Chapter 549 - 391: Simple or Flashy? (Part 2)

Chapter 549: Chapter 391: Simple or Flashy? (Part 2)

Of course, the undisguised yearning for Truth in his eyes—a trait he shared with the Grand Arcanists—also hadn’t changed.

"Yo, long time no see." Isaac was the first to greet Avin.

Compared to Isaac’s casual demeanor, Avin was far more reserved. After all, Isaac’s reputation preceded him—few Casters weren’t afraid of him. And secondly...

Back then, Isaac had already been far more brilliant and dazzling than Avin. Their acquaintance was brief, they weren’t particularly close, and there had been a slight barrier between them from the very start.

Now, Avin had only advanced to Tier Two. Such progress wasn’t terrible, but it certainly wasn’t good—it was decidedly average. In contrast, Isaac had soared through the ranks and was now among the most powerful even within Tier Four!

This made the barrier that already existed between them even thicker now.

How could Avin possibly act casually in a situation like this?

So he simply gave Isaac a respectful bow—the gesture of reverence for a great scholar.

Seeing Avin’s formal gesture, Isaac raised an eyebrow slightly but felt no sense of disappointment. His gratitude toward Avin had always been a one-sided affair, and the gap between them was indeed vast. If Avin were to act as casually as him, it would likely do Avin more harm than good.

’Anyway, I’ve said what needed to be said,’ Isaac thought. ’I’m sure the higher-ups at the Truth Association get the picture, so there’s no need to worry about these superficialities.’

"Take me for a look around. Let me see what the Main World’s most capable research-focused Wizard Organization is working on," Isaac said with a broad smile.

Avin nodded, pretending not to notice the qualifier Isaac had attached to the Truth Association’s name.

’I can only pretend not to notice. What else could I do? Argue with this Tier Four Miracle Mage that the Truth Association is the strongest Wizard Organization in the world?’

’That wouldn’t be realistic... and besides...’

’...it would be pointless.’

Although many Arcanists called the Truth Association the strongest Wizard Organization, in reality, anyone in the know had to add a few qualifiers before the word "strongest."

It couldn’t be helped. The Arcanists had developed rapidly, but their history was too short compared to the Legendary Mages. Because of this, Arcanists severely lacked top-tier power.

Specifically, powerhouses at the level of Great Wizards.

To date, the Truth Association had only produced a single Great Wizard: the creator of the Arcanists and the Association itself—the Truth Mage!

Below him, several Tier Six and Tier Five Grand Arcanists had been promoted over time, but when it came to the path to becoming a Great Wizard, the Arcanists’ ability to explore it paled in comparison to that of the Legendary Mages...

Meanwhile, other ancient Wizard Organizations generally had multiple Great Wizards, and some even possessed complete legacies for becoming a Great Wizard!

The Flesh Sect, for example, possessed the legacies of six distinct paths to becoming a Great Wizard!

This meant that the Flesh Sect had produced at least six Great Wizards in its history!

Strictly speaking, however, these legacies were completely useless—nothing more than a vanity project. The path of a Great Wizard is one-of-a-kind. The moment a Wizard ascends to become a Great Wizard, they block that very path behind them!

It was like a position created for a single person, only even more absurd. Even if the Great Wizard "retired," no successor could follow in their footsteps to achieve the same rank. The relevant rules of Existence would have been perfected, leaving nothing left to exploit.

Not a single drop could be squeezed out.

Getting back on track, Avin began his tour for Isaac. The first stop was the optimization of Magic Models for the Shaping School’s Ice Magic. This was a classic research project for the Truth Association; the refinement of Magic Models was a never-ending task.

Avin knew there wasn’t much worth elaborating on, so he simply highlighted a few of the most recently optimized Magic Models for Isaac and then fell silent.

Because anything more advanced... he couldn’t really understand it himself...

Isaac, however, was observing with great interest. ’No wonder those folks at the Truth Association could cook up something as abstract as a Temporary Divine Kingdom,’ he thought. ’Their fundamentals are truly profound.’

The completed optimizations here were only for some Tier Three Magic, but the resulting Magic Models were remarkably simple. The difficulty of learning them had plummeted, while their power had skyrocketed!

Under specific circumstances, these Ice Magic spells could even unleash the might of Authority Magic!

Most importantly, it gave the learner a choice. If a Caster only wanted raw combat power, they could simply learn the spell. The straightforward Magic Model was incredibly easy to master, had a fast Casting speed, and was extremely efficient in battle.

But if you didn’t want to be just a Magic Cannon Platform and actually wanted to learn something from the process, these spells could satisfy you as well. Their elegantly simple Magic Models were like blank canvases, allowing you to freely apply your imagination, learn from the experience, and discover your own shortcomings.

These spells struck Isaac as very strange. At first glance, their structure seemed impenetrable, giving one no idea where to even begin. But upon deeper reflection, he realized they could be modified almost anywhere!

Most importantly, when Isaac ran a quick simulation in his mind, he found that no matter how he altered it, the spell would still cast successfully—only the final effect would differ.

Truly... incredible Magic!

’No,’ he corrected himself, ’I should call it Arcane Art!’

Looking at these Magic Models, Isaac recalled the Arcane Art materials he had received from his older sister when he first became a Wizard. He remembered that Arcane Art wasn’t like this back then.

At that time, Arcane Art was also concise and easy to learn, but it lacked this quality of being a canvas for free-form experimentation that guided the learning process.

The Arcane Art of that time simply took the concept of "perfection" to its absolute extreme!

’It was effective, yes, but it was like casting from a template. You were just a spell dispenser, and any personal touch you tried to add would only make the spell imperfect...’

Isaac had hated that feeling, which was why he gradually lost interest in Arcane Art. He never expected it to undergo such an astonishing transformation in such a short time!

He didn’t believe it was because he couldn’t access these kinds of Arcane Arts back then. Although he was just a Little Underling at the time, his older sister was formidable!

Back then, his sister was only a step away from becoming a Grand Arcanist. Her position in the Truth Association was by no means low. It made no sense that she wouldn’t have had access to materials that even Avin could now.

Therefore, he was more inclined to believe this was a recent development by the Arcanists.

’Then again, it made sense. Arcanists aren’t as solitary as Legendary Mages. They typically conduct research as a team—and not like the so-called ’teams’ of Legendary Mages, which are really just partners who share research data. Arcanists have a highly detailed division of labor. With that in mind, such rapid research progress seems... natural, doesn’t it?’

Committing these perfected Magic Models to memory, Isaac followed Avin toward the next area. The very first exhibit had been this surprising; he was now looking forward to the subsequent research even more...

Well, as it turned out, Isaac’s expectations were misplaced.

The subsequent research was unexpectedly boring...

At least, it was for Isaac. The rest of the research was mostly on topics like ecological studies and the history of species evolution—subjects not closely related to Magic.

Of course, Isaac wasn’t saying this research was meaningless. He just found it a bit boring to dedicate so much energy and resources to it. ’A single Time Magic spell could reveal the gist of all this,’ he thought. ’Is it really necessary to study it so slowly?’

It would be one thing if they were trying to derive something profound from it, like applying findings from species evolution to Transformation Magic or the cultivation of Servant Demons. That would have significant research value.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. It was just research for research’s sake.

Avin’s explanation was that these were preparatory measures, ensuring that humanity would still possess the capacity for research should they one day lose Magic...

’A grand ideal, to be sure,’ Isaac could only think, ’but...’

’...it’s far too idealistic.’

And far too distant. In any case, Isaac himself couldn’t imagine thinking that far ahead.

Fortunately, however, not everything was so dull. Soon, Isaac saw something huge!