When I returned to my room, I immediately opened The Codex of Idred.
I turned to page 210, placed my hand on the magic circle, and rotated my circle following the principles of Resonance.
My circle spun violently, shaking the surrounding mana.
Woom, woom, woom!
The Ring of Resonance synchronized with the surrounding mana and the Ring of Mind, resonating together.
'Got it.'
Mana burst out from the two perfectly united rings.
Flash—!
The magic circle on page 210 blazed with a tremendous light.
And soon after—
'Heir of Bytenor, I wish for your success.'
The voice of my master echoed once again—the same one I had heard during the first trial's page.
I was now inside the second trial's page.
"Welcome, Heir."
Just like on the first trial's page, a woman greeted me.
"I am Beta, the guide in charge of the second trial's page."
The first trial's page guide was Alpha (α).
And this second trial's page guide was Beta (β).
At this rate, the third trial's page guide would probably be Gamma (γ).
"In the second trial's page, we test how freely you can control your circle."
Beta smiled as she continued to explain.
"The contents of the trial will be revealed the moment it begins. Should you pass, it will be deemed that you have completely mastered the 2nd Circle, and pages 32 through 81—containing information about 3rd Circle magic—will be unlocked."
She repeated the exact same line Alpha had said, word for word.
"Wait—81 pages?"
When I passed the first trial's page, pages 18 through 31 had been unlocked—barely 14 pages in total.
So naturally, I had expected maybe twenty new pages at most this time.
"But now it's saying fifty pages are going to be unlocked?"
Suddenly, the number had tripled.
Of course, that was good—but still surprising.
"That means Bytenor's 3rd Circle magic is on a completely different level."
"The level of difficulty between the Rings of Mind and Resonance cannot even compare," Beta confirmed.
"I see. Well, that's both exciting and a little terrifying..."
A mix of anticipation for new knowledge and unease about the difficulty welled up inside me.
Of course, anticipation outweighed fear.
Because the harder something was to master, the more powerful it was bound to be.
"That concludes the explanation. Shall we begin the trial right away?"
"Ah, yeah. Please."
But first, I had to actually pass the second trial's page.
"Then the second trial will now commence."
Just like before, Beta's body dissolved into mana and scattered in all directions.
'Still so incredible every time.'
A mana-based persona.
To think I could converse naturally with a sentient construct made of pure mana.
The more I thought about it, the more astounding the technology seemed.
'I will now announce the content of the second trial.'
While I was still marveling, my master's voice rang out once again.
The turbulence in my mind instantly calmed.
'The trial is simple. From now on, one hundred magic circles will appear before you in sequence.'
A magic circle floated in midair—its form resembling the one drawn on page 210 of The Codex of Idred.
'Activate all one hundred magic circles.'
I slowly reached out to touch the first circle.
'Synchronize your circle with each magic circle; once in resonance, it will naturally activate.'
I began attuning my circle carefully to the circle's flow.
Wooooom—!
After about ten seconds of synchronization, the circle activated successfully.
At the same moment, the next magic circle appeared.
As I began adjusting my circle's mana values to match the new one—
"Huh?"
The circle suddenly shifted shape.
It was the same circle I had just activated earlier.
'Note that each magic circle refreshes every three seconds. If you fail to activate it within that window, it resets to the very first circle.'
"...Ah, I see."
So I couldn't just slowly activate all hundred.
"I'm supposed to memorize and replicate them?"
Once again, I used resonance to activate the circle.
Then, when the second circle appeared, I recalled the formula from before and adjusted my circle.
But—
"That's... not the same circle."
To my surprise, it was completely different.
'Also, except for the first one, all subsequent circles will appear in completely random order.'
'There's no point memorizing any pattern.'
"...Wow."
Randomized, huh?
Didn't see that coming.
'It will be a difficult trial, but I trust you'll overcome it.'
'I wish you good fortune.'
With those final words, my master's voice faded away.
Left alone, I stared blankly at the floating circle and let out a hollow laugh.
So I was supposed to perform a task that took ten seconds—within three seconds?
And not once, but a hundred times in a row?
Yeah...
"The difficulty really is insane."
I could already tell this was going to be one hell of a challenge.
After eight long hours of attempts—
I finally stepped out of the second trial's page.
"Ugh, my head..."
I hadn't passed.
I just needed a break—mentally, I was at my limit.
"Even after all that, ten was the most I could manage..."
In those eight grueling hours, I hadn't activated a hundred circles—only ten.
And even that had taken everything I had.
"One hundred? I can't even see that far ahead."
Merging two circles perfectly into one was already difficult enough.
Now I had to do that, within three seconds, tailored to a randomly generated circle.
It sounded simple when said aloud—but it was absurdly difficult in practice.
Think about it:
Even synchronizing the Ring of Mind and Ring of Resonance had taken forever.
And now, on top of that, I had to instantly align my mana to the values presented by each random circle—
A hundred times in succession.
There was no way that could be easy.
"Phew. I guess I'll just have to keep trying."
At first, even two circles had been nearly impossible. But with relentless practice, I'd reached ten.
If I kept pushing forward, surely I'd break through eventually.
"At least I'm starting to get the hang of it."
If I kept challenging it, I'd succeed someday... right?
"...Or maybe not. Even so, no way I'm giving up."
Honestly, I couldn't say for sure.
That's how insanely difficult the second trial was.
Even if I somehow brute-forced my way through, it would still take an enormous amount of time.
'Maybe I really should start searching for the other books my master left behind.'
Scratching the back of my head, I looked again at the middle of page 31 in The Codex of Idred.
[For reference, this is not the only book I have written.][If you ever find yourself facing a wall, seek out the other books I have left behind.][They will surely be of great help to your advancement.]
"If you ever find yourself facing a wall…"
Those words stood out more than ever.
Maybe because I was quite literally staring at a wall right now.
'Alright… I should get some fresh air.'
There was no point in brooding endlessly.
To clear my head—and maybe give my brain a little oxygen boost—I decided to go for a short walk.
Maybe pick up a snack on the way.
I needed sugar.
I took a light stroll along the dormitory's walking path.
The May night air was cool and pleasant.
"Nice."
Maybe the fresh air really did help clear my mind—I felt refreshed.
Guess humans really do need to breathe outdoor air now and then.
"Hello."
"Adela?"
While I was leisurely walking, I happened to run into Adela.
"Hey. You out for a walk too?"
"Yes. My head felt foggy after being cooped up in my room all day…"
"Ah, I see. Since class was canceled, you just buried yourself in your room again, huh?"
I didn't even need to guess.
She'd been studying all day again, no doubt.
"Yes. There was an interesting thesis I started reading, and before I knew it…"
"A thesis? What's it about? If it's that interesting, show me later."
"Hmm, you probably don't need to see it. It looked promising at first, but it really fell apart later…"
"Ah, so it's one of those—strong start, terrible follow-through?"
"Yes."
That's how most magic theses go.
They start out fascinating, but halfway through the logic collapses and the conclusion ends up neither here nor there.
Pretty common.
"So that's why you looked so disappointed?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"Yeah. I could tell right away."
She looked like a kid who didn't get the birthday present she wanted—it was written all over her face: 'I'm disappointed.'
"I guess I was expecting too much, so it hit harder."
Adela smiled bitterly.
"What kind of thesis was it, anyway?"
By now, I was genuinely curious.
What kind of paper could disappoint Adela that much—something so promising yet so hollow?
"It was about teleportation magic."
"Oh, one of the Seven Great Unsolved Problems?"
"Yes."
The Seven Great Problems of Magic.
They're called that for a reason—they've never been solved.
And one of them is teleportation magic.
Throughout all of magical history, no one has ever truly achieved teleportation—
except the first Archmage himself, Ray Ball Bytenor.
"The beginning was that impressive, huh?"
"Yes. The approach was incredibly innovative."
"For you to say that… now I'm curious. Mind if I take a look?"
"It's really nothing special."
"That's fine. I just want to see that so-called 'innovative' approach."
"If you insist…"
Adela took out her phone, switched to e-book mode, and handed it to me.
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
I started reading immediately.
The beginning was indeed worthy of Adela's praise.
"Whoa. This is sensational. How did they even come up with this framework?"
"Right? That's what I thought."
But halfway through, the logic began to crumble.By the end, the entire theoretical foundation collapsed.
Not even "a dragon's head and a snake's tail"—this thing didn't even have a tail.
"Yeah, I can see why you were disappointed."
"…Right?"
The gap between the strong start and the disastrous finish was enormous—it almost felt like someone else had written the latter half.
"How did it get so twisted halfway through?"
"I was wondering that too, so I tried analyzing it myself… but I couldn't figure it out."
"...I see."
I kept reading to the end.
Honestly, the nonsense in the latter half was almost impressive in its own right.
The more I read, the more absurd it became.
'Still… something about these theories feels familiar.'
The nonsense somehow looked convincing.
Oddly familiar, even.
Then I reached the final page.
"Huh?"
The moment I saw the last line, my eyes widened.
'This thesis is based on my own analysis of the books left behind by Ray Ball Bytenor.'
"…Wait. Ray Ball Bytenor?"
"Yes. Apparently, the author studied Bytenor's works extensively. Since the only mage in history to have ever used teleportation magic is the mythical Archmage Ray Ball Bytenor, I guess that's where the research began."
Adela sighed softly.
"But given how it ends… it's really a meaningless study."
Her expression showed pure frustration.
"It's unsatisfying, right? That's why I said you didn't need to read it."
"Sorry—give me a second to focus."
"Huh? O-okay."
I immediately flipped back to the first page of the thesis.
Even on a second read, the opening theory was an impressive parade of sound logic and fresh ideas.
At first, I'd only thought "this is amazing."
But now that I knew the author had studied Ray Ball Bytenor's works, I saw it differently.
'The structure's a bit different, but…'
As I went further, my eyes began to tremble.
'Now that I look closely—it's remarkably similar to the foundational principles of the Bytenor style.'
This was a thesis only someone familiar with the Bytenor system could have written.
'It's shallow—missing the most crucial theories—but still unmistakably rooted in it.'
The more I looked, the more certain I became.
This was absolutely inspired by the Bytenor-style theory.
It really was based on the books left behind by Ray Ball Bytenor.
"Adela. Who wrote this thesis?"
"...Huh?"
I definitely needed to meet this author.
[For reference, this is not the only book I have written.][If you ever find yourself facing a wall, seek out the other books I have left behind.]
I needed those books my master had left behind—the ones that author must have studied.