential for handling the requests that mainly come to us.”
Besides, the Magic Tower and City Government would send requests tailored to Andromallius’s ‘abilities.’
Perhaps becoming a subordinate of Andromallius was the essential price of admission to the Andromallius Family.
“Understood.”
As I nodded, Andromallius smiled and spoke.
“Since it’s a company gathering today, let’s eat and drink to our hearts’ content!”
“Cheers!”
At his cry, everyone raised their glasses and cheered.

* * *

The gathering was in full swing.
As time passed, people formed small groups and ate from the buffet-style spread of food.
Some ate modestly while conversing, others drank like fish, and still others ate ravenously as if they hadn’t eaten in a week—the variety was striking.
I thought their interest in me had faded, but I was mistaken.
“Let me introduce myself again—I’m Howling Wolf and Dance.”
“I’m Lucky.”
“Melanin.”
It seemed they’d decided to take turns introducing themselves in small groups, since if everyone rushed at once, I’d be overwhelmed and unable to remember anyone.
“First, I want to sincerely thank you for saving our captain. I heard that without you, he would have died for sure.”
“I was just fortunate.”
At my response, Lucky, a magician in his mid-thirties, asked a question.
“But how did you end up saving the captain?”
“I was just walking when I saw the captain being chased by some gorilla-like monster, so I followed and helped him escape.”
Since I was now becoming a member of this Family, I referred to Andromallius as the captain.
“I heard it was Outside the City—what were you doing there?”
“Lucky. Don’t ask questions that might be sensitive.”
Howling Wolf and Dance reprimanded Lucky.
“No, but at least I should know where the minefields are so I don’t step on one. Of course, if this question itself was a minefield, I apologize. I’m sorry.”
At Lucky’s words, everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to our conversation.
Several of them had a golden gleam flickering in their eyes.
Was it some kind of power to discern Andromallius’s truth?
“No need to apologize. I simply came from a place far removed from the City, and when I found myself alone in this world, I headed toward where people were and happened to meet the captain.”
I saw those whose eyes had shimmered with gold light nod slightly at my words.
They were acknowledging that my words contained no falsehood.
“There’s nothing particularly catastrophic in my past, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask how I survived Outside the City and such. It might be connected to a certain secret technique. The captain also told me to keep it hidden as much as possible.”
I conveyed words that were ambiguous and easily misunderstood, yet truthful.
The request not to ask was true, the connection to a secret technique was true, and Andromallius’s warning to hide it in case he was kidnapped was also true.
“I see. Then should I understand it as you coming from Outside the City?”
“Yes.”
Once I made it clear I didn’t want further questions, inquiries about how I’d survived ceased.
However, questions about whether humanity still survived Outside the City continued.
To most of those questions, I had no choice but to answer honestly, “I don’t know.” And those whose pupils gleamed with golden light could only nod in acknowledgment that my answers were truthful.
“But why are there fewer pure mages in the Family? I thought there would be more mages, even if not all of them.”
Lucky answered my question with a bitter smile.
“You really must have come from outside the City. Only upper-class citizens or the wealthy can create an Astral Body within the City and walk the path of a formal mage. Those people enter research positions or official City Defense Forces—they rarely take on dangerous mercenary work like this. Besides, mages aren’t even a combat-suited profession.”
I see. Indeed, even in the mage Community, when discussing career paths, people spoke of entering corporations as researchers, but almost no one mentioned becoming a mercenary.
“Of course, mercenaries aren’t incapable of using magic. Most of them use enhanced magic implanted through biological modification or primitive magic systems from before Astral Body development.”
In the City, “mage” typically referred to those who had created an Astral Body, but among the lower-class citizens, many had learned and mastered body-based magic.
It seemed the absolute lowest of the low didn’t even have the opportunity to learn such magic.
“Everyone here can be called a magic user in that sense.”
Looking around carefully at those words, I noticed people wearing circular rings on their hearts and others with mana circuits running across their entire bodies.
After conversing with three people, others approached in turn, introducing themselves in detail and engaging in conversation.
As we took turns asking and answering questions, someone eventually spoke as if the time had come.
“Shouldn’t we check the newcomer’s abilities now?”
At those words, people naturally began clearing the center of the Safe House.
Shadow was a mercenary organization. For mercenaries, confirming the abilities of someone you would entrust your back to was not a choice—it was essential.
I had no choice but to stand up and move toward the center.

(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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