"Since we're on the topic, and Arthur's already unceremoniously pried open the door, we might as well walk through it."
Evan looked at Jamie with a mix of curiosity and wariness, but Jamie pressed on, unfazed as he guided the conversation back on track.
"Let's talk about that spell, Evan."
Leaning forward slightly, Jamie's tone shifted to sothing more serious.
"You see, I'm more interested in the why than the how. Why were they so intent on sending you to the past?
From what Alvey reported, the spell failed because of your allies' interference. But even if they didn't, the spell would have still sent you through ti.
Given how things played out, it's worth asking—what were they really trying to achieve by sending you back?"
Jamie let the question linger, watching Evan's reaction. The question was one Evan had been pondering himself just this morning, a mystery he had yet to solve.
Now, with Jamie's words pulling him deeper into the intrigue, Evan couldn't help but feel a spark of curiosity ignited and Jamie, ever perceptive, didn't miss the mont he'd gotten Evan hooked.
"Don't you wanna find out? If you do, you can start by giving us more details on the spell…details like what the magic circle looked like.
You saw it, right?"
Evan's eyes flickered with interest, but he remained silent, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the glass he held as he sank deep into thought.
'I did see the circle and I rember what it looks like. Even if I cannot replicate it, I can at least use Leviah's Hologram Skill to create a projection.
Would Jamie be able to understand it, and perhaps…find out where they originally intended to send ? He most likely would given he has an Authority in the law of Space.'
Jamie had skilfully shifted the conversation from the tense revelation to an intriguing mystery. The transition had been so smooth and natural that Evan found himself drawn in.
The shock of being exposed as an Aidosian had faded into the background.
Now, his curiosity had been piqued. Not just about the spell, but about the forces that had set him on this unexpected path.
'Why did that Unknown god want to send back in ti…?'
With these thoughts in mind, Evan made a decision. He downed the contents of his glass and slamd it onto the table between them before speaking.
"Alright. Let's do this."
'No point trying to hide these things since people already know anyway.'
Seeing Evan's willingness to proceed, Jamie's eyes lit up with a dull glow as he leaned forward.
"So, let's get down all the information we have and try to figure out the motive and reason for you ending up on Aramis."
With a snap of his fingers, a projection of the number '8' inside a circle appeared, and Jamie began.
"We know the Spell's Tier. We know its Attribute. We also know why it was disrupted.
But we don't know its na."
Evan nodded as Jamie spoke, then snapped his fingers, activating Leviah's Hologram Creation to conjure a hologram on the table.
The hologram displayed humanoid stick figures arranged in seemingly random positions.
However, after a mont of thought, Arthur and Jamie began to piece things together.
'He's recreating the scene of him being sent back in ti…'
It beca obvious when one of the stick figures had the number '8' rotating behind it. So of the figures were red, one was blue, and others were green.
Pointing at two of the green stick figures, Evan spoke.
"My Companions used the power of a Forr Demon King to attack the proxy caster; this caused the disruption and made the spell activate automatically."
After Evan spoke, Arthur fiddled with the hologram using basic light magic, creating patterns that showed the flow of energies towards the '8' behind one of the red figures.
"You said the spell sent you to a point in spaceti based on the energies in the area which it absorbed.
I rember your exact words being: [The last bit of information I got, was that these energies were being used by the spell to send to the 'Furthest point in Ti and Space where they were closest to each other', but since I was too busy being frozen in spaceti, I don't know exactly how much energy it absorbed and whose energy it absorbed.]"
Hearing Arthur's words, Jamie tapped the '8' behind the red stick figure, changing it from a number in a circle to an actual spell circle.
"I think I know the spell that was used.
Those conditions are very specific, so it's hard to mistake it for another."
Seeing the projection, Evan shook his head. The circle Jamie had created didn't resemble the one in his mory; the inscriptions were far too different.
Evan snapped his fingers, and another hologram appeared, revealing the eight-ringed magic circle that had appeared behind Conroe on that fateful day.
"So, this is what you saw, huh? Very well."
|Authority of Space. |
Jamie activated his power, and the glow in his eyes intensified. anwhile, Arthur and Evan both examined the two spell circles, and it didn't take long for all three to notice similarities.
Evan, with his Language Comprehension skill, figured out the reason the inscriptions in Jamie's projected circle differed from the ones in his mory: they were written in a different language.
However, his Language Comprehension skill needed ti to process the language of Jamie's projected circle, so he couldn't identify it imdiately.
Arthur, on the other hand, was quicker.
"The average Spell Circle is made up of 3 parts. The Rings denoting the Tier and Flow of Energy, the Mark representing the elent or attribute, and the Inscriptions within the rings describing the type of spell being invoked."
His hands moved to various points on the inscription, and he began speaking.
