Mage Adam-Chapter "361"

After Adam stated his request, His Excellency Croft immediately brought him through teleportation into the Source Space.

The moment they entered, the Source began to ripple faintly. Currents of pure origin power surged rapidly into Adam’s body, supporting his soul as it underwent metamorphosis toward a higher state.

Throughout the process, Adam remained fully conscious. He knew exactly what needed to be done and how to act to strengthen his soul further.

Thus, under the constant infusion and embrace of the Source, he began to refine and sublimate the vast accumulation he had prepared beforehand.

First were the various experimental results he had achieved — they transformed into hazy runes that sank into his soul, vastly expanding its upper limit and solidifying the foundation that allowed his soul to continue growing.

Once his advancement was complete, those hazy runes could immediately be clarified by summarizing the theories and establishing systematic formulas, turning them into true power.

Then came the electronic true form.

Around the electrons that had been shaped by his will, orbital paths naturally manifested. The electrons began to move along these orbits in accordance with their nature. This did not mean Adam lost control; quite the opposite. They had become a genuine part of his being. Adam could sense that, with a mere thought, they could shift and transform freely, altering properties and energy levels at will.

This signified that Adam had achieved control over photons — marking the true transition of his electromagnetic magic from the macroscopic realm into the microscopic.

Next was mana circulation.

Without deliberate control, it no longer flowed as a continuous stream within his soul. Instead, it appeared broken, scattered, and uneven, circulating erratically through every corner of his soul. Multiple states coexisted, overlapping one another in bizarre ways.

Then came magic itself.

Just as Adam had anticipated, he did not open the “box” where other mages had placed their apertures. Instead, he pierced through in a completely different direction — perhaps the back, perhaps a side, anywhere at all.

The power he gained through this aperture might differ from every other Archmage, but in combat, Adam was confident he would not fall behind.

Uncertainty principle, wave dynamics, matrix mechanics, incompatibility, probability clouds, matter waves… When all these principles were fused into his magic, Adam dared not call himself the strongest among his peers, but he would undeniably be the strangest and most mysterious.

During the promotion, all these transformations occurred simultaneously within Adam’s soul. By rights, he should have entered an immeasurable, subjectively indeterminate state. Yet once again, the Source of the Mage World revealed its strength — wrapped within it, Adam remained grounded in reality, ever aware of the Source’s power merging with him.

The promotion lasted a full two days. Only when his soul had completely metamorphosed into a higher level did it cease.

At that moment, Adam felt his connection with the Mage World deepen immensely. The elements of the world naturally converged upon him. In this state, his strength while fighting on his home plane far exceeded what he could display in other dimensions.

For two days, Croft’s avatar had remained by his side in quiet companionship. When Adam finally descended back to the ground, she first congratulated him, and then said:

“Your experiments…”

Her voice trailed off. Adam looked at her in confusion.

After a moment of hesitation, she continued:

“Your authority is now high enough. It’s time for you to understand just what kind of enemies mages truly face.”

Adam’s heart stirred. At last, he would learn the secret he had long been waiting for.

“The Aether Void is still young. If we compare it to the lifespan of a human, it has just stepped out of adolescence into youth.

Within the Void exist endless planes, endless creatures, all manner of civilizations. Their modes of reproduction and evolution vary — some are wise, some ignorant — but deep within their inheritance, their bloodlines, their very genes, lies a common will: transcendence.”

“Because of the collective efforts of mages, our civilization has risen to the forefront in this generation of the Aether Void. We have gained the power to surpass the Void’s own growth. Up to now, across all the explored regions, we have never encountered a foe that compels us to stake everything in battle. To put it bluntly — unless we destroy ourselves, in this vast unknown, perhaps there may be civilizations capable of standing against us… but there will be none that can annihilate us.”

Adam noticed one word Croft emphasized again and again: this generation.

He opened his mouth to ask, but she waved her hand to stop him, continuing:

“However, this does not mean we have no enemies. Quite the opposite — the closer one is to the strongest, the nearer crisis lurks.”

“From our exploration and understanding, we are currently in the Fourth Era of the Aether Void.”

“The First Era can no longer be traced. The Second Era’s existence is uncertain. But the Third Era… is one of the greatest threats we face.”

She paused. Adam seized the chance to ask:

“What does ‘Era’ mean? And what is the threat?”

Croft looked at Adam with a complex gaze, then said:

“Era… think of your experiments. You should be able to grasp it easily.”

“You mean, the Aether Void is not a continuous inheritance, but has undergone three reformattings and systemic reconstructions?” Adam supplied two new terms.

She easily understood:

“Exactly.”

“Who did it?”

She shook her head.

“No one knows. Perhaps the Creator. Perhaps it is the Void’s own defense mechanism. Or perhaps observers from a higher-dimensional world.”

“Any evidence?”

“Some ruins. Remote planes that retain energy systems utterly different from our own. And…” She hesitated. “The concrete discovery of ultravoid life fluctuations.”

The Source Space shifted, evolving into a model of the Aether Void. The known regions were represented in blue light, occupying considerable space. The unknown regions were shrouded in darkness, far larger than what was mapped.

This was the mages’ understanding of their ‘universe.’

And shockingly, within the blue-lit zones, three massive regions glowed crimson — symbols of deadly danger — alongside countless orange zones, representing crisis.

Pointing to one of the red areas, Croft said:

“That is where ultravoid life exists. We discovered it as soon as we began our campaigns into the Void. That time, two True Spirits fell. Completely and utterly annihilated.”

Adam was shaken.

“There’s already been a battle?”

“Battle?” Croft gave a bitter smile.

“No. There was no battle. Those two True Spirits merely approached the region. And then… their entire existence was devoured in an instant. There was no escape.”