Chapter 883: Frogs in a Well
“Now, my turn.”
Adam smiled as he closed his eyes, digging into the vast archives of knowledge left behind by the experts from the Greater Universe.
anwhile, Anna glanced at his side profile with a faint smile. Although she wasn’t expecting much, her ruby eyes did flash with hints of curiosity every now and then.
A minute passed.
And then another.
Anna couldn’t help but wonder just what Adam was up to. Finally, after a few more minutes, he opened his eyes and turned to look at her with a wide grin.
“Ready?”
Anna’s eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly as she cast a dubious look at her little brother. “What are you planning?”
Adam chuckled excitedly. Then, he weaved a series of hand seals and cast several spells.
Rank 1 Spell: mory Strand!
He tapped the side of his forehead and then extracted half a dozen silvery-white ethereal strings from inside.
These contained the mories of the suitable mana extraction technique that he’d found for Anna.
Absorbing them would raise a lot of questions, suspicions even, but Adam had already decided to divulge the big secret to her.
“Just what is it?” Anna’s eyes narrowed as she saw the six strings hover before her, looping around one another, intertwining and weaving a perfect sphere.
“A gift.” Adam smiled. “From to you.”
Anna’s gaze shifted from the mory Strands to Adam, then back to the mory Strands.
“Okay, then.” She nodded. “Do it.”
Adam willed it in his mind, and the sphere of strings separated from one another, forming a straight line. Then, they levitated towards Anna and gradually burrowed inside her forehead.
Instantly, Anna grimaced, and her beautiful face was covered in sweat.
There were a lot of mories!
But it wasn’t sothing she couldn’t handle. She clenched her fists and absorbed the mory Strands one after another.
After all the strings had burrowed inside her head, the expression on her face hadn’t eased. She was still sifting through the mories, studying them, understanding them, making them her own.
Even after several minutes had passed, her eyes shifted restlessly beneath close lids. Clearly, absorbing all the mories was no simple task.
Adam patiently waited beside her. He thought of conjuring one of the countless wine gourds from his earrings and enjoying the wine. He hadn’t had so in a few hours, after all…
But then he thought against it.
Who knew what the crimson-haired princess would do to him? It was better not to risk it.
Almost ten minutes had passed when Anna finally opened her eyes.
Her ruby eyes flashed with confusion first… then ca the shock.
Absolute shock!
“This…” She turned to Adam, her expression filled with disbelief. “What is this?!!”
“A mana extraction technique compatible with your affinity with fire magic.” Adam flashed a toothy grin. “What do you think, sister? You like it?”
Anna loudly gulped.
Adam had never seen such a strange expression on her face. To him, his sister had always been the proud, aloof, and untouchable princess.
Distant like the stars, never one to show vulnerability.
But now… she had lost all composure.
“This… this… this…” She kept repeating the sa words again and again, eliciting an amused chuckle from Adam.
“Adam!” She scread, her heart beating faster and faster. “How did you get your hands on this?!”
“Ehh, I travel a lot, you know.” Adam waved his hand nonchalantly. “I found it in an inheritance left behind a powerful Magus down south,” he lied.
Well… technically, that was the truth.
“Just who is that person who left behind such a valuable mana extraction technique?!” She blurted out in astonishnt. “No, this… this is priceless! This is beyond priceless!”
She paused for a mont, recalling the mories of the technique she had just absorbed.
“Mana Core… Mana Seed… Transcendent Magus… Saint Magus… Elysain Magus… Supre Magus!!”
She got to her feet and started pacing back and forth by the pond. “No, this doesn’t make sense. Are these ranks made up? No, but those scriptures are sound, the reasoning perfect, the teachings… profound!”
Anna’s entire worldview had shattered before her very eyes in a matter of minutes.
Adam silently gazed at her, not interrupting. Not yet.
He had found out about the myriad worlds in the Greater Universe as well as the fact that there were more than ten arcane ranks at a very early age.
Anna, on the other hand, lived most of her life believing that the Mana Core Rank was the final frontier, and that there were no other magical civilizations out there in the universe—and even if there were, they were too far away.
But now… everything had changed!
Her ruby eyes flashed with shock, fear, and hope as she turned to Adam. “Is this… is this really true?”
She had already seen the mana extraction technique. She had alredy seen all the mories related to it. Yet, her heart refused to believe it.
Sitting on the boulder, frad by the starry sky and the glow of the twin moons, Adam appeared almost otherworldly.
Ethereal and distant, as if he were a soul unbound by the mortal world.
Seeing such a scene, Anna found herself montarily dazed.
Coupled with the esoteric knowledge Adam had just revealed, he seed all the more enigmatic… like a figure shrouded in ancient mystery.
“This is the eternal truth—the only truth!” Adam began, his voice steady and profound.
“This world… is a well. Our perceptions are narrow, our knowledge confined, our ambitions shackled. We are but frogs, Anna. Frogs at the bottom, gazing up at the sliver of sky, mistaking it for the whole of existence!”
Every word he spoke shattered any lingering doubt Anna had buried in the depths of her heart.
Adam raised his hand and continued, his tone filled with emotions. “Mana Foundation, Mana Liquefaction, Mana Vortex, Mana Core, Mana seed, these are nothing but the foundational blocks!
“The realm of the Transcendant Magus… that’s where true magic begins! Reaching that arcane stage marks your transformation. It is only at that point that you transcend the mortal coil.
“From Transcendant to Saint, from Saint to Elysian, from Elysian to Supre, and at last… from Supre to Emperor! That must be your aim! That must be your ambition! For that is what it ans to be a Magus… ever striving, forever in pursuit of the higher truth!”
Anna could feel goosebumps covering her skin. Adam’s words, his tone, they affected her, burning a fire of ambition deep inside her heart.
“And even then!” Adam continued, his dark eyes blazing with unbridled passion. “The realm of Emperor Magus is not the end… There exist beings who have surpassed even that arcane rank! Entities so exalted, they are no different from gods themselves!”
Adam turned to the night sky, gazing into the distant stars. For the first ti, he whispered the words that Magus Julian Stockholm had planted deep within his mind.
“The peak of magic… that is my dream!”
He turned to Anna and smiled gently.
“This world will only let us rise to the Mana Core Rank… but I promise you, Sister, one day I will carry you with . Together, we’ll sail the sea of stars and venture to the heart of the universe, where we can pursue the higher arcane arts!”
Anna was the one who introduced him to magic.
She was the one who placed him in that carriage bound for Moon City.
Without her, he would never have discovered the Eternal Soul Lotus.
Without her, he would be… nothing.
So in his heart, he had already made his choice. Not out of obligation, but because he loved her.
His gaze settled on Luna’s reflection dancing on the pond’s surface, eyes burning with fierce conviction.
“And if this is my will… who then dares to stand in my way?”
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