Book 2 – Chapter 2: Power

The portal to Temporalis opened like a wound in reality itself. Power flooded the room. The familiar essence of the symbol of his godhood surrounded him. His cloak wrapped around him, its sleeves covering his arms, its hood settled behind his neck. The familiar garment encompassed Sen for all of a few seconds before the System began its work.

[The God of Magic’s Cloak will be upgraded to God-Grade.]

A blinding light enveloped the room, covering every inch it its radiance. Light reflected off piles of gold and jewels. Even Ragmár’s sword shone in the light, giving it the appearance of a divine weapon. Intricate lines of gold formed along Sen’s cloak, as if master artisans were dragging the tips of thin paintbrushes over it. The lines ran down his sleeve, and to his surprise, did not stop there. They continued onto his hands, creating a golden circle at the center of his palms, and continued spreading from there towards the tips of each finger. The intricate golden lines continued, forming an array of interconnected paths that spread all the way from the bottom hem of his cloak to his collar. 

His face tingled as the lines crawled upon it as well. He summoned a small, floating mirror from his temporal world and stared into it. The lines had even climbed onto his face. They stopped at his eyes, which had turned the same divine shade of gold they always did when he donned his cloak and used its power. 

Sen traced one of the lines on his face with a finger. “Mana channels…interesting.” 

Mana channels allowed mages to more easily funnel magic through clothing or armor. The lines on his previous cloak had been mostly cosmetic, and they certainly hadn’t extended to his skin itself. He’d never even seen mana channels form directly on a person’s body. But if the channels on his skin worked the same way as his changing eye color, they’d only appear when he actively channeled power through his cloak. 

The cloak had a natural aura about it that caused it to shine vibrantly, and it was clear its newest form was an upgrade in every conceivable way. If that wasn’t obvious enough, he received several notifications regarding its new powers.

[New Effect: Endless Well - the user may store mana within this item.]

[New Effect: Spirit House - the user may house spirits and other compatible creatures within this item. The user may temporarily fuse their mana with beings housed within to utilize special abilities based on the being’s nature or affinity.]

[New Effect: Restorative - the cloak will restore itself over time if damaged.]

[New Effect: Unsurpassed Veil - the user may hide the depths of their power while wearing this item.]

Sen blinked. Aside from restorative, which was relatively simple, all the effects were incredibly powerful. Sen already had mana in abundance, but building additional reserves within his cloak could pay off in the future for long fights or particularly draining spells. As he developed stronger spells and faced tougher opponents, he’d burn through mana more quickly. This would ensure his overwhelming mana advantage always remained in play. 

Spirit House also had interesting implications. He’d chosen the [Spirit Caller] artifact from Brightsail Academy’s High-Grade Artifact Collection. With that artifact, and the fact he’d recently connected with Fawna, the steward of all his spirits, he could begin contracting with spirits again in this time. Though he could freely call upon spirits with which he’d formed a bond, or store them in his temporal world, there was still value in the second ability of Spirit House. By housing his spirits within his cloak, they could use combined abilities. Depending on the spirit, that could be a great asset in combat. Working alongside a spirit strong in an element he wasn’t as well-versed in might also allow him to increase his understanding of that element. The implications were exciting. 

Finally, there was Unsurpassed Veil, which allowed him to mask his power. When he’d summoned his cloak in the battle against Harpis, he’d essentially announced himself to the gods of this time. When he’d fought Snake during their graduation duel, he’d been forced to fight the avatar of a god without his cloak to avoid revealing his true identity on a grand stage. Now, that wouldn’t be a problem. He could use his full power freely. 

Beyond the new abilities of his cloak, Sen could feel how much more receptive it was to his mana. This was a proper conduit for his magic, and with it, he would be ready for the threats he would face in the world beyond the academy. 

He felt a pulse of mana from within his temporal world, and realized the grimoire stored within it was resonating with the cloak. He smirked. Now Sen had two god-grade items in his possession.

With that done, he turned his attention to the next System notification.

[The unique class: The God of Magic will now undergo modification.]

[Several level up rewards have become redundant due to recent acquisitions. Revising perks accordingly.] 

