Limit Breaking Genius Mage Chapter 502

Episode 502 From the Past (3)

“Phew.”

Berden, who had raised his concentration to its peak in an instant with just one or two breaths, turned over the hourglass on his left palm.

A falling pitch-black waterfall.

This time, the black sand grains fell much more slowly than when they had started in Chilstead, thanks to the natural magic being fully charged and the opening time being greatly extended.

The magical lights floating in the air gather together to form a deep blue octahedron.

He immediately shook his right hand.

Since I already had experience handling [Eternal Hourglass], I had no problem manipulating the Black Hour artifact in front of me.

'First, check from the very bottom.'

There are numerous research records mixed in this hourglass, so you should not rush and proceed step by step.

Searching for traces of Dahit by randomly checking locations here and there only serves to complicate the situation.

'I have to organize it someday anyway.'

The more urgent it is, the more you should go back.

At least here, that would be a rather efficient course of action.

Phew.

[1st level──1st level]

Berden, enlarged from the base of the regular octahedron, increased the visual acuity.

The shape of a square, the smallest unit of geometry, became clear, and a book made of magic appeared.

We quickly turned the page and began the full-scale verification and classification process.

For a magician, research is not simply the process and conclusion of an experiment.

It can be said that it is the culmination of inquiry, originating from the subject's thoughts and ideas… … in other words, it is the culmination of inquiry.

They are a group of wizards who can write papers that are hundreds or even thousands of pages long, even though the content is only two pages long.

Naturally, this tendency is particularly strong in Black Hour, where magicians who are particularly obsessed with magical research gather.

Before and after the usurpation of Dahit, the amount of information Black Hour has accumulated by examining all sorts of topics is truly enormous.

Just looking through all this material would be daunting, if not terrifying, for even the most motivated wizard.

'It's not easy for me either… … .'

But I have never thought about putting it off forever.

Whoa whoa.

I irregularly manipulated the [Eternal Hourglass] and read through a book that contained research records from different fields.

A busy, moving wall.

There is no need to understand it deeply right away. After all, what is important is Dahit's footsteps. It is enough to just skim through the rest and remember the locations.

[1st level──2nd level]

[1st level──3rd level]

.

.

.

[1st level──31st level]

[1st level──32nd level]

.

.

.

[1st level──67 steps]

.

.

.

Before I knew it, the darkness outside, which had been daytime and embraced the moonlight, slowly began to creep in, and then the autumn sunlight poured down again, making it sunny again.

It's been a while since I've been up.

Be that as it may, Verden remained fixed in his spot, his eyes fixed intently on the task at hand, without moving an inch.

It was a little over a day and a half later.

Verden paused.

'Is this… … part of the records related to the production of [The Compass of the Black Hour]?'

Every wizard has his or her own unique magical power. Of course, that uniqueness itself does not mean that he or she is special, like an ancient bloodline or a special trait.

Although they may look similar on the outside, their magical structures are different───This magical power basically has the property of wanting to return to its owner.

And [Black Hour Compass] is an artificial artifact for tracking that uses that principle.

'The author… I see. I was wondering who made it, but it was designed by Dahit himself.'

Although the compass that Verden had was unfinished and its range was quite limited, I couldn't help but acknowledge its usefulness.

Well, it served as a stepping stone in tracing the glory of Gluttony and the Corpse.

Indeed, as Melad said, Dahit Wesroel seems to have surpassed her as an authority on magical research before becoming a transcendent being.

'It's not that important and there aren't many pages, but it's not bad. This is the first time I've found traces of Dahit.'

It feels like finding a puzzle piece.

Verden remembered clearly the location of the research records of [The Compass of the Black Hour] and moved on to another book of the same level.

It's repetitive but not boring.

Because the fields were so diverse, and most of the research was at a level that could stimulate Verden's interest even a little.

"……hmm?"

Then, by chance, I found traces of Dahit again. In terms of number of times, it was the third time, including the time of his convalescence in Chilstead.

Unlike the compass, it is not closely related to magic.

It was a theory that was close to a kind of personal opinion.

<For example, humans have a self. There is a subject called 'I' that thinks, feels, and interacts with external elements. However, paradoxically, the fact that 'I' actually exists in this world is something that we can never prove ourselves. Only 'memory' and the perspective of others define and define the self.>

<If I scream at the top of my lungs that I am here, and no one knows I am here, then I am not here.>

<Conversely, if I don't know where I am, but someone knows I am here, then I am here.>

<A living thing is a collection of memories. If you don't remember, you can't say you're alive, and if you don't remember, you can't say you exist. The countless concepts that exist in the world have also continued and existed because of memories.>

<Memory is all meaning and life.>

<Even if you reign as an absolute being with the entire continent at your feet, if you are not remembered by others, it is worse than the miserable life of a beggar. That is my 'theory of memory'.>

Dahit's personal thoughts written as if he were giving a monologue.

'There's nothing particularly surprising.'

That's true.

───The self is originally defined from the perspective of another entity. There is no meaning to an existence that is not remembered by anyone and is not seen by anyone.

Because Dahit himself said so when we met in the main hall.

An obsession with memory.

That must be the madness of the transcendent Dahith Wesroel.

'The next chapter… is there none?'

There are also scattered reflections on the theory of memory that Dahit mentioned. It is annoying, but I guess it can't be helped.

