CHAPTER 317: “ASTRID...ARE YOU... CRYING...”

Just this simple sentence captured all of Astrid’s attention. She slightly furrowed her brow, uncrossed her elegantly folded legs, and the sound of her high heels tapping on the floor tiles echoed through the room.

Currently, the only ones who could fully chant Elders Speech and release ancient magic were herself and that black-haired girl suspected to be an ancient human. Others, whether they were the chosen protagonists of destiny or the loli tyrants with royal blood as their cultivation foundation, could not successfully release it.

Elders Speech did not belong to any soul born in this era... From the known information, Fanya’s theory was not without reason...

Gathering her thoughts, she continued reading. As more content came into view, Astrid’s expression grew increasingly serious.

[Through the comparison and investigation of the arrangement of ancient spells and modern magical language, I have some new insights and consulted linguistics professor Ryan Protheus]

Ryan Protheus, also the great-grandfather of Evelyn Protheus, was quite active during the time Fanya lived in the imperial capital and had a deep understanding of Elders Speech.

Unfortunately, Ryan passed away naturally a few years ago, leaving behind only some manuscripts handed over to Evelyn as the theoretical foundation for her research on Elders Speech.

[Mr. Ryan Protheus shared similar thoughts with me. He also acknowledged that there is a lot of content between Elders Speech and modern spells that cannot be mutually translated. However, since this severely contradicts the mainstream view in the magical community and lacks solid evidence, this conjecture remains only on paper]

The modern magical spell system was established by the Spellcreator, Lady Gemini, through the translation of Elders Speech. If Elders Speech and modern magical spells are, upon analysis, two completely different magical systems, the entire magical theory would suffer a huge impact.

Continuing to read the notes, Fanya used her conjectures to illustrate some differences in ancient spells and explained that Lady Gemini might not have simply translated Elders Speech but localized it, resulting in the current magical spells.

[During my research, I could feel a special force preventing me from analyzing these ancient spells. It seemed like some kind of law of the world, or perhaps, some strange suppression]

[Afterwards, I went to ask Mr. Ryan Protheus. At first, he did not have a similar feeling, but upon my reminder, he quickly noticed the key points that are usually hard to spot]

[Elders Speech has a history of over ten thousand years. After the cataclysm, countless mages tried to decipher it but to no avail. The biggest mystery is that the difference between the ancient and modern languages should not be so difficult to discover. With careful and time, finding the patterns is only a matter of time]

[If Elders Speech is a door, that strange force is its indestructible lock. Unfortunately, we seem unable to find the key to open it]

[What exactly is it that has hindered generations of mages from exploring further]

The first few pages of the notes mainly focused on Fanya’s research on Elders Speech, and the content she wrote in her notes indeed matched the information Astrid had.

Strange suppression, two languages that do not intercommunicate, and a magical system still in doubt.

The truth of it all was like looking at the moon in water or flowers in the mist.

Turning to the end of the Chapter, Fanya left a sentence based on her research, which was the title she had written at the very beginning.

[I suspect that there is a special restriction on ancient spells. It does not belong to this era, nor to any soul born in this era]

Looking at the entire history of human development, if Elders Speech is indeed not the foundation of modern magical spells, then even if it is separated and viewed, it would not have any impact on history.

It is somewhat out of place.

After reading all this, Astrid slightly relaxed and reached out to pick up her teacup to drink something, only to find it empty. She then realized she was not in her dorm but in the training tower.

Fanya’s research was indeed thorough, but it was not enough to expose her identity. [Not belonging to any soul born in this era] was just a conjecture, not a confirmed conclusion.

However, from Astrid’s perspective, the other’s thoughts were likely true.

She was a visitor from another world and naturally did not belong to this era. That black-haired girl might be an ancient human who has survived to this day, and of course, she was also not included in this era.

Calming her mind, Astrid carefully digested Fanya’s notes. After a while, she muttered to herself.

"Indeed... Without truly chanting Elders Speech, even an Arcanist mage can misjudge..."

Most of Fanya’s conjectures were true, but some of her understanding was flawed, ultimately stemming from a lack of information.

If Fanya had truly succeeded in chanting Elders Speech, she would have realized that this ancient language did not change the existing magical system. It was only conceptually closer to the essence of magic, with more efficient control and stronger performance.

If one were to find an appropriate metaphor, Astrid could only think of the computer language from her previous life. Modern spells were closer to humans themselves, making it easier for mages to use, while Elders Speech was the mechanical spell for specific execution. Although it sounded awkward and strange, it was efficient and accurate when executed, with an overall faster operation speed.

Glancing at the ice dragon she had just created using ancient spells, the white frost covering its surface had mostly melted, and the entire space was filled with thick water vapor.

If her original mother were still here, she might have been able to see more from this. Astrid lowered her eyes and continued flipping through the book in her hands.

Fortunately, Fanya did not set up a special barrier in her notes that required an increase in mental power to continuously unfold. Otherwise, if it were as troublesome as in the ruby, she might not finish reading the entire notebook until who knows when.

That feeling of being left hanging at a crucial point was truly unpleasant.

As she continued to flip through, Fanya’s notes recorded a lot of insights on magical cultivation. However, since Fanya had already become an Arcanist mage when she wrote these notes, there were not many detailed contents that could serve as a reference for the spellcaster Astrid. Most of them had to be deduced from the problems Fanya encountered when she advanced to an Arcanist mage.

[Arcanist mages and all mage levels below have the most fundamental difference. Starting from the moment of successful advancement, mages no longer rely solely on pulling elemental particles to construct spell circles. Their control of magical particles is already precise enough. To release stronger and more effective magic, they sometimes need to "dominate" elements]

[This is actually reflected at the Magnus and even Sorcerer levels. For example, there are combination magics between the opposing elements of ice and fire. However, to make them tightly arranged, mere pulling is far from enough. Mages often need to have excellent dual-element affinity to achieve this]

[...]

