—
After saying goodbye to Shupe, and with the timing not yet right to begin teaching the Troll magic, Gustave proceeded to the library of the Twin Realms Magic Academy.
Considering that he needed to solve the problems he was facing with the rail wagonways and steam paddlers, which now relied on magic rather than purely scientific components, he chose not to wait for Shupe's class to be scheduled and went straight to the library instead.
And not only that. Now that he had finally provided his mother with tangible help rather than mere inspiration, Gustave could rest easy and begin inventing something for himself.
Considering that he now possessed the necessary components through his knowledge of Runes, Grandmaster handiness, Dawnwalker strength, and Sequence 8 adaptability, he was finally able to begin work on this absolute defense version of the RDBM.
Coupled with the fact that he felt his intuition was no longer being suffocated, and knowing that the enemy was no longer quite so literally breathing down his neck, he could rest easy.
And not only that. Considering that even the albino baldy O'Dimm could not find him in an infinite universe that constantly split into countless branches, rendering observation invalid even when the coordinates were known due to their superposed state, Gustave was now free to move at his own pace.
Because no matter how omnipotent gods and demons might be, nobody could find a needle in infinite haystacks that continued to grow, branch, and form new infinite clusters of haystacks of their own, with the process continuing endlessly through infinite time.
As such, he did not need to worry too much, for even if he remained still and the planet he lived on was not going anywhere, the physical universe itself, with its symphony of rules, already hid him away automatically.
So, returning once again to his own creations that could improve him in every way and open new possible pathways, and remembering the properties of Vibranium as reflected in the Glyph of Reinforcement, he decided to focus on creating a retractable shield version of the RDBM.
Unlike the original version, which was still full of scientific mechanisms and made the use of thermodynamics easy to discern, Gustave knew he wanted to translate it into a fully magical device, just like his weaponry going forward.
Much like the camera Parestisomach, which at its core still followed the fundamental laws of the universe by capturing and trapping light photons on a medium such as film, digital print, or a silver-coated copper plate, yet whose inner workings were so ambiguous that they no longer felt like science, Gustave knew he wanted to achieve the same effect with his RDBM.
So, walking into the library of the Twin Realms Magic Academy, intending first to solve the forcibly shut-down Dimeritium issue and the lack of power needed to drive the locomotive, Gustave was suddenly stunned when he noticed two young academy initiate girls studying at one of the tables as he moved through the library.
He was first stunned to see young Felicia Cori, now around Ciri's age of nine or ten years old, who, instead of studying at Aretuza, had become a student of his Twin Realms Magic Academy. Gustave was even more stunned to see the other girl beside Felicia Cori, who closely resembled Nimue's avatar from the Gwent card game.
In that moment, it finally struck him that the fate and destiny of the entire world were truly changing from their original fixed positions, and he began to genuinely feel the effects of that shift. Unlike Calanthe, whom he deduced could see far further ahead in time, Gustave was limited to mere fractions of a second into the future, forced to rely on deduction and guesswork.
So, upon seeing these two initiate girls and realizing that their destinies were now changing—Felicia no longer becoming Philippa's pupil, and with even Nimue's ancestor standing before him—Gustave could not help but sigh in contentment, finally feeling as though a long-bound chain had been broken.
Although, from this point forward, the parameters of destiny now also had to include him as one of its aspects, making it truly unknown compared to the familiar patterns of fate, Gustave decided to help the initiate girls as a small celebration of finally awakening to the truth that fate was genuinely changing, before returning to his own problems for a moment.
"You two. Your calculation is wrong. To study the connection between the Sickle constellations and Telekinesis, or in this case Luthien's Quill spell, you don't need Ecliptic Spherical Trigonometry that uses the Sun as its projection, because Telekinesis is more of an Air and Earth type of spell."
"Your Highness, Prince Gustave!!!"
Ignoring the shrieking voice that erupted the moment he offered guidance, Gustave picked up a charcoal pencil and continued, "What you should use for this formula is more along the lines of Equatorial, Horizon, and Galactic Spherical Trigonometry. Here, let me show you how to calculate the law of sines and cosines for this type of calculation."
"P-prince Gustave, there is n-no need! W-we can do it ourselves!"
"Yes, yes, I know. This is your homework and project for this semester, and you need to do it yourselves. But what I am about to show you is not the answer to this Luthien's Quill spell, which allows your quill to move on its own while writing your grimoire. Instead, it is the formula used for all kinds of telekinetic spells."
Pausing, he decided to introduce a deeper dive into the different types of magic that already existed in this world. It was magic that Alzur had already created but, as Gustave deduced, never published, with the Griffin set and the full ability investment in Yrden serving as the key clues.
He then continued, "So come, let me teach you how to make your Telekinesis capable of doing something like this."
Producing three arcane missiles from his hand like a card from Hearthstone, Gustave fired them, each striking a different lantern on the walls and ceiling. The flames briefly turned purple from Ether power before returning to normal, like any ordinary flame.
"Your Highness!!! Is that a manifestation of the Ether Element?! Oh my! Oh no!!! W-what should we do! Y-your Highness, you created a new branch of magic!"
"Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. The curriculum says only these four can be manipulated into physical projections. Then why? Why can it suddenly manifest? Isn't anything related to the Spirit supposed to always be invisible?"
Seeing two different types of initiates, with Felicia being more reactive and Nimue's ancestor more contemplative, Gustave shook his head and answered Felicia.
"No, it is not a new branch of magic. It has existed ever since Alzur created Yrden. It is only because haughty and arrogant sorcerers and sorceresses treated Signs as charlatan tricks that they failed to see their true potential."
Turning toward them, as they looked at him the way one might look at an Arch-Master, he chuckled and continued.
"Now, don't just stand there. Let me teach you one of the calculations needed to do this sort of thing. Although I can't guarantee you will be able to manipulate Ether the same way you do Fire, it will at least serve as a reference and an easier method for performing all kinds of telepathic spells."
Spending thirty to forty minutes of his free time giving the two initiates a deep dive into Spherical Trigonometry—something not taught in a structured way by this world's science-magic—Gustave finally said goodbye to Felicia Cori and Nimu Wledyr, leaving behind traces of Arcane Magic in the world, except for the branch originally created by Alzur.
Because he came from modern Earth, Gustave carried with him a lingering stigma that treated Arcane or Ether as the supreme element among many others. Yet, at their extremes, all elements were fundamentally the same. Fire could create something akin to an Arc Reactor, and Earth could produce effects comparable to Pym Particles.
For that reason, it did not sit right with him that, in a world filled with magic, sorcerers were limited to throwing elemental blasts like Benders, especially when the purple hue of Ether was far more beautiful to look at.
As for the repercussions of reviving a branch of magic that Alzur had already created through Yrden, Gustave did not worry too much, because something made of Quintessence could be easily countered by the mind or sheer willpower of an individual.
And deducing that one of the reasons the golden age of sorcerers in the past never deeply explored Yrden or Arcane-type magic was because, in their minds, it was not as lethal as simply dropping a mountain on someone like Jan Bekker's Rockslide spell, he treated this action as just another project to be handed off to his workhorse mages, without giving it much thought.
So, with that in mind, and intending to return to solving his locomotive power and Dimeritium issues, he began to walk away. Yet after taking only two steps from the table filled with constellation calculations, he heard Cori and Nimu shout, asking what they should name these manifestations of Ether.
"Your Highness!!! What should we name this magic?!"
"Prince Gustave!!! What should we dub this branch of mind-based magic?!"
"Just call it Arcanekinesis, Arcanemancy, or just plain Arcane—whatever suits you best!"
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