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And as for Howl…

“Master, I’m here.”

“Is that you, Howl?”

The two were in a place where warm sunlight shone constantly and waves regularly rolled in. They were talking in the hidden laboratory of the Magical Spire.

Howl had grown into a handsome, tall boy, almost as tall as Henry. Moreover, he had become the spire’s chief wizard at the young age of sixteen. He had grown at an incredibly fast rate. Besides being the youngest chief wizard at the Magical Spire, he was also a respected figure in Shahatra.

Despite being allowed to have a personal assistant, Howl chose against it. Instead, he decided to be someone’s assistant once again.

And that someone was none other than Henry.

Henry wasn’t against this idea, but one of his conditions to become his official assistant, who would help him with his research, was that they had to be at least 6th-Circle; in other words, he only accepted Archmages as assistants. He considered that the minimum requirement for one to be able to keep up with his research and fully support him.

But despite this condition, Henry didn’t refuse Howl, one reason being that he was a Morris child. More importantly, Henry didn’t want to leave the young wizard, who was one of the best talents within the spire, without guidance and support.

‘He can start his own growth once he’s a mage.’

Howl had just returned with the payment documents Henry had requested.

But then…

- Geruuuu!

A mysterious being howled by expanding its mouth as much as it could. It then flew high in the sky.

“Woah…”

It resembled a dragon from an Eastern legend, its skin appearing to be made of glass shards. It was a stunning creature, and Howl was genuinely amazed by its mysterious beauty. He assumed it was one of Henry’s works and gazed at it in awe while hugging the stack of documents.

But as he kept looking at it, he noticed something strange.

‘It doesn’t have a shadow?’

Although its body was translucent, the creature was big enough that it had to have a shadow. And the fact that it seemed to be made out of glass didn’t justify this phenomenon either.

Howl was close enough to the creature, so he was sure he would’ve seen its shadow if it had one.

“Master, why doesn’t that creature have a shadow?” Howl asked in a confused tone.

“Who? That one?”

“Yes.”

“Because I got rid of it.”

“Sorry? You got rid of its shadow?”

“That creature’s just something I’ve wanted to make for a long time. I was curious about whether it’d be possible to create a shadowless being. And as you can see, I’ve succeeded. Strictly speaking, that fellow is an alchemic being. That’s why I was able to remove its shadow.”

“Oh, I see. An alchemic being, huh…”

“Well, it might seem like it’s pretty rubbish, but if war were to break out, it would make for a formidable assassin. You’d be surprised how many assassins die because their shadows get revealed.”

“What’s the creature’s name?”

"Name? I haven’t really thought about that. How about you give it a name?”

“Y-you want me to give it a name?”

“What’s with this reaction?” Henry asked as though he didn’t think it was that big of a deal. “It’s just a name. What’s important is the process and motivation behind its conception. It doesn’t matter who gives it a name.”

As Henry spoke, his eyes were glued to the spell book he had been reading before Howl’s arrival.

“Woah…!” Howl was once again impressed, finding Henry’s indifferent demeanor cool.

However, Henry was just being honest. In fact, removing a creature’s shadow through magical processing was an extremely complex and difficult task. It was a challenge even for an 8th-Circle Archmage.

Henry had taken up this challenge simply out of curiosity, but it eventually became clear that he really needed to dedicate himself to this undertaking and make innovative discoveries. For him, the advancement of magic was everything.

Although he had initially started this endeavor out of curiosity, Henry’s hopes kept growing more and more with the amount of sincerity and devotion he put into developing new magical knowledge.

‘Could this be it?’

Henry had been hoping that this kind of work would be the key to achieving the 9th-Circle. However, despite his efforts, nothing had changed. He hadn’t gained more magic, nor had his body undergone any changes.

Moreover, his mind didn’t feel clearer either. He had only managed to satisfy his curiosity and nothing else.

Because of that, Henry was devastated. That was the reason he had started valuing the process and the motivation behind a project instead of the results.

