“I told you that artifacts need to be over a thousand years old, didn’t I?” Lucy said with slight glee at their reactions. “Using a pocket dimension is cheating, in a way, but essentially the ‘Collective Conceptual Ideology’ of the spiritual realm needs to change enough for these artifacts to become more than just ordinary magic items. Their magic needs to become ‘unusable’. And… do you want even more proof?”
Sedric and Raegan hesitated but Annaliese nodded quickly. “I don’t get all of this, but you’re saying magic can change based on how we think?” She crossed her arms and frowned. “If so, I want as much proof as possible.”
“Alright then.” Lucy crossed one leg over the other. “The living proof we have is an Archmagus or the Archmagi. Archmages who have lived in excess of twenty thousand years and who can no longer pass on their magical knowledge because for some ‘unknown’ reason… nobody can use magic like them anymore.”
“That would be because… their understanding of magic is different?” Raegan hesitantly replied.
“Exactly.” Lucille nodded. “But magic doesn’t just randomly become unusable for those who were alive at the time of magic functioning differently. They can still access that layer of information in the spiritual realm. They just can’t share that knowledge. And not all their knowledge is irrelevant for today’s society.”
Lucy shrugged. “The change in how magic works is a gradual shift. It takes a full thousand years for a weak artifact to develop, let alone one capable of using true ancient magic. Most Archmagi have several unique spells that will die with them if they are killed, but beyond that, they can use any modern magic as well.”
“How do you know all this, Lucy?” Annaliese asked with confusion. “Nobody has mentioned anything like this to me. Is this taught to mages and nobody else knows?”
Lucille shook her head. “The Athenaeum Archmagi keep this quiet. If it became widely known that magic can change, I expect many noble mage clans would launch a campaign to strictly control the development of society and limit the creation of new inventions, creating some… dystopian empire or similar.” She frowned slightly at the idea. “No, they don’t know, but the oldest Archwizards and Archmagi know. And they’re not against it. Magic has improved from what it used to be.”
She hummed as she placed a hand on her chin. “At the very least, Saufren Lestial, the father of modern magecraft, runecraft, and magic, must’ve been aware of ‘Collective Conceptual Ideology’ to some extent, because he managed to spread the use of three-dimensional runes across the Mystical Realm and form an entirely new pathway of creating runic constructs.” Lucy smiled at them. “It became a form of magic that was far easier and safer to learn than wizardry and could quickly enable the first nations at the dawn of this era to fight against monsters.”
“…and where did you learn all this?” Jasten Albrecht asked solemnly.
Lucy placed a finger on her lips. “That’s a secret. But considering the evidence I provided… don’t you think it all makes sense?”
Slight groans came from the three people on the couch as they tried to consider it. Lucy wryly shook her head and stood up. “Anyway, it seems to be time for dinner. I suggest you ponder over my words at a later date, or at least regain energy before thinking on it any further.”
She shut the door of the living room behind her and whistled with her hands behind her back, feeling amused at the reactions she had received while explaining the sum of her research over the centuries. Her pace slowed slightly as a thought came to her.
It’s a good thing I haven’t even brought up Primal Beasts and Primarchs yet… imagine discovering that your myths can bring forth terrifying creatures through ‘Conceptual Coalescence’ too… oh well. I’m sure one of them will ask about Primarchs eventually, considering what the Citadel houses in Pedestal.
And if they live long enough they’ll see them in person too.
…
They didn’t return to the topic of magic for their later conversations. It seemed Sedric, Raegan and Annaliese had their hands full just trying to accept what she had told them. One question she did receive from Jasten Albrecht was whether she used her ‘monster magic’ often. She informed him that she didn’t and wouldn’t be using it very frequently in the future at all.
Her capabilities had clearly perplexed him which made him ask her that question, but all she had told him was that her ‘monster magic’ was only a surface-level application of her knowledge of the relationship between the spiritual realm and mana, which was true. She stopped using her illusory constructs not because they weren’t powerful, but because at the time they weren’t needed any more.
The fact her illusory constructs worked only proved to herself that the line in her original Origin Skill of ‘The borders between imaginary and real are blurred’ meant what she thought it did. Due to her responsibilities in the Navy and complications with the Hero, however, she didn’t gain the ability to pursue her theories until much later.
