Mage Adam-Chapter "362"
“That was a power beyond reason. We had never imagined a lifeform could evolve to such a level. It was like a source of devouring, swallowing everything that approached it—whether information, life, or energy. The two True Spirits tried every means possible, but they could not escape. They didn’t even manage to see what the enemy actually looked like.”
“It was in a state of slumber. All of this was done unconsciously—perhaps subconsciously. The two True Spirits felt fear. They were afraid of waking it, so they abandoned resistance, shattered their own souls and the information they carried, and allowed themselves to be devoured.”
“This is…” Adam faltered, unsure what words could describe it.
“This was the only instance of a True Spirit’s fall since the Magic Revolution. After that, we discovered two more areas where Super-Void Lifeforms existed. But with the lessons from the first incident, we no longer dared to rush in. Instead, we designated those regions as forbidden zones, guarded by True Spirits, barring all life from approaching.”
“Now you should understand the true purpose of the Explorer Mages, shouldn’t you?” His Eminence suddenly asked.
“To discover these Super-Void Lifeforms, and warn the Mage World?”
His Eminence nodded. “Exactly. In earlier times, this work was performed by True Spirits themselves. But as time passed, the power of True Spirits grew. The strength of modern True Spirits far surpasses those two who fell. When we walk in the void now, the disturbances we cause can no longer be hidden. We fear that the energies and information bound to us might awaken other monsters from their slumber. And so, the Mage World created the Explorer type—who use their own lives to blaze the trail for mage civilization.”
Adam murmured, “I thought that after reaching Super Dimensional , there would no longer be Explorer Mages…”
“Formal Explorer Mages are only in their internship period. The true main force is at the Super Dimensional level. Many often fall in unknown depths of the void. We don’t even know what they encountered, because often they can’t even send back their final reports.” His Eminence pointed to the void map. “And the ones that are sent back, make up the orange regions you see here.”
“We have reason to believe these Super-Void Lifeforms are the strongest remnants of the previous epoch. They too must have tried to break free of the Aether void, this prison, to reach higher-dimensional worlds. But clearly, they failed.”
“And we have even more reason to believe that they will not accept failure. Their current dormancy is to accumulate strength. Perhaps they are waiting for a civilization in this epoch to reach the threshold of transcendence—such as ours. Then, when we exert ourselves, they will awaken, devour us, even devour the entire Aether void, and seize our achievements for their own.”
His Eminence paused for a long time, allowing Adam to digest this information.
After a long silence, Adam asked hoarsely, “Can we be certain they are individuals, and not remnants of a civilization? If they were a civilization…”
This time the answer came from the True Spirit Archmage Prometheus, who had entered the Origin Space at some unknown point. Upon hearing Adam’s question, he responded without hesitation:
“There is no possibility of cooperation. They are individuals. The path of evolution in the Third Epoch was individual transcendence. Evidence shows that after their individual strength reached its limit, they devoured all the energy and life of the Third Epoch. Perhaps this was the reason they survived the formatting and reconstruction. This means they are inevitably our enemies—without a shred of possibility for reconciliation.”
“But even if they are individuals, since they already failed, maybe they would accept our philosophy, and work with us toward transcendence?”
Prometheus His Eminence suddenly spoke of something else: “You know that mages pursue collective evolution and shared transcendence, yes?”
Adam nodded.
“That is the fundamental, irreconcilable contradiction. The existence of the Magic Net, the evolutionary path of mages—these decide that we and the beings of the last epoch must inevitably be enemies. All our efforts are to make the Origin itself into a collective-consciousness lifeform, to make the Mage World ever larger until it equals the void itself, and then burst the void from within, replacing it and becoming the new Aether void.”
“Diametrically opposed…”
“Exactly. Diametrically opposed. Once evolution reaches a certain level, we and they will obstruct each other’s path. Such a contradiction can only be resolved through the complete destruction of one side.”
At this point, Adam finally understood what the other threat was. Any being that had endured to the end of an epoch, even as an individual, was unimaginably powerful. Though they had failed, no one could guarantee the mages would succeed. This crisis was perhaps even more severe than the first one. If failure came, there would not even be a chance to resist.
“What about the Third Holy Tower?”
“The Third Holy Tower is the night watchman of the Mage World. It preserves all knowledge and the spark of our civilization. If the final transcendence attempt fails, we will do everything in our power to safeguard the Third Holy Tower, allowing it to enter the Fifth Epoch and spread the spark of the Mage World anew.”
After some time, Croft His Eminence said to Adam:
“For now, you should not take up other research.”
“I can comply, but why?”
“Once your Super Dimensional state stabilizes, there will be a task for you. The coordinates you handed to Sandy previously have returned some intelligence. After analysis by the Exploration Department, it is suspected to be a low-level remnant of the Third Epoch’s power system. The Mage Council has decided to send a team of Super Dimensional Explorer Mages to take on this mission.”
“During this period, submit your requests for the Tower. The Council will have them manufactured for you with the highest priority.”
———
When the conversation ended, Adam left the Origin Space. As instructed by the True Spirits, the double-slit experiment was placed under secrecy, and for now Adam had no interest in continuing.
The Institute of Atomic Energy, due to the previous shock, had also fallen into a standstill, waiting until the mages recovered before work could continue.
Now Adam understood why their reaction to the experimental phenomenon had been so strong. When a long-imagined terror suddenly takes concrete form before one’s eyes, such a reaction was only natural.
At this point, Adam could no longer use his true body to directly enter the Prime Material World. But he had no pressing reason to go there, so he confined himself in the temporarily sealed Institute of Atomic Energy and began writing papers—turning his previous research results into theory, runic systems, and magical formulations.
The first completed was the runification of the wave-particle duality and matter-wave concepts. After success, his mastery of electromagnetic waves reached an effortless degree. A casual beam of light could instantly become a high-energy laser, or at a shift of thought be condensed into a tangible lightsaber. Moreover, every motion and every thought now allowed him to control the surrounding microscopic particles, condensing them into substance like light, or decomposing them into waves.
(Ah, my back twinged—annoying, painful. But I’m not someone who takes leave lightly. The third update will still be out around nine o’clock~~~)
