Volume 7, Chapter 26 – Aetherology Bringing About Change

At almost exactly the same moment.

Within the open testing ground, furnished with numerous white tables and chairs, one of the scholars from the Elemental Towers—a sixth-tier magic caster of considerable accomplishment in the field of magical theory named Kelvin Kilian—was muttering a low curse.

“It’s nothing more than a child’s plaything. They went through the trouble of inviting the Eldest Princess specifically… they truly think that just because they have Her Highness’s favor, they can do whatever they please.”

“Shh, lower your voice. Wait until the day Her Highness realizes they are of no value, then we can mock them to our hearts’ content. Be careful not to give them an opening to use against us.”

Another magic scholar sitting beside Kelvin whispered a reminder behind his hand. They were all renowned scholars of the Elemental Towers, well aware of the immense influence the Eldest Princess wielded in the realm of magic. At their age—seven or eight hundred years old—furthering their magical accomplishments mostly relied on the guidance of others. As one of the managers of the three Main Towers, the Eldest Princess was one of the few choices available to them. Regardless of her status, they had to curry favor with her for the sake of their studies.

As for why they looked down on the Witch Hall, the answer was simple. The Elemental Towers, as the continent’s premier magical academy, were an orthodox, noble, and authoritative presence. In the eyes of the Tower scholars, the Witch Hall wasn’t even third-rate; it was merely a group of self-righteous country girls who had gained power through unorthodox means. If they hadn’t used flowery words to deceive the Eldest Princess, these Witches wouldn’t have even been able to cross Silvar’s borders. It would be strange if scholars of the Elemental Towers could respect those who rose through connections.

“Lord Kelvin, what do you think those Witches fed Her Highness to make her not only assist them so relentlessly but also allow that book demon to wander around the royal capital? I heard from the servants in the castle that ever since Her Highness returned from the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, her personality has completely changed. Could it be… could Her Highness’s soul have changed? The Main Tower used to be her favorite place, and she frequently consulted Grand Master Moer about high-tier magic, but now she hasn’t returned to the Main Tower for an entire year.”

“Hey, hey, stop right there. That kind of talk could cost you your head. Let’s just look at what the Witches have researched. The Eldest Princess wouldn’t take an interest in them for no reason. I don’t think this ‘new magic’ is quite as pathetic as it seems.”

A slightly plump, middle-aged magic scholar said with a smile. He picked up a plain-looking, fiery-red staff from the table and gave it a casual toss, only to be mocked by Kelvin with a snort that made his beard tremble.

“You mean firing a fireball? I could make something like this in a single day. The only decent thing about this staff is that the materials are fairly sturdy.”

“Lord Kelvin, you’re mistaken. Look at the bottom of the staff; it clearly needs to be connected to something for it to work. The Witches are keeping us in suspense.”

“Even if they’re keeping us in suspense, it’s only a third-tier spell at the end of the day. How good could it possibly be?” Growing more annoyed the more he thought about it, Kelvin simply flicked his sleeve and stood up. “A waste of time. I’m leaving.”

“Oh? If it isn’t Mr. Kelvin. Why such an angry look?”

Just as Kelvin finished speaking, two human women—one tall and one short—slowly walked up to him. The taller woman was Latania, while the shorter one was a blind girl with a black cloth covering her eyes. Latania had once lost her voice as a woman due to a witch’s ritual, but she had been cured by Fia’s healing magic, her voice returning to a maiden’s delicate softness.

Even upon Latania’s arrival, Kelvin’s expression of disdain did not fade, and he continued to snort through his nose.

“Is this the hospitality of you Witches? Inviting us to observe your ‘new magic’ only to have no movement for half an hour. What is the meaning of this?”

“We are waiting for Lady Fia, of course. The ritual is to be presided over by Lady Friede, but since she is currently hosting Lady Fia, the experiment has been delayed slightly. Once Lady Fia emerges from the building, Mr. Kelvin will be able to see the true form of our new magic. Ah, if Mr. Kelvin cannot wait, I can exercise a bit of my authority to show you the new magic in advance—provided you cooperate with me.”

Latania was no fool. It was a well-known fact that the scholars of the Elemental Towers had long been displeased with the Witches, and Kelvin had his lack of welcome written all over his face.

