"A great way to avoid trouble, but still handle my curiosity."
Zero then decided to use Mass Memorize.
He could just reload.
So he might as well read through everyone's soul.
Everyone went into a daze.
[ECHO]: {Name: "Mass Memorize", Level: 3, Type: Area, Element: Mana, Cost: 4000, Desc: "Show the secrets of the universe to everyone in a 1 kilometer radius."}
But right as he was about to begin.
The rank 4 wizard awoke from his daze and tried to track down the origin of the spell.
But Mass Memorize wasn't even a spell from this world.
It was also constructed from 1440 runes.
More runes then the disk that maintained this pocket dimension.
To people from this world... it's complexity was god tier.
But this wasn't even close to the most complex spell Zero knew.
You could say wizards in Owtz's system had far higher comprehension when it came to runes.
Dark Fire Academy entered a lockdown.
And everyone's traveler pendants were locked.
As people woke from their daze.
They remembered what they had witnessed.
Secrets of a foreign universe.
People began to panic.
"Is it a possible invasion?"
"Who did this?!"
"The headmaster will stop them!"
Zero didn't feel like dealing with a lockdown.
So he froze time.
He then created a new spell.
Combing Mass Memorize with Soul Tracker and Soul Search.
[ECHO]: {Name: "Mass Memorize", Level: 3, Type: Area, Element: Mana, Cost: 4000, Desc: "Show the secrets of the universe to everyone in a 1 kilometer radius."}
[ECHO]: {Name: "Soul Tracker", Level: 1, Type: Target, Element: Mana, Cost: 100, Desc: "Trace back targets soul."}
[ECHO]: {Name: "Soul Search", Level: 1, Type: Target, Element: Mana, Cost: Varies, Desc: "Search the soul of the target."}
Mass Memorize was 1440 runes.
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Soul tracker was 360 runes.
Soul Search was also 360 runes.
The new spell was 2160 runes.
After stabilizing it with more runes.
It became 2880 runes.
[ECHO]: {Name: "Mass Soul Search", Level: 4, Type: Area, Element: Mana, Cost: Varies, Desc: "Search the souls of everyone in a 1 kilometer radius."}
Zero then searched everyone's soul in the academy.
His law of Paradox easily shouldered the burden.
He experienced a brief flash of everyone's life.
But their passive spells were locked behind mental barriers.
He couldn't search their sea of consciousness.
This was one thing the wizards in this world excelled at.
Guarding their sea of consciousness.
Their guards were quite strong and even gave Zero some trouble.
He could definitely break through the barriers.
But it would destroy most of the information and kill the person.
So he'd rather not.
[ECHO]: Analyzing book
[ECHO]: "Time Walker"
[ECHO]: 3: Chapter 15: Lifespan
Zero found out that to become a rank 2 wizard.
You couldn't even buy a level 2 spell model.
You needed to sign a contract with the academy and work for it.
You needed to work for 100 years.
The lifespan of an acolyte is the same as an ordinary person.
In this world the average lifespan is 100.
An official wizard lives for 200 years.
A rank 2 wizard lives for 500 years.
A rank 3 wizard lives for 1000 years.
A rank 4 wizard lives for 10,000 years.
You wouldn't get the spell model until after you had completed a hundred years of service.
As an official wizard, you essentially need to give half of your lifespan to the academy to be able to become rank 2.
Some find this worth it.
While others leave and try to find an inheritance in the wild.
Zero didn't mind signing a contract.
The contract was soul bound.
But Zero's soul could be discarded and replaced.
Or reconstructed entirely.
He could manipulate it however he wanted.
So it wasn't really all that limiting.
It would serve his cover well to sign the contract with the academy.
He didn't mind becoming a teacher for a hundred years.
He had been a professor in the past after all.
He had been a lot of things in the past.
After two years.
Zero revealed becoming a rank 1 wizard.
He was now an official wizard...
Hale and Farley still were acolytes.
Their aptitude was 3.
Farley expected it to take another 2 years before he broke through.
Hale thought it would take him 8 more years...
Hale and Alura approached Zero with a deal.
"This is about the origin of that sword."
"What about it?"
"You said you found it in a rock. Can you show us the rock?"
'Save Point 1'
Zero saved just in case this went wrong.
"I was just messing with you guys. I made the sword!"
"You're an artificer?"
"Nope. I created it from nothing."
"What do you mean? What materials did you use?"
"Follow me."
Zero brought them to his cave.
It was a gift from Morti for him becoming an official wizard.
It was quite luxurious.
Zero held out his hand.
"Look at my hand."
He waved it and a sword appeared out of nowhere.
"This...!?"
"You have a storage dimension!"
"Nope."
He threw the sword to Hale.
Hale caught it.
Zero waved his hands again.
Another sword appeared.
"... You have an intent that lets you create swords?"
"No. I can make nearly anything."
Alura's eyes lit up.
"Would you be able to make spiritual plants? For potioneering?"
"Not really. I need to understand-"
Alura ran out of the room.
"..."
Ten minutes later she returned with a huge bag.
She dumped it on the ground in front of Zero.
"These are books on spiritual plants. Read them!"
"I'm not interested in potio-"
"You're wasting your potential! Imagine what you could do if you became a potioneering grandmaster! You have access to unlimited supplies. If I had your ability, I wouldn't even need to do all those dangerous missions with you guys back then!"
"I actually have a friend that is a potioneering grandmaster already. I'm more into formations."
"Only those at rank 4 even bother learning runes that deeply... also you have a grandmaster in potioneering?"
Alura's eyes shined.
"Can you introduce me?"
"You guys are in different realities entirely."
"You think he's too good for me?"
"No. I meant what I said literally, separate realities."
Zero didn't bother hiding this information, since he could just restart if it backfired.
He trusted his friends.
Even though he only knew them for 2 years.