Holy Lance? Holy Sword?

The next morning, Sovell woke amid the sea of flowers. Looking at the Dream Mage before him, he said:

"Merlin, it's time for me to go."

"Ah, I know. I heard everything you and Lia talked about."

"Cough, cough, cough!

Merlin! Isn't that a bit too much of an invasion of privacy?"

"Sorry. That was rude of me," the Dream Mage replied.

He didn't sound sorry at all!

"Does Avalon have a gate out?"

"Not for you. Only spiritual bodies can pass through that sort of gate.

I'll take you out, but before that, come with me for a moment. Close your eyes."

As he spoke, Merlin placed a hand on Sovell's shoulder. Petals drifted down, and the two arrived somewhere hundreds of miles away.

"Sovell, take a look. What is this?"

Sovell opened his eyes and looked at the enormous, glowing tower-shaped object before him.

He followed the tower's outline upward, but could not see its tip. It did not even show any sign of narrowing!

"This is... the Tower of Radiance?!"

The legendary Tower of Radiance stood at the end of the world. The people of Britain had always revered the shining tower on the horizon as a divine miracle.

"Exactly. This is the Tower of Radiance the people of Britain see.

No, to be precise, what they see is only this tower's shadow on the surface of the world.

The Tower of Radiance before us is its physical manifestation within Avalon."

"Its physical manifestation within Avalon..."

Sovell asked Merlin:

"Is the actual Tower of Radiance here?"

"More or less. Come to think of it, you probably don't know the true nature of what people call the Tower of Radiance."

"The true nature of the Tower of Radiance?"

"Exactly. People call the Tower of Radiance a miracle, a symbol of the hope God bestowed upon the people of Britain, but that isn't the truth.

I once told you that Avalon used to be directly connected to the outside world.

But later, the Age of Gods receded, humans became the 'lords' of all living things, and the laws of the world began shifting toward ones suited to humanity.

The concentration of magical energy in the outside atmosphere was no longer suitable for fairies and phantasmal species to survive.

So the fairies used certain means to move all of Avalon to the reverse side of the world, the Inner Sea of the Planet, creating the 'fairyland' that exists today.

But whether it's the Inner Sea of the Planet or the surface of the world, to use an analogy, they're merely fabrics-textures-covering the planet.

The only difference is whether they're on the front or the back. They're the sort of things that would peel right off if even a small storm blew through.

That's why multiple anchors are needed to hold this 'texture' in place.

The Tower of Radiance is one of those anchors of the planet. Its true form is a lance born to secure both the surface and the reverse side of the world.

Its name is the Holy Spear, 'Rhongomyniad.'"

"Rhongomyniad..." Sovell murmured the name, then asked Merlin another question:

"Wait, multiple anchors? There are other anchors of the planet besides the Tower of Radiance?"

"There are, but I don't know exactly how many. Apart from the Holy Spear, the only one I know of is in the ancient eastern nation of 'Seres.' There is an Anchor of the Star there.

In the boundless sea east of that ancient nation stands a pillar reaching to the heavens, called the 'Heavenly River-Settling Divine Iron.'

Over two thousand years ago, a king there used it to measure the depth of the water while bringing floods under control.

That heaven-reaching pillar is actually a projection of their Anchor of the Star into the world, fashioned as an imitation.

And that's why I brought you here today. I'll give you a projection of the Tower of Radiance, so it can serve as a weapon and help you better support Lia."

"A weapon? You're going to make a projection of the Tower of Radiance my weapon?"

"Exactly. Originally, I intended to give this projection to Lia as her secondary weapon.

But after you arrived eight years ago, I discovered that you had more aptitude for wielding this Holy Spear than Lia did."

"I have more aptitude than Lia? What do you mean?"

"It's because of your Magecraft attribute and your Origin.

If you were merely half dragon kind, I wouldn't give it to you. But your wind attribute and your Construction Origin give you an additional advantage over Lia.

Come on, step forward and punch the tower with everything you've got."

Sovell did not understand why Merlin had suddenly told him to punch the tower, but he obeyed anyway. He transformed his right arm into a dragon's and threw a full-force punch at the tower.

