'Another World'

What was a world?

Time was the world.

Space was the realm.

It was everything.

It was all.

It was everything that existed.

Even though, generally speaking, the word "world" now referred to the planet on which humanity lived, every space-time was, in fact, a world.

Heaven and earth.

The world under heaven.

The human realm.

The world at large.

Even all things.

All of these were worlds.

That being the case, the so-called "other world" naturally referred to a world different from the space-time Luo Zhen currently inhabited.

It could be a parallel world that resembled the current one, yet had followed a different course of development.

It could be a world completely different from the current one, one Chaldea could not even observe and Magi could not possibly imagine.

Even the existence known as the "human body" could likewise be considered a microscopic world imperceptible to the person himself.

In Buddhism, there was even the concept that "every grain of sand contained a world."

From this, it was clear just how broad the so-called "world" truly was.

As for the existence of "miracles," aside from instilling Luo Zhen with all the knowledge of "Summoning Arts" throughout history, its only other function was to open the gates leading to these other worlds.

"An other world..."

Luo Zhen caressed the ring worn on his finger, which had already become like his own flesh, soul, and avatar, and could not help feeling doubtful.

"Are there really other worlds?"

If it merely referred to parallel worlds, Luo Zhen would not have found it strange.

Besides observing different eras, Chaldea could occasionally observe the existence of parallel worlds as well.

If it truly wished to, then with Chaldea's technology, traveling to a parallel world through Spiritron Transfer was not absolutely impossible.

At least, in theory, Spiritron Transfer could accomplish the goal of traveling to a parallel world.

However, through the information granted to him by "miracles," Luo Zhen knew that what this ring could do was not limited to that.

Even traveling to an other world completely different from the current one—one Magi could not observe, let alone imagine—was possible.

That was why Luo Zhen could not help but wonder.

"Do worlds like that really exist?"

That was what Luo Zhen doubted.

As for the ability of "miracles" to open gates to other worlds, Luo Zhen did not doubt it.

Because...

"Opening the 'soul'—that other world—was something I managed to do..."

Yes.

He had already opened the other world known as the "soul."

That had happened three years ago.

The knowledge granted to Luo Zhen by "miracles" included all kinds of summoning magecraft from throughout history. Even magecraft from ancient times and the Age of Gods was included, so long as it belonged to the system of "summoning."

For example, during Simulated Battle, Luo Zhen had used "Bird Summoning," which could summon bird Familiars, and "Wolf Summoning," which could summon wolf Familiars.

Although both were magecraft that could summon only low-level Familiars, if Luo Zhen had not practiced magecraft for merely three years, he might already have learned how to summon High-Level Familiars and perhaps even summoned Phantasmal Species that had existed only in bygone ages.

In fact, even now, Luo Zhen could use only three kinds of magecraft for summoning Mid-Level Familiars.

The knowledge Luo Zhen had obtained from "miracles," however, was enough to support him as he trained all the way until he could summon Top-Level Familiars. In the end, he could even master Heroic Spirit Summoning, accomplishing alone the miracle that required all of Chaldea, and wielding mysteries beyond it.

If modern Magi learned of this, it would certainly drive those trash who thirsted for magecraft and mystery into a frenzy.

For that reason, aside from Roman, no one knew that Luo Zhen possessed "miracles," not even Mashu.

That was also what Roman had instructed Luo Zhen to do.

Luo Zhen still remembered that when he had shown Roman the existence of "miracles," Roman had stared fixedly at the ring for a long time with an unusually serious and grim expression before finally speaking.

"No matter what, you must not let a third person know that this ring exists. Understood?"

That had been the first and last time Roman had instructed Luo Zhen in a commanding tone.

Thus, Luo Zhen had not told even Mashu. He usually wore gloves to conceal the existence of "miracles," keeping it hidden until now.

It went without saying how disastrous the consequences would be if the matter of "miracles" were exposed.

Three years ago, after Luo Zhen had received all the knowledge from "miracles," begun to gain a preliminary understanding of summoning magecraft, and summoned his first Familiar, the ring's power had revealed itself.

"By opening the gate to the 'soul' and turning the Familiar into a pure record, engraving it into my body like Magic Circuits...?"

Luo Zhen murmured as he described this miracle.

This was the power possessed by "miracles."

Luo Zhen knew of something else that worked the same way, and it was very close to him.

That was the Heroic Spirits.

Heroic Spirits were records existing on the outside of the world, engraved upon the "Throne."

What "miracles" did was the same as that.

Any Familiar successfully summoned by Luo Zhen would be recorded within his soul through the power of "miracles."

In other words, Luo Zhen's soul was equivalent to the "Throne" of the Familiars he summoned.

Thanks to this, any Familiar he had successfully summoned once could be summoned again effortlessly by consuming a certain amount of magical energy. Even if the Familiar died, he could continue consuming magical energy to summon it repeatedly, and he possessed absolute command authority over it. No matter how absurd the order, the Familiar would obey without fail.

For another Magus, even if they could successfully summon a Familiar once, they might not necessarily be able to control it. And even if they could, once the Familiar died, they would lose it for good unless it was a Noble Colour.

This was the sole effect "miracles" had displayed, as well as an effect that automatically manifested each time Luo Zhen successfully summoned a new Familiar thereafter.

According to Roman...

"Perhaps 'miracles' is an existence that coexists with your soul. That's why it cannot be removed, lost, or destroyed. And because of that, only the other world known as the 'soul' remains open at all times, without requiring any effort from you."

That was Roman's deduction after learning of the matter.

Aside from that, if Luo Zhen wanted to open the gates to other worlds, he would have to use the power of "miracles" himself.

Luo Zhen already knew how to use it.

However, he had not used this power even once.

That was not merely because opening a gate to another world would require Luo Zhen to pay a price depending on the world. It was also because Luo Zhen could not yet believe that other worlds completely different from this one truly existed.

Even if they did, what kind of worlds were they?

Would it really be all right to travel to such places?

These considerations had kept Luo Zhen from deciding to use the power of "miracles."

"Someone who can summon all kinds of Familiars, and even be summoned by all kinds of worlds... the 'Miracle Summoner'...?"

Remembering the evaluation Roman had once given him, half teasing and half wryly amused, Luo Zhen rubbed his brow.

"This world is already more than enough trouble for me. Who knows what things would be like in an other world?"

After saying that, Luo Zhen put his glove back on, concealing once more the only miracle of its kind in the world, and lay back down on the bed.

Luo Zhen did not know.

On this very day, Fate had begun to turn.

P.S. The theme is obvious enough, right? Hahaha.