Even if Astrid’s perception was exceptionally sharp, it couldn’t compare to Charlotte, who was already a mid-tier Arcanist Mage.

Moreover, the head maid was an Assassin specializing in stealth, particularly adept at concealing her aura and hiding her strength. Were it not for the need to protect the Regent, occasionally revealing fluctuations in her mental energy, even a powerful Arcanist Mage wouldn’t have been able to detect changes in her true power.

Learning that Elise had advanced to the rank of Crusader, Astrid asked her several questions about stabilizing her cultivation base, and only after confirming that the other’s mental sea had fully stabilized did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

"You should have told me earlier, I should’ve given you a proper vacation," Astrid said softly.

Whether for the sake of consolidating strength or relaxing her spirit, her loyal, hardworking head maid deserves some personal leisure time, rather than living constantly only for her sake.

Hearing this, Elise gently shook her head and replied in a low voice.

"Recent affairs in the imperial capital have been complicated. Miss still needs me."

As the Regent’s confidante, half of Astrid’s workload requires her assistance. If she ever took a day off, that burden would simply shift back onto her mistress.

Unless absolutely necessary, she will never ask for time off herself.

Listening to the tender exchange between master and servant, Charlotte smoothly redirected the conversation elsewhere, speaking softly.

"Come to think of it, among the people around young Astrid, nearly everyone seems to have surpassed the rank of Magnus and reached the Arcanist Mage tier."

Amalia had broken through to the early tier Arcanist Mage with the aid of the Imperial Scepter, and with skillful use of the scepter could even match a middle-tier Arcanist Mage in combat power. Lyra and Elise had both reached the Crusader rank after the battle at White Maple Town.

In the past, she had been far ahead, using the overwhelming power of an Arcanist Mage to physically protect Astrid. But now that everyone’s strength had generally risen, the areas where she could still help seemed to be dwindling.

Feeling another subtle wave of indescribable loss, Charlotte lowered her legs wrapped in sheer translucent silk, casually placing her teacup aside as she spoke gently.

"When will young Astrid break through to Arcanist?"

In terms of raw power, the noble Imperial Regent was confirmed the weakest among them.

Suddenly feeling like a child being tested on schoolwork by a parent, Astrid fluttered her eyelashes and softly parted her pink lips.

"Not long now, I think."

"My mental reserve isn’t large, so my quality improvement naturally progresses faster than average. However, most of my time has been spent on other matters, keeping my mental energy renewal rate at a relatively low level, making it difficult to find the right opportunity for advancement."

In other words, Astrid’s mental strength had already reached the peak of peak tier Magnus, standing just one step away from ascending to Arcanist Mage.

But just as Lyra had gained insight from that single sword strike at the boundary between dawn and dusk, ultimately breaking through during the battle at White Maple Town and achieving a leap in life essence, Astrid also needed a certain catalyst to help her break free from her constraints.

"Don’t worry, Lady Charlotte," Astrid said softly, gazing at the raven-haired beauty behind the desk. "I’ll remember our promise."

Once she becomes an Arcanist Mage, they will explore that endless abyss together, searching for the traces of her mother and Father..

Hearing this, Charlotte’s tea-colored eyes shimmered faintly with light. The slender heel of her shoe clicked crisply against the floor tiles as she stood up.

"I know, young Astrid."

"Let’s go, let’s head to that ancient human ruin."

.....

In the southwest corner of Elizabeth Academy of Magic, beyond lakes and artificial hills, the ancient human ruins, bearing abundant traces of human activity, came into view before Astrid and her companions.

The nearest building to this site was the Elizabeth Academy of Magic Library. Through the bare branches of the trees, one can see the central training tower of the academy, as well as the faint silhouettes of several palaces hidden in the far distance.

From the very beginning of Amalia’s reign, this empress had declared to everyone: the Regent’s commands were her own commands. In all legal procedures, Astrid held equal status to the Emperor and enjoyed all the privileges of the supreme ruler.

This naturally included access to the spatial circle, a site that requires the Emperor’s personal command to enter.

After a simple announcement, Astrid’s party stepped into the barrier erected by Dean Anthony. Here, everything related to the ancient humans was covered by a transparent magical film. Whether wind, light, water, or other elemental particles that might affect their existence, all were completely blocked by this magical film.

On the dry, withered lawn, silver-white stones half-buried in the soil refracted sunlight. They appear stony on the surface, yet on closer inspection seem metallic, arranged in concentric rings, reminiscent of the megalithic stone circles Astrid had seen online in her previous life.

