"You must be mistaken, right? Their background is very clean."
"Alright, with your assurance, Wien, I believe you. Let's get this done quickly."
The three decided to simply stroll around the streets with the Water Mirror Demon, chatting and laughing, just to casually pass by the Magic Association personnel, without even needing to talk to them. Seeing was believing.
In truth, the elves generally knew Frieren's situation, but they mostly couldn't be bothered, which made the atmosphere seem more ordinary and very real. The secret of the village's guardian often being in slumber should be protected. So, they understood Milia Asser and Flamme's performance, actively cooperating with ease.
A moment later.
The few people who returned to the small house breathed a sigh of relief. The act had been a bit tense, but luckily, no one suspected anything, and the elves weren't the meddling type, so the charade concluded just like that. In a way, it was a little trick to get them through.
"Thank you," Wien said with a smile. "After this, I'll tell them that President Frieren is busy with research and cannot travel, so she has declined."
Milia Asser had always been free and unburdened, so naturally, she didn't want her close friend to get involved in trouble.
Flamme gently said, "Master is indeed somewhat tied up, and I wouldn't want to disturb her for this kind of thing, so let's consider it a refusal. You can tell the Association to wait a bit longer; she can occasionally make some time."
"That's right, we must guard against the risk of information leakage, or else we might face targeted attacks from the enemy."
"It's all for fighting the Demon Race, so it's fine."
Compared to the few people checking their stories, the always quiet Water Mirror Demon suddenly stood up, its eyes wide as it looked left and right, as if it had detected something.
"Who?"
This indicated it sensed a life form but couldn't confirm its location; the others couldn't either.
"What kind of performance art are you doing?"
Out of a mist, Frieren's figure appeared out of thin air, her unannounced presence startling everyone. How was she able to do it? To be at such a formidable realm yet completely conceal her aura?
"Is this Teleportation?" Flamme was most curious about magic.
"It's called Miriam's Vanish, a new skill I learned. Also to cooperate with your performance, after all, if I entered from outside, wouldn't it expose a problem?"
"Good that you're here. Just in time to deal with these Magic Association people," Milia Asser said, spreading her hands.
"It wasn't entirely a coincidence. I placed a sensing spell on the Water Mirror Demon; it would trigger if there was a significant magical alteration targeting it. It was completely unguarded, letting you perform Disguise Magic, which was already a mild-injury level of interference… Perhaps I should dull the setting."
Wien's greeting pulled her thoughts back.
He hastily explained his purpose. If he didn't speak now and let Frieren immerse herself in magic, she wouldn't bother with anyone else.
"So that's how it is. I can attend the open lecture, but it will be a long wait, or I might decline. That's just a matter of interest."
"Why?"
"I've gained insight into new Barrier Magic that can reinforce the town's defenses. Because I'm being targeted by Demon Race prophets, I need to be careful. It's best to strengthen the defenses so I can focus on other matters."
The Mohgwyn Dynasty Campaign was destined to be a big commotion, so she specially returned to reality as a safeguard.
"It's fine. We need you here."
The combat power of a Divine Age Mage was crucial to the war; lecturing was irrelevant.
Weiss was here to confirm her status, because the front lines needed deterrence to counter the Demon Race's threat as much as possible. If they dared to inflict casualties in a large-scale extermination war, they could ask Frieren to intervene. Her mere presence here represented a deterrent.
"But in my opinion, the town is already strong enough. Even if only the President remains, it can be defended."
"That's easy to say, but anyone with a keen eye could guess that I'm often… in slumber. Also, Wien, why do the people you brought have a Demon Race aura on them?"
"It's quite normal. Many of them came from the front lines."
Frieren, her mind full of new magic calculations, couldn't be bothered to inquire about others' backgrounds. As long as it wasn't directly affecting her, it was fine.
Wien felt much more at ease and stopped lingering. After declining the offer to stay, he hastily embarked on his return journey. In any case, having the President's response was enough. Ultimately, her status stemmed from her strength, prestige, and skill, and Frieren, being impeccable in these aspects, was irreplaceable.
