"Name"
"Alaric."
"Gender?"
"Hmm... If I remember correctly, male."
"...Why do you have no identification?"
"I travel under global visa exemptions."
"I see—"
Clank, clank.
A few sparse pages of the registration form were compiled, producing a crisp sound on the desk. The middle-aged blond magi responsible for the assessment put away the record sheet documenting Alaric's registration.
He then looked at the white-haired young man sitting across the table. Alaric's magical aptitude was fully qualified, but his unclear origins were enough reason to reject him. Moreover, Alarc's achievements in magic were practically nonexistent.
A complete novice. While he had some understanding of magecraft, it was minimal.
His level of ignorance made the middle-aged man feel as if he were looking at his past self, someone who knew nothing.
But that didn't matter—Alaric's innate magical aptitude was sufficient to pass the Clock Tower's admission review.
The quality of his magic circuits was top-tier. Whether in terms of magic generation, efficiency, or total capacity, Alaric could unquestionably be called a genius.
Even though he was a first-generation magus, with no established magical lineage and no developed Magic Crest to represent his field of study, his talent level was enough for him to claim the title of a genius.
More important, however, was the color of his soul.
The Clock Tower's admission criteria revolved around two main points: the quality of one's magic circuits and the color of one's soul.
As a first-generation magus, Alaric's magic circuit quality and quantity far surpassed those of an ordinary person—even long-established magical families spanning multiple generations couldn't compare.
But what stood out most was that Alaric's soul was an absolute black—
A rare attribute representing a convergence of the Five Great Elements.
The middle-aged man's brief contemplation ended there. He looked at Alaric and said, "Mr. Alaric, has anyone told you that if you want to join the Clock Tower without a recommendation or invitation, you must pass an entrance exam and pay tuition?"
"Hmm?"
Penniless and nearly illiterate in modern magecraft, Alaric simply smiled.
That was something to worry about later.
...
"Waver—"
Having once again found Waver Velvet, Alaric clasped his hands earnestly and said, "Can you lend me some money? And while you're at it, help me review magecraft theory!"
"Of course! I won't let your help go unpaid—if you ever need assistance, just come to me! Even if I'm bad at magecraft, I can still solve other problems!"
"Eh?"
Waver Velvet, who had been separated from Alaric for some time, never expected to run into him again—or rather, to have Alaric seek him out.
Meeting Alaric again was one thing, but his request was another.
Waver had already expected that Alaric wouldn't be able to join the Clock Tower smoothly. After all, without any recommendations, his only path was through the entrance exam.
But the fact that Alaric didn't even have the tuition fees was beyond Waver's expectations.
"Honestly, I don't have much money either, but I can help with the magecraft theory review."
The young Waver Velvet, whose family lineage was only three generations deep, awkwardly said, "But for the tuition, you'll have to figure something out yourself, Mr. Alaric."
"No problem!"
Alaric grinned. "By the way..."
"Waver Velvet, what are you doing?"
Before Alaric could finish, a stern voice from not far away made Waver Velvet's expression tighten in shock.
That voice—without a doubt—
"Professor Kayneth!"
The young Waver Velvet, who had been conversing with Alaric, immediately turned around to face the imposing blond man—Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald!
A magus from the prestigious Archibald family, which had been passed down for nine generations. A celebrated genius in the field of magecraft.
At the Clock Tower, the headquarters of the Mage's Association that governs magi worldwide, Kayneth served as a First-Class Lecturer in the Department of Spiritual Evocation.
Moreover, he was one of the Twelve Lords of the Clock Tower, the Lord of the El-Melloi faction.
Among all the Lords, his family ranked among the upper echelons, overseeing and managing the Department of Mineralogy.
Most importantly, Kayneth was Waver Velvet's ideal as a magus.
Waver's eyes shone with admiration.
At just fifteen years old, even upon first entering the Clock Tower, Waver had already developed a deep yearning for this legendary magus.
Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald had displayed prodigious talent even as a student, becoming the youngest lecturer in the history of the Department of Spiritual Evocation.
A magus who embodied the very essence of the word "genius."
No—"genius" was the bare minimum for Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald.
