Ancient magic differs greatly from modern magic, and Roger had previously told Harry about its instability and difficulty in control.
But ancient magic has another major problem, which is 'direction'! If the direction is wrong, the more effort you put in, the more you will go astray.
It's like aiming to improve grades, but instead of studying hard, you focus on improving your cheating methods.
The results might be significant in the short term, but it's not a good thing in the long run.
Many ancient magic practices from the era of isolation suffer from this problem.
So when Roger finished reading some of the knowledge left behind by Slytherin, he found that the gains were not as great as he had imagined.
However, his trip was not in vain, as Roger obtained other things that were of great significance to him.
"It's just over like that?" Outside the Chamber of Secrets, Snape, who was the only one among the crowd with little understanding of the Three-Dimensional Law, looked at the box Dumbledore was carrying with a flicker of disbelief in his eyes.
That was a Basilisk!
However, recalling the demeanor Roger and Dumbledore displayed before entering the Chamber of Secrets, Snape quickly understood.
Glancing at the expressions of Nicolas Flamel and Professor McGonagall, Snape, with his rich experience, instantly realized that there was something going on, and he was the only one unaware of it.
But he wasn't excluded from a certain circle.
The reason...
Snape remembered what Roger had said to him at the end of the previous school year after Snape's casual remark had sparked Roger's inspiration.
With a clear understanding, Snape said nothing and made no further inquiries about the phenomena surrounding Roger and the other person.
Since there was a place for him here, he would let things unfold naturally.
Just as he believed Roger's "prophecy" that Lily would be redeemed, he also believed that the Seer would make the best arrangements.
"This wasn't a difficult problem to begin with, it's just that it's best to make thorough preparations for everything," Roger said with a smile.
Just now, while Roger was tracing back through time and space inside, he had already casually searched the place with Dumbledore. After confirming that there were no other safety hazards inside, Roger and Dumbledore left the Chamber of Secrets.
After leaving the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore chatted briefly with the other three professors who were guarding outside. Then, seeing that there was nothing else they needed his help with, Snape and Professor McGonagall left.
... It was getting late, and wizards were also human and needed rest, so they went to sleep.
Nicolas Flamel also wanted to leave, but Roger kept him behind.
He still had some matters to discuss with Nicolas Flamel.
.
.
.
"...Are you crazy?!" Nicolas Flamel's childlike face, flushed with a healthy glow, was now filled with horror.
Even though he had lived for over six hundred years, he had never heard of anyone wanting to do something like this!
"I'm not crazy," Roger waved his hand.
"Eternal life is an almost impossible path. I've simply chosen to wager more heavily to obtain it."
"But this is just too..." Nicolas Flamel still found it difficult to comprehend.
"You're only 12 years old this year, at the prime of your life, like the rising sun, full of infinite possibilities. You can take it step by step, try all sorts of paths, and only then do this when there's no other way."
Roger wanted Nicolas Flamel to help optimize his Second Brain. Nicolas Flamel would provide the "design drafts," and Roger would be responsible for the experiments to achieve multi-threaded thinking.
Then, they would optimize the virtual reality technology using a similar method.
If it were just this, Nicolas Flamel wouldn't have found it particularly concerning.
But Roger's ultimate goal in optimizing these things made him feel a chill! The question.
How can one maintain immortality of the mind?
Nicolas Flamel's answer was "facing it," accepting all the hardships in fate, and even facing death with composure.
But in Roger's eyes, his answer was essentially "giving up."
This was not the path to eternal life.
Dumbledore, on the other hand, had no path at all; he was more like a leaf carried by the wind. Although he was in his prime among top wizards, his mindset had aged considerably.
Voldemort's answer was "inscription," inscribing his most glorious moments into Horcruxes.
This was actually a viable path, but Roger did not agree with it. He did not believe that "the me of the past" replacing the current me was a continuation of the self.
Rather than eternal life, it was more like continuously creating new lives, with these different lives consistently bearing the same name and social identity.
So, what was Roger's answer? After a conversation with Snape at the train station a few months ago, Roger had figured it out.
Whether it was the me of the past, the me of the present, or the me of the future, although the outward personality might change slightly, some "essential" things remained constant.
Everything changes, only the immutable remains immutable! What Roger wanted to do was to use the power of multi-threaded thinking, virtual worlds, and time illusions to find that "immutable" thing in his heart!
That was Roger's answer.
The true self!
No matter how his physical body, soul, or way of perceiving the world changed, no matter what changes occurred in the world, society, or his interpersonal relationships.
That sliver of true spirit, it wouldn't change at all.
As long as he held onto that sliver of true self, Roger could maintain an indestructible mind at any time.
It might sound obscure, but in Nicolas Flamel's eyes, if he used a different term, almost everyone would understand.
Reincarnation!
"This might be theoretically feasible, but the success rate is too low, so low I can barely calculate it," Nicolas Flamel's expression was extremely solemn.
Even with a child's face, one could feel the seriousness in his words; if an ordinary person were before him with that kind of pressure, their legs would likely go weak.
According to Roger's plan, he would engrave all the time-phantom data he had recorded during his European travels into virtual reality, and then split his own consciousness.
Artificially creating reincarnation, simultaneously experiencing the lives of countless beings throughout history! Conservatively estimated, by the time the plan was completed, he would have spent tens of billions of years in subjective time.
If he were more aggressive, increasing this number by another order of magnitude wouldn't be impossible.
After all, the universe itself had only existed for about 13.8 billion years!
To temper his mind with such an immense span of time, even if it was just immersing himself in time phantoms to experience others' lives rather than truly living them, it was an incredibly terrifying prospect.
In any case, Nicolas Flamel couldn't imagine how Roger could endure such a terrifyingly long period and still maintain his unchanged mind.
This wasn't just about passing time; Roger would also have to fully immerse his mind in the emotions of billions of beings.
Facing Nicolas Flamel's seriousness, Roger revealed a gentle smile.
"I know what you're thinking."
When Roger had revealed a bit of his path to Dumbledore, Dumbledore had reacted similarly to Nicolas Flamel.
"You think I'm still very young now, and my future self might be able to go very far on the path of magic."
"When my magic reaches its peak, it might be better to revisit this issue then."
"Exactly!" Nicolas Flamel nodded, that was precisely his point.
But Roger wasn't finished speaking; he continued, "There's one thing you might not have considered."
"The path to eternal life itself is nearly impossible; it's destined to be arduous, and the cultivation of the mind is difficult to achieve through external means."
"Perhaps in a few hundred or thousand years, I'll have a more stable method, but regardless, such a change to the mind cannot be without risk."
Speaking to this point, Roger's expression also turned serious: "My will is very firm, but I am, after all, human."
"My will has limits, and my will also has weaknesses."
"Precisely because I am young now, I don't have any deep connections in this world yet."
"If, one day in the future, I have close friends, family, a lover, or even children."
"Then."
"Will I still be able to calmly... face death?!" The last few words were spoken by Roger with a deliberate, word-by-word cadence.
Roger sincerely believed that dedicating his entire life to what he considered the most righteous cause, living a life without regrets, was an incredibly romantic notion.
But when life gained other attachments, could one still wholeheartedly devote themselves to accomplishing a single thing? Roger hadn't faced this question before, so he didn't know the answer.
Now, he didn't want to give himself the opportunity to face this question.
Human nature is complex; anyone with even a modicum of wisdom wouldn't test human nature.
The moment you want to test if a glass cup will break when smashed, it will shatter, even if it's very sturdy.
Because I'm young, I shouldn't take this risk?
In Roger's eyes, it was the exact opposite.
Being young was precisely the time when he was most suited to undertake this endeavor.
Roger met Nicolas Flamel's gaze. After Nicolas Flamel's rejuvenation, he was considerably shorter than Roger. He looked up into Roger's eyes and saw a resolute determination that defied death.
If there were no opportunity, it would be one thing. But to have the chance to step towards eternal life and retreat due to fear—that wouldn't be Roger.
Even if the chances were slim, Roger was willing to gamble his life for eternal life.
Moreover, in Roger's eyes, it wasn't that he had no chance of success.
He anchored himself using the method of the Time Plague; while it couldn't be called foolproof, it could increase his chances of success.
...13%. This was the probability Roger estimated for successfully traversing the Path to Immortality.
This was already quite high.
As for what to do if he failed? If he failed, he failed.
Roger had given his all. He would fight until the very last moment, until death arrived. For Roger, that was enough.
However.
In this world, although he had no personal attachments, he still had some debts of gratitude to repay. Before death arrived, Roger would repay these 'debts' in his own way.
Through the method of Dimensional Magic!
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