So they let her be.
The atmosphere among the three remaining in the room lightened considerably. Milia Asser was the first to speak: "Let's have lunch at my place. I happen to have ingredients; I'll show you my cooking skills."
"That's an idea. Let's try it on laboratory animals first. It's viable in theory, but practical application will definitely have issues."
Hearing this, Flamme nodded, simultaneously taking the further key points of Life Secret Arts that Frieren had written down. Thanks to helping Melina create a physical body, Frieren had gained new insights.
No magic was purely evil.
So she was happy to let her apprentice continue researching various different uses. It might seem useless now, but who knew if there would be other unconventional applications? So-called research always involved an element of gambling.
Thump!
Suddenly, the colorful mouse that should have died twitched and bumped against the edge of the barrier, as if struggling. Such tenacious life made the three slightly startled; its breath had almost vanished just now, yet it could still rally. It was truly rare.
"Master, physically, it's still quite healthy; its life signs are just intermittent."
"The reason is the unstable supply of Scarlet Rot, which hasn't formed a cycle. Currently, we only know how to induce new life, but…"
A single phrase enlightened Flamme, making her eyes light up.
"Could there be another crucial point: the lack of a soul? Master, Sister Asser, have you noticed? A pure physical body doesn't actively receive Mana. In other words, Mana should be the breath of the soul. How can a body that cannot breathe be considered healthy?"
"...This is a very subversive theory. After all, people previously didn't even perceive the existence of souls. I can't even confirm whether it's an illusion of Soul Magic."
Frieren was greatly inspired, but she didn't rush to conclusions. Having cleared these sources of magic, she wasn't sure if souls truly existed in reality, or if they were even a tangible entity.
She then proceeded to debug the Water Mirror Demon.
"Master, is there anything else that needs improvement?"
"Adjust the trigger for my warnings. If Mana changes are the standard, even applying self-buffs could become an alarm. But if attack is the standard, it's easy to miss some detections."
"For example?"
Flamme didn't let go of any learning opportunity, hoping it might also inspire her own magical progress.
"Some extremely wide-range instantaneous curse magic is hard to define as an attack; its essence is to alter Mana properties, and it might not even contain malice, making it easy to bypass my mechanism set to trigger an alarm when heavily attacked. Unfortunately, its intelligence isn't enough."
"Or should master put a wisp of her soul's consciousness into it? But normally, it wouldn't awaken to conserve Mana, only waking when there are large changes in external Mana."
Frieren pointed to her temple, separating a wisp of Soul Power and touching it to the Water Mirror Demon's forehead.
Whirr!
A surge of Mana boiled, transforming into a violent wind that swept through the room, blowing open doors and windows, stirring up a cloud of dust around the small house.
"Be careful! Don't let you collapse my house!"
Milia Asser, knowing her childhood friend's habits, quickly poked her head out to warn them. If they blew up her house, they'd be sleeping under the open sky, and they could forget about lunch.
"Don't worry, I have it under control."
The soul from the First Flame indeed possessed immense energy, which slightly surprised Frieren.
But it was also normal; her own soul had merged with it, and giving it to the Water Mirror Demon naturally felt like overkill. So, she could first let it lie dormant, then take over its body to fight when necessary, effectively creating a clone.
In other words, she changed the trigger mechanism so that a severe attack would awaken the soul, allowing her to control the replica and decide how to manage the battle. Naturally, it would also have the authority to warn the main body then.
She explained to Flamme, whose large eyes blinked frequently as she nodded.
"That's brilliant! The crucial step is using Master's soul to take over the replica, isn't that how Soul Separation Magic works? It can refresh the body's status to avoid curses, providing an extra layer of fault tolerance, and it will gain more complete strength."
"Exactly."
Soul Separation was one of the contingency plans they had researched against curses, and now it was entrusted to the Water Mirror Demon.
However, Frieren wasn't completely at ease, continuing to increase its Mana output for replenishment. Unfortunately, it couldn't compare to a Mimic Tear, so she had to do it herself.
