The Power of Imagination

Mr. Rhode's words were like the whispers of a monster skilled at beguiling hearts, making Serie's ears—and even her heart—itch.

She had to admit, Mr. Rhode's proposal hit right at her preferences.

She had absolutely no reason to refuse.

"What do you think?" Mr. Rhode asked, looking at her with a smile.

Serie turned her face away, her voice barely audible: "Mm." The tips of her long ears trembled faintly.

Seeing this, Norn was not only curious about what Mr. Rhode had said, but since even Serie had agreed, he suddenly felt that this crazy plan might actually be possible.

He took a deep breath: "If... if we're really going to do this, we need a more detailed plan."

"It seems our future His Majesty the King has already started preparing for his coronation."

"Don't tease me, Mr. Rhode. I just think," Norn said with a wry smile, "instead of running around like a headless fly, it's better to come up with a more thorough plan."

"Then you're going to become a very busy man."

Mr. Rhode's meaning was clear: Norn would have to handle both making the magic books and thinking through the specific arrangements for this crazy plan.

Mr. Rhode would only provide a general direction, and Serie wouldn't meddle in anything beyond combat and magic. All of this would have to be solved by Norn alone.

That was his duty as a king.

And that duty would make him very, very tired.

"I know, so right now I'm suddenly glad I gave up learning advanced magic knowledge."

"Yes, that way you'll have more time to get this done."

"It might take a lifetime, who knows."

Norn had already prepared for a long-term battle.

On the other side, Mr. Rhode had also guessed his thoughts.

Spreading magic knowledge to the humans of this continent would take time, and after founding the nation, passing that news to other humans would also take time.

It would be a very, very long time.

So long that it even stirred a hint of desire for immortality in him.

Don't let his easygoing demeanor fool you—when he thought about the future, about seeing everything he'd done become reality, about humans finally earning the right to stand on the stage of this world, he didn't want to die.

But how could he achieve immortality?

Could magic do it?

Mr. Rhode didn't know, but that didn't stop him from trying—and trying in secret, without anyone knowing.

The three sat together, sunlight spilling over each of them.

Future history books would record:

The King sat with the Great Sage and the Elf; the Great Sage spoke eloquently, the King added his supplements, and the Elf remained silent, simply watching the Great Sage.

When the seed of hope grows strong, the wind will carry this ideal to every corner of the world.

"Wait," Norn suddenly thought of a problem, "What's the name of the nation?"

"Ideal Nation Aer," Mr. Rhode blurted out. "It can also be called the Eternal Paradise, Aer."

"Eternal Paradise?" Serie repeated softly, shaking her head. "Nothing in this world lasts forever, not even a nation."

"Believe in miracles, Serie. Believing doesn't need a reason."

Mr. Rhode's words felt familiar. Serie remembered he had said something similar to her before.

Serie fell silent, as if she didn't plan to argue further with Mr. Rhode.

Seeing this, Norn spoke up: "It's not bad, actually. Ideal Country Ayr? That's a good name."

The founding of the ideal country was still a long way off. For now, Mr. Rhode and his group's main goal was still to grow stronger.

"You mean ice-attribute magic?"

After hearing Serie's request, Mr. Rhode didn't understand why she suddenly wanted him to create this type of magic.

"I thought that if we just need to cool down the dragon hide, ice-attribute magic should work the same way. What do you think? Can you create it?"

Serie asked, a little uncertain.

She knew that Mr. Rhode's Creation Magic had some limitations—at least, it wasn't some terrifying, godlike ability that could create anything on a whim.

There was still a prerequisite.

But Serie still wanted to see what kind of surprise this man would bring her.

"Ice attribute? I've never actually tried that."

Before meeting Serie, the magic Mr. Rhode created was all survival-oriented. Even after meeting her, he'd only been improving her magic, making it stronger.

He hadn't tried experimenting with other attributes in a while.

"Give it a try. Knowing only one type of magic won't do."

"I feel like I don't have much of a starting point, though."

At Serie's request, Rhode attempted to create Ice Magic.

Day one.

With Som's help, he found an ore similar to Saltpeter and successfully produced ice, but for some reason, after seeing it, Serie kept emphasizing that this was not the kind of Ice Magic she wanted.

Day four.

Rhode tried to create Ice Magic by cooling water into ice through that principle.

But after seeing it, Serie remarked, "Why do you need to cast a Water-element spell first to release an Ice-element one?" leaving him completely speechless.

It was like that Ice and Fire characters from some IP—the Fire guy needs a lighter to use his superpower, while the Ice guy just generates ice out of thin air.

So when comparing combat power, everyone agreed the Ice guy was stronger.

But the topic seemed to have drifted a bit.

After setting aside the attempt to create magic using scientific knowledge, Rhode turned to the power of imagination.

Just like how he had inexplicably come up with Fire Magic back then.

Day ten.

Rhode went alone to the stream. He already had a vision in mind—if this experiment succeeded, perhaps his path in magic would advance further.

A Magic Circle spread out in his hand, the surrounding temperature began to drop steadily, and tiny ice crystals started forming around Rhode.

"Not enough."

If it was just lowering the temperature, then it was only a giant air conditioner, but what Rhode wanted was far more than that.

He reached his hand into the water, a faint glow at his fingertips, and the stream froze into ice at a visible rate, even revealing small fish trapped beneath the icy surface.

The preliminary experiment was complete. Rhode began attempting to generate an Ice Lance in midair.

Tiny ice crystals gradually coalesced together, then formed a slender Ice Lance, but in terms of size, it was much smaller than the Light Lance Serie released.

Then he controlled the Ice Lance to shoot out explosively, striking a small tree across the river. The lance pierced through the trunk and burst apart, the flying ice crystals freezing the entire small tree into an ice sculpture.

"Success?" Serie's voice came from behind.

Rhode turned around, tiny ice crystals forming in his palm.

"It seems so."

Looking at the small tree frozen into an ice sculpture, Serie raised an eyebrow. "Good power, but too slow."

Rhode's casting of this spell took several seconds—in battle, that time would be enough for him to die several times over.

But Rhode noticed that Serie said this with a smile.

Clearly, this surprise of his had pleased her.