Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 102 - 99: A Limited Truth

"A partial truth?" Rorschach believed Deryats was emphasizing her last sentence.

"That’s right. I don’t want to lead you astray into thinking this is all there is to magic. It’s merely the silhouette we see from the Symbolic Realm. It’s like a tree—whether you look at it from the ground or from above, it’s still a tree, but the form you perceive is completely different."

"I think I understand a little." ’Clearly, for magic to manifest, there are conditions, costs, and laws. The inverted "tree" I’m seeing now merely reflects the origin, evolution, and current operational state of all magic spells.’

"If you can remember this sight, it might be of great benefit to your future path. As far as I know, few mortals have reached this place since the Age of Silence. Originally, one should be able to see the wills of the gods here..." Deryats glanced around, but the space contained only her and Rorschach.

"The so-called Age of Silence... perhaps the gods are truly gone. I am but a ghost resurrected from days of old."

"Or you could become a Divine Spirit of the new era," Rorschach said, recalling the legend of Vidar from Mythology. He and his brother Wali were destined to be the new gods of the New World after the twilight of the gods.

Deryats didn’t reply, simply saying, "A great will is still observing this place. We shouldn’t stay long. Let’s go."

Ripples spread, and they were once again by the side of the stream.

Rorschach recalled a common saying. "Is the Symbolic Realm what’s behind the ’Veil’ we often speak of in the Material World?"

"The world we inhabit, including all the Sub-planes, is where the symbolic and the real converge—a place where both sides permeate and mix. This process of permeation is what happens when beings on the material side think, imagine, and invoke miracles. In turn, beings from the Symbolic Realm project themselves onto the material side in the form of miracles. And so, Magic and Divine Arts were born.

That’s why when you simply try to ’pierce the Veil’ from the Main Plane, all you see are the results of this symbolic projection and the trails of Magic Power. For example, some people can see the Essence of a forest, but fundamentally, these essences co-exist with us in the same space.

Only by crossing through the barrier of Unstable Dust and ascending to the Star Realm, or by entering the Divine Kingdoms of the gods within the Star Realm, do they directly correspond with the Original Layer we saw. Both are shrouded beneath the Supreme Heaven. In fact, our recent entry into the Original Layer must have left a projection in the Star Realm, and the reverse is also true. It’s like a mirror, only it has no inside or outside; both sides are real."

’So ascending to the Star Realm lets you peer into the Divine Kingdoms and the Original Layer?’

Rorschach thought of the pathways representing each fundamental step, of the intersecting points that constantly lit up and extinguished. ’If you could observe all this from the Star Realm, wouldn’t you be able to master the principles behind all Magic and monitor every instance of Casting in real-time?’

Then he thought of the project Master Kano was so dedicated to: ascending to the Star Realm. ’So my master’s work isn’t just some otherworld version of a kid saying, "I wanna be an astronaut!" huh?’

Thanks to the Empire Royal Magic Academy’s disregard for education in fundamental magic theory, it was only now, as a Middle Level Mage, that Rorschach belatedly realized just how big of a game his master was playing.

In truth, neither the Academy nor Rorschach was to blame. Ever since the new era began, these sorts of conjectures and theories about the source of Magic had become a kind of unverifiable metaphysics. Mages nowadays preferred to research more practical problems to get their papers published.

If Rorschach were to write an article about what he saw and heard today and send it to the Magic Guild, tomorrow some old scholar, clutching ancient tomes, would point out a hundred of his fallacies, and the resulting argument would be endless and fruitless. Meanwhile, a paper titled "A Study on the Effects of Environmental Humidity on the Potency of the Third Ring Lightning Technique" would pass review with much greater ease.

"You must cherish this opportunity and reflect on it deeply. Nowadays, Mages cannot ascend to the Star Realm to observe the Original Layer directly. They can only make conjectures based on the manuscripts and data left by their predecessors."

"Why could they go in the past but not now?"

"The Second Divine War, which accompanied the fall of the Old Empire, shattered numerous Divine Kingdoms. The clash of their Authorities created Unstable Dust, which you mostly call Transmuting Dust.

It fills the chasm between the Realm of Reality and the Symbolic Realm, and it is both a physical substance and a hazardous material infused with Chaos Divine Power and Magic Power. These Flowing Crystals not only envelop the sky on the Material Plane, but they also symbolically sever the Main Plane from the Symbolic Realm and the Star Realm.