Verden continued his work.

There is still no sign of the information I am truly looking for.

Well, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, so it would be greedy to expect any significant results in just a few days.

The second hand moves without rest.

Time, flowing like water, consumed most of the magical power contained in the [Eternal Hourglass] and even exhausted Verden.

I've been focusing on this for nearly four days now, so even a transcendent being's concentration is starting to dull.

I took a deep breath and checked how many grains of sand had fallen in the hourglass.

The artifact will be closed soon.

Since there was nothing urgent anyway, I forced myself to accelerate and increase speed at the last minute.

It was at that time.

<I got my hands on the corpse of an ancient being encased in ice that was on display in the black market for display purposes and brought it to the Great Hall to examine it closely. As I had inferred, this was no ordinary human being.>

“……!”

One of the pages that make up the book [2nd level──13th level].

The first sentence seemed rather abrupt, as if it had been taken from the middle of some research note and pasted in.

'That's right.'

This is a fragment of the research recorded by Dahit, who had been searching for it so desperately, and a record related to <Are Magic Circuits Natural?>

There is no time to deeply understand each and every sentence.

First of all, remember.

Verden's gaze moved left and right, then fell vertically, taking in all the densely packed magical writings.

From beginning to end.

<I took possession of the ancient man in ice that was on display in the black market as an ornamental object and brought it to the Great Hall to examine it closely. As I had inferred, this corpse was not that of an ordinary human being.>

<Wizard. Since the magical circuits that should be there are absent, no one in the Black Market or the Black Hour has considered him to be a wizard, but I can assure you. My intuition tells me that this ancient being is a wizard.>

<We don't know exactly what era the ancient people lived in, but what we do know for sure is that it was at least 400 or 500 years ago.>

<A modern wizard with magic circuits and an ancient wizard without magic circuits. What is the difference that makes them so different? Maybe it is part of an ancient bloodline or a special trait. I decided to dig into the history without damaging this corpse too much.>

After that, a neatly arranged list of experiments planned to be performed on the ancient wizard in the ice in the future was presented.

The content is more than halfway done.

Fortunately, it doesn't end there, and you can find the conclusions for some of the experiments right below.

Most of them were short, ending with just one or two sentences, with no significant results, but one of them was different.

<The body of this ancient wizard in the ice is strangely susceptible to magical power. My magical power, the magical power of an ordinary wizard, and the magical power of nature all have similar phenomena, although the degree of each is different.>

<It can't be said that it's only because the corpse has no resistance to magic. When comparing it with other corpses with magic circuits, it's clear that the magic stayed longer in the body of the ancient wizard in the ice. There must be some kind of cause and effect.>

<I suddenly thought.>

<How on earth did this wizard use magic? Hierarchical magic is the result of the wizard’s magical circuits and calculations combined. Of course, he could simply be a half-assed wizard who has a disability and cannot cast proper magic. But if that’s not the case… … .>

<It is possible that the first Magic Tower was a being that worked as a magician before the system of hierarchical magic was established over a thousand years ago.>

The ending of the record, filled with conjecture, ended in questions.

<I made an extreme assumption. If this ancient person was an ordinary wizard before the first magic tower was created, what happened that caused all humans to have magic circuits?>

<What was cut off in the middle?>

That was the extent of the records that Verden had discovered. He quickly turned the pages, but unexpectedly, other research took up the space.

[Eternal Hourglass] stops operating immediately after the charged magic power runs out.

The shape of a regular octahedron filled with research records blurred and disappeared from sight.

A silence fell.

Verden folded his arms, holding the hourglass, and looked down at the floor, replaying his recent memories.

The ancient wizard in the ice that was displayed in the black market… … The black market here is not a special place worth noting.

In fact, aren't all unofficial markets black markets? The auction house in the underworld, Loafra, was also a form of black market.

Anyway, the important part is self-evident.

“The magic circuit is not natural…….”

Of course, the records of Dahit that we have seen so far are insufficient evidence. It is an excessive speculation bordering on delusion.

But we can't ignore it.

Because Dahit was certain of something from the ancient wizard in the ice.

───But it looks like you figured out that the wizard had no magic circuits, but you didn't realize the true value of that corpse.

───… … True value?

───What you find from the corpse of that ancient wizard will change the world of magic. By me. Yes, the world from now on will be based on me. No one will forget me.

Verden muttered, recalling the conversation in the Great Hall again.

“Dahit Wesroel, what is your purpose?”

Of course, this question was never conveyed to the other person.

There are two ways to move forward from here.

All you have to do is search through the [Eternal Hourglass] and piece together the tiny pieces one by one… or reunite with Dahit and ask him directly.

What is closer in terms of timing?

* * *

The Silver Citadel of Society.

Melad is looking through a dozen letters, lost in his memories.

Six of them are for friends I couldn't reach.

Is it selfish to interfere with their new lives, or is it selfish to re-take Black Hour while ignoring their choices?

'I don't know.'

But the choice has already been made.

“Did you call?”

“What is it, Master?”

Melad brought in his direct disciples Ethan and Rebecca───the two people who had first introduced him to the Society by contacting Verden in the Midloth Dominion.

Then he carefully handed over the precious letters with the exact address written on them.

“Please do this.”

Melad Tastyen, the first member of Black Hour, calls upon the past.