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"In the well?"
"Yeah, that's right. It's where we found the first trace. And we don't know how deep it is."
"Hmm, that makes sense. Then you should go in, Tubbery."
"What? M-me?"
Bellum peered into the dark well and continued.
"Yeah. You said the last trace is probably in here. Go in quickly."
"Me? Even if I go down and find the trace, I'm not sure I can climb back up."
Bellum slapped Liber's back playfully.
"Just kidding, Tubbery. Do you think we'd really ask you to go down there? We don't know how deep it is or what's inside."
Bellum turned to his friends and asked.
"It seems like there's something in here, just like Liber said. Who wants to go in?"
Davian stepped forward.
"I'll go in."
"Actually, you're the most suitable, Davian, but we can't always put the burden on you. Let's have someone else go this time. Nubes, how about you? Wanna go in here with me?"
Bonita glanced into the well behind Bellum and said.
"Can Nubes even fit in there? His shoulders might get stuck. And they said only one person should go in."
"Ah, is that so?"
Meanwhile, Davian climbed onto the well.
Luna, startled, shouted.
"Davian!"
"I'll go and come back. If only one person can go, it's best for me to go, right?"
It wasn't that they were trying to pass the work onto Davian, but his friends couldn't easily argue.
Considering his skills and his unique double major, it was right for Davian to go.
Bonita stepped forward.
"That's true, but it doesn't have to be you, Davian. You've always stepped up when something like this happens."
Luna quickly chimed in.
"Yeah, Davian. We can't always force you to sacrifice."
Of course, Davian wasn't trying to sacrifice himself for his friends.
Davian's reason for stepping up was simple.
'How can I come all this way and let someone else take the five-star rarity item?'
Of course, if the item was something that could be brought out, he wouldn't be greedy and would let whoever went down get it.
But he didn't know what form the item would take.
If it was absorbed as soon as it was touched, all the work they'd put into finding the eleven traces would be for nothing.
Fortunately, no one except Davian had any personal desire for the last trace.
Only Davian knew through the notification that the last trace was an incredible item.
The rest of his friends were focused on the significance of having directly sought out the traces of a great mage who only appeared in history books.
"It's right for me to go. I'll go and come back."
Davian jumped into the well.
How long had he been falling?
Darkness surrounded him.
Looking up, the entrance of the well appeared as a small circle far away.
The entrance, which was gradually getting smaller, was now only the size of a fingernail.
He continued to fall for a long time.
Now, he couldn't even feel the sensation of falling.
The well entrance, which looked like a small dot, was no longer visible.
Only thick darkness remained.
He couldn't tell if he was in a narrow well or a vast darkness.
But one thing was clear.
He wasn't going to a dangerous place.
When the well entrance disappeared from above, a notification appeared.
=====
[Hidden Place: Great Mage Fabian's Mana Lab]
―The entrance to the hidden place has been synchronized with the user's mana attribute. Now, no one other than the user can pass through the entrance.
―Mana points will be greatly accumulated while staying in the hidden place.
―Caution: Time flows differently in the hidden place than outside.
=====
The caution was a bit concerning.
But at least he wasn't falling into a bad place.
Or, in fact, maybe he wasn't falling at all.
Since he couldn't feel anything anymore, he had no way of knowing how he was moving.
Suddenly, his vision brightened.
Thud.
Davian's feet touched the ground.
Even without using any internal energy, there was no significant impact.
It felt like jumping down from a height of about one meter.
He looked around.
A vast field.
Trees and flowers of moderate size grew everywhere.
A sky without a single cloud.
It was as bright as day, but he couldn't find the sun.
The vegetation in the field was naturally swaying, but he couldn't feel any wind.
A peaceful and beautiful, yet somehow alien space.
'Fabian must have created this space himself.'
On a hill somewhere, he saw a brick cottage that was neither too big nor too small.
White smoke billowed from the chimney on the roof.
Ding.
=====
[Hidden Place Entry Complete]
―1K mana points earned every 10 minutes
=====
'Oh.'
If he stayed here for just one hour, he would accumulate 6K, or 6,000 mana points.
If he stayed for a full day, it would be 144K.
A whopping 140,000 mana points.
Even if he added up all the mana points Davian had accumulated throughout his four lives, it wouldn't reach 700,000.
But if he stayed in this place for just five days, he could accumulate more than that.
'At this rate, I might even have to take a leave of absence.'
However.
The caution was the problem.
=====
―Caution: Time flows differently in the hidden place than outside.
=====
He remembered the space he had gone to in order to obtain the Stone of Enlightenment.
Where he had met the phoenix and the haetae.
Where two dragons had emerged from the lake.
Where he had listened to the teachings of a deity.
He had stayed there for three days, but no time had passed outside.
It would be great if time flowed like that here too.
'But if that were the case, that kind of caution wouldn't have appeared in the notification.'
