Chapter 47: New Power (1)

The so-called [Source Force] is not merely a simple form of power; rather, it is a more abstract internal manifestation.
In the world of magic, especially within the magic system originating from Vandell, [magical energy] can be considered the most fundamental aspect for magicians. Every apprentice learns under their mentor how to perceive the existence of magical energy, for without it, no magic can be cast.
Magical energy, precisely speaking, is the [power of the world] based on [the world’s most fundamental laws]. Humans are not the [source] of magical energy—they do not generate it out of thin air. They are merely [containers]. Apart from a very few individuals with exceptional talent or superior hereditary gifts, ordinary humans are born without any magical energy at all.
Typically, a magician’s magical energy comes from interactions with the world, such as air and food, but the amount of magical energy contained in these is almost negligible. More often, it relies on [meditation].
[Meditation] is a compulsory practice throughout a magician’s life. It helps them draw energy from the outside world to replenish their magical reserves and also restores mental strength. More importantly, it enables them to comprehend [true power], that is, [Source Force].
For ordinary humans, the ability to perceive the magical energy existing in the world is the first indicator of whether they can become a magician. Once this is achieved, mastering [aura] becomes easier. Aura refers to the magical energy waves of a magician. Powerful magicians can use their aura to suppress opponents and exert psychological pressure on them.
Aura eventually evolves into [domain], which is a form of powerful magic that defies the world’s laws. Therefore, without sufficient mental strength, it is impossible to ward off distractions from the world and successfully cast a domain.
Once one comprehends their own domain, they have stepped onto the path to becoming a great magician. Yet, among the vast population of humans, only a few can achieve this. After all, cultivating a great magician requires immense wealth and effort, as well as a highly skilled mentor. Otherwise, even after twenty years, an ordinary person will remain only at an average level as a magician.
Perceiving [Source Force] is even more difficult. Source Force can be understood as the power of the world’s essence. It does not make one’s magic stronger or one’s body more robust, but it allows one to “know” more.

Take the Astrologers’ [Aetheric Power] as an example. Aetheric Power is also a type of Source Energy. In ancient languages, “aether” referred to the [upper atmosphere]. Of course, this “atmosphere” does not mean air or wind but is a metaphor—signifying [the air breathed by the gods]. Astrologers generally consider it to encompass all matter within the entire [worldspace], with stars being the most representative example. This is one of the main reasons why astrologers revere the all-knowing and all-powerful stars.

In their teachings, astrologers do not focus on cultivating magic power or learning powerful spells; instead, they emphasize mental strength. While the lifelong goal of every dark magician is to achieve a domain and reach the rank of Archmagus, the ideal of astrologers is to integrate their mental strength into the star they live on. In their belief, stars are living beings with life—manifestations of the [Great Will], the gods they worship!

The so-called [Great Will] is essentially akin to divine beings. However, in the imperial magical community, especially among atheist dark magicians, they prefer not to attribute incomprehensible entities to gods, as gods are merely legends.

Unlike the [Ancient Will], the [Great Will] is not an ancient life form from a lower-dimensional space, nor can it even be called life. It is a general term for entities that magicians cannot understand. For example, the four elemental spirits often mentioned by bards can be considered part of the Great Will. Yet in reality, no one has ever seen these so-called elemental spirits of fire, water, etc. Similarly, the stars worshipped by astrologers are sometimes only vague entities that cannot be compared to the [Ancient Will], yet they are still highly revered by many.

In fact, Source Energy cannot be learned simply by trying; it requires personal insight. Among the great archmages in the world today, most are stuck at this threshold, including the former head of the Heliorex Academy, Archmagus Greta Kaines. As for those like Professor Hode who are close to becoming archmages but have not yet succeeded, they cannot even reach this threshold.

It can be said that in the world today, Belial is almost the only one who has fully mastered Source Energy!

Even the Grand Elder of Vandel and Bernie Giffes, the world-famous spatial magic master from decades ago, are still exploring it. This illustrates just how difficult it is to master Source Energy.

It has been a week since that day when Thos begged the Grand Elder to teach him the Force. During this week, Thos entrusted the affairs of Riox Academy to Professor Manhert, the assistant dean and grade supervisor, and devoted himself entirely to learning the Force from the Grand Elder in order to gain the strength to fight against Belial.