Time passed minute by minute. Fanya’s notebook was of moderate thickness but had a vast amount of content. It was impossible to fully comprehend it in a short time.

Astrid just skimmed through it to see if there was anything she needed to pay special attention to. Apart from the research on Elders Speech at the beginning, what was more impactful was the supplementary Chapter at the end of the notebook.

Since this was Fanya’s casual notes, she basically wrote whatever came to mind. So, the timeline between the first Chapter and the last Chapter spanned a long time. When she first started writing, Fanya had just advanced to an Arcanist mage.

By the last Chapter, she had already given birth to Astrid and was at the peak of an Arcanist mage, just one or two months away from her journey to the abyss.

[Some reasonable conjectures about the ranks above Arcanist mages]

Seeing the title, Astrid’s heart was first filled with a bit of surprise, then she calmed down and continued reading.

[As we all know, whether it is the Valeria Empire, the Kingdom of Velys, or the Pan-Human Alliance located on the Shattered Islands, they all divide mages into five major levels]

[Apprentice, Sorcerer, Magnus, Arcanist, Spellcreator, and these levels correspond to Knight, Grand Knight, Master Knight, Crusader, Transcendent respectively]

[During my journey of climbing the ranks, I once firmly believed in this classification. But when I truly reached the summit, I felt an indescribable emptiness in my heart]

More than a decade ago, under the dim yellow light, Fanya looked at her daughter sleeping peacefully beside her. The tip of her quill pen left black ink on the paper, moving so gently that apart from the child’s long breathing in the room, there was no other sound.

[Arcanist mages can draw elemental power from the void, unrestricted by traditional locations. At the level of Spellcreator, they can even communicate with space and time]

[As the youngest peak Arcanist mage of the Valeria Empire, I believe I have touched the stepping stone to the next level. But the problem lies here]

[If it is true as the legends say that Spellcreators can communicate with space and time, then at the peak Arcanist mage level, I should be able to touch the related laws]

[But in fact, I only have a slight understanding of space, and I have no clue about time. Moreover, during the exploration, I could feel that I was still far from mastering space and time, and the gap between me and the historically powerful Lady Gemini was like a chasm]

[Therefore, I sometimes wonder, is the level above Arcanist mage really the so-called Spellcreator]

[Or is it because no one has ever reached it, so the world unilaterally believes that the next level after Arcanist mage is Spellcreator]

[They may only know that this path has an end, but they do not know exactly how far it is. Whether it is just a step away or thousands of miles apart is still undecided]

[Perhaps there is one or more transitional levels between Arcanist mage and Spellcreator]

The last Chapter ended abruptly here, and the rest was blank.

Astrid looked at the signature and date at the bottom right corner of the notebook and guessed why Fanya chose to stop here.

A month later, she and Hughes Calliste, Astrid’s biological father, disappeared into the abyss rift, and their fates would remain unknown.

Before leaving, Fanya placed her notebook in the ruby, and it had accompanied Astrid as she grew up.

Taking a deep breath to calm her slightly trembling heart, Astrid adjusted her emotions and focused on the content of the notebook itself.

There are other levels between Arcanist mage and Spellcreator... It seems that Lyra’s room for improvement is even greater than she imagined...

Unfortunately, if she had asked her good sister during her time bedridden whether "The Innocent Knight of the Stained Light" had any related setting collections, she might not have been so confused by these fragmented pieces of information now.

She should have asked more questions...

After rereading these two notes she found important, ensuring she had not missed any key information, Astrid continued flipping through the notebook and finally saw a magic circle on the third to last page.

The circle was outlined in gold, its color dim, with faint magical fluctuations emanating outward.

A notebook left by a mother to her daughter should not have an attack spell set up.

After a moment of thought, Astrid channeled her mental power into it, and everything was as she expected. Her mental power did not encounter any obstacles but instead felt like a key that had found the right lock, turning gently, fitting perfectly in every inch.

As her mental power was injected, a faint, indistinct figure appeared before Astrid.

Silver-white hair, crimson eyes, a delicate face somewhat similar to Astrid’s, the only difference being that Astrid’s face always carried a cold, unapproachable expression, while the beautiful woman before her had a soft smile on her lips, with a hint of tenderness between her brows.

Without any words, the Fanya before her was just a phantom left in the circle using magic.

Astrid quietly looked at her, memories flooding her mind, the gentle whispers when this person lulled her to sleep, the fireworks she performed with magic, and the caresses as gentle as a spring breeze, long forgotten in the depths of her memory.

Half a minute later, the woman’s figure gradually dissipated and finally disappeared completely. Only the aura left in Astrid’s mental realm through the circle told her that this was the last gift Fanya left for her daughter before departing.

It was warm and gentle, accompanied by Fanya’s soft murmurs.

Before Astrid could fully recover, she heard someone knocking on the training room door.

...Is it Lyra?

Closing the book, Astrid stood up, walked to the door, removed the various barriers, and opened it.

Lyra stood in the corridor, holding two glass bottles in her hand, with a few lemon slices floating in the transparent liquid.

"Astrid, I bought some lemon water, do you want..."

Halfway through her sentence, Lyra suddenly froze, her hand gripping the strap holding the glass bottle, her two white silk legs standing straight.

Seeing Lyra hesitate, Astrid glanced at her and whispered.

"What’s wrong?"

"..."

After a brief silence, Lyra moistened her throat and slowly reached out to touch Astrid’s eyelid.

"Astrid..."

"Are you... crying..."