Chapter 1346: 104. Dead End

"What? The supreme treasure of the school? And it even came from one of the founders of the Origin Tower?"

Before Muen could say anything, Ariel had already leaned over with an excited expression:

"What does it look like? What does it do? Something left behind by a person like that must be incredibly powerful. It must be worth a lot of money too!"

"I...... I'm not too sure either. Those are all just rumors. I only came here thinking I'd give it a try."

The shadow in his heart had yet to fade, and one of his hands was still bent in a strange direction. Seeing this female demon...... this demon-level, super invincible adorable beautiful girl approaching, Habakaya immediately trembled and desperately curled backward.

"Tsk." Ariel clicked her tongue, frightening the group into another shudder.

"Cough."

Muen coughed dryly from behind her and reminded her: "My adorable Alice?"

"Oh my, I was only worried that something might have happened to the supreme treasure of our Enhancement School. It's definitely not because I heard the word 'treasure' and suddenly couldn't move anymore."

Having returned to her adorable demeanor, Ariel smiled extremely sweetly: "I just got a little excited. Habakaya and the other gentlemen won't mind, right?"

"No no no!"

Habakaya and the several lackeys behind him shook their heads vigorously at the same time: "I understand, I understand. After all, if something like that really exists, everyone from the Enhancement School would definitely be even more anxious than me."

"That's good. You gentlemen really are such obedient children."

Ariel once again skipped back behind Muen, finally allowing the group to let out a long breath.

They never wanted to interact with those perverts who trained in both magic and martial arts again for the rest of their lives.

"A supreme treasure of the school, huh? It does sound interesting, but does something like that really exist?"

Muen rubbed his chin and looked toward Old Ide beside him: "What do you think? Does the Enhancement School really still have any treasure nowadays?"

"Treasure?"

Old Ide tilted his head. Nothing tangible was reflected in his cloudy eyes.

Just when Muen thought asking him had been pointless, the old man suddenly clapped his hands and cried out: "Right, treasure! Of course we have one! Our Enhancement School is a famous great school. How could we possibly not have treasure?"

"Hm?"

Everyone present immediately turned serious and looked toward Old Ide.

Without another word, Old Ide plunged straight into the overgrown thicket beside them. Rustling sounds came from inside as though he were rummaging around for something.

Soon, Old Ide rushed back out of the vegetation, holding something high above his head with both hands as he shouted:

"Behold! This is our treasure!"

"What? There really is one?"

"The Enhancement School's supreme treasure...... something left behind by the first leader of the school......"

Aside from Ariel, Habakaya's eyes widened the most as he desperately tried to make out what Old Ide was holding. After all, that was exactly what he'd come here for.

Unfortunately, because of his physical condition and the lighting, he couldn't immediately identify what kind of treasure it was like that demonically violent woman could. It wasn't until Old Ide rushed into a well-lit area and thrust out his hand, practically shoving the object into Habakaya's face, that he finally saw it clearly.

"This is......"

Habakaya finally saw it, and his voice immediately began trembling, because the treasure in Old Ide's hands was something he had never imagined, something shocking and horrifying enough to make him shudder!

It was actually—a human head!

A human head that had been dead for who knew how long, dried until only a layer of skin remained!

The head was eerie and terrifying. Its empty eyes were as deep as black holes, and when Habakaya looked into them, he felt as though even his soul were about to be swallowed!

The first leader of the Enhancement School had actually possessed such bizarre tastes, making his treasure look like a human head?

What kind of......

"Individuality!"

Was this how geniuses thought? They really were different from normal people like them.

Even the appearance of the treasure had been made so extraordinarily distinctive.

And upon closer inspection, this treasure didn't merely resemble a dead person's head...... it was practically identical to one!

Look at the size, look at the contours, look at the wrinkles in that dried skin!

It even emitted a faint rotten stench. They had simulated the smell too! What flawless conception and craftsmanship!

