Chapter 72: Druidic Magic

They landed in the center of a wide-open cavern. The surrounding goblins stared at them with confusion. Many had spent their whole lives within these caverns and had only seen their own kind along with Monsters.

In the center was a large stone house bracing against a massive pillar. The pillar was covered in [Auer’s Moss] and seemed to light the entire city. Various stone dwellings were across the massive cavern; some carved vertically from the walls.

They followed Furtak inside the mansion. Passing through the house and eventually to a library of scrolls, the party sat at a table. Furtak fumbled through several scrolls.

“What are you looking for?” Rainer asked.

“I don’t have too much, but there is a map of the general border of the forbidden North, some information on theories and findings about it…and here is everything I have,” Furtak said. He took a bundle of scrolls over to the table. Theodore stood up and was first to look through it.

“What is your interest in any case?” Furtak asked.

Rainer thought for a moment but, with Furtak being someone who lived so near his target, he decided to reveal at least the creature they were after.

“We are looking for a Unicorn.”

“A Unicorn…” Furtak paused for a moment. Rainer thought that perhaps there was a translation error, or that Furtak had never heard the word.

“A white horned horse of immeasurable magic, correct? You did not strike me as the kind to chase after myths and legends…”

But his own words caused him to laugh.

“I suppose a man who hands out a tier 6 spells and other magics like he is giving a coin to a beggar is just as much of a myth. The Great Sage mentioned one such beast once but it was a random thought. He too had some interest in the Forbidden North, but he was alone. And while many of his experiments often involved some reckless behavior, he was not suicidal. I can ask the Ice Wolf Queen if she knows anything.”

“That would be helpful,” Rainer responded. However, he soon realized what Furtak had said. That he would be asking a monster.

Elru joined Theodore in looking through the scrolls, her interest piqued.

Seeing no one else heading to the scrolls, the [Fire Sage] sat down and spoke, “Well then, Rainer, what can I help you with next?”

Before Rainer could respond Kara asked a question, “Is there a room I could have to myself? The World Energy here is so thick, I think I can make progress on my meditation. I have been stuck at level 8 for [General Aura Meditation] for a few months.”

This work is hosted on mananovel.com

“Marta!” Furtak suddenly yelled and soon, coming into the small room, was a female Goblin. Rainer couldn’t help but be surprised that she was quite beautiful despite the green skin and her race. She too stared at Rainer for quite a while before Furtak coughed.

[Goblin, Female, Fire Mage lvl 6]

Rainer [Appraised] her, thinking she might be half-human or otherwise. Now that he took a closer look at Furtak, while certainly was aged, he was not hideous like the goblins in the mines.

“My apprentice and second wife,” Furtak said, “Take…” He paused waiting for the Wolfkin to speak.

“Kara,” She responded.

“Kara to a Meditation room,” Furtak answered any following questions, “it’s a room with a special kind of [Auer’s Moss].”

Rainer glanced over at Theodore who understood his meaning.

“I’m interested in this room as well, can I bring…”

“Take anything you wish; you may even keep them. I have the original in another archive. My apprentices could use some work; they’ve been getting lazy as of late.” Furtak answered. Of course, he didn’t expect full trust from Rainer.

He laughed before speaking again as his wife and Kara left the room, with Theodore and Elru following behind, “No need to make such a surprised face. It is the moss that has this effect, make us less monster. Not any sort of cross breeding the other tribes practice, unsuccessfully.” Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

“Less monster?”

“You…perhaps your version of the Great Fire Sage’s notes are incomplete as well. What exactly is on there?”

“Just various fire spells.”

Furtak thought for a moment, before heading back the shelves and throwing a journal down onto the table.

“The only thing I was missing was some of the spells. I had thought there was more, but perhaps it was just that.”

Rainer picked up the journal and skimmed through it. Without a need to pay close attention to any Magical Formulae, he only required a few minutes before it was then able to be recalled in [Sleep Learning].

“That is a copy, you may read it at your leisure. Put simply whereas Demons are a race that is partly magical, we are a race that is partly Aural or rather Monster. It is ironic then,” Furtak said while waving his hand toward the [Auer’s Moss] in the room, “That by embracing this half not only can we extend our feeble lifespans, we become less monstrous in appearance. And similar to monsters, we can gain experience from absorbing the World’s Energy directly into our bodies.”

“How much?”

“A rather…illicit experiment by the Great Sage had shown the gain to only amount to reaching level 10 over the course of our lives, with proper techniques, but for doing little else it is quite significant.”

“And you being…Flame-Touched, is that a part of it?” Rainer couldn’t withhold his curiosity and just asked directly.

“Flame-Touched…The Great Sage called it his greatest regret.”

“And yet…”

“I became as such? Well, I am not the Great Sage!” Furtak said laughing, “And the increase to my life and power is more than enough for me. I do not dream to the have the capabilities to unravel secrets of the world nor do I even understand why he regretted becoming as such. The method I practiced is related to the Monster part of a Goblin, but being Flame-Touched is not exclusive to it by any means.”

“I’ll have to read over this journal soon,” Rainer said with unhidden excitement, “And here,” Rainer added as he waved his hand and withdrew numerous tomes. They contained various tier 1 and tier 2 spells from Nalmar. He had already committed these to memory though he hadn’t learned them yet.

Furtak sat there in silence after Rainer explained their purpose. During the rest periods over the flight, the party members with the translation skill had assisted in rewriting the important parts to Muknar. The tomes were quite small for such low tier spells.

“And in return?” Furtak questioned. He viewed sharing the journal as par for the course. The tier 6 [Inferno] spell had value far beyond just its actual power.

“I don’t wish to trade. That has never been my sole goal. I’m sharing this with you in the spirit that you can take it and perhaps advance it further. If you choose to share more with me, then great. But I am more than okay in making an unequal exchange. That it can advance your people and your mages,” Rainer said and then took out two sets of notes from his ring, “Look at this. These are notes from two guild-like places. They were trying to figure out how to reduce the tolerance to Magicite. They both were stuck on different aspects, some aspects that the other had figured out. Preventing this is exactly my goal.”

“And this is a part of your desire to gather like-minded Mages?”

“What kind of advancements could have occurred if they worked together? If your Great Sage worked with another talented Mage with an entirely different outlook and background?”

“The possibilities are endless…”

“Exactly. That is what I seek to accomplish. So, don’t think of this as a trade, think of it as cooperation. Of two separate people working towards the improvement of Magic.”

“I’ll have my apprentices make copies. Come, I’ll call for a monster so I can demonstrate some Druidic Magic.” Furtak originally planned on just a small demonstration. And perhaps the giving of some hope, but now he sought a more amicable relationship. He wouldn’t hide the difficulty a human might have in learning it.

“How about tomorrow? I flew quite some time to get here.”

Furtak agreed and took Rainer to the meditation room Kara was in. According to him, the increased and purified World Energy’s improved one’s sleep.

Theodore and Elru went over the various maps and scrolls Furtak had on the forbidden North right outside the door. Gunthar joined them as Rainer headed straight to sleep.

Speaking of his goals and magic had given him further motivation to draw out spatial magic from the Arcane. And to reach level 10 with [Voidwalker] as well. Given that it was a class that focused on Space-Time magic, with a 100% bonus, he imagined he could do both at once.

The meditation room had the same moss as before, but its light was a dim bluish-green. Kara sat in the center of the room. It only contained the moss and a single bed. By which was a sleeping mask, likely for dealing with the light.

With a bit of aid from Luna, Rainer fell asleep.

--

In the White Void of [Sleep Learning], Rainer sat with a sphere of Arcane Energy above his hand. He realized soon after that he had previously gone about it the wrong way. Arcane Energy’s natural property to affect space, as well as being drawn from elsewhere was an aspect of the Arcane.

Furthering this, may not help him create Arcane-Spatial Energy.

Using [Spatial Manipulation], Rainer manipulated the gravity around him. That was what he needed to focus on. He needed to replicate this force with the Arcane Energy in front of him.

He floated the orb of energy in front of him and willed it to exert force upon the very fabric of the world. No longer seeking to combine Arcane with Space, Rainer found this far easier than expected. He noted this was likely a result of the loosened space he used [Sleep Learning] to create around him as well.

Slowly the energy changed. Despite it being easier than expected, the amount of Mana and Arcane Power used far exceeded anything Rainer could produce in reality. How long it would take without [Sleep Learning], he couldn’t even guess.

The formally visible energy became an invisible locus of Gravity. The power of it, now influenced by Rainer’s full bonuses, moved him toward itself.

[Skill Gained: Arcane-Spatial Manipulation lvl 1/10]

He noted the energy when applied over a wide area, looked similar to his [Arcane Presence]. It instantly added an all but invisible hue of violet to the world.

But, immediately he stopped himself. He wanted to save the easily obtainable level 2 of the skill for leveling [Voidwalker]. As [Voidwalker] did primarily include a 100% bonus to Space-Time Magic, Rainer ventured this skill would give experience for it.

Compared to playing around with a skill similar to [Void Manipulation] it was incredibly safe.

“Is it because I was in that strange Devil-filled world?” Rainer asked himself.

He knew too little of the Void. And given Theodore’s lack of knowledge on the subject, Rainer imagined the information would not come easy. Whether the Devil came from the Void itself or tracked him as he weakened the Void, he couldn’t be sure. It made him think of a common phrase in his world relating to the abyss.

Entering Auto-pilot, Rainer leveled the tier 2 [Arcane-Light Lance] and [Arcane-Light Lance Armament], before fully solidifying the rest of the books and notes he had skimmed over previously into his memory. He awoke before fully memorizing everything, the Great Sage’s journal included.