In fact, when he had entered the deity's space to obtain the Stone of Enlightenment, no notifications about hidden places or cautions had appeared.
'Just in case, I should find the item quickly and get out.'
Without hesitation, Davian rushed towards the cottage.
Bang.
As he opened the door and entered, a space larger than he had seen from the outside unfolded.
Hundreds of books were neatly arranged on one wall, and a beautiful fireplace was located on the opposite wall.
Various experimental tools lined the remaining wall.
And in the center of the room.
A small box was placed on a round table.
Click.
He picked up the box and opened the lid.
His head throbbed with pain.
Then, a voice of someone he didn't know echoed in his head.
―You've come. My descendant. Greetings. As you may well know, I am Fabian Hendrix.
The headache disappeared.
―You have worked hard to follow my traces. My descendant, you can only be called so if your understanding of my life reaches at least that level. It was a device prepared for verification.
'I doubt there will be a conversation even if I answer, right?'
Davian calmly focused on the voice in his head.
―This place contains my lifelong research on mana, and it is also the place that allowed me to break through the wall of a 10-star mage. I spent my life searching for the essence of mana. And while fighting the demons, I realized that the essence of the power they feel is not much different from ours. I was the first to discover the mana of the demon realm, and I decided to call that, which is the same yet different from the mana of the human realm, 'Magia.'
Davian nodded.
Mana also flows in the demon realm.
Humans often call it 'Magia,' but in fact, the essence is the same.
Rather, the purity is much higher.
That's why even the lowest-ranking soldiers of the demon army have far superior abilities compared to ordinary humans.
This is also covered in the first-year common theory subject at Elton Academy.
Fabian Hendrix was the first to create the word 'Magia' and this theory.
―Therefore, I wanted to create a new cultivation method using the mana of the demon realm. But it wasn't easy.
Humans cannot cultivate the mana of the demon realm, which is called 'Magia.'
Of course, there have been many mages who have developed ways to absorb Magia through numerous studies.
But those methods were eventually discarded.
Even if they managed to absorb Magia somehow, there were always fatal side effects afterwards.
'He knew and researched this alone in the old days. There's a reason he was called the Great Mage.'
―My research, which had been stalled for a while, found the answer in the 'Dungeon.'
A part of the demon realm implemented in the human realm, the Dungeon.
The Dungeon Core constantly sucks in Magia that exists beyond the dimensional wall and attracts monsters from the demon realm.
―I used the Dungeon in reverse. I created a mana core in the human realm and implemented a part of the human realm inside the demon realm. That's what this place is. The place where the boundary between the demon realm and the human realm is the thinnest. I created a 'Reverse Dungeon' here.
'A Reverse Dungeon... What a crazy man.'
It wasn't just that he had a high mana affinity and became a Great Mage by breaking through the wall of 10 stars.
He researched the Dungeon and implemented the human realm inside the demon realm in reverse.
―After that, I made tens of thousands of changes to this place in order to create a space where I could absorb Magia. My descendant, this place where you are standing is the culmination of that research.
'So that's why mana points are automatically accumulated when you're here.'
―However. In the process, the timeline was twisted several times and became completely messed up. As you already know, this is also why my traces in my later years suddenly became erratic.
I'm sorry.
But I don't even know how Fabian's traces in his later years became erratic.
In fact, I didn't even know they were erratic.
No, I don't know Fabian's traces at all.
I only know about the twelve traces.
It seems Fabian thought that if someone came this far, they would be his ardent follower.
'Well, I did a play based on you once, so please cut me some slack.'
―Ultimately, due to the timeline problem that I couldn't solve, the time here flows completely differently from the human realm. And the timeline is reversed randomly every time you enter. I tried to find the regularity of the changes, but I failed. One month here could be one hour in the human realm, or one day here could be ten years in the human realm. The flow of time changes differently every time you enter this place.
Crazy.
'One day could be ten years.'
If one day here becomes ten years in the human realm.
I have to get out right away.
Otherwise, I won't be able to graduate or complete any quests.
The failure penalty for the main quest 'Graduation' is 'Death.'
If I go back alive without graduating, I have no idea how my life will proceed afterwards.
A quest that makes me die for sure might open up splendidly.
Or maybe I'll just die as soon as I go out.
Or maybe a completely new main quest will be created.
There is no situation that is better than graduating normally and ending the quest.
―And in this place, I was able to complete one more research. Something that I could never have done in the human realm. I was able to cross the wall of 10 stars in this place, and that's why I was able to create it. The way a dragon passes on its power to its child. I realized that in this space, that method is also allowed to me.
Whoosh.
The necklace with the red gem embedded in the box floated into the air.
―My descendant. I pass on my magical power to you. Just as a dragon passes on its Dragon Heart to its child before it dies. I, too, will pass on my heart to my descendant who has come to this place.
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