As soon as I acquired the Predictive Evasion trait, I felt its effects instantly. I could now dodge the Elder Tentacle's attacks at will. For a mage, being able to dodge with my own agility, without deploying shields or using movement magic, was a significant advantage. It meant I could focus that much more on my casting.

Having sufficiently adapted, I decided to move to the next stage. "Ea, can I leave the guidance to you again?"

She seemed to hesitate for a moment before replying.

-I will follow the Tower Master's command.

'Shing. Shing. Shing.'

Shield footholds immediately appeared before me. Without hesitation, I leaped onto them. The tentacles whipping through the air were a threat, but I trusted Ea. I moved in the direction she guided me while simultaneously chanting the magic circle for Devastar. My mind, which had been sluggish before the fight, was now firing on all cylinders, fitting the formulas together perfectly. This was it. This was the feeling I wanted.

Ea's capabilities also ignited. At first, she miscalculated the distance between shields, and I almost fell, but her calculations grew more precise. Soon, we weren't just focusing on our separate tasks of evasion and casting; we began to help each other. As I completed the magic circle, I moved my eyes to provide Ea with visual information, and she, in turn, assisted with my formulas whenever she could.

[Mana has increased by 1.]

[Agility has increased by 1.]

[Focus has increased by 1.]

[You have acquired the trait: Mobile Casting.]

There it is. Mobile Casting! With this, I had acquired all four major casting-related traits: Accelerated Casting, Multi-Casting, Remote Casting, and Mobile Casting. Now the only problem left was completing Devastar.

-Tower Master!

'Hm?'

Suddenly, my legs gave out. I collapsed to the floor. As I scrambled to get up, a tentacle from behind pierced my shoulder, dragged me along, and slammed me into the wall.

'SLAM!'

"Kegh!" Blood gushed from my mouth. My evasion was perfect, but I had overlooked the fact that my stamina was still terrible. Pinned to the wall, dozens of tentacles converged to finish me off.

-Tower Master! Use this!

A Gauntlet magic circle appeared before my eyes. I immediately reached out, equipped it, and slammed my fist down on the tentacle holding me.

'Crack!'

Blue sparks flew as the tentacle bent. My body fell free, narrowly avoiding the hundreds of tentacles that smashed the spot where I had been. It was a close call.

-Are you alright, Tower Master?!

"I'm… fine."

Actually, I wasn't. My legs were trembling from the impact. If only my body could keep up with my mind. This weak constitution of mine was always the problem.

'Swish!'

The tentacles changed direction and targeted me again.

'This is no time to be excited about getting a few traits. If I can't create Devastar, I can't win.'

I started creating Devastar again from scratch. I don't know why I'd been so fixated on trying to build it all in one go. The essence of the Devastar magic circle was a combination of 'Gauntlet' and 'Leaf Boots.' The problem was that the two magical constructs kept clashing during deployment.

So, I would divide the magic circle into two parts and work on them separately. In my left hand, the Gauntlet component. On my right foot, the Leaf Boots component. It was a new approach. Instead of binding them together from the start, I would build each part independently, like forging a lock and a key, designed to fit together perfectly only at the very end.

'VWOOOOOM!'

I finished the two separate constructions. I stopped, raised my right leg, and lowered my left hand. The most critical moment. My hand and leg each held a half-completed magic circle. With the sensation of my left hand brushing past my right foot, I slotted its half into the empty half on my foot.

'Click.'

I heard a sound like gears locking into place in my mind.

'VWOOOOOOOOM!'

The moment the two magic circles met, they began to resonate, emitting a brilliant light. Soon, the dark magic formula activated, spewing black smoke.

A perfect success!

[You have learned a new casting system.]

[Mana has increased by 2.]

[Intelligence has increased by 1.]

-Tower Master! There is one more problem! It's good that you've completed the magic, but how will you reach the Elder Tentacle? The distance is too great.

Right. The reason we could dodge so well was because we were at maximum range. The closer we got, the harder evading would become. Of course…

"There's a way."

Dodging the incoming tentacles, I prepared another Devastar magic circle, this time for my left foot. I was making a second one. Having completed it once, the process was much easier. I just had to deploy it as if I were copying the one already on my right foot. The flow of mana moved quickly, following the completed template. This worked much better. If I practiced this a bit more, I might even get a new trait.

I dodged a tentacle and crouched down. Like striking a match, my hand lightly brushed past my foot, and black smoke billowed out.

'VWOOOOOOM!'

I had completed two Devastars, one on each foot. The black smoke constantly rising from my legs made it feel as if I were standing on darkness itself.

"Haah."

I took a deep breath and looked ahead. All that remained was the final battle.

'Slither, slither, slither.'

'Slither, slither, slither.'

The Elder Tentacle, as if sensing something was amiss, raised all of its hundreds of tentacles at once. One mistake and it was over. I only had one chance. I activated the Sage's Eye and scanned the only empty space not covered by tentacles. At the same time, I bent my knees and got into a stance.

'Activate.'

The moment I activated the magic circle, my body vanished. The ground where I had stood rippled, leaving behind the shape of the magic circle, but the incoming tentacles cut through empty air.

Through the trailing black smoke, I had arrived right in front of the Tentacle's giant eye. I had used the Devastar on my left foot, planting it on the ground and consuming it for a single leap. I could clearly see its pupil dilate. Airborne, I extended my right leg. I didn't need to apply force like I did with Gauntlet.

