Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Chapter 643: Please Return With Me... to the Era That Belongs to Me!

Locke examined the iron ball in his hand, studying it carefully. He found that no matter how much magical energy he poured into it, it vanished without a trace, like a stone sinking into a deep sea.Beyond that, he could detect nothing particularly unusual about it.

And yet, precisely because of that, the strange iron ball seemed all the more remarkable.

Locke examined it once more, and finding no anomalies for the time being, he placed it inside his astral ring.

Witch Shirley held her wizard's sword, which blazed with a dazzling holy radiance, and said, "There is also another possibility. Which is that telling us all of this is not necessarily a good thing either."

"Do not forget that there is something called the Black Sun Tower involved in all of this. From the princess's perspective, passing sensitive information like this on to future generations was never straightforwardly a gesture of goodwill."

Locke nodded. "That is true."

The four of them recorded the negative-energy particle field information from the surface of the small princess statue, and shortly after they discovered that the statue had two distinct sides.

One side depicted the princess gazing into the distance, yearning for the king's return from his campaigns. The other depicted the princess dressed in the regalia of a queen, ruling over all with dignified authority.

The base of this second side also bore a corresponding inscription.

However, the text was written in an exceedingly ancient magical language, so all four of them paused for a moment when they saw it. They divided the language into four sections, each person taking responsibility for translating one part.

An hour later, the four of them pieced together their respective translations.

After reading through the combined result, each of them wore a deeply unusual expression.

Warwick said, "First of all, this mausoleum complex has been placed under a special magic. It is set so that should any Wizard Earl forcibly enter, the entire mausoleum will sink into the Abyssal River, destroying itself along with that Wizard Earl."

"The princess did not want her mausoleum to be desecrated by a high-circle wizard."

"In the Era of Stars, a First Circle wizard could become a Wizard Grand Viscount, establish a viscountcy, and found a very small magical kingdom. A Second Circle wizard could become a Wizard Earl and establish a considerably more powerful magical earldom, which represented the level of most magical kingdoms in that era."

"Only a Third Circle wizard could be called a Wizard King. Of course, Wizard Kings of that era may not have actually matched the combat power of today's Third Circle wizards. Times do progress, after all."

"This prayer text records that the princess married an unrivaled hero. That hero opened a great era, an era in which mortals governed themselves. Wizards ascended to the heavens and became the gods above, while certain mortals were selected by wizards to serve as kings, ruling over the land below."

"At least, that was how it was within that hero's domain. It is a pity that the name of the person and the name of the kingdom mentioned in this prayer have both been destroyed, apparently as a result of the Expungement Curse."

The four exchanged glances, each seeing the same gravity reflected in the others' eyes.

They may have uncovered a fragment of the truth behind the Nameless King's subjection to the Expungement Curse.

He appeared to have created a special historical era known as the Mortal Age, implementing that system within the borders of his own magical kingdom, and had become a target of the force known as the Black Sun Tower.

"The Mortal Age..." Locke considered this. "The era as a whole was called the Era of Stars. But this prayer refers to what occurred within that kingdom as the Mortal Age. Does that mean the Nameless King's ambition was to bring the Era of Stars to a complete end and usher the entire world into a Mortal Age?"

"And that decision brought him into conflict with the Black Sun Tower, which had been lurking behind the Era of Stars."

Wizard Warwick nodded. "I think it is very likely. It is consistent with the logic. Look at the latter half of this prayer text. It states that this unrivaled hero campaigned in all directions, with wizards as gods and mortals as kings, gods and kings waging war across the land and ultimately achieving total victory."

"The kingdom's territory reached its limits."

"Seven tenths of the wizard world had already been unified under that king, and at that point, the unrivaled hero commanded all wizards... all wizards... to surrender their magic?"

Warwick's voice took on a slightly strained quality. "That unrivaled hero demanded that all magic throughout the heavens and the earth be gathered into his hands alone, and he transformed that power into the power of those few mortal kings selected by the gods."

"The power of gods and kings became completely fused."

"Gods and kings waged war across the land, and nothing could stand against them. Only one final step remained. That unrivaled hero was on the verge of unifying the wizard world, causing an empire to rise once more, bringing the Era of Stars to a close, and ushering in the next Mortal Age."

The four of them fell silent.

Locke frowned in thought. "The wizard world of the Era of Stars must have been far smaller than it is today. Perhaps about one tenth the size?"