Not only that, but within those pitch-black eye sockets, some sort of pale white thing was wriggling around!

That was......

A maggot?

"Eh?"

The pale white thing wriggled, then landed with a soft plop on the tip of Habakaya's nose. The cold, soft, slippery sensation instantly made him shudder.

"Wait, this really is......"

"That's right. It's a maggot."

Muen and Ariel, who stood behind him, had already moved several meters away. They nodded seriously: "And the thing in front of you...... really is nothing more than an ordinary dead person's head."

"......"

For some reason, Habakaya seemed to hear someone's mocking laughter.

Several intense emotions collided violently inside his chest, nearly making him explode on the spot.

Yet after his chest heaved violently for a long time, all that came out was a slow breath of foul air.

"Quick...... get this thing away from me......"

Habakaya's voice trembled with indescribable despair: "It's about to fall into my mouth...... I'm a clean freak......"

......

......

"Lord Alva, Lord Alva, you are the supreme treasure of our Enhancement School!"

In the desolate grove, the scruffy old man with an unkempt beard held the dead head high above him, shouting while spinning excitedly in circles.

If Muen hadn't repeatedly confirmed that there wasn't the slightest trace of an evil aura here, he would have thought this was yet another bizarre Evil God summoning ritual.

"So, do you really still think the Enhancement School in its current state has some kind of treasure?"

Muen turned around and looked at Habakaya with a faint smile. The latter was sitting on the ground as though he had suffered some extraordinary humiliation, staring blankly at the ceiling.

It seemed the female knight in the goblin cave had already evolved directly into the defeated version.

"I'm so stupid. Really......"

Habakaya murmured: "I'd already heard long ago that only a madman was left in the Enhancement School, but I never imagined he was...... this mad?"

What kind of ordinary madman was this?

This was a psychiatric patient!

Damn it, who treated a rotten severed head like a treasure!

"It seems you have quite a lot of objections toward one of the important members of our Enhancement School. Alice......"

"No! Absolutely not!"

Habakaya suddenly sprang upright and looked approvingly toward Old Ide, who was still spinning around in circles:

"To tell you the truth, Lord Enmu, it has been a very long time since I've seen such an outstanding and unique elderly talent. Seeing him in such high spirits makes me happier than if I'd eaten honey."

"That's good."

Muen smiled: "Since you're so happy, don't rest yet. Let's continue with the previous topic. We still have some other questions to ask."

"Ask away, please ask! I'll tell you everything I know, and every word will be true!" Habakaya puffed out his chest.

Muen did not speak. Instead, he gave Ariel another look.

Ariel, who was similarly disappointed because there apparently wasn't any treasure at all, sighed softly before revealing an adorable smile befitting her persona:

"Before Teacher asks his questions, let me ask one first."

"Y-You...... please ask as well!" Habakaya smiled awkwardly, his attitude even more respectful than when facing Muen.

"Then why did the Enhancement School decline? According to what you just said, the Enhancement School was once the Fifth Great School that stood alongside the Elemental School and the others. Its first leader was even one of the founders of the Origin Tower. How could such a great school with such deep foundations decline into the pitiful state it's in today?"

After all, the word school was not equivalent to an ordinary faction.

Within the framework of the Origin Tower, what sustained a school was not authority, violence, or wealth like an ordinary faction.

It was...... knowledge.

That's right. A school represented the inheritance of an entire path of magic.

So as long as there were still people studying and using that magic, then logically speaking, even if the school ceased to be powerful because magical systems changed with the times, it still shouldn't have declined to the point where it was about to be abolished.

Both Muen and Ariel, who herself was highly proficient in various Enhancement Magic, were extremely curious and puzzled about this.

"Eh? You don't know?"

Habakaya looked at Muen suspiciously.

"Cough."

Muen coughed dryly with a sorrowful expression: "I originally wasn't planning to tell her about that painful past so soon, but since she's already asked...... go ahead. A fledgling must eventually spread its wings and fly into the sky."