It was only then that the applications of her knowledge grew… larger in scale. But none of that information applied to her in the present.
Her guests and her bond were occupied for the rest of the evening and for most of the later week, so she had been free to meet up with Vincent and discuss her intention to let the dark wizards build a branch of their Dark Tower in New Syna City. They had also spent some time discussing the external debut that was to be held in late June.
Vincent seemed to be panicking at the idea somewhat. Potentially, the concept of having to navigate the political minefield of who to invite and who not to, while also avoiding offending anyone by inviting their enemies gave him a certain amount of stress. Lucille didn’t think he needed to care because she was going to arrange all the invitations.
Lucy thought it might do him some good to get out of the Aurelian Commission’s Headquarters for a change, but the first issue was getting him to actually leave the building. Technically it was his workplace and where he was being employed, but as someone she considered a friend she didn’t want him to think she was pushing off her work onto him just so she could spend time with the others instead.
Luckily, she knew what kind of bait would be interesting enough to make him leave the Headquarters. Time travelling bait.
A large part of her plan was because she knew Vincent wouldn’t let her out of his sight if he knew she was going somewhere unrelated to the Commission, but she could hide that under the guise of giving him a break.
Sedric won’t want to go because he’ll want to catch up on all the crafting he missed, but… would Hargrave be interested?
She placed her hands behind her head as she laid down on her couch, the living room silent and empty for a change. Sometimes she wasn’t quite sure what to do with the ex-mercenary. She didn’t want to risk upsetting him in any way, and neither did she want to give Hargrave even the slightest hint as to why she wanted the contract with him in case he became curious about the Hero.
But Lucy also recognised that the man staying at the Commission’s Headquarters was… very different from the one she had met in the past. It was clear that the current Hargrave had never had much normal interaction with others, while the one she had met… well, he hadn’t had normal interaction with others either. The only similarity was that she hadn’t been killed yet in this timeline or the other because of the oath he had made to not kill anyone else on his quest for vengeance – as long as they didn’t attack him first.
That oath was why he had been uncomfortable when they met the adventurers in the Dungeon, and was the main reason she hadn’t asked him to fight them.
Lucy sighed and took off her mask, then closed her eyes. She couldn’t be bothered to relocate to her bedroom and she still had much to think about regarding the ‘outing’ she planned for her, Scytale and Vincent to go on. She’d ask Hargrave if he wanted to come, if only because he wasn’t the type to pry about her sources of information if it didn’t involve him.
Hargrave could be considered one of the easiest individuals for her to interact with if it weren’t for the fact that he planned a very violent, bloody murder of the General of Blazing Iron. But that was none of her business.
The sudden awakening of several individuals in her perception field and their suspicious movements made her frown slightly and open her eyes. Lucille slipped the half-mask back on and sat up, then turned to stare at the door of her room. She slowly narrowed her eyes.
Now where do those three think they’re going at this time of night?
…
“Scytale, are you going to tell us where-”
“Shh!” he hissed. He gestured to the two people behind him and peered through the glass door, looking into a room filled with flourishing magical plants. Annaliese and Raegan looked around cautiously.
“I think he’s asleep, but I can’t be sure,” Scytale whispered, slowly pushing the door open. “Try not to step on any sticks or dried leaves. I just discovered this biome recently but it’s not too far away, so we should be able to make this trip quick.”
“But where are we going?” Annaliese asked quietly. “You told us it was cool, but…” She was in her white nightrobe and holding a pillow.
Surprisingly, Raegan was holding one too. He followed beside her while rubbing his eyes tiredly. Raegan opened his mouth to yawn. “This better be worth staying up past twelve.”
“Oh, it’s worth it. Maybe worth enough for your Paladin guard to accept us sneaking about.” Scytale hesitated. “Well… okay, probably not. He’s too stuck up. But hey, you’ll probably think it’s worth the punishment!”
Annaliese hugged herself in the slightly cool night air while Raegan shuddered. “Don’t remind us of Sir Albrecht’s future punishment otherwise we’ll run away and hide ourselves in our rooms before he finds out.”
