Chapter Ninety-Six: Gudmer
Atop Talanis’s tallest spire.
Rather than a tower, it was a heavy and ancient bell tower. Every stone of its body was purified and synthesized by the hands of excellent alchemists. A giant clock face, conforming to the standards of the era, was inlaid at the very top of the tower, near its summit, as a symbol and proof of its identity.
This was Oz Heron Tower, personally established in the year 1147 of the New Saint Calendar by Oz Heron, the founder of the Ring of White Bird Association. Since then, it had continuously existed as the iconic mage tower of the association’s leaders.
The current leader of the association was Gudmer Heron. He was an old man with white hair and a luxuriant white beard, his face creased more than the cracks on an ancient tree, but his gaze was more astute and sharp than anyone’s.
Marymana didn’t even want to meet the old man’s gaze; it put immense pressure on her.
“What is it, my dear Ruby? Are you troubled by some magical difficulty? That would be truly incredible, as you haven’t come to me like a student in a long time.”
The old mage’s voice was deep and had a certain elegant tone. His azure pupils were as calm as lake water and as deep as the ocean.
Marymana shifted her gaze, just catching sight of the tip of the old mage’s ear peeking out from his white hair.
Like her good friend, this living Seven Sage, association leader, and master mage was a High Elf. This wasn’t surprising; in Arthur, it was rather an exception for humans like her to achieve such results in the field of magic.
As a High Elf, Gudmer Heron was also quite aged. He was the oldest and most knowledgeable among the Seven Sages present.
“No, my revered teacher,” Marymana said after a slight hesitation. “I might, perhaps, seem to, probably, have found a suitable candidate.”
“That little girl?” The old mage’s gaze returned to his book.
“That’s right. From my observations, her attainments in magic circle studies might not be inferior to mine,” Marymana pursed her lips. “And she is also Miranda’s apprentice.”
“If she’s comparable to you, then that won’t do,” the old mage smiled kindly, looking at Marymana as if she were his own mischievous child. “And she’s not necessarily your friend’s student.”
“What can be done? Miranda’s relationship with the Golden Scales is rather distant, so I can’t get a straight answer by asking, and she herself has gone to outer domains and can’t be contacted.” Marymana showed a rare expression of annoyance, wishing she could immediately run to the outer continent and drag Miranda back. “I thought what she said sounded quite plausible, and I couldn’t find any logical errors.”
The most crucial point was that the other party hadn’t tried to gain any benefits from her, and had even offered to help her solve her problems.
The old mage smiled and no longer tried to persuade her.
“You don’t need to be so anxious, relax, my dear little Ruby.”
“But…” Marymana opened her mouth and unconsciously lowered her voice. “Didn’t the Forbidden Institute lose the key to the upper labyrinth? We have to do something. What if the Society of Truth gets the key…”
“The key will never fall into the hands of the Society of Truth. It might be in anyone’s hands, but it will never be obtained by the Society of Truth.”
“Why?”
The old mage’s tone was leisurely and profound. “This is precisely the mystery of fate, my dear little Ruby.”
Marymana didn’t know what to say to this. After all, she was only a mage of the Secret Transmission path. For an ethereal thing like fate, she would have to ask the diviners and prophets of the adjacent Fate path.
“I don’t know, but as a mage, I think we should be prepared anyway. After all, the key is related to the upper labyrinth and the Palace of the Heavens, as well as the mysteries of truth…”
“But your preparations are premature. Everything can wait until those few from the Forbidden Institute return,” the old mage’s tone was calm. “The apocalypse of mages will not come. The Society of Truth, those parasites, do not have that ability. There is still time.”
Perhaps. Although Marymana always felt a sense of unease.
The mages of Arthur had been in a position of superiority for too long, so long that they had lost their ability to estimate and fear danger.
Those lunatics from the Forbidden Institute dared to use the key for research. Had they forgotten that the great Norradon Empire, the source of magical mysteries, the realm of truth, which spanned the entire Silver Age, perished precisely because the key to truth was lost?
“I will seriously consider your persuasion, teacher. But similarly, I will let that child continue to try and find the breakthrough point for the Minotaur Crystal Shards.”
*
Li Wen focused all her mental energy and attention on the small crystal in her hand.
This seemingly solid crystal was unusually light, and there was almost no feeling of it in her hand. This was normal, after all, this thing, in the end, was a miniature magic circle. Being able to hold it in her hand was enough to show that it had been compressed to its limit.
Finding a pattern among a pile of constantly changing and extremely tiny symbols and texts was an extremely draining task. Fortunately, Li Wen had experienced similar things quite a bit when she was in the Strategy Team. For example, reconstructing an entire magic circle from a few graphics and abstract symbols, or tracing back the original form of a ritual that had been altered beyond recognition.
It could be said that for a long time, Li Wen’s eyes were filled with abstract, changing geometric lines and shapes, and religious symbols and texts with unclear meanings…
“Found it…”
Li Wen closed her eyes, her retinas still seeming to retain the residual image of the ever-changing runes.
The number of magical texts on this crystal ranged from one hundred thousand to one million. If one didn’t have the corresponding spells to read it and instead tried to look up each one with an ancient dictionary, who knew when they would finish.
Fortunately, she was experienced and could bypass the magical texts to understand the original magic circle directly.
In just this short time, Li Wen had already sketched out the general framework of the magic circle in her mind. The rest was to spend time filling in the details one by one, which wouldn’t take too long.
It was similar to her prediction, the function of this magic circle was not just to supply mana, but it should have been used for some overly complex seal, or a gate that prevented anyone from entering, to provide it with a continuous supply of mana.
Li Wen opened her eyes and saw Marymana standing in front of her with a smile.
“How does it feel?”
“Reasonably smooth,” Li Wen said calmly.
In fact, if it were just about finding the problematic part, she could have already reached a conclusion. But she still wanted to thoroughly understand this magic circle, grasp its principles and construction, and find a way to repair it.
If there was a reason why, it could only be that she wanted to stall for time.
“Talanis has arrived in Leicester, and your companions are waiting for you.”
Marymana blinked.
“Then let them leave first. I still need a little more time to find the problem,” Li Wen said, she was waiting for this moment.
Going to The Holy See couldn’t be rushed; it would at least require Moria to be strong enough to embark on the pilgrimage. But if she directly fell out with Moria now and said she wanted to leave, he would definitely not agree.
Now, there was a suitable reason to allow Moria to leave first, and then she could hide from him, search for traces of other original texts, and find him when the time was right.
By then, Moria would probably not blame Li Wen. It was perfect.
