A floating island that is invisible to the naked eye is quietly shuttled among the clouds. Majestic energy spreads from it. In the center of the island, stands a palace, whose appearance is surprisingly similar to Asgard in Marvel Cinematic Universe and Asgard.
This is the royal palace of the Arcane Empire, the residence of the consul Ian·Bones. In a master bedroom, he sits cross-legged with his eyes closed, his long black hair spread over his shoulders and back.
Suddenly, he opened his deep blue eyes and whispered, "Failed again."
Before he finished speaking, a House-elf with purple hair appeared beside him; she was only a few centimeters tall, and her two pairs of small wings continued to flap.
"Master, you don't have to be discouraged. This time, you persisted longer." House-elf said.
"No need to comfort me, Morgana. I'm not that fragile yet."
Yes, this House-elf is the physical manifestation of the artificial intelligence in the "door" of Ian - Morgana. Ian used the soul of Voldemort as material to give birth to her. Therefore, she is essentially a real artificial intelligence.
Of course, as someone who has seen "Terminator" and countless other movies about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, he also took precautions.
When creating her, he not only used Voldemort's soul, but also incorporated a small part of his own soul, so she was one with him. In addition, since she now has a real soul, Ian imposed the most stringent Soul Contract on it, fundamentally eliminating the possibility of her betrayal.
"Collect the results of simulation battles in the past few years." Ian ordered. Immediately, a small keyboard appeared in front of House-elf, and she began to type. Ian knew that she did not need to do this, but she had an eccentric personality and often did such unnecessary things.
"In the past thirty years, you have conducted a total of 14,234 simulated battles with individuals labeled [Bleach·Herpo], all of which were defeated. Based on the assessment of Herpo's ability only based on the information we collected about [Authority], it can be determined that its true strength will only be higher than estimated, not lower."
"Any good news?" Ian asked.
"Yes, Master, yes. Every time you lose, your control over magic will increase dramatically. Having an invincible opponent has proven to be extremely helpful for your growth, allowing you to absorb and learn to use all the magic knowledge of the Empire.
"In addition, according to De Leon's Fundamental Soul Law, the more knowledge a wizard learns, the stronger his soul becomes. Since you have mastered all the knowledge Empire, the strength of your soul has increased significantly compared to a few years ago."
"I never understand why wizards like to put their own names before their discoveries and newly invented spells. It's really narcissistic."
"Master, you have done this yourself."
"Don't worry about the details. I sense you have a 'but', what is it?"
Morgana paused, "However, in the past two years, your progress has been minimal and almost stagnant."
Ian was silent for a moment, feeling the magic power flowing through his body. In the past few decades, his magic level has always stayed at Third Limiter, and he has not yet found a way forward.
Therefore, he followed the path of Fantastic Beasts and stored magic power in the muscles, bones, organs and magic veins of his body. This greatly improved his physical strength and magic resistance, as well as his magic power reserve.
"It seems it's time to leave." Ian whispered.
"Master, I think it's best to wait until 'Magic Core Project' and 'Uranus Project' are completed before leaving." Morgana advised.
"Show the latest progress of 'Magic Core Project'." Ian requested.
Then, a holographic image showing many wizards conducting experiments appeared in front of him.
According to the information learned from Albion, other wizard or mage civilizations in the universe follow a similar path: they all have a Magic Core. Of course, each civilization calls it different, such as Magic Core, magic room, magic pool, etc.
When the wizard's magic power reaches a certain level, Magic Core will be filled up, preventing it from further accumulating magic power and growing. At that time, they will use different methods to expand Magic Core to accommodate more magic power.
After hearing about this, Ian asked Albion if he knew how to extend Magic Core, and the answer was no. According to it, Dragonkind has a completely different system from ordinary wizards. They do not have Magic Core, but have Dragon Heart.
Dragon Heart is essentially an organ composed of pure concentrated magic power - this is one of the reasons why Dragonkind is so powerful. As for why Albion had Magic Core after its birth, according to its explanation, it was because the environment at the time did not allow it to form its own Dragon Heart.
Therefore, its body adapted to the situation, creating a core based on its memory and information from the surrounding environment. In view of this, Ian began research on its own methods.
He immediately thought of using "Undetectable Extension Charm" to enchant Magic Core - this spell has the ability to expand the internal space. Unfortunately, although he mastered the knowledge of enchanting souls, after decades of hard work, he still failed to succeed.
After checking the slow progress of Magic Core Project, Ian shook his head and sighed. "These two plans are far from being completed, and I can't wait that long.
"What's more, I have not given up on following the idea of reforming Truth to Mana Liquefaction; it is best to complete this step first and then expand Magic Core. In this way, our civilization will have more advantages compared with other magical civilizations in the future."
"As you wish, Master." Morgana added helplessly.
"So, what's my schedule for today?"
"First of all, it's about the recent Council meeting. I will transmit the content of the meeting directly into your consciousness." Morgana connected to the soul of Ian and transmitted the entire meeting process to him.
"Interstellar war? This is indeed a way. However, the target needs to be carefully selected to accurately control the course of the war. Return my approval to my aunt. Next item?"
"Your mother and father contacted you while you were fighting in virtual reality."
"Call them back."
A few seconds later, a large light screen appeared in front of him, and the image of a middle-aged couple wearing casual clothes and cuddling each other appeared.
"Mom, Dad... are you at Venus?"
"Yes. We suddenly wanted to take a vacation, so we chose this place." Dad replied.
"How does it feel?"
"It was fine until Royal Guard appeared and started to 'protect' us. As if we needed their protection." Ian's mother complained.
"Well, I understand your troubles. They follow me wherever I go. You know, every time I send them away, Aunt Amelia has to talk about a lot of the Imperial Family etiquette. Let's just let them enter invisible mode and pretend they don't exist."
"That's a good idea." After saying that, Ian's mother - also named Morgana - hurriedly ran out of the screen.
At the same time, Ian's father, Edgar·Bones, looked at his son and asked, "Are you getting ready to leave?"
Ian paused and nodded. His father let out a long sigh.
"Is it dangerous?"
"Yes."
"You know I support all the decisions you make, but your mother has become much more sensitive since Resurrection. So, don't tell her, and don't let her find out."
Ian nodded in agreement. After his mother returned, the family chatted a lot about daily life before ending the call.
"Next item, Morgana?"
"The madam is waiting to have lunch with you."
"Where are the other ladies?"
"Most of them are preparing for the inspection in three days."
Ian--Now he was in a huge bathing pool, being bathed by many maids--continues to ask, "Continue."
"Five days later, you need to attend the launch ceremony."
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes, Master. Recently, I have noticed that the stress level of the third lady Pheobe·Delacour is significantly higher than usual. I'm afraid she is quite worried about this inspection. Maybe you should do something about it."
Ian thought for a moment and said, "If I remember correctly, I have prepared gifts for all of them in the next hundred years. Take one of them and give it to her, and attach a card saying that everything will go well. Don't forget to imitate my handwriting.
"Wait a minute. Last time I asked you to imitate handwriting, but Luna saw through it, and I was labeled as someone who doesn't understand the style. Except for Bellatrix, they ignored me for three months. I'll write this note myself."