Whenever she thought about this, Ravia always felt annoyed. During that week, the Grand Elder took Thos to a spacious room at the top of Vandelta, refusing any interruptions, not even from Abel. Just this alone showed how serious the Grand Elder was.

The reason for this was easy to understand. After all, Belial’s knowledge of spatial magic came from another world’s Grand Elder. In short, Belial was that Grand Elder’s student. But after acquiring overwhelming power, this student turned against the world. Worse still, the Grand Elder, who had already encountered him once, claimed he could not defeat this student. His only hope now was Thos, for Belial was simply too powerful…

In fact, even after Thos was defeated by Belial, the Grand Elder still felt somewhat guilty. Although he personally liked the quiet boy and saw his deep connection to Vandel, the presence of Sloth made him wary of Thos. Ever since Professor Hode brought Thos and others to Vandel, the Grand Elder had realized that this boy would have a profound impact on the world in the future.

For this reason, even when Thos urgently needed power to defeat Argus, the Grand Elder never mentioned anything about the Force until Belial appeared.

The Grand Elder knew well that if Thos, who did not master the Force, tried to challenge Belial, who already did, the consequences would be severe. Moreover, Belial was essentially Thos’s future self.

Yet, despite repeatedly warning Thos and the others not to contact Belial and mentioning the Force, he never showed any intention of teaching Thos how to master it. The Grand Elder was concerned that Thos, influenced by the ancient will of Sloth, might go down a dark path once he mastered the Force. If that happened, the world would face not just one Belial, but two!

If that truly occurred, then no one in this world would be able to stand against them!

But after hearing that Thos had been defeated and the power of Sloth within him had been taken by Belial, the Grand Elder, though angry, was actually secretly relieved—after all, his greatest concern no longer existed. Now, the only thing left to do was to devote himself wholeheartedly to teaching Thos how to master the Source Power, so that he could gain a strength sufficient to rival Belial!

To this end, several elders of Vandel sealed off the mage tower, preventing anyone unfamiliar from entering through Gadian, so as to maintain silence inside. After all, mastering the Source Power was not a combat skill; it required personal insight, and for that, an absolutely quiet place was necessary.

Thus, the top floor of Vandel Tower became Thos’s new classroom. The teacher was, of course, the Grand Elder, and the student was just him alone. Even people like Ravia, Allen, Scott, and Nina were kept out by the Grand Elder.

A week passed, with no sign of activity on the top floor…
Half a month passed, still no movement…
After waiting a full month, Ravia could no longer bear it. She was eager to know how Thos was doing. Nina shared the same feeling, even more anxious than Ravia, as Thos was the person she cared about the most in this world.

So, they went to plead with Aibel. Fortunately, Aibel also cared quite a bit about Thos, as he was the student her husband valued the most.

Aibel secretly took Ravia, Nina, Dia, and others to the top floor. Along with them were Allen and Lisa, who wanted to see what was going on; Ulric, curious about the Source Power; and Connel.

Oh, and there was also Bon Hamsworth, a cardinal of the Church, along with her attendant nun, a very introverted Salonian girl named Katerina Catherine Ratimor. After all, Thos still carried three sacred marks of the Church, and the Church didn’t want such great power to fall into Vandel’s hands. But more importantly, they wanted to understand why Thos, having lost the power of Sloth, could still hold three sacred marks—this was what they were eager to know.

And so, the group quietly sneaked up to the top floor. After passing through a dim stone staircase corridor, Aibel pointed to the other side of the wall and whispered, “It’s in there!”

“It’s huge…” Allen murmured. He had never been to the top floor before, so he didn’t realize that Vandel’s top floor consisted of just one spacious room, roughly four or five hundred yards long and wide.

