Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 107

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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 107. The Sephiroth Magician – The Laughing Murderer (1)

After the welcome gathering with members of the Andromallius Family, one of the mercenary groups known as the 72 Shadows, I made it a point to show my face at the True Hideout outside the Inner Wall once a week.
I couldn’t possibly wait three months to appear, just because my official induction was three months away.
Since we’d broken the ice and would soon be workplace colleagues, I had to maintain proper social relations.
Ideally, I would visit daily, but even the official members didn’t come to the hideout every day, and there were a few like Baejimil who remained holed up in the safer Official Hideout conducting research and never visited the True Hideout.
The Official Hideout served as a communication channel between the 33 Magic Towers and the City Government, so attacking it would mean defying and antagonizing both the 33 Magic Towers and the City itself—something even organizations hostile to the Andromallius Family would never dare attempt.
All famous mercenary organizations, including the 72 Shadows, maintained such official channels, and the Andromallius Family couldn’t attack them either.
In essence, it was a forcibly maintained peace zone.
After the gathering, Andromallius introduced me to these people whenever time permitted.
Though they didn’t work as mercenaries, there were thirteen people supporting the Andromallius Family from behind, bringing the family’s actual size to forty-nine members including Andromallius and myself.
Learning magic from Andromallius while teaching him martial arts, those three months flew by in an instant.
I’d been in this city for half a year already.
The mana density of my astral body continued to increase, and in terms of pure mana quantity, I’d nearly reached the level of a Class 4 Master.
Yet reaching the true limit still felt distant.
Over those three months, I’d mastered all Class 3 and Class 4 reference spells that didn’t utilize body-weight techniques.
Spells utilizing body-weight techniques were essentially equivalent to Class 5 or higher magic.
Beyond reference spells, I’d also learned numerous derived and applied variations.
Baejimil, who often taught me healing magic, suggested I choose a direction and specialize, but I felt I could decide on such specialization after growing further, so I learned broadly across all disciplines.
Andromallius refused to impose limits on me, never interfering with whatever magic I chose to study—he simply answered my questions and taught me what I asked for.
Having learned martial arts from me, Andromallius recently developed a passion for exercise and converted one of the first-floor spaces into a dedicated gymnasium.
While my physical growth had plateaued, Andromallius, who’d been physically weaker than me, was already approaching the level of a second-rate martial artist.
Since he’d learned the Muscle-Restraining Bone-Locking technique to prevent muscle hypertrophy and the Yoga Energy technique to develop flexibility, it didn’t show on the surface.
“This martial arts magic system is remarkable. To achieve such physical development—it surpasses what the Hybrid achieves through modification surgery.”
That’s only because you’re naturally gifted.
Of course, providing him with martial arts elixirs had also accelerated his growth.
After tasting the elixirs, he marveled at their effects and, insisting he couldn’t accept them for free, paid a high price for several more.
Normally, those who begin martial arts after their growth period ends face clear limitations, yet this man continued sprouting growth even in his forties.
If he’d learned martial arts from childhood, he could’ve easily reached Hwagyeong.
“Ugh, the smell of sweat. Shower immediately after exercising, or at least use a cleansing spell before coming out.”
As Andromallius and I finished exercising and emerged, Heidi frowned.
“Haha, my apologies.”
Since water was the most abundant resource in this city, bathing itself wasn’t particularly a luxury.
Soap, however, was definitely a luxury item.
Fragrant soap especially was an even greater luxury.
“Credit, you’re officially joining as a full member starting today, right? Both of you shower quickly and get to work.”
After showering in response to Heidi’s nagging, I spoke as I rode in Andromallius’s car to work.
“Commuting in the captain’s car like this feels a bit awkward. Should I buy my own vehicle?”
There wouldn’t be many days ahead when I’d move alongside Andromallius.
Most of the time I moved alone, or even when I moved with others, it was with different members—Andromallius rarely took direct action himself.
When we did move together, it was usually when I was called to help with a request Andromallius was handling.
Looking at the car prices, even the cheapest models were less expensive than subspace magical artifacts.
Compact cars could be purchased for as little as ten thousand dollars.
The fuel was either mutant stones that dropped after hunting mutant monsters, or the driver’s magical power.
“Do you know how to drive? You’d need to get a license to operate one.”
From what I could see of the driving, it didn’t look fundamentally different from the driving I knew.
Before enlisting in the Military, or more precisely after finishing the college entrance exam, I’d obtained my driver’s license, but I didn’t have one here.
“Well, I can just get one.”
“If you’re going to ride alone, there’s something better. It’s an item where you don’t need a license at all.”
Andromallius smiled and headed toward the Safe House.
Upon arriving at the Safe House, I was astonished by the equipment visible inside.
“These are supplies issued to official members.”
“The things you gave me half a year ago?”
“Those were given to win your favor, and they were all necessities. These are separate gifts given whenever we recruit a new member, so don’t worry about it.”
Certainly, the equipment visible before me seemed far removed from necessities.
Two magical power swords in the form of energy blades like beam sabers, and one physical magical sword.
Two magical bullet pistols and one magical bullet rifle.
Rechargeable magical bullet cartridges for various attributes.
One pistol chambered in 9mm Parabellum with three magazines and one box containing three thousand rounds.
Two small magical staffs.
So they use real ammunition too. I thought they only used magical bullets since those were standardized, but apparently not.
Beyond that, there was an emergency medical magic kit.
A physical enhancement magic kit.
Five magical power-sealing handcuffs.
