When A Mage Revolts

After experiencing such an intense attack, the guests were dizzy and fatigued; the students were also seriously scared. Because of this, Benjamin wanted them to rest as soon as possible. Thus, the opening ceremony ended hastily.

However, his goal had been achieved.

He wanted to make the existing mages aware of how horrifying the Church was and hopefully get them to realize that they must unite in order to banish the Church once and for all. What better way to convince them than with a direct attack from the Church themselves?

Of course, it was not good that the opening ceremony did not go on as planned - this would no doubt greatly affect the reputation of the Mage Academy. However, at least it was not all for nothing, right?

After tidying the hall and returned to his private accommodation on campus, Benjamin laid on his bed and let the fatigue overwhelm his body. The Church’s attack was really odd. How was it that the Priest was able to sneak into the hall? How did his energy get activated? Of course, more importantly, how did the Church get a normal Priest the ability to bear powers from the elemental plane?

That fourth generation Pope has been dead for countless years, it couldn’t be that it was related to something like inheritance.

Besides, just how many of these "inheritance" things were there in the Church?

Benjamin got more tired of thinking about it and so decided to put the thought on hold for now. The Church would probably find it hard to replicate an attack like that and because of this, the Mage Academy could enjoy some peaceful days in the short run.

Right now, he should really study the new Space of consciousness.

"How is it going? Did you manage to research the new incantation?"

As Benjamin entered the Space of consciousness, he enjoyed the constellation of runes and cone characters that were gently whirling above his head. He turned around and accidentally kneaded a smiley face as he asked.

"... I’m done with it." The System’s voice came from the two smiley faces above him.

"For real?"

Benjamin was in disbelief.

He was just casually asking out of curiosity, he did not expect the System to actually have completed the task. The System had always been very slow to work; at his usual pace, shouldn’t it have only just started its analysis?

"Of course it’s real, are you doubting the efficiency of a super-powered A.I?"

Benjamin hesitated for a while before answering sceptically, "Don’t lie, if the incantations you researched turn out useless, I’ll use my precious transfiguration skills to transfigure you into something stupid like a skateboard so that I can make you eat the road."

"... Relax, they’re definitely useful."

As Benjamin heard the System’s reply, a sense of hope fluttered within his heart. The system must have really achieved some results for it to be so confident.

"Alright, tell me about the results of your study."

The System cleared its throat and said, "Regarding incantations that can cause the runes to resonant, they are all related to the three original incantations. Therefore, I have unravelled the three incantations into syllables, taken them apart and rearranged them, and finally came up with five billion seven hundred and eighty-four million six hundred and fifty-three thousand two hundred and eighteen incantations possible results. I’m confident that one of these is correct!"

"..."

Benjamin took a deep breath before grabbing the smiley faces and aggressively beating them into the ground. Then, he got up and smiled peacefully, "If that’s the case, you must have must have done a lot of hard work."

The System’s face was swollen but he seemed relatively unfazed, "It wasn’t hard at all, it’s just a short and simple digital process, I obtained the results from working just a little while."

"..."

Benjamin rubbed his forehead hopelessly.

"Is this the only way? Will I have to get through the five billion incantations via trial and error? Does that mean I will have to try for who knows how long until I’m able to wield my casting powers again?"

"That’s still okay. If you read one spell every second, it will only take a span of around ten years. Add on to that the relative time difference between the Space of consciousness and the real world, then as long as you work hard around the clock in here, you’ll be able to find the right incantation in about half a year!"

Upon hearing this, Benjamin could only take a deep breath to try to hold back his urge to violently beat up the System again.

"Is there no other way?" He asked again seriously, "You should understand that people will very quickly realize if I’m not able to use magic for an extended period of time. I can’t rely on transfiguration skills for emergencies."

It was vital that he retrieve his daily casting powers as soon as possible!

As the director of a Mage Academy, how could the academy still open its doors if he himself was unable to perform any magic?

What a headache...

"... Alright, it’s actually possible if you really want to reduce the number of possible incantations." The System sighed, "If we were to go through the existing theories and spells for pre-existing spells to reduce the figure, then we might be able to get rid of the majority of incantations; however, it will still be a very big number and you will still have to go through it via trial and error."

However, this answer was not satisfactory, and Benjamin rubbed his chin as he asked again, "Besides this, is there any other way?"

"If you have another method, you can try it yourself. To discover a new incantation is already creating something from nothing, I’m only suggesting such a method based on my understanding of runes."

"... Alright then, can you list out the entries of the simplified incantations, I’ll try them one by one."

The System fell silent, probably to do the math. Benjamin helplessly turned around to face the surrounding runes.

If the incantation matter was left to the System, then how could Benjamin continue to strengthen his abilities in the future?

After the abrupt change, the small bubble used to especially store the water elemental energy disappeared. The water elemental energy stored in the Space of consciousness likewise reverted to how it was it was before, freely roaming around in the darkness. Not to mention, in the past, the amount of water elemental energy was like a stream – now it looked like an ocean.

Benjamin was puzzled about where exactly all the water elemental energy came from.

Regardless, this change was a good thing. At least now, in the condition where his mind was linked to the water elemental energy, he could control more energy and achieve greater destructive powers.

After some thinking, he tried to calm himself before controlling the water elemental energy through his spiritual energy to prime them into the new runes.

That was the meditation method he first researched.

Accompanied by the slow flows of the water elemental energy, the new whirling runes lit up slightly, the two blue particles surrounding their edge sped up as well. A weak magic oscillation started emanating out from the runes as Benjamin felt his own spiritual energy being slowly nourished in the process.

Thank goodness that worked.

He used the water elemental energy to strengthen the runes and then the runes will then strengthen him. Although all kinds of changes had happened recently, this method was left unchanged.

Benjamin became a little more relaxed.

But despite this, he still did not know any new ways of casting and could not use even a bit of magic. Things were not looking good.

He couldn’t help but wonder about whether his journey in magic had come to an end.

Fortunately, the runes gave him a little comfort.

As he thought about this, he couldn’t help but walk towards the new runes. As he stood in front of them, he slowly reached out his hands and touched one of them gently.

Ding!

A sound softly rang out of from within the runes.