Had it been the Latania from before her voice was restored, she surely would have been unable to restrain her temper and would have fought Kelvin on the spot. But now that she no longer had a male voice, she had regained her poise as a woman—Latania’s past behavior as a man had been a choice of necessity. Restoring her voice was something she had dreamed of; now that she had it back, she no longer needed to act like a man to maintain her pride.

“Latania has grown up as well.”

The blind girl’s giggle reached Latania’s ears from behind. Latania forcibly straightened her expression; she currently only wanted to properly teach these archaic relics from the Elemental Towers a lesson for their condescension.

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“Would Mr. Kelvin like to try?”

“Ho.” Kelvin raised an eyebrow. “Try it how?”

“You and I will only use third-tier spells to attack each other. Movement is forbidden. Whoever is struck by the opponent’s magic first loses. How about it?”

“Heh,” Kelvin laughed from sheer anger, as if he had heard something hilarious. “A contest of magical chanting speed? Even if I am not one of the top magic casters in the Elemental Towers, I am still stronger than a mere witch. Witch, do not think that just because you are of the sixth tier, you can be compared to me. This is merely seeking humiliation.”

“Whether it is humiliation remains to be seen after we try. Besides, the one fighting you won’t be me, but her.”

Without getting angry at Kelvin’s provocation, Latania smiled and picked up the fiery-red magic staff from the table, pulling forward the young witch in a sailor suit who had been following her.

“Teacher Latania?”

“Take this and have a little match with the old gentleman.”

“Eeeh? Me? I… how could I possibly!”

“If I tell you to go, go. No more nonsense. Mr. Kelvin, please.”

Forcibly shoving the fiery-red staff into the apprentice witch’s hands, Latania offered Kelvin a smile and led the apprentice toward the open ground.

Kelvin snorted and stepped forward to follow, but several other magic scholars beside him quickly pulled him back.

“Lord Kelvin, don’t bicker with the Witches.”

“If you were to hurt this girl, things wouldn’t sit well with Her Highness.”

“We hope Lord Kelvin will reconsider.”

However, Kelvin merely frowned and brushed his colleagues’ hands away. His face was full of fury, and his tone was extremely sharp.

“To not respond would be a disgrace to the Elemental Towers. Her Highness has been deceived by these Witches and their unorthodox ways. If no one dares to wake Her Highness today, then I shall be the first!”

With those words, Kelvin strode quickly to Latania’s side. Because he hadn’t controlled the volume of his angry outburst, it immediately drew the attention of many other magic scholars and nobles. Nothing was simpler or more direct than a fight. Every gaze in the field fell upon Kelvin and Latania. The former stood solemnly, while the latter took a strange rectangular box from a storage item. She strapped the box onto the back of the apprentice witch, who was only fourteen or fifteen years old, and then assisted her by using something that looked like a monster’s spine to connect the fiery-red staff to the box.

“Then I shall serve as the referee. Both sides please pull back at least twenty paces. When I count to one, you may begin chanting your magic. For the sake of fairness, I must first inform Mr. Kelvin of the characteristics of this new magic: the apprentice witch using the new magic is forbidden from chanting incantations, and she must wait until Mr. Kelvin has spoken before she can draw upon the mana in her body.”

“No need.”

Kelvin refused with a wave of his hand without even thinking.

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“Using such restrictions against an apprentice… even if I win, there would be no glory in it. We will begin according to tradition. Besides, how can one cast magic without chanting an incantation?”

“Kelvin, don’t be too arrogant.”

Such a shout came from the crowd, but Kelvin ignored it.

“Let’s begin.”

“Five—four—”

The blind girl’s clear and soft voice echoed across the open pasture. Everyone remained silent, watching from a distance what was both a duel between traditional magic and new magic, and a conflict between the Elemental Towers and the Witch Hall.

“Hey, do you think that strange box the little girl is carrying might be a large-scale magic scroll? When they get to one, she’ll just throw it out and give Lord Kelvin a shock.”

“Then there wouldn’t be any point to the ‘new magic,’ would there? What would be the difference between that and a magic scroll?”

“It doesn’t look like a magic scroll. Being able to use another creation to replace a magic scroll’s sealing magic is also a form of progress; the paper used for scrolls is far too expensive.”

As the nobles whispered, the blind girl’s countdown entered its final stage.

“—two—one!”