Of course, he knew it was too early to give up. He hadn’t assumed for a second that achieving the 9th-Circle would be an easy task.

Henry continued to read through the spells in the spellbook he was currently researching, hoping this might give him the breakthrough necessary for awakening the 9th-Circle.

But to Howl, who was unaware of his situation, everything he did was impressive and awe-inspiring.

And so, Henry’s solitary research continued.

***

Years had passed.

Henry was still the official master of the Magical Spire, as he still had the strength to keep the position. He also still had the energy to continue researching, as he was very mindful of his overall health—he maintained a healthy diet, exercised regularly, maintained a healthy sleep schedule, and so on.

Meanwhile, Howl had shown unprecedented growth within the Magical Spire as the tower’s youngest Archmage. But even after all these years, he was still Henry’s assistant. He believed he would learn a lot more by Henry’s side than by doing miscellaneous tasks within the spire and teaching younger wizards.

That was why all the wizards were jealous of Howl.

Dracan was still in charge of the Medical Spire. However, just as Henry had told him a few years ago, he was slowly preparing to become the next master of the Magical Spire. He put a lot of effort into training younger students and had even found a suitable successor who kept to his side.

In addition, Dracan was no longer known as a young wizard but as a well-respected Archmage. Everyone in the empire praised him as the father of medicine due to his countless achievements as the master of the Medical Spire.

But despite his reputation and breakthroughs, Dracan wasn’t conceited. In fact, he couldn’t be. Every time he visited Henry, he was humbled by the tremendous achievements Henry had amassed. Henry was a monster… No, that wasn’t the proper word to describe him. Rather, he had become something greater than an Archmage; one could say he was the god of magic.

Henry was a figure beyond the reach of Dracan Rotique and Howl Morris. He had achieved a level so high that everyone had to acknowledge him. He was constantly giving his all to achieve something that no one else could ever accomplish in their lifetime.

Seeing him from the side, Dracan couldn’t understand why Henry was pushing himself this much.

***

One day, Dracan asked Howl a question as he came to visit Henry.

“Howl.”

"Yes, Master Rotique."

“Is the Archmage... possibly hiding the fact that he has already reached the 9th-Circle?"

“What makes you think that?"

“Well, think about it,” Dracan said in a more serious tone. “Just consider all his incredible accomplishments. Even though he hasn’t publicly revealed them, don’t you think that all the knowledge he has discovered is miraculous and revolutionary for us? He’s crafting knowledge like a blacksmith.”

Dracan paused briefly before continuing, “That’s why I dare speculate that perhaps he has already awakened the 9th-Circle and he’s keeping it a secret from us for some reason… Of course, this is merely an assumption of mine.”

At that, Howl started laughing, but he covered his mouth out of courtesy for Dracan.

“Have I said something funny?” Dracan asked with a confused face.

“Ah, my apologies. I just couldn\'t help thinking that, in the end, people are often the same."

“The same?”

“I also had the same assumption as you at one point. But Master Morris already knew what I was thinking.”

“He already knew?”

“Yes. Among the spells he has created, there’s one that forces you to reveal part of your thoughts when you enter a specific area.”

“Oh, is that so? So what did the Archmage say?”

“He simply showed me the Circles he possessed, and I saw eight rings shining brightly. But honestly, I was a bit skeptical even after seeing them. I assumed that with his level of enlightenment, he would’ve advanced to the 9th-Circle… I can’t even fathom how much more magical enlightenment he needs to reach the next Circle.”

With this, Dracan and Howl continued talking for some more. Even though they chatted about the same topic every time, they never got bored of it. They weren’t the only ones curious about Henry and the 9th-Circle; everyone in the Magical Spire was rooting for Henry to succeed.

“Well, this is just my personal opinion. In any case, I really think he’s going to retire in a few years,” added Howl.

“You mean completely?”

“Yes. He’s kept on reducing his workload over time, and now he’s reached a point where he doesn’t even want to see any of it.”

“…I see."

Henry’s complete retirement was both good and sad news. The good part was that Henry could finally rest after a lifetime of dedication to his work. However, it was concerning because Henry had always been extremely meticulous, looking at the smallest of details for the empire to be as prosperous as it could be.

Despite that, Henry had recently expressed his desire to steer away even from minor tasks like having a final say in regard to a decision. On this note, Dracan was concerned that Henry might become too absorbed in his research, to the point of losing touch with reality.

Dracan shook his head.

‘No… No negative thoughts, Dracan.’

Dracan trusted that Henry wouldn’t let himself go down that path. He would have faith in him. After all, Henry was not only the greatest wizard on the continent but also the most admirable person he knew in this world.

***

A few more years had passed.

“What? I can’t believe this…!” Henry muttered as he threw himself on the bed in his lab, a wave of hopelessness washing over him.

His lab was cleaner than ever, which was why he was disappointed. It used to be filled with notes he had written out of curiosity that floated in the air like ornaments. At one point, he had nine hundred and ninety-nine notes.

But even after completing his final research project and recording all the knowledge he had discovered, Henry still hadn’t reached the 9th-Circle.

He was despondent. His head throbbed, his anger flared, and a sense of despair engulfed him. This indescribable feeling seemed to swallow him whole.

Yet, despite being overwhelmed by those emotions, there was still one question still lingering in one part of his mind.

‘Why?\'

Henry didn’t understand why he couldn’t achieve the enlightenment he was expecting. Among the discoveries he had made over the years, there were some pieces of knowledge that he believed to be truly enlightening.

But in the end, those were nothing more than just simple realizations that deserved no more than simple exclamations. Thus, whenever he discovered something new these days, Henry would just exclaim lightly before resuming his research.

He had been doing this over and over again until this day. All in all, he had been unable to achieve his goal. He had only succeeded in failure.

“How… Why…?!”

He felt like he was about to cry. At least that was what his mind felt, for his tear ducts had dried up from all the constant reading he had done over the past year.

At this, Henry buried his face in his pillow. Truth be told, he knew he could continue his research if he wanted to. All he needed to do was combine the knowledge he had already established and refine it into something better or transform it into something entirely new.

However, he decided against it because deep down, he knew it wouldn’t yield any results. Moreover, the biggest problem with all these studies was that…

“They’re too damn easy!!”

Henry had succeeded in all of his research projects over the years without facing significant difficulties. Everything seemed too easy, even when he dealt with subjects he was completely unfamiliar with. That was why he didn’t want to uselessly put effort into combining or refining the knowledge he had accumulated.

But as he lay in his bed, Henry remembered a subject he had treated like a taboo. He had tried to erase it from his memory, sealing it deep within his mind. But as soon as he thought about it again, he buried his head once more.

“I can’t do that! If I touch that kind of knowledge, I’ll probably…!”

Dimensional power—Henry had deliberately torn the note about it on the first day in his new lab.

In his previous life, he had achieved the 9th-Circle with astonishing ease thanks to the knowledge derived from dimensional power. However, he had forcefully sealed it away somewhere deep in his mind this time, determined not to rely on this knowledge.

Henry had thought he would reach enlightenment through the research he had postponed for years, but now he was done with everything, and he was still stuck at the 8th-Circle. This taboo was his last option.

Henry’s memory was still as sharp as ever, so he remembered everything about the dimensional power he had acquired many years ago.

However, he had refrained from fully engaging with that knowledge because he was afraid; he feared the implications of using it. But now, it seemed like he had no other choice, and so he was conflicted.

It felt like he was opening Pandora’s box. He ended up pondering on this option for more than half a day.

In the end, Henry made a decision.

“Alright…! Let’s just get a little, just a tiny bit of help. Just enough to get a feel for it...!”

Henry continued to trail off as he tried to convince himself of this approach.