Chương 17: Birthday Gift

9th Accorded Annum … of the biggest factors that stopped the Realmbreaker Wars for good was travelling. That is it. When people can move freely from one location to another, even if the locations are on other Realms, other worlds normally considered inaccessible, the people in those other Realms stopped being alien enough to be considered faceless enemies. Of course, this wouldn't have come about without the great advancements made in traversal magic.

Some of foremost researchers with the highest citations and attributions include Pieven K., Erolan R. H., Marionys R., Est-Vo I. L. M., Korial K., Figuro O… Final Chapter Realmbreaker Histories: Fifth Edition Selkiatis N. Ryland remained patient as Viren stared around. No doubt, there was a good deal of paraphernalia present in this space to gawk at.

"Sir," Viren said in wonder.

"There has to be enough stuff here to make the entire nation of Androvia jealous, if not all of Vyrd." He was constantly wrestling with Tallow in his arms as the kitten kept trying to escape his grasp and run off. Ryland kept a close eye on them just in case he needed to cast another defensive spell.

"I'm not sure about that," he said with some amusement.

"Although, I'd suggest against touching anything here." Just as there were items to stare at, there were also items that stared right back.

"I might have put another Aegis spell on you, but that was only to prevent the deleterious effects of rift travel. Not to protect you against everything you might come upon." He wasn't sure how to categorize the levels of danger present here. The golem with the hollowed-out space in its heart where one could live for a decade or two without needing to emerge was slumbering. It would rouse itself in ire if a "foreigner" like Viren got too close. The same went for the magical turrets strewn about here and there.

Their Glyphs burned to life at their peak, ready to shoot out deadly lasers if an infiltrator got close enough. And those were just the defensive items Ryland probably should have deactivated by now.

Then there was the Realm 48's Abominable Grimoire with its black tendrils seeking to ensnare anyone unwary, the Garden of the Decadent from Realm 9 Viren almost got entranced by before Ryland drew him away hastily, and a Dreamscape Glyphtech device no one living should even look at for very long, much less actually interact with. Thankfully, Viren didn't lose his way too often and definitely didn't wander off. Not too much, at least.

"I understand it's your personal inventory, sir," he said, unable to keep the awe from his voice.

"But how does having your own Realm actually work? Where exactly are we?" Ryland nodded at the more specific and impressively insightful questions. They were walking on polished white stone, and above them, a starry black canvas bordered the space all around.

"I suppose calling it an entire Realm is a bit inaccurate," Ryland said.

"It's one of my Reality Demesnes." Viren blinked several times very rapidly.

"I don't know which is worse, sir. That you've got not one but multiple personal artificial worlds, or that my suspicion that this was a Pocket Realm ripped off an actual Realm just got proven wrong." Ryland returned a blink.

"Why… would either option be worse?" Viren flushed.

"Uh, figure of speech, sir."

"Hmm." Clearly wary of putting more of his foot in his mouth, Viren withheld himself from asking further questions about the reality Ryland had brought him to. That didn't stop all his questioning, of course.

"Couldn't you have put those magical fruits here, sir?" Viren asked. He shuddered as he recalled the magical artifacts.

"You mean the Goddess's Tears?" Ryland asked. Another good question. Ryland appreciated the boy's analytical mind. It begged the question why he hadn't asked about everything else, but a bit of thought revealed that he had, just at a steady pace so as not to overwhelm himself with information.

"I could have, but I wished to test the bank."

"Test them? I thought you said it was merely a proof of your identity, sir."

"It was. But taking their claim to be of great benefit to a client such as myself at face value would be to my eventual detriment. As such, a harmless little test was in order." Ryland paused.

"I suppose it would be a little disappointing if I had to return this five-star card and all its conveniences. But I'd rather be a client of true reliability than false advertisement." Viren took that under consideration.

"I think I see. What kind of test is it?" They walked between the rows of shelves until the various items turned into a miniature library. Viren was gawking at the magical armour and weapons, at the strange potted plants, at statuettes and idols that seemed almost alive, but he admirably restrained himself from getting too close to anything. His expression grew puzzled when they entered the library section.

"The fruit decays rapidly when in contact with ambient mana," Ryland said.

"So its state will tell me just how well the bank can protect the treasures it's given."

"Oh, okay. That is harmless." Ryland looked down reproachfully.

"Did you not believe me?"

"Uh…" Viren refused to look at Ryland.

"Books!" Ryland shook his head before looking through the shelves. Hmm, now where was it? Viren waited patiently. For a little while.