Seeming to notice Allen’s surprised expression, Aibel softly explained, “This place hasn’t been used for a long time. A long time ago, generations of astrologers would come here to sense the power of ether, because it’s high up and quiet… Well, it’s closer to that kind of feeling, I guess…”
“Feeling…” Allen curled his lips, but Aibel gave him a sharp tap on the forehead.
“I mean it’s easier to sense things here, right?” Father Bon said, nodding thoughtfully as he touched the seemingly ancient stone wall. “Saronia has similar places. Practicing there makes it easier to grasp the truth…”
Aibel glared at Father Bon irritably. Even though this guy had helped the Allied Forces defeat Agus’s dark army, she still didn’t like him very much. After all, Saronia had taken advantage of the empire’s chaos, using the guise of the Supreme God to gain the trust and support of many regions in the south—clearly a form of indirect annexation. But unfortunately, the empire’s situation was extremely unstable, and it had little strength to deal with the south. After all, if relations between the two countries deteriorated into war, how many troops would the empire still have?
Even Prince Theo, no, the new king, could only endure in silence.
Finally, they arrived at a simple iron door. Just as Allen was about to push it, Aibel stopped him, pointing at the faint blue light flickering on the door and saying irritably, “Can’t you see the barrier? This is a spatial barrier set up by the Grand Elder himself. The inside and outside of this room are completely different spaces. If you just go in carelessly and fall into a gap between spaces, I won’t save you!”
Glancing irritably at Ulrich, who was shaking his head and sneering, Allen sheepishly shrugged and said, “So what do we do? We can’t just stay outside forever… The Grand Elder really is overthinking it. There are no outsiders here. With me, Allen, around, who would bother causing trouble?”
“It’s you, you brat, who causes trouble!” Aibel rolled her eyes irritably before placing her hand on the iron door. A faint green light emerged from her palm.
“Huh?” Allen seemed surprised and asked oddly, “Sister Aibel, do you also understand spatial magic?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he got a hit on his forehead. Abel snorted and said irritably, “What’s the problem with not understanding? The barrier set up by the Grand Elder is almost impossible for anyone in this world to break. To get in, one must obtain the Grand Elder’s permission…” As she spoke, it seemed she remembered something, sighed slightly, and shook her head, saying, “There should only be one person who can break the barrier set up by the Grand Elder…”

Seemingly guessing Abel’s thoughts, Allen shrugged and said, “I know. It’s Belial, right?”

“…” Surprisingly, Abel didn’t strike Allen again. She nodded and said in a deep voice, “Yes. That guy’s strength far exceeds what you can imagine. You should be glad that Belial wasn’t serious back then… Really, I told you not to get into a conflict with him!”

“Yeah, yeah, but Sister Abel, it wasn’t us who started the conflict with him. It was clearly him who came after us. As for being glad, I don’t see anything to be glad about. Everyone knows that guy just disdains killing us!” As he spoke, Allen suddenly noticed the unchanged expressions on the faces of Ravia, Dia, and Nia. He laughed awkwardly and said, “Ahem, I meant Belial. I still can’t believe he could be the future Thors…” At that point, he quickly changed the subject to Abel, saying, “By the way, Sister Abel, since you’re skilled in prophecy, why can’t you predict things related to Belial in advance?”

“Do you think predicting the future is that simple?” Abel rolled her eyes irritably and snorted, “Even for me, the future I predict is only partial. I can’t fully understand what actually happens, let alone Belial, who is even better at this than I am… Although I’m angry, I have to admit he’s the most talented guy I’ve ever seen!”

“Then…” Dia looked up at Abel and asked weakly, “Can Thors defeat him? Defeat his future self?”

Abel shook her head involuntarily, then suddenly realized something and smiled reassuringly, “How about this? If Belial can do it, Thors definitely can too. Don’t worry!”

Nia, standing beside her, also nodded and said confidently, “Thors will definitely be able to do it!”

“Mm!” Although these words were mostly just comfort, Dia felt much lighter.

