Chapter 588 - 588: The Principle Behind This Magic Is Exactly What I Thought

"But this is already excellent. With this data, I am much more confident," Noah smiled at Irene.

"That is good. If this data can help, then the time I spent wasn't wasted," Irene said, a genuine smile breaking across her face.

It was the best possible response. Her greatest fear was that Noah would dismiss centuries of her agonizing research as completely useless.

"Since the data is all here, let's go have dinner and rest. We can discuss our next steps afterward," Mavis suggested.

Irene glanced at the time, realizing it was already evening. "I will have the staff prepare a meal and prepare a few guest rooms for you."

"No need for the rooms. I plan to sleep right here in the laboratory," Noah waved his hand dismissively. "With all this new data in front of me, I want to start analyzing it immediately. I'll just crash on the floor when I'm done."

"To avoid any unexpected accidents or exposure, we should probably stay in this room as well," Mavis added after a moment of thought. "We brought our own futons in our spatial storage, so sleeping on the floor isn't an issue."

August, naturally, had no objections to his mother's suggestion.

"If that's what you prefer, I'll go order the food. You can join me in the dining hall when it's ready," Irene agreed, turning and leaving the laboratory.

The moment the doors closed, Noah eagerly opened his Archive interface. He began rapidly digitizing and organizing the mountain of physical files, categorizing them by year and research parameters so the data could be easily cross-referenced.

Meanwhile, August used his own copied Archive magic to seamlessly transmit the digitized files directly into Mavis's mind so she could read along.

When Irene returned a short while later, Noah was already rapidly scanning through the holographic text. As he read, he fired off a series of highly specific questions regarding the ambiguous notes in her earliest records.

Because those early experiments had occurred centuries ago, and Irene hadn't yet developed proper scientific methodology, she struggled to recall the exact parameters. When Noah's probing questions yielded no answers, Irene began to grow visibly frustrated and emotional. Sensing her rising temper, Noah tactfully skipped the oldest files and moved on to the more recent data.

Fortunately, as the records grew more modern, they became vastly more detailed and clinical. Noah's questions became fewer, and Irene was able to answer them easily, which successfully calmed her nerves.

Mavis and August read alongside Noah in silence, rarely needing to ask questions since Noah was covering all the bases.

About half an hour later, Irene checked the time. "The food should be ready. Let's eat."

"Noah, stop reading for now. You can finish it later," Mavis ordered, noticing that Noah's eyes were still glued to the glowing runic screens.

Noah let out a long breath, reluctantly closing his Archive interface.

"Well? Did you find anything?" Irene asked, her eyes shining with anticipation.

"Based on the data I've reviewed so far, I have a working hypothesis. But I need to read the rest of the files before I can confirm if it's viable," Noah replied.

"That's wonderful!" Irene's face lit up with profound surprise and joy.

To think he had already formulated a working hypothesis after just half an hour of reading! Her confidence in Noah's ability to cure her skyrocketed.

But no matter how eager she was, dinner took priority.

The four of them left the laboratory. Noah, Mavis, and August reapplied their invisibility wards and followed Irene to the dining hall, which was already laden with a luxurious feast.

Irene dismissed Heine, Juliet, and the rest of the servants, claiming she wished to dine alone. Heine and Juliet thought nothing of it; over the years, Irene frequently requested complete isolation when she was in a foul mood or deep in thought.

Once the servants were gone, the invisible trio dropped their wards and enjoyed the meal.

After dinner, Noah, Mavis, and August returned directly to the laboratory while Irene stayed behind to clean up the table, ensuring no one would notice that four people had been eating.

Shortly after, Heine and Juliet returned to deliver their evening report. The citizens had completely calmed down, trusting that the Scarlet Despair had eradicated the threat. Extra patrols had been deployed, but there were no signs of the intruder.

Irene nodded dismissively, telling them to maintain standard protocol and that the intruder was no longer a concern. With the administrative duties handled, she quickly returned to her laboratory.

When she entered, Noah, Mavis, and August were already deeply engrossed in the holographic files. None of them even looked up.

Irene quietly walked over to a corner, picked up some of her old physical files, and began to read them herself. More than anything, she was simply reminiscing about the sheer desperation she had felt when writing those notes centuries ago.

Hours passed in absolute silence. It was late into the night.

August, whose absolute highest priority was his mother's well-being, was the first to speak up. "Mother, it is very late. You need to sleep."

"Oh? Is it really that late?" Mavis blinked, snapping out of her reading trance. She checked the time and realized August was right.

She turned and saw Noah still staring intensely at his glowing screens, completely unbored and unbothered by the hour. Mavis walked over and firmly smacked his shoulder.

"Ah?!" Noah jolted, looking at her in bewildered confusion. "First Master, why did you hit me?"

"Why? Look at the time! It's time for bed. Don't even think about pulling an all-nighter; I absolutely forbid it," Mavis scolded him with her hands on her hips.

Noah checked the clock, realizing he had completely lost track of time. He reluctantly dismissed his Archive screens.