"What are we looking for, sir?" Ryland didn't fail to note the tiny hint of disappointment in Viren's voice, much as he had tried to hide it. He couldn't really blame the boy. After walking through all the magical exhibits, they had ended up at decidedly the most mundane section of the storage space.

"Ah, here it is." Ryland pulled out a thin book of a familiar make.

"This is what we're looking for." Viren took the book, then his mouth fell open.

"This is—this is the sequel. I thought—" He couldn't even get his words out properly, his whole body trembling in excitement.

"I thought The Legend of the Last Turnalians didn't have a sequel? But this thing— The Legacy of the Last Turnalians —this is real! How does this even exist?" Ryland chuckled, ruffling Viren's hair.

"The version you're reading is the reprinted, modern version. I assume the publisher who picked it up didn't acquire the rights to the sequel, for whatever reason, so they're pretending it doesn't exist. But regardless, this is a much older story than you might think. I knew I had a copy of it somewhere." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"And you're just giving it to me?"

"Of course. I thought about giving you a Relic or a Catalyst or maybe even a Glyph scroll. But those are all things you'll get on your own eventually. So, I decided I'd get you something that you might not find by yourself."

"This is literally perfection, sir." Viren pinched himself.

"And it's not a dream, it's real."

"It certainly is." Ryland smiled, feeling his heart lighten a great deal at the sight of Viren already poring over the book's pages. He had been a little concerned that the boy would still find a book disappointing when there were rare resources that could elevate him a whole rank, armaments that would make him unstoppable in combat, and Glyph scrolls that Archmages would salivate over. And yet, Viren was enamoured of the simple book Ryland had scoured through his personal library to find.

He didn't consider himself a big bibliophile. The collection he possessed were either texts, stories, and accounts he found interesting, or were otherwise of note for some reason. For instance, The Legacy of the Last Turnalians was a rare novel whose all other copies had been lost thanks to a Calamity wreaking havoc on Realm 35, the home of the self-same Turnalians. Ryland possessed perhaps its only other original copy.

Mostly though, he was simply glad Viren was the sort of person who was capable of identifying what was of true, personal value to him.

"Don't stay up too late reading it in one go," Ryland said.

"I won't, sir," Viren said a little dubiously.

"Not too much." Ryland laughed softly.

"Alright, let's head back now. You have a book to obsess over, and I've got Trials to prepare for." There was a reason Ryland hadn't bothered to book a hotel room or anything of the sort after arriving in Arcoryx City. Why would he, when he already had a bedroom on Realm 78. Another self-restricted rift took him next to his bed. Calling it a room was probably not accurate. Because there were no walls on the cliff where Ryland's bed was located, and certainly no doors.

Just the ash-barked tree with aquamarine leaves softly snowing tiny silver glints. It was greatly peaceful. Calm. Perfect conditions for sleep. The sounds were a gentle lullaby too. A mountain-range-spanning waterfall's roar turned into a gentle thrum thanks to the distance, the slow rustle of azure leaves and teal grass, the wind sighing between the boughs and across the land… Ryland smiled wider the longer he stayed here. A paradise for rest. Another blessing thanks to the power of rift magic.

Of course, he had to use a spell to make sure he could actually survive. Hmm. The spell he had been about to use required the Soul Glyph of Genesis as the Centreglyph. Which was decidedly no longer the Soul Glyph of Life. But as the power of his manasoul started flowing into the Glyph's form, Ryland could sense something was a little off. It took him only a moment to understand what. His Soul Glyph had changed. Evolved. Accordingly, it's definition and function had changed as well.

The difference was a bit more pronounced than that of Aegis and Barricade. It was a good thing he was figuring this out before the start of the Entrance Trials. Not that he'd have been in a rush then, of course. Just simple casts of [Mindscape] would have stretched very second it took to cast the spell into two whole minutes, which would have been plenty of time. Not that he'd have needed more than one cast.

It didn't take Ryland long at all to identify the way the Glyph Prints making up his Soul Glyph of Genesis was different from his Soul Glyph of Life. With that information in hand, just as with his modifications for his new Soul Glyph of Aegis, he changed up some of the Subglyphs of the spell he had been intending to cast all along." [Endless Evolution]." While innumerable rifts did pop up within his body, the new and improved Centreglyph for the spell made sure everything he summoned melded perfectly together.

