Chapter 1 – The Magic Tower(1)
Test 1
When all slaves under twenty in the territory had gathered, Chris was thinking about the wild pigeon eggs he had hidden in the forest. If you punch a hole in the shell and suck them out, a nutty flavor fills your mouth.
Suddenly, he became anxious at the thought that a weasel might have stolen them. He wanted to rush over and eat them.
Smack.
Someone hit the back of his head. Chris touched his head and turned around. Jack, who acted as the leader among his peers, was grinning. With one front tooth missing, he looked a bit lacking, but unlike his appearance, he had a cunning side.
“Idiot, what are you thinking about?”
If he told the truth, Jack would steal the hidden eggs. He might even throw them at Chris’s face for fun.
Chris made up an excuse.
“I was wondering why the butler called us.”
“Wondering? What kind of thinking could someone like you do?”
He flicked Chris’s forehead.
“Ouch.”
Chris rubbed his forehead, pretending it hurt more than it did in case Jack hit him again. Jack laughed loudly and said,
“Your great brother will tell you why the butler gathered us. Listen carefully, fool.”
They were the same age.
“Okay.”
Chris feigned interest, his eyes lighting up.
“In our village…”
Jack lowered his voice while checking his surroundings. Chris hadn’t been very interested, but Jack’s unusual caution made him curious.
“Did something happen?”
Jack’s voice got even lower.
“No, a wizard is coming.”
This was truly an unexpected answer.
“Really?”
Jack nodded emphatically.
“Yeah. It’s true. I heard it from Sandy.”
“Who’s Sandy?”
“You know, the girl who does laundry at the Baron’s mansion.”
“Laundry?”
“The girl with lots of freckles.”
He clicked his tongue and added,
“You really don’t know anything.”
Chris was used to being dismissed. He swallowed and asked with a blank expression,
“Why is he coming?”
“It’s a secret.”
Jack pursed his lips and then lightly hit Chris’s temple with his palm.
Smack.
“A dummy like you shouldn’t know.”
Chris grumbled internally.
He’s just a slave too, but acts so high and mighty.
Smith, standing to Jack’s left, asked,
“Can you tell me?”
Smith followed Jack around from morning to night, acting as his lackey. Along with Robert who stood on the right.
About five years ago, Chris found it ridiculous that slaves in the same situation would cluster together and play hierarchy games. But now his thinking had changed. Not all slaves are equal. Different properties and different jobs create social classes even among slaves.
Unfortunately, Chris belonged to the very bottom of the slave hierarchy. He had no parents, no property, no special talents.
He recalled what the village grandmother had said,
Chris, learn a skill.
He should have followed her advice and learned a skill.
As Jack kept his mouth shut, Smith urged,
“I’ll keep it to myself.”
Robert was curious too.
“What is it? What?”
He kept asking. But Jack remained silent. He simply crossed his arms and wore an arrogant smile on his face.
Chris observed his expression closely and realized,
You don’t know the reason either.
It seemed he had only overheard that a wizard was visiting. Chris kept quiet, knowing that pointing this out would only result in a beating. As Jack’s silence continued, Chris’s thoughts returned to the pigeon eggs.
Time passed slowly. Standing still for an hour without anything to do made his legs ache. Chris shook his legs and muttered,
“My legs hurt. How long do we have to wait?”
Dissatisfied murmurs gradually emerged from around him.
At that moment, the door to the Baron’s mansion opened and the butler walked out with a cautious demeanor. Chris had never seen the butler hunching his shoulders and walking with small steps while keeping his head down. He always walked with his shoulders back and hands behind his back. This unfamiliar sight made Chris rub his eyes and focus only on the butler. Because of this, he missed seeing the Baron come out.
“It’s the Baron.”
Only after hearing the young man in front of him did Chris turn his attention to the Baron. It was his first time seeing the Baron in his life.
Baron Xavier, who ruled the land where Chris lived, looked exactly as Chris had imagined. His stomach was swollen like a pregnant woman’s, his chin hung in two layers, and several rings adorned his plump fingers.
Chris touched his own stomach that clung tightly to his back. He envied the ability to eat enough to get fat.
The Baron rubbed his hands and said,
“I’m not sure if these lowly people have any talent.”
Chris belatedly focused on the man the Baron was addressing. He was wearing a red robe.
A wizard!
He had grown a white beard down to his sternum and held a staff in his right hand. He looked unmistakably like a wizard. If you showed him to a child and asked what kind of person he seemed to be, nine out of ten would answer ‘a wizard.’
The wizard in the red robe gave a nod of instruction. Then, the young man in a yellow robe who had been standing respectfully behind him came forward and placed five stones in the yard.
The butler rushed forward and said,
“I’ll take care of the menial tasks.”
The moment he tried to touch the stones, the young man in the yellow robe said,
“Don’t touch them.”
His words were so cold it felt like a blizzard was coming. The butler literally froze.
“Step back.”
The butler retreated without making a sound. His face had turned pale.
People who had been excitedly murmuring since the wizard’s appearance closed their mouths as if on cue. A chilling atmosphere dominated the yard.
The young man in the yellow robe snapped his fingers with a sharp sound. It was so loud it sounded like a bell in the quiet surroundings.
Three young men (they had yellow belts tied around their waists) came out carrying a cauldron and placed it on the stones. [TL/N: A cauldron is a very large pot used for cooking over fire.]
Chris assessed their ranks.
