Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 15 - Chapter 21.5

Chapter From the Past: Memories of Fire

Fire

The Lazburn family was known to excel at fire magic.

Tian aptitudes and maximum levels differed from person to person, but the Lazburns were almost always adept at wielding fire spells and capable of reaching high levels. Though the most obvious examples of such talent inheritance were the inhabitants of Tenchi, the Lazburns were also an excellent demonstration of the principle.

Because of this, the Lazburns had devoted their lives to fire magic for generations.

In a world with jobs and levels, tians like the Lazburns, who clearly knew how to improve themselves, were fortunate indeed. He — Feuer Lazburn — was no different. He spent his years learning fire magic from his father — the previous King of Blaze.

One lesson that had been hammered into him went as such: “The three higher elemental Superior Jobs are The Atmos, The Earth, and The Ocean. They are only accessible to those with the aptitude for all the types of magic they employ. However vast their powers might be, though, they are shallow. We are a family of fire and fire alone, but that doesn’t mean that we are inferior to those who command all aspects of the atmosphere. When it comes to fire, the Kings of Blaze — who have all been Lazburns for generations now — are superior to The Atmos. And fire magic is the most powerful magic of all.”

What Feuer’s father had meant by that was that the Lazburns were the strongest casters in the world, and Feuer couldn’t help but feel that his father was absolutely right.

No one needed to command every kind of magic. You merely had to devote yourself to one thing and become the strongest at that. Since the Lazburn had mastered the arts of extreme heat, it was obvious what Feuer had to do.

From a young age, he had dedicated his mind and body to the study of fire magic. Even after his father died and he inherited the King of Blaze job, Feuer refused to stop. He gained the job’s ultimate skill and even improved on it, always striving to grow stronger.

And when King of Blaze, Feuer Lazburn became a well-known name throughout the kingdom, he sent a challenge letter to a particular person.

The person’s name was...unknown.

No one knew his name. Not even royalty, and not even people who could use Reveal. He was a true enigma.

Despite that, he was respected as a pillar of the country. When everyone spoke of him, they all referred to him only by his job:

“Arch Sage.”

◆

On that day four years ago, the central arena of Gideon the City of Duels was bustling with activity.

Almost every seat was taken, and among the guests of honor was King Eldor of Altar himself.

Since the first queen of the kingdom was an Over Gladiator born in Gideon, it was traditional for Altar’s royalty to attend any important duels taking place in this city.

And what an important duel this was!

At the time, The Lynx, Tom Cat was still the duel champion and many newly arriving Masters were overtaking the rankings. The main event of this day, however, wasn’t a duel between rankers at all.

It was a clash between legendary tians said to be the first and second strongest casters in the kingdom.

One was King of Blaze, Feuer Lazburn “of the Embers” — a well-known wielder of flame magic.

The other was an advisor to the king, the living legend who was the “Magical Apex” at the time — Arch Sage.

As the Masters were still growing in power, this was a battle between the most powerful casters in Altar.

“It has been a while since I stood on a stage like this. Do go easy on me, Sir Lazburn,” said the Arch Sage with a smile.

“...Sure,” Feuer replied, his face stern.

The reason why this duel was even happening was the letter of challenge he’d sent, and his goal here was the Arch Sage’s title, “Magical Apex.”

The Lazburns believed themselves to be the strongest casters of all, and they devoted their lives to making that a fact.

However, the title of “Magical Apex” currently belonged to the Arch Sage, so Feuer had challenged him to make it his own.

He broke all limits in his own training, and now — while he was still in his prime, before age would begin to take its toll — he had sent the letter that had led to this duel.

Feuer had also made the challenge public, making it clear that if he didn’t accept, the Arch Sage would be viewed as a weak coward for running away from the challenge.

The reactions to his actions were mixed.

Some praised Feuer for his bravery in challenging a true legend, but most were put off by his flagrant disrespect towards someone the country so revered.

Even so, he refused to retract the challenge. The title of “Magical Apex” was the Lazburns’ ultimate desire.

His father had wanted it as well, but he was struck down by sickness before he could challenge the Arch Sage. He had died with this one heavy regret in his heart.

Feuer had been by his father’s side as he passed, so he had made a promise to defeat the Arch Sage and reclaim the title of strongest caster for the Lazburn family. This challenge was the culmination of a life dedicated to training.