“Too late.” Scytale pointed out the window of the glass biome so they could see an armoured man walking past the rose bushes of the gardens. He was making a beeline straight for the Pavilion, which was where they were. “Better enjoy the experience while you’re here.”
With slightly wide eyes from staring at the Paladin, the two siblings nodded nervously and awkwardly followed after Scytale.
“Alright…” the humanoid snake began, narrowing his slitted gold eyes at the new door in front of them. Annaliese and Raegan tried to peer through the glass, but this time the glass was tinted too dark for them to see inside.
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The amphiptere walked forward to place a hand on the door. “I haven’t been inside yet, but I know what’s in here, and you’re going to be amazed for sure. The only issue is making sure Ashale’viaf doesn’t find us but I’m sure it’ll be-”
Scytale stiffened up when he detected the scent of roses and hastily yanked the door open. “Get in! Quick! Or else all of this will be for nothing!”
“O-Okay…” Annaliese ran inside and Raegan went in too. But he turned around to see what Scytale was doing.
“Ashale’viaf…” the snake hissed through clenched teeth.
Standing a few metres away from them was a scowling man with white hair that faded to pink, and bright pink eyes. His white robes trimmed with gold were still present but curled around his limbs and sprouting from the ground around him were vibrant green vines covered in blossoming large roses of either luxurious pink… or deep scarlet. Smaller vines climbed into his hair and his skin turned partially translucent to reveal the patterns of flowering vines underneath.
“So even in the night I’m not protected from your foul misadventures,” the spirit replied darkly.
“Hey, who said I came here because of you!” Scytale complained, as if he was disgusted at the idea of him thinking of the spirit for one second. Then he coughed and raised his hands to get into his best ‘martial arts pose’. “I- uh, I mean, you sully my reputation with your twisted lies, demon! I come here for the clean and pure purpose of admiring the scenery and artistic placement of your exotic flora!”
Ashale’viaf sighed and raised his hands. “I’ll just get this over and done with and drag all of you out. I’ve known you for long enough that I’m aware it’s a waste of time trying to argue. Stay still and you won’t touch the thorns-”
“Don’t!” Scytale shouted.
The plant spirit frowned and the strange urgency in the snake’s voice. “What?”
“W-Well, I…” Scytale scratched his neck and shrugged sheepishly. “Look, I’ve already been told multiple times by Lucy not to eat any natural treasures and even I wouldn’t risk it so soon after becoming an advanced beast. I… just wanted to show Annaliese and Raegan the illusion biome,” he finished awkwardly.
Ashale’viaf raised his eyes to the ajar door behind Scytale, which Raegan was peering out of. “It’s risky for humans to be close to powerful magical treasures without protection.”
“Of course I know that, but illusion plants aren’t an issue,” the snake argued. “They only have effects like creating, well, illusions, and sending someone asleep to dream. Compared to fire or light plants, these are harmless.” Scytale pointed out the window of the Pavilion. “My bond and Sir Albrecht will be coming to get us soon, anyway. We won’t cause any trouble.”
Ashale’viaf considered it with a frown, but eventually let out a sigh of resignation and turned around. “Don’t touch anything.”
He disappeared as he walked away, leaving Scytale to release his own sigh of relief and turn to the door. “Right then. Raegan, move aside please so I can get in too.”
The dark-eyed boy did so and Scytale walked into the new biome. He shut the door behind him and let out an admiring whistle as he scanned the large glass-roofed room. “Just as awesome as I thought it would be. This nearly feels like home.”
Filing the entire night-time biome room were powerful illusion magical plants of all kinds. Their leaves, flowers and fruits released neon hues of indigo, violet, blue and green. In the centre of the room was a large willow tree with trailing branches that glittered with blue and violet. The bark shimmered and swirled as the glowing sap of the plant shone through its wood.
An artificial creek of water with fluorescent water plants of several kinds, such as water lilies, flowed near the large roots of the tree and past the waist-high dark grass that glowed cyan when touched by wind or movement. Annaliese was staring up at the willow tree with a look of wonder on her face.
“It’s so pretty,” she murmured.