The red robe is the highest, then the yellow robe, and the yellow belt is the lowest. But why did they put the cauldron on stones?
They’re even pouring water into it.
Boiling water with stones?
It didn’t make sense.
Smith apparently had similar thoughts and muttered.
“Will water boil like that?”
Jack clicked his tongue with disdain.
“It must be burning stones.”
“Where in the world are there burning stones?”
“Such things exist.”
As the two chatted, the yellow robe glared at them. They flinched and closed their mouths.
Shortly after, when the water began to boil, people started murmuring.
“The water boiled without fire.”
“That’s impossible.”
As the murmuring grew louder, the Baron shouted.
“Quiet!”
When the commotion stopped abruptly, the Baron clicked his tongue.
“You fools! It’s magic.”
Then people’s heads nodded all at once.
“Ah, I see.”
“It’s magic.”
“So it’s magic.”
The red robe snickered. It seemed like he was mocking the Baron, or perhaps mocking the slaves gathered here.
Chris observed the Baron’s reaction. Seeing no change in his expression, it seemed the wizard was mocking the slaves. Or maybe he mocked the Baron but the Baron was too dull to notice.
“Master.”
The yellow robe man extended a blue bottle with respectful hands. The red robe wizard took the bottle and mumbled something difficult to understand.
Chris said.
“It sounds like a foreign language.”
Jack scolded him.
“He’s reciting a spell, you idiot.”
Indeed, it must have been a spell because blue smoke puffed out from the bottle.
Someone said.
“It’s like watching a magic show.”
The red robe wizard tilted the blue bottle toward the cauldron. The blue water flowed from the bottle and mixed into the cauldron.
“It’s Holy water!”
When Smith shouted, an immediate rebuttal flew back.
“How can a wizard make Holy water? Holy water is made by priests.”
Smith lowered his head in embarrassment.
The red robe wizard looked into the cauldron, then took out a pouch from his robe, untied the string covering the pouch’s mouth, and turned it upside down toward the cauldron. Black soil poured from the pouch toward the cauldron. The black soil settled at the bottom of the cauldron.
“It’s ready.”
The old wizard nodded with a satisfied expression, then gestured to the slave standing closest to the cauldron.
“Put your hand in.”
The young man singled out by the wizard uttered in a dumbfounded voice.
“What? Where?”
“Into the cauldron, Of course.”
The young slave jumped in surprise and hid his hands behind his back.
The yellow robe wizard clicked his tongue.
“We’re trying to see if you have talent. Don’t be afraid, put your hand in the liquid.”
The young man was even more startled and stepped back. Then the Baron stepped forward.
“Wizard David, these ignorant fools with nothing but dung in their heads can’t understand brief explanations. Let me explain.”
The Baron came to the front of the cauldron and raised his voice, glaring at the slaves.
“You pathetic wretches who crawl on the ground like worms whenever it rains. This cauldron is a magical cauldron that determines whether you have a talent for magic or not. It’s not going to harm you. If there’s a positive result, you could become a wizard. Become a wizard! So don’t just stand there stupidly, come here and get tested. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is right in front of you!”
The Baron’s words shocked the slaves tremendously. Chris also felt like thunder was striking in his ears.
If you become a wizard, you can escape from slavery. It’s an instant reversal of fortune.
The first person to take action was Jack. He pushed through people and immediately put his hand into the cauldron.
“Is this how I do it?”
The yellow robe smirked. And said.
“I’ll tell you just once, so remember.”
He didn’t shout like the Baron. He simply spoke calmly, yet strangely, his voice spread throughout the entire yard.
“Place your hand deep into the water in the cauldron, press your palm on the soil at the bottom. Steady your mind and remain calm—avoid excitement. Take a deep breath in, then slowly exhale while focusing on the sensation. Allow the good energy to flow through the atmosphere. If you sense it, draw it in, let it fill your body completely, and then release it.”
Chris took his words to heart.
“Feel, absorb, saturate, and release.”
Chris kept repeating the core concept he had grasped while breathing deeply. Meanwhile, Jack was breathing slowly with his eyes gently closed.
“I feel it!”
Jack shouted again.
“I feel it.”
The yellow robe asked.
“What do you feel?”
“The air is fresh.”
The yellow robe clicked his tongue.
“Next.”
“Pardon?”
“You have no talent, so step out.”
Jack grabbed the soil.
“No. I can feel it.”
The yellow robe examined the cauldron and shook his head.
“You’re hopeless.”
“No, I’m not!”
“This is not something to be stubborn about.”
The yellow robe was adamant. But Jack couldn’t give up.
“I am special. I’m the best among the slaves here.”
“You’re still just a slave.”
His voice was infused with contempt.
“Be grateful just to have received the opportunity.”
Still, as Jack couldn’t give up, the red robe wizard clicked his tongue.
“The Baronial Estate of Xavier trains their slaves terribly.”
The Baron’s face turned red.
“Butler!”
As he shouted nervously, the butler ran over and forcibly pulled Jack away. The yellow robe said.
“Next.”
While Jack was having his talent assessed, the slaves were contemplating the yellow robe wizard’s words.
“If you become a wizard, you can break free from the wretched shackles of slavery.”
“Freedom!”
The slaves rushed toward the cauldron all at once. The Baron’s anger grew at their disorderly appearance.
“Order! Order! Soldiers! Soldiers!”
Soldiers surrounded the cauldron and pointed their spears. Then the slaves became frightened and stopped moving.
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