A moment later.
The solidified Mana surrounding the Water Mirror Demon finally subsided.
The Disguise Magic on the white elf girl faded, revealing a pure, almost ethereal sensation, even more tranquil and gentle than the original.
Seeing that the matter was concluded, it instinctively sat on the other side, closing its eyes to rest, defaulting to an energy-saving state as long as there was no situation. Like a gargoyle guarding for a thousand years, it maintained a statue-like state in peacetime, only unleashing fierce attacks when intruders appeared.
Frieren had seen many beings with similar demeanors, inexplicably reminded of kindred monsters.
She clapped her hands, stopping the Mana supply. In reality, the energy she initially imparted, her Soul Energy, and the Water Mirror Demon's own Mana absorption level were enough to sustain it for a long time; this was just a precautionary top-up.
"Master's Soul Magic is becoming increasingly refined. I thought it would cause a shockwave just now," Flamme said, proactively dismantling the barrier.
"Normally, it wouldn't. Speaking of which, your Barrier is also quite good, very stable."
"Yes, I specifically trained in it, and I even have related commissions."
"What?"
"The Association introduced me to some work deploying Barriers; there are fixed-area ones, like for Sentry Tower Fortresses. And there are temporary ones, like deploying one for a carriage… Actually, before doing this, I didn't even know that Barriers could be moved and maintained."
"I only just learned that myself. Perhaps it's similar to a permanent defensive barrier? You have a lot of talent."
The red-haired girl nodded happily upon hearing the compliment. Her diligent training had not been in vain; after all, this area of expertise was one of the very few that even Master didn't fully grasp, and it could incidentally aid Frieren's research.
Likely benefiting from her immensely powerful strength, she wasn't particularly skilled in Barrier Arts and Sealing Arts. Of course, this was relative; few besides Flamme surpassed her in these fields.
"Master, I'm currently researching a Barrier that can effectively resist your Destructive Magic."
"Interesting. Coincidentally, I woke up to reinforce the town's Barrier, and I happened to get some inspiration."
Frieren enthusiastically explained to her direct disciple. In her view, Flamme was practically a living memo; any magical inspiration could be input into her first, and sure enough, the latter would extrapolate and further refine it.
In their discussion, the two provisionally determined the direction for improvement: Large-area reflection.
The village-scale defense system was completely insufficient. Even with subsequent minor repairs and additions, it couldn't be fixed on such a weak foundation.
So they decided to tear it down and rebuild, inviting top Barrier masters to test their theories. Of course, the power of a certain drunken elf was also indispensable. After all, it was she who had laid the foundation together with Frieren initially, and another collaboration would only yield twice the results with half the effort.
A moment later, Milia Asser poked her head out and waved.
She enthusiastically prepared 5 dishes, some already ready, some freshly made, all perfect in color, aroma, and taste.
"It's rare for you to make such progress," the silver-haired girl murmured, savoring a piece of braised pork. "I bet your Brewing Magic is the same; that vineyard next to the town has expanded again."
"You know me best. The wine is for myself. I usually cook and take care of Flamme's stomach at the same time, so I gradually got skilled."
The red-haired girl shyly stuck out her tongue and quickly said, "I'll help!"
"You go train. Don't take up my cooking time, which is how I pass the time. You wouldn't believe how hard it is for an elf to find a meaningful slow job."
"I'm not a child anymore; I can do it myself."
At her words, her two best friends looked her up and down strangely, and said in unison:
"Where have you grown up?"
"Forget it. In your elf eyes, all humans must be children. I don't quite understand that."
"Usually, when I encounter such a situation where someone thinks they've grown up, I'd say, 'When you reach my age, you'll know how childish you were back then.' But unfortunately, you're human, so just remain a child and let me take care of you."
Frieren rolled her eyes at Milia Asser, who chuckled and buried her head in her food.
