One hundred and twenty years later.
Ever since the Academic World's second expedition to the Super Refining Eye of the Wind, one hundred and twenty years ago, had destroyed the strange and powerful Gray Bean Civilization, the Space-Time Fortress—the seat of the Ten Elders Council, the Academic World's highest authority—had frequently traveled between the two locations over the following decades, bringing the Academic World a steady stream of technology and wealth.
The technology came from the Star Melters.
In just over a century, these shelled creatures had become fully integrated into the Academic World, alongside beings such as Human-faced Spiders, Dream Owls, and Elves. They had become something like an ethnic minority within the Academic World's system. People had grown accustomed to seeing them in their daily lives; in fact, many scholars thought an alchemy shop seemed a little less prestigious if there wasn't a Star Melter standing inside.
As for the wealth, it came from the enormous quantities of Gray Beans, as well as the resources the Star Melters had left behind in the Super Refining Eye of the Wind.
The high-grade Magic Materials the Star Melters acquired through the Star Binding Technique were nearly unimaginable to the Academic World. Even though most of them had been buried beneath the yellow sands, that small remaining fraction was still enough to transform the Academic World beyond recognition.
As a result, the course of events came as no surprise.
The Academic World, still nearing the end of its Second Golden Age, had unexpectedly entered a Third Golden Age. It was an explosive breakthrough born from combining the small amount of superconducting metal technology obtained from the Black Death Civilization, the Star Melters' metallurgy, and the Academic World's own alchemy!
Of course, the wastelands also benefited from Quanzu nourishing them with even