Determination

Aoko Aozaki is now a fully independent Magus, putting aside the matter of her familiars for the time being. Although she is still learning various magical knowledge from Alice Kuonji, this learning is more akin to an exchange between Magus scholars specializing in different fields. This version of "Aoko" now possesses very unique insights in many areas of Magecraft, and she is happy to share these insights and research findings with Alice, making their exchanges more fruitful.

Of course, Aoko also tried to learn Alice's unique "Fairy Tale Magecraft" system, but she struggled with the most basic spell for creating the "Sing a Song of Sixpence" Starling familiar. This Magecraft system, based on a special foundation, is fundamentally impossible for anyone other than the descendants of Yumina, who possesses the remnants of the First Magic, to learn. This lineage is passed down through a unique Witch bloodline, a fact Aoko confirmed through repeated attempts.

"Membership Magecraft," Aoko mused with a sigh, "is probably something like this." Perhaps in the future, she might have the chance to visit the continental countries to the west and see if she could learn Thought Crests. However, that is something entirely different from the existing Magecraft system, requiring authorization from entities like the Mountain Court, a Council of Deities. In a sense, it might be even more stringent than a Witch's bloodline inheritance.

Honestly, why is all the Magecraft in this world so exclusive? (Annoyed).

However, to be frank, Aoko's Magic Network Arcana is even more exclusive. Since only she, who possesses a Weave Fragment, can use Magic Network Arcana in this world, she can't even teach this knowledge from another world to anyone else.

This is entirely an "out-of-world" method, Aoko is self-aware of this.

However, even though she inherited the Aozaki family's Fifth Magic imprint and has the cheat-like Weave Fragment, she's not entirely stable enough to overcome Touko's upcoming challenge.

After all, the Golden Werewolf, Beo, is a Phantasmal Species that has undergone Materialization of the Soul. Calling it a werewolf isn't even accurate, as Beo's essence is closer to a fairy or a True Ancestor. Aoko believes Beo's combat power is far superior to the Poppy, which can repeatedly self-destruct and revive, as Beo possesses incredibly high defense and the ability to transform its own form at will.

However, it's not impossible for Aoko to defeat it. Beo is, after all, a rather immature brat mentally. In the original timeline, Sojuro's desperate attack, which made it feel pain, was enough to scare it away. Aoko can achieve this much more easily than Sojuro.

There isn't much time left until Touko launches her attack... Aoko doesn't want to fail and be completely dominated by Touko, stuck as a "Bratty Sister" forever. Therefore, she must take some risky actions recently to gain the strength to directly defeat the Golden Beast.

The best short-term path she can choose is the sealed passage to the Root located deep within her Grandfather's workshop.

Despite inheriting the Fifth Magic, Aoko has not fully grasped its complete effects within two years. While Aoko is confident in her talent, time is of the essence. She absolutely does not want a repeat of the original timeline, where she had to resort to sacrificing a backup and a close friend to awaken it!

Therefore, she must persuade her Grandfather's soul to unseal the passage, travel through it to the Root, and obtain the complete usage rights to the Fifth Magic. The old Mage sealed it away after obtaining the Fifth Magic. Aoko suspects it wasn't because he expected future generations to make research progress and reopen it, but rather because he was fed up with the pawns sent by the Counter Force, which led him to seal the path.

Aoko has done some research and made calculations based on her "past life" memories. If she insists on entering the Root, the biggest obstacle will likely be Caster, the "Primate Killer" dispatched by Alaya. This large Fou's combat power isn't outrageously high, but it possesses absolute killing authority over primates and, in her timeline, the Reason of Comparison, which hasn't fully matured yet.

Aoko once discussed the Primate Killer with her Grandfather, but his answer was, "Although it's troublesome, even the First Ancestor couldn't kill me."

Aoko is skeptical of this statement. She doesn't know if Eiri Fumizuka splitting the old Mage in half counts as killing him, but judging by how the Grandfather's soul walked away unharmed, it shouldn't be a major issue. Alternatively, the old Mage might have been putting on a brave face, otherwise, it's hard to explain why Touko could trap him in the workshop in the original timeline.

