Chapter 238: The Era of Magic

Ansu arrived at the spacious study area and, following his memories from the simulation, found the ancient text on a shelf in the back row.

《Hoffman's Alchemy Notes》.

Ansu leafed through a few pages; it was exactly as Celia had described, filled with Hoffman's magic experiment records, written in messy handwriting and containing trivial details.

If he hadn't witnessed that strange "resonance" phenomenon, he truly wouldn't have seen anything special about this item.

As Ansu was leafing through the ancient text, Celia quietly followed him over.

Seeing Ansu sitting cross-legged on the floor, deep in thought as he read, she became even more curious.

"Ansu, what are you doing?"

She leaned in close, bending slightly over his shoulder as a strand of hair carrying a faint fragrance fell forward. "Hmm? Hoffman's Alchemy Notes..."

Celia blinked, looking even more puzzled. "Ancient texts like this don't have much reference value for our current research due to the era they were written in. Why are you reading it so intently?"

Ansu looked up, meeting her curious, wide eyes which were just inches away, and explained.

"I just had a premonition... I felt that this book might have some kind of special magic resonance with the experiment you're conducting, so I came to check it."

"Magic resonance?" Celia was taken aback, then frowned slightly. "That's unlikely..."

"The foundation runes of the magic formula we are currently constructing were derived from the reverse engineering of your 'Spirit Amulet.' That is a special structure that has never appeared in magic history."

Her words struck exactly at the deeper doubt in Ansu's heart.

He had thought of this during the simulation; the activation condition for 《Hoffman's Alchemy Notes》 was: requires mana fluctuations of the same origin and resonance frequency.

In other words, the 【Spirit Amulet】 rewarded by the system and Hoffman's magic runes from a thousand years ago were of the same origin?

Did this relate to... the origin of the system itself?

Ansu tried to call out in his mind: 'System, can you come out and explain this?'

The system was very quiet and offered no response.

It made sense; except for the few snarky remarks it would offer at the end of a simulation, it usually remained in a frozen state.

"Ansu?" Celia noticed the fleeting gravity on his face and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Ansu shook his head, temporarily suppressing the many doubts in his heart.

He stood up and suggested, "Perhaps the formula we're building accidentally triggered some identification mechanism in this book, causing the resonance."

He used the speculation Celia had just told him in the simulation to explain it back to her.

Celia looked thoughtful.

"Come, let's go back." Ansu held the 《Alchemy Notes》 in his arms, his tone certain. "If we restart the experiment, we'll definitely be able to trigger a reaction from this book again!"

"Alright!" Celia nodded seriously.

...

Back at the alchemy table, with the experimental records from the previous simulation, Celia's progress was rapid, and she soon perfectly connected another set of key runes.

Ansu's attention, however, was already focused on the 《Alchemy Notes》, silently waiting for the expected change.

Sure enough, the moment this set of runes was successfully connected and mana began to flow smoothly through them...

A clear and rhythmic resonance suddenly came from the heavy ancient text in his hands, like a heart that had finally been awakened after a thousand years of sleep.

"The resonance frequency is exactly the same..." Celia looked up in surprise.

【Successfully activated magic rune】

The moment the system prompt appeared, the pages of the book suddenly began to turn rapidly without any wind, finally stopping precisely on a page near the middle.

Immediately after, the handwritten runes on that page seemed to come to life, breaking free from the paper one by one and transforming into three-dimensional patterns glowing with a faint blue light. They arranged and interlocked themselves in the air... quickly constructing a more complex magic structure.

"This is..." Celia's eyes widened slightly, followed by a look of admiration. "A fully functional, large-scale magic circle?"

"To achieve such a complex magic structure with such concise runes... Master Hoffman's magical attainments are truly astonishing!"

"But..." The surprise in her eyes was quickly replaced by a desire for research. "What is the specific function of this magic circle? Directional teleportation? Is it going to teleport us somewhere?"

Before she could finish her guess, the completed magic circle vibrated slightly.

A gentle, aged voice, sounding as if it had pierced through the dust of endless years, spoke with a tone of pure statement:

"Mana is the original, essential parameter of the world."