"Oh."

Habakaya twitched the corner of his mouth. Although he couldn't understand what kind of fledgling could punch eight of them until their teeth scattered across the ground, under the coercion of violence...... no, under the coercion of cuteness, he still answered truthfully:

"Actually, haven't you already demonstrated the answer to this question perfectly?"

"Hm? Demonstrated?"

"That's right. Enhancement Magic really was extremely powerful during the period when magic had only just begun developing, around a thousand years ago. In that era, when chaos had only just ended, the world was filled with all kinds of dangers, so the ability to protect oneself was extremely important. Mages, whose bodies were physically fragile, often learned this kind of magic in order to improve their chances of survival in harsh environments.

"But later, as time passed and various magical systems developed, mages gradually discovered......

"Enhancement Magic was somewhat useless."

"Hm?"_

Ariel's delicate brows rose slightly as she bared her teeth:

"Useless in what way? You'd better explain yourself clearly!"

"Wait wait wait...... I wasn't the one who said that. It's the conclusion many mages reached through experience. Anyone who learns even a few techniques can clearly sense it, including you......

Habakaya hurriedly waved his hands and said: "You can feel it too, can't you? Enhancement Magic...... can only serve as support."

"......" Ariel's movements froze.

That point...... really couldn't be denied.

"That's right. Enhancement Magic is a type of magic that provides bonuses, so it simply cannot become the primary magic practiced by a mage. No matter how outstanding the Enhancement Magic is, it still can't allow a mage to fight hand-to-hand with a warrior of the same rank. Doing that would only get them beaten into **. On the contrary, warriors, whose bodies are already powerful, can gain a certain degree of increased strength from Enhancement Magic."

"So later on, there were generally only two kinds of people who learned Enhancement Magic. One kind is someone like you, exceptionally gifted and training in both magic and martial arts, using magic to strengthen the warrior side. The other kind is someone who isn't good at fighting and therefore chooses the path of support magic from the beginning, studying it alongside various healing spells and interference spells, treating it purely as an extra."

"Of course, if that were the only problem, the Enhancement School wouldn't have ended up this miserable. After all, support magic can be extremely practical when used well. So the main reason is actually......"

Habakaya paused, then suddenly lowered his voice and spoke to Ariel in an extremely mysterious manner:

"According to rumor, there was something more behind the disappearance of the first leader of the Enhancement School. He didn't disappear because of some accident. Instead, he had also recognized the limitations of Enhancement Magic, and while urgently trying to open up that path...... he accidentally touched upon some kind of taboo."

"And precisely because he touched that taboo, he was suppressed by some unspeakably powerful figure. Not only did that extraordinarily brilliant school leader perish as a result, but the entire system of Enhancement Magic was directly severed because of it!"

"Truth-Rank Grand Mages have already carried out specialized experiments. No matter how Enhancement Magic is optimized and stacked, even if enormous quantities of magic stones are consumed for it, it still cannot raise the physical strength of a warrior who is not Crowned to the level of a Crowned warrior!"

"Simply put, Enhancement Magic is fundamentally a path that can only reach the Radiance Rank before coming to a complete dead end! It isn't even particularly useful at the Radiance Rank anymore, because after the Ascension Rank, as a mage's ability to replenish their own magical power increases dramatically, various forms of multiple chanting and multiple magic construction have already solved the problem of their physical vulnerability to a large extent...... except when a warrior gets right in their face, of course, but that's only a minority of situations."

"So with a path that's already been cut off, with a kind of magic that has no future, in a place like the Origin Tower that only pursues greater heights, farther horizons, and the absolute pinnacle of magic...... why would anyone voluntarily study it?"

Habakaya secretly glanced toward the crazed Old Ide not far away:

"The only reason this school has managed to survive until now is because its former prestige was simply too great, so every now and then, some idiots refuse to believe the truth and decide to give it a try."

"And the final result...... you've already seen it yourselves."

"Nothing but decline."