Chapter 130

So this was the level of spatial magic in this era.

The Mage of Refinement would drag a metal cart whenever he relocated his base.

That cart, thoroughly covered with various protective spells, looked far sturdier than those “tanks” from Earth.

The cart contained foundation stones, pillars, and door panels meticulously engraved with blessings, all stored in sturdy cases. Once a location was decided, the Mage of Refinement would select a spot and arrange the foundation stones, pillars, and door panels to his liking. Then, after reciting a spell—boom!—a cozy stone building would appear. That was the Mage of Refinement’s workshop.

Even when disassembled and reassembled, the items inside wouldn’t disappear. As long as even a single pillar remained, it could be fully restored anytime—that was the Mage of Refinement’s pride.

Although it couldn’t compare to the cube, it was undoubtedly the finest spatial magic of the current era.

-Primitive observation equipment. They clearly don’t understand that the essence of the world is ‘information’ written in mana.

That was the cube’s immediate comment upon entering the Mage of Refinement’s workshop.

“It sparkles.”

That was my first impression.

Glass and crystals of various sizes filled every corner of the room.

The workshop was quite spacious, with lenses occupying about a third of the ceiling. External light pooled neatly in that massive lens before falling to a single point. Multiple smaller lenses caught and reflected the light beams descending from the ceiling, creating countless sparkles.

There were lenses the size of full-length mirrors and strange contraptions that resembled musical instruments made of lenses. Once my eyes adjusted to the sparkling lenses, the stone tablets emitting soft light caught my attention, and between them, casually placed relics and magical devices inspired awe. The rest was books—books and documents everywhere.

As I quietly admired the scenery, the cube subtly changed its stance.

-Though primitive… it has quite an aesthetic charm.

“You know about aesthetic charm?”

-Of course I do. Isn’t that what the Administrators enjoyed? The traces of mortals desperately striving to see beyond with their limited information and abilities…

It sounded rather perverse to my ears. Not giving beings the ability to reach something and then enjoying watching them struggle unsuccessfully toward the impossible? Why would gods have such tastes?

“Hey cube, why do Administrators enjoy such things?”

-I don’t remember clearly. But you’re an Administrator, so you should know. Why do you enjoy such things?

“…I don’t remember either.”

I’m sorry, cube. I’m not the kind of Administrator you think I am.

“Excuse the mess, but consider it an honor. I don’t just let anyone in here.”

“Yes, yes. What an honor for my family.”

The Mage of Refinement merely smirked at my sarcasm without offering any real retort. He seemed somewhat sentimental today.

While cleaning a large lens with wind magic, he muttered as if talking to himself.

“Most mages learn totem magic as a basic skill, but I was different. For a time, I delved exclusively into totem magic.”

What’s with this old story?

“The reason was simple. I wanted to know the truth behind that accident. What took my parents from me? What transformed my body, and how? The scholars of the era gathered to study. They examined that relic and my body dozens of times. But… no satisfactory explanation emerged. So I delved into totem magic. After all, totem magic is the study of imitating the power residing in relics and relic sites.”

Ah…

This was the story of the Mage of Refinement’s origin. Why he became the person he is today. How the Mage of Refinement came to be.

“But I soon realized totem magic alone wasn’t enough. I revisited Circle magic and researched Ki-blood magic as much as possible. Yes, I immersed myself in all knowledge and relics. To unlock the secret of my body. Before I knew it, I had become the Mage of Refinement, recognized as the Tower’s greatest magical device craftsman.”

He gazed at me with burning eyes.

“Now, lie down there. This is the culmination of my life’s work. After hundreds or thousands of failures, I’ve created a device that reproduces the accident from that day. I’ve never used it on a person before… but thanks to your courage, I’ll fulfill one of my lifelong wishes.”

What the hell?

“Wait wait wait! Hey! Hold on!”

Your eyes are red!

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you say you wanted to fix your body?”

“I asked you to tell me your secret! I never said I’d use your suspicious device!”

“Suspicious…?”

He’s giving me the expression of a wounded boy! Now I’m the bad guy?

