Boarding this kind of bizarre vehicle…was honestly a little unsettling.
Especially since… it had been built across an entire Month of Forgetting.
Who knew if they'd accidentally left out some crucial component—forgotten to install it entirely?
Still… it didn't matter much anymore.
He could fly now.
Even if this airship crashed, he wouldn't die from the fall.
"Hahaha! You must be Kanzaki Rei, right!"
A white-haired middle-aged man strode over.
Kanzaki Rei looked at him. He was likely the chief engineer of this entire project—his portrait had been sketched in Rei's fire-mark paper records.
"Things from the Month of Forgetting… aren't remembered very clearly," the man added.
Rei nodded. "Mm. That's right."
Over the past few days, everyone had been trying to recover what had happened during the Month of Forgetting.
Fortunately, history books and important records had been written using Trace-Preserving Paper and Long-Stasis Ink.
Quite a bit had been retained.
But even so, the effects of the Month of Forgetting were overwhelming.
Most records had already dissipated.
What remained were fragments—scattered, incomplete.
Still, objects themselves didn't vanish with the Month of Forgetting. Archaeologists could reconstruct events by examining items that had mysteriously appeared during that time.
It was almost absurd—archaeologists studying things that had happened just days ago.
The records of the Life Church, however, remained intact.
Perhaps because the Month of Forgetting had been immediately followed by the Month of Life.
Among those preserved records… was the account of Kanzaki Rei slaying a god.
Those who had already been shocked once during the Month of Forgetting were shocked all over again in the Month of Life.
"Truly a young… ah, a childhood hero."
…That phrasing felt strange. "Childhood hero" wasn't exactly a flattering title.
"This airship has already been tested," the old engineer continued.
"We ran multiple trials yesterday. No issues with advancement—the ritual completes normally."
Rei nodded. "Understood."
Yesterday had been split into two sessions—morning and afternoon—awakening over sixty people in total.
Rei himself had already come to observe in disguise during the afternoon.
As for why he had disguised himself…
He simply didn't want his real identity affecting what he saw.
"Come on, lad. Everything's ready."
"If your advancement succeeds this time… it might mark a major step forward in human history."
"Alright."
If this experiment succeeded, then his future advancement from Level 4 to Level 5 would also be secured.
Not just for others.
But for himself.
Kumironi was already waiting at the central platform.
The airship was a striking blend of white and gold.
Its model name: "Radiant Flight."
It was said to be the masterpiece of a Level 7 Mechanist.
After completing it, the creator had left Tengar entirely—this ship being his parting gift.
Since then, Tengar's mechanists had repeatedly disassembled and modified it.
As for whether that was a good thing…
According to them, its performance had been "greatly enhanced."
And if anything went wrong?
Tengar still had a powerful Level 6 Mechanist who had preserved the original blueprints—and all dismantled components were carefully stored.
Worst case, they could reassemble it exactly as it was.
They couldn't recreate it from scratch, but maintenance and restoration were well within their capabilities.
Recently, their main task had been…
Removing the ship's built-in speed limiters.
Apparently, the original creator had imposed restrictions for safety reasons.
Now, for the sake of civilization's advancement…
They finally had a legitimate excuse to remove them.
No wonder they'd rushed to Loren so eagerly.
These mechanists had probably been itching to take those limiters off for a long time.
Still…
Was this really safe?
Rei couldn't help but feel a faint unease.
His records described mechanists as… a group of absolute lunatics.
Rei stepped into the center of the ritual array.
Hummm—
The airship began to vibrate lightly.
"All hands, we're starting!" an operator shouted.
The scholars immediately braced themselves—grabbing poles or pressing against the walls.
BOOM!
In an instant, the ship accelerated violently!
The surrounding scenery stretched and blurred.
The speed… was unquestionably terrifying.
Many of the scholars nearly lost their footing.
The mechanists fared better—they were half combat-class.
But the scholars had to cling tightly to avoid being thrown off.
The white-haired engineer shouted:
"Once we reach maximum speed—we begin!"
Kanzaki Rei and Kumironi stood as if on solid ground.
Unshaken.
10 km/s100 km/s200 km/s
The ship continued accelerating.
The scenery became completely indistinct.
500 km/s.
"Not yet! Still not max speed!"
Kumironi frowned. "Didn't we go slower yesterday?"
