Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

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As I descended the stairs, I arrived at a spacious hallway. It was clearly a place once used to display various items, as stone display cases lined the walls.

While I glanced around, I lightly tapped the bag that kept shifting. It seemed the Nightmare, hidden within, was feeling a bit bored.

“Hmm…”

Most of the items had succumbed to the ravages of time, losing their original shapes. Only the occasionally discovered artifacts remained intact.

“This is a form of magic circle I’ve never seen before…”

“But it’s not difficult to use… Anyone who can use Mana could manage it.”

“Are you saying they carved the Mana Stone and etched the magic circle into it…?”

The magic contained in the artifacts, like casting small lights or creating flames, wasn’t overly impressive, yet the wizards couldn’t contain their admiration.

Once again, the group split. Some continued deeper while others examined their surroundings closely.

I proceeded deeper alongside Haiven.

This area once filled with seawater was damp everywhere—walls and floors alike. Occasionally, a droplet would fall from the ceiling.

I reached out and touched the moist wall. The letters carved into it were of a very strange form. I’d never seen such characters during my travels across this continent, nor had I encountered them in Janghon.

“This is… this can’t be happening.”

Some of the wizards appeared quite shocked, denying the reality before them. However, this ancient ruin wasn’t going to disappear just because they wished it so.

“This…”

As I stepped further into the ruins, a large auditorium unfolded. Numerous chairs led down from the stairs to a tall podium in the center. It was clearly a place meant for presenting or teaching something to many.

While everyone observed the expansive auditorium, silence fell. A subtle hush settled, directing everyone’s gaze to one spot. There, a massive mural awaited our attention.

Despite the passage of time, its colors hadn’t faded, indicating some magical force was protecting the painting.

But what truly astonished everyone wasn’t this fact. What shocked us was the content of the painting.

The mural, capturing the characteristics of living beings, depicted countless dragons flying around a tower that reached high into the sky, below which humans, dwarfs, and elves coexisted.

The towering spire pierced through the clouds, rising to unbelievable heights. It went beyond the blue sky, passing through layers of clouds. Following a picture of a whale swimming through the clouds, images of floating landmasses appeared in the air.

“Those pointed ears suggest they’re portraying elves…”

“And those small, muscular, stout bodies clearly represent the dwarves from old records.”

“This one… it resembles a cat, but with three tails.”

“There’s also a gigantic deer, like a dragon. Although the transparent painting looks odd…”

“Does this mean that mural depicts the time before all the races vanished?”

“Is there another world beneath the sky… Don’t you all see the landmasses floating above?”

The previously silent atmosphere broke into a multitude of conversations. I descended the steps, gazing up at the mural engraved at the back of the auditorium.

The landmass floating above the clouds was small, but it undoubtedly represented the continent we lived on.

“Are you saying there’s another world down there?”

“I saw it on Monster Island. At the end of the land, only the blue sky stretched out…”

Su and Shu, who had approached me, stared dumbfounded at the mural, expressing their awe.

Our time for admiring the mural was short. All of us, unable to conceal our excitement for the new world, turned toward another direction.

We wandered countless rooms along the wide corridor. While most of the facilities had deteriorated, the magical items still retained their appearances, hinting at what kind of building this ruin had once been.

“A place filled with sights and repetitive learning. It’s similar to a space prepared for the young wizards in the Mage Tower.”

“It seems this entire ruin was built for education, like a school for the nobility…”

“Is it a school for learning magic… this entire ruin?”

Leaving behind the diverse opinions of the wizards, we continued onward. Crossing the broad hallway and descending the stairs, we eventually reached a dead-end.

“The path is blocked.”

As Su said, the way was indeed cut off. Judging by the building’s structure, there had to be another layer beneath these stairs. Yet, nothing remained now. It was as if forcibly torn away, revealing only the jagged natural rocks below. The characters engraved on the wall were also abruptly severed in an unnatural manner.

“This unnaturalness… I see. This continent must have risen from below!”

“Have you lost your senses? There’s nothing but blue sky down there. Absolutely nothing.”

“Then how do you explain the mural we just saw?”

“Why do you think that mural is true? The artist could have expressed their imagination…”

As the voices of the wizards began to grow louder, Haiven raised his hand to silence them. To me, he seemed just like a friendly old man, but apparently, he was perceived differently by the other wizards.

“It seems everyone’s quite excited. Let’s calm down a bit.”

“Hmm, hmm…”

“Ahem…”

After surveying the surroundings, Haiven slowly continued.

“This is not something we can determine by ourselves. We’ll need to call more wizards.”

“Are you saying…?”

I carefully reached out to the wall with the broken characters, leaving the excited wizards behind. Just like in the Mage Tower, a strange flow of Mana swirled throughout this entire ruin.

“Are you concerned about those characters?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you see them somewhere during your travels? Think hard.”

I shook my head at Shu’s words. I had no memory of seeing such characters before. As I cautiously traced the letters with my fingers,

Vooom-!

At some point, the letters began to react to my Mana, as if awakening from a deep slumber.

“This is…?”

The flow of Mana quickened. Mana that needed to move to a specific area began to flow out into the surroundings without a clear destination.

Vooom-!

Even after I retracted my Mana from my fingertips, the Mana exuding from the ruins showed no signs of stopping.

“Seris. What are you doing right now…”

The moment I thought Haiven’s voice was fading, the entire space began to vibrate. The scenery in front of me distorted, and the air touching my skin twisted uncontrollably.

Then, I found myself flying in the blue sky.

“Ugh…!”

Looking around, there was nothing. Just blue, then white. Only the sky extended beneath me. In that moment, Su and Shu, enveloped in blue light, appeared near me. The two kids, who had their mouths agape, seemed to realize their predicament a bit too late and began to scream.

“Hi-yaaaak!”

“What the aaah!”

The strong wind drowned out the sounds around us. I furrowed my brow, trying to maintain my balance. My limbs twirled uncontrollably in the air but eventually stabilized.

The kids, quick-witted and physically capable, managed to hold their stable positions despite the spinning and the stuff spilling from their bags.

Falling. Falling. Falling. It had been tens of seconds since we started to descend, yet the ground still wasn’t visible. Desperate, I tried to pull some Mana up to use Blink, but the Mana that flowed from my body couldn’t take control of the surroundings and scattered away.

This was my first experience with the failure of magic. A chill ran down my spine, but I expelled my Mana again.

However, the result was the same. The moment the Mana burst forth, it lost its control and dissipated uselessly.

At this rate, we would crash into the ground and die. I poured a massive amount of Mana into the wind spirit that always followed me.

Woosh—!

With a tremendous noise, a vast wind erupted, slowing our fall. As a result, I was able to ascend to the position where Su and Shu were, but the wind spirit generating the colossal wind rapidly shrunk down.

Even now, the descent continued. We entered a place where the white clouds spread out like a sea, passing through the blue sky.

In that moment, I made eye contact with a giant creature. However, it was just for an instant before it quickly concealed itself among the clouds, startled.

Fwoosh—!

The moment I escaped from among the clouds, the ground finally spread out below. There was no time to admire the scenery. I needed to reduce my speed somehow.

The Mana itself wasn’t malfunctioning. The physical enhancement using Mana was still operational. It was just that the moment Mana leaked out of my body, I lost control of it.

What, what should I do…

Gazing at the approaching ground, I recalled the two swords swaying violently at my waist.

This is it.

I immediately drew the Fire Dragon Sword and mounted it. The moment Mana enveloped the Fire Dragon Sword, it began to fly.

The speed of my fall slowed down. I held onto Su and Shu tightly with both hands while on the sword.

“Ugh…!”

“Hee…!”

The moment I realized we’d passed a significant danger, a huge sigh of relief escaped me. I looked down at my trembling hands and spoke to the kids.

“Are you okay?”

“I still don’t know…”

“We’re not gonna die, right?”

“We won’t die…”

It was just that. We faced another problem. Riding the sword, I looked around. The expansive green prairie was beautiful, but the colossal creature wandering over it was not appealing.

[Noooong—]

It was a creature that seemed partly like a giraffe and partly like a deer. The massive, translucent beast wandered across the wide prairie, exhaling a peculiar cry upwards into the sky.

“Where are we…?”

The moment Shu’s dazed mumbling ended, a gigantic cat appeared from the other side of the sky. Or could we even call that a cat?

It had horns on its head and six legs. Instead of running on the ground, it dashed across the blue sky, disappearing into the clouds.