Rising god-Chapter 118: Goals & Magic

The future.

It wasn’t something Baines thought about after hearing it the first time.

All he wanted was to find his family quickly; however, he had been learning with time. Finding his family would take time, but he wouldn’t allow himself to forget his purpose, hence the reason he constantly replayed those incidents.

With his need for powers like ships, vessels, and tools to rival empires, he had delved into magic engineering. To his astonishment, its principles mirrored the advanced technology woven into Eye’s core. He knew Eye’s capabilities were vast, yet he had barely scratched their surface.

But today, the revelations unfolding before him were the most staggering yet.

Like revisiting ancient strategies or battle formations, Eye could unveil glimpses of progress from ages yet to come.

The vision enveloped him. Towering spires of glass and light pierced the heavens, their surfaces gleaming like molten starlight, reflecting a sky unmarred by smoke or war. Their heights defied reason, swaying gently as if mocking gravity’s pull.

"Won’t they fall?" Baines whispered, his voice trembling with awe and disbelief. He stood, a holographic specter conjured by Eye, amidst a bustling city unlike anything in his world.

People moved around him, their steps light, their faces unguarded. No swords hung at their waists, no wands or staves gripped in cautious hands. "They carry no weapons," he murmured, "and what are those clothes?" Their garments were vibrant, flowing, some clinging like a second skin, others loose as if woven from air itself.

Laughter spilled freely, mingling with the hum of unseen machinery. There was no trace of the ever-present dread that haunted his own time, no looming threat, no shadow of insecurity.

Then his gaze fell on the vessels gliding along smooth, gleaming roads. "These aren’t carriages," he said, half to himself. They were sleek, polished constructs, some angular like arrowheads, others curved like river stones, their surfaces shimmering with colors that shifted in the sunlight. They moved without horses or runes, propelled by some silent force.

They reminded him of a concept his last professor had described, a machine that moved by will alone, unbound by magic or muscle. Their beauty varied, from stark utility to ornate elegance, each a marvel of craft he could scarcely comprehend.

His attention snagged on something else, something ubiquitous.

In nearly every hand, people clutched rectangular slates, no larger than a small tome. Their surfaces glowed with shifting images, maps, faces, words, and colors dancing across them like scrying stones, but alive, responsive.

Three out of every ten passersby were transfixed, their eyes locked on these devices, fingers tapping with practiced ease.

"What are those?" Baines asked, leaning closer, though his holographic form could touch nothing. The slates pulsed with life, some emitting faint sounds, music, voices, or stranger tones he couldn’t place.

The city thrummed with energy, a symphony of light and sound. Above, sleek vessels darted through the air, leaving trails of faint luminescence. The streets buzzed with a soft, rhythmic pulse, as if the city itself breathed.

Signs glowed with symbols Baines couldn’t read, their shapes alien yet oddly familiar, like runes stripped of magic and reborn in light. The air carried scents of metal and something sharp, like ozone after a storm, but no trace of smoke or blood. People spoke in a cacophony of tongues, yet many seemed to communicate without words, their slates flashing in sync.

Baines turned, taking in the skyline. The glass towers weren’t just tall, they were alive, their surfaces rippling with patterns that might have been art or data. Some had platforms jutting out, where people stood, gazing at the horizon or conversing with unseen others through their devices. Yet, for all its strangeness, the city felt like an echo of Shuphern’s dream, but magnified beyond anything he could imagine.

The vision faded, and Baines blinked, the dim light of the study room grounding him.

The hum of Eye’s core pulsed softly, anchoring him to the present. "So, this is what they call progress," he muttered, half-amused, half-unsettled.

"Eye, are you telling me you can recreate all this?" He leaned forward, fingers brushing the cold edge of his desk.

[CORRECT]

His breath hitched.

The value of Eye to him had just increased.

His breath caught, a mix of awe and dread tightening his chest. "Shit, the ancestor’s collection was the future." The realization hit like ice water. If Eye held such power, what secrets was it hiding about his family?

"But why?" Why was the future buried in the past? The paradox gnawed at him. "Eye, what do you know about the first ancestor of the Baek family?"

[RESTRICTED ACCESS]

This was new. Baines frowned, his fingers tightening on the desk. ’What is the issue? Am I too weak, or is it something else?’

There was no response.

’What of the future Baek family?’

[RESTRICTED ACCESS]

This made everything almost obvious. ’Something must’ve happened.’ He sighed in his thoughts.

’Anyways, I still have a goal, anything else is just extra.’ The future, as enticing as it was, wasn’t his current concern. What was the point of rebuilding the world when he could be its potential destroyer?

’Alright Eye, from all these things you’ve shown me, apart from you, what else can actively help me in my goals?’

[CREATION OF A GLOBAL NETWORK OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION- THE INTERNET]

’Can you tell me more about this internet?’

Displays flickered into view, projected by Eye and the construct golem at his side. Streams of data swirled—maps, voices, images from distant lands, all linked in an invisible web. Baines skimmed them, grasping the core; apparently, just from his location, he could know what was going on in other continents if he succeeded in it.

"Haa..." However, just seeing the details made him collapse onto the chair.

’Sky destroyer and the internet,’ He had decided.

These two would be his long-term focus as of now. ’Thankfully, things can be easier for me if I duplicate Eye into stronger constructs.’

Today marked his second month since coming to the moon tower, and the eighth month of his one-year term. ’I’m happy they gave me this time scrunch, but it will soon come to an end.’ He sighed in disappointment.

He had achieved a lot in these eight months. First off, he had already absorbed the Silvers’ techniques that concerned him, but decided against learning their cultivation technique.

Thankfully, they had lots of magic-based skills; however, the powerful techniques needed either divine power or the authority of wind. As for their wealth and treasures, only a few caught his eye.

Among them was the scarf currently wrapped around his neck. Even though it wasn’t as useful as what he gave to his brother, he liked its use.

He had also kept some useful weapons for himself and left the rest for the Dawnless members.

Finally, their records including their history, transactions, and future plans.

The Silvers actually had hopes of overtaking Astra, and from what he read, maybe except for the Luche family, who served Pluchmolk, the poison god, they were the weakest duchy.

The second was the treasure he found. The coordinates travel system. It was an idea created by a former ruler of the Lunar dominion, and somehow it got lost and appeared in the sun tower.

His third, and the main reason he even came here, was to learn magic. freёwebnoѵel.com

In the two months he immersed himself in magic engineering, his growth was nonsensical. Maybe it was due to Eye, but he was able to rise from his third circle to form his sixth circle.

He was currently a peak master and a high mage, and in people’s terms, they called such a person a magic swordsman. However, it was all hidden with the treasure Vole gave him.

To the public, he was still just a third circle mage.

The fourth thing he came to do was form his own techniques from absolute cut and destruction and aging reversal, and he had succeeded, but he didn’t stop there. He also dabbled in the aging reversal to unearth something.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t progressed in his void sky steps. Except for tearing space of about two meters around him, he couldn’t go further, but he learnt some Silver family techniques to remedy that.

And lastly, he had opened his second gore vessel.

After playing scholar for two months, the pain had only just reduced, but he still didn’t dare remove the pain receptors.

’So, I have completed my goals before the time,’ He reasoned. He still had four months left,

’Can I go to Ashenfall now?’ He stood, carried his new construct golem, and made his way towards his dorm room.

As he entered, he found his future partner and traitor. Shuphern Welton.

"Ah, Ji-, no, sorry, Kirk." He waved from his position, working on something he probably learned in class. The table of constructs now had more items that weren’t formally there.

’Yes, before I leave, I need to check something.’ Baines thought.

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