“You look terrifying,” said the Arch Sage. “Have I wronged you in some way?”

“...No. I have nothing against you personally,” Feuer replied. If he had to name one thing that bothered him, it would be the fact that he was the “Magical Apex” while also being the Arch Sage.

The high-rank job Sage was directly opposed to the Lazburn family’s line of thinking.

“Sage” was a job that could only be taken by those who had an aptitude for all three higher elements. They could wield magic of the atmos, earth, and ocean. Some Sages could even cast healing spells.

However, this versatility often made them less powerful than the specialists of the elements.

Sages were a prime example of what Feuer’s father called “vast, but shallow,” and if it wasn’t obvious already, Arch Sage was the Superior Job of the grouping. Thus, the very existence of an Arch Sage who was the “Magical Apex” flew in the face of everything the Lazburn family stood for.

For Feuer, that alone was enough of a reason to issue this challenge.

Facing the Arch Sage, Feuer contemplated the past — specifically, the words of his bedridden father.

“From what I’ve heard, the Arch Sage can use Crimson Spheres. That means that he has access to the ultimate skills of the high-rank jobs under the three higher elements. That is impressive indeed, but it also means that he can’t reach the true depths of the fire element like King of Blaze can. A Lazburn can surely defeat him.”

Even if the Arch Sage had ultimate skills from high-rank jobs under the higher element of the ocean, which could include defensive magic that worked by dampening energy, the ultimate skill of King of Blaze would deliver more than enough energy to overcome that.

“Apparently, he’s also able to use dark-based hybrid magic that exterminates living beings on a large scale. That’s impressive too. But since it attacks such a large area, it can’t be used in the confines of a duel arena. In a one-on-one battle, he has no means of delivering more power than King of Blaze’s Fixed Star.”

Fixed Star was the name of the job’s ultimate skill, and as the name suggested, it created an orb of burning plasma not dissimilar to the one that shone down upon the earth from on high.

In terms of sheer extermination potential, the Arch Sage’s Imaginary Meteo was stronger, but against a single unit, Fixed Star came out on top.

That was why Feuer’s father was confident that he would win. “I could’ve beaten him if it wasn’t for this damned illness,” he cursed.

However, Feuer’s outlook was a bit different than his father’s.

...I think that the Arch Sage can use the ultimate job skills of not just high-rank, but Superior Jobs as well, he thought. They were dealing with a prodigy who had lived for over a century and spent all that time honing his magic skills.

It would not be surprising for someone so talented to have reached that level.

Feuer fully believed that the power carried by his family was the strongest in all the world, but he didn’t underestimate his enemy either.

And if the Arch Sage could use all the ultimate job skills of all elements, Feuer resolved to defeat him with something even greater than the Fixed Star spell he worked so hard to learn.

I will use something even more powerful than Fixed Star and bring home the title of Magical Apex. He had far fewer cards in his proverbial deck than the Arch Sage, so he planned to make the battle a quick one. He believed he had to channel his strongest magic from the moment the battle began and use it to instantly overwhelm his opponent.

Feuer would give his all — his entire family’s many years of training — into his very first attack.

While Feuer was extremely serious about the upcoming battle, the Arch Sage seemed wholly composed.

He didn’t even have to accept this challenge to begin with. He was one of the pillars of Altar, and no one would ever doubt someone who had been providing such a great service to the country for over a century. No one would call him a coward for refusing Lazburn’s challenge. In fact, the general opinion would be that Lazburn simply wasn’t worth his time.

Despite that, the Arch Sage had accepted. He even spoke to Count Gideon, convincing him to turn this battle into a major event held in the central arena.

“We both are powerful casters,” he told him. “It is necessary for us to use Gideon’s barrier equipment, just in case, and it would certainly draw a crowd you could profit from.”

Though, with a depth and foresight that was too great for anyone but him to truly understand, it was hard to tell if his words expressed the true nature of his intentions.

Regardless, this duel had been set up with agreement from both combatants, and the time had come to commence the battle.

“BEGIN!” the moderator cried, instantly spurring Feuer into action.

“Burn! Burn! Burn! Mimic of heavenly light and scorcher of earth! Shining star that fits in the palm of my hand!” Channeling his magic into the spell, Feuer intoned the most intense Chant he had ever used.

