I hadn't known about it before, but the circle that had been imbued into my earring originally had been time-related.
It looked different from the time-related circle that was drawn outside of the DuBois residence, but the layout was similar. It was obvious that it was related to time.
The peak of normal magic was time-related magic.
Although I wasn't sure what kind of magic Cory had put into my earring, but knowing that he had placed a time-related circle during our first year of junior school gave me quite a shock.
And now, he had also included attack and defense-related magic in my earring this time.
The red magic was a 'Hell'-type magic, which was the pinnacle of attack magic. The blue magic was the strongest type of defense magic to match, which was a 'Tect'-type defense magic.
These two types of magic were difficult to even attempt. He condensed as much of his magic as he could into my earring and placed the circles in it.
And with that, my earring now included 'Hell'-type magic that was so powerful that it could level an entire city with ease, and the 'Tect'-type magic, that was the only thing that could defend against so-called Hell magic, alongside the unknown time-related magic.
"...ooh."
This orange earring was basically a national treasure now. With that, Cory finished imbuing his magic into the earring and let out a sigh.
Cory said that we should go back to the guest room to rest and was getting ready to leave the room. I followed Cory out and couldn't help but glance at the papers that covered an entire wall of Cory's bedroom.
Cory seemed like he had been extremely busy while I had been unconscious. It looked like he had been trying to figure out what magic I had been put under and why the incident had occurred.
It seemed like he had focused more about my situation–there was a lot of papers with my name, the magic circle that had been drawn on me, and detailed information about the Augran mountain.
Moreover, there was detailed personal information about the assassins and magicians who had injured me in the previous attack. On the entire wall.
I could see just how much Cory had worried for me.
It seemed like the investigation was still on-going. Books were open and laid out on the floor, and pens and rulers were littered across the floor as well.
I had heard that the incident was generally over and done with, but it seemed like Cory wasn't satisfied with it. It looked like he was researching it on his own.
Anyway, I left Cory's room and headed back to the guest room.
When I went in, there were people waiting for me.
Harun and Karim had arrived sometime before and were waiting for me.
"Nunaaaa!"
"Shushu!"
I watched as those who skipped the academy to visit little ol' me and couldn't help but think to myself.
You guys really wanted to skip class, huh?
As soon as I woke up, I left the DuBois residence. I was worried about my attendance, and I felt like it wasn't too polite of me to stay for so long in someone else's residence.
The marquis told me that I needed to rest longer and for me to stay, but I refused. I told him that I would come over during vacation often to hang out with Cory or Viedielle as I grabbed my belongings and called for a carriage to take me back to the academy. The marquis couple told me to take an Unhorse, but I refused.
I was reminded of something I had been curious about, so I approached the marquis before I left to ask.
"Marquis DuBois, what's the use for that semi-permanent time circle in the garden outside of the residence?"
It was the semi-permanent time circle that I had seen when I had come in to spy on them last time. There were a lot of different incomplete semi-permanent time circles here and there in the residence.
When I asked the marquis while I got on the carriage, he frowned for a moment and thought about it.
"That circle has been passed down from our ancestors so I'm not too sure either. The formula in the circle is so complicated that it's still a mystery to us all. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the answer."
"Then that circle has never been activated in your life?"
"Yes."
I thanked the marquis for his response and got on the carriage to head back to the academy.
I fell into my thoughts as I stared out the window.
The pinnacle of normal magic, time magic–and the incomplete time circle outside of the DuBois residence.
It was almost expected of the DuBois family. For them to have worked with time magic, which was more of a legend than reality for most normal magic users.
I stared at the greenery we passed by and decided that I needed to research more when Cory gave me a proper tour of his home.
Once I got back on campus, I assumed that everything was back to normal.
Putting the principal's plan, the royal family, and everything else aside, I felt like it was finally peaceful.
If I ignored the others treating me like some kind of delicate glass tableware, then everything was back to normal. If I excluded Cory, that is.
The air around Cory seemed to have shifted slightly. It was such a minute change that it was hard to describe, but if I had to compare…then I thought I could see a bit of dream Cory in him right now.
He was kind of similar to dream Cory after he lost his parents and he was focusing only on revenge. He wasn't as extreme as back then, but he seemed to have lost a bit of the relaxed part of his personality after I had passed out.
Even days were club days. I ate a simple meal and headed over to the club room, as per usual.
When I usually got to the club room, Cory was usually sleeping, floating in the air eating snacks, or observing the monsters in the model and developing magic to counter their attacks.
