I quietly closed my eyes and focused on the beating within my body.
I could feel my heart pulsing softly.
And beyond that heart, in a space made entirely of mana, my tree had taken root.
It sensed my presence and gently swayed its branches in greeting.
The tree boasted an exceptionally thick trunk.
Despite my daily routine of trimming it down, it continued to grow vigorously.
Its energy stemmed from the shadow tree that spread beneath it.
That strange shadow, which did not exist in reality, rippled beautifully like the night sky.
And it did not simply remain confined to my body.
The shadow tree wove itself together with mana, extending in all directions to create a domain that belonged solely to me.
Within this space, the puppets bound to the shadow tree could roam freely.
The domain had changed significantly compared to before.
It had happened this year.
No, not even this year—just within the past few months.
During that time, my shadow tree had expanded dramatically.
Before the start of the new lecture, my domain barely reached a few nearby mountains.
The students in the previous class often complained about it.
They said the range in which they could use mirror bugs and puppets was too narrow.
There was nothing I could do about it.
That had been my limit back then.
But things were different now.
The domain I could encompass had grown to nearly twice its previous size.
Within this vast territory, the current students moved around much more freely.
The same went for the puppets.
In this vast space, the stars within the shadow tree gleamed with an intense light.
Several stars intertwined to form constellations, and the consciousnesses born from them wove together a brilliant tapestry of light.
And among them, the brightest one was this guy—Turtle.
I opened my eyes and looked down at my chest.
The moment our gazes met, Turtle opened his mouth slightly.
I gently stroked his head.
He rubbed his head against my fingers and let out a satisfied hum.
Through our connection, a powerful surge of emotion flowed into me.
It was something I hadn’t recognized before—something called love.
Even now, love felt strange to me.
I didn’t know how to love as passionately as they did.
So, expressing love didn’t come naturally to me either.
But when I quietly observed the flow of their emotions, my heart warmed on its own.
And that warmth was passed on to them, even if just a little.
Within that exchange, they shone even brighter.
I recalled the time I first created Turtle.
It had happened outside the university.
I had wanted to weave several mana hearts together to create one massive being—the creature that had left a deep impression on my mind, a turtle.
Of course, it was a half-failure.
But at the same time, it was also half a success.
I traced the connection between us.
This link wasn’t just something formed through the consciousness bound to the shadows.
It had existed since the moment I created Turtle, tying him to both me and my tree.
As I stroked him, I observed the domain created by the shadow tree.
The information and mana contained within it naturally flowed toward the stars, and the stars absorbed it, shining even more brilliantly.
The cycle felt completely natural.
Within it, the tree grew, and it was certain to continue growing.
I lightly tapped Turtle’s head before withdrawing my hand.
***
Such a tremendous change would have been impossible through my own strength alone.
Even the puppets I had created wouldn’t have been enough.
No matter how many of them there were, no matter how much love they held for me, the limits of talent were always painfully clear.
The foundation of this explosive growth lay in the treasures.
Now, the number of treasures that had joined the board had reached nearly forty.
That was the result of Cassian and Mira persistently searching through the storage rooms.
It would be difficult to gather any more.
Most of the rooms on the sixth floor had already been explored.
Climbing to the seventh floor to collect more treasures was out of the question.
I recalled the eerie gaze that had once watched me.
That memory still remained like a deep scar on my mind.
The seventh floor was still far beyond my reach.
Besides, even the treasures from the sixth floor possessed an overwhelming level of mana and power that far surpassed someone like me.
Just dealing with them had already drained a significant amount of my mental energy.
‘Who knew what might happen next?’
So, I gathered treasures and stationed numerous puppets around them.
Just as the butler had done, the puppets absorbed the mana from the treasures and channeled it into the shadow tree.
And through that mana, the shadow tree flourished.
Mana I couldn’t even begin to understand, information beyond my comprehension, and countless wills all gathered and accumulated within it—and they were still accumulating even now.
“You lack talent.”
That was what Professor Irien had said the first time she saw me.
She had told me I had no aptitude for combat.
That I should focus on practical magic instead.
By following her advice, I had barely managed to enter the university.
But the results I achieved were things others could accomplish effortlessly.
