CH 121

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[Welcome. Child of Valienne.]

Swaah—

Purple and pale red flowers were in full bloom amidst the pouring mystic light, and the image of a goddess with her eyes closed appeared above the book that opened by itself.

‘The goddess of goodness and charity…’

I knew her name. ‘Valienne’.

It was the goddess on the emblem of the Duchy of Valienne.

[This book is a legacy that our ancestors left to the children of Valienne.]

Badump, badump, badump.

My heart raced rapidly.

It was a legacy left by my ancestors. What’s written?

Miraculously, the goddess didn’t even move her mouth, but I heard her voice.

[If you found this book, you must have inherited the ‘Sorcerer’s Soul’.]

“……!”

Was it a characteristic of my family to inherit the sorcerer’s soul?

The goddess answered my questions before I even uttered them.

[This book was left by Manis Valienne, the first head of Valienne, who inherited the ‘power of the source’ from your ancestors.]

‘Manis Valienne.’

I recalled the portrait hanging on the stairs. The portrait of the first head of the family.

I heard that the first head devoted herself to saving lives for a very long time. She was a person who traveled all over the continent to serve.

She wandered even when she was at an old age with her husband, a healer, and her life ended that way.

The proud face Victoria had as she described came to mind.

[Manis left a message to Annette about what she experienced as a ‘Successor’.]

Cheuuk—

The pages of the book turned over on its own, and the words written on it floated in the air next to me and gradually became clearer. Like a flame that grows stronger.

A 12-year-old meets Exordium for the first time.

The same age as me when I inherited the power!

‘Let’s read it line by line…’

‘Slowly…’

Like the sand washed away by the waves, the letters scattered and new words took its place.

It was mostly Manis’ biography. Mistakes, realizations, and things to pay attention to while dealing with the power were written in full.

I read it unconsciously.

If it’s the power to change the fate of others… 

One day, the sentence she would have come to a conclusion was also written there.

I want to devote all my power to saving those who are dying miserably.

She was a really nice person. My ancestor.

The only power she used was <amplification>.

She met a man endowed with a small healing power, but was so soft-hearted and kind that he was only taken advantage of. She loved him, and used the power of Exordium on his healing ability.

Like that, she saved many people, and died peacefully in her old age with her beloved husband.

And a few days before her death, she received a revelation.

One of your descendants will once again inherit the soul of Exordium.

‘That’s why she left this book behind.’

Actually, I once asked Um about the other successors.

“Um, the other heirs seem to have lived great lives with the power of ‘Exordium’, can you please tell me? I’m very curious.”

“Oh, that’s forbidden.”

“…Why?”

“Because we were given the role of providing minimal guidance. You better learn how to use your power yourself. But if I told other people’s stories, it would unintentionally become a ‘spoiler’.”

Um shrugged and seemed kind of sheepish for some reason, and continued,

“Actually, not all of the heirs lived great lives.”

“…….”

“…There was one other guy like you. A person who doesn’t have much greed and is just kind.”

“Really?”

“Yes. The both of you have the same soul.”

It was clear that the person he was speaking of at that time was my ancestor. At the time, I let it pass without a second thought.

Like a model student, I reviewed the contents of the book once again.

Then a strange thing happened.

The letters of the part I wanted to read again spun next to the goddess.

There it was written:

「Spells that deal with light and fire, call the name of power.

‘Sordi’, when you want to use the power of light.

And when you want to use the power of fire, its ‘Um’.」

‘All this while, I’ve been calling them by name.’

In terms of magic, I never imagined that this would be the ‘starter’.

Slowly, I reached out my hand and shouted.

“Sordi.”

Just then, an enormous power of light that I had never seen before erupted from my hand, releasing an enormous shockwave.

If the Goddess of Valienne did not capture the power in time and neutralize it… 

“…It almost destroyed the wall.”

I looked at my hand in disbelief. What did I just do?

‘If it’s this much, shouldn’t I be the next tower lord (though it’s not magic)?’

That’s freaking insane for a duchess.

“Um!”

Whoosh!

Then, a huge fire erupted, almost as explosive as a dragon’s breath.

“Wow.”

If the Goddess of Valienne hadn’t restrained that power as well, I would have burned down the ducal residence.

‘If I had discovered these starters as a child, I would have peed.’

It was amazing.

Who would have known that I would be able to handle such an explosive power when I was a level 6 incompetent in the Forest?

‘Life must be lived to the end.’