No matter what he was doing, he always greeted me warmly when I entered the room.
But these days, he was completely focused on something with a rushed expression on his face.
"Hi Cory."
When I greeted him as I entered the club room, he just read something and jotted something down instead of responding.
When Cory focused on something, his hearing became dull.
It was definitely a good thing to focus on something. But it was only good if it didn't affect your health.
Cory wasn't doing too well recently. It might've been because he had almost witnessed his entire family being murdered, or for some unknown reason that I didn't know.
Regardless of what caused it, his dark circles grew worse and his sharp green eyes seemed sharper than before.
He wasn't eating properly or sleeping properly. He was just focused completely on something. He seemed strangely sad and there were a lot of times when he just sighed forlornly and messed up his own hair in annoyance.
He was kind of similar to the Cory I had seen in my dreams, but strangely different. I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing.
"Are you okay? Take a break or two."
"…..uh, yeah."
Cory's eyes were still glued to a document as he responded in his typical tone of voice.
I became curious about what he was focusing on and slowly approached Cory's side.
When I glanced at the document, it was about the attack. Just as expected. Moreover, he had gotten his hands on some black magic books that were laid open as he used them as reference.
It seemed like he was also deep in his research about the magic that had been on the back of my hand.
"Cory, should I buy you something tasty?"
"..."
No response.
I couldn't help but be reminded of dream Cory as I began to worry. He wasn't as severely depressed, but it wasn't fun to watch Cory under such heavy emotional burdens.
I couldn't say a word right next to him. Instead, I grabbed one of the black magic books he had open and began reading it.
I found myself interested in the books, so I borrowed a few more. I couldn't carry all of the books at once, so I borrowed a cart to stack a few books on it. I wanted to read them on my bed so I dragged the books all the way back to my dorm. I also got a warm mug of milk and some chocolate chip cookies near my bed for the perfect reading spot.
I laid down the book on my bed and grabbed at a particularly thick tome.
I opened the thick cover of the book and scanned the pages down as I quickly read through the pages. I skipped past the parts that I knew and focused on the parts that I didn't know.
There were just too many things I wanted to know about the world that I had thought had only been a dream. It was for sure that I had gotten to that world through black magic, and when that world's Swanhaden messed around with white magic, I had gotten sucked in and had barely gotten out.
[Each branch of magic has a higher tier of magic. And when you dig deep into normal magic, white magic, and black magic, you will be able to discover the most commonly applied layout for those particular circles. Black magic uses dimension, white magic uses movement, and normal magic uses time.]
I read the part about the three different types of magic before I checked the cover of the book. [The Uses of the Three Types of Magic and Their Possibilities]. I found myself intrigued, so I sat up and leaned on the wall to read the book more carefully.
[It is said to be almost impossible, but if all three higher tiers of magic are combined, it is possible to be transported to a particular dimension of a specific time.]
I checked the published date of the book. I thought that the book seemed ancient. Apparently, it had been published even before the empire had been established. I wondered how it had been kept so well, but it seemed like there had been a preservation spell cast on it.
[To give some context about the highest tier of black magic, dimension magic, there's a broad range of dimensions that black magic can encompass. We can see worlds that have been altered based on our decisions, and we can also see other dimensions that are completely different from ours. Based on the information that has been passed down, it has been said that on the other side, there is a barbaric world where magic doesn't exist and society is based off physical labor and basic intellect. This writer also would like to go to that dimension and has done incredible amounts of research, but it is said to be impossible because of 'gods' and other existences that monopolize black and white magic.]
The place that I had been to wasn't exactly like the original novel, but it seemed like it was a world that had been altered based on different decisions. I had thought it had just been a dream, but my consciousness had gone over to that world when I passed out. Swanhaden's use of white magic must have made me move over to that dimension completely.
My body must've failed to cross over completely because I had drawn the circle too quickly and that world's Swanhaden couldn't successfully complete the transportation spell. When I read closer, I saw that there were a lot of different types of transportation spells. There were spells that allowed both your physical and spiritual body to go together and another that allowed you to transport your body and a copy of your physical body and more. It was fascinating.
[The existence we call a god is said to manage life and death through white and black magic. If they please, that they could place a soul from another dimension into another…. All of this sounds like a myth, but this writer believes it to be true. There have been no recorded instances yet, but it is all possible in theory. I want to use white magic and black magic too. But I hate that I'm but a human. I want to escape from reality. I just want to escape, period.]
I frowned as I closed the book.
"A god-like existence, huh...…."