Kelvin, who was already prepared, raised his wand instantly, and a string of obscure incantations began to spill from his mouth. Although he thought nothing of the Witches’ so-called “new magic,” he represented the Elemental Towers, so he could not allow any mistakes. From the start, he chose the easiest attack spell to release among the third-tier: [Red Flame Dragon-Snake]. He could complete this magic in less than two seconds.

As the fire elements around him grew explosively, Kelvin seemed already to see the little witch being engulfed by his magic. He didn’t want her life; he only wanted to give these Witches, who used unorthodox methods to improve themselves, a lesson out of respect for magical theory.

It wouldn’t be good to hurt the girl, Kelvin thought, slightly reducing the power of [Red Flame Dragon-Snake]. However, he found that the fire elements around him didn’t decrease; instead, they surged at an even more astonishing speed, even the air temperature rising as if his face were being scorched by flames.

What is this? Magic out of control?

As Kelvin’s thoughts reached this point, a massive, fiery-red python rapidly expanded in his vision. Its arrow-like speed deprived him of the best reaction time. He could only barely block his face with his arms, using a minimum-level magic shield to obstruct the attack.

Isn’t [Red Flame Dragon-Snake] my magic? Why is it coming back to attack me?

Sssss—

The sound of fire being extinguished by water quickly rang out, accompanied by a large amount of steam that obscured the field. Except for Kelvin, the expressions of the magic scholars became complex, while the spectating nobles slightly widened their eyes in surprise, even rising from their seats.

Because he had been focused on casting his magic, Kelvin hadn’t noticed the apprentice witch’s movements, but the others had seen it very clearly. Throughout the entire process, the apprentice witch hadn’t opened her mouth to chant an incantation; she had simply pointed the fiery-red staff in her hand at Kelvin, and a fiery python as thick as a bucket had lunged straight for him. If the blind girl hadn’t prepared a [Water Spirit’s Whirling Shield] in advance to block the strike for Kelvin, he would have been embarrassingly humiliated, if not severely injured.

Silent casting of third-tier magic.

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And the user was a little girl who hadn’t even reached the third tier.

How was that possible? Was there a magic scroll in the box? But a magic scroll required the injection of mana to be used; being kept in a box would only cause both the box and the person to explode, and it wouldn’t be possible to aim. This was clearly not as simple as a magic scroll. Nearly half the scholars were pondering how the magic was achieved, their expressions gradually turning grim.

A magical item that could silently cast third-tier magic, and seemingly even be used repeatedly… this practically replaced the vast majority of the purpose of studying magic. With this thing around, who would be willing to spend a massive amount of time and effort studying magic?

As if thinking of something, the expressions of not just the magic scholars but even the nobles were filled with uncertainty. They all looked at the fiery-red staffs placed on their tables. If this were something that could be mass-produced, and every soldier on the front lines were equipped with one… no, even if one out of every five people were equipped with one, it would be an incredibly terrifying presence in a conventional war. Imagine an army of hundreds of thousands where everyone could use magic; what an invincible and horrifying force that would be.

Perhaps even a giant dragon would have to take the long way around if it encountered them?

No, the greatest significance wasn’t even equipping the army, but the fact that even a farmer who only knew how to swing a hoe could fight a well-trained soldier or even a magic caster if equipped with this. If humans got their hands on such a thing, wouldn’t the Elves’ advantage in magic vanish completely?

Thinking of the sight of an army standing in a line and simultaneously using [Red Flame Dragon-Snake] in a wild dance, a cold sweat broke out on all the nobles. High-tier magic casters didn’t fear the new magic, but these nobles didn’t have that level of strength. If such an army attacked, they could only flee.

By the Elf God, just what kind of thing has the Eldest Princess brought back?

From now on, there really would be two magical organizations in Blossom—they had to establish connections as soon as possible.

“The outcome is decided. Please return to your original positions, everyone; the Eldest Princess will be out shortly.”

As the blind girl’s voice fell, everyone’s gaze fell upon Kelvin, who stood frozen in place, his face ashen.

The Elemental Towers were about to experience a change.

◇

As the dazzling orange-red fire snake collided with the [Torrent], a massive amount of steam instantly rose within the vast warehouse. Fia looked down at the fiery-red magic staff in her hand, her ruby-like eyes shimmering with brilliance.

“Sealing the third-tier magic [Red Flame Dragon-Snake] inside? If we equip the army with these, it will definitely give Chaos quite a shock. I feel like studying earth-attribute magic right now just to open a hole in the ground.”

“Lady Fia, you flatter us. Currently, only those of the second tier can use the mana furnace with the sealed [Red Flame Dragon-Snake], and this is the furthest we can go. The power of fourth-tier magic is too great; we can’t find materials that can withstand it. No, it’s not that we can’t find suitable materials—if we used nothing but Orichalcum, it would be fine, but Orichalcum production is scarce, and using it to manufacture mana furnaces is too wasteful. If only there were other cheap and sturdy materials. Furthermore, high-concentration magic crystals are also a problem; we are still far from being able to compare with the scholars of the Elemental Towers.”

“You don’t need to be humble, Lianne. If others can’t see the significance of this, can I? I will convince my father to give you full support and then arrange for you to cooperate with the Elemental Towers. With a great enemy at the door, we must use everything we can. I want to organize a reliable fighting force as quickly as possible.”

Fia’s words drew Friede’s attention. She raised her eyebrows, her black eyes filled with confusion.

“Organize an army? Aren’t the existing Elven warriors enough? And what do you mean by a ‘great enemy at the door’?”

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“I just want to teach Chaos a lesson. It’s a long story; Friede and Lianne only need to focus on their research and improving the lives of the Witches. It’s alright if I take this back as a sample to show the nobles in the Kingdom, right?”

“Of course it’s alright, but…”

“But?” Fia tilted her head at Friede’s hesitant look. “Funding isn’t an issue.”

“No, no, no, it’s not about the funding. The money you’ve given us is already more than enough; if you give us any more, our relationship with the scholars will surely get worse and worse. I was just going to say that the current mana furnace isn’t very good-looking; I wanted to embed some decorations and engravings on it…”

So they’re just afraid of losing face?

Friede’s group had originally lived a life of poverty and discrimination. Now that the things they had made were to be presented to the King, it was only natural for them to worry about being looked down upon for being shabby. Fia shook her head with a wry smile.

“Don’t worry. My father isn’t the type of person to ignore the inner quality just because the exterior isn’t pretty. With such a convenient tool of war, he’ll be more than happy; he might even invite you to the Royal Castle as guests. I will send someone to look for the materials, and you don’t need to worry about the high-concentration magic crystals either.”

Drawing from her experience in the Great Desert, Fia already knew how to refine low-concentration magic crystals into high-concentration ones—by using orbital bombardment to create a high-temperature, high-pressure environment. The low-concentration crystals would be compressed into high-concentration ones. Although this process would lose some of the crystals, high-concentration magic crystals were scarce, difficult to mine, and thus extremely expensive. Refining them with orbital bombardment, even if it meant losing some of the lower-concentration magical ore, was definitely worth it.

Of course, someone in the know might ask why use the mana of orbital bombardment to refine crystals instead of using it on Chaos. The problem was that even she needed rest; she couldn’t watch over the Chaos every moment. Besides, she was only one person and couldn’t be distributed like weapons to be used on multiple fronts. Furthermore, high-concentration magic crystals were only a temporary measure; once the magic circles were improved, they wouldn’t need to consume them.

Fia gave the mana furnace to Anastasia for safekeeping and then looked at Laplace.

“Then I’ll get straight to the point. Laplace, I have something to ask you.”

“Please, go ahead. I will tell you everything I know.”

Perhaps it was Fia’s imagination, but she felt Anastasia’s breathing hitch slightly behind her.

“Yesterday, Anastasia and I went to the Milcandis Holy Kingdom. Although we couldn’t get an oracle, Anastasia felt that her connection with the original Anastasia had grown stronger. Do you have any leads? It looks as if Anastasia is still within the body, just that her soul is weak and she can’t wake up.”

“Is that so?” Laplace suddenly blurted out with a tone full of emotion, then let out a contemplative hum. “Hmm… if what you say is true, then how can we explain why the Anastasia from the other side came over? I believe the possibility of a soul swap is greater. It would be simple to test: use the Key of the World Tree—”

“Laplace.”

A note of warning entered Fia’s voice. Laplace was putting psychological pressure on Anastasia, inducing her to harm herself.

Laplace’s crystal began to flash frequently, signifying that he was thinking with all his might. After two or three seconds, Laplace spoke again.

“If we assume that Anastasia’s soul is still within the body, I have a method that can accelerate her waking up.”