"Noah requires constant supervision, otherwise he completely forgets to sleep," Mavis explained, noticing Irene watching them. "Whenever he gets absorbed in magical research, he pulls all-nighters. Erza has gotten genuinely angry with him over it multiple times."

"You definitely need to maintain a proper sleep schedule. My research can wait until tomorrow," Irene nodded firmly.

Hearing that Erza had gotten angry about this exact issue, Irene's newly awakened maternal instincts completely aligned with her daughter's. Furthermore, she knew that biological engineering couldn't be rushed. If Noah was sleep-deprived, it could compromise the development of her cure.

"I understand. I'm going to sleep right now," Noah agreed immediately. He had promised Erza and the others that he would maintain healthy habits, and he didn't want to break that promise just because he got distracted.

The three Ishgarian mages quickly washed up in the adjoining bathroom while maintaining their stealth wards. They returned to the lab and laid out their futons on the floor. Mavis and August placed their futons side-by-side, while Noah set his up a short distance away.

Since her guests were sleeping on the floor of her laboratory, Irene felt it would be incredibly rude to retreat to her luxurious royal bedroom. She conjured her own bedding and joined them on the floor.

Thanks to his ability to instantly relax his mind, Noah fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow. Mavis followed shortly after. August watched his mother's peaceful sleeping face for a long time before finally closing his own eyes.

Irene, however, remained wide awake.

It was a completely novel experience. She hadn't slept on the floor alongside other people in over four centuries. But despite her usual insomnia, she didn't feel the crushing, agonizing anxiety that usually accompanied her sleepless nights. Instead, she felt a profound, quiet sense of peace. She had hope again.

The next morning, Noah was the first to wake up. He sat up and saw Irene sitting at a nearby table, casually eating breakfast. Several untouched plates were set aside for them.

"Did you stay up all night?" Noah asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Yes. After the dragonification, losing the ability to sleep was one of the primary symptoms. My body's natural energy reserves are simply too boundless," Irene explained calmly. "I can currently only fall asleep about once a month. It's actually an improvement; it used to be once every few months."

"I see... I swear, I will put everything I have into curing you," Noah said, his expression turning incredibly serious.

If a normal human was forced to stay awake for weeks on end, the psychological torture would drive them completely insane. Irene had endured centuries of sleep deprivation. The sheer mental fortitude required just to keep functioning was staggering. No wonder her personality had warped.

"I believe you," Irene smiled softly.

Shortly after, Mavis and August woke up. The group washed up, ate the breakfast Irene had prepared, and immediately dove back into the remaining data files.

It took them the entire morning and a good portion of the afternoon, but they finally finished reviewing every single document.

"Haaa... reading through all of that perfectly confirmed my initial hypothesis," Noah exhaled, dismissing his Archive interface and standing up to stretch his stiff limbs.

"What hypothesis?!" Irene asked, instantly abandoning the localized Thought Projection magic Noah's clone had been teaching her in the corner of the room. She rushed over, her eyes wide with desperate anticipation.

"We'll get to that in a second. First, I need to ask you something," Noah said, waving his hand to calm her down. "What exactly did Zeref do to restore your human appearance? What specific spell did he use?"

"How His Majesty restored me? He taught me to maintain this specific formula," Irene replied.

Without hesitation, she perfectly recited the highly complex runic sequence Zeref had embedded into her magic.

Because Noah, Mavis, and August were all unparalleled magical geniuses, simply hearing the formula once was enough for them to perfectly comprehend its structure.

"Just as I thought," Noah nodded, tracing the runic matrix into his Archive so it hovered in the air between them. "The foundational principle is exactly what I suspected."

"What principle?" Irene asked urgently.

"The soul," Noah explained simply. "Zeref utilized the intrinsic shape of your human soul to artificially rewrite your physical shell, restoring your outward appearance."

"The soul?" Irene blinked, stunned.

"Exactly," Mavis interjected, staring at the glowing matrix with profound awe. "The spell heavily relies on deep-tier soul manipulation. I recognize several fragments of the theory from ancient texts. His Majesty's understanding of soul architecture is exponentially deeper than I could have ever imagined. He truly is a genius."

"The First Master and I only recognized it because we've studied similar theoretical concepts," Noah added. "But because tampering with the soul borders on the taboo of life and death, neither of us ever dared to practice it extensively. We didn't want to risk triggering the Ankhseram Curse."

Unlike Zeref, who was already cursed and therefore had nothing to lose, Noah and Mavis had always treated soul magic with extreme, terrifying caution.

"Speaking of which..." Mavis suddenly turned to August. "Are you able to access Zeref's personal research notes?"

"I am," August nodded proudly. "Father keeps the vast majority of his most profound research sealed within a private vault deep within the palace. I am the only other person in the Empire permitted to enter it.

"If Mother wishes to see it, I can seamlessly copy the entirety of his archives and bring the data directly to you."

August smiled warmly. Even though he had never revealed his identity to Zeref, the fact that his father trusted him exclusively with his most guarded secrets filled him with immense pride.

~~~

Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!

https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn