Chapter 293 - Hatching (7)

“Aghhhhh!”

The bone-chilling screams made it seem like the Snow Spire was a kingdom’s underground torture chamber.

“Aaaaargh!”

It was like a symphony of agonizing pain sung in the deepest parts of hell, sending chills down anyone’s spine. Henry was the only one walking among the pained wizards; he was the demon strolling among the imprisoned sinners, observing their infernal torture.

The cycle of pain, destruction, recovery, and growth continued.

At some point, Henry stopped smiling. Instead, he would slap and splash water on anyone he saw was about to pass out.

He was especially relentless with those who were a mage or higher. The more of them there were, the more it benefited him.

Of course, Henry wasn’t worried about them dying. Given the presence of the priests, he had designed this awakening process so that the wizards wouldn’t die, even though they probably wanted to die because of the unbearable pain.

Henry’s eyes had adjusted to the light that filled the Snow Spire.

When some people finally fell to the floor here and there, he knew that their awakening was coming to an end. Henry walked over to the first young wizards that fell and checked up on them.

‘He’s made it.’

Henry didn’t remember his name, but he had been a 3rd-Circle wizard who had graduated from the academy in second place. But now, not only had he evolved to the 4th-Circle, but he was already showing signs that he was close to awakening the 5th-Circle.

It was a massive accomplishment.

Henry couldn’t help smiling as he watched the other wizards become stronger, one after another.

The awakening of the wizards continued for a long time, and after a while, Henry saw all the wizards lying on the ground. He and the priests were the only ones still standing.

‘Tsk, tsk, what a bunch of weaklings.’

From the lowest-ranked wizards with the lowest Circles, to Lore, the former head of the spire... Every single wizard of the Snow Spire had passed out after enduring the grueling process of awakening.

Henry couldn’t understand them, because when he had awakened the 7th-Circle, he hadn’t received any help from any priests; he had endured the pain on his own with only his poisonous blood he had obtained by eating the demon’s heart.

“W-we’re done!”

Thud.

Shortly after all the wizards passed out, the priests, who had been running back and forth, healing and keeping everyone alive, also collapsed. The strain of constantly using their divine powers had severely dehydrated them.

Of course, the Saint and Elagon were completely fine because they were the very best when it came to healing powers. Healing a few hundred wizards wasn't enough to exhaust them.

“Thank you,” Henry told the priests on the floor as he bowed.

The priests responded with a smile before passing out.

Leaving the exhausted high priests to sleep, the Saint turned to Henry and said, “No one’s dead or injured. It seems like they’ve all advanced successfully.”

“This is all thanks to the high priests, and especially you, Saint.”

- Khu khu khu!

Seeing that Henry only praised Irenae, Elagon puffed out his cheeks and complained about it.

“Thank you as well, Elagon.”

- Khu khu!

Only then was Elagon satisfied.

“Archmage, is this everything you needed help with?” asked Irenae.

“No, there’s still one more person left.”

“One more person?”

“Yes. All the wizards of the Snow Spire have advanced a Circle, but I have yet to make any progress, right?”

“...Ah!”

The one person who hadn’t advanced yet was Henry, the head of the Magical Spire.

‘It’s not every day that I get a chance like this.’

Henry pulled out a rather heavy-looking bottle from his pocket.

It was the Black Tear.

However, this bottle of the Black Tear was concentrated enough to get all the high-level wizards in the Snow Spire to awaken.

It took an enormous amount of mana to advance to the 8th-Circle, so one couldn’t even imagine how horrifyingly painful this particular concentration of the Black Tear would be.

Henry swallowed nervously, his fingers trembling ever so slightly. This was the most concentrated version of the Black Tear that had ever been made. The bottle was as large as a warrior's fist, whereas the vials of Black Tear the wizards had drunk earlier were no less than someone’s thumb.

‘This is going to fill me up.’

Despite his fear of the pain that would soon follow, Henry still thought this was a good opportunity.

If Henry hadn’t managed to get all the wizards of the Snow Spire to evolve their Circles, he would’ve had to torture the Cyclone Hydra he had captured in his laboratory for much longer. But thanks to his plan of helping everyone here evolve, he could attempt to awaken the 8th-Circle much sooner than he had expected.

Henry held up the giant bottle of the Black Tear and told the Saint, “Now, I’m going to attempt to become the second 8th-Circle Archmage in the history of the continent, following in Master’s footsteps.”

“Sorry? An 8th-Circle?”

“Yes. It’s fair to say that all of this was planned for my own awakening... Anyway, the agony caused by just one vial of Black Tear, no bigger than a thumb, is excruciating. So... I think you can imagine how incredibly painful this quantity of Black Tear will be.

“Yes, and it’s very clear what I have to do.”

“That’s right. Of course, I don’t plan on dying, but please help me so I can recover as quickly as possible.”

“Very well. Then when should I get ready?”

“I’ll get ready right now. Please wait a moment.”