Although elves mentioning human short lifespans wasn't a taboo, repeatedly emphasizing it, what if it became an obsession? Wouldn't it affect one's temperament? After all, Flamme had mentioned theories of transference and Reincarnation Magic more than once.
Impossible.
If that were achieved, it would be considered "Miracle-tier" magic, a higher level of rule utilization or rule-breaking than "Unsolvable Curse-tier" magic. It only existed in the words of priests and clerics; in reality, no physical trace had ever been captured.
So she held no hope for it.
Sure enough, Flamme, with her hands beneath her chin, suddenly said, "Master, don't mind her, Sister Asser. Perhaps there's more than one way to achieve longevity."
The silver-haired girl's expression grew serious: "You can research it, but don't obsess over it."
"Actually, I'm already experimenting with the influence of Scarlet Rot on biological Reincarnation, and similarly, Soul Magic's transference between living beings…"
"Master, when I speak broadly, you call it an obsession, but when there are results, you become interested."
"But then again, obsession is a part of will. Especially for humans, who lack Mana accumulation and the techniques honed over ages, what they can truly rely on most is their will, and the imagination capable of embracing miracles. Active thought is something time-insensitive long-lived races don't possess."
"Yes, what you said makes sense, Master!"
Milia Asser, who was eating with her head down, occasionally looked up and responded. She was too lazy to delve deep into the master and disciple's convoluted magical theories. Only food was most important; she had managed an exceptional performance for once.
This enthusiasm also infected Frieren and Flamme, drawing them back to the dinner table, lest it be swept clean.
Drink and food consumed.
The three, having cleared the dishes, went to the underground laboratory. It was the most fortified part of the entire town; its physical shell was reinforced with thick, compressed layers of rock, continuously strengthened by Frieren long ago, with multiple Barriers consistently encasing its exterior. Not to mention it was already 20 meters underground, making it incredibly difficult to shake, a truly insane level of defense, regardless of cost.
Flamme led the two to the most secluded area of the laboratory; the walls were glowing red.
The power of Scarlet Rot.
Looking closely, they were clearly stretching alien plant forms, terrifying and creepy, luckily heavily sealed and contained. What was to be shown was right in the middle.
On a dead white mouse, a vibrant red flower bloomed. From the pistil, the upper body of a small white mouse emerged, seemingly on the verge of giving birth to a new life form. Unfortunately, it remained in slumber, unmoved, merely a physical body that had collapsed midway.
"Master, you said Scarlet Rot has a Reincarnation quality, and indeed you were right. New life can be born anew from dead life."
"Unfortunately, it only guides to this point."
Frieren didn't answer. Instead, she paused before the isolating barrier, gazing for a long time.
Suddenly, she lightly tapped her Aeonia Incarnation, drawing out a wisp of Scarlet Mana, causing the half-formed white mouse to grow a little more, even opening its eyes. A denser scarlet hue gazed at the three.
"It's alive!" Milia Asser exclaimed.
Before Frieren's words finished, the white mouse that had grown from the blossom stretched its neck and chirped, shrill and sharp, its two small paws flailing, its eyes full of sudden venom and hatred. This was not a reborn being; it wasn't even life, only the rampant will of Scarlet Rot remaining. Fortunately, there was no external god of rot interfering in reality, or it would likely have spiraled out of control.
Beside her, Flamme quickly recorded its characteristics, while watching the small white mouse gradually wither from its frantic scratching, its eyes losing color, its body slumping, and its whiskers drooping, until it stopped breathing. Superficially reborn, in reality, it was a final burst before death.
"Master's injected power was already strong enough, yet it couldn't bear it. Was it because I, the caster, didn't lay a good material foundation?"
She was utterly perplexed but not in a hurry; slow research would suffice.
"There's my reason too," Frieren mumbled, looking at the white mouse's corpse. "There are too many aspects of Scarlet Rot whose principles I don't understand. It can promote life, but it might not lead it in the right direction. We might as well use Life Secret Arts…"
"It's a powerful magic for creating a physical body, but it requires a suitable embryo."
"Where would we find that?"