Besides these ancient human relics covered by the magical film, everything else appears normal, bare ground with only a few drooping withered grasses, mixed with abundant dust, indistinguishable from the edges of suburban fields.

It was fortunate that Astrid happened to visit during winter. With few insects or plants around, numerous ancient human artifacts lay scattered across the open area, visible to the naked eye without needing mental scanning.

"This is probably one of the few ancient human ruins in Imperial city that still retains its appearance from a thousand years ago."

As she spoke, Charlotte extended her mental energy, causing pale green winds in the elemental vision to swirl gently around herself and her two companions.

"Of course, strictly speaking, this is my first time setting foot here..."

"...If Evelyn knew, she’d probably die of envy."

Hearing the name of the linguistics professor from Charlotte, Astrid always felt a strange, competitive impulse unique to mature women.

"A suspected spatial circle ruin, so highly valued by the first monarch, successive academy deans would naturally use every possible means to ensure the surface patterns and arrangements remain undamaged."

Thus, what presented itself before Astrid was row upon row of silver-white stones, arranged segmentally into a circular formation. Every five meters or so, a cylindrical pillar rose upward, supporting higher relief-carved stone columns; this was merely the outer ring’s portion exposed above the soil.

Looking inward, another ring exists, also constructed from silver-white stones. The southeastern arc of this ring was already broken, the gap uneven, exposing the internal stone structure. The fallen lay fragments half-buried in the soil, covered with a thin layer of dust, yet cleverly separated by the magical film so as not to directly touch the stones.

"Has Astrid read the research report on spatial circles?"

"The one in the library?"

"Yes, ’Research Report on Suspected Spatial circle Ancient Human Ruins.’"

The report Charlotte referred to was authored by a very famous earth-element specialized Arcanist Mage in imperial history. Using a method of infusing mental energy into the earth, he had analyzed the ancient human remains beneath the surface without disturbing a single blade of grass, deciphering the entire architectural structure and the possible arcane knowledge employed.

"He believed this circle possessed a spatial main axis connecting the rising sun in the east with the setting sun in the west. Moreover, its inner and outer rings were proportionally scalable, the outer ring could theoretically encompass a small portion of Valeria Empire’s territory and the Pan-Human Alliance, while precisely aligning with the human-prohibited central vortex and the Magic-Forbidden Gray Mist."

"As for the inner ring, you should know the location of another spatial ruin fragment, Lady Charlotte. It serves as another proof that the inner and outer rings can be proportionally scaled."

Charlotte responded softly, "Lorraine City Velmora Knight Academy."

She had visited during a learning exchange several years ago. Compared to this spatial circle ruin in the capital, the guard forces there were weaker, but still ranked among the highest levels of protection.

Astrid nodded and continued speaking.

"The distance between these two spatial circle ruins, proportionally scaled to the distance from the second ruin to the Magic-Forbidden Gray Mist, corresponds exactly to the inner and outer ring proportions of the stone forest before us."

"From the first to the second, from the second to the central vortex, everything fits perfectly, as if measured and constructed carefully."

"According to the report’s conclusions, there might be some special significance on a magical level, something we currently don’t understand."

Charlotte added: "The magic circle at Velmora Knight Academy, in terms of architectural scale and complexity of carvings, is far less refined than the one in the capital."

"And moreover, it only has a single ring of stone carvings, its center is a broken magical base."

With such reasoning, it could suggest a spatial connection between the two circles, proving that during their operational period, humans could teleport from the first circle to the second.

"Yes, that’s exactly what the report states," Astrid said softly.

"There’s another point worth mentioning. The main axis of this circle runs from sunrise to sunset. Tracing backward, it exactly corresponds to the position from Lorraine City to the capital, southwest to northwest."

"If we use this as a converging line and extrapolate inward across the continent, could it prove that the Valeria Empire and Kingdom of Velys share a common center?"

Both the inner and outer rings were circular. Even without a third spatial circle fragment as a reference anchor, just having these two rings allows Astrid to reduce that the proportional reduction of the center would point exactly to one location on the map.

"You mean... the Abyssal Rift?" Charlotte asked.

Astrid gave a slight nod. "Exactly. It seems Lady Charlotte has indeed kept up with geographical knowledge to reduce this so quickly."

"It actually took me a special map and diagrams to pinpoint its approximate location during my deeper research."

"It’s just so coincidental, it’s hard not to overthink."

She had long known the Abyss was a major dungeon, but Astrid hadn’t anticipated so much information would point directly toward it.