Scytale smirked and walked closer. “Yep. Illusion plants only release light in the dark, so the night is the best time to see what they look like. Some say they like light-element plants more when it comes to the beauty of their light-emitting properties, but…” He smiled as he sat down on the ground in the tall grass. “I love the variance in illusion plants’ colours more.”
Annaliese sat down next to him with the pillow on her lap, and then Raegan followed suit on the other side of Scytale. He looked at the snake. “You said this reminds you of your home.”
“Yeah, my enclave in the Beast Realm.” Scytale put his hands down and lay down in the grass, gazing up at the stars seen through the glass above the willow tree. “The Truth-Seizing Serpents live in a region filled with illusion plants, and nearly all the beasts there have illusion affinities. I’m probably a special case with how I like illusion plants so much, though. I didn’t get to see the jungle outside the enclave until I escaped, and then…”
“You ended up in danger and Lucy took you back to your family, didn’t she?” Annaliese supplied.
Scytale nodded. “After that, I… didn’t try to leave the enclave again. Not until I had become an adva-” He hesitated as a thought struck him about the possible observation of Ashale’viaf and their resident Paladin, and he shook his head. “Uh, well, I won’t say anything else but that’s the gist of it.”
Raegan brow furrowed slightly. “Feels a bit weird that you were so eager to get out and then just… stopped being eager all of a sudden.”
“…it has to do with Lucy, but… it’s complicated.”
The conversation lapsed into silence for a while as they enjoyed the scene. Then Annaliese turned her head to face the humanoid snake between her and her brother. “Scytale, can you tell me more about your home and the Beast Realm? I haven’t heard much about the other realms and… because I don’t need to do stages, I doubt I’ll get to visit them…”
Scytale grinned. “Sure. Let me describe the amazing Supreme Enclave of the Truth-Seizing Serpents, the most powerful beasts in the Violet Luminosity Jungle region…”
…
“Those brats…” a surly Paladin muttered as he marched up to the Pavilion. He paused when he saw the figure of Lucille looking up at the rooftop gardens with her hands in her pockets. “You’re here too?”
“Of course. I had to ensure my bond wouldn’t commit arson or some more destructive crime,” she replied sarcastically. “This must’ve been what they began to plan after your Prophetess finally stopped nagging me to show her magic.”
“…she’s very curious about abilities,” Jasten Albrecht said thoughtfully. “It might have something to do with her own sealed abilities and incapability to gain others.”
Lucy gave him a side-eye. “I understand if you wish to refrain from discussing this with me, but would you be willing to tell me of her progress in the matter of her restricted abilities?”
“That?” Sir Albrecht frowned as he crossed his arms but slowly nodded. “It’s nothing special in her case. Every Prophetess only has access to half their main skills until they complete the trial. With her current progress… I estimate she’ll be ready in another eighteen months.”
She hummed. “Is that quick?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”
“I think you’ll find that I am still innately a member of the races, Sir Albrecht,” Lucille remarked wryly. “I don’t know everything.”
He gave her a slight chuckle. “It’s very quick. Probably because the Great Sage has to prepare for the Millennium Chapter and he believes her… personality enables her to fulfil the role of Prophetess easier than those of the previous years.”
“In this context, I presume role means ‘figurehead’,” Lucille noted dryly. He stayed silent and she returned her gaze to the rooftop gardens. “He may come to regret that assumption.”
Lucy eventually shook her head and gestured to the man beside her. “Well, I suggest we enter if you wish to get your wards back to the main building by a reasonable time. I think they’d be… appreciative if you didn’t interrupt them so quickly, however.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked with a frown.
She smirked and just walked in, leaving the Paladin to let out a frustrated sigh and follow her. She led him to the tinted glass biome that housed the illusion element plants and opened the door.
Jasten Albrecht paused when he saw the mesmerising scenery inside, but didn’t let that prevent him from immediately identifying the location of his two wayward wards. He marched over, the sound of his golden armour revealing his presence instantly.
The three teenagers glanced his way and quickly sat up. Scytale stuck his tongue out when he made eye contact with Lucy, making her roll her eyes, while Annaliese stood awkwardly, holding her pillow.
Raegan looked to the side and pretended to ignore the Paladin.
Jasten Albrecht frowned at them both, took a glance at the area around them and then turned around with a shake of his head. “It’s far too late. Let’s head back to the building so you can get a good night’s sleep before we leave tomorrow.”
Raegan and Annaliese exchanged surprised and slightly suspicious looks but didn’t say anything and followed their guard. Scytale stood up and walked over to Lucy.
“Hey, can you tell Ashale’viaf to hand over ownership of this place to me?” he asked with a smirk. “It’s too awesome to belong to him.”
In response, she whacked the back of his head and grabbed his arm. “No. And even if you were manipulating the illusion essence to avoid them both the entire time they were in the biome, it was still hazardous for you to expose the Prophetess of Fate and her brother to hallucinogenic substances.”
“It’s not like I was feeding them magical mushrooms or something…” He flinched when faced with Lucy’s cold stare.
She sighed and turned away from him as they left the biome and headed back to the stairs that would take them to the first floor of the Pavilion. “Just… ask me for some advice about that kind of thing before you go, alright? My Essence Transmutation Conduit would be useful for that, and it’s unfair for Annaliese and Raegan to not know the risks that were there.”
“…ugh, okay, fine.” Scytale switched to his winged serpent form in a flash of golden light and flew onto her shoulders. “I guess it’s not like you’d ever have problems with hallucinations, considering your immunity to dream illusions.”
She shrugged. “If you can’t dream, then you can’t see or use dreams.”
…
“Scytale! Take us to that place again next time we come!” Annaliese called out.
Scytale flinched away from Lucy’s stare at waved. “Maybe if you’re lucky.”
The Prophetess nodded happily and then turned to look at a scarlet-haired man with his arms crossed. “Hargrave.” Annaliese narrowed her eyes. “Don’t let your hair get that bad again or else I’m going to come after you with scissors again.”
He eyed her warily and slowly took a step back. “…I’ll make sure it doesn’t grow longer.”
“Stop scaring Hargrave and leave us,” Lucille said, gesturing to the girl. “Don’t keep your brother and Sir Albrecht waiting.”
“Hargrave? Scared?” Annaliese blinked, confused, but shrugged and gave them one last wave. “I’ll see you next month! Thanks for letting me stay again!”
With that, she ran off to meet with Jasten Albrecht and Raegan by the entrance. Lucy crossed her arms, satisfied, and then turned to walk away.
“Sedric didn’t come out of his workshop to say goodbye so I’m going to go annoy him as punishment!” Scytale exclaimed. “See you later!”
Hargrave and Lucy watched the snake take another route to go to the workshop. Hargrave frowned. “…are all teenagers supposed to be like this? I don’t remember being so… pushy and loud ten years ago…”
Lucy turned to give Hargrave a strange look.
The ex-mercenary raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Hargrave, you do know I’m a teenager too, right? I’m eighteen.”
He stared at her.
“…you didn’t? Did you not ask someone?”
Hargrave opened his mouth, hesitated, and then grimaced as he closed it.
Lucille shook her head wryly and continued walking. “Suffice to say that no, not all teenagers are like them. But I suppose I can’t be considered a normal example.”
She left him there, holding his chin as he gazed at the ground. “I think I remember hearing her age from someone… but eighteen?” He looked up to see her turn a corner and disappear from view. “…where does an eighteen-year-old like her come from?”
…
“Sir, the curator of the Gilded Dome Hall wishes to request further adjustments to the reconstruction plans,” a staff member of the Headquarters reported with a bow.
The silver-haired man standing at a desk with papers in his hands frowned and shifted his glasses to read a new page. “I believe he requested the same thing only three days ago.”
“…he did, yes.”
Vincent pressed a hand to his temples. “Fine. Go and tell Curator Velous that I’m prepared to arrange a meeting with him, but any arrangements made during that meeting will not be changed again unless in dire circumstances.”
“I will do as you say, Sir Evisenhardt.” The staff member turned around to open the door of the study, and then paused when he came face to face with Lucille. She tilted her head and he bowed before walking past her.
“The curator again?” she asked as she entered her study.
“Ha. Yes.” Vincent sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he scanned the pages laid out before him on the table. “That man has been in charge of the Dome Hall’s facilities for the last twenty years and now that the organisation that officially owns the building wishes to make changes, he’s panicking and feeling defensive of his position.”