"In my dream, special materials are needed, because that world has long lost newborns. I suddenly thought, perhaps… a child's embryo would be most suitable… But we absolutely cannot do that to humans."
Milia Asser suddenly interjected, "What if we use a stillborn?"
The silver-haired girl gazed into the distance, muttering: "In the northernmost part of the continent, it is said there exists the Sanctum of Souls, where one can converse with the dead. If souls truly exist, they wouldn't reside in perpetual ice and snow."
"Master, is conversing with the dead an illusion or a reflection of one's inner self?"
"I don't know. Instead of relying on such ephemeral and intangible things, it's better to thoroughly research the theories we already have."
"Exactly, Flamme. The Sanctum of Souls is already a legend even among the Elf Race; how ancient must it be? No one believes it anymore. If it were true, then news would have spread from the Demon King's Castle long ago. With your Master's personality, she would even make a special trip and kill the Demon King while she's at it."
"Don't make me sound like a magic fanatic. Besides, he probably possesses power beyond the level of curses, and it concerns the utilization of rules, so it's not easy to predict the outcome."
"Speaking of souls, I happen to have an experiment here that can prove their existence."
Flamme led them to another area. Compared to the strangeness of Scarlet Rot, this place was much more normal, with only some small white mice.
Prominently marked were two identical white mice. Upon seeing the intruders, their reactions were identical, their movements synchronized, their responses uniform. The synchronization rate was extremely high, as if two bodies shared a single soul.
"You used the Soul Separation technique I taught you on them…"
"Mhm."
"The effect is good, but their physical condition is very poor. So, is the current situation that soul and body cannot coexist?"
Frieren lit a wisp of flame on her fingertip, and the two white mice immediately became radiant and revitalized, only for the flame to extinguish and the mice to struggle again. She lit it again, repeating the process.
She couldn't just forcefully boost the effect with the First Flame, could she? It wouldn't last. Because once it's separated from her body for too long, its energy weakens, and she cannot easily separate Soul-tier energy.
Because only a complete First Flame could ensure dominance within her body, suppressing all corruption.
Besides, using a Lord Soul for experiments would be too extravagant.
"Flamme, our next research direction should be the rebirth of a soul combined with a physical body, but we can't do it from scratch; we still need to use laboratory animals."
"Indeed, we must first ensure its feasibility before we can consider its stability."
"Speaking of which, I've had some theoretical breakthroughs recently. I'll write them down for you now; perhaps they'll be of some use."
She immediately began writing.
The myriad schools of magic in The Lands Between provided Frieren with a super treasury, a seemingly inexhaustible wellspring of intellectual crystallization. Coupled with her usual research time, she could identify gaps and gain more insights.
In reality, she didn't even have any utilitarian goals. Even Flamme was at least researching longevity, while Frieren was merely excavating knowledge. A more active reality would surely yield results.
Milia Asser sighed, "If you two truly succeed, the world will gain another Goddess's Miracle of magic."
"In the eyes of elves, what powers qualify as such?"
"For example, the as-yet-undiscovered Holy Sword of the Hero who saves the world, or the Goddess's Inscription that can travel through time and change the past."
These are vague and intangible things that have never been demonstrated. To put it nicely, they're called miracles; to put it bluntly, just legends.
Flamme sighed.
"Does a Goddess's Miracle that has truly been demonstrated not exist in the world?"
"Perhaps more than one; two, even."
"Oh?"
Flamme sighed.
"Perhaps more than one; two, even."
"Oh?!"
"In the eyes of the world, Serie's Magic of Knowing All Magic, and Frieren's Magic of Comprehending Non-existent Magic, can both be called miracles."
"Don't flatter me, Asser. Without experiencing the Holy Sword and time travel, one can't definitively say if they compare."
Both are.
"How boring. Don't you know discussing oddities is interesting?"
Frieren ignored them and continued writing swiftly.
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Unfortunately, two of our stories were removed... so I created a new account to post them: MikuDayo.
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I'm counting on your support <3 the director was very sad and scared by what happened...
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