“Ah, anyway! Let’s start with animal testing first, and let me see the information you’ve discovered. Then I’ll tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“How it’s supposed to work originally.”

The Mage of Refinement looked twice as wounded at my response.

“Ah… ‘originally,’ is it? …I see.”

As he approached the cage housing experimental mice, he muttered,

“…What an annoying bastard.”

Whatever. What do you want me to do?

That day, we experimented on five mice. We also used the Mage of Refinement’s observation instruments to examine his body in various ways. Throughout this process, I observed how the Mage of Refinement’s mana pattern changed.

“Well? Do you understand anything now?”

The Mage of Refinement asked with an expression mixed with anticipation and anxiety.

I couldn’t help but make a cryptic face.

“That device you made… you said you built it using relics from the relic site where you had your accident, right?”

“Yes. Everyone else failed, but only I was able to use this relic to produce reactions similar to that day. So… do you understand now?”

Do I understand?

“It’s fascinating, that thing.”

I realized I had been making a huge misunderstanding.

* * *

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Evan was stuffing his mouth with a fluffy popcorn-like snack made from puffed corn. On Earth, they called it popcorn, right?

“Hmm… changing location like this isn’t bad at all. Hey! Give me another cup of that.”

He leaned back casually in his chair and gulped down lami sap. Acting like he owns the place…

“And there are new faces too. The Mage of Refinement? It’s an honor to meet you. You know what? Quite many of my brothers are aiming for your neck.”

“Well, I’ve never really felt threatened.”

Evan and the Mage of Refinement’s gazes clashed in mid-air. So intense it seemed like they could pop corn.

Let’s ignore those two for now.

“Monggu. Lie down here.”

“Uh, h-here?”

Monggu, who had recovered this morning, seemed confused by the situation as he glanced nervously at Evan and Beatrice before lying down under the lens attached to the ceiling.

“Damn it! You’re an excellent knight! Act more dignified! Don’t listen to a pathetic mage like him!”

“Sh-shut up. You’re just a prisoner.”

Well done, Monggu!

“Khh…”

With nothing to say, Evan made a face like he was chewing on bugs as he gobbled down popcorn.

Whoosh!

Light from the ceiling lens bounced off smaller lenses and fell on various parts of Monggu’s body.

Monggu’s forehead, chest, and lower abdomen glowed red. Seeing this, the Mage of Refinement salivated.

“Hmm… incredible…”

“Right?”

I felt like carbonation was rising pleasantly from my chest to my head.

“It’s similar to the readings I got when I was examined…”

“Exactly. Your reaction is similar.”

My suspicion was correct.

I examined the mana symbolizing Monggu and then the mana symbolizing the Mage of Refinement. I didn’t recognize it immediately. After all, I had only recently realized the relationship between upper and lower mana.

At first glance, their mana patterns seemed no different from those of ordinary people. But… there was a fundamental difference.

‘Their mana is connected to a completely different place.’

What is the essence of all creation?

Earth humans debated about subatomic particles, superstrings, or information recorded on a two-dimensional surface, but in my world, the answer is clear.

It’s mana. The patterns formed by mana create all existence.

————————

<Baek Jun-woo’s Magic Book>

-Considerations on the Essence of All Creation and the Hierarchy of Mana

At the end of “Definition of the Akashic Record: The Relationship Between Mana, the Essence of Things, and ‘Records’,” I posed this question:

[What is the difference between upper-level and lower-level mana patterns? What is their structure?]

Now I can answer that question.

Patterns made of mana are all connected like a net through the curvature of dimensions.

Patterns defined at the upper floors of the Tower extend downward and outward beyond the Tower.

Though all things in the world seem different, they all originate from a single pattern that exists at the very top of the Tower, and all creation is formed through endless variations and combinations of this pattern.

In other words, the structure of upper and lower levels is like a pyramid with a single apex.

But simultaneously, it is a net. When the mana pattern at the apex changes, all lower mana patterns connected to it change as well, but likewise, if a massive change occurs in the lower patterns, it can conversely transform the upper patterns.