"I've noted similarities in 4 places. So other ones have my attention but I need a higher Authority in Ti to comprehend them."
At these words, both Arthur and Evan turned to Jamie, who grinned and picked up on Arthur's statent.
"And I, having said Higher Authority, can confirm that you are right.
Besides, doesn't this language look familiar to you, Arthur?"
Jamie's question caused Arthur to nod in agreent, and at that point, Evan activated his Mystic Eyes.
The Familiar Symbol's appearance showed he recognized the language in the magic circle that sent him back in ti.
"Good thing I have Aidosian friends. Thanks to them, I know this shorthand conjuration thod. Rilene uses this thod in her spell casting because it shortens her cast ti.
If used with this spell, it should shorten the cast ti enough to make a Spell capable of sending soone over 10,000 years through ti activate in a re minute."
Jamie moved his hands, breaking down the two projections before reassembling them and nodding.
"I've confird it with my Authority. The spell I suggested was being used and the one Evan saw—they're the sa. It's a spell that can only be used if one has High-Rank Space and Ti Authorities.
Spatiotemporal Magic: Eon-Sunder Regressio."
The na of the spell was finally revealed. After contemplating it for a mont, Arthur couldn't help but feel it was a fitting na.
"Eon" referred to a vast span of ti, typically a billion years, but in this context, it signified the manipulation of an enormous stretch of ti.
"Sunder" ant to split, divide, or tear apart, implying the act of disrupting the fabric of ti.
"Regressio" ca from the Latin word aning "a stepping back" or "a return," which in this case indicated a journey backwards through ti.
After Arthur broke down the spell's na, Jamie turned to Evan with another question.
"You were aware of the Spell's effects. How did you find this out?"
"…An 'Ally' of mine."
Refusing to na future Artemisia, Evan replied in this manner, tapping the head of one of the green stick figures on the table. This figure was positioned next to the red one with the spell circle behind it—mirroring Artemisia and Conroe's positions on that day.
"They inford of the Spell's nature and what it did."
"Did they also inform you of what 'Energy Factors' were absorbed?"
To Arthur's question, Evan gave a silent nod. Jamie's eyes narrowed briefly, but the expression shifted back to normal so quickly that Evan didn't even notice.
'They don't understand Ti like I do, so they haven't noticed it yet. While I hope I may be overthinking it, it doesn't look like that's the case.'
"This Spell has a maximum number of Energy Factors it can absorb. 8."
"I was inford of just 6. I do not know if there are any others because before 'they' could finish speaking, the spell began sending through ti."
True, Artemisia hadn't even been able to finish the sixth one when that happened.
"You know 6? That's plenty."
Jamie snapped his fingers, and the eight rings of the spell circle hologram split apart, hovering separately.
Two of the rings turned red and were crossed with an 'X', while the remaining six continued glowing blue.
"The effect of 'Eon-Sunder Regressio' is indeed to send the target to the furthest point in space and ti where all the Energy Factors fed to it are closest to each other.
In the event that it is disrupted, it automatically absorbs the nearest Energy Factors and activates.
Just like your 'Ally' told you."
Just as Jamie confird Evan's explanation, both Arthur and Evan narrowed their eyes. It didn't feel like Jamie was rely confirming what Evan had said.
It felt more like…
"…you're insinuating there's sothing more."
Jamie's lips curved into a small smile at Evan's words, and that was all the confirmation they needed.
"That description of the spell that your 'Ally' gave you. There's a clause missing.
Eon-Sunder Regressio's effect is to send the target to the furthest point in space and ti, relative to its caster, where all the Energy Factors fed to it are closest to each other."
""??!!""
Both Arthur and Evan's eyes widened in shock.
The addition of just four words completely changed their understanding of the spell.
"Alvey's theory was wrong. The planet didn't do anything.
Evan ending up on Aramis wasn't because of the planet's consciousness—it's because the caster of the spell was on Aramis!"
Evan had already revealed that there were two casters involved in his forced ti travel: the Fallen Celestial Conroe, who acted as the proxy caster, and the 'Unknown god' behind them, the true caster with the power and Law Authority necessary to perform Tier 8 magic.
Jamie rested his hands on his chin, sinking into thought for a mont before speaking.
"Evan, if, and only if, the guess in my head is correct.
Then the 'unknown god' who sent you back in ti…you've already t them."
The mont those words entered Evan's ears, all the clues, possibilities and conjectures he'd crossed in the past few months ca barely back to him.
Certain things he had wanted to ignore. Certain things he didn't want to believe were true.
'The Eyes…that sa illusion of the starry sky I saw since the first day on Aramis…'
His mind, however, seed intent on ignoring his wishes and began to piece the puzzle together.
'Fuck...'
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