Chapter 258. α (7)
Was the brutal war god who killed the Beta Species so young?
How could someone who was weak and couldn’t fight on the front lines predict this?
But, whatever the case may be.
– Anyway, if you’ve come looking for the creator of Mana Burn, then you’ve got the right place. Nice to meet you. I’m ▒▒.
Life is like that; as long as you reach Seoul, it all works out in the end.
The war hero introduces himself casually.
Of course, there wasn’t any physical contact like a handshake.
Alphauri didn’t feel particularly safe getting close to other mages.
– Speaking of which, so the Academic Hall is reopening? That boring gathering place of the ruling class is already up and running again?
– Yes.
– Back when I entered the treasure vault, the main building was still in ruins.
– It was tough gathering scholars, but fixing the building was a piece of cake.
– Oh?
– We welcome the entry of the Great Hero anytime.
– That sounds intriguing. In the past, even touching a lowly person with a tentacle would have ended up in a bloody mess.
Finally, the main topic comes up.
His reaction to confirming the invitation wasn’t bad.
This green mage might have been a mysterious strong person who seemed like he fell off the core of a star.
Magic.
Even those who built civilizations through such mysterious concepts ultimately attached the term for social animals to their scientific names.
– A hall where countless magic scholars gather to pursue truth.
There are things even incredible geniuses cannot do alone in this world.
– Well, it seems to be a good coincidence.
A fleeting worry crosses his mind.
– I was just thinking it was about time I needed a proper research environment.
The war hero accepts the envoy’s proposal.
During the few months he spent reading the king’s magic book, a rather firm sense of purpose had formed in his mind.
He wanted colleagues to share opinions with.
Moreover, if it was the Academic Hall, he wouldn’t need to struggle just to acquire tools necessary for magic studies.
A little later.
The two Alphauri in front of the treasure vault begin their journey riding the beast sent from the Academic Hall towards the far northern waters.
And the current flows, flows, flows…
*
He finally steps into the Academic Hall.
– Oh, welcome!
Honestly, it felt like the welcome was as meaningless as “let’s see if you can eat a persimmon.” How could the hero of the Great War come so willingly to the organization!
– Ah, you’ve come. Truly, wonderfully well.
The green fellow countryman enters through the main gate.
The hall’s administrator jumps up to greet him.
Wrinkled skin all over.
A gelatinous area tinted with an overall dull hue.
In other words, an elderly fellow from the planet.
This old scholar was an Alphauri, someone who was recognized in the distant past for his accomplishments as a Great Mage.
Naturally, he had done quite well in the Great War, likely earning himself a decent spot in future history.
– Thank you for choosing our Academic Hall. I’ve been waiting for fellow countrymen like you to come. Compared to those armed robbers of the magic tower, we’re, um, clean. After all, we have principles!
– Armed robbers.
– They’re already kidnapping orphans for illegal experiments just how long after the Great War? They may be bigger than our Academic Hall, but those guys are simply not worth associating with.
– Are you referring to those bone experiments? That bone collecting racket was making noise even before I entered the treasure vault, and they’re still causing a ruckus.
No matter what achievements one had in the past, as long as you were a mage, you couldn’t easily dismiss the creator of [Mana Burn].
The head of the Academic Hall, Salpa, soon laughed loudly and tried to flatter him.
He promised lavish conditions for the young man right before him.
Food costs, living costs.
And even rare and expensive samples, if needed, would be provided at any time!
– But you’ll have to present your research every two years at our venue, even if it’s just light magic.
If they could glean even a fragment of the research notes from a genius leading the way, it would be a massive gain for the knowledge-starved academic hall members!
– By the way, we will, of course, provide you with the best spot for your lab in this building.
Fawning.
The administrator lowered his posture as if to be the tentacle scrapper of his fellow countryman.
This attitude would be quite satisfying for the naturally arrogant genius.
– Yeah. Well then, let’s work well together as fellow countrymen.
– Yay~!
A glorious recruitment success.
Now it’s time to prepare the custom experimental tools for that gigantic (reportedly he’s grown quite a bit) deep-sea person.
As the longed-for new member entered the Academic Hall, the head immediately sent out vibrations, calling for the workers nearby.
He ordered them to gather all the skilled craftsmen at once.
.
.
.
Time passed.
Around two weeks later.
As you could tell from his actions on Earth, the blue deep-sea person adapted exceptionally well and had gotten quite familiar with the system of the Academic Hall by this time.
In the past, when he had to rush into researching the Mana Burn spell on the battlefield, the number of aides was severely limited to prevent someone from selling information to the enemy state.
But now, there was no need to be that secretive.
– The age of golems will come.
– The war hero always says that.
– The era where a clay figure improves over a living thing. I can’t imagine that at all.
