Time passed, and the years slipped away.
The repercussions of the Soreno incident gradually faded. Much of the related arcane research petered out, finally suppressed by Roland and Antonia, who successfully achieved the aim of their earlier restrictions.
Meanwhile, within Lainer World, upheaval swept the land, and wars raged without end.
With his extraordinary gifts, Rowan successfully unified East and West Lainer.
Luo Wu, who succeeded him, swept through every opposing power in one fell swoop and came to rule the entire world.
The plans laid by three generations of the Seris Family had finally reached their first stage of completion.
By then, Lainer World had taken its first steps across the threshold into a high-magic world, qualifying to become a true empire.
Correspondingly, the Seris School had grown into a truly mainstream school, reaching the height of its influence in arcane circles.
Yet Luo Wu kept his ancestors' teachings firmly in mind, insisting that their mid-magic status remain unchanged for a hundred years. Outwardly, he continued to acknowledge Atrelin's supremacy and pay tribute, never altering that arrangement.
In secret, however, he continued learning from Atrelin, attracting its talented people and acquiring its technologies.
It was a strategy of digging deep shelters, stockpiling grain, and delaying the claim to kingship.
One day, more than twenty years later, in Lainer World.
The Pearl and Shell Palace.
Roland held the white-haired Rosa's hand and watched her breathe her last upon her bed. The sorrow that had long accumulated in his heart surged forth like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
Yet he could distinctly feel that, strangely enough, he felt no grief or pain at all.
For he had long foreseen all of this.
He silently rose and opened the Book of Wisdom in his hand.
Divine radiance appeared above his head like