Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 122 (Part 1)

Rodin didn’t face much difficulty while crafting equipment for Larry.

With his regular schedule involving the illusion classes at Frubal, reading the books of the Magus Empire, studying magic stones, training in magic, and assisting Bianca with her spells, fitting in time was sufficient as long as he used his spare moments effectively.

However, there was one particular challenge that was tricky: determining the time.

There was a concept of delayed activation in magic, where a mage slowed the pace of mana combination, finishing the casting but delaying the actual trigger. The precision of how long this delay lasted depended entirely on the mage’s skill and intuition.

Rodin, of course, could adjust the delay time down to seconds.

But artifacts, once made, could not be interfered with by the mage. An artifact had to inherently understand the concept of time.

Rodin racked his brain inputting the concepts of 1 second, 10 seconds, and 0.5 seconds into a cylindrical artifact. The difficulty lay in understanding how mana perceived time divisions.

He resorted to digging into the literature of the Magus Empire to study related topics but found little of value.

Even during the Magus Empire era, embedding a precise concept of time into an artifact was not achieved.

If a spell with ongoing effects was stored, it continued until the artifact’s mana depleted, or until its wielder deactivated it.

The breakthrough came when he found the chest that held Frubal’s treasure. This chest was enchanted with magic that counted time in yearly increments.

Though it wasn’t accurate down to seconds, it was the only artifact that had a correctly applied concept of time.

Rodin re-examined the chest and finally managed to divide time.

He split one year into 365 days, and then further divided it into 24-hour increments to instill the concept of time into the artifact.

From then on, it was straightforward.

Dividing it again by 60 for minute units and again by 60 for seconds allowed him to establish the minimum unit mana could recognize as 0.5 seconds.

“I’ve learned a lot.”

Despite only being a 10-day-long study, Rodin had gained substantial insight.

He was able to redefine the concept of time, particularly understanding the difference between human perception and mana’s recognition of time.

“I also realized that the future isn’t just time that hasn’t yet arrived.”

Like the past, the future already exists. The future is not different from the past.

It’s just that, not having experienced it yet, we think it hasn’t come.

“I don’t like it.”

The future already existing implied that destiny was predetermined.

“No. Even what’s decided can be changed.”

Rodin didn’t want to believe that the future was set in stone. He hated the idea that fate was inescapable, no matter how hard one struggled.

At least for himself, he believed that through effort, one could overcome destiny.

During a conversation with the wizard Bettner, Rodin came to suspect that the mana stone had been leaked from ancient ruins.

He assessed that it was more likely a relic from an ancient kingdom’s ruins than a result of any current malicious organization’s schemes.

However, those gathered here thought differently.

They did not connect the giant monster crisis to ancient ruins.

Nor did they consider it the result of a conspiracy by any current malevolent group.

The people here knew well that the knowledge to create such an object did not exist in this era.

This prompted the leaders of the four major towers to convene for a discussion.

Of course, due to distance, they couldn’t meet in person. The meeting was conducted via magical communication.

Present at the meeting were also the masters of the two towers nearest to the location of the giant monster, the Sedria Tower and the Comian Tower.

Additionally, the king of the Tebia Kingdom, currently facing direct damage, and the king of the Lennox Kingdom, which had already suffered tremendous losses, as well as the kings of three neighboring nations that could be impacted at any moment, were also in attendance.

“Has it really appeared?”

“It’s only a possibility.”

“But to think of a Demon King, how could such a thing…”

The tower leaders had received reports on the monster crisis about 50 days ago.

The term “giant” alone had prompted the tower masters to scour ancient texts. Records describing the initial appearance of the Demon King revealed an entry about colossal beasts that wreaked havoc on the continent before the Demon King appeared.

These colossal beasts numbered four in total.

“There are records noting the presence of these giant beasts.”

“I’ve never heard of the Demon King being accompanied by giant beasts.”

“The giant beasts appeared before the Demon King’s arrival. There weren’t many, and they were soon subdued. But it’s certain that they were related to the Demon King.”

A hush fell over the magical communication. No one dared to speak prematurely.

“Is there a solution? Any way to deal with this?”

After a long silence, the voice breaking the quiet belonged to the king of the Tebia Kingdom.

The giant beast was rampaging through his territory.

A Demon King? That was a later problem.

For now, he needed a way to expel the giant beast from his land or deal with it as quickly as possible.

“The tower intends to provide assistance…”

All eyes turned to Francis, the master of the Landes Tower.

The Landes Tower, operating in the western part of the central continent, was the closest to the Tebia Kingdom. If they dispatched a group of high-level wizards, they could reach the giant beast within 10 days.

“I’ve already instructed them to prepare. They will set out tomorrow.”

“Ah! Thank you. I will not forget the grace of the Landes Tower. We will repay this debt.”

“Repayment can be discussed after dealing with the giant beast.”

The towers acted as saviors when the world was in disarray. They refrained from intervening in wars between nations or territories but always stepped up when the world was in peril.

But the towers never moved without compensation. Anyone who received their help had to provide something equivalent in return.