The brutal God of War who killed Beta beings on sight was this young? How could anyone have guessed, especially when they had been too weak to fight on the front lines? But, no matter what,
Anyway, if you're here looking for the creator of Mana Burn, you've come to the right place. Nice to meet you. I'm
Life may take a winding path, but as long as it reaches Seoul in the end, that's what matters.
The war hero introduced himself lightly, though there was no handshake or other physical contact. Alphaurins, especially fellow mages, did not consider physical touch particularly safe or reassuring.
By the way, the Academic Hall? You mean that outdated gathering place of the ruling class is already back in operation?
Yes.
When I entered the treasure vault, the main building was still in ruins.
Gathering scholars was the difficult part, but the building itself was restored quickly.
Hoo.
We always welcome the arrival of the great hero.
That's quite surprising to hear. Back in the day, merely touching the tip of a lowly creature's tentacle in that place would have gotten your skin and flesh stripped away.
At last, the conversation turned to the main subject. His reaction to the invitation was not bad. This green wizard was a mysterious powerhouse who seemed as though he had fallen straight from the core of a star.
Magic. Even those who had built civilizations around such mysterious concepts had eventually added a term meaning "social animal" to their scientific names.
A grand hall where countless scholars of magic gathered in pursuit of the truth.
There were things in this world that even a person of extraordinary genius could not accomplish alone.
Well, it's a good thing.
A thought briefly crossed his mind.
I was just starting to think I needed a proper research environment myself.
The war hero soon accepted the messenger's proposal. During the months he had spent reading the king's grimoires, a clear sense of purpose had taken root in his heart.
He wanted colleagues with whom he could share his ideas. Moreover, if he joined the Academic Hall, he would no longer have to struggle so much to acquire the tools required for magical research. A moment later...
The two Alphaurins standing before the treasure vault mounted the beast sent by the Academic Hall and began their journey toward the distant northern waters.
And the current flowed, and flowed, and flowed on...
***
He finally entered the academy.
W, welcome!
To be honest, the invitation had seemed almost like a reckless provocation, like poking at something one could not even eat. Yet the hero of the Great War had actually come to the institution of his own accord! ȑåＮօꞖÊṠ
Oh, you've come! You've really come at exactly the right time!
The green compatriot entered through the main gate. At once, the administrator of the Academic Hall sprang up to greet him.
Wrinkled, rough skin. A gelatinous region whose overall coloration had grown dull. In other words, an elderly compatriot of the same planet.
This elderly scholar was an Alphauri known by a name that sounded something like "Salpa." In the distant past, he had earned recognition as an Archmage—a testament to his ability. Naturally, he had also made considerable contributions during the Great War and would likely earn at least two and a half pages in future history books without much difficulty.
Thank you for choosing our Academic Hall. I've been waiting for someone like you to join us. After all, compared to armed bandit organizations like the Mage Tower, we... well, we're honest, and we have a proper foundation!
Armed bandits.
It's barely been any time since the Great War ended, and I already hear they're kidnapping orphans for illegal experiments. Their organization may be larger than our Academy, but frankly, those sorts are beneath us. They're not people we should associate with.
When you say kidnapping orphans, do you mean the bone experiments? No, that damn bone-collecting business was already making a racket before I entered the treasure room, so what exactly do you mean?
No matter what achievements they might have accumulated in the past, no sorcerer could afford to take the founder of [Mana Burn] lightly.
The head of the Academic Hall, Salpa, soon burst into hearty laughter and showered the young man before him with praise. As an added bonus, he promised him all manner of luxurious benefits.
Food expenses? Covered. Housing costs? Covered. And whenever he needed rare and expensive research samples—he could have as many as he wanted!
In return, we ask only that you present your research—any subject will do, even light magic—at our conference once every two years.
If the knowledge-starved members of the Academy could obtain even scraps of research from a genius like this, it would be an absolute bargain for them.
By the way, naturally, we'll give you the best location in the building for your laboratory.
Bow, bow.
The man in charge lowered himself as humbly as though he were cleaning a fellow compatriot's tentacles. Such an attitude brought considerable satisfaction to the naturally arrogant genius.
Yeah. Well, let's do our best from now on, as fellow compatriots.
Yahoo~!
The glorious recruitment had succeeded. Now it was time to prepare custom-made experimental equipment for the enormous deep-sea dweller, who had apparently grown quite a bit recently. The moment the long-awaited new member entered the Academic Hall, the person in charge immediately shouted orders to the nearby workers, instructing them to summon every skilled craftsman from the workshops at once.
And time passed. Around the 2nd week...
As could be seen from his actions on Earth, the blue deep-sea dweller possessed remarkable adaptability, and by this point he had already grown accustomed to the structure of the Academy. In the past, when he had been forced to research the Mana Burn technique in haste on the battlefield, the number of assistants had been severely restricted to prevent anyone from selling information to the enemy for personal gain. But now, there was no need to conduct research in such secrecy.
The era of golems will come in the future.
You're always saying that, aren't you, war hero?
An era where those frustrating clay figures surpass living creatures? I just can't imagine it.