This is because everything above and below is interconnected.

————————

But an exception to my theory had emerged.

The Mage of Refinement, Monggu, and that Evan who seemed to have a vendetta against popcorn shared something in common.

Their connections to the upper-level mana patterns were dead.

Even a speck of dust on a blade of grass is connected to the upper mana and constantly changing, but their connections, while present, were fossilized.

Now I understood why the Mage of Refinement didn’t age. If aging is about being connected to the world and changing with it, then since that connection was dead, time simply bypassed his body.

Wait. Does that mean Evan and Monggu don’t age either?

‘No. That’s not it.’

I narrowed my eyes.

My head felt like it was about to shatter. Trying to trace not just the mana patterns but the upper-level patterns they connected to made my vision split into two, then four, and tremble.

Nevertheless… I managed to see it.

There was another difference.

Monggu and Evan were similar, while the Mage of Refinement was slightly different. Now I saw that it wasn’t just that the connections were dead. There existed… another connection that others didn’t have. It’s just that the Mage of Refinement’s connection was much weaker than Monggu’s or Evan’s.

And the place their mana patterns connected to was…

‘The Coin of Rebellion.’

Evan was connected in the same direction as the coin confiscated from him, and Monggu was connected to the place where the coin he possessed was linked.

And…

I slowly walked over to a disk-shaped relic carved into a donut shape. Various jewels on the black stone looked expensive. This was the relic recovered from the relic site where the Mage of Refinement had his accident.

The Mage of Refinement’s mana pattern was loosely connected to where this disk’s mana pattern extended.

Two coins and one disk.

They shared the common trait that [Simulation-<Browse>] didn’t work on them.

My head was spinning rapidly. The carbonation rising from my chest seemed to pop inspirations throughout my brain.

‘Of course! <Browse> wouldn’t work. These relics are connected to records that aren’t linked to the Akashic Record I use! There were two Akashic Records! A completely new recording system existed! The Mage of Refinement, Monggu, and Evan are like bridges connecting two separate Akashic Records! Though their connections to the original Akashic Record have hardened as if dead.’

My heart pounded like someone was beating it with drumsticks. An unknown world was unfolding before my eyes.

‘What is this? Some kind of alien relic? But that doesn’t seem right…’

-It doesn’t appear to be an alien relic. There are too many traces of old Administrator technology. It’s most accurate to view it as a relic created separately using the legacy of the Administrators after their downfall.

Right. I think so too, cube.

I wrote a new passage in my magic book.

[The Knight Order’s treasure ‘Coin of Rebellion’ and the ‘unidentified disk’ possessed by the Mage of Refinement are presumed to have been created after the fall of the gods. For some reason, those who crafted these relics separated from the existing Akashic Record to create their own record. If we speculate on why they did this, perhaps…]

“Monggu. What was the message you saw when you awakened the ‘Coin of Rebellion’?”

“Uh, what? It said… ‘You can load the final, ultimate weapon stored in the Shadow Library by consuming points.'”

A smile involuntarily formed on my lips.

A recording system created separately from the original Akashic Record.

‘Shadow Library.’

Isn’t that a perfectly fitting name?

And if my guess is correct, the reason ancient people went through such cumbersome efforts wasn’t to eradicate mages.

I turned to Evan and asked.

“You. You said the ‘Coin of Rebellion’ was created to kill mages, right?”

“Yes. Use your brain if you have one. Why else would it be called the ‘Coin of Rebellion’? It represents resistance against the mages who control the world.”

The Magic Emperor’s assessment was right. These Knight Order bastards don’t know anything but make their own interpretations anyway.

“Fine. Then let me ask you this: Will this coin lend power to a mage? Or will it refuse?”

“What?”

Evan frowned.

“Just sit there and watch. And if you have a brain, think about why this is happening.”

I whipped my head around to face Monggu.

“Monggu.”

“Uh, yes?”

“Open the Shadow Library for me.”

The drumbeat in my chest was growing louder.

‘Shadow Library’

The name of another world that had broken away from the Akashic Record, which could be said to be the world itself.