Ascension Of The Failed Mage

"So, you joined the research team in order to further your own personal research into creating an artificial human, a humunculus..." Noir stated bluntly.

"Yeah. While it bore some fruit at the start, I decided to quit since I had gotten all I could from them, and settle for being a professor instead." Trevor responded.

Noir smiled. The research teams were the busiest of all staff within the Institute. None of them even attended Noir's trials due to their schedule.

He was sure Trevor was too busy with work that he didn't have time for his own research, so after enduring for so long and obtaining all he could, he decided to leave in order to have more time for his work.

"Well, people here still recognize me, so that's why I'm in a hurry to get to the final floor." Trevor said with a smile.

"This tower has 91 floors, thought there was teleportation magic somewhere around here? I'm pretty sure I sensed something like that."

When Noir said this, Trevor was a little flustered. Guilt appears on his face, and he knew it was only a matter of time before Noir caught on.

To save himself some trouble, he had to just explain.

"Well, there is a teleporter, but I decided we should take the stairs..."

"Why?" Noir asked bluntly.

"W-well..." Trevor muttered, feeling a little awkward to say it.

"Well?" Noir furthered.

His impatient and dominant tone told Trevor he had to fess up.

"My ex-girlfriend handles the teleporter here. It's awkward seeing her, so I'd rather not."

Noir was stunned to hear this.

"Your... Ex...?" He repeated.

"I know It may not seem all that serious to you, but believe me... this is way preferable than having to deal with her!"

By the look on Trevor's face, Noir decided to believe him.

"Plus, isn't it better this way? We got to talk more. The teleporter would have just zapped us to the 90th floor straight up. If it had, we wouldn't have been able to bond over such a fun conversation, now would we?"

One look from Noir told Trevor that what he was saying amounted to nothing before him.

"You said the teleporter only takes us to the 90th floor, uh? Didn't this tower have 91 floors?" Noir stated.

Trevor nodded, pleased that Noir was at least paying attention. Well, he expected no less.

"The 91st floor is the Apex level, the Archmage's office itself. It's not somewhere anyone can teleport to. You'll need to have clearance to enter and you'd have to go in through the manual way."

Upon hearing Trevor's explanation, everything made sense to Noir.

"I see. That's good to know."

At this point, the two had already reached the 90th floor. As soon as they got to this platform, Noir looked to his side at the far end was a teleporter section with a magic circle on it.

Clearly, they would have appeared there if Trevor decided not to be a wimp and take the teleporter instead. Still, there was no point in reflecting on the past.

Noir and Trevor passed by a lot of researchers, many of which tried engaging in conversation with Trevor. He brushed them off though, claiming it was an emergency with the Archmage.

'It seems he's quite famous here... I suppose it's only natural since he became a Tier 8 at such an age and is referred to as a genius.' Noir mused, watching the attention Trevor was receiving.

Finally, they arrived at the other end of the floor and were met with a large gate. It had the appearance of a sturdy mineral, and Noir could feel a high concentration of mana emanating from it and even beyond.

"Behind this are the stairs that lead to Lord Denzel's office." Trevor explained.

"So, how do you open it?" Noir asked.

Trevor gave an awkward laugh upon hearing the question.

"That's the thing, you don't... only the Archmage may open the Gate to whoever he wishes to see. That's why it's impossible to see him unless he wants to meet with you."

Noir's face morphed into a slight frown.

"If you knew that much, then why didn't you tell me sooner? You brought me all the way up here and you're saying I can't even see him unless he wishes for it?"

Trevor could tell from Noir's tone that he wasn't too pleased. He had to somehow smoothen things over.

"Hey, in the first place, you wouldn't even get the chance to advance this high. You got this far since I was by your side. Still, there's nothing I, or any of the other two geezers from the council can do about this. It entirely rests on the Archimage's decision." He explained.

Noir sighed, regaining his composure. Trevor didn't appear to be lying. Yet, he couldn't help but feel he had led him on for a reason.

"You know, if you really want to see him, all you have to do is deactivate the barrier magic placed here." Trevor offered, smiling mischievously.

Noir instantly suspected him and questioned his intentions in mentioning that.

"This is a Rune, though. You know I can't use [Null] on Runes." Noir flatly responded.

Trevor should have known this much already. After all, he had analyzed him so much and had even points out his findings during their last clash.

"Uh? Well, you have other variants, don't you? What do you call them again? [Break] and [Bend]... you can use those, can't you?" Trevor responded.

Noir was surprised, though he quickly hid his shock. How did Trevor know about those? Even he only had vague recollections of those abilities. He also couldn't use them in his current state for some reasons. It had to be as a result of the [Rebound] Status Condition he saw in his Status Window.

"I'm not using those. Besides, why are you so adamant on me utilizing such a method? You don't intend on using this as an opportunity to observe my abilities even further, do you?" Noir snapped.

Trevor's guilty look proved that Noir was right.

"Well, there's no other way to get this gate to open without having the attention of the Archmage. And like you heard from the receptionist, he doesn't want to be interrupted." Trevor stated, folding his hands.

"Then all we have to do is get his attention."

Noir's sharp and simplistic answer shocked Trevor. Perhaps it was die to his ignorance that he spoke in such a manner.

"Do you have a way to achieve that?" He asked the stoic-faced person beside him.

"It's simple, really. Anyone in their house responds well... when a good knock is delivered!"

Instantly, a phenomenal amount of energy formed on Noir's hands, causing them to have a glow that kept getting brighter.

Trevor's eyes nearly popped, recognizing the golden radiation coming from Noir's hands. It was the activation of Tier 9 magic!

"Shit! You're going to use Tier 9 magic here?!" Trevor protested, hissing as he looked around him.

The other researchers who were busy with thier work instantly became drawn to the golden light coming from Noir.

"A-a Tier 9?!"

"The man with Sir Trevor was that skilled?!"

"Aren't there only a very select people who are on that level. He doesn't look like any of them, though."

"He looks so young! How is it this possible?"

"Maybe he's in disguise. That's possible with magic."

"Ah, If I knew he was someone so important I would have paid more attention to him."

Murmurs and whispers permeated the room, but no one proceeded to stop him.

For one, the strange man was with Trevor, so he was definitely someone acquainted with the Institute and the Archmage. Secondly, since he was a Tier 9, his position within the Empire, no matter what it was ,was far higher than theirs.

In short, within a world where magic power was everything, none of them had a right to question him.

"Hey, don't tell me you're going to release that here!" Trevor said, looking worried.

"Why not? This tower is protected by a powerful strengthening force and countless layers of magic, all in the 9th Tier, surround this place. It won't go down so easily."

'Ah, I see...' Trevor thought to himself.

It was no wonder such a structure could stand the test of time, and even after so many 'accidents' and occured there countless times, the building still stood strong.

"The blazing golden light covered Noir's fist as he walked closer to the gate and gave it a knock.

>BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!<

Instantly, everywhere vibrated. The room shook and the researchers could feel the tremors caused by Noir's interference with the gate.

Cackles of golden lightning emanated from the structure as the Tier 9 protective magic of the gate resonated with that of Noir's hit.

"I see... interesting... it has more than one layer..." Noir smiled.

From what he could sense, and the depth of mana within the gate, it was quite sturdy.

'How interesting indeed...'