Henry then clasped his hands together and slowly raised them. Soon, huge droplets of ice cold water formed in the air. They were the size of an adult’s fist.

Henry then dropped them all over the faces of the exhausted school heads.

Splash!

“Ahhh!”

“Ugh!”

“Huh?”

Seven school heads woke up, and their reactions varied. They looked like drowning mice as they got up in a sitting position, looking confused. It seemed like they weren’t fully awake yet.

However, Henry had no time to listen to their rambling.

“Wake up!”

“A-Archmage?”

“Yes, it’s me. Now get up and get your act together. This isn’t the time for you guys to be lying around and sleeping.”

“B-but, we were just...!”

“You guys were what? You’re not planning to tell me some ridiculous lie about how the process of awakening was so hard that your body feels weak or whatever, right?”

Henry had hit the nail on the head, but it wasn’t like they were trying to lie.

The pain of the awakening had been so excruciating that despite clenching their jaws and trying their best to endure the pain, they had still ended up losing consciousness.

In addition, they were all middle-aged men, so they automatically assumed that they had to rest.

However, Henry had no intention of giving them a break, or rather, he considered that they didn’t need one. He hadn’t included a rest period in this awakening process.

“Stop making a fuss and check yourselves because we need to proceed with the next stage of the plan right away.”

At Henry’s comment, the school heads finally realized that something was off. They didn’t feel exhausted anymore. Rather, they felt a tremendous amount of energy flowing through them, something they had never felt before.

“No way...!”

“T-this power is...!”

The power that flowed through them felt unfamiliar and yet incredibly welcoming. It was the power they had longed for all their lives—the power of a 7th-Circle.

Henry smirked as he watched the eyes of the seven school heads grow wide.

“Welcome to the world of a 7th-Circle, rookies.”

“...!”

“...!”

At Henry’s congratulation, reality finally dawned upon the seven wizards. They all got goosebumps all over their bodies. They then immediately got on one knee and bowed to Henry.

“Thank you, Archmage!”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. So now I’ll give you guys your first task as a way of commemorating your ascension to the 7th-Circle, so listen carefully.”

Henry’s plan to awaken the next Circle had just begun.

***

Henry went to his office at the top floor of the Snow Spire with the seven freshly awakened 7th-Circle wizards. They proceeded to clear away the furniture and draw a giant magic circle on the floor using complex and difficult formulas.

The seven school heads surrounded the magic circle, standing on the edge of it. Saint Irenae and Elagon were the only ones standing away from the magic circle.

Sitting in the center of the magic circle, Henry said, “I’ll explain one last time. The moment I drink the Black Tear and start meditating, each of you must act upon the roles I’ve assigned to you and give me as much mana as you can until you all pass out. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Archmage.”

“And, Saint...”

“Yes, Archmage?”

“Please take good care of me.”

“Don’t worry. Elagon and I will do everything in our power.”

The process of going from the 7th-Circle to the 8th-Circle wasn't a matter of simply having enough mana. The realm of the 8th-Circle, as discovered and achieved by Henry in his previous life, was almost transcendent.

Of course, one’s physical body also underwent changes during the process of awakening, but the most notable difference was that the 8th-Circle changed the way in which one interacted with mana from Nature itself.

‘Even if all the wizards are placed in the same environment, the amount of mana each of them can absorb is different. That’s what you call the difference in sensitivity.’

Up until the 7th-Circle, one could eventually use up all their mana if they really tried to. The mana pool of a 7th-Circle mage was like a river. However, reaching the 8th-Circle allowed the wizard to have an infinite ocean of mana, one that could never be exhausted.

The unlimited amount of mana of an 8th-Circle mage was great in itself, but what made it stand out was its constant synergy with Nature.

‘That’s why I was the one and only Archmage, but what’s the point of that, given that I died from a vial of poison?’

Henry frowned bitterly as he remembered the poison that had sealed his fate. He had been the one and only 8th-Circle Archmage, but he had still been human.

However, things were different now.

Unlike in his previous life, this version of Henry was a lot stronger and had the potential to become a more powerful 8th-Circle Archmage than his past self.

‘I have faith in myself and in my magic that has brought me to his point.’

Henry had never doubted his own strength, and he never would, not even in his final moments.

“Start,” said Henry.

“Yes, Archmage.”

At Henry’s command, the seven 7th-Circle wizards surrounding him activated the magic circle.

“Haaa.” Henry let out a sigh as the magic circle resonated with him. Then, after exchanging one last look with the Saint, he downed the bottle of the Black Tear in one go.

Smash!

As soon as Henry finished the Black Tear, he threw the glass bottle outside of the magic circle. The moment he heard the bottle shatter, Henry felt that something inside him shattered as well.

Pnggg-!

His ears were ringing and blood leaked from them, as well as from his eyes and nose.

“Aghhhhhh!”

That was the final scream from the Snow Spire, but the performance that signified the birth of the greatest Archmage in history was just starting.

Crack!

Just then, the pearl Henry had in his pocket cracked, just like the egg that had encompassed it.