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Starting from the 10th Floor, there seemed to be a pattern forming within the content of the trials.

Rather than merely testing magical prowess or genius insight, the trial would show me unfamiliar scenes and give me context, as if it were trying to tell a story.

The existence and threat of the Nightmare King, and now, information about the Transcendents.

It only served to tease and engorge my curiosity towards the intentions of the Magic Tower\'s creator, and I wondered what the 12th and 13th Floor Trials would be; in the end, there was only one way to find out.

"..."

I observed the luminescent, emerald-tinted energy emanating from the World Tree and enveloping my body in its warmth.

The way it swayed in the air and wrapped around me seemed almost as if the energy had a mind of its own, and once I realised this, it gave the impression of watching over me.

"You listen to me."

Staring at it as I stated, the feeling as if it were watching me dissipated, and the energy quickly absorbed into my body. I felt a little off, but I couldn\'t quite put my finger on what had happened.

...Well, it doesn\'t seem like an issue.

It wasn\'t particularly uncomfortable, so I let it be for now. And before I knew it―

[Phase One Complete.]

―I passed the first stage.

Suddenly, the warm and tranquil forest dissolved, and the world around me changed.

Now finding myself in a quiet tavern, only the barkeep cleaning some glasses with a rag and a cloaked person sitting at the counter were present.

No prompt or message had appeared even after I waited a moment, so after glancing around the place―confirming that it really was an ordinary tavern―I walked over to the counter and took a seat.

Clink-!

I didn\'t even have to open my mouth before the barkeep wordlessly placed a mug of something amber in front of me.

"..."

Staring at the mug for a moment, I glanced at the barkeep who had already gone back to wiping some other glasses.

I refrained from touching the drink and hoped the trial wouldn\'t make me consume any since I disliked the taste of alcohol, and fortunately, it seemed there was no need as the information for Phase Two soon showed up.

[Phase Two.]

[Monsters and non-human living creatures are not the only form of Transcendents that exist.]

[Certain others can be found in the appearance of a human, such as the Vagabond Knight...]

Turning my head to the cloaked person beside me, an abrupt gust of wind blew, knocking down his hood and revealing a war-torn knight\'s helm.

The man within\'s face was not visible through the lightless visor, but he emanated a certain presence that was enough to tell the grandiosity of his being.

Rattle-! Rattle, rattle-!

The knight stood up without warning, pulled his hood back up, and turned around to exit the tavern, his full suit, battle-scarred armour rattling heavily with every step.

One beat later, I was transported to the interior of a grand palace―the design was unique and immediately reminded me of the kind of oriental style that Minami adored.

In front of me, a gilded, red-themed throne stood; the man sitting atop it wore similar clothing and exuded an air not totally dissimilar to the Vagabond Knight from just a second ago.

[...As well as the Lord of the East.]

[Whether or not they are truly human is not up for debate―however, the same cannot be said for if they are of this world.]

[Just like some non-human Transcendents, there are numerous human Transcendents who were not born in any of the lands we call home.]

[Those of alternate worlds; they carry different experiences, different views, and even different abilities.]

[More often than not, they can be found to be lost.]

As the world disintegrated once more before my eyes, the floating text of the tower being all that lingered in my darkening vision; a consideration naturally occurred to me.

\'Those of alternate worlds.\'

Was it referencing me? Even if it weren\'t the case, and no matter how plausible or otherwise, my train of thought couldn\'t help but bend to travel down that path.

It felt almost humiliating, as if I had been caught in the middle of something I shouldn\'t be doing, but I also had the feeling that this Ancient Sage had already known from the very beginning.

The next scenery I was transported to was a simple grassland. A few tens of metres away, a single, robed individual stood with his back turned; a giant wizard\'s hat adorned the crown of his head.

[Although the reason is unknown, even if one is capable of absorbing and manipulating transcendental energy, there has never been a Transcendent with the identity of a pure magician.]

In the following instant, a colossal tower that pierced the clouds manifested in front of who was presumably the Ancient Sage.

[Currently, at the time of the Magic Tower\'s founding, there exist only five Transcendents.]

[By the time you are reading this message, that number will swell to twelve.]

"..."

So, he does know the future.

