When A Mage Revolts

When Benjamin first came upon the name ‘The Tree of Time’, he immediately rejected it.

What the hell?

This is a god-damned ginkgo! What kind of relation would it have with time? It would still merely be gingko regardless of its pompous, magnificent name in this world.

There was not much information about the ‘Tree of Time’ in "The Encyclopedia of the Plants in the Kingdom". According to the book, this particular species was deemed to be extinct in the kingdom, and was a rare find in the whole of the land. Only a few leaves were kept and conserved. According to the legends, there were people who could use them to make a beacon of time and use it to travel through time and space to alternate worlds.

When he saw the phrase ‘alternate worlds’, Benjamin’s eyelids twitched.

Could it be?

He carefully examined the memories he had on the final night he had before he teleported. He was sitting in front of his study desk, and on the desk was his computer, on his right his mobile phone and the left a stack of books. The gingko leaf he randomly picked up to use as a bookmark was most probably in between one of the books.

If he accidentally fell asleep, it was possible that he came into contact with the books, which in turn caused the leaf to drop out of them….

"..."

So, this was all the fault of gingko leaves?

Benjamin was overwhelmed by the unscientific approach of this explanation; gingko creating teleportation? You must be pulling his leg! However, worrying about science was not exactly a wise choice when he did successfully teleport himself into this world.

There was no use for him to cry over spilt milk. Whether the gingko could actually create teleportation no longer bore any meaning to Benjamin. What he needed to do now was to break the curse within him. Thus, he should instead focus on where he could find another leaf from the famed ‘Tree of Time’.

It was not stated in the book.

Gingko was a mythical item in the Kingdom of Helius; it was not even a popular myth but a neglected one. It would occasionally be mentioned in some obscure books or stories. No one had actually seen it before.

This was the reason why the descriptions about gingko in the Encyclopedia were rather brief.

Oh darn it... He would be dead meat.

How was he going to find something considered mythical?

Benjamin’s attempt to break his curse met a dead end.

Michelle was really something. Was it really necessary for her to find something so unusual to be the medium for her curse? She could have settled for some random piece of leaf! Instead, he was now left stuck in this mess.

...Wait.

How did Michelle find gingko if it really was that scarce? A thought suddenly hit Benjamin as he barked at the System, "Quick, show me the picture of the gingko leaf you just displayed. It’s Michelle’s leaf. Let me see it again."

The System sounded petulant, "Why? That hogs up my RAM."

Benjamin pressured the System, "Stop dilly-dallying, hurry! Even if you stored up the bulk of your RAM, you wouldn’t even get a sprout anyways."

"Alright, alright, hold on," the System finally gave in after Benjamin’s constant urges. After thirty seconds of mechanical noises that came from the System’s processes, the picture was finally displayed before Benjamin.

Benjamin had his attention fixed on the leaf.

"Zoom it, zoom it again..."

As expected.

When the picture was zoomed in and the details on the leaf were finally clear to Benjamin, he finally understood how Michelle found that gingko.

That was the bookmark he used before he teleported.

Finally, the mystery was solved. He picked up the leaf and used it as a bookmark, and the bookmark somehow teleported him into this world and transformed him into Benjamin. The leaf was probably dropped right next to him, where Michelle picked it up and used it as a medium to curse Benjamin.

So, Michelle really did pick the gingko leaf at random and made it her medium to put a curse.

Who else could he blame? Blame that leaf; it was the one that started all this. If he was to write a memoir some time in the future, he would definitely name it as "The Bloody Case of A Gingko".

He researched on curses and gingko for so long to only learn of this unfortunate event. Benjamin felt like crying.

Undoubtedly, it was going to be difficult for him to break the curse by himself. The gingko in this world went extinct long ago. He could never find another one as a medium. The only gingko he knew was with Michelle. What was the difference between knowing and not knowing, then?

Benjamin had no choice but to temporarily give up on breaking the curse. No point worrying over something he had no control of. A watched flower would never bloom, but an untended willow would grow; if he could just forget about this, maybe he would one day come across another piece of gingko.

He should instead work on something else.

