My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

To obtain an audience with the Archwizards of the Mage Tower's 12th floor, there was only one surefire that guaranteed success.

That is, to climb to the 12th floor yourself.

Naturally, as the tower functioned in a systematic hierarchical structure, no one aside from the Archwizards themselves possessed the authority to summon a resident of the 12th floor for a meeting.

Aside from exceptions such as transcendents or some other equally powerful existences, no calls for a meeting would even reach their ears, let alone be cause for consideration.

From what I've heard, even royalty is not excluded from this harsh criteria.

Unless you have the ability to make it to the 12th floor yourself, you would not be able to force a discussion with the Archwizards.

Although, if it were someone at that level, there would be no need to talk in person with the Archwizards in the first place.

If you couldn't do that, you simply had to wait and hope that one of them would descend to a lower floor as they occasionally do, or in extremely rare circumstances, leave the tower entirely.

Of course, nobody with even an ounce of sense relied on that infinitesimal possibility.

It was for that reason that Lud was incredibly doubtful when I stated with full confidence that I would meet the Archwizards, and understandably so.

Nonetheless, he accepted my request to bring me to the Magic Tower because I saved his life.

Unfortunately...

"Let me get this straight. You not only can't cast magic, but you're also F-rank in the Guild? Magician Lud, you have my respect as a fellow trainee of the 6th floor, but did you honestly expect that middling authority to let you do as you please in bringing in an outsider like this?"

The people acting somewhat like the Magic Tower's security wardens stopped our entry.

I was warned of it on the way over here, but apparently, the magicians of the Magic Tower are very insular and prefer to keep to themselves―particularly, they are against the presence of outsiders.

When it comes to researching magic, they supposedly don't want anyone unaffiliated to come in and disturb them or potentially ruin everything, and as a result have practically banned the visitation of non-wizards from the Magic Tower, with the only exceptions being people of extraordinary status as well as those invited by a high-ranking mage of the tower.

"No, no, of course not, but listen! Cee saved my life against a surprise Nightmare! With one move, he defeated it and even brought me back from the brink of death!"

"...Well. You can thank yourself for having the positive reputation of a person not known to lie among the rest of us on the 6th floor for what I'm about to say."

"I suppose, if you are being so adamant about it, then I can't entirely dismiss your claims. However, that doesn't mean I can just let in an unidentified outsider to a higher floor, even if what you say is true."

"I'll allow a temporary pass into the 1st floor; if you want to go higher than that, you'll have to do it with your own ability."

Saying that to me, the 6th-floor wizard at the entrance of the tower engraved a small magic circle on the back of my hand to signify me as a visitor or guest of the Magic Tower.

Entering the ground floor of the tower, everything immediately expanded.

Just like I was told, the inside was vastly more spacious compared to how it appeared on the outside. It wasn't surprising, though it felt a little incongruous to my senses.

The interior resembled a nonsensical mix of various spaces like libraries, study rooms, and non-scientific research labs. I spotted a few people around, but not nearly as many as I expected for such a large space―perhaps in line with what Lud had told me beforehand.

"Due to the inherent hard-line and esoteric nature of magic, rarely anybody simply picks it up as a side job or hobby."

"It's quite an all-or-nothing subject, so if you're going to learn it, you need to invest heaps of time studying and researching in order to gain anything meaningful in return... Well, unless you're a genius, of course, but even then, most magical geniuses just don't have time for anything else."

It was one of the reasons I chose not to learn magic, but at the same time, it was the main reason why the number of people who chose to learn without putting all their eggs into it was slim.

Those who did invest everything they had, even if they weren't necessarily talented, would probably make it to around the 2nd or 3rd floor―that is, a first-circle mage.

Even with zero talent, one could accomplish that given enough time and resources.

Because the Magic Tower only accepted those who were already mages or those who had recognisable magical talent, though, the vast majority of people who entered the tower already possessed one or two circles by that point, so there was no need to wait on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd floors.

Of course, there were exceptions, but that's how it usually was, or so I heard.

On the other hand, if you didn't put your all into learning magic, your efforts would amount to practically nothing unless you were a magical genius.

Most of all, it was common knowledge in this Otherworld that magic was something that only people willing to put a lot of time and effort into studying it, or those who were naturally gifted, would succeed.

That's why the only people living on the 1st floor could be easily sorted into one of two groups:

Those without talent who had recently joined the Magic Tower and hadn't enough time to ascend to a higher floor just yet.

And those unwilling to put in the full amount of effort required to reap substantial results.

Because it is only without one, or both of those things―talent and effort―that one would be stuck on the 1st floor of the tower.

In any case, I was an exception.

Because I will climb without the need for magic.

As soon as I entered the 1st floor, I followed Lud straight to the doorway at the opposite end of the room that led to the 2nd floor.

Opening the door, the space beyond it looked like a portal leading into an endless sea of something blue and unknown―what Lud called a 'sub-dimensional space'.

"When you enter through here, you'll arrive at a 'testing area'. If you pass, you'll immediately teleport to the 2nd floor entrance. Good luck."

He briefly explained it to me, but it didn't really matter.

I walked through the portal and my surroundings changed―in the blink of an eye, I found myself in a small, wooden room.

"..."

It was a bizarre sensation as if I had experienced some g-force despite not physically moving, and it made me a little dizzy. But, I was fine.

The left and right walls were bookshelves, there was a closed wooden door behind me, and there was a white window on the opposite wall from me that I couldn't see through.

Presumably, if I walked back through the door, I would return to the 1st floor.

In this tiny room, there was a wooden table in the centre with a single wooden chair.

Apparently, other mages are not allowed to speak of the details of the different trials between each floor, but what I was supposed to do here seemed pretty self-explanatory.

I took a seat at the table, and suddenly, a basketball-sized blue orb materialised in front of me, along with some words.

[Magic Tower 1st Floor Trial.]

[Place your hands on the device and channel your mana.]

[Your magical energy will be measured and quantified.]

[Required magical energy to pass the trial: 50.]

The glowing sentences that suddenly appeared in the air in front of me reminded me heavily of Truth, but they looked nowhere near as mystifying and beautiful as Truth's writing.

Frankly, it felt like an insult.

Well, the trial seemed simple enough.

Of course, I had no idea how to 'channel my mana', or if I even had any to begin with. But, that wouldn't stop me.

In fact, now that you had slighted my deceased, one and only friend, I felt I had to do something to avenge him.

"What? You wanted 50?"

Grasping the orb on the table with my hands, I spoke dryly.

"But, my magical energy is so immeasurably vast that you can't handle it. Are you sure?"

You bastard.

Shatter under the force of my overwhelming magical energy.

"―Break."

Crash-!

With an abrupt flash of light, the sound of glass exploding resounded as the orb in my hands crumbled into pieces.

One beat later, more words appeared.

[Recorded magical energy: ???]

[Your magical energy overpowered and destroyed the measuring device.]

[You have passed the Magic Tower 1st Floor Trial.]

Instantly, I found myself in a place similar to the 1st floor but with slightly more people.

Join us at m-vle-mp,yr.

"Cee...! You made it!"

Turning my head, I saw Lud trotting towards me with a smile.

"I thought you never learnt anything about magic before? How were you able to channel enough mana to pass the trial?"

Glancing at his face for a moment and examining his curious expression, I simply stated.

"Guess I'm just better."

In the end, a power originating from a higher-tiered world couldn't possibly be beaten by the lowly magic of this Otherworld.

Especially not when it came to a power gained by sacrificing Truth.