Upon arriving at the university, I became painfully aware of my own shortcomings—of the wall of talent that separated them from me.
Because of that, talent had always been something I envied.
So, I made up my mind.
‘If I couldn’t possess talent, I would steal it.’
That became my method of growth.
However, there were limits to what I could gain from students alone.
That was why I had drawn the treasures into the board.
I made them give lectures.
There was only one reason I had the treasures conduct lectures—to observe how they bestowed power upon the students, to see how the students used that power, and to understand the treasures’ abilities through their interactions.
And through that process, the shadow tree steadily grew.
My tree was no different.
Infused with the mana from the treasures, it had grown beyond what I had ever imagined.
Of course, there were some side effects.
I recalled the time Hao had succumbed to the power of the Fang Necklace.
In his greed for its strength, he had become corrupted.
So, I had purified him.
And I was in the same state as him.
No, perhaps I was even worse.
Hao had only received refined fragments of power from the treasures, yet he had still succumbed.
He had fallen under the Fang Necklace’s influence and had been intoxicated by the Sky Ring.
“Hmm… maybe it’s not the power that’s the problem, but Hao himself.”
Hao caused far more trouble than the other students.
He had almost caused an incident in this lecture too.
I chuckled, picturing him lying unconscious in the infirmary.
‘Then, what about me?’
I had been steadily consuming the treasures’ mana and knowledge, little by little.
Just enough that they wouldn’t notice—or, even if they did, it wouldn’t concern them.
And by absorbing their mana, I was also accepting their wills.
That meant the risk of corruption was always present.
***
That was why my body, which had taken in their mana, was gradually becoming more attuned to them.
It was something I could not resist.
Within this process, I was slowly being eroded by their power.
The only reason I had remained relatively intact was thanks to the key the professor had entrusted to me.
It kept me from being completely twisted.
That was also the reason I had embarked on this path.
Though lately, I felt its effects had weakened.
Hao’s scent had begun to smell sweeter to me.
I didn’t know why Hao emitted such a scent.
But I could use it as a reference.
A way to measure just how close I had become to the treasures.
Today, that scent was stronger than ever.
Even Mira would have drooled if she had smelled it.
It meant I had gotten closer to becoming one of them.
Someday, my very way of thinking might change completely.
But this was the result of my choice.
And I willingly accepted it.
I quietly placed my hand on the circuit before me.
I had spent countless hours drawing this single stroke of the circuit.
The traces of my deliberation were embedded within it.
‘Would it succeed?’ That thought crossed my mind.
I shook my head lightly to dispel it. It would succeed.
Strong belief and conviction were the only means to make this magic work.
There was no need for doubt.
I had already completed all the necessary preparations.
Now, all I had to do was step into the magic circle.
A slight tension made my heart pound.
The Ring of the Sky created a blueprint based on itself.
And the Sky Ring Cult used that as a foundation to summon the existence of the Sky Ring.
It was an achievement born solely from unwavering faith.
Of course, the direction of their belief differed somewhat from the Sky Ring’s own thoughts.
After coming to understand the love of the dolls, I realized that such belief was also a form of love.
They had loved and trusted the Sky Ring so completely that their faith had successfully manifested it in reality.
Then, a thought struck me.
‘Twenty magicians had gathered, combining their belief and love to create a single form. If they could do it, then why couldn’t we?’
With that in mind, I slowly began studying the blueprint of the Sky Ring.
Of course, with my limited knowledge, fully understanding it was difficult.
That was why I sought help from others.
From Mira, from Hari, and even from my professor.
The professor was annoyed at first, but when I clung to the hem of her robe and begged, she left me with a bit of advice.
Even that was a great help to me.
With that, I modified the blueprint of the Sky Ring and redrew the magic circle.
The resulting magic circle took the shape of a tree.
It was a form deeply familiar to me.
***
Placing a hand lightly over my chest, I looked at Zero.
Zero nodded at me—a signal that there were no issues with the magic circle.
I took a deep breath and slowly stepped into it.
The first step was difficult, but after that, I found my heart growing calmer.
Step by step, I walked toward the center of the circle.
There, an open space awaited.
I gently stroked the turtle that hung from my chest before setting it down on the ground.
I felt its gaze fixed on me.
Smiling faintly, I lightly tapped its head.