The blond man, his hair slicked back, exuded an aura of authority even without effort. Even in plain attire, his presence commanded respect.
"And who are you?"
With a cold expression, Kayneth glanced at Alaric standing beside Waver. If Waver had been alone, Kayneth wouldn't have bothered to speak. But Alaric's presence made him take a second look.
As a noble Lord upholding aristocratic ideals, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald had nothing but disdain for magus with shallow family histories like Waver.
Let alone someone like Alaric, who hadn't even been admitted to the Clock Tower—someone who could hardly be called a magus at all.
And yet, despite this, Kayneth still noticed Alaric.
He could sense something—a familiar presence.
A presence that belonged to those who were born geniuses.
"Hello, I am Alaric, a traveler seeking magical knowledge."
As Waver introduced him, Alaric, already aware of Kayneth's identity, remained calm and smiled. "I aspire to become a magus, though I am not one yet."
Alaric knew not just about Kayneth, but also about Waver Velvet.
[The Holy Grail War.]
Though he couldn't be certain whether this was a parallel world—after all, these two could exist in multiple realities—one thing he was sure of was the existence of the Holy Grail War.
A grand magical ritual conducted in Fuyuki City, Japan, centered around the creation of the Greater Grail. Through this system, Heroic Spirits could be summoned to fight in the Holy Grail War.
The victor would be granted a wish by the Grail.
But Alaric had no way of knowing the exact nature of the Holy Grail War in this world. If only the timeline had shifted, then Fuyuki would host just a single Grail War—the first and final one in 2004.
If the world changes, then the scale and frequency of the Holy Grail Wars might approach what Alaric remembers.
The Fourth Holy Grail War.
The Fourth Holy Grail War, which took place in 1994, allowed magi chosen by the Greater Grail to summon Servants using holy relics and engage in battle—
But none of that mattered. Alaric only wanted to know whether the Holy Grail truly existed.
The Greater Grail in Fuyuki had wish-granting capabilities as an incidental benefit. It was essentially a vast magical energy resource used to realize wishes.
The Holy Grails possessed by Chaldea were based on this concept—highly concentrated blocks of magical energy.
With such an immense source of mana, there was nothing a magus couldn't achieve.
However, the true power of the Greater Grail—was a pathway to the Root (Akashic Records). Those who reached the Root would attain True Magic.
The magic represented by the Greater Grail was the Third Magic: "Heaven's Feel", which granted the materialization of souls.
"The materialization of souls—"
Having already glimpsed a fragment of his soul, Alaric had found his future path. Attaining the Third Magic to achieve soul materialization was an inevitable conclusion.
To Alaric, the immortality it granted was meaningless. Even the infinite regeneration of mana was insignificant. What he truly sought was nothing more than the exploration of himself—
Yet now, Alaric couldn't even confirm whether the Holy Grail existed. The world's distortion had made this once-familiar star feel utterly foreign to him.
His brief contemplation ended as Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald approached him and Waver Velvet. Kayneth's expression remained arrogant, and upon hearing that Alaric wasn't even a magus, his gaze turned even more disdainful.
To Kayneth, Alaric—who lacked even a lineage—was beneath Waver Velvet.
"Alaric, is it? You seem to have some talent for magecraft."
Even so, Kayneth trusted his judgment.
Alaric was undoubtedly a genius, that much was certain. Even without a lineage, even without the magic crest that magus spent their lifetimes refining and passing down—
None of that mattered to Kayneth. As a natural-born genius, he did not resent others' talents. His confidence in himself was absolute.
"If you wish to join the Clock Tower, then work hard."
Without any further conversation, Kayneth decisively walked past Alaric and Waver Velvet, as if neither of them were worth his attention.
"Wait, that's not right!"
As his idol left, Waver Velvet finally snapped back to reality. But when he locked eyes with Alaric, his face immediately flushed as he realized what he had forgotten.
That was his original goal—the very reason he was here, the reason he had the opportunity to meet Kayneth at all.
"Professor Kayneth's class!"
Waver exclaimed in shock, not even sparing another glance at Alaric before dashing after Kayneth.
But there was no way Alaric would just let Waver leave like that—he quickly followed after him.
"Hey, let me tag along!"