Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 231

**#231. Flight (1)**

—

As the light faded and the scene before them unfolded, the elves began murmuring in awe.

“The World Tree!”

“There’s a World Tree here too!”

The towering World Tree stood in the middle of the wasteland, dominating most of their field of vision.

“What’s that next to the trunk? A mountain? A tree? It’s not as big as the World Tree, but it’s incredibly tall. I’ve never seen such a strangely shaped tree before.”

“The bark color looks weird. It seems extremely tough too.”

Though Rael Low stood over a hundred meters tall, it looked comparatively small beside the World Tree.

All the elves who had arrived via spatial magic were young, having never left the forest.

Only Grine, who had some experience outside, spoke with a confident voice.

“That’s not a tree. It’s a fortress. A mobile fortress built atop a massive rock mountain. It’s made primarily of a material called ‘metal,’ processed from underground minerals.”

“What is construction?”

“Metal?”

“Those are concepts unfamiliar to us elves, so let me explain…”

While the elves chattered, Ray looked around quietly.

The vast shade and sunlight beneath the World Tree.

Young shrubs and trees had begun to grow all across the wasteland.

‘Grine scattered seeds before we left.’

Though it hadn’t been discussed, it seemed the dwarves had tended to them with their craftsmanship.

The land had only just begun to recover, and its natural fertility alone couldn’t have accounted for such growth.

───

He stirred the mana in the air with his hand.

It was sluggish and of low elemental quality.

…He could sense the many hardships and trials the mana had endured as it wandered the world.

It was stained.

Like scrap metal drifting powerlessly down the Elton River and eventually piling up in Sector 50.

But someday, if a forest took root here…

‘Maybe all the mana that’s flowed here could become clean again.’

While Ray was lost in thought, the space before him suddenly shimmered. Reflexively, he swung his palm.

“Kid, I’m back─.”

Thunk!

Curiosa appeared and was immediately smacked on the head, collapsing with a splat.

A brief silence followed.

Dusting himself off, Curiosa looked confused, then, realizing the situation, exploded in rage.

“You damn brat! Do you have a death wish?! Such humiliation and contempt…! Deceit and violence…! Fraud and theft…! I won’t stand for this any longer! One of us isn’t walking away from this─!”

“I’ll tell you what my second favorite color is.”

“─Nothing happened. Good work out there. So, yeah. You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”

Now docile, Curiosa explained the situation with a hint of pride.

“I sensed something off about the mana currents. If I hadn’t noticed and evacuated the dwarves in advance, a spatial overlap accident might’ve occurred.”

“I hadn’t thought of that, but I’m glad. Thanks.”

Curiosa suddenly put distance between them using spatial magic.

“Thanks? Who are you? The kid I know never says thank you to me.”

“I’m Ray.”

“You… You’re a homunculus sent by the Doctor, aren’t you?”

“I’m not a homunculus. I’m Ray.”

After a long moment of suspicion, Curiosa finally let her guard down and approached.

Then she was told what had happened in the forest.

“Homunculi attacked the forest?”

“A high-ranking one named Obsess had infiltrated it. Here’s the journal she left behind.”

Flip— Flip—

With each turn of the white pages filled with diary entries, Curiosa’s emotions shifted.

Sadness, longing, guilt, regret…

It was a different reaction than when she heard about Walter or Vicious.

“Was she a friend?”

“…Yeah, she was. Philia, you too… enslaved by emotion, became the Doctor’s puppet. Kid, let’s talk more later. I need some time to collect myself.”

With a subdued voice, Curiosa disappeared beyond the spatial rift into her cabin, the notebook in hand.

“……”

As Ray stood deep in thought, a sound caught his attention, and he looked around.

Grrr… Grrrrrumble…

Guu. Guuuuu.

Hundreds of young animals were wandering between the young vegetation.

They stepped cautiously,

sniffing, rubbing against things.

As if they knew this place would be their new home.

The elves and dwarves remained as distinct as two unmixed seas.

“They look like giant rocks. If I push them, won’t they roll away?”

“They’re really short. Are they fully grown?”

That was the elves whispering.

“Look at those skinny bodies. Don’t they look like they’d snap like dry twigs?”

“I heard they were shut-ins from the forest, but those smug looks in their eyes are rubbing me the wrong way.”

That was the dwarves murmuring.

Perhaps it was an instinctual aversion to the other race, but neither side was especially friendly.

Well, reconciliation was a task both races would need to tackle together going forward.

“Veronica, I’m heading out.”

“Yeah? You’re going now?”

Ray nodded.

Ever since he had embraced a sense of belonging and awakened the full power of the green jewel, he had long awaited this moment.

Tap tap tap tap!

As he ran toward the World Tree, he saw dwarves working around various holes.

From ropes and drills to tools of unknown function,

countless devices and equipment were scattered about.

“Oh, you’re back.”

“From afar, it looked like you brought quite a number of elves.”

He briefly explained the situation to the elders he encountered along the way, then resumed running and arrived before the World Tree.

Without hesitation, he leapt up and began his climb.

Tap! Tap! Tap tap! Tap!

The sound of his feet striking bark and protruding branches echoed busily.

And when he reached a height similar to Rael Row’s summit,

he sprinted along a long protruding piece of bark and leapt with all his strength.

────!

His body, coursing with hot blood, traced a long arc through the sky, the wind slowing his descent.

Then—

Thud!

The boy landed on Rael Row’s watchtower like a comet.

Turning his head, he saw another boy sprawled out, having rolled out of the way just in time.

“Whoa, damn. Were you trying to kill me? I didn’t think you’d actually jump that distance.”

Getting up and dusting himself off, Isra cleared his throat and spoke.

“I measured my height yesterday. Compared to when you left, I grew by 0.01 mm. Looks like the medicine’s working. What do you think? Afraid? Just imagine how tall I’ll get. I’ll catch up to your height in no time. Be nervous.”

He looked very satisfied to finally say this.

“Terrifying. Truly. But Isra, is the flight device ready?”

“Oh, that? I’ve finished it, technically.”

Isra vanished into the watchtower and soon returned with something in his arms.

A metal box designed to be worn like a backpack.

Multiple cylindrical vents, like a vehicle exhaust system, protruded from the bottom, and on each side were large wings made of thin metal wires and membranes.

“Press this switch, and Is-2 will absorb ambient mana to use as power. Since you’re a mage, using your own mana directly will yield better output.”

“Is-2?”

“It’s the name of the flight device. Anyway, once the mana is converted into power—”

“The wings move?”

“—Nope! They’re just for show.”

“I see. So they’re unnecessary.”

Isra had to fight with all his might to stop Ray from tearing the wings off.

“Huff… Huff… You have to hear the dwarf out all the way. Why are you in such a rush today? The wings don’t flap like a bird’s, okay? But! They play a crucial role in reducing air resistance during gliding.”

“So they’re necessary?”

“Of course! Unless you want to crash mid-flight.”

Ray nodded, strapped the device on his back, and prepared to leap again toward the World Tree.

Isra, who had been blankly watching, came to his senses.

“Wait, wait! What are you doing?! That’s a prototype! We haven’t tested if it’s safe yet—”

“It’s fine. As for safety—”

Isra stood up to stop him, but Ray was already sprinting across the long platform.

Smack!

“I’ll test it myself.”

He landed on the edge of the World Tree’s bark in a wide arc.

Looking back, he saw Isra shouting something.

—Hey! Give it back! We still need to run more tests! You thief!

‘He’s happy his invention is being used right away.’

Ray nodded and waved, then began climbing the World Tree again.

Maybe it was the weight of the flight device, but even with his strengthening magic at full power, sweat poured from his body like rain.

Just as his breathing began to falter, Laqria sent him a message.

She wanted to help.

Summoned outside the gem, Laqria first appeared in a small form.

But after circling around the trunk of the World Tree and appearing on the other side, she had grown to tens of meters in length.

Ray entered the mouth of the giant snake and settled atop one of her fangs.

“I’m counting on you.”

In an instant, his senses lurched.

Laqria had launched.

Rumble—

As the altitude rose, Ray felt the contract sigil over his heart burning.

He was receiving the emotions of the excited Laqria.

‘You’re thrilled too, huh? Since we’re getting closer to the Sky Island?’

Feeling his heart pound, Ray recalled Gwendel’s teachings.

*“When resonance and trust build, spirits can sometimes mirror their master’s emotions. The reverse is also true. In rare cases, full sensory sharing occurs—where the spirit becomes the master, or vice versa.”*

Emotional mirroring.

It seemed that, right now, they were both becoming one another.

How long had they flown?

At some point, the vibrations ceased.

Exiting Laqria’s mouth, Ray found himself atop the World Tree.

“……”

An endlessly stretching yellow wasteland.

Gray roads branching out like palm lines.

Ruins and abandoned vehicles all around.

…And in several places on the horizon, strange phenomena caused by mana—fire, lightning, and more.

Though it was a scene he’d seen before, he was briefly struck speechless.

Snapping back to reality, the boy turned his body, remembering his purpose.

“You’re that happy? Enough to dance?”

Laqria, now palm-sized, writhed joyfully toward the sky.

Following her gaze, Ray looked up to see the black clouds blanketing the sky.

Their density was clearly lower compared to other areas, but… they still served as an obstacle, blocking the view of anything beyond.

‘There’s a Sky Island up there.’

Ray summoned the green gem.

Gripping the branch of the World Tree, he drew forth two emotions connected to green mana.

‘Who in the world is Rainbow?’

Curiosity.

‘An individual is the entirety.’

And a sense of belonging.

Wuuuuuuung───!

The mana of the gem resonated with an intensity never felt before.

The throbbing wave of life coursed through the boy’s arm and surged into the branch of the World Tree.

And then, soon after.

Kugugu──!

The World Tree, which he had thought had reached the limit of its growth—

Kugugugugu───!

—once again stretched itself out vigorously and began to rise.

A fierce vibration ensued.

His field of vision gradually lifted.

The dance of the serpent grew wilder, and the boy’s hand, stretched toward the sky, drew closer and closer to the clouds.

And then, at a certain moment.

───.

The tremors ceased.

The clouds seemed close enough to grasp, but he couldn’t quite reach them. There was still a small gap.

Ray activated the switch on his flight device, then, following Isra’ instructions, combined the elements and injected them into the shoulder straps.

Chwarak──!

The folded wings unfolded.

Chemical reactions among the elements ignited in the nozzles attached under the device, and a dense mass of compressed wind began to form.

After reverse-summoning Laqria, Ray looked down at the distant ground below him.

If he failed, he would fall and suffer serious injuries.

‘Veronica will heal me.’

She had recently advanced to the 2nd Circle, and the amount and quality of the white mana contained in her circle had drastically increased.

At that level, even reviving a person might be possible.

Of course, it would be possible.
—Probably

Having made up his mind, the boy sprinted along the branch of the World Tree and leapt with all his strength.

Tap!

And then, he soared.

 

 

 

 

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