• Artifacts of mid-grade or lower may now be upgraded through use.
• Magic Essence Spheres may now be created by defeating foes with the corresponding affinity. 
• In addition to quests, the user may periodically receive bounties that will offer additional rewards.
• Level Up Rewards will no longer occur at every level.

Sen’s eyes widened at that. He’d previously received a handful of artifact upgrades as level-up rewards, and he’d had to use them sparingly. But now it seemed he could upgrade low-and mid-grade artifacts to high grade simply by using them over time. Some artifacts could already evolve over time naturally, but his class was seemingly allowing him to apply that potential to all artifacts below high-grade. In theory, even low-grade artifacts could be useful to him now. His mind already wandered toward the low-grade artifacts he had passed over on his first walkthrough of the vault. How many of them could shine once more, given time in his hands.

The vault had left him with Magic Essence Spheres in abundance, so the System seemed to consider that reward redundant. Instead of giving him some when he leveled up, now he’d receive them from defeating certain foes. That could also be useful. 

The addition of bounties sounded straightforward. They would likely be similar to quests, only with the intention of taking out a particular target. So far, the changes were beneficial as far as he was concerned. Even if he no longer received level-up rewards every level, he’d be able to get many of the same benefits more often. 

[Additional Modification of the God of Magic Class. Hybrid rank.]

He raised a brow. “Hybrid rank? What?”

[Hybrid Rank - The mage rank of the unique class, The God of Magic, is determined by the sum of both pure and hybrid stats. As Hybrid Rank increases, new class effects and benefits will become available.]

[Current Status]

Level: 8

Strength/Mana Aggression: 127

Speed/Mana Encapsulation: 133

Magic: 179

Constitution/Mana Protection: 122

Mana Points: 999,999,999+

[Current sum of all stats is 561.]

[Current Hybrid Rank: Noble Class]

Sen studied the status before him. In his time, a Noble class mage was around level 50. In modern times, a Noble class mage was level 500. So it seemed the System now determined his mage rank based on a scenario where Sen activated all of his hybrid stats at once. 

[Noble Class perk - Hybrid stats will now have a base of 100 instead of 0.] 

Sen shook his head. Previously, his hybrid stats only increased when one of his three enhancements, Protection, Aggression, or Encapsulation, was active. Now, instead of returning to zero when he deactivated them, they would only fall back to 100. It meant he’d be faster, stronger, and more durable all the time. Essentially, his hybrid stats would normally rest at what had once been their peak a thousand years ago. That was incredibly powerful. 

[Enhancements will now develop additional effects after each Hybrid Rank, starting at Noble Rank.] 

[Additional effects]

• Protection - While under the effects of Protection, mind-altering spells, illusions, and debilitating spells are less effective against the user.
• Aggression - While under the effects of Aggression, additional damage is inflicted to enemy barriers, wards, and protection spells. 
• Encapsulation - While under the effects of Encapsulation, enemies within range will face increased wind resistance, slowing them down and making movement more difficult. 

The System was not only improving his class but refining it. The Hybrid Rank System would allow him to continually grow stronger as his rank increased. If these were the perks for reaching the Noble rank, he was already looking forward to advancing to the Lord rank. 

Today, he’d gained the most power he ever had since coming to this time. The modifications to his class and upgrades to his cloak would have a significant impact on his future development. 

He’d turned his attention to the book that Ragmár left him, and went to retrieve it when a loud knock resounded from the room’s only entrance. 

“Hey boss! You okay? There’s a lot of light coming from that room and we, uh, well, we were starting to get worried. You aren’t ascending to the heavens or anything like that, are you?” Samara called out. 

Sen smiled. He scanned the book briefly. It was silver, with the image of a clock on its cover. The clock hands were actually moving, audibly ticking as they did so. His brow furrowed, and then he realized what spell this was.

“I’ll…be out in a moment,” he called out. 

There was a distortion on the cover. He ran his hand over it, pouring cleansing mana forth to remove it. The image of a lock appeared. It secured the clock’s hands, preventing them from moving forward. He knew in an instant what this was. It wasn’t a spell tome, but the journal of a spell he’d been working on. A record of a spell in progress from over a thousand years ago. One he’d gifted to Ragmár. 

