More than five invisible detection spells demonstrated Nagudinnaf's determination to keep intruders out.
But at the same time, they also showed that its command of magic could really only be called average.
Five spells guarded against five different forms of intrusion. Truly sophisticated magic should have been more than effective enough to counter every form of intrusion with a single spell.
To be fair, though, compared with a single spell that countered different kinds of intrusion, five spells might have seemed a little less impressive, but they really were somewhat more tedious to deal with.
Not difficult. Tedious.
At least, that was how it was for Daphne.
As Daphne was now, no defensive magic meant anything before her. She could see through it at a glance and counter it with Anti-Magic. There was no helping it; this was what the Tower Chapters did best.
This was not a matter of favoring the ancient over the modern.
But modern magic had always emphasized convenience and safety. Its overall direction was simply different from that of ancient magic, which pursued power and lethality without shying away from complexity or danger.
Moreover, although new generation magic had emerged from ancient magic and ancient sorcery, its forms were still vastly different. While it borrowed from them, much more of it was innovation.
By that reckoning, modern magic had enjoyed considerably less time to develop than ancient magic and ancient sorcery.
Against that backdrop, it was only natural that ancient magic would be stronger in power and other respects.
As a combination of the finest elements of ancient magic and ancient sorcery, the Tower Chapters made understanding new generation magic naturally easy and straightforward for Daphne, who had mastered them.
If it had been one spell, however complicated, Daphne would only have needed one countermeasure.