After knowing what world he was in, Edward was both disappointed and happy at the same time. Disappointed that this world seemed to be a low-level one, while happy that there was nobody like Truth.
Nevertheless, he did not focus on this too much. The recent experience made him discover a problem. As long as his soul or mind is affected, it becomes very difficult for him to cast spells.
This was a flaw that could be fatal given the right circumstances, Immediately, Edward thought of designing a bio-ship to implant in his brain. In case something goes wrong, he can use it to function or use magic.
Plus, he could use the second brain tactic he used in the Full Metal Alchemist Universe. With a second brain connected to a small pocket dimension, in case something went wrong, it could be used in an emergency.
After making a preliminary solution, Edward was prepared to heal his injuries. In his current state, it will take a few weeks for his soul to return to normal, and his Phoenix Flame will also take some time to regrow his limbs and heal all his injuries.
He looked at Chloe and asked, “Do you have an empty room?”
“I have a guest room available.”
“No, I mean a room that is can be used for storage and so on.”
“...No.”
“What about an open space, It does not have to be big.”
Chloe nodded before leading Edward so a small backyard in her house. Edward looked at it for a moment, then the ground started to move and transform, from the earth a small house was made.
“What kind of spell is that?” asked Chloe.
“Matter Manipulation,” replied Edward; he was not lying. This was the term used to differentiate between transmutation made using magic and the ones accomplished through Gate Alchemy.
As for the reason Edward used matter manipulation instead of transmutation, it was because the former was less taxing on his current self. He walked to the small brick house and cast the Extension Charm on it before entering.
As Chloe followed him, she was surprised to see how vast the space was. “It’s bigger on the inside–just like the TARDIS.”
“Exactly,” replied Edward. As he walked inside, the environment began to change. Two rooms were created, one was empty while the other was essentially a laboratory mostly with equipment to make potions.
Using the earth, Edward was able to transform then into the metals he wanted before shaping it into the required items. Chloe was fascinated by what she saw.
Not to mention she never witnessed such a spell, she had never seen a witch cast spell so fast without any chants or preparations. Meanwhile, Edward walked to the empty room and cast another spell.
A portal appeared inside and many things slowly descended from it. Most of them were potions with other magical herbs. This portal was connected to the pocket dimensions where he stored all his things.
Previously, he could get them out instant using his ring, but now he had to do things the hard way. Edward then looked at Chloe and said, “Come to see me in a week. Then, I will repay your kindness for saving me.”
She nodded her head before leaving the small house, somewhat in a daze. Then, she remembered that this stranger that she brought into her home was missing an and a leg, and yet, he could walk perfectly fine.
After thinking about it for a moment, she realized that he was floating the entire time, with his feet a few centimeters from the ground.
“Flying Spell?” By now, she was little immune to the shock, so she sighed and left. She still had to open her bar and make money to support herself.
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Meanwhile, inside, Edward used potions and herbs to heal his injuries. The scars on his body could be considered Space Slashes. If it was not because of his powerful body and the protection of his aura, he would have been split into countless pieces.
All of this was because his spell went wrong.
Previously, Edward used his Gate to travel to parallel dimensions. However, the way the gate functioned was to use space-time energy to make a hole in the very fabric of reality to jump into another, to travel from one time and space to another.
After so many years of studying, the best theory he can come up with to explain the situation was that time was like a river with countless branches. Each branch led to another space-time, reality, or dimension.
As such, when he tried to travel to a parallel universe on his own, he always failed because his understanding and control of space-time energy were insufficient to jump from one branch to another.
However, after studying the technology of the Novad, he discovered an alternative way. First travel to the Blank Realm, then lock on parallel dimensions through the frequency that they emanated before opening a breach there.
Unfortunately, he underestimated how dangerous the Blank Realm was. When he was opening the breach to Earth-234, the spell he cast went out of control because of turbulence in the realm.
A powerful spatial-temporal vortex hit almost killing. Luckily, he acted in time to separate and block the temporal energy of the vortex, while protecting himself from the spatial one.
As such, his body was cut off instead of aging into an old man, reverting to a small sperm, or being erased by time.
Before this, he made countless simulations with Morgana and used clones to test out, unfortunately, the knowledge or data he gathered about the Blank Realm was proven insufficient, resulting in his spell going wrong.
Of course, Edward was not worried about his safety. If something truly went wrong, the Floating City would activate to save him.
Despite this experience, Edward was very happy as he learned plenty of things; he recorded a lot of data in the vortex so that his understanding of space-time energy will benefit greatly. Sometimes, personally gathering data or experiencing some things is more efficient than doing it remotely or through tools.
So, he was confident that the next time he casts this spell, it should work.
After mulling over his situation for a moment, Edward began to refine potions to remove spatial energy on his body, regrow his limb and soothe his soul. The entire process took three days.
After that, he returned to his occupation as a thief, stealing knowledge from witches and warlocks of this world. At some point, Edward realized that he might have developed a bad habit of stealing books.
Well, it is normal for a powerful person who essentially has everything he wants to develop some weird habits. Anyway, all geniuses were weird.
Four days later, he left the small house where he saw Chloe waiting for him. With a smile, he invited her in. She was surprised to find that the house was even larger than before with even more rooms.
“This spell can singlehandedly solve the world’s housing crisis and even alleviate the overpopulation problem,” commented Chloe.
“I know.” In the Empire, the Extension Charm is not used this way. That’s because there is no issue with housing or overpopulation. Truth be told, there is a lack of population.
Technology has developed too fast for the overall population to keep up. This is the reason that although the solar system is part of the Empire, most of the planets have only a few cities leaving most of them to be underdeveloped.
This is the reason that Edward wanted to take Earth-125’s population, and if possible, a few others as well.
Chloe was soon brought into a large room that was divided into two. One side was a library full of books, while on the other was a room full of gold, jewels, and diamonds.
“To repay your kindness, I will give you two options,” said Edward calmly. “Option one is wealth. If you choose it, you can have all of this gold and more. I can even process them for you into cash, a swiss bank account, or stocks in all the top companies in this world. With this choice, you will instantly become the richest person on this planet.
“Option 2 is knowledge; things you could never fathom in your existence. If you choose option 2, you will become the most powerful witch that ever existed, even more, powerful than the Witch Queen.
“So, make a choice.”
Chloe was shocked by the two options, however, she quickly shook her head, “I do not want either of these. I want you.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not for sale,” said Edward with a smile.
“No, no, what I mean is that I want you to teach me.”
She was a smart person and guessed that this person might be one of the strongest warlocks ever in existence. As such, having him as a teacher was far more rewarding than anything else.
Edward smiled and nodded. If she chose the second option, he would still teach her. As a Dreamwalker, Chloe had a very special talent and she would be of great value to him and the Empire once she becomes a powerful Arcanist.
Of course, if she chose the first option, he would not place so much emphasis on her. A person who can choose wealth over knowledge would never go far in the magical path.
This was just a little test.
“Alright. We will begin immediately.”
"Wait, what would have happened if I chose the first one?"
"Then, you would have a very wealthy witch."
Chloe was a little surprised after hearing this; she thought that it was some test of character and if she chose wealth over knowledge, she would have gotten nothing. Nevertheless, she did not regret her choice.
Some things were more important than money.