Hearing Astrid’s analysis, Charlotte’s tea-colored eyes narrowed slightly. Gazing at the nearby fragments, her lips parted.

"If we continue extrapolating inward based on Astrid’s deduction, beyond the center, along the line from day to night, wouldn’t there be mirrored counterparts of the other two ancient human ruins?"

"In that case, Kingdom of Velys must contain at least one residual spatial circle, distantly corresponding to the one here in Imperial city."

"As for the magic circle at Velmora Knight Academy, proportionally scaled, it might very well extend beyond the Kingdom of Velys’s territory and deep into the continent’s interior."

This would prove that the ancient humans’ area of activity definitely wasn’t limited to just the vast territories once held by the Loring Empire. They connected westward to the continent’s heartland, eastward to the central vortex, northward to the dragon lairs, and southward to the scorching wastelands.

"But Astrid, I’ve never heard of any spatial circle fragments being discovered in Kingdom of Velys."

"So my deduction is merely speculation, it might not be fact."

As she spoke, Astrid approached the silver-white relief circle. Her skirt swayed gently, her two long, black-stockinged legs crossing alternately, delicate black heels leaving faint marks on the soil.

"Perhaps it hasn’t been discovered yet. Or maybe the ancient humans used some special method to hide that circle."

"It could be buried under dust. If not for the strict protection of Imperial city’s spatial circle, it might have already disappeared into the river of history."

Hearing Astrid’s words, Charlotte nodded in agreement, stepping closer to the stone circle alongside her.

Gazing at the broken surface of the fallen stones, once again confirming the report’s assessment that the material resembles both metal and stone, Charlotte activated her mental energy, analyzing the magical runes on the outer surface together with Astrid.

The outer side of the circular silver-white stone steps was covered in magical carvings. Although Charlotte wasn’t unfamiliar with magical engraving, these special patterns used by the ancient humans differed somewhat from modern magic, making it impossible to fully reduce based on existing experience.

After nearly a quarter of an hour, they determined the outer step runes were designed to receive magical energy transmission from the inner side, achieving a specific value, and using the vertical stone pillars to establish a barrier. Charlotte saw Astrid take a step forward and instinctively wanted to stop her.

"Don’t get too close, be careful."

At the same time, the head maid shifted her position forward, ensuring she could keep up with Astrid’s movements at any moment.

Hearing Charlotte’s warning, Astrid nodded and replied softly.

"No need to worry, Lady Charlotte."

"I’m just trying to translate the ancient language written here."

In the center, where the inner and outer rings closed, a broken, spiral-shaped stone platform rose from the center of a spherical stone slab, its design somewhat similar to the helm of a dreadnought, most likely a control device.

The sharp sound of her fine heel striking the stone slab was distinctly different from the muffled thud on soil. Astrid lowered her center of gravity. Her hand, clad in starry-night-colored gloves, wiped away the dust on the surface of the magical film, revealing the ancient script beneath.

[Praise to the Sage of Knowledge and Mercy, the Great Mist Guide Gemini.]

This was most likely not a spell, simply a pure expression of praise.

Adhering to her cautious nature, Astrid had no intention of channeling mental energy to chant any ancient spells within this stone forest, not even uttering the pronunciation aloud.

After translating it into the common human tongue for Charlotte, the raven-haired beauty gently touched her chin and spoke softly.

"Another piece of evidence proving Gemini was active during the ancient human era."

Astrid gave a slight nod in response, adding gently.

"It seems the circle’s builders didn’t know Gemini’s true name either."

Brennild was the deity who wielded dominion over Darkness and Plague, while Moserria, the former Swordmaster of the Sword of Light, held dominion over Light, in opposition to Brennild.

Including the deep-blue brooch Astrid currently wore on her ceremonial dress, it was a divine relic. Grace, the peerless powerhouse in a blue dress besieged by dragons, most likely held dominion over Frost.

Gemini, or perhaps Aurilline, regards these transcendent beings as kin, yet seemed distant from them.

Then, what ability did she herself wield?

"Knowledge and Mercy... it’s somewhat too abstract..."

Astrid murmured to herself, continuing to wipe the stone platform. Once the dust-covered surface was completely cleaned, she still found no further ancient script.

But upon reflection, this was only natural. The control console for deploying a spatial circle will inevitably have dedicated operators. Writing a single line of praise for the developers was already the limit, surely they wouldn’t inscribe the entire operational principles and user manual onto the platform.

If it were truly that convenient, Astrid might have suspected her dear younger sister had started pulling strings.

"Astrid... did you find any more valuable information?"

Not yet.