"The past cannot be changed, only recorded; however, mana can cross the barriers of time and space to transmit information."

In the next moment, a soft white light gushed out from the magic circle, enveloping the entire experimental area like flowing mercury.

【Triggered 'Time Beacon'】

【Accessing the historical memory node anchored by Hoffman in the Second Era】

【Status: Stable, Safe】

Seeing the "Safe" prompt, Ansu breathed a small sigh of relief.

He did not resist being enveloped by the gentle light; instead, he gripped Celia's slightly cool hand.

They looked at each other, both seeing the same anticipation and inquiry in the other's eyes.

Immediately after, they felt everything around them begin to change. The texture of space became distorted, and the flow of time fluctuated, as if they were placed in a river of interlacing light and shadow.

The light gradually dissipated, and the scene was reshaped.

Ansu found himself in a room filled with the atmosphere of a classical era.

This should also be a mage's workshop: wooden bookshelves reaching the ceiling were piled with scrolls and ancient texts, and exquisite instruments and magic crystals were scattered across a wide alchemy table...

An elder dressed in a dark, sophisticated robe, his face looking slightly tired, was hunched over a desk writing something.

He appeared to be around sixty years old, perhaps older, but the hand holding the pen was steady and strong; this should be Hoffman himself.

So...

Have I traveled through time?

Ansu instinctively looked down to check, but he couldn't see his own body.

He was surprised to find that he seemed to have become a pure entity of consciousness. He could feel his existence in this space and perceive the flow of mana, but he had no physical form.

He had become an invisible observer?

Hoffman, in front of him, was completely unaware of these anomalies and continued to record intently, the scratching sound of the pen nib across the paper clearly audible.

Ansu thought silently: I shouldn't have truly returned to the past; I'm just 'watching' a video of the past...

Just like an immersive 3D movie.

What about Celia?

With a thought, he hurriedly looked around.

As if responding to his thought, a pulse of consciousness carrying excitement and surprise came from the other side of the room:

'I'm here!'

Ansu's 'vision' followed the sensation.

He saw a faint ripple in the empty air over there.

Although he couldn't see a form or hear a voice, the unique temperament in the tone of that consciousness was undoubtedly the Miss Witch.

'So...'

Her consciousness came again.

'Are the two of us ghosts now?'

Ansu pondered. 'It seems Master Hoffman used some method to record a complete 'environmental memory' into the ancient text, which can only be triggered for playback under specific conditions.'

As for why it was this specific segment... it must be crucial to history.

'Ansu!'

Celia drifted toward the huge, very classical arched window of the room. Her consciousness pulse suddenly strengthened, carrying irrepressible excitement:

'Look out the window! Quick, look!'

'The point in time we've arrived at is at least two thousand years ago, during the mid-to-late period of the Second Era!'

Ansu hurried over.

He then saw a scene of incomparable grandeur.

Mysterious spires towered into the clouds everywhere, their surfaces flowing with an unending magical glow. Transparent magic tracks interlaced in mid-air, and various magic creations floated and moved like stars. He even saw dragons on the distant horizon...

An era where magic civilization reached its peak.

The Second Era.

Also known as—the Era of Magic.

However, this magnificent image did not keep Ansu immersed for long; his attention was soon drawn to another sight in the sky.

Thick and eerie dark red clouds, like festering scars, covered the horizon, shrouding the glorious magic city in a dim and oppressive light. The entire world seemed to have an apocalyptic filter over it, as if the end was near.

Celia's speculation was correct; this was indeed the scene of the Second Era as it approached its end.

Ansu quickly organized the historical threads he knew: the "present" where he lived was the Third Era, the Era of Humanity, which encompassed a thousand years of the Dark Ages and over six hundred years of the Radiant Calendar led by the Church of Holy Light.

And this brilliant yet gloomy Second Era before him was generally believed to have lasted about five thousand years.

The end of the Second Era was precisely because of that well-known Demon Calamity War, where the ancient demon empire cruelly wiped the entire world clean, as if formatting it.

Just as the consciousness of the two continued to exchange their many discoveries and thoughts, the scene before them finally began to change.