NOVEL WEB Chapter 3
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There’s a name that anyone walking the path of magic must know.
The Tower of the Sage.
More commonly known as the Mage Tower.
The distinctive inverted triangle emblem associated with it is considered nearly equivalent to the royal emblem within the Empire.
A gathering of human weapons capable of destroying an entire city on their own, while simultaneously advancing knowledge and technology through countless magic engineering endeavors.
As the annual regular academic conference approached, numerous wizards and witches were engaged in lively discussions atop the Mage Tower of Mars.
“We definitely need to submit the Color Theory as our representative paper from the Mars branch.”
“I think the Shadow Magic research is more valid. It’s a groundbreaking paper in a much-overlooked area of magical study.”
“That may be true, but the Color Theory is more comprehensive. Considering its influence across the entire field of magic, I believe the paper on Color Theory holds higher academic value than the Shadow Magic research.”
Gathered around a round table, the wizards and witches exchanged serious opinions, their faces solemn.
However, despite their serious demeanor, the atmosphere was quite positive.
Encouraging competition among geniuses was definitely not a bad thing.
The bickering about various topics continued, but in the end, no conclusion was reached.
The wizards and witches turned to the Tower Master sitting quietly on one side of the table.
“Jurgen, you need to decide. At this rate, we won’t reach a conclusion.”
Upon hearing this, Tower Master Jurgen stroked his shiny white beard that sprouted from his chin with a playful glint in his eyes, gazing at the two witches who had remained silent until now.
“Tydel. Erpa. You two are quite the headache.”
“You flatter us, Jurgen.”
The witch named Tydel lowered her head with a bow, while Erpa merely smiled sweetly.
“Both of your papers were excellent. Hence, deciding whose paper should be submitted was indeed a tough task for me.”
Jurgen rapped lightly on the table.
Tydel swallowed hard, staring intently at Jurgen’s hand.
After a long pause,
Jurgen announced the conclusion.
“For this conference, we will submit the representative paper from the Mars branch on Color Theory.”
Cheerful gasps and murmurs of disappointment erupted simultaneously.
Tydel clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut, while Erpa merely bowed her head in silence.
“Tydel, your paper was also remarkable. It’s just that this time, Erpa’s paper was slightly ahead. If you push yourself a little more, you will surely achieve better results.”
“Thank you….”
After a long silence, the strained reply finally emerged.
Jurgen smiled broadly as he stood up.
“Thank you all for your hard work during the long meeting. Now go rest.”
One by one, the wizards rose from the round table.
Tydel felt disappointed that Shadow Magic research was overlooked.
After all, Color Theory would go down in history.
As discussions continued, soon only two witches remained at the table.
“Congratulations, Erpa. You’re really on a roll, huh?”
A voice, icy enough to be considered frightening, emerged from the smiling face.
“Truly impressive. It’s almost certain you’ll be the next Tower Master. What’s more, a young witch of just 25 years old as the next Tower Master! So impressive.”
“Thank you, Tydel.”
Erpa carefully stood up.
Her left half of the face was obscured by a silver mask. Below the covered half, four arms were neatly folded.
“Next time, you’ll have good results too.”
The uncovered right side of her face bore a polite smile.
Tydel found that smile utterly revolting.
Tydel loathed everything about Erpa.
She hated that at just 15, she had been brought in and raised by Tower Master Jurgen.
She hated that her half-exposed face was more beautiful than her own.
She detested her flawless porcelain skin without a single blemish, so unlike her freckled face, her enormous eyes, her perfect figure.
It was because of Erpa’s voluptuous hips and chest that the wizard Tydel had harbored a crush on declared he would love Erpa instead of her.
And even more frustrating was the fact that Erpa had rejected that same wizard’s confession.
Furthermore, she had ended up falling short in this paper review.
The simple fact that someone younger and far more talented than her existed within the same tower was intolerable.
Everything about her was repugnant.
“Do your best, Spider.”
A venomous line laden with contempt was thrown.
Tydel often referred to Erpa as Spider when they were alone.
It was a term denoting how creepy it was to have four arms.
For that loaded remark, Erpa offered no response.
She simply looked at Tydel for a brief moment with pity before silently retreating.
That single disregard, without a word, stabbed more cruelly at her heart than any insulting curse could.
“Aaaah!!”
Inside the round table, where no one else remained.
Tydel let out a demonic scream.
***
Returning to her personal research lab, Erpa cautiously pulled a wand from her waist and waved it.
The witch’s hat and hood she wore flew up as if alive and settled onto a nearby coat rack.
With another wave of the wand, she locked the door securely and approached the mirror with trepidation.
Her left hand slowly trembled as it reached up to remove the silver mask covering half her face.
And beneath it lay a sight so ghastly that even Erpa herself couldn’t bear to look at it.
Blackened, distorted skin.
On it, a number of eyes that would invoke fear in anyone suffering from trypophobia.
Erpa’s other left hand carefully caressed her left cheek.
“So disgusting.”
She muttered quietly.
“Horrible.”
A monstrosity.
A brutally accurate assessment of her left side, even from her perspective.
She was a brilliant witch who had conducted countless magical studies, including Color Theory, yet no matter what she did,
she simply could not fix this horrifically twisted half of her face.
To anyone.
Not even to Tower Master Jurgen, the one who introduced her to the path of magic, did she reveal this truth.
Now, having acquired tremendous skills, she could roughly guess why.
Erpa had been excessively gifted with magical talent.
She had an immense amount of mana residing within her since birth, began speaking just three months after being born, and by the age of three, she could see souls and all sorts of magical phenomena—a true prodigy.
But with such talent came the price of her body undergoing excessive growth.
By age five, two extra arms began sprouting out from her side, and during puberty, rather than acne, eyes began to grow on her left face.
Her parents, upon seeing her grow into a monster, rejected her.
She was often shunned simply for being a ‘monster’ everywhere she went.
So, she immersed herself in magic.
Aside from eating and sleeping, she dedicated all her time solely to magical research.
In pursuit of reverting her abnormal body back to normal.
As a result, Erpa earned recognition as a top authority in body modification magic, yet even she failed to fix her twisted half face.
Erpa felt fear.
Outstanding talent often brings jealousy.
It wasn’t just Tydel.
There were surely many who secretly gossiped and envied her behind her back.
If she were to be cast aside again.
Would she be able to endure it if everyone rejected her again?
How would those who saw her grotesque half face react?
“Please. There must be a way to fix it.”
She murmured with a desperate voice.
She had finally found a place where she could let her talent blossom.
She had only just gained recognition.
She didn’t want to be cast out again and drift around like a vagabond.
Putting the silver mask back on, she swore to herself that she would absolutely fix her half face and prepared to continue her research at her desk.
‘A morning newspaper, huh.’
As she expertly and quickly organized her scattered research materials and papers with her four arms, she stumbled upon a newspaper that had been delivered that morning.
Without much thought, Erpa picked up the newspaper and froze at the headline featured prominently on the front page.
[Saint of Healing Discovered?]
Saint of Healing.
That title piqued her curiosity.
She halted her tidying up and began to slowly read the contents of the paper.
And the more she read, the wider her eyes grew.
“It says they cured every rare disease and genetic disorder right then and there? Is such a thing magically possible?”
The miracles bestowed by gods and the magic created by humans are indeed different fields.
Yet regardless of whether it’s a miracle or magic, they are both acts carried out by humans.
In her quest to heal her half face, Erpa had studied numerous fields, which included miracles.
Hearing such stories of large-scale miracles carried out uninterrupted was something Erpa had never come across before.
A tempting thought emerged, but she soon shook her head.
Her only conclusion from studying miracles was that humans tended to be wicked.
Most of those who claimed to perform miraculous feats were, in reality, merely using simple magic to inflate their images, or outright scam artists intending to take advantage of those in need.
A Saint of Healing?
Unless the infamous figure had maintained their fame for about a year, it was hard to say.
Rumor had it they appeared not long ago; there was no way they would have time to handle someone so scorned.
Furthermore, her half face was sickeningly grotesque—no promise could assure she would receive a positive outcome.
‘I can’t trust this.’
Erpa set the morning newspaper down.
Relying on uncertain miracles felt less likely to succeed than overcoming it with her own magic.
She sat back down at her desk, diving into her research once more.
***
“Saint!! Please heal my son!”
“Help my daughter! Saint!! Saint!!”
The slum was so crowded that there wasn’t even a place to step.
People were shouting to be seen first while others were getting trampled in the process.
The scene of countless children, sick individuals, and their families screaming while waving at me resembled something closer to horror.
Jeez. What am I supposed to do here? Somebody help!
Of course, Jeez didn’t have an answer.
Having not slept, my eyes felt heavy.
Besides, I couldn’t possibly render a character customization like this.
I had been focused on meticulously working, but my mental stamina had finally reached its limit.
It was endless.
Endless.
With all the witches and wizards, it felt like I’d be the first to roll over and die at this rate.
“I need a short break.”
Though I tried to sneak away carefully, the crowd showed no signs of letting me go.
“Saint! Have mercy on us!! Saint!”
“Saint! Have mercy on us!”
I was losing my mind.
This just wasn’t right, no matter how I looked at it.
“I’ll be back in a bit! I just need a moment to eat and rest, then I’ll return!”
I needed a means to slip away without causing any casualties…
And I had one.
“Saint! Please!!”
Leaving behind the shouting crowd, I activated another one of my hidden game skills.
[Using the Time Stop skill!]
This should let me escape unscathed.
Alright, let’s slip out, grab some sleep, and chow down.
………Oh crap.
I can’t move either.
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