On the contrary, he had to actively engage.
Having entered the age of peace, the green Alphauri intended to carry out research that suited his own tastes, and that arrogant mage’s interests surprisingly related to improving the lives of citizens.
– The golem creation technique developed by the scholar XXX is really astonishing to see again. It’s innovative!
In fact, golems of this mid-age still weren’t entirely trustworthy.
【Weapon Golem Studies】【Organic Golem Studies】
Even though the classification systems for use in the distant future had been firmly established since the early days.
Even earthlings, with their clear limitations in range of motion, took a long time to create delicate mechanical arms.
How much more so for these Alphauri, who could freely move six tentacles without joints?
– Are golems that great?
Machines are stupid.
That was the common view among mages at the time.
Even if wizards manipulated puppets, they were particularly awkward and clumsy golems. The thought of giving them personalities to create an era of automation sounds tough.
This idea seemed more believable than saying there are highly intelligent mammalian extraterrestrials somewhere in the world.
– Anyway, if you master telekinesis, you can move things with just a gesture. Would it really be efficient?
– Efficiency can be figured out later.
– You can’t trust machines. No matter what, they’re still not as good as a mage doing it directly with tentacles.
But one genius steadfastly maintained his interest.
Golems.
Especially if unmanned golems operated remotely without Alphauri directly intervening, then a dream era would be upon them.
The available labor force in society would explode.
Meaningless and trivial tasks could be delegated to machines, allowing wizards to focus on more interesting subjects.
Moreover, if a crisis like the Great War were to arise again.
If unmanned golem technology had sufficiently advanced, could they not defend the planet without human casualties?
– Regardless, I’ll stake my life on this technology. Whether military or civilian, seeing corpses pile up on the planet is something we’ve all grown tired of.
Someone crossed their tentacles behind their back.
– Moreover, the golem technology genuinely holds endless value.
– Certainly. If it fell into the hands of a talented person like you, it would be something else entirely.
The green deep-sea being let out a spirited sound upon receiving the compliment.
– However, maybe it’s because my family has been researching prophetic magic for generations, but I feel this age of clay figures isn’t likely to come within our generation~
After a brief wait, sounds of cold water were heard casting doubt from the side, but the genius quickly countered.
His tone was relatively gentle.
After all, the beings from this planet who had been swimming down the corridor together were all future colleagues who promised the same grand vision. There was no need to turn red-faced over such trivial matters.
– Truth is, I know too. Plus, since I’m of deep-sea bloodlines, my internal organs can’t keep up with my body, which means my life expectancy is shorter than others.
Eventually, they stop swimming.
– Yet, isn’t that why a genius like you is participating in such a ridiculous plan?
In front of them appeared a massive cave.
Originally an open space, but here, solid sound direction devices had been installed on the ceiling to ensure vibrations spread well.
All around, magic stones emitting a variety of colors were embedded.
The marine beings that emerged from the corridor took their seats as they followed the waves produced by the magic stones.
And as the six zones were filled with their hosts, a skinny scholar who had been waiting in the center initiated the discussion.
– Everyone arrived just in time. For us, time is truly of the essence, after all.
Most gathered here were Great Mages.
And they belonged to the same group.
One person wasn’t yet a Great Mage, but he had gained a seat due to the historical contributions made during the Great War.
– Well… this week, a soldier who participated directly on the front lines has joined as a new collaborator. But I suppose everyone already knows about it. Should we get right to the main point?
– Agreed.
– Let’s do it.
– What was that author’s age again…?
– Silence. Silence.
– Then I’ll start first.
After registering at the Academic Hall.
The green deep-sea person began two major research endeavors.
One was an in-depth exploration of golem magic.
The other was the agenda of this group…
– If we trace our ancestors, we find significant correlations with the phylum Cnidaria. So, I believe that using the newly discovered immortal hydra colony might help us achieve this organization’s goals.
– Have you conducted enough verification?
– That’s what today’s presentation is about. From observations, the floating hydra can theoretically never die of natural causes.
“Pursuing immortality.”
The length of human life is far too short and insufficient to unravel the secrets of the alluring world of magic.
This was the conviction the genius had gained after one year in the treasure vault.
However, just because the situation was like this, he couldn’t recklessly jump into developing time reversal magic.
– “In the distant future, there may well be a mage who can manipulate time, but if we were to embark on such a research journey now, we’d just die of old age faster.”
He changed his way of thinking.
No, actually, everyone in this room had done the same.
If they couldn’t directly influence the massive flow of time in the world, perhaps prolonging their own lifespan was the most feasible endeavor.
The genius made that judgment.
Thus, after the war, he began group research as part of a small circle within the Academic Hall.
Life extension. Maintaining youth.
And some seriously pursued eternal life through the activities of the Immortal Society.