The spell’s name was Lock. 

It was a spell he’d designed to work in unison with maxim to trap an opponent in time. Aside from his study of the Temporal World and Time Crawl, Sen had never been able to stop time completely. He could slow it to a crawl in a small area with the Time Crawl spell. But even with his vast ocean of mana, exerting his will on one of the most powerful and undeniable of natural magics had thus far proven difficult. He could push back against the flow of time, but he had yet to force it to a stop. Others in this time had found new ways to alter temporal magic. The gateways to Harpis Castle had been an example of negating time to travel great distances in an instant. But this spell was something else entirely. 

Rather than slowing down everything around him while he moved freely, like with Time Crawl, Lock completely trapped a person or, in some cases, a part of them. It was incredibly powerful in theory. The only problem was that it was unfinished, far beyond the limitations of his time. This gift was proof that Ragmár understood Sen better than most. 

A challenge. It was as if Ragmár was reaching across time to say. “Well, can you do it now? The System has progressed, can you keep up with it?” 

Sen grinned. He slipped the journal into his temporal world and turned to the door. Out of everything in the vault, this was perhaps the gift he was most grateful for. It was a reminder of what he’d come to this time for. It was a reminder of the quest he’d gotten after speaking with Jonathan Brightsail. A quest to reach his goal of finding the secret sun at the core of all magic. Sen needed to further expand the threads of his magic, to study their connections so he could find and analyze the pattern that Jonathan had mentioned. He’d do so by pushing his magic to its limits. 

He already had a few ideas on how to complete Lock, but for now, his friends were waiting. 

They spent the rest of the afternoon cataloguing and clearing out the vault. Though Sen’s temporal world still wasn’t quite ready to live in, it contained plenty of storage room. Together he and Mori transferred most of its contents inside while Dirke and Fawna gave the others a tour of the castle. Ilm hadn’t seen it in over a thousand years, and it was Samara and Milim’s first time visiting it. Now that the corrupted shadow magic that had overtaken Fawna was gone, it made for an interesting historical tour. Sen reminisced on some of his own memories while he worked, but eventually, they’d finished. They’d taken everything. The gold, the artifacts, the magic essence spheres. Even most of the shelves and storage racks. When they were done, the vault was more of an empty space than anything else. 

On the way out, Sen even broke the seal on the vault and transferred its door to his temporal world. The Vault Guardians were powerful creations and might prove useful in the future. For now they’d guard a door that led nowhere, but one day he’d assign them a new purpose. 

When they were done, he sealed the hole in the hall left by the missing door and met the others in the entrance hall of the castle. 

“Well, I suppose there’s no need for me to look over this place anymore. The person we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived,” Dirke said. 

In truth, knowing someone had been watching over the castle had made him feel better. Even if Dirke had avoided the sections of the castle corrupted by Fawna, which Sen still wondered about considering her strength and awareness, he had been monitoring the place. 

“Mori, do you think he’s ready? That…project of ours?” Sen asked. 

Mori chuckled. “Ah, a guardian for the castle? Does that mean you intend to rebuild it one day?”

Sen grinned. “You heard Ragmár’s promise.” 

“One day, a new kingdom will rise, and though it may not be my bloodline that continues it…” Milim started. 

Dirke and Mori joined in. “…it will thrive, and it will do so with the God of Magic’s blessing and protection.” 

Sen smiled. “My friend declared it, and so it shall be.”

They had the ruins of the kingdom; they had heirs, and they had the God of Magic. What more could they need? 

One day he would return and see the kingdom restored to its former glory and beyond. But for now, they had some work to do. 

But he wouldn’t leave it unprotected. Even if there were little more within these walls to protect than memories, he would protect them. 

“Come forth. Embrace the purpose for which we have saved you,” Sen cried out. 

A portal to his temporal world erupted open. It was far larger than any portal he’d opened to that plane in a long time. It had to be to unleash the creature waiting within.

[Oh! So that’s why you saved it! I’ve been wondering about that.] 

A giant creature stepped through the portal and into the halls of the castle to a chorus of surprised noises and gasps from his friends. 

Enhanced, healed, and stronger than ever. 

The Kingdom of Magic’s new guardian creature.