Chapter 316: Rekindling Hope, and the Academy of Eccentrics

On a gloomy morning, a thin layer of mist shrouded the streets and alleys.

Altina walked beside Vera, heading toward the Mutual Aid Tavern together.

On the way, Vera couldn’t suppress the curiosity in her heart and asked, “Why are you in such a hurry to meet... Master Hermit and Master Ash?”

After saying it, she muttered to herself. Calling her own brother and Celia that felt quite strange...

Altina explained slowly, “I saw the paper 《The Solution to Magic Pollution》 in the Benalu City newspapers. Benalu is a city with a very strong magitech atmosphere; at the time, almost every magitech scholar and engineer was heatedly discussing that thesis.”

“And through my travels over the years, I’ve met many people in the magic world and truly felt the craze sweeping across the entire community... Almost everyone is saying that magic is saved.”

So many years of wandering and searching had long ago worn down her emotions, but facing such a massive social discussion, she couldn't help but feel a flicker of what could only be called hope.

“And?” Vera asked, completely confused, tilting her head in bewilderment.

She didn't understand why this elf was so obsessed with matters of the magic world.

“I want to personally meet the masters who signed that paper, especially Hermit and Ash. Then, I...” Altina stopped halfway, her words trailing off.

The reason she had been searching for experts who tried to solve—or claimed to have solved—the problem of magic pollution was because...

Nature magic was also magic.

In the Second Era, the God transformed into the Eternal Tree that blotted out the sun, protecting the people and nourishing the growth of all things, allowing the land's vegetation to thrive endlessly. The entire elven kingdom—Elune—was like a secluded paradise.

But precisely because of this deep bond, once the God itself had a problem, the entire elven kingdom would be affected.

After the mana plague swept through her homeland, everything that was once full of life deteriorated, turning into a foul, rotting place of death. Even the originally gentle and friendly nature elements became frantic and violent.

The ‘crimson marrowstone’ she had been tracking a while ago originated from Elune; it was an active elemental crystal spawned by the monsterization mutation.

Just a small amount of these crystals smuggled into Norvigel had nearly blown up the entire city. From that, one could imagine how dangerous and terrifying the source of these hazardous goods, Elune, was today.

If the two people she was meeting today truly could solve magic pollution...

Then they could certainly solve the mana plague as well... Her home would be saved.

What did Master Hermit and Master Ash look like? They should be master-level figures who were old and gray, yet still devoted their hearts and blood to research... Perhaps they would be stiff and serious, like the magic scholars she had met before...

As she thought, the hope in Altina's heart flared up more and more, but she desperately tried to suppress it—she was afraid of getting a disappointing result, which would ultimately be a waste of effort, just like countless days and nights in the past.

After all, if there was no hope, there would be no disappointment...

“I can't say the specific reason yet,” Altina looked at Vera. “But the research results of those two masters are very important to me...”

Her tone carried a hint of suppressed earnestness.

“So I want to ask the two masters to help me complete a... a mission I must fulfill even if it takes my entire life.”

“As long as this mission can be achieved, no matter what price I have to pay, even my life... I am willing.”

“Oh...” Vera nodded, still only half-understanding.

This elven lady had always been acting mysterious, as if she were carrying some enormous secret.

But since the two had crossed paths before, Vera knew she wasn't dangerous, so she still agreed to take her back to meet her brother.

Seeing her so persistent and pitiful, Vera hoped her brother could truly help this elven lady...

...

During the morning hours.

The office on the second floor of the Mutual Aid Tavern had its doors tightly shut, completely cutting off the noise from downstairs.

Ansu sat behind the desk, observing the two special guests before him.

During this time, mages flocking to the Mutual Aid Association had been endless, but most were low-tier mages. A few mid-tier ones were already rare, yet the two who came to his door today were truly at the high-tier level.

Of these two mages, one was bald and the other had a full beard. The middle-aged bald man looked ordinary, but the mana fluctuations around him were unfathomable. The bearded man was burly and stood half a step behind the bald man, his posture respectful to the point of humility.

Strong mages like this coming to join me? It seems Edmond's publicity has really started to pay off.

While Ansu was thinking, the assistant, Allen, walked in carrying red tea.

“President, guests, please have some tea.”

After Allen left, the bearded man stepped forward to take the teacup. He carefully poured tea for the bald mage first before pouring a cup for himself.

Ansu secretly commented that for a high-tier mage to lower himself like this, it was clear the bald man's strength was far beyond what it appeared to be.