“Chant” was a supplementary skill that increased the effectiveness of spells if the caster said something while casting them. The words differed from person to person, and his was one that was meant to light his very own soul on fire.

“You are the twins of ruination! The incarnation of binary stars!” As he spoke, Fixed Stars appeared in both of his hands.

This was the technique he’d developed — double-casting his ultimate job skill.

This was what lay beyond singular Fixed Stars, and it was the technique that Feuer alone had perfected. He wasn’t the first who had tried, however. The technique was just so dangerous that all the past Kings of Blaze who had attempted it had lost control and burnt themselves to ash.

But Feuer had poured enough blood and sweat into his training to finally achieve it.

Not even a Superior Job’s ultimate ocean-element skill could stand against this. Such a defensive skill’s energy-damping effect would cancel-out one Fixed Star, but the other would still be more than enough to destroy his opponent. That was the very simple reason that Feuer had decided to use two.

With this, he would surely win this fight.

These stars will guide the Lazburn family to vict— he thought, before he saw something that shocked him.

The Arch Sage, who was standing on the ground until but a moment ago, was now floating in midair.

And surrounding him...there were four Fixed Stars.

“...Ahh... AHHH!” Feuer screamed as he realized that the Arch Sage had easily surpassed the pinnacle he’d worked so hard to reach.

A single Fixed Star cost over 300,000 MP. Using four would drain even Feuer’s reserves — yet the Arch Sage seemed to be able to do this without breaking a sweat.

But more important than that was the fact that the Arch Sage had chosen to use Fixed Stars after seeing that Feuer was going to cast them.

That meant that, despite starting to cast them after he’d already begun, the Arch Sage had managed to prepare these four Fixed Stars before Feuer had even finished casting two.

That was proof that the Arch Sage’s fire magic was superior to his, not just in pure volume, but in proficiency and speed.

If Feuer was an incapable fool, he could have chosen to blindly believe that his Fixed Stars were more powerful, or that the Arch Sage’s four only looked menacing and that this was all nothing but a bluff.

Alas, he was a born genius of fire magic who’d dedicated his life to learning the ins and outs of the art.

That was why a single glance at Arch Sage’s Fixed Stars was enough for him to know that they were equal to...no, even greater than his own.

But despite knowing that, he couldn’t back down.

“FIXED STAAAAR!” he roared, releasing his orbs of plasma. “...Fixed Star,” the Arch Sage responded. The outcome of this clash was already clear as daylight. Feuer understood that painfully well, but he couldn’t let himself run from the conclusion of his many years of training.

The six Fixed Stars flew towards their targets.

The two launched by Feuer were consumed by two of the four launched by the Arch Sage, while the other two went on to incinerate him.

So ended the battle between the strongest tian casters — all in less than a minute.

◆

An old man sat on a tree stump in the mountains. His eyes were closed. Some would assume he was meditating, some would think he was sleeping, and still others would believe he was actually dead.

Three and a half years had passed since his — King of Blaze, Feuer Lazburn’s — duel against the Arch Sage, and he had retreated to a location in the mountains southwest of Altar.

He had previously lived in an urban mansion, but he had burned it down with his own hands before moving here.

Following the duel, the people’s opinion of him had sunk appallingly low. To those who understood what had happened, Feuer was no doubt a remarkable caster. They knew that they’d witnessed an exchange of extremely potent magic.

But in the eyes of a layman, he had been crushed like an insect by magic twice as powerful as his own. They didn’t even consider that he was the first King of Blaze to use multiple Fixed Stars at once — all they knew was that he was nothing before the Arch Sage.

Therefore, most people believed that he vanished to escape the shame.

In truth, he didn’t care about their opinions one bit.

His mind had no room for such noise, for it was overwhelmed by the truth that he had been utterly defeated by his target.

He’d challenged the most well-versed caster in the world with the element that he’d dedicated his life to, and yet the Arch Sage had crushed him with that very same element.

All the training he’d gone through to prove himself the strongest — to surpass the Arch Sage — turned out to be for naught.

It was as though his entire life had been negated.

Ever since then, he’d been living as a hermit in the mountains.

