Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 95 (Part 1)

The statue known as the guardian of the Kingdom of Bolas was, in fact, completely unrelated to mythical beasts or spirits. Naturally, no such beings were sealed within it.

Some claimed to have deciphered the secret of the statue and controlled mythical beasts or spirits, but these individuals had always been Familiar summoners or Spirit Summoners. They certainly hadn’t obtained any magical creatures from the statue.

This fact was even confirmed From the lesson he took from the watch.

Although the lessons hadn’t progressed to the stage of teaching magic in detail, it had mentioned the types of magic that existed.

“Didn’t they say that spatial magic is at the 8th circle?”

Spatial magic, as presented in the Frouval’s lesson, was a high-level magic that no one currently could use. In the past 1,000 years, there hadn’t even been a single 8th-circle mage, and even before then, such mages were exceedingly rare.

However, the 8th-circle spatial magic could not store living beings. This meant that both mythical beasts and spirits could not be placed within such a space.

So, could the Kingdom of Bolas have crafted storage-type artifacts that surpassed the capabilities of 8th-circle spatial magic?

Not just one or two, but a staggering twelve?

It was hard to believe. It was something that would only be possible for the ancient magical empires that once ruled the entire continent or a place from where the Frouval emerged.

“Of course not. This is a map, after all.”

This information came from a damaged book.

At that time, the Kingdom of Bolas was already on the brink of destruction. Eleven neighboring countries were eyeing it, and after prolonged warfare, Bolas had almost no remaining military forces.

They had even resorted to such extreme conscription that it sparked a peasant uprising. Enemies both within and outside left the kingdom with no strength to endure any further.

Thus, the Kingdom of Bolas split its treasures into twelve parts, buried them, and encoded their locations into the statues.

“They wouldn’t be nearby anyway.”

The Kingdom of Bolas had been a nation in the central continent, but it was far to the east of the current Kingdom of Lennox. It bordered the Icos River, which divided the eastern and central continents, and even on horseback, it would take two to three months to reach it from here.

“Even if they hid the treasures, they likely buried them within their original territory. Let’s see.”

He infused magic into the horse-shaped statue and carefully manipulated it, reading the magic circle inscribed within.

“Huh? This… black magic?”

If the Kingdom of Bolas had relied on black magic as its main power, it made sense why it was attacked by multiple nations and ultimately destroyed. At that time, the hatred toward black magic would have caused people to view Bolas as ‘evil.’

Nowadays, black mages weren’t attacked indiscriminately.

It wasn’t that the image of black magic had improved. People still loathed it, but since black mages were so few, they were tolerated, albeit grudgingly.

‘Just don’t come near me,’ was the general attitude.

“This seems like black magic, alright.”

Rodin had never directly experienced black magic before. He had only read various accounts in books.

However, the eerie combination of runes that composed the magic circle and the bizarre patterns matched the descriptions of black magic.

“This… doesn’t seem like a map, does it?”

The ominous feeling from the statue was too strong to be dismissed, even if he trusted the books he’d read in the Advanced Library Room 3. It was possible that the Kingdom of Bolas, sensing its own downfall, had tampered with the statue.

“Let’s take a closer look.”

He isolated each rune inscribed on the magic circle and pondered their meanings. There were quite a few unfamiliar runes, but he was able to piece together their meanings using context.

“It contains the meanings of having a soul, transferring, and storing. It suggests containing a soul and transferring it into a vessel.”

He roughly understood the runes in the magic circle. As he deciphered the content, a chill ran down his spine.

“Did they really intend to achieve resurrection? That’s impossible.”

Theoretically, it was possible. White magic also had spells that acted upon souls, so black magic would likely have an even wider range of soul-related magic.

The problem was finding a compatible vessel. Even if a soul entered an incompatible body, both the body and soul would disintegrate.

“How could they predict when a compatible body would appear? Besides, an old soul can’t even be contained in a vessel.”

Souls, too, experience aging, and when a soul is old, the body it inhabits must also be old for compatibility.

In other words, transferring a soul right before death would only allow it to enter a body that was either dying or already dead.

“Should I summon it?”

As he analyzed the magic circle, he discovered a way to call forth the sealed soul within. Surprisingly, the method was simple enough that anyone with the knowledge could do it, not just Rodin.

“I’m not confident I can handle it. Better not.”

He gave up on summoning the soul. Instead, he became more interested in the runes used in the artifact’s magic circle.

“Expansion… interesting. So, that’s how it’s used.”

It seemed that the magic circle inside the statue had been designed with the concept of spatial expansion, perhaps to ensure a comfortable seal for the soul.

The extent of the internal expansion could only be known by becoming a soul and experiencing the seal firsthand, but the key point was that the space had been expanded.

“I might be able to create a spatial expansion artifact with this.”

It was a different concept from a spatial pocket. A spatial pocket created an entirely separate space for storage, while this magic circle expanded an existing space.

It would be extremely useful if applied to places like warehouses or wagons, and it could even be engraved onto small objects like bags.

“The weight can be managed with a lightweight enchantment, so this might be quite useful.”

This method of using runes was unfamiliar to Rodin. It seemed to be a technique specific to black magic.

But whether it was black magic or white magic, Rodin saw no reason not to use it when necessary. Though he was classified as a white mage, he didn’t have a narrow-minded view that limited him to white magic only.

“I’ve learned something valuable. Hmm, if that’s the case, I don’t need this statue anymore.”

He had already memorized the entire magic circle within the statue. There was no need to keep such an unpleasant object around.

* * *

Hyung_Otaku2

•