Within the realm of the gods, Athena entered Suez's palace, her face and body charred. Suez's eyes widened. "Who did this?" she demanded.
"I failed to kill him," Athena admitted, her voice filled with a mix of fury and humiliation. "He is way too smarter than even me."
"Smarter than you?" Suez roared. "Fine. Go now. I have no use for you."
"Whoever this person is, he seems strong and powerful," Hermes commented, a tone of admiration and respect for Rei in his voice for having outsmarted the god of wisdom.
Suez's anger was palpable. "Hermes! You dare appreciate the enemy!"
Hermes, though annoyed, maintained his composure. "Forgive me, my lady. I might have a plan."
"What is it?" Suez asked.
"We should not attack him directly; otherwise, he would know," Hermes suggested. "How about we put him in such a situation where an accident might be inevitable, like when he would be in a fight and we drop something on his head while he is distracted."
"That's a good idea," Suez conceded. "You may leave now."
As Hermes departed, a smile crept onto his face. "Let's see, Rei," he thought. "Are you strong enough to survive this, or will you fall like a weak flame? I expect great things from you, Rei. Great things."
In the Midgard, Rei reflected on his situation. "At first, it was just the bandits, then kings, and now even gods are against me. What did I do wrong to anyone? However, I still have the advantage." Rei went to Aria's tent. "I've learned the magic inscriptions," he announced.
Aria looked skeptical. "Really? Then tell me what these three inscriptions mean." Rei easily explained everything. Aria, surprised, asked a more difficult question about the combination of inscriptions, and Rei answered everything correctly. "You sure are a quick learner," she said. "Okay, since we are done with this, let me tell you both what I know and what you should do."
Over the next two days, Rei easily learned most of the things that would take a mage years to master because it was similar to coding, allowing him to easily relate one thing to another. Aria was even more surprised by Rei's unnatural progress; even a prodigy would struggle to learn it all so quickly.
On the third day, Rei went outside and saw a cart similar to the Midgard, but with more cannons and armor, approaching. When it stopped, three people emerged: Arizona, Alya, and Levi. Levi was carrying a huge box. "So you all came," Rei said.
"Oh no, looks like we reached too late," Arizona commented.
"Yes, it was a little late, but don't worry, we could still salvage the situation if we help them," Rei replied.
"Yeah, at least it will help us," Alya agreed.
"But, kid," Levi said, "I really like the blueprints you sent. I've even created the real ones according to them."
"Then look for more," Rei said. "I still have some in my arsenal."
"Yes, I will be looking forward to it," Levi replied.
"So first, what should we do, Rei?" Arizona asked.
"How about some rest and relaxation? Show me Asgard first," Rei suggested.
"Sure, come with me," Levi said. "Look, these are the cannon blasters, and above the roof is the aerial counter. You really gave me one heck of a beauty."
"Yes, it looks better than I expected," Rei said. "Oh yeah, this made me remember something. Levi, Arizona, and Alya, come with me." Rei led them to the Midgard and showed them the Emberasia. "I heard the Emberasia is used in the military, Levi. You worked in the military; do you know what it's used for?"
Levi's eyes widened when he saw the plant. "An Emberasia? You certainly have weird luck. An Emberasia is very valuable. It's used for creating bullets for ether cannons."
"Ether cannons?" Rei asked, never having heard of them.
"Yes," Levi explained. "None of the public knows, but there is a type of cannon called the ether cannon. An ether cannon sends a beam of energy. These energies are so strong that they can level a mountain and still keep on going. It is not used in any fight, but having them gives the countries authority and strength."
"Can you make ether cannons?" Rei asked.
"Unfortunately not," Levi said. "I was only a warrior in the army. The one who can make it is a royal engineer."
"Do you know anyone?" Rei asked.
"Yes, fortunately, she lives very close to this town. After our work, we can go and talk to her."
"Sure," Rei agreed. "And Arizona, I have someone in mind you should meet."
"Sure, let's go," Arizona said, following Rei.
Rei took him to Aria's camp. "Aria, I came. I hope he can join us." As Arizona came inside, Aria's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, brother, why are you here?"
Arizona was equally surprised. "What are you doing here, Aria?"
"Wait, I live here! Why did you come to this town?" Aria asked.
"I work for Rei, of course," Arizona said.
Aria's eyes widened further. "The great Arizona Wilson works for a 12-year-old boy? Are you sure?"
"I know how he might look, but he is certainly a prodigy," Arizona said.
"Yeah, he is a prodigy. I learned that when he easily learned all the magic formation tricks," Aria agreed.
"So Rei, you are learning magic formation? Wow, now that's great," Arizona said.
"What's so great about it?" Aria asked.
"Aria, it's been a long time since we met, so you don't know some things," Arizona explained. "After leaving you and becoming one of the best mages, I too started to learn magic formation."
"Really? So how did it go?" Aria asked.
"Very well. I was really getting good at magic formation, but after meeting him, I thought magic formation is still somewhat an unexplored part of magic," Arizona said.
Aria laughed. "Unexplored part of magic? Are you kidding me? It's the most explored part!"
"Then how about a challenge?" Arizona proposed. "Our family's best magic formation master versus me."
Aria laughed again. "Are you sure? You've never been able to beat me, and you think you can beat me now? You're certainly getting overconfident after learning magic formation. However, since you want it, who am I to refuse?" Aria took a magic scroll from a nearby bag. "This might be enough. Let's go to the grassy area to show our magic formation. You can make the magic formation now."
He picked up the quill and, without referencing any symbols, drew a wide octagram—an eight-pointed star, its lines sharp and confident. He didn't even connect the edges of the star properly. Instead, he left deliberate gaps between each vertex. Once the outer octagram was completed, he calmly drew another one within it, slightly smaller. Then another inside that—three concentric octagrams in total, none of their points touching, none of their lines intersecting.
He began to draw miniature octagrams between the existing ones, slotting them like secret layers inside the geometric space, and inside the innermost octagram, he added yet another trio of concentric octagrams, nested within one another like puzzle boxes. That made six concentric octagrams in total, all floating independently yet forming a unified structure. None of the vertices were joined, and none of the expected anchor symbols were present.
He filled in the spaces of the innermost octagon, as well as the rings between the second and third, and the fifth and sixth octagrams, then he connected the filled spaces of the sides with a line to one another, keeping one space open. Afterward, he drew three straight lines that only touched one of the three filled spaces and did not touch the octagrams themselves but extended from their internal gaps to the very edges of the parchment. Lastly, he added two curving lines that connected the filled areas like arteries feeding a beating heart.
Aria started laughing. "Don't you know magic formation works with a circle? And what are those three points? You are hilarious!"
Arizona said nothing. He led Aria to a grassy field in front of a large boulder. Aria used her magic formation to create a huge ice spike that enveloped the boulder. "This was the Ice Impact. Let's see what you can do."
As Aria watched, Arizona placed his fingers on the three lines he had drawn. He channeled fire through the first, lightning through the second, and wind through the third. The parchment trembled. A swirling tempest of fire burst out, coated in arcs of lightning, carried by a violent wind. The attack roared across the field like a wrathful storm god, engulfing the ice-encased boulder. The ice evaporated. The rock didn't just break—it disintegrated. Bits of molten stone flew outward, seared and shredded by elemental power. The flame danced with the lightning's brilliance, the wind feeding its hunger. The sheer power of it was terrifying. Aria was shocked, not just by the power, but by the three attributes demonstrated in the magic circle.
Arizona turned to her and said, "That was one of Rei's inventions: Lightning-Powered Fire Storm. Now, multiple elemental integration is possible."