That is why I didn’t pull you up to the Star Realm, but instead brought you directly into the Symbolic Realm through my own image. Although, for some reason, you ascended directly into the Supreme Heaven at the very beginning."

’This feels an awful lot like a local is acting as a scalper, sneaking me into a scenic park over the wall to avoid the ticket fee.’

Deryats chuckled. "My power is probably in those endless Flowing Crystals, too. I did fall during the Divine War, after all. Ah, and my Divine Kingdom, Landviti Palace, was shattered to smithereens."

’How can you laugh about that? You’re incredibly resilient.’

Rorschach wanted to ask about the Divine War, a topic many myths and religious texts were deliberately obscure about. Even records of the Old Empire’s fall only focused on the mortal struggles for power. However, the young woman gave him no chance.

"Our time is up. I hope we can meet again someday, under a tree somewhere in the world. Thank you."

"Goodbye."

In truth, Rorschach still had many questions. For example, what were the boundaries and connections between the Star Realm, the universe as Rorschach understood it, and the real starry sky?

Who was the great will of the Supreme Heaven? Was it the origin of the world, or its end?

And if there were no other wills in the Symbolic Realm, then where were the wills of Mother Earth, whose existence was confirmed, and the God of Light and Order, who was most likely still at his post?

But all he could do now was open his eyes.

Rorschach had fallen unconscious during the day. Now, it was night, and the others were asleep.

"You’re awake?" It was Master Kano’s voice. He had clearly been assigned to watch duty. The Great Mage was examining a map by the campfire. If Rorschach wasn’t mistaken, it was one of Cavendish’s alchemy "navigators."

Rorschach and the team were now in the ruins of the Elf Village, where they had set up tents as a temporary base.

Kano put away the map and asked the boy, "Is the matter with Deryats concluded?"

"It is."

"Good. As for the corpses of the foul creatures here, and these Elven artifacts and documents, I’ll wait for people from the Guild to come and take possession of them. When you get back to the Holy Kingdom, write a report for me. Make sure to include Apprentice Cavendish’s performance."

’Another report after another report,’ Rorschach thought with helpless resignation as he agreed. He caught the implication in Kano’s words. "You aren’t leaving with us?"

"I have to stay behind as the representative of the Tower of Stars to distribute these materials. Besides, *ahem*, I came here using an Any Door, remember...?"

It dawned on Rorschach. "Oh, right. You snuck into the Empire."

"’Snuck in’? What are you talking about? We Mages go wherever we please, don’t we? It’s just that if the Empire finds out, it’ll be a whole thing. I’d have to register, they’d report it to the Holy Kingdom, I’d have to file for certificates and submit materials... it’s a pain in the neck. I’ll just head over to the Tower of Forest later and borrow their Teleportation Array to get back to Valuva on the down-low."

Rorschach sat up in his sleeping bag. "So there really is a Fixed Array for teleporting people! I want to use it too!"

Kano waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah, sure. We can talk about that after you become a Great Mage.

For one thing, a Magic Array that teleports people consumes far more energy than the mail Teleportation System, so it isn’t feasible for widespread public access.

For another, this is a restriction the various kingdoms have placed on the Magic Guild and us Magic Towers. They can’t stop us from using it ourselves, but we can’t be public about it, understand? That’s why, normally, only Great Mages can use it, and only to travel between the central hubs of the Magic Towers and the Guild."

Any regime is sensitive to the movement of personnel and the projection of combat strength. While the Magic Towers could certainly ignore the "grave concerns" constantly expressed by kings and Nobility, the Magic Guild has vast numbers of Apprentices, subsidiary merchant associations, and farms. They have too much at stake in every kingdom to risk shattering the status quo. And so, under the pretext of "energy conservation," the Aurora Elder Council restricted the network of Teleportation Arrays used for transporting people.

"Since you’re up, come with me. We’re going to the basement to pick out some books. Let’s grab the good stuff first; no need to be polite and save any for the Tower of Forest."

The Great Mage got to his feet, levitated a stone slab out of the way, and beckoned for Rorschach to follow.

And then, in the Elf Elder’s study, the two of them ran into old Proprietor... er, Mister Kou Bo, a Dimensional Bag in one hand and a book in the other.