I stared blankly at the sentence that confirmed my theory, but he quickly moved on, starting with an intense flash of light that buried my view.

The black silhouette of a man emerged from the light, but since I didn\'t have Truth, there was no way to know who it was.

[And soon, the Hero will re-awaken, making thirteen.]

Apparently, that silhouette was of the soon-to-come Hero.

It wasn\'t surprising at all that the Sage knew about the Hero\'s approaching summoning. I wasn\'t sure, of course, but the way he phrased it made it seem like the Hero existed even during the time of pre-Magic Tower―and therefore, so did the Demon King.

Hearing about those two once more, some previously cloudy things began to make sense, including the fact that the Hero was a Transcendent because he always comes from another world.

Then, did the Demon King come from another world? I don\'t know―not all Transcendents seem to come from other worlds, after all.

I briefly wondered if I was a Transcendent because I came from another world, but I didn\'t think so.

The Transcendents I encountered just now―the Vagabond Knight and the Lord of the East―each carried an air of incomprehensible power around them that I don\'t.

Needless to say, I think I\'m quite capable of becoming a Transcendent if I want to, but I doubt there\'s a need for that, at least not right now.

The tower said that the 13th Transcendent would be the Hero, anyway, so that\'s evidence enough that it isn\'t me.

As such meaningless thoughts were occupying my mind, I suddenly realised that no message had appeared for a while. Looking around, I let my eyes scan for anything in this endless white expanse, but there was nothing.

The moment it began to occur to me that something was wrong, my task appeared.

[Do you still possess the absorbed transcendental energy from earlier?]

[If you are still holding onto the World Tree\'s grace, release it safely and you will pass Phase Two of the trial.]

[If you have failed to maintain a grasp of the energy or fail to safely release the energy within the next 30 minutes, you fail.]

Upon reading the message, I realised that thirty seconds must have already passed since the clock began.

Well, I felt no rush.

After all, I didn\'t have to do anything―the warm energy of nature I collected earlier started emanating from my body like a radiator.

There was no need for me to even speak a command as it got going with just a thought, and soon, while I was still in the midst of admiring the extreme convenience of the situation―

[Phase Two Complete.]

[You have passed the Magic Tower 11th Floor Trial.]

―I made it to the 12th Floor.

"...It\'s about the same."

Though the 12th Floor was no longer a grand library and now appeared to be just a large hall-like space, there were still countless tomes and scrolls that littered the place.

In fact, though there were far fewer people here, it was infinitely more cluttered.

Weren\'t there supposed to only be two mages here?

It was unexpected for the renowned Archwizards to be so disordered and untidy, but perhaps I should have seen it coming; after all, it was mentioned plenty of times how the residents of the higher floors cared solely about their research.

Perhaps the reason the previous floors are so clean in comparison is because of their drastic size disparity.

Although many of the higher-floor mages mostly use their own sub-dimensional spaces for research, they\'re bound to use the main floor at some point, so I suppose it makes sense.

Moreover, I assume these two would\'ve been here the longest out of everyone.

I could see the entrance to the 12th Floor Trial on the other side of the room, and the path was rather straightforward.

Originally, I came here to get the assistance of the Archwizards, but since neither of them is present, maybe I\'ll just clear the 12th Floor Trial first and come back after visiting the 13th Floor.

"Hm..." Letting out a quiet groan, I contemplated what to do first and soon came to the decision that I should clear the tower first rather than wait; since the Archwizards were also aiming to reach the 13th Floor, I could use the fact that I cleared it first to coerce them.

Although I doubted there would ever be a need for it, I was only using it as an excuse to not waste time here unnecessarily.

Thus, I headed towards the door―however, as soon as I took a step forward, I heard a voice.

"Woah! A new competitor! Say, I don\'t recognise you from the 11th Floor?"

Turning my head, I saw a young-looking man with vibrant red hair, like flames that flowed to his back and a wide-rimmed classic wizard\'s hat.

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"...I\'m Cee. Hello."

"Oh, good to meetcha! Name\'s Kolo Tjahn!"

Well then.

"You\'ve probably heard from the lower floors, but I\'m gonna be the first to clear the tower and become a Grand Archmage!"

I guess plans have changed.