Instead, they needed to communicate actively with one another. Now that an age of peace had arrived, the green Alphaurin intended to pursue research more closely aligned with his personal interests. And surprisingly enough, the arrogant magician's interests were unexpectedly connected to improving the lives of ordinary citizens.
The golem creation technique invented by Scholar XXX is truly amazing. It's revolutionary!
In truth, the golems of this middle era were still unreliable creatures overall.
[Weapon Golemology] [Organic Golemology]
Although the classification system that would be used in the future had already been firmly established from the beginning, even Earthlings, whose physical range of movement was clearly limited, had required a long process to develop sophisticated mechanical arms. How much more difficult, then, would such a task be for Alphaurins, who could freely manipulate six jointless tentacles?
Is making golems a reality really that worthwhile?
Machines are stupid. That was the prevailing belief among mages of the era. Even when a sorcerer controlled a puppet directly, golems were particularly clumsy and slow. The idea of giving them personalities and ushering in an automated era seemed absurd.
It's a difficult concept. At this point, the notion that highly intelligent extraterrestrial mammals might exist somewhere in the universe and worship fire as their origin would actually seem more believable.
Anyway, once you've mastered telekinesis, you can move objects with a glance. I wonder whether golems would really be efficient.
Efficiency can be dealt with later.
Machines can't be trusted. No matter how you look at it, they're still inferior to a magician doing things directly with their own tentacles.
But one genius stubbornly clung to his interest.
Golems. Especially if unmanned golems—controlled remotely, without requiring an Alphaurin to intervene physically—continued to evolve, a dreamlike era would eventually arrive. The amount of labor available to society would increase explosively. Simple and meaningless tasks could be entrusted to machines, allowing magicians to devote themselves to far more interesting subjects.
Furthermore, the same principle would apply if another emergency like the Great War ever occurred. If unmanned golem technology advanced far enough, wouldn't it become possible to defend the planet without sacrificing lives?
Still, either way, I'm going to stake everything on this technology. Soldiers or civilians, I'm seriously sick of seeing bodies pile up all over this planet.
Someone clasped their tentacles behind their back.
Besides, golem technology really does possess immense, practically limitless value.
Of course. If a prodigy like you gets involved, wouldn't any attribute become possible?
The green deep-sea creature made an excited sound at the compliment.
But I don't know if it's because my family has researched divination magic for generations, but I just can't see the era of those clay figures arriving anytime during this generation~
A moment later, a remark like cold water being poured over him came from the side, but the genius immediately responded. His tone was surprisingly mild.
After all, the inhabitants of this planet who had been swimming through the corridors together until now were all future companions who had committed themselves to the same grand plan. Why should they quarrel over something so trivial?
Actually, I know that too. Besides, I come from a deep-sea bloodline. My internal organs can't keep pace with the size of my body, so my lifespan is shorter than everyone else's!
Before long, they stopped swimming.
But isn't that precisely why a genius like you ended up taking part in such an absurd plan?
A vast cavern opened before them. It had originally been nothing more than an empty space, but solid-state sound-direction devices had been installed across the ceiling so that vibrations could propagate efficiently. Various gemstones emitting different colors of light were scattered throughout the chamber. The marine creatures emerging from the corridor followed the waves emitted by the gemstones and each settled into their designated places. Once all six sections had filled with their respective occupants, the thin, gaunt scholar waiting at the center began introducing the subject.
You all arrived without being late. Well, for us, time truly is something that must be measured.
Most of those gathered here were Archmages. And all of them belonged to the same faction. One person, though not yet an Archmage, had nevertheless earned a place at the table thanks to their historic achievements during the Great War.
Eh... We did gain a new collaborator this week, someone who served as a soldier on the front lines. But I'm sure everyone already knows that. Shall we get to the main subject?
That's right.
Let's do that.
How old was that person again...?
Silence. Silence.
Then I'll begin first.
After joining the Academy, the green deep-sea dweller began pursuing two long-awaited research projects simultaneously. One was an in-depth study of golem magic. The other was the matter being discussed here...
If we trace our ancestry far enough back, we can see a considerable connection to the Cnidaria. So, if I use the newly discovered immortal Hydra colony, our group may be able to achieve its goal.
Was the verification process sufficiently thorough?
That's the subject of today's presentation, but based on my observations, the floating Hydra genuinely seems, in theory, incapable of dying from old age.
Aiming for 'immortality'. A single lifetime was far too short, far too insufficient, to uncover the secrets of the captivating world of magic. This was the certainty the genius had reached during the year he spent inside the treasure vault. Yet even after realizing this, one could not recklessly embark on something like the development of time-reversal magic.
Maybe, in the distant future, a magician capable of controlling time will appear. But if we start researching that now, we'll simply die of old age before we make any progress.
He changed his approach. No—in truth, every magician seated at the table had done the same. If they could not directly interfere with the vast flow of time itself, then the most realistic alternative was to extend their own lifespans. That was the conclusion the genius reached. And so, after the war, he joined a small circle within the Academic Hall and began conducting research collectively.
Life extension. The preservation of youth. And, for some, the activities of the Immortality Society, which sincerely sought eternal life.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter