Eolum used an eleventh-level spell to sever the base of a great mountain.
However, this seemed entirely unrelated to the floating city he mentioned.
Under the gaze of the onlookers, Eolum, who had just performed the mountain severing spell, did not rest for long. Within a few seconds, he took a deep breath, refocused his attention, and started chanting another spell in a low voice.
As the new spell was cast, the magic network began to tremble again.
However, compared to the grandeur when the grand arcanist used the mountain severing spell, this new spell, although it disturbed