Witch Shirley said, "Some archaeologists believe it may have been as small as one thirtieth. And in the Era of Stars, Third Circle wizards were already considered the most powerful. Some formidable Wizard Kings may have brushed the edge of the Fourth Circle, or perhaps were already Fourth Circle wizards, which is why they could stand supreme over the entire world."

"In the Era of Stars, First Circle wizards were already the backbone of wizard civilization, Second Circle wizards were already among the upper echelons of the wizard world, and Third Circle wizards were the absolute rulers of the Grand Magical nations."

Locke said, "Even so, this Nameless King who was on the verge of unifying the wizard world must have been extraordinarily powerful. Only for some unknown reason, he chose to open a Mortal Age and ended up in direct opposition to the Black Sun Tower."

"He was likely at odds with every magical kingdom at the time as well."

"And even within his own kingdom, no small number of wizards would have stood against him."

Warwick's voice continued to carry that strained quality. "What concerns me most is the final passage of the prayer text. Take a look."

Warwick read aloud the portion he had translated.

"People of future generations, as a witch, my achievements were exceedingly limited. I could never become a Second Circle wizard in my lifetime, and yet in the ways of kingship I have gained considerable insight."

"On what remained of that unrivaled hero's territory, I found a necromancer of considerable talent. He despised necromancy, yet was compelled to study it because of his family. I recognized his potential, and he shared with me his great vision, the Modo Language."

"I swear before heaven and truth that I invested all of my remaining resources and all the residual respect that others still held for me entirely into that wizard, and I worked to help him realize his dream. He believed that as wizard civilization extended further along the axis of time, many ancient techniques and truths would inevitably be lost as the years passed."

"To prevent this from happening, he discovered within necromancy an entirely different path. The light of his path left me in awe, and in his presence, I felt myself to be so very small, and even my king seemed no longer so great."

"If the hegemony my king and I built lasted only a hundred years of prosperity, could this wizard's legacy perhaps be passed down for ten thousand times ten thousand years, allowing his disciples and descendants in future ages to find the small traces I left behind in the past?"

"As a First Circle witch, I could not contend with the Black Sun Tower. But they regarded me as beneath their notice, and I was allowed to live, unconstrained. So I staked all of my remaining future on the dream of that wizard. If his dream came to fruition, then future generations would surely be filled with many of his disciples and descendants."

"Because in his descriptions, his future disciples and descendants would be a band of grave robbers, wandering across the world and moving through various timelines, unearthing all the secrets of this era."

"If that is so, then certain things might be able to pass beyond the reach of the Expungement Curse and be made known to those who come after."

"This is the only possibility available to someone as weak as myself to one day overcome something so immense."

"Please turn this statue of mine. Rotate it to the left three times, then to the right once. The echo at the heart of the city will be unleashed."

"Please tell me... that I won."

The four of them stared at one another.

Witch Shirley said, "The echo is unleashed? We can indeed use Historical Reconstruction to capture her echo, and through that echo fix her memories, transforming the entire city into... a scene of the past."

"Drawing this city back into the past!"

Warwick's eyes burned with fervor. "Yes, with the four of us combined, we can absolutely do it!"

"Only... have we actually uncovered the tomb of one of the founding figures of archaeology wizards? But the founding wizard of archaeology concealed himself, and some believe he was afraid that archaeology wizards would excavate his mausoleum. Others think it was a challenge posed to all archaeology wizards by the founding wizard of the discipline, asking us to seek out his identity."

"I never imagined we would encounter here, in this place, a fragment of words from the past describing him."

Locke was at something of a loss for words. "Have you all noticed that the princess never revealed the identity of that founding archaeology wizard from beginning to end, nor provided any description of him that would be of value?"

"It seems likely that even in that era, this founding figure of archaeology was already calculating against all future archaeology wizards."

Witch Shirley could not help but laugh. "This person truly is fascinating."

"So then, shall we do it?"

"Once we do, the entire city will be drawn into the past. And we cannot guarantee that the four of us combining our power to use Historical Reconstruction will succeed, or what accidents might occur."

"Or whether it will plunge every wizard in this entire city into tremendous danger."

Warwick said, "We do it. Why would we not? Did we not come here precisely to unravel its secrets? How could we stop now?"

Locke said, "I have no objections."

"And besides, this would be my first time using Historical Reconstruction to capture a historical trajectory and pull a city back into the past."

"It will be a rare experience," Locke said, and tossed a bottle of Sacred Spring Nectar to Wizard McKinley, whose complexion had gone pale.

Wizard McKinley opened the stopper, took a sniff, and a look of delight spread across his face. "Thank you, Wizard Augustine."

"Then I am in as well."