Lillian opened his eyes.
Seeing the carved ceiling above him, he immediately sat upright. To his surprise, he found that his clothes had been replaced with a silk black shirt. After a moment of hesitation, he frowned deeply—his memory seemed to have a gap. He could not recall how he had ended up lying here at all.
He quickly got out of bed. At that moment, the wooden door creaked open, and a pink-haired boy entered. Upon seeing Lillian awake, the boy smiled kindly.
"You're awake. I am Schult, a servant of Priscilla-sama."
As he approached, Lillian recognized him as the youth who had driven Priscilla's dragon carriage on the street the day before.
"How do you feel? Any discomfort?" Schult asked.
Lillian tried to recall the final moment of his consciousness. At that time, he had been unsteadily controlling the mana Priscilla had left inside his body, then had "seen" the golden seed within his brain core. The instant he touched it, he had lost consciousness.
"I feel fine… Where are my clothes?"
"..."
Schult scratched his cheek awkwardly and glanced at him.
"Well… your clothes were completely burned away by those golden flames."
Lillian froze.
Schult continued, "If Al-sama hadn't stopped her, Priscilla-sama would have killed you in her anger…"
"..."
Lillian had no idea what golden flames they were talking about. When he touched the golden seed, he had only felt a familiar presence before losing consciousness. Fortunately…
He lowered his head and glanced at his neck. Ever since Priscilla had identified him as a transmigrator through his pendant the previous day, he had stopped wearing it and left it at home, to avoid being recognized again.
Because of that, he had escaped disaster. The same went for The seed—fortunately he had not carried it with him, otherwise it would likely have been reduced to ashes just like his clothes.
"Um, although it may be somewhat improper, Priscilla-sama told me that if you woke up, I should bring you to see her…"
"Alright."
Lillian did not feel any physical discomfort. He rose and followed Schult out of the room, walking through the corridors until they reached the great hall.
At the red round table, Priscilla was drinking wine. The moment she saw Lillian approach, her expression turned icy. She slammed her wine glass heavily onto the table.
"Schult, go attend to your duties."
"Yes."
Schult departed, leaving only the two of them in the hall. Lillian sat across from Priscilla without hesitation. She stared directly at him and asked bluntly:
"What was that?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Priscilla eyed him suspiciously. Although she had initially been furious about witnessing something she should not have seen, after calming down she had to admit that the golden flames surrounding Lillian had filled her with immense shock and intimidation—an experience she had almost never felt before.
Lillian, unharmed within those flames, must possess that power. She suspected it was some special ability from the world beyond the Great Waterfall. She had even asked Al—who also came from that place—but his answer had been blunt:
People from that world were generally weak in this one.
According to him, even the strongest individuals there would at best rank as second-rate mercenaries in this world. While that world possessed powerful weapons capable of destroying a nation, such things could not be brought here. Those were collective powers, not abilities any individual could wield.
Thus, when Priscilla sensed the power surrounding Lillian, she was astonished—and deeply curious.
"Wasn't that your power?" she asked.
Lillian thought carefully. He had indeed felt a familiar presence within the golden seed—but it was not his own. It belonged to the "goddess" who had once communicated with him.
He could not help but wonder whether that thing had always existed within his brain core, merely undetectable in the worlds of the AOT or SAO. If so, what was the purpose of this golden seed? Why had it been placed in his mind?
He could not understand. He had too many questions—and only that being could provide answers. Others could hardly even comprehend its existence.
If he tried once more, perhaps…
Looking at Priscilla, Lillian suddenly said,
"Can you channel your mana into my body again?"
"What? Wait." She suddenly realized something. After studying him carefully from head to toe, she frowned and stood. "Come with me."
Lillian followed her outside to the plaza where they had been earlier. Priscilla closed her eyes, sensing something. When she opened them again, her expression showed as expected.
She approached and pressed a finger against Lillian's shoulder. The moment her mana flowed into him, she could not help but cry out in shock.
"How is this possible?!"
Her exclamation, accompanied by her retreating steps, left Lillian confused. Priscilla murmured to herself:
"I already sensed it back in the room… but this is far too exaggerated."
"What is it?"
Lillian still did not understand what had happened. He could feel that the mana Priscilla had injected into his body seemed extremely "happy," rapidly coursing through him.
"…You should know that one must possess a 'Gate' within the body to become a mage, and that the number of Gates determines a mage's potential limit," Priscilla finally said after a long silence, her expression extremely strange.
"I know."
