Strange Summons

Strange Summons

"Second, as a Blue Star Player, the completely different body of knowledge from another world could likewise be of immense help to me."

"Third, as the fourth son of the Olyvendi Family, before the family's destruction, this identity was my strongest backing. Used properly, it could unleash astonishing influence!"

"Fourth, as a former Seventh Rank Magister and Royal Scholar, even without powerful Mana and Spiritual Power, the most crucial knowledge and experience remained. That alone was an invaluable treasure!"

"Fifth, although the enemy was exceptionally powerful, they would not descend in the immediate future. There were still several decades to prepare."

Magister was not a professional rank, but an honorary title representing the most learned among mages.

Only those who had attained a certain level of accomplishment in every branch of their current school of magic could be awarded this title by the Empire Royal Magic Association.

Magic was vast. With the major schools of magic so highly developed today, an ordinary Spellcaster could spend their entire life barely mastering their specialized branch.

Only true geniuses could develop every branch within a single school.

Having analyzed the five major advantages he possessed, Anvis's gaze settled once more.

The problem was enormous, but panicking would not help.

If all the powers on Yar Continent were ranked by tier, then the Three Great Empires were unquestionably super-first-rate.

With its Floating City capable of threatening multiple Ninth Ranks, the Continent Magic Council could barely squeeze into that tier as well.

Taken alone, the Olyvendi Family could only be considered a first-rate power.

Fortunately, he still had ample time to prepare.

In his memories, those foreign enemies had not all truly targeted the family. However, the Old Nobles, represented by the Four Great Families, were simply too massive a class, blocking everyone's path.

Like an ancient primordial forest, those towering trees lurking in the shadows blocked most of the sunlight, rainwater, and nutrients.

For the shorter trees to grow, they had to use a great fire to burn the old nobles' towering trees to ashes, then absorb the abundant nutrients left in their Ember in order to grow into new towering trees.

As he pondered, Anvis began carefully analyzing his new memories, searching for a possible way to break the deadlock.

The one silver lining was that Little Anvis's wish had only been to restore the glory of the Olyvendi Family.

This meant he did not need to confront the new era head-on. He only needed to find a way to preserve the Olyvendi Family amid this tide.

Based on the future developments in his memories, he already had a vague plan for simply preserving the Olyvendi Family.

The only problem was that final figure, who had surpassed the Ninth Rank but whose attainment of the Legendary realm remained uncertain. Anvis had been constantly considering how to deal with him.

Just as the emergence of nuclear weapons had ended World War II, once power beyond the Ninth Rank Limit appeared, every strategy lost its meaning.

Or perhaps he could use the family's resources to gather raw materials and create a ten-million-ton mass-energy conversion bomb through magic? But the other side was not an idiot. The instant he sensed danger, he could teleport several hundred kilometers away, completely avoiding the blast radius while enjoying a spectacular fireworks display.

Unless he found some way to interfere with his teleportation. But the opponent's strength had already surpassed the Ninth Rank Limit, so ordinary spatial confinement might not work on him. Besides, even a nuclear explosion might not be enough to kill him...

Anvis had also considered setting up a device similar to an Anti-Magic Field, but the principle behind such a field's suppression of magic was actually compression and isolation.

In other words, according to the principle of equivalent exchange, if you wanted such a field to function, you had to continuously expend energy equal to the total Mana of all beings within it.

This was easy to understand. It was like trying to blow up a balloon underwater—the balloon had to constantly withstand the pressure of the water while it was being inflated.

The energy source was not difficult to solve; he could use the Mage Tower's Elemental Pool instead. The real problem lay in the material used to draw the array patterns.

Among the materials Anvis currently knew of, none could withstand a constant energy output beyond the Ninth Rank Limit.

The only good news was that the other party seemed to be subject to some special restriction as well.

Otherwise, the Holy Radiance Church should have unified the continent long ago, rather than appearing only once.

After thinking for a while without gaining anything, Anvis raised his head and looked toward one side of the reading area.

An ornate grandfather clock stood there, an antique from the era of the Ancient Magic Empire.

On its dark silver dial, intricately carved black hands turned at a steady pace, accompanied by the faint yet unceasing sound of its mechanisms running.

"Has it already been one Magic Hour?"

After pausing briefly, Anvis prepared to rise.

At that moment, he suddenly sensed a faint but alluring aura of Mana coming from somewhere within the Library.

It was as if something familiar to him was constantly calling out to him from that direction.

His mind had previously been thrown into turmoil by the new memories, and Anvis had not noticed the aura at all.

But once he calmed down, this Strange Summons immediately drew his attention, like a black mole on fair skin.

Somewhat puzzled, he traced the source of the aura. His Spiritual Power received a cold and strange response, yet it also carried a sense of familiarity.

"This feeling... is somewhat similar to that mysterious energy, yet also somewhat different."

Anvis's expression tightened slightly, and a flicker of uncertainty flashed through the depths of his azure eyes.

This experience had not existed in his memories from his previous life. In other words, his transmigration had caused some kind of unusual change!

"Previously, I read in the Library every day, yet nothing abnormal ever happened. But today, I can clearly sense this aura. There are only two possibilities."

"First, new books have been added to the Library. Second, this is related to the changes I've undergone within the past day."

Anvis took out a silver Metal Nameplate, brought up the Library's catalogue, and examined it carefully.

"The Library's Magic Array has no record of any new books being added. The first possibility is ruled out."

The only two major changes in me were gaining my complete memories of my previous life and absorbing all of that strange energy."

For some reason, Anvis instinctively sensed a strong air of design behind this chain of events.

Was this also the effect of the Wish Spell?

With that thought, Anvis closed his eyes and carefully sensed the direction of that calling feeling, slowly walking toward it.

He did not relax because of this. Little Anvis's wish had been to restore the Olyvendi Family's glory, not to ensure that he himself would live forever.

After passing many rows of bookshelves steeped in ancient ambience, Anvis stopped.

The bookshelf before him stood in the poetry section on the lowest level of the Library. Upon it rested exquisite original ancient books collected by generations of family members, all possessing Extremely High artistic and collectible value.

At that moment, his gaze slowly swept over the many ancient books before finally settling on a thick volume with a Dark Green spine.

"It seems to be it—the source of that aura."

Anvis quietly stared at the book, and the silver metal tag at his waist glimmered faintly.

Invisible Mana transformed into an exquisite spell effect, and the book automatically pulled itself from the shelf and landed in his hand.

The instant the book entered his hand, an extremely unpleasant cold, slick texture—like that of some soft-bodied creature—spread through his palm, making Anvis frown.

He returned to his usual seat and carefully examined the heavy book in his hands beneath the soft, pale glow of the Magic Crystal chandelier.

It was an ancient tome roughly ten inches long, eight inches wide, and two inches thick. Its cover was made from a Dark Green material resembling the skin of some living creature, covered in strange patterns.

The corners and part of the spine were bound in an unidentified metal with a dim luster. A broad clasp, likewise made of Dark Green leather and dull metal, tightly fastened the front and back covers together, like some kind of Seal.

Two lines of pale silver High Elf words were written in the center of the cover. The author had used an ancient ornamental script, lending a touch of elegance to this thick book brimming with ominous aura.

A sun pattern was engraved on the back cover. Around a textured solid circle of pale silver was a ring of pointed, conical rays of varying lengths.

As he gazed at it, Anvis could even feel a faint warmth.

"Hill's Poem?"