Another mechanist replied:
"Fuel costs money, miss! Can't waste premium fuel on test subjects! Use it all now, we'll have none left today!"
Rei swallowed slightly.
This speed was already nearing half of his own limit.
His burst speed relied on Rift Flash—so increases in his other class levels hadn't significantly improved his peak velocity.
Acceleration continued.
800 km/s.
Through his perception, Rei saw—
Nine exhaust ports at the rear of the ship, each trailing a brilliant stream of light.
At the same time—
He sensed spatial distortion forming at both the front and rear of the vessel.
So this… was the creation of a Level 7 Mechanist?
No magical fluctuations.
Purely mechanical structure.
Even in a world dominated by magic…
technology was not to be underestimated.
"Can't push it further! We've hit the limit!" the operator called out.
Rei and Kumironi exchanged a glance.
Who else could advance sixteen levels in less than a year?
Ah.
That one…
"Saint One."
Who knew what path he would take in this life?
With memories of a previous life, leveling as a mage would be effortless.
Understanding came instantly.
Advancement would be as easy as breathing.
Rei gave a slight nod.
Kumironi raised her hand—
And the light of the advancement ritual ignited!
The sky split open with countless cracks!
But in the blink of an eye—
They were flung far behind!
Looking back—
Rei saw countless writhing black masses chasing them.
The Corruption Worms.
They'd been… left behind?
"Rei, anything we missed?" Kumironi asked.
Rei shook his head.
"They're all shaken off."
The ritual light surged upward—
And a massive void opened in the sky.
The origin of magic.
The endpoint of the Root.
Rei raised both hands.
His body turned radiant and indistinct.
[Tier 3 Origin Magic: Source · Myriad Laws][Tier 4 Origin Magic: Source · Body as Law][Tier 4 Origin Magic: Core of All Things Unified]
Brilliant, prismatic light erupted—
Wrapping the entire airship in overwhelming power.
Below them—
No longer land.
Only ocean.
They had left the Ruilen Continent.
Now flying over the Secret Sea.
Rei gazed outward.
An endless expanse stretched before him.
This was his first time leaving Ruilen.
His first time seeing the so-called Secret Sea.
It was… vast.
Beyond comprehension.
He raised his hand slightly.
BOOM!
A single "Core" dropped into the ocean—
And annihilated a massive region instantly!
Magic erupted outward in dazzling explosions as the ship advanced.
Rei looked up at the Origin in the sky—
And launched another Core toward it.
Over the past few days, he had refined his understanding of the Core.
It wasn't just for casting magic or combat techniques.
It could also be used to trigger… Talents.
A Core represented the entirety of oneself.
And that "entirety"… included Talents.
God-Tier Talents were distortions of rules.
Origin Magic interpreted the fundamental rules of existence.
To isolate and manipulate those distortions…
Rei had spent considerable time thinking.
The Core collided with the Origin—
Hummm—
It shattered instantly.
But in return—
A flood of information surged into Rei's mind.
[God-Tier · Hidden Origin]
Acquired.
[Creator: None][Origin of Magic, one of the world's primordial origins, Endpoint of the Root—Hidden Knowledge: Not unique, not eternal][Source of the earliest forbidden magic][Fundamental laws of magic][Direction: Endpoint of the Root]
A direction…
But not a physical one.
It pointed toward something abstract—
A thought.
An answer.
An indescribable place.
Rei felt his Decipherer class tremble violently.
In his palm, a new Core formed.
At its center—himself.
Around it—his knowledge, thoughts, encoded layers.
Further outward—his magic and combat techniques.
At the outermost layer—defensive magic.
A defensive Core.
Offensive Cores, by contrast, placed magic and techniques on the outer layers.
Even if destroyed—
they could be reformed.
And then…
another idea surfaced.
Reincarnation.
If these Cores could be preserved—
then even after reincarnation—
he could recover everything.
But there was a problem.
As long as even one Core existed—
he would not truly die.
Only when all Cores were destroyed…
would he enter reincarnation.
Which meant—
if a Core survived—
he could simply regenerate.
No need for reincarnation at all.
…A paradox.
Rei had already completed his answer as a mage.
He casually handed over a pincer—
the remains of a Level 6 Abyssal monster.
His proof of combat experience.
For mages, combat wasn't strictly required—
just a bonus.
As light descended from the sky—
Rei felt it.
His Mage class…
had advanced.
Level 4.
...
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