Just then, an arc of electricity flashed across the iron door, and soon the entire door creaked open. The eldest elder standing at the door glanced at the people outside, frowned, and said, “Weren’t I told not to disturb you?”
“Uh…” Faced with the elder’s unusually serious expression, even Abel didn’t dare be too bold. He spoke softly, “These children are just concerned about Thos’s condition and want to come and see what’s going on… Besides, you’ve been inside with Thos for a month now, yet you don’t come out to give an update, nor do you touch the food we bring you. It’s not strange that we’d worry, right?” By the end, Abel’s tone clearly carried an air of pleading, which made the elder’s slight seriousness vanish.
“You guys… Sigh!” Shaking his head and sighing, the elder waved them in and said in a low voice, “Come in quietly. That child is meditating!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Allen exclaimed in shock, “Thos? Meditating? No way! He can meditate? I’ve known him for so long, but I’ve never seen him meditate!”
Glancing at Allen, the elder leaned on his cane and stroked his long beard, saying, “He couldn’t meditate before because of Sloth. Sloth’s power was too strong, completely blocking his mental connection to the outside world. That’s why he couldn’t meditate normally. But now that he’s lost Sloth’s power, it’s only natural that he can communicate with the outside world… In my opinion, losing Sloth’s power isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Though the power of an apostle is strong, it’s not one’s true power!”
“Mm,” nodding in agreement, Abel said, “I also think Thos relied too much on Sloth’s power before. Losing it is like a lesson for him…” As she spoke, she seemed to notice the anxious expressions on Ravia, Dia, and Nina’s faces and asked with a smile, “By the way, Elder, how is Thos doing now?”
“How is he?” The elder smiled, stroking his gray beard, with a hint of mockery in his eyes. He chuckled and said, “Isn’t he right here in this room? Go and see for yourselves!”
“In the room…” Allen instinctively looked inside the room, but sadly, the entire spacious room was pitch black, with not a hint of light—there was no way to spot Thos.
Like Allen, Lisa also looked around for a long time before saying in surprise, “It’s too dark here. How can one study in such conditions?”

“It’s insight!” The Grand Elder corrected Lisa, explaining with a smile, “Mastering the Source Energy is different from learning magic in the past. It doesn’t rely on techniques; instead, it focuses on understanding the essence of this world… Let me ask you, children, how do you detect the people around you?”
“Eyes?” Allen replied instinctively, only to see the Grand Elder shake his head with a smile.
“Fluctuations in magic power?” Ravia asked in surprise. The Grand Elder smiled slightly and countered, “Then, have you felt the fluctuations in magic power from that child, Belial?”
Ravia frowned and slowly shook her head.
“Yes, you can’t sense it,” the Grand Elder said softly, sighing gently. “Any magician strong enough has the ability to hide their magic power fluctuations from others, not to mention that child, Belial—his power is terrifying… If you can’t use mental power to sense someone’s magic fluctuations, then how can you detect your opponent?”
The group exchanged glances and shook their heads. Nina spoke cautiously, “Could it be thoughts?”
“Hmm?” The Grand Elder’s eyes lit up as he nodded at Nina and said with a smile, “Truly a student trained by Veston—very clever. Yes, it’s thoughts! More precisely, it’s using mental power integrated with the will of the world, leveraging the great will that constitutes the world—wind, water, fire, earth—to sense the presence of others, even predicting their actions…”
“Is this the Source Energy?” Allen asked in astonishment.
“Yes, but not entirely,” the Grand Elder nodded then shook his head, explaining softly, “The Source Energy is the power of the world’s origin. Rather than being a force, it’s more like a will. As long as you can communicate with this will, you can ‘see’ further, ‘see’ more… Aibel, you must be well aware of this. We astrologers have the ability to predict others’ next moves in advance—this is the most basic level of mastering the Source Energy. The next step is to understand the essence of the world, the essence of matter, and their weaknesses. Once you master the Source Energy, even the hardest rocks can be completely shattered with just the simplest fireball. So, it’s utterly foolish of you, who haven’t mastered the Source Energy, to think you can defeat Belial! He can kill you at any moment if he chooses!”

But sadly, it seemed that Allen and the others couldn’t understand the Elder’s explanation. Seeing this, the Elder said with a smile, “Hard to understand? Then use your own eyes to see!” With that, he glanced at Allen with a cheerful smile.
Allen immediately understood and said with a grin, “Well then, I’ll give it a try. If I get hurt in the process, I won’t be responsible!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a familiar yet strange light laugh from Thors came from somewhere.
“Oh! — As long as you can do it!”
That sudden remark made Allen’s expression change. He instinctively looked around, but still sensed no trace of Thors, as if there was only the Elder in that dark room.
Licking his lips, Allen showed a hint of excitement in his eyes.
“Interesting…”