Chapter 258: Time Freeze
"Battle Mages aren't dumb, or I think we aren't," Jack said.
She stopped in her steps and turned around. "A group of people who, rather than see the complete beauty of mana and the applications that exist, decided to tie it to swords and fists, making techniques that use mana.
Battle mages barely scratch the surface of what mana can do. It's an utter disrespect for someone to use mana in the way you use it." She sighed and kept walking.
"And what would be a better way to use mana?" Riven asked.
"You ask that question, but do you really want to know the answer?" she asked.
"Well, yeah," Riven replied. She immediately snapped her fingers and four chairs floated up, a force pulling the boys down into the chairs.
"Mana isn't just a form of energy, it's something very different. Being a mage allows you to manipulate mana," she said and moved her finger. A string of blue energy wrapped around her finger. She was making mana show in real life without the use of any formation.
'How good does one have to be to be capable of doing that? I never read of any mage like this in the story. I'm beginning to think that Frozen Fish refused to write about the most important parts of this world,' Riven thought.
"With mana, I can alter reality, shift everything that is and change it into what isn't. These days, magic and mana are tied to imagination and will to create some effect.
They push the use of spells and techniques to harness mana, but it shouldn't be that way," she said and snapped her fingers. A massive fireball the size of a head appeared.
"I made no incantations, no spell, no techniques. This is magic and use of mana in a purer form than what you are taught." She quenched the flame and then walked away.
"I blame no one for the academy system. At the time, mages wanted a normal life, and the amount of time needed to learn true magic wasn't something that they could handle and still have a normal life.
But a few races still practice true magic — the elves, the dwarves — they still practice something similar due to the fact that they have longer lives.
And then beasts. Mystical beasts are the purest forms of creatures that practice true magic, and they use it the most in their lives," she said, already a far distance away from them.
They all got up and followed her behind.
"That's why I base my research on beasts. I learn the way they use mana and see what ways they can be incorporated into human magic to make it easier," she said.
She turned around. "Now that's enough of me divulging information to you. You can leave," she said.
"Huh? We haven't even told you what we came here for," Riven said.
She scratched the back of her head and looked around like she was bothered by something. "Urghhhhhh, what is it?" she asked.
"Quin wants you to leave the tower."
"No." She cut Riven short. "I have no intentions to leave my place of work. You can tell Quin what I said before," she said.
"But why not?" Riven asked. She shot him a cold stare.
"Don't push it, kid. I am in the middle of research unlike anything I have done before, and I don't have the time for all this," she said and snapped her finger. A massive gust of wind blasted at them, pushing them back forcefully.
They all struggled against the wind. Riven channelled his mana, trying to use it to push himself forward, but the wind suddenly stopped.
They looked at her in confusion. She rushed toward Riven, looked him all around. "Your mana, it's different," she said and then grabbed his face, looking right into his eyes.
"Uhm, what's going on?" he asked.
"Come tomorrow. I'll show you the research I have been doing," she said.
"Uhm, okay," he muttered. She let go of his face. "Now go, I have work to do," she said.
They left her in the library and walked out of the tower. The moment they stepped out, Robert asked,
"What was that about?"
"I don't know, but I'll come tomorrow for sure," Riven said and walked off. He went straight for Quin's office.
When he met with Quin, he saw him eating a carrot and humming a tune.
"Sometimes I wonder how you are humanity's strongest," Riven said.
"When you are me, you get joy from the smallest things," Quin replied and bit into a carrot.
"So, any progress?" he asked.
"Yes, we finally got in and were able to talk to her," Riven said.
"Finally. Can't remember the last time she spoke to someone," Quin said.
"Really? Because she was really talkative," Riven said.
"Well, yeah, she was always the talking type in the past. She loved to speak about her research and her magic. She was obsessed, and I always listened to her," Quin said.
"You make it sound like you two were close, while she has pure-blood lust for you," Riven said.
"Well, that's fair, to be honest. She hasn't forgotten what happened. But that aside, how is she?" Quin asked.
"Uhm, first, she looks fifteen," Riven said.
"Oh? That means she finally finished the time stop magic," Quin said.
"You know about it as well?"
"Yes, I do. I helped her work on it in the past. The magic is meant to stop one from aging, but there was to be an anchor.
I am guessing her anchor is the tower. It would make sense why she hasn't left and why she doesn't want to," Quin said.
"So you are saying that as long as she is in that tower, she can live forever?" Riven asked.
"Yup, as long as she remains there. But the tower also withers with time, so when it falls apart, you die as well. But that could take five hundred to a thousand years to happen, which is a crazy time for a human."