To deal with this large white dog, Aoko has prepared a large number of scrolls for spells like "Monster Stun Spell," "Monster Immobilization Spell," "Misty Step," and "Dimension Door." Since the Primate Killer is a 100% native of Earth, spells like Exorcism Spell and Banishment Spell will be useless against it. Aoko can only confront it head-on, aiming to stall it with Magic Network Arcana before entering the Root. Once she has fully mastered the Fifth Magic, neither Alaya nor the Primate Killer will be able to do anything to her, as proven by how leisurely the old Mage has lived for so many years.

Having made all the necessary preparations and adjusted her condition to the best level, Aoko Aozaki set off for her Grandfather's workshop.

Before she left, she instructed Alice that if she didn't return, all her property in the Western-style house where she lived with Touko should be transferred to Touko's name according to her will.

Also, even if she succeeded, she wouldn't be able to attend school for a while. She hoped Alice could help her request a leave of absence from school. There was also a bento she prepared for Alice in the refrigerator, which could be eaten after reheating.

Alice watched Aoko's departing figure in silence, feeling a long-lost stir in her heart. Perhaps it was worry for her roommate who was about to put herself in danger, or perhaps it was regret at potentially losing a long-term source of meals.

Some intelligent readers might ask why Aoko didn't bring Alice Kuonji along to brave the Root cave. Aoko would answer that there are primarily two reasons for this.

The first is that although Alice Kuonji's Fairy Tale Magecraft is exceptionally effective against Magus, it's not very useful against the Primate Killer or the Materialization of the Soul Golden Beast. It's highly likely that Caster could defeat her in one go.

The second reason is that Alice Kuonji herself has too deep a connection with the First Magic. Bringing her to the place where the Fifth Magic is obtained could lead to unforeseeable risks.

Therefore, to protect her dear roommate from harm, Aoko decided to face this challenge alone.

After two years, Aoko once again arrived at her Grandfather's workshop. The house had not changed at all since she last saw it; even the grass in front of the door seemed to have barely grown.

She took a deep breath and pushed the door open, entering her Grandfather's workshop. There was no sound from the three floors above, nor was any figure visible. Aoko walked directly towards the entrance to the basement, which led to her Grandfather's true experimental workshop, and then used the Aozaki family's Magecraft imprint to unlock the restriction at the entrance before stepping inside without hesitation.

Pushing open the door to her Grandfather's underground study, Aoko saw the chair her Grandfather had sat in before. On the desk next to the chair lay an open book, but it wasn't the same copy of De Profundis from years ago. She figured that a heartless person like her Grandfather wouldn't always read the same book.

Aoko paused briefly before moving towards a room deeper inside. This was the "true workshop" that her Grandfather had never allowed her and her sister to enter since they were children. She guessed that the "entrance to that place" was within that room. Her Grandfather, having lost his physical body, had been guarding it, preventing anyone from entering.

Now that this restriction had been broken, upon entering the old Mage's private room, she saw her Grandfather's semi-transparent spiritual body.

"Do you wish to enter there?" her Grandfather asked. "Are you certain you are stronger than I am?"

"That's right," Aoko replied confidently. "I am stronger than you, Grandfather, so I will enter the path to the Root."

"Is that so," her Grandfather's gaze lowered slightly. Aoko could feel him thinking. "No one who has reached there and returned alive has ever done so."

"Why?" Aoko asked, surprised. "Didn't you obtain the Fifth Magic only after reaching the Root?"

"Yes," her Grandfather replied. "The First and Fifth are both results of reaching it. But the so-called reaching is actually stopping and turning back just before the true point, a consolation prize..."

"Meaning..." Aoko's eyes widened. "You only got close and glanced into the Root?"

"Yes," her Grandfather sighed. "Whether it's success or failure, once you come into contact with that, you can never return to this world."