Fifty spheres containing capture magic nets powered by magical force.
Three sets of black magical combat suits.
Two energy shield-type barriers.
A complex magical storage and activation device that looked like an old electronic dictionary.
And a mini bike…?
“Is this a motorcycle? It looks like one, but why doesn’t it have wheels?”
“This is a personal mobility magical artifact—think of it like a flying carpet or a witch’s magical broomstick. You can use your member ID card as the license for this.”
So essentially, a flying motorcycle?
This was something that didn’t even exist in the 50th century Galactic Martial Arts World.
A levitation system using room-temperature, atmospheric-pressure superconductors couldn’t be made this small for stability reasons.
Even at minimum, it would need to be the size of a mid-sized sedan, but this had the form of a mini bike.
So magical civilization makes even this possible.
“Of course, legally, flight above three meters within the city is prohibited. There are multiple magical air defense networks deployed over the city airspace, and it’s dangerous.”
“Then isn’t there no real need to fly in the sky?”
Wheels would have far better fuel efficiency, wouldn’t they?
“Instead, the three-meter standard includes buildings. You can ride on building walls and traverse rooftops. Outside the City, there’s no altitude restriction either, so it’s an essential item.”
Indeed, the mobility difference is significant.
As I examined the flying bike, I could sense it operated on the rider’s mana.
While the fuel itself could be mana stones harvested from defeated mutant monsters or mana crystals mined from quarries, the operating system itself was magical in nature, making the rider’s mana essential.
That’s why Andromallius, poisoned and unable to use his mana, couldn’t escape on this thing.
He couldn’t even draw out the mana needed for ignition.
“Of course, we do recommend riding it on official roads as much as possible.”
Andromallius spoke to me through magic, his voice audible only to me: “If you fuse weightlessness magic with the martial arts magic system, you could ride it far longer.”
Certainly, applying the principles of lightness technique through magic would reduce fuel consumption.
But if I were to use it that way, a jet pack worn on the back would be far more efficient than something this large and heavy.
The mana consumed by weight and form couldn’t be ignored.
Since I was already studying enchanting and magical tool crafting, making one myself wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“All of this is issued only once upon joining, and we provide replacement parts and consumables quarterly. When something breaks or is lost, you need to submit a supply request according to the schedule.”
Now that I thought about it, I recalled seeing such forms among the documents Heidi had been wrestling with.
“For reference, there’s a spending limit on supply requests. If you request supplies beyond that, it comes out of your salary, so be careful. If you miss the application period, you’ll have to purchase it yourself.”
Looking at the request limit, it seemed there would be no major problems unless I damaged four or five supply items per quarter.
Of course, in the case of this flying bike, breaking it once meant living without supplies for about two years or having to purchase a replacement out of pocket—it was that expensive.
Weapons among the supply items were managed under the City’s strict control, making them items obtainable only through the Family. For the bike, it was better to just buy a replacement if it broke.
As I placed everything into my subspace cube, Andromallius spoke.
“Now we need to make a contract.”
A contract to receive part of the power of the servitude magic “Andromallius” through Andromallius was essential as a member of Shadow.
Without this contract, no matter how valid a mercenary ID I had, I wouldn’t be recognized as Shadow, or so I was told.
And after the betrayal incident last time, an anti-betrayal clause was added, making the contract even more necessary to be accepted as Family.
“Have you decided which power you’ll receive?”
At Andromallius’s question, I nodded.
“I’ll take Lie Detection.”
“Lie Detection. A fine power. But don’t you need any other abilities? Judgment of Justice or Oath of Courage are also excellent powers.”
The two powers Andromallius mentioned were among the few combat-oriented abilities of the servitude magic “Andromallius.”
Judgment of Justice in particular was extremely potent, making it an ability most unit members had received.
“The better the power, the greater the risk.”
The Judgment of Justice power carried the annoying risk of requiring one to perform “morally or justly righteous actions” above a certain threshold in daily life.
“Still, as you complete commissions, a considerable portion naturally gets fulfilled.”
Both the City and the Magic Tower understood the nature of the servitude magic “Andromallius,” so they didn’t assign what were called “necessary evils”—morally gray missions.
Such missions were primarily given to the Belial Family, another faction within Shadow that bore the risk of periodically committing “evil acts.”
“Still, if you can’t meet the quota, you end up wandering the streets picking up trash.”
Some unit members fulfilled their quotas through volunteer work or spent their own money spreading mana formulas in the Underground City. If it could be resolved with just money, that would be one thing, but since the constraint’s source was “action,” it had to be done “directly.”
I couldn’t manage such tedious tasks.
In contrast, the risk of “Lie Detection” was straightforward.
While using Lie Detection, I would be unable to tell lies.
When asked if I couldn’t lie, I didn’t have to answer everything—so people typically using the Lie Detection ability remained silent, while others employed it during interrogations.
“Excellent. Then I’ll contract for the essential Scale of Sin and the power of Lie Detection.”
Andromallius and I clasped hands as if shaking hands to finalize the contract.
Andromallius’s seal was etched onto the back of my hand, then faded away.
“With this, Credit, you are now a member of the Andromallius Family.”
“So my carefree days of leisure are over.”
“Hahaha, one can’t play forever. Shall we begin your new recruit training right away?”
Commissions were fundamentally structured so that one or two people—at most three—would undertake them.
But as a newcomer like me, I could die working alone, so I had to be paired with at least one mentor for a month.
“I’ll personally mentor you on your first mission.”
My first mentor was Andromallius, the leader of the Family.

(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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