“Goddess of mercy, I have another question about the records left by my ancestor.”

The Goddess of Valienne put both hands together, and a word formed. 

Clear black letters floated in the air.

「Flowering.」

“Yes, that’s right. It is written that I have to go through a moment of flowering to ‘complete’ my strength, can you please tell me?”

(TL/N: ‘개화’ can mean enlightenment or flowering/blooming. Based on the imagery and overall writing, I went with ‘flowering’, the attainment of an optimum stage of development.)

However, nothing about the flowering was written in detail.

‘It just mentioned the premonitory symptoms.’

Manis said the sudden burst of power without a spell one day was an indication.

If that’s the case, there was definitely an instance already.

‘When I met the chasers.’

In that dangerous moment, I suddenly used the power of Um greatly.

[When that moment blooms, you will know it. At that time, you will be able to use all other abilities, not just fire and light.]

‘Things like recovery and amplification.’

The goddess’ words continued as she gently extended her hand with her eyes closed.

[There are already signs of flowering, Annette. Around… It must be affecting you in some way. ]

If there’s an influence…

‘Sislin.’

Suddenly, Sislin’s face appeared. It was said that my powers was making him stronger.

‘I can’t control it, but my power of amplification is getting stronger.’

Would I also experience flowering someday?

It was written as the moment of perfect resonance.

For some reason, I sat still doing nothing.

Tok tok—

It was then. A knock on the door was heard. Then a voice came from outside the door. It was Victoria.

“There was a loud noise inside. Are you okay, Duchess?”

“Oh, I’m fine! …It’s just that I found a video sphere and watched it for a while.”

When I hurriedly settled down and looked back, the beautiful flowers and the goddess disappeared without a trace.

Even the book that spoke to me had evaporated very cleanly.

“…….”

I blankly looked down at my hands.

‘It seemed as if I was possessed.’

Only two hands remained. And the feeling at that time when dealing with explosive power.

I slowly clenched my fists and decided.

I will save someone with this power and give someone the punishment they deserve.

—Certainly.

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“Are you sure you want to go alone?”

Duncan, who had always been loyal to his master, asked politely.

His beautiful and arrogant master declared that he would go to the tower alone.

Due to the nature of the originally closed off Magic Tower, it was in principle to go in and out alone.

Only Heinrich’s name was written on the invitation letter of Belsac, Heinrich’s birth father, which meant that only the owner of the name was allowed to enter.

His eyes became thin.

“It’s okay. It’s not like I’ve gone in only once or twice.”

“However…”

‘This time, aren’t you visiting your biological father?’ Duncan grew up in an ordinary family, so he didn’t understand the wounds of Heinrich.

Of course, Duncan didn’t want to accompany Heinrich for romantic reasons such as fear of him getting hurt.

“Don’t worry, Duncan. I will accept your kind heart that worries about me.”

“…….”

‘…Not that. The last time you went, didn’t you grab a wizard by the neck?’

How hard was it to fix that?

Duncan’s eyes tightened because he feared that the ‘Vivantum’ would strike again.

It would have been difficult if his crazy owner destroyed the tower after having his trauma touched.

He sensed a month of overtime.

“Anyway, if I go, everyone will praise me. As the next owner of the Magic Tower, I’m just going to show off my dignity.”

As if he had already won, the beautiful man arrogantly touched his red lips.

‘I’m going crazy.’

Reluctantly, Duncan bowed his head.

“Please be safe.”

Not his master, but the other person, please be safe. 

“Goodbye, Grand Duke.”

And that afternoon.

After meeting his master, Duncan was heading to the downtown area alone to do the things that Heinrich had asked him to do.

Before arriving, he heard a loud roar from the horse, and the carriage was forcibly stopped. It was an attack.

“It’s a carriage that goes to see Grand Duke Hyacinth’s work. How dare you, some random…!”

When Duncan opened his car window, shouting sarcastically,

A gangster who crashed into the carriage opened the door and laughed.

A sizable gold tooth was visible.

“……!”

“You know my face? Don’t you?”

Duncan’s face turned pale.

“Winston’s…?”

“Please understand the rough way of transportation. Who told you to do something bad?”

Damn it.

The moment Duncan felt that he was ‘f*cked’, a magic ball was instantly summoned. At the same time, the man with the gold tooth took out a magic gun that matched his size at a high speed.

The instant the two collided, a huge roar exploded to the point that the carriage broke.