A thousand tiny rifts interlinked within Ryland's body, restructuring his physiology into a form that could withstand the constant bombardment of tiny, virulent mana particles. His skin turned stretchy, his muscles became transparent, his bones turned to metal. It had taken him ages to find a body that could withstand Realm 78's atmosphere. Because no singular creature was capable of doing so. Instead, through careful experimentation, Ryland had come upon the right materials and the right physiology.

A Turnalian's lifeblood, the flesh of an Ascended Therian, a certain enzyme extracted from the Vileflowers of Realm 45, and many more parts besides. All carefully integrated together with the help of his Soul Glyph of Genesis to allow him to exist within the bounds of Realm 78. All because he found this world, this spot on this particular planet, more soothing than anything else in existence. Was it practical? Would it have measurable benefits? The answers were never a resounding yes. They were never logical.

But Ryland had long ago decided that sticking strictly to logic, to reason, wasn't something someone possessing unreasonable power needed to concern themselves with. The point was that Ryland slept dreamless and sated. Much needed for the Trials to come.

"This way!" Viren said, dragging Ryland along as though he had never been here. Ryland humoured him and followed. The first thing Viren had done when they had met up the next day before the Trials' initiation ceremony was promising Ryland that he'd take care of the priceless treasure he had attained last night. He would "protect it with his life". Something Ryland had tried, and failed, to discourage. It was just a book, after all.

Nevertheless, Ryland was happy to see that Viren didn't seem too depressed after nearly losing Tallow for good in the dungeon. He would have preferred if the boy wasn't traumatized at all, but that wasn't something even Ryland could prevent. The best he could do was keep Viren on his toes, keep up his mental state, so that he didn't have time to be consumed by negative emotions.

"Are you actually allowed to be there?" Ryland asked.

"This is only for prospective graduate students, after all."

"Technically, I'm not," Viren admitted.

"But that doesn't mean I can't spy from a corner no one's going to look in. Everyone will be too busy talking with each other." He grinned evilly.

"So I'll have no problem sneaking around and scouting out your opposition."

"I sincerely doubt I need my opposition scouted."

"Sir, I sincerely appreciate that you aren't morally opposed to scouting your opposition." Ryland sighed.

"Just don't get into trouble, please."

"When have I ever, sir?" They stared at each other. Then Viren quickly hurried on. The initiation ceremony wasn't much of a formal thing. It was basically an opportunity for the university administration to lay down the ground rules of the Entrance Trials to graduate student candidates, and secondarily, a chance for said candidates to get to know each other. After all, they would be working together to pass the Trials. Ostensibly. The hall of the Trials was one of the least changed buildings Ryland remembered.

It was a wide, blocky building about four storeys high, with the interior appearing even larger than the exterior suggested, and it already suggested a huge space. At the centre of the structure lay the Trial Dome—a hemisphere of writhing, twisting mana that would house the challenges that the hopeful inductees would face.

It was one of the most significant constructs of Living Mana in not just Arcoryx, but the entire nation of Androvia, a work of magic that impressed Ryland now almost as much as when he had first beheld it. That still wasn't the star of today's show, however. All the new candidates for the graduate student body of Arcoryx had gathered together, standing near a few Academs in the academy's signature deep blue and white robes.

Ryland didn't bother counting, but there had to be at least thirty of them there, if not more. Viren hung back as Ryland went ahead. By the time he looked back, the boy was gone. He was surprisingly stealthy. When Ryland wasn't using his Inscribed Glyph of Detection to pick out exactly where he was sneaking around, of course. Shaking his head in bemusement, Ryland joined the rest of the applicants. A clerk took his name, before pointing left to three other candidates.

That was when he noticed that the candidates had grouped together into individual squads. Right. The first stage of the Trials was a team-based exam. Which meant Ryland had his own team.

"Are the assignations still random?" Ryland asked when he reached the clerk who was essentially signing in all the attendees. While the majority of applicants approved to participate in the Trials by the academy's admissions committee were present, a few weren't. Some had unfortunate accidents or incidents. A few had decided to head to a different magical institution on some other Realm.

Arcoryx Academy of Sorcerous Arts might be the premier destination for up-and-coming mages in Ryland's slightly biased opinion, but that didn't mean other institutions didn't have their merits, especially when considered from individual perspectives. For instance, some young mages might just prefer to stick to their Realms instead of journeying to a foreign one.

"Of course," the clerk said.

"But they're announced long before the Trial date. You seem to be a rather late entrant."

"Indeed. It shouldn't matter, though. I'll be joining my team, thank you." Weathering the odd look he received, Ryland smiled as he followed the clerk's direction and headed straight for his partners for Arcoryx Academy's Entrance Trials.