Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 95

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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 95. The Sephiroth Magician – Astral Body (3)

I glanced around the interior and spoke.
“I thought a secret base would be a place for rest, but this looks completely different.”
At my words, Andromallius retrieved a transparent vial filled with liquid from a corner box and replied.
“There are bases like that too. This one is designed for information gathering, so it has all these miscellaneous facilities. I need to take an antidote first, so please wait a moment.”
Andromallius activated a machine, then sat down and drank the potion.
Immediately, an enormous surge of magical power erupted from his body.
This magical power—Hwagyeong level? No, perhaps slightly below that?
But it was tremendous nonetheless.
If I’d acted carelessly, I would’ve simply died.
He spent dozens of minutes focused solely on controlling his magical power before exhaling deeply.
“Phew! I’ve overcome the crisis. Allow me to express my gratitude once more. …Now that I think about it, I haven’t even heard your name.”
“Ah, I am….”
“Wait!”
Before I could introduce myself, Andromallius stopped me.
“Just so you know, a magician should never reveal their true name carelessly. My name, Andromallius, was inherited from my predecessors—it is not my real name.”
“Is that so? Is there a particular reason?”
Andromallius answered my question.
“Because a name can become a weakness. There are types of magic that strike at the fundamental essence of one’s opponent. In such cases, a magician’s name can serve to clarify the target. It’s said that if you know a fairy’s true name, you can take everything from them—magicians operate on a similar principle, though to a lesser degree.”
“Then must a magician hide their name for their entire life?”
“Not necessarily. Depending on the magic, some types grant power through one’s reputation and how people perceive you. In those cases, using your true name strengthens your fundamental essence, so magicians often reveal their names.”
Both approaches stemmed from the same principle, yet led to opposite responses.
“In truth, magic that strikes at fundamental essence is extremely difficult and requires extensive preparation, so only a tiny number of magicians can use it. And in the latter case, those who cultivate their essence take precautions to protect it, so no amount of attack causes serious harm. Essence is extraordinarily difficult to attack but remarkably easy to defend.”
“Then couldn’t one simply live under their true name?”
“When your cultivation is low, it’s hard to prepare defenses, and if there’s a stark difference in magical level, defenses can be easily breached. So it’s better to avoid living under your true name when possible. Even at high levels, there’s no need to invite unnecessary trouble.”
I understood what he meant. I pondered for a moment, then thought of an alias.
“Then I’ll take the name Credit.”
“Credit—’professional trust.’ A fitting name for a magician who must always remain composed.”
I’d simply chosen it because Credit was the currency used in The Tower.
I’d just earned a massive amount of Credits and spent them, after all.
‘Credit’ in its narrow sense referred to economic trust, but broadly it encompassed professional credibility and reliability.
It carried a more formal and public connotation than ‘Believe’ or ‘Trust,’ which implied intimate faith.
“Excellent, Credit. I’ll teach you magic. Since your body hasn’t fully recovered yet, we have considerable time.”
I nodded at his words.
Just from the magical power he’d released after drinking the antidote, I could tell he was a magician of considerable cultivation.
Though it would be tactless to say to someone who’d nearly died, I could honestly call myself extraordinarily fortunate.
Andromallius cast a cleansing spell on me, wiping away the black soot-like residue, then spoke.
“Then let me see your magic first. I need to assess your level to know how best to teach you.”
At his words, I drew inner energy from my dantian and attempted a simple spell.
Andromallius’s expression hardened as he watched my magic.
“What is it? What’s so serious?”
“…A comprehensive disaster, I’d say. Could you demonstrate body enhancement magic? If possible, weapon enhancement magic as well.”
At his request, I lightly enhanced my body and moved, then swung my sword.
Crude as it was, I even demonstrated sword energy.
“Indeed. I see. The magic you’ve learned is remarkably refined primitive magic.”
“Can ‘refined’ and ‘primitive’ really be used together to describe something?”
“But they can, you see. From what I observe, your magic seems entirely focused on training and enhancing your body. Am I correct?”
I nodded. That’s what martial arts fundamentally are.
“Remarkable. I knew the world contained all manner of extraordinary magic, but I never imagined such a system existed. Had Hybrid seen you, they would have kidnapped and dissected you.”
Wait—they wouldn’t even try to extract my martial arts? They’d go straight to dissection?
What kind of madmen are they?
“What is this Hybrid?”
“Hybrid is one of the major corporations in the City. That’s not important right now, so I’ll explain the City’s ecology and common knowledge slowly.”
Andromallius rose from his seat and retrieved a whiteboard from the corner.
“Ah, the marker’s gone. Let me see… there’s a spare… here it is.”
With a fresh marker in hand, he simply drew two crude stick figures, like cookie cutters.
“Credit, your problems are numerous, but if I had to identify the most critical ones, there are two.”
Two problems?
“One is your body enhancement magic, and the other is the structure by which you store and manipulate magical power within your body.”
Andromallius drew rotating arrows inside the right figure and outward-pointing arrows on the left.
“Your magic appears to work by confining magical power within your body to maximize physical growth and enhancement efficiency. But magic is the discipline of taking power under your control and resonating it with the world to bend its laws. You cannot use magic by confining power within your body.”
“But I can use it.”
As I conjured a candle-flame-sized fire at my fingertip, Andromallius exhaled deeply.
“By conventional understanding, you shouldn’t be able to. Well, theoretically, since it’s the same magical power, usage should be possible. But do you understand how many controlling elements that requires? Yet you do it as naturally as breathing… what kind of insane magical control is this?”
He looked at me as though I were a lunatic or a monster. Yet simultaneously, he grinned with obvious excitement.
That perverted, stagnant gaze made me uncomfortable.
“Ahem! In any case, your magic is specialized only in body enhancement, so when using other forms of magic, you don’t achieve proper efficiency. Do you experience any inconvenience when casting?”
“Inconvenience? Well… I need to concentrate when using it.”
“Don’t say such obvious things!”
But that’s all there is.
If I need to concentrate, how am I supposed to use it in combat?
“Sigh… I understand. You experience no inconvenience. However, there is indeed a severe efficiency problem.”
“So what should I do?”
Abandon martial arts? Then what happens when I absorb my clone back into my main body?
Andromallius, sensing my complicated feelings, spoke.
“You don’t need to abandon or change the magic system you’re currently learning. You simply add something new to it.”
Andromallius drew another figure overlapping the one showing magical power emission, as if layering one person atop another.
“Credit, your second problem. Your magical system is primitive.”
“Primitive?”
What? The martial arts of the 50th century Galactic Martial Arts World being called primitive?
“Of course, I speak only in relative terms. Since it circulates within your body, I cannot discern its exact structure, but the magical system dedicated solely to physical enhancement is not lacking compared to other magics—in fact, it’s quite refined.”
Yet you still call it primitive?
“Only that, in the history of magical systems, the structure of storing and manipulating magical power within the body is a primitive approach practiced only in the distant past.”
“If not the body, then where does one accumulate magical power? The mind?”
At my question, Andromallius snapped his fingers.
“Precisely!”
Really? The mind?
“To be exact, through what is called the soul, or the Astral Body—what some term the spiritual form—one accumulates magical power in the soul rather than the body.”
Ah, the soul.
I already knew souls existed in some form, having witnessed climbers who practiced necromancy.
But so magical power could be accumulated in the soul as well.
“Of course, even accumulating magical power in the body poses no problem for casting high-level magic. However, storing power directly in the physical body carries several disadvantages.”
“Disadvantages?”
“First, depending on the method of accumulation, you incur physical risks. For instance, in the distant past, there was a period when a method of creating rings around the heart became popular.”
Magic circles! A concept frequently appearing in fantasy novels.
“Through centrifugal force, one could cast more powerful magic with less magical power, but the problem is that as the rings of power multiply, the centrifugal force increases, straining the heart until it eventually ruptures and causes death.”
What! Such a dangerous method existed?
“Second, the balance of mind, power, and body becomes critical. This is a problem not entirely overcome even in modern magical systems that use the Astral Body. When a person’s mind, magical power, and body lack balance, inner demons take root—and this is quite fatal.”
Inner demons? In the Galactic Martial Arts World, it referred to mental illness before succumbing to demonic influence, and it seemed the term was used similarly here.
Perhaps The Tower’s universal translation ability rendered it that way.
But unlike martial arts, which confine power within the body, magic releases it outward—so did practitioners not succumb to demonic influence?
No, thinking of that mage on the 10th Floor, it could happen.
Come to think of it, the reason mages had such eccentric personalities seemed to stem from this imbalance of mind, power, and body.
It paralleled how wounded beasts grow nervous and how people hospitalized long-term become hysterical.
“But you still haven’t completely overcome it even now?”
“Correct. Even storing magical power in the Astral Body, the body remains the gateway through which one communicates with the world. Since magical power flows through the body, a weak physique naturally throws the balance of mind, power, and body into disorder. That’s why mages require a certain level of physical training.”
Andromallius added that he himself needed no further exercise.
“By storing magical power in the Astral Body rather than the traditional method of the physical form, one gains greater freedom regarding the balance of mind, power, and body. In other words, Credit, the method of magical power manipulation you’re currently learning will make that balance all the more essential.”
He then stated the final reason.
“Third, physical loss translates to magical loss. It’s obvious, really. If part of a flour sack is cut away, the power leaks out. Even if you mend the sack, its capacity is reduced. But when part of the body disappears, part of the soul does not disappear with it.”
Certainly, for mages, nothing mattered as much as the amount of magical power, making this a crucial factor.
For martial artists, where the balance of mind, power, and body was paramount, both inner power and physique mattered equally.
“Then does the Astral Body have disadvantages as well?”
At my question, Andromallius nodded.
“Nothing in this world has only advantages. Naturally, disadvantages exist as well.”

(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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