He’d dedicated his existence to fire magic and fire magic alone. There was no one to care if he disappeared.

As he meditated, he was silent, but his surroundings certainly weren’t.

They were filled with the crackling sound of flame, caused by the sixty-four balls of fire floating around him.

They were not Fixed Stars, of course, but low-rank Fireballs. Even so, very few were capable of controlling so many of them at the same time.

After losing to the Arch Sage in breadth, power, and speed, he took to honing his skills yet further and had achieved greater control and speed than he’d possessed during their duel.

By striving to improve himself even further, he was able to break more limits and achieve the result before him.

However, he knew that this was as far as he could possibly go.

“It’s still not enough...” he whispered to himself, and the orbs vanished.

His goal was the same as ever — simultaneous control of multiple Fixed Stars. Currently, he might’ve been able to maintain as many as the Arch Sage had in their duel, if not more.

However, there was something that made it fundamentally impossible for him.

“I don’t have enough magic...”

He simply didn’t have the MP to release four Fixed Stars at once. Even when he drained his reserves dry, he could only call forth three of them at once.

Maximum MP could be increased by gaining more levels, but even those with Superior Jobs had limits to how high they could go.

The Arch Sage had lived and leveled for over a century. To match him, Feuer would need at least several decades more.

It wasn’t certain if Feuer would even live long enough to catch up to the Arch Sage, and he would never overcome him even if he did.

The Arch Sage had chosen to use Feuer’s own speciality against him, but he actually had access to spells of all elements. If he’d chosen to use magic that fire was weak against, not even having the same amount of MP or control would help him.

To defeat him with only a single element, merely equaling the Arch Sage wasn’t enough — he had to surpass him.

That was exactly why he’d crafted the double Fixed Star technique.

“Tch...” Feuer immediately thought back to the day of the duel. Specifically, he remembered how the Arch Sage looked as he completely destroyed him.

His eyes were like those of a kindly adult looking at a child showing off a curious hunk of garbage he found.

To the Arch Sage, the power Feuer had given his whole life to earn was nothing but that — a child’s worthless nonsense.

“...A child, eh?” Feuer understood that the Arch Sage was known mostly for his Imaginary Meteo because he’d washed his hands of Fixed Star many decades ago.

He’d stopped using it because he deemed it unfit for his purpose.

And Feuer had challenged him with a lesser version of this “unfit for his purpose” technique. Of course he would be disappointed and look at me like I’m a child, he thought in self-derision.

That was why he had to surpass the Arch Sage’s fire magic.

Indeed — Feuer had not given up.

He became a hermit, meditated, and trained so he could challenge the Arch Sage once again.

He’d been completely defeated, but he was also so set in his ways that from now on, all he could do was dedicate himself to acquiring the “Magical Apex” title — or rather, to defeating the Arch Sage.

That was why he’d continued training even after the staggering defeat.

He didn’t know that the title of “Magical Apex” now belonged to a Master known as “Fatoum,” nor did he know that the Arch Sage had died in a war.

He’d isolated himself from society and focused solely on training.

Some would consider him insane, but he was of sound mind.

It was simply that his personal perspective and the world he lived in didn’t allow for any other course of action.

However, one day, this life of his came to an end.

“...Who are you?” Feuer asked, his eyes still closed.

He wasn’t speaking to himself or to any memory — he actually had a visitor.

“A pleasure to meet you. Feuer Lazburn, I assume? -sume?”

Two people stood among the trees and shrubs of the mountain grove.

Their voices were like a paired chorus. One was a pale woman in a wheelchair, while the other was a robust man in black pushing it.

Together, they were Soul Trader, La Crima.

“I am La Crima. A Master and the current Soul Trader. -der.”

“A Master? I have heard of your kind. What do you want from me?”

“I came with an invitation. Would you like to join our clan as a supporting member? -ber?”

“Clan?”

“A clan known as ‘I.F.,’ which only allows the wanted. -ted.”

“Criminals, eh? I don’t recall being on any wanted list.”

“...But you killed many, did you not? -not?” La Crima asked with certainty. “This mountain is very quiet. I sense no monsters or people here, yet I hear that this area is inhabited by high-level beings, making it an excellent spot for training. -ning.”

“...What are you trying to say?”

