When A Mage Revolts

Benjamin left the rune research team appalled.

Truth to be told, the practice of human experimentation was not uncommon in this era of loose morals. But to conduct an experiment on one’s own body was unheard of.

"Even if we don’t do this, our lives are nearing its end. Since it has come to this, why not try out something new? Perhaps in this way, we will be able to see magic in its purest form before we die."

This was how the elderly mage had put it.

Benjamin understood as well. The mages who gathered here to research runes already had one foot in their graves. Without any new breakthroughs, they could only dwindle until their final days. Now with a possible breakthrough in their reach, they would not hesitate to sacrifice all that they had just to pursue it.

And so, after a fruitless attempt at persuasion, he could only bid the elder mages good luck.

Upon returning to the private overseer quarters, Benjamin once more dived into the space of consciousness.

He had not yet attempted the previously researched rune spell. Now that everything else was settled, he could finally spare some time to test out its effect!

And so, within the pitch-black space of consciousness, Benjamin closed his eyes.

It was different when compared to conventional rune markings; a fair amount of preparation was needed to cast it. The process of drawing each dot was tedious, to say the least. Because of this, he manipulated the water elements in the air and simply created formations based on the rune’s markings instead.

In no time at all, more than ten runes formed within the space of consciousness, circling around Benjamin like constellations.

Yet… nothing happened.

Benjamin opened his eyes in disappointment.

"The value of the ingredients needed is too great." The System hopped over and pointed out, "It would cost more than ten gold pieces worth of magical beast materials to set up the markings. Yet here you are trying to casually conjure it with water element manipulation - what’s the point of anyone else trying?"

Benjamin shook his head in response and replied, "It’s not like I had hoped for its effects to mimic that of conventional casts’. However, since casting it this way really had worked, it means a pattern exists in the arrangement of its markings. If I replicate the pattern in any form, then surely there should be some sort of reaction, no?"

The System thought for a while before replying.

"Well… there should be a reaction."

"Then why isn’t there any?" Benjamin furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to maintain the conjured runes.

"It’s probably being sealed by something."

"What do you mean by ‘something’?"

"An even greater pattern." System lifted its head, its two comical faces looking toward the skies. "There must be something much more complex and impressive than this within your space of consciousness.

Benjamin was slightly confused.

He followed System’s lead and gazed upwards. The runic star chart pulsed high above the space of consciousness, seemingly no different from when it first appeared. However, upon closer inspection, both it and the runic casting certainly shared… similarities.

Could it be that they were both a kind of casting?

He immediately dispersed the runes surrounding it. By mimicking the runic star chart above, he attempted to conjure a new rune casting technique using water elemental magic.

Previously, System had stated that runic star charts reflected the constellations in the pure blue world. If it was indeed a casting technique, then its power implied that it was much more superior to any simple defense or polymerization techniques.

Upon seeing this, System hid afar and said unnervingly, "Hey… what are you trying to do? Something tells me that you shouldn’t be doing this…"

Unfortunately, Benjamin had already shifted all of his focus onto those runes. With his attention completely focused on restoring the runic star chart, the System’s comments fell on deaf ears.

One layer, two layers… normally he did it subconsciously. But now that he was meticulously piecing it together, he realized that the complexity of the runic star chart was far beyond what anyone could imagine. In just a few square meters of space, nearly a hundred unique runes were laid out; one could get dizzy just by looking at it. Benjamin quickly realized that there was no possible way that he could map out the entire runic star chart. As such, he decided on mapping just one corner of it.

At last, after spending nearly two-hours in the space of consciousness, he conjured a water elemental rune disc two-meters in diameter. He looked at the runes converge in tightly knit formations at his feet, their intricate patterns slowly giving him a headache. Benjamin almost couldn’t believe that he had actually managed to make it with his own two hands.

Then… In the instant it was completed, the runes suddenly lit up.

Benjamin grinned.

Finally, a reaction.

A soft pillar of light beamed upward from the runes below his feet and connected to the runic star chart above. The runes Benjamin had mimicked using water elemental magic matched up with that of the star chart, their positions reflected each other like a reflection in a mirror.

The pillar of light had also enveloped Benjamin in the center of it.

In that instant, he felt the world around him spin out of control while his eyes also quickly shut instinctively. He thought he would be teleported to the pure blue world, but when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that he was in a completely foreign world instead.

It did not look like a pure blue world….

Shades of paint were scattered across a watery region, while light rays of various colors danced before his eyes. Red, blue, yellow… The color of the light rays was also constantly changing; similar to the constant condensing and dispersing of mist formations, this maelstrom of colors created quite a bizarre scene.

Benjamin could not help but feel astounded.

Where was he?

He tried to move around. Yet when he thought of moving, he realized he was floating in mid-air. His body hovered within the boundless space, mingling gently with the extraordinary projections of light. As he was carried away by the surrounding energy flow, he found it difficult to control his movements.

Unbelievable…

A refreshing sensation suddenly washed over him and the doubts in his mind were temporarily cast aside as he slowly drifted along, similar to how a bird would feel during its first flight in the sky.

But… these mists of light seemed to have detected his slow-moving presence.

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

Sounds emitted were from the mists, but Benjamin had no idea where they were coming from. However, he could detect various emotions from them. Restlessness, rage, curiosity… these emotions were clearly channeled towards him. It almost as if some kind of creature was trying to communicate with him in their own unique language.

In truth, these sensations were not at all alien to Benjamin.

It bore similarities to the runes in the pure blue world…

The thought crossed his mind and briefly jolted him awake. What kind of joke was this? This kaleidoscopic space was like a nightclub dance floor. What did this have to do with the pure blue world?

Nonetheless, these emotions in which were profoundly distinct, yet, obviously directed towards him, felt way too familiar.

As he thought about this, Benjamin begun to observe the surrounding mists of light. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the number of colors in the mists of light was constant. After counting them all, he found that there was a total of six colors that could be seen.

At that instant, Benjamin’s heart skipped a beat.