Boom!

"Holy shit!"

Before Sovell's fist could touch the tower, an invisible wall stopped it.

The instant that "wall" met Sovell's fist, it unleashed a violent storm.

Sovell was immediately blown away, landing in the sea of flowers several hundred meters away.

Merlin, meanwhile, had withdrawn from the storm's range well in advance and remained completely unscathed. As though nothing had happened, he called to Sovell in the distance:

"Do you understand now? The surface of this Tower of Radiance is covered by a storm barrier. If Lia wielded this Holy Spear, she could only release the barrier and unleash the energy within the spear.

But if you take the initiative to construct a pseudo-core inside the Holy Spear, you can use your own wind attribute to control that storm barrier."

"Ah-hiss... That hurts. Feels like all my organs have been knocked out of place."

Sovell pushed himself up with both hands, then recited an incantation to ease his pain.

After all, given the toughness of his body, a fall like that could not possibly have displaced his internal organs. It would merely hurt for a little while.

"To put it another way, it's the difference between barely holding a pile of iron filings together with a bunch of cloth strips and using a magnet to attract them.

Reinforce your heart and prepare your magical energy. You'll be using a great deal of it shortly."

With that, Merlin walked toward the Tower of Radiance and began extracting its shadow.

Nearby, Sovell reinforced his heart and stored the magical energy produced by his breathing in every corner of his body.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, countless points of light in Merlin's hands gradually condensed into the shape of a lance.

By then, silver light shimmered over Sovell's body. Vast quantities of wind-aspected magical energy stirred powerful winds around him, sending petals dancing across the sky.

"Gather all your magical energy and construct a pseudo-core."

At Merlin's words, Sovell reinforced his body. Scales appeared across his torso and arms, and his hands transformed into dragon claws.

The powerful winds around Sovell began contracting, gradually forming an acorn-sized sphere before him.

The boy struggled to keep the core's structure stable. As its magical energy grew denser, the core in his hands sliced through his flesh like a saw.

Merlin brought the illusory Holy Spear close to the core Sovell had constructed. Like a dry sponge meeting water, the Holy Spear immediately absorbed the core into its shaft.

Under Merlin's observation, the core inside the Holy Spear began extending a "framework" toward both ends, gradually making the formerly illusory shaft solid.

Then Merlin summoned his staff and scattered two petals over Sovell, who lay wounded on the ground nearby. The boy's wounds and torn clothes were instantly restored.

"Merlin, how's the Holy Spear coming along?"

Restored to full health, Sovell asked Merlin. Merlin observed it for a moment before replying:

"The structure is very stable. I'll use the storm barrier on the Holy Spear as a foundation to apply some seals. Whenever you want to unleash the spear's power, open one.

But once you've used up those seals, make sure you apply more promptly. Destroying your enemies is all well and good, but if you leave its power unrestricted and blow away the land along with them, it won't be worth it."

"Say, Merlin, have you considered something?"

"Hmm? What?"

"I'm delighted to have such a powerful weapon, but...

Have I learned how to use a lance at any point in these past eight years?"

Everything Sovell had learned over the past eight years concerned casting Magecraft and fighting with a longsword. He had never learned how to use a cavalry lance, a spear, or anything of the sort.

"Ah... Well, there's really no need to worry. Judging by the Holy Spear's structure, even if you swing it like a sword, the storm barrier on its surface should still make it perform quite well."

"Merlin... (;¬_¬)"

"Cough, cough, cough. Just joking, just joking.

Fundamentally, this Holy Spear is still a product condensed from the Tower of Radiance's shadow, and you constructed its core with your own hands.

So in your hands, it should be able to transform into plenty of other weapons. A bow, a shield, an axe-even a longsword.

Go on, give it a try."

Merlin handed the Holy Spear to Sovell. Sovell accepted it, feeling how astonishingly well its shaft fit his hands.

Sovell tried manipulating the core and framework within. The Holy Spear began twisting and changing shape, until it really did take the form of a longsword.

The storm barrier that had covered the Holy Spear also began to solidify, fitting itself around the blade of that "Holy Sword" and becoming a silver scabbard.