Setting the "Encyclopaedia of Plants in the Kingdom" aside, he once again took out the "Magic 101" that was properly hidden out of sight.

Aside from the curses, Benjamin was also interested in enchantments and the creation of magical tools.

He gave some thoughts and decided to flip to the section regarding creation of magical tools.

On the topic of enchantments, there was no need for him to use it in the near future as his bullets were all blessed. He was much more curious about the topic he knew the least - the creation of magical tools.

The cross he got from the bishop was probably a type of magical tool. Obviously the bishop would not call it a "magical tool"; he probably named it "divine apparatus" or something.

If he could learn how to make magical tools, his abilities would skyrocket!

Ecstatic, he read on.

He was soon disappointed again after he finished reading the section.

According to the book, the creation of magical tools would be a complicated process which would require some extremely rare materials. This was not the point, however. The point was, most of the methods in creating a magical tool was lost during the church’s massacre. In this book, only the method of creating one specific magical tool remained - the cloak worn by Michelle and the mages from the Silent Academy. Apparently, the cloak could slightly increase the magical power of the person wearing the cloak.

What the heck could he do with the cloak? If he wore that, he was basically announcing to the world that he is a mage! The church would be very elated to capture him, really.

Benjamin shook his head dejectedly.

He was hit with disappointment one after another. He lost his optimism now;

He could not even find the motivation to read the part on enchantments.

Ah, the reading could wait. He should do something better to change his state of mind.

Benjamin closed "Magic 101" and hid it properly before he took out the rock that was named ‘Water Elemental Crystal’. In hindsight, he was thankful that he managed to get this from the two when he sought payment for his medical treatment.

Hopefully, this thing would not disappoint him too.

Just as its name suggested, this was a pure crystal of the Water Element. According to them, this had quite a number of functions: training one’s elemental attraction, helping in the release of water spells, and could even act as a raw material in the creation of magical tools... Apparently, they would never bear to part with this crystal if it was not for Benjamin saving their teacher.

With the praises sung, Benjamin would never let go of the opportunity to make use of the crystal.

Water Elemental Crystal, huh….

If it was possible, Benjamin wanted to use this precious crystal to boost his abilities; that was what normal mages would do anyways. Benjamin was not an average mage though, the method that worked out for the others might not work for him.

His way of improving was actually pretty straightforward - strengthen his triangular symbol.

However, could he bring the crystal into the space of his consciousness?

Benjamin was always regretful that he could not store things in his Space. The teleported protagonists in fictional stories always had an Inventory around them that they could chuck things in. Some of the stories even allowed them to plant some crops in their Inventory and create another world in them! His Space, on the other hand, was not made for storage.

He tested this before. The only few things that could enter the Space were water particles, the System’s annoying voice, and himself.

Although the Water Elemental Crystal was basically made of water particles, it was solidified. He was unsure whether the crystal would get through.

No use brooding on it. Benjamin decided to give it a try.

He held the Water Elemental Crystal in his hand, closed his eyes, and entered the Space. When he opened his eyes once again, he was in the Space, but his hands are empty. No sign of the Crystal whatsoever.

Damn it! He failed to get the crystal in.

Benjamin returned to the real world and stared at the blue stone, frustrated. They said that this was made from water particles? If that was so, he should be able to get it in the Space then. Why was it stuck outside here, then?

Water particles... Ah!

Benjamin palmed his forehead as he realised what was the problem.

Since it was made from water particles, he should move the crystal just the way he move the water particles inside the Space! It would not work if he moved it in the way he entered the Space.

Yeah, this was it!

Benjamin adjusted himself immediately. Once again, he was in the mysterious state where he was half in the Space and half in real life.

Then, he focused his attention on the Water Elemental Crystal.

With a whoosh, the crystal disappeared!

Benjamin tried to contain his excitement as he went inside the Space again. The clear blue stone was now levitating in the air, emitting a slight aura of moisture around it. There was quite a number of water particles swimming, as if happily around it like schools of fish.

Benjamin sighed in relief upon seeing this.

He finally did get the Water Elemental Crystal in here.

If this did not work, he could do nothing but to barge towards the Silent Academy and complain of the fraud they committed by giving him fraudulent medical treatment compensation.