Just touching it was enough.

<Devastar>

An overwhelming output of black energy erupted from the tip of my foot and exploded directly into the Elder Tentacle.

'BOOOOOOM!'

The eyeball burst, and a wave of blue fluid gushed out with a loud pop! Devastar didn't stop at crushing the eyeball; it pushed it through the wall itself, leaving a massive scar.

'RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!'

The tentacles that had been approaching to grab me stopped moving and fell limp to the floor.

[Congratulations! You have cleared the boss room.]

[The Magic Tower's 3rd Floor, 'Golem Workshop,' is now unlocked.]

[You will acquire a portion of the 'Chief Golem Engineer' traits.]

'…Hah!'

A shiver of excitement wouldn't leave my body. Even for a spell used with infinite mana, I didn't expect it to have this much power! Completely exhausted, my body fell from the air. The entire temple began to crackle and rumble before shattering into fragments. Beyond it, a pure white space unfolded. My body was enveloped in a dazzling light, and my vision went black.

I opened my eyes to a throbbing headache. When I came to my senses, I was inside the Magic Tower. I looked up and saw that the trial's magic blocking the way to the next floor was gone without a trace. A belated sense of relief washed over me, along with a thrilling sense of accomplishment. I finally cleared it!

"Tower Master!" Ea appeared from a halo of light and threw her arms around me. "You worked so hard! I am so proud of you, Tower Master."

"It was all thanks to you, Ea." I truly thought of her as the best partner. Without her, I wouldn't have even dreamed of coming this far.

"You said the third floor is the Golem Workshop, right?"

"Affirmative. All third-floor functions are now open. Would you like to check?"

"Let's go up with the others tomorrow. For now, I need some sleep." I was dead tired.

Ea smiled brightly. "As the Tower Master commands."

Name: Kim Yusin

Unique Ability: Sage's Eye

Personal Traits: [Child of Mana Lv.2], [Master of the Magic Tower Lv.10], [Magic Power Engineering Lv.10], [Spell Lord Lv.10], [Over-immersion Lv.8], [Multi-Casting Lv.5], [Potion Brewing Lv.5], [Information Processing Lv.5], [Accelerated Casting Lv.5], [Remote Casting Lv.4], [Analysis Lv.2], [Mana Breathing Lv.1]

Basic Stats: [Magic Power 196], [Agility 45], [Strength 31], [Stamina 30]

Special Stats: [Focus 36], [Intelligence 12], [Willpower 9], [Endurance 8], [Darkness 1]

Total Stats: [368]

New Traits: 'New!' [Golem Mastery Lv.5], 'New!' [Predictive Evasion Lv.1], 'New!' [Mobile Casting Lv.1]

* * *

I woke up after a good, long sleep. One of the best things about the academy was the dungeon dispatches. I could schedule one, spend my time in the Magic Tower, and then report my progress to the student council to avoid being marked absent. Since Bora was on the student council, she could cover for me if any problems arose.

After waking up well-rested, I stretched and went to the lobby.

'Pop!'

'Bang!'

"Congratulations on opening the third floor, Tower Master," Seojin said.

"Congratulations!" Eunsol cheered.

They were setting off cheap party poppers and clapping. From the ceiling, Ea was creating the effect of sprinkling flower petals from a basket.

"…Haha, thanks, everyone." It was a small celebration, but it warmed my heart, maybe because it had been so long since I'd been congratulated for anything.

Actually, Eunsol was more excited than I was. She was playing around, throwing the colorful confetti that had piled up on the floor.

"Did Bora go to the academy?"

"She was called in for student council work," Ea said. "But first, you should eat."

Because I had slept in, it was a slightly early lunch. I was expecting bread or sandwiches again, but the table was covered with things I never expected.

"Whoa, what is all this?"

"It is pork belly we had delivered."

The Magic Tower had no special cooking utensils, and since all four of us were terrible cooks, preparing food was difficult. Usually, we just brought things from a nearby convenience store, bakery, or kimbap shop. But suddenly, there was pork belly. By regular standards, this was a feast.

"I had it delivered near the restricted area and brought it in," Ea explained.

"Ahaha! This is the best."

We gathered around the table and enjoyed the banquet. Eunsol, sitting on Ea's lap, ate the pork belly with her cheeks puffed out happily.

"It's yummy!"

She was really eating well. She did say she never got to eat proper food in the slums. Ea, while taking care of Eunsol, would occasionally pop a piece into her own mouth, her expression becoming similar to the little girl's. Ea was cute, too.

"Heh." Next to me, Seojin was constantly making strange laughing sounds while glancing over at Ea. At this point, my celebration was just an excuse for him.

After the meal, I took a quick shower in the first-floor shower room. Of course, it wasn't a normal shower, but a special magic circle. You stepped on it, and water would rise up and wash your body for you. I wanted to copy the magic circle with the Sage's Eye, but I gave up when I saw that this kind of lifestyle magic was a fourth-order spell. I mean, the 'Rune of Permanence' that maintained the magic circle was already third-order. To add anything more would need fourth-order magic.

After showering and changing into fresh clothes, I felt refreshed. I returned to the lobby. "Let's all go check out the third floor!"

"Okay!" Eunsol was the first to run over, her eyes sparkling.

Seojin, who had been on the phone with a client, told them he would call back later, hung up, and stood up.

* * *

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