Saaaaa—!
The moment those words left her lips, a terrifying chill burst from Chloeia’s entire body.
It wasn’t some intangible bloodlust-like aura.
It was real cold—an icy wave that physically froze the surrounding space.
‘As I thought!’
Nerha became certain his guess had been correct.
By the standards of the Central Plains, she was at the very least at the Peak Realm… perhaps even beyond it.
Whatever the case, she was an absolute master of ice arts.
“So you really are an incredible expert.”
Chloeia’s green hair gradually began turning blue.
Then she spoke toward Nerha in a low warning voice.
“No matter how direct a descendant of Radeus you may be, excessive curiosity shortens one’s lifespan.”
“There’s a contradiction in that statement. Didn’t you say I possess the authority to access what lies beyond?”
“……”
“What exactly is in there for you to react so sharply? If it’s not corruption or something similar, there’s no reason you can’t explain it.”
At Nerha’s relaxed tone, some of the venom faded from Chloeia’s expression.
Finally, she sighed and shook her head as though giving up.
“Beyond that door are failed studies and research papers from both the family and the Magic Tower.”
“You react that strongly over failed research?”
“There are no restrictions on level or danger classification for the materials stored there.”
“…!”
A strange light flashed through Nerha’s eyes.
If that was true, then it made no sense for such a place to be hidden away on a lower floor like this.
“So that means…”
“Yes. You understand now.”
Sighing once more, Chloeia finally revealed the true value hidden behind the secret door.
“Though they were failures, records from great mages who reached Level 9—the realm of Archmages—also exist beyond this point. That is why I am entrusted with managing this archive.”
“I see.”
Nerha nodded in understanding.
Level 9 referred to the realm of absolute beings who had reached the pinnacle of magic.
Level 10 did exist beyond that, but only two people in recorded history were said to have attained it, making it an entirely separate matter.
Now he also understood why she had assumed he wouldn’t comprehend the materials inside.
“Anyone capable of leaving research records in there would’ve reached at least a certain level of mastery. So you concluded I wouldn’t be able to understand them.”
“You understand correctly.”
Chloeia looked slightly relieved that the conversation was finally getting through to him.
Then a sudden question crossed Nerha’s mind.
“You look young to be entrusted with such an important responsibility. How old are—”
“If you continue that sentence, I’ll kill you regardless of whether you’re a Radeus or not.”
“……”
The sincerity in her voice made Nerha instinctively shut his mouth.
Realizing her own outburst, Chloeia let out a deep sigh.
“Anyway, the things inside are more poisonous than helpful to beginner magicians. Naturally, many of them were designated taboos for ethical reasons as well.”
“Hm…”
There would be no reason to organize failed papers by level or specialty.
That was why everything had simply been gathered into one hidden place where no one would think to look.
Still, there was something else Nerha wanted to know.
“Then where in the family archives would I find materials regarding mana cultivation methods?”
“Mana cultivation methods…?”
On the first day, Chloeia had indeed handed Nerha a beginner’s manual titled Basic Mana Cultivation Method.
But that book had merely covered elementary breathing techniques. In truth, it had been closer to an anatomical guide than an actual cultivation art.
Tilting her head as if wondering how he could not know this, Chloeia answered.
“Mana cultivation methods are among the highest secrets of secret arts. Other materials might be accessible, but even in the special archives you likely wouldn’t find anything beyond a certain level.”
“Is that so?”
“You’re already learning the secret cultivation art of the Radeus family, aren’t you? So why would you need another one?”
‘Because I don’t know it…’
Nerha grumbled inwardly.
Now that he had truly decided to learn magic, he needed to understand how mana cultivation worked in this world.
And beyond that—
His ultimate goal was to create a completely new cultivation method capable of allowing martial arts and magic to coexist.
But the greatest problem was this:
He didn’t actually know the true Radeus cultivation method Nerha had supposedly learned all his life.
‘I inherited fragments of his memories, so I understand some of the principles… but internal cultivation methods aren’t something you can recklessly operate without fully grasping the entire structure.’
And above all else—
Even if he did learn the Radeus method, he had no intention of mastering it as it was.
The Radeus art was likely among the greatest secret techniques on the continent, but Nerha intended to pursue both martial arts and magic simultaneously.
“There should be mana cultivation methods in there too, right?”
“……”
“I don’t need anything else. I’m not interested in anything else. The only thing I want is mana cultivation methods.”
Chloeia’s face twisted into a grimace.
She very obviously hated the idea, but now that Nerha had pushed this far, she no longer had a valid excuse to refuse him.
“…Fine.”
As expected, the secret door wasn’t secured by a mere lock.
An incredibly intricate magical seal had been constructed around it.
“Ordinarily, this place isn’t monitored by the family. But the moment this door opens, that changes.”
Within a tiny magic circle were tens of thousands of engraved magical circuits.
Compared to the seal Nerha had unraveled previously, this one was incomparably more complex.
Yet Chloeia dispelled it effortlessly with a few gestures before snapping the lock open with a sharp click.
“And from this moment on, unless I renew the authorization every ten minutes, the family’s military forces will reduce this place to ashes without asking questions.”
In other words:
Your life depends entirely on me, so behave yourself.
“…I’ll remember that.”
The instant Nerha stepped into the hidden archive, awe escaped his lips.
The interior was dozens of times larger than it had appeared from outside.
