System

"Sorol's Absolute Contract!"

The two cried out in shock at the same time.

Their enormous reaction could not be blamed. Sorol was a super-powerful Legendary Mage recorded in history.

Legend had it that he cultivated Contract Magic, especially his Absolute Contract, a magical method said to stand shoulder to shoulder with the gods.

As long as both parties signed an Absolute Contract, not even the gods could break it.

Of course, the claim that even gods could not break it was only a rumor, but through all these years, there had not been even a single case of one of his Absolute Contracts being broken.

It could be said that after his death, the Absolute Contracts he left behind were the safest guarantee in the world.

"Don't get the wrong idea. This isn't the original copy. Though it isn't the original, it was replicated from it. Unless the contract signers can become Legendary Mages, it can guarantee absolute secrecy."

At that moment, Chen Cheng and Wisdom Shield understood what Pembez had in mind.

Magical Items like this were things one could only encounter by chance, never seek out. Yet Pembez had used one for his sake without hesitation, and Chen Cheng was immensely grateful to him.

At the same time, he felt ashamed of having judged a gentleman's heart with the measure of a petty man.

Perhaps because he had seen too many enemy spies in the research institute in his previous life, Chen Cheng trusted no one quite as much when it came to his own research results.

Seeing him lower his head, shame written across his face, Pembez understood what Chen Cheng was thinking.

He then laughed heartily and said:

"There's nothing for you to be ashamed of. I'm the one who should feel ashamed. If I hadn't brought out this contract, then even with that ordinary secrecy contract from before, the secret could still have been leaked."

Pembez's words also served as a reminder to Chen Cheng. Some experts possessed methods beyond anything he could imagine.

Take the secrecy contract Pembez had mentioned. In Chen Cheng's eyes, signing it meant everything was foolproof, yet for experts like Pembez, there were still ways to break it.

Wisdom Shield also knew that the more confidential this matter was, the better. Without another word, he signed his name on the contract scroll.

After the three had signed their names, the scroll, like the previous one, burst into flames without fire.

Only this time, after the scroll burned away, the three could see a humanoid phantom appear amid the flames.

Afterward, both Pembez and the others could sense that whenever the thought of revealing the secret arose in their hearts, they would feel as though a great terror was about to descend and erase them.

Once these complete confidentiality measures had been put in place, Pembez began earnestly asking Chen Cheng about the principles of Variable Magic.

With the contract's protection, Chen Cheng also hoped that more scholars could join this vast research project of his.

Chen Cheng then explained the basic ideas and principles behind his Variable Magic. Put in modern terms, Variable Magic was somewhat like a computer's main processing program, while the Magic Runes and Corridors were the computer's other programs.

Under the powerful processing ability of this main program, those seemingly scattered programs could be assembled into perfect magical programs capable of operating.

Chen Cheng's Variable Magic had no fixed form. Its inscription was determined entirely according to the Magic Rune Corridors already known to be usable for proportional combinations.

Therefore, truly spreading and learning this magic required extremely profound magical knowledge. Moreover, if an ordinary person could not understand the central concept of variability in this magic, then even if they knew such magic existed, they would still be unable to use it.

Hearing that Variable Magic had so many restrictions and was so difficult to learn, Pembez secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Before he could recover, however, Chen Cheng said excitedly:

"Now that I have your help, Professor, this magic's convenience and reliability can be greatly improved. You only need to write down the basic structural runes and corridors of the currently known basic magic, and I can use those runes and corridors to create Variable Magic for basic magic."

Chen Cheng then looked at Pembez with eyes full of excitement, waiting for his answer.

Yet when Chen Cheng saw the stormy shifts in Pembez's expression, he immediately said:

"But please rest assured, Professor. As long as they cannot learn how to modify the Variable Magic for this basic magic, then the greatest achievement they can attain in their lifetimes will only be that of a peak Bronze magic apprentice."

"Furthermore, the source of magical power they use can only be nature itself, so its strength will not be anywhere near that of a true mage. This is only meant to improve the people's livelihoods."

Only after hearing this did Pembez's expression improve somewhat.

He had truly feared that once this thing was developed, it would become the fuse that escalated magical warfare. If that happened, even dying ten thousand deaths would not be enough to atone for his sins.

But when he thought of how, one day, commoners might improve their livelihoods because of his organization of basic magic, Pembez felt a little excited as well.

For Wisdom Shield, as an administrator, this could also be considered a good thing. As a noble, the first thing he thought of was that this could restrict certain geniuses among the commoners.

Not only could it limit the development of ordinary people, it could also improve the people's livelihoods within his territory and stabilize his rule. It was a good thing that killed several birds with one stone.

He also wanted to learn Variable Magic. Perhaps if he wished to rapidly increase his strength in the future, he would have to place his hopes on this.

However, Chen Cheng would not tell the two of them about program upgrades. Otherwise, with old Pembez's way of thinking, he would never help Chen Cheng organize all this.

He had also considered that the terrible consequences Pembez described really could happen. Giving him some insurance in advance was itself a form of protection.

The three then left Pembez's research room, each immersed in the beautiful future they imagined.

After leaving, Wisdom Shield took the books in his hands to the library. What he needed now was to speed up his study of Chaos Magic.

Only just then had he realized that the greatest beneficiary of the Variable Magic Chen Cheng had created would truly be someone like himself, someone who studied Chaos Magic. Only the Chaos Magic within mages like him could activate different magic of every attribute.

Once other mages reached the Silver Mage level, they had to determine their magical path. Once it was determined, the magic within their bodies could only be converted according to one, two, or three attributes.

That meant the range they could expand through Variable Magic would only be magic of their own attributes, while he could encompass every attribute and become a true all-attribute mage.

The prerequisite for all this was that he had to build up an enormous reserve of magical knowledge. Otherwise, even if he possessed Variable Magic, he would be unable to unleash its true power.

After leaving, Chen Cheng hummed a little tune as he headed toward the classroom. He had finally found an extremely capable assistant, and he no longer had to bury his head every day like some miserable laborer, sorting through all that basic magic.

Yet amid his excitement, Pembez alone felt as though he had forgotten to do something. There was always a sense of unease in his heart.

That unease grew even stronger when he saw Principal Adolf approaching from ahead.

Adolf had learned from Melinda early that morning that Pembez had called Chen Cheng over. He had been heading to Pembez's place to see whether he needed help treating the tangled mess of broken Magic Runes within Chen Cheng's body.

When Adolf saw Pembez approaching with such a happy expression, he assumed Chen Cheng's treatment had gone smoothly.

He had even made up his mind that if Pembez cured Chen Cheng, he would be willing to swallow his pride and offer Pembez a gift of thanks.

"Professor Pembez, I see you're smiling from ear to ear. Could it be that Brown's treatment has been progressing smoothly?"

Adolf was afraid Pembez would immediately start berating him over Chen Cheng's injury, accusing him of being incompetent and saying that he had not acted after so many days.

So Adolf struck first to gain the upper hand, blocking Pembez's mocking words before they could leave his mouth.

Yet Pembez, who had just been smiling broadly, suddenly changed expression. The smile froze on his face, and the joy in his eyes instantly turned evasive.

After trading insults with Pembez for so many years, Adolf knew exactly what Pembez was thinking the moment he saw that look in his eyes.

Adolf's somewhat cautious old face changed, while Pembez silently cursed himself for being muddleheaded enough to forget about this.

Before Adolf could speak, Pembez turned and ran.

The students and instructors of the academy then saw two old men whose combined ages were nearly two hundred chasing each other through the academy. Even as they ran, Principal Adolf's mouth formed words that clearly were not kind.