He suppressed the doubt in his heart and spoke, “Forgive my ignorance, but I’ve never heard of your names before. I wonder if you two inherit from some ancient magic family, or if you come from some hidden magic organization?”

“Let’s make this short; we won't beat around the bush,” the bearded man put down his teacup and said straightforwardly. “The two of us come from the City of a Thousand Stars.”

Ansu was slightly stunned.

The City of a Thousand Stars—Radial—which was the Radial Magic Academy. Of course he knew it.

The first cult leader of the Echoes of Truth was a powerful mage who had fled from there. But what concerned him more was that the high priest Gulzan (Gustav), who had been causing trouble in the Talin region—the “ally” Barcas had found—also came from Radial and had been a professor at the academy.

“I know you are a new elder of the Echoes of Truth and the current true helmsman of the cult,” the bearded man continued. “You should be very clear about the connection between our two sides.”

Ansu was also direct: “Was Gulzan sent by you?”

“Of course not. He was just a defecting fool,” the bearded man sneered, his face full of disdain. “With the little skill Gustav had, he wasn't fit to represent the City of a Thousand Stars.”

Ansu became even more confused. Why was everyone fleeing from there?

What kind of terrifying place was the City of a Thousand Stars to drive people to such lengths?

“We came this time because of your paper on magic pollution.” The bearded man’s expression turned serious, but his next words became increasingly absurd. “We won't mention taking over the Echoes of Truth; after all, your insignificant little force is beneath the notice of our City of a Thousand Stars.”

He scanned Ansu from head to toe, seemingly trying to suppress the contempt in his heart to speak properly.

“We’ve studied your paper. It does have something to it. How about this: you and the other contributors and developers of the paper join the Radial Magic Academy. Return to the most orthodox inheritance of the magic world and serve the great God of Magic. As for this cult of yours... it should be disbanded!”

“Wait...” The more Ansu listened, the more confused he became. He almost thought he had misheard.

What was this eccentric saying? What was going on?

Indeed, the rumors were true—the magic academy had completely turned into a madhouse. The City of a Thousand Stars had fallen into collective hysteria, and these two's condition... was a bit more serious than the previous Gulzan.

“You two went to all this trouble to come here...” Ansu asked helplessly, “just to tell me this?”

The bearded man ignored his remark and continued on his own, “Oh right, since you're joining the academy, that project of yours to solve magic pollution must be disbanded immediately! Regarding this issue, the academy already has an orthodox path. This set of safe magic you've come up with is digging up the roots of magic; it is a desecration of the God of Magic and must not be allowed to spread further.”

Ansu finally understood. He immediately looked at the bald middle-aged man who had been silent.

“So your goal... is to oppose my safe magic and oppose my solution to the magic pollution problem?”

There were actually mages like this in the world?

“Correct.”

The bald middle-aged man finally spoke. The sound of him putting down his teacup was almost inaudible, yet it carried an unquestionable pressure. “Telling you this much is because the academy values talent. Your magic talent and spirit of exploration are worth praising, but the path you are taking is wrong.”

“Letting you join the academy is giving you and your cult leader Celia a way out. If you persist in resisting, the City of a Thousand Stars will completely wipe you, along with the entire Echoes of Truth, from this world.”

Ansu was directly moved to laughter by the absurdity.

He had seen arrogant people, but never anyone so ignorant of the heights of the heavens. One must know that even the head of the evil gods—the God of Slaughter, Ersos—didn't dare to claim he could definitely wipe out Celia.

“What makes you think you can beat Celia and the entire cult?”

Seeing Ansu's reaction, the bearded man was actually quite surprised.

“Isn't that obvious? Do you even know what kind of place the Radial Magic Academy is?”

“Even someone like me, who is at the bottom of the class in the academy, is two hundred years older than your former leader Samantha. The eternal youth and long life that Samantha spent her whole life bitterly pursuing are just resources in our City of a Thousand Stars, let alone those in the academy...”

Ansu had had enough of these two eccentrics and slammed the magitech communicator onto the desk.

In fact, from the moment these two entered the door, he felt something was wrong. While chatting, he had been sending messages to Celia.

【There are two idiots in my office saying they're going to wipe you out. Come take a look.】

The reply from the other side was almost instant.

【It's fine, keep talking to them. I've been watching the whole time.】

As it turned out, that sentence brought him an even greater shock...

Ansu paused for a moment, subconsciously looking up to scan every corner of the office.

Celia... has been monitoring me this whole time?

...