"Earlier, I did not find any 'Gate' within your body, yet…" Priscilla seemed unable to accept what she had discovered. She fanned herself repeatedly, hesitated for a moment, and then forced herself to speak.
"But now, inside your body—no, rather, your entire being… you yourself are the Gate."
"W-What?"
His entire body was the Gate? What did that even mean?
"The mana in the atmosphere gathers into your body automatically—you don't even need to absorb it. To that mana, you are like the atmosphere itself… This is far too strange. Why would it become like this?" Priscilla was utterly baffled. It was like seeing a destitute beggar one day suddenly transform into the richest man in the world the next—absurd and unbelievable.
"…I don't really understand what that means, but this is a good thing, right?" Lillian asked. "I can become a mage now?"
"If your body continues in this state, not only can you become a mage—even becoming the foremost archmage would only be a matter of time," Priscilla replied. "Under such conditions, your speed of magical progression would be ten or even a hundred times that of others… There must be a problem somewhere. I simply don't know what it is yet."
Fuck the problem? As long as I can practice magic.
Lillian had no intention of worrying about it. Thinking too much was pointless—he would rather quickly convert this "advantage" into real strength.
"Since I now have a 'Gate,' what is my magical affinity?"
"…I don't know."
"You don't know?"
Still recovering from the shock that his body itself functioned as a Gate, Priscilla paused before answering.
"I felt nothing just now. Your mana possesses no attribute whatsoever—neither the standard elements of earth, fire, water, or wind, nor the special attributes of yin or yang. If I must say, your attribute would be… 'None.'"
"'None'…"
Lillian had never heard of such a thing. He had read many introductory books on magic that Elsa had sent him and understood that every mage possessed one of the six attributes. Some talented individuals even possessed two or three. For example, Roswaal possessed the Divine Protection of Sorcery, allowing him to use all six attributes and wield power comparable to an entire army.
"We'll know if we try," Priscilla suddenly said, becoming serious. She tucked her folding fan into her chest and raised both hands.
"I will guide the magical power within your body. You need only imagine the process of releasing it from your 'Gate.' This will produce the most basic form of magic, and from its manifestation we can determine your attribute."
As she spoke, her slender finger pressed against Lillian's forehead, and he closed his eyes.
He truly felt that his body was different from before. It was as though the interior of his body was directly connected to the outside world—mana flowed in without obstruction. He sensed Priscilla beginning to guide the energy, and her voice sounded beside his ear.
"Raise your hand."
It seemed he was to channel the power from his hand. Lillian obediently raised his right arm. The next moment, a violent surge of mana rushed through his arm into his palm and blasted outward like a cannon!
Boom—!
Both of them opened their eyes simultaneously.
A dazzling golden beam shot from Lillian's right hand, striking the ground dozens of meters away with a thunderous explosion. A crater several meters wide instantly appeared. There was no dust or rubble—everything had been swallowed by the golden light. Its destructive power was utterly terrifying.
Before Lillian could even rejoice at the attack, a sudden wave of dizziness overwhelmed him. If Priscilla had not caught him in time, he would have collapsed to the ground.
"Such tremendous destruction, yet it consumed so little mana…" Priscilla stared at Lillian's pale face before suddenly realizing something.
"I understand now! Your magic does not merely consume mana!"
Lillian recovered slightly, the dizziness easing. He gave Priscilla a grateful glance and straightened himself.
"Then what else does it consume?"
"You can feel it yourself—it also consumes your mental strength." Priscilla stared at the massive crater left by the golden light, speaking faster and faster.
"That small amount of mana could not possibly produce such destruction. Though I do not know the exact reason, your mental power is involved in the release of your magic… Or rather, it is precisely because your mental power alters the nature of your magic that such devastation occurs. And the price is that when you use magic, you will more easily… become an idiot."
"…."
Lillian paid no attention to her final remark. Instead, he suddenly remembered that when he had guided the mana earlier, the golden seed within his brain had trembled slightly. It seemed Priscilla was correct—his magic had been mixed with the power of that golden seed, transforming it into the attribute of "None."
"It seems I was mistaken," she said, looking at him with a trace of pity.
"You cannot become a great mage. On the contrary—if I were you, I would never use magic again."
Her expression turned serious as she warned him:
"I am not trying to frighten you when I speak of becoming an idiot. Mana, once depleted, can be replenished from the atmosphere. But once mental strength is exhausted… you may not understand, but I will tell you clearly—the outcome will only be madness, idiocy, or death."