Separated by a layer of magical film, even if there were some blood-activated mechanisms, they couldn’t test them.

Using mental energy to engrave the entire spatial circle’s model into her mind, Astrid still found no effective entry point. Gazing at the worn marks on the stone platform’s base, her dark brows slightly furrowed.

These traces differed from the surrounding roughness, and didn’t resemble natural weathering marks. They seemed more like patterns or text that had been deliberately erased.

Considering the current number of existing spatial circles, even in ancient times, this should have been an exceptionally precious artifact, unlikely to be casually damaged.

Half an hour later, Astrid spoke softly.

"Lady Charlotte... have you deciphered the circle’s operational principles yet?"

Although it was Charlotte’s first time personally visiting a spatial circle, she had read that research report and naturally knew some key points. Combined with her identity as a scholar who had long studied magical energy devices, there was likely no one in the entire Valeria Empire who understood these circle carvings better than her.

"I roughly understand it," Charlotte replied. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Using the stone platform Astrid touched earlier as the core magical energy input source, the received command causes arcane factors to align and pass through the magical carvings, establishing a magical field via the silver-white stone steps."

"Then, using these circle forms I can’t fully comprehend, the magical current is focused into the inner ring."

"The only security I can identify is a judgment circle ensuring the integrity of transported objects. Its specific effect should be to keep a person’s limbs and body together during spatial transmission."

Without it, it wouldn’t be a teleportation circle, it would be a meat grinder.

Astrid nodded, then continued with Charlotte’s explanation.

"So, the only aspect currently beyond your understanding, Lady Charlotte, is how to construct the theoretical spatial channel?"

"Yes. The rest isn’t particularly difficult."

It sounded simple, yet the most complex and challenging part was exactly that leap from nothing to something.

"Then, does Lady Charlotte remember that theory I mentioned about arcane factors?"

That is, arcane factors are the smallest manipulable unit in magic theory, all elemental particles being specific fixed arrangements of arcane factors, manifesting their external properties.

"I remember. I’ve already mastered related spells."

After in-depth study, Charlotte had immediately attempted applying them to magical energy devices. Many of her previous inventions had utilized similar circles.

"Astrid means for me to abandon the habitual thinking of modern magical theory and view the entire circle from another perspective?"

"Exactly."

Astrid gently took Charlotte’s hand, leading her backward, speaking softly.

"Besides changing perspectives, I also hope Lady Charlotte will attempt to restart the spatial circle."

"Though we currently lack the means to fully decipher these ruins’ functions, Lady Charlotte just said that aside from the core spatial aspects, everything else falls within your understanding."

"So why not use arcane-factor-related mimicry magic to, following the ancient carvings left by the ancient humans, re-channel magical energy?"

Theoretical gaps don’t mean experimentation is impossible. Retracing this broken path might yield more inspiration.

Provided safety is ensured.

"Just guiding arcane factors without arranging them into circle forms, relying solely on existing magical carvings for self-transformation?"

Charlotte was half-convinced, her mind racing.

"A highly innovative idea. After all, in past magical theories, no one ever tried using completely unordered arcane factors as the smallest unit to assist magical energy transmission..."

Before she could finish, Astrid continued.

"And Lady Charlotte also confirmed that the original protective magic of this stone forest hasn’t disappeared, the stones only lack the spatial deployment circles."

As long as they stayed outside the circle’s influence range and channeled energy from the outside, they could conduct the experiment relatively safely.

At worst, Dean Anthony’s magic could protect the entire area, he was currently somewhere in the capital.

"..."

Realizing the considerations was high, a faint glimmer appeared in Charlotte’s eyes as she signaled Astrid to step further back.

"Let me double-check..."

With the imperial authority granted by Amalia, they had technically already fulfilled the procedural requirements.

Half an hour later, Astrid, protected by her aunt and head maid, felt the magical fluctuations in the air. Charlotte’s mental energy flowed into the stone platform, chaotic, unordered arcane factors wrapped in magic, sequentially circulating and transforming along the mysterious stone veins.

Azure light shimmered in the air, everything before their eyes distorting like reflections in water, enhanced and entangled by ripples of magical energy.

Controlling the frequency of mental energy transmission, prioritizing her own safety above all, Charlotte saw through her elemental vision a void, an essential process for Arcanist Mages using corresponding magic in regions without specific elemental particles: extracting elements from nothingness.

This spatial circle clearly serves a similar function. But what caught Charlotte’s attention now wasn’t the ubiquitous elemental particles.

It was the group of ragged, long-decayed human skeletons in the void.