‘Is this what they call a subspace?!’
Manipulating space was supposed to belong solely to the domain of gods.
Yet the people of this world used it casually in everyday life.
‘Magic really is useful.’
As Nerha stood there marveling, Chloeia’s irritated voice rang out from deeper inside.
“It’s not your first time seeing a subspace. Stop dawdling and get in already.”
Unlike her earlier cold and composed demeanor, Chloeia now sounded openly irritated.
“If you keep dragging your feet, I’ll close the door with you outside.”
“So you’ve got quite the temper. Is this your real personality?”
“You keep getting on my nerves.”
Nerha slowly surveyed the archive.
Darkness stretched so deeply into the distance that the place seemed larger than several ordinary archives combined.
There were ordinary documents, bizarre artifacts sealed multiple times over, and cursed objects radiating sinister energy from their very surfaces.
There were far too many dangerous things here to dismiss them merely as failed experiments.
“Just in case, don’t touch anything carelessly unless you want a disaster.”
“I have that much common sense.”
Only then did Nerha fully understand Chloeia’s sharp attitude.
Some of these objects looked dangerous enough to affect someone merely through contact.
“The mana cultivation section is this way.”
Chloeia led him toward an area filled with countless documents and anatomical models.
“Highly advanced mana cultivation methods are sleeping here… though high level doesn’t necessarily mean high completion.”
“Hm…”
Nerha grabbed a random thesis from the shelf.
Naturally, with his current magical knowledge, understanding the majority of the papers here was impossible.
But mana cultivation was a different matter entirely.
‘This is…?’
The paper described a method that abandoned storing mana within the heart.
Instead, it proposed accumulating mana directly in the brain—the center most closely tied to spellcasting—in order to optimize mana control.
To achieve that, the researcher had deeply explored the body’s entire network of qi and blood circulation.
If someone actually followed this method and circulated mana accordingly—
‘Three Small Heavenly Circulations and their brain would explode.’
“……”
Quietly, Nerha placed the thesis back down.
The author had been a fairly renowned Level 7 mage, but even so, mastery over the body’s meridians clearly lay beyond him.
After that, Nerha devoured every thesis related to mana cultivation he could find.
Watching his earnest focus, Chloeia eventually offered him advice tinged with slight goodwill.
“No matter what authority you possess, Lord Nerha, remaining here any longer will create problems within the family.”
“……”
“I just renewed the authorization, so finish with this last interval.”
At those words, Nerha stopped reading and looked up.
“It seems…”
“…?”
“If I want to find what I’m looking for, I’ll need your help too.”
“……”
Chloeia’s face practically screamed:
Why would I do that?
There were over two thousand papers on mana cultivation methods stored here, so her reaction was understandable.
Grinning, Nerha said,
“Help me, Librarian.”
“Urgh!”
“You don’t want me coming back here repeatedly to bother you, do you?”
“You damned bastard.”
Apparently her irritation had crossed the limit, because she finally cursed outright.
But Nerha knew perfectly well that the insult itself was a declaration of surrender.
“…Fine. Let’s get this over with. What kind of material are you looking for?”
“…Hm.”
Before answering, Nerha hesitated briefly.
Should he honestly reveal his thoughts to Chloeia or not?
But after coming this far, worrying about that now seemed ridiculous.
If his suspicions were correct, there was little chance Chloeia truly served one of the direct Radeus bloodlines anyway.
“A knight’s mana cultivation method.”
“…?”
“I want you to find any case where someone attempted to combine a magician’s mana cultivation method with a knight’s.”
A knight’s lower dantian.
A magician’s middle dantian.
With so many research papers gathered here, surely there had been attempts throughout history to merge the strengths of both while eliminating their weaknesses.
“I don’t know what you’re planning…”
Chloeia answered with obvious negativity.
“I swear on my name: not a single researcher in history has ever succeeded in that field. If someone had, their work wouldn’t be rotting in this hidden warehouse—it would be preserved in the Imperial Archive, accessible only to the head of the Radeus family.”
Or else it would have become a secret art of the researcher’s family and vanished from public record entirely.
She quietly swallowed those final words.
“I don’t care. Bring me everything.”
“…This is definitely going to be a waste of time.”
Apparently she had already read papers on the subject before.
She walked over lazily, swept the entire upper section of a massive bookshelf clean, and returned.
“Here. Fifteen papers in total. All attempted by Archmages above Level 8, and all designated for disposal after failure.”
“Fast. I like it.”
Nerha immediately began reading through them.
Failure didn’t make them worthless.
‘What I need are theories and failed cases that can aid in improvement. Starting from there will reduce the required time enormously.’
Creating a new internal cultivation method was never something achieved quickly.
‘My sect’s cultivation art alone would already be enough to cast magic… but if there’s a more efficient path, then naturally I should pursue it.’
Nerha spent every remaining minute reading through the papers.
As expected, every attempt to combine the strengths of both systems had resulted either in severe side effects or mediocre outcomes that achieved nothing properly.
Still, the observations regarding interactions and side effects would undoubtedly become invaluable references for the cultivation art he intended to create.
“Five minutes left. Start wrapping things up.”
One hour was nowhere near enough time to finish all fifteen papers.
Frowning, Nerha sped through the remaining material even faster.
And then—
One thesis suddenly caught his eye.
‘Oh? This is…?’