“How many levels did you gain? -gain?” They were basically asking how many monsters and tians he had murdered to raise his level.

As certain people were aware, a portion of the Resources from dead monsters was used to create loot, so if one wanted only experience, tians were the better targets.

“It was wise of you to attack tians who hunt here instead of attacking settlements. -ments. No one would be surprised if they didn’t return, and high-level tians give a lot of experience. -ence.”

“...Heh.” Feuer chuckled — not because of some sick joy, but because he was simply amused.

He actually agreed with what they said.

“You’re not wrong. I didn’t keep count, but I killed all of them to gain more magic,” he said as though this was a normal thing to do.

It seemed insane, but again, he was of sound mind.

It was simply that his personal perspective and the world he lived in didn’t allow for any other course of action.

His entire mindset was focused on becoming the world’s greatest wielder of fire magic and proving that he was.

And the world he lived in was the microcosm of the Lazburn family. His goal was merely to become strong. The idea of using his power for the sake of others had never even crossed his mind.

That was why he thought nothing of killing actual people to gain levels.

“If what I hear about Tenchi inhabitants is true, you are much like them. -them.”

“I can understand why you might think that. Anyway, you said something about me joining a criminal clan? Sorry, but since I must keep improving myself, I have no time to dedicate to anything else.” He refused the strangers’ offer, creating orbs of fire in each hand.

They weren’t his earlier Fireballs, but the double Fixed Stars — his ultimate technique, surpassed by no one but the Arch Sage.

The one eye of the black La Crima — the only one between the two that was exposed — watched the blazing orbs as they spoke. “In exchange for joining, I will grant you a stronger self. -self.”

“A stronger...self...?” Feuer said as he raised an eyebrow.

“If you accept my proposal, you can be certain that you will receive that. -that,” they said as the white La Crima stuck out her hand like a devil looking to seal a pact.

In response...

“If you claim you can give me more power than I currently have, I want to see some proof first!”

...Feuer released his Fixed Stars.

This was the deadly magic that had evaporated any humans and monsters he’d encountered on this mountain.

However, La Crima just let it hit them.

The aftershocks alone were enough to scorch the surrounding trees and even Feuer’s own small shelter.

La Crima was right at the center of this intense heat, and the two Fixed Stars...were now clutched tight in the hands of the dark man.

“...I see. I haven’t been this shocked since my fight against the Arch Sage...” The strange man had let go of the wheelchair, stuck out his hands, and caught both Fixed Stars like they were nothing but rubber balls. The spell could melt even Mythical Metal, yet the man’s hands were not incinerated — in fact, they didn’t even seem damaged.

At some point, he’d also stopped looking human.

He was now larger, more warped, and covered in a luster like that of gold or silver.

On his metallic chest was emblazoned the name “Ferrum Idea.”

“This is a sample of the stronger self I can grant you,” the white La Crima said, with her voice alone. Following the transformation, the dark figure had become silent.

The white La Crima hadn’t changed at all, and not even her clothes or skin seemed to have been affected by the intense heat.

For all anyone knew, perhaps the white La Crima wasn’t the “real one” either.

“...I see you weren’t lying,” Feuer said as he looked at the dark La Crima, who had been completely unaffected by his greatest attack.

If they had made this power for themselves, then he could indeed trust them to make him stronger than he was.

“Allow me to introduce myself again,” said the white La Crima, in a melodic voice. “I am La Crima, a Superior and an improver of people. Allow me to turn your tears into ones of joy. If you wish for power, I will make you far stronger than you are now. Is there anything specific you request?”

In response to the stranger’s playful presentation...

“...Magic. I need enough magic to surpass the Arch Sage.”

...Feuer found himself speaking as if he had already agreed.

This likely meant abandoning his humanity, but he did not care about that. To him, the most important thing was using fire magic to defeat the Arch Sage and proving that he was the strongest.

“Very well. I will make that part of the procedure,” the white La Crima said, casually accepting Feuer’s seemingly outrageous request.

He looked at her in silence. This person, he thought, could easily shatter the wall he was facing now.

Was this grace from above...

“...Are you some sort of demon?”

...or an unholy creature seducing him to the depths of hell?

In response to his honest question, La Crima said, with no jest in her tone, “Not at all. I believe I should be called ‘a merchant of life.’”