304 Progress

The floating island was unlike the others as it has a special laboratory where Aeolia specifically made to conduct his study for the seventh generation mana artifacts.

The young man had already seen them before as Aeolia had introduced it to him and his master when they first met at the deepest floor of the Z-Tower. He showed them bottles of dark liquid and was introduced as 7th Gen by Aeolia.

A liquid can also be a mana artifact? It was a question that came to their minds after seeing it the first time. 

But even though they were surprised to learn about it at that time, he remembers the person's identity. This made them calm down and admire his creation instead.

They were not sure what kind of surprising power that the 7th gen could give but Aeolia wouldn't call it as such if it wasn't a revolutionary change or huge improvement from the previous generation.

The laboratory they were in wasn't that big and it was the same size as his house in Mt. Ravencroft.

It seems that it was made a very long time ago but with Aeolia's Mana prowess, he could easily maintain the place with a flick of his fingers. The old man seems to be acting as one with the mana and like Wallace, the purity he possesses wasn't just a 93%.

This bore a question in his mind.

How did Aeolia manage to practice Mana if he was Prince Zamphail as he deducted through Avalon's help?

He was amazed about it but it was actually something he was worried about as well. Since there might be a chance that the soldiers that the Meredith Empire will send might also be capable of learning the utilization of mana once they descended on the planet...

It wasn't a far fetch thought since he was aware of how much the Empire prepared for this. 

"No... I can't be worrying about this now... That was why Ace has been doing everything he can to stop the enemies from outer space. Even if he was defeated, they should've experienced heavy damages and it should be easier for us to deal with them..."

Wallace shakes his head as he suddenly remembers the dream he had.

Luckily, during the past few months here in the Northern Continent, he received several more missions from the Pathfinder and of course, received more rewards that he could use at any given time. 

He now possesses items that were not only magical and technologically advanced items but also mystical items that came from the Pathfinder.

These items not only could help him but also his colleagues.

Unfortunately, the Arcana that he possesses still remains the same. There wasn't any addition to his collection.

"You want to learn the logic behind the planet's protection? You are even referring it as a form of Arcana?"

Aeolia asked while still looking at his specimen using some medical apparatus that Wallace had only seen now. 

The young man didn't want to disturb the old man but this was hit only time since the Celestial might call for him at any moment again. 

"Yes..." 

Wallace answered firmly. He hadn't just thought of it now but he has been considering it ever since he deduced this man identity. The magic they used wasn't something that he could simply ignore.

"You have read the records. You should be aware that we sacrificed the relic. You also mentioned that you found its remnants together with the record you managed to translate. Why do you think that we used a form of magic from this planet to utilize the relic?"

Aeolia walked to his study table and removed the mana shell protecting his body when he was studying the specimen.

"Ace- I mean, We've gathered enough data about the protection that was covering the whole planet using some of my tools. The result of our study implies that the protection wasn't just made of mystical energy that came from the relic but also through the help of mysterious mana that was already existing in this planet called Mana Calamity."

"Hahaha! You've studied that far already? How old are you anyway? Sigh~ But why did you call it an Arcana?"

"It was only a guess… After all, based on the information I gathered, an Arcana wasn't just a form of magic that creates a small or insignificant phenomenon to the world but it creates a consequential incident that alters-- No, perhaps "modify" is the best term, the planet's actuality. Well, most of it was deduced by Avalon through Veda's help…"

"Hmmm… Is that so?"

"Yes… In any case, there was no such thing as an Arcana before… I bet you have something to do with the appearance of such high-level mana practice…"

"Hahaha! Very well…"

After Aeolia laughed at his answer, he then closed his eyes as if he was reminiscing his glorious past… or this is what Wallace thought.

"It was indeed, not a simple utilization of Ancient Relic… We did something else to create that protection… Why? Do you want to learn how we did it?"

Wallace went silent after hearing the question. He felt something was amiss but didn't mind it for now.

He took a deep breath before answering truthfully.

"Yes… I think that it will benefit us if we could strengthen that planet protection in any form…"

"For what? To give us more time before they arrive?"

"Ugh… That's what I plan. Will there be a problem?"

"Not really… Well, if you can also sacrifice the lives of the natives here, you can do the same…"

"W-what?"

Wallace was confused at first but he then immediately got the hint from Aeolia. 

The young man could only sigh and give up this idea on his mind. There was no way he would do something like that…

'Did they sacrifice most of the people in the northern continent to do it? Based on the record we've found, it seems that creating that protection was simple after they descended here… Haa~ I guess the history can't be written in just a few pages in the book. There were a lot of details that were omitted…'

"Enough about that, what do you think about the seventh generation?"

The sudden question jolted his wandering thoughts…

"Ah, yes… It will be very helpful… It seems that you've really prepared for this event in all these years… Right, I also want to inform you about my… team's progress in outer space…"

While Wallace was discussing these things with Aeolia, far away in the universe, the wormhole that was previously used by the Omen IV had a sudden but subtle movement…