Chapter 253: Arriving at Am

The use of Arcane Power magic is called the art of magic, so bards, Sorcerers, Mages, assassins, harpists and other experts who wield Arcane Power are practitioners of this art, regardless of whether they acknowledge kinship with each other.

Those who practice this art are trained or innately skilled at touching the Magic Net and bending it to achieve the desired effect. They may not consciously understand the relationship between their words, objects, and actions and the Magic Net, but they know it exists and can feel its response to their manipulation.

In the vast, ornate hall, Instructor La Lauenzi stood on the podium, patiently explaining the basics of Arcane Power to dozens of students seated below.

Naimi Xisi stood in the shadows of a corner of the hall, admiring the lavish furnishings.

This is the famed Kalten Arcane Tower of the Am Empire, and the only place throughout the Am Empire legally authorized to teach Arcane Power knowledge.

Kalten Arcane Tower stands in Ascatra City, the capital of the Am Empire; it originally belonged to a Nine-ring Mage from eight hundred years ago, and after his death the Am Empire requisitioned the tower and turned it into an academy for cultivating Arcane Power seeds.

There are over fifty students in the hall, and almost every one comes from a major noble family of the Am Empire. Even those without background are commoners who gained entry by signing exorbitant interest loan contracts with the great nobles.

The Am Empire strictly guards the dissemination of Arcane Power knowledge, and one of its purposes is precisely that.

It seeks to make all Arcane talents obey the commands of the old wealthy families, never allowing Mages to use their power to become new financial cliques.

It should be noted that among Frelen's various supernatural powers, Mages who wield Arcane Power are among the easiest to ascend the social ladder.

Arcane Power is the most important productive force in the Feren World, and Mages can rely on Arcane Power to swiftly monetize knowledge through various channels.

If the Mage's advancement process did not also require massive financial backing, and without the interference of church forces, the entire economic power of Frelen would likely already have been monopolized by various Mage organizations.

Even so, the Am Empire, a great nation founded on economics, still strictly guards the spread of Arcane Power knowledge.

Naimi Xisi came here not to study Arcane Power knowledge. Although Kalten Arcane Tower is an Arcane academy for training students, it is of little use to a Mage of his caliber.

In fact, he believes the Instructor La Lauenzi speaking on the stage is less skilled than himself.

His main reason for coming here is Xia Nai's request.

A little over a month ago, he and Xia Nai boarded an Arcane ferry back to Sword Bay. After arriving at the Am Empire's port, Naimi Xisi intended to depart for the Yinbu Tu Kingdom, but Xia Nai stopped him.

"I need your help, and in return I am willing to submit to you from now on!"

Naimi Xisi still does not know what Xia Nai wants him to do, but he knows that as a seed with great potential to become a Legendary Mage, Xia Nai's willingness to submit to him for aid represents only a possibility.

The danger involved behind this is probably immense.

After careful consideration, he ultimately accepted Xia Nai's request. First, because Xia Nai's own aptitude is indeed sufficient as a bargaining chip to intrigue him.

Her exceptionally outstanding talent in the field of transformation, and her lineage as a disciple of the Son of the Black Staff, indicate that Xia Nai lacks neither the talent nor the resources needed to break through to Legendary Mage status.

Secondly, Xia Nai's status as a member of the Duke Council is also a factor Naimi Xisi considered.

The Duke Council has only six seats, and to this day the holder of the sixth seat has never appeared.

If Xia Nai submits to him, it would mean that one third of the Council's power would belong to him.

At present, the Duke Council's power is still too weak to rely on. Yet Naimi Xisi sees the potential of this cross‑Multiverse organization as considerable. He has not forgotten that the Throne still holds many unknowns yet to be unlocked, and if a future upheaval occurs, possessing two seats gives him a natural advantage over others!

Thinking of the Throne, Naimi Xisi sighed and lost any desire to continue admiring the Arcane lesson.

A little over a month ago, after the Simulacrum stepped through that door, it broke up with him, and Naimi Xisi still does not know what happened.

He can only be certain of one thing: the Simulacrum has not vanished.

Although his contact with the Simulacrum has temporarily ceased, the power of Arcane relies on the Magic Net that spans the Multiverse.

As a Seven-ring spell, Simulacrum Art has a hidden trait: after the Simulacrum's destruction, the original instantly receives all memories the Simulacrum experienced.

Normally, because Simulacra usually operate on the same plane and at medium‑short range, all spellcasters synchronously share everything the Simulacrum experiences in real time.

But Naimi Xisi's situation is different; cross‑plane control of a Simulacrum is impractical, so he chose to permanently sever a portion of Spiritual Power, granting the Simulacrum autonomous thought.

Compared to relying on Wish Art to grant the Simulacrum sentient intelligence at a heavy cost, this method caused Naimi Xisi to suffer a temporary dip in intellect, requiring at least six months to recover.

Thus, the current situation is that he knows the Simulacrum is not dead, yet he does not know what it is doing now, and can only patiently wait for its destruction, which is extremely vexing.

Just as he was about to leave the Arcane Tower, an excruciating pain suddenly assaulted his mind, as countless memory fragments were violently transmitted into his brain by the Magic Net.

!

"Hum"

Naimi Xisi let out a muted hum, pressing his hand against the nearby wall to support his body.

After several minutes, once he had sorted the memory fragments, the excruciating pain finally subsided.

Naimi Xisi sat down on the chair beside him, remained silent for several minutes, then let out a long sigh.

"It turned out to be like this."

He has already reviewed those memory fragments, which are the Simulacrum's recollections of traveling to the world where Subject 11 resides.

Earth in 1982, a Rift connecting to Ying Ying Ming Jie, a Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game just like in his past life, and finally, that mysterious monster.

Naimi Xisi sighed; in his view, Subject 11 is probably already dead.

He carefully searched the knowledge within the memory inheritance to compare with the final scene before his consciousness fell into darkness—the monster's chanting incantation.

In the end, he found an extremely similar result.

Even within the memory inheritance, related knowledge is exceedingly rare.

Because it is an Arcane technique that exists only in Ying Ying Ming Jie, or is used by shadow mages who worship Saar—Shadow Secret Art.

(End of Chapter)