Lucy hummed and walked forward to see what he was reading. “I see. We can’t have someone so inflexible if we plan to host the competition annually. I suggest you use the meeting as a warning as well as a way to motivate him to be more compliant.”
“I don’t usually like to threaten people but in this instance, I might need to,” Vincent replied dryly. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. “And what brings you here? Did you plan to complete more work as soon as Miss Verdon and her cohort had left? You may need to control your workaholic tendencies.”
Lucy smirked and crossed her arms as she leaned against her desk. “Scytale and I are going somewhere.”
Vincent paused and gave her a strange look. “Going to a Dungeon so abruptly? You told me you had completed your movement skill so there was no need to be overly anxious about increasing your strength. Not that I have the right to stop you both if you want to go. How long a trip will this be?”
Lucille shook her head. “We’re not going to a Dungeon.”
“Oh, are you meeting with Count Ravimoux again? In that case, I under-”
“We’re not going somewhere related to the Commission,” she interrupted.
Vincent raised his eyes from the page he was holding to stare at her. After a moment, he took off his half-moon glasses and let them hang around his neck. “…like September?”
She nodded. He let out a slight sigh and rubbed his face. “Can I know where?”
“Nope,” she stated brightly.
He glared at her. “If you’re going to respond that way, don’t sound so happy.” He glanced between her and the desk with a frown on his face. “Will it be dangerous?”
“I doubt it. I’ll have Scytale and I plan on bringing Hargrave if he wants to come,” Lucy explained.
Vincent narrowed his eyes at her. “So you’re willing to tell Hargrave where you’re going but not me.” He rolled his eyes and turned away. “Suit yourself then. I’ll be here, sorting out this blighted debut work.”
“Vincent, do you want to come?” she asked seriously.
Her silver-haired aide didn’t seem to register what she had said for a second. Then he turned around and blinked. “I- what? Come with you?”
“Yes. Do you want to come with me?” Lucille repeated. “This isn’t some sort of joke. I’m offering you the opportunity to come along with us.”
Vincent stared at her again. “I… well…” He scratched the back of his head. “Why are you going on this trip in the first place?”
“Time travel related stuff,” Lucy said with a smirk. “I have something I want to gain, as well as an event I want to prevent.”
“…hmm.”
Lucille could see he was tempted by the way he kept looking between her and his work. Then he let out a long sigh and shook his head. “I can’t. Not when all these plans need to be made. Maybe if the debut affairs were already in motion, then I could take a break, but…” He grimaced. “I don’t believe I should right now.”
“I see.” Lucille leaned on her cane with one arm as she studied her aide. Then she looked in the direction of a certain secretary she knew was wandering the Commission’s rooms. “In other, unrelated news, I happened to hear Jacques proclaiming rather confidently and boldly about how ‘cushy’ his job is and the low workload he has. This will have no impact on your final decision to remain here or come with me, I’m sure.”
The silver-eyed man slowly turned to look in the same direction. He stared at it for a while, and then slowly narrowed his eyes. “On second thought… I might come after all,” he muttered. Vincent grabbed his outer coat off the back of his armchair and stormed over to the door where he threw it open.
Lucy followed him while feeling amused. Vincent stopped next to the first of his subordinates they passed and jabbed a finger at them. “Tell Jacques that he’s been allocated the rest of my work for the day,” Vincent ordered harshly. Then he continued to storm off, leaving a very nonplussed staff member in his wake.
“You seem a bit impatient, Vincent,” Lucille remarked wryly.
“As it seems someone thinks lightly of his job, I-” Vincent hesitated halfway through his next step and then turned around to face her with a look of mild confusion. “Why did you refuse to tell me where you were going if you planned on inviting me?”
Lucy raised an eyebrow. “It should be obvious. I wanted to keep it a surprise.”
He opened and shut his mouth, and then shook his head in amused resignation. “Indeed, it should’ve been obvious. Oh well.” Vincent straightened up his coat and glanced at her. “Shall we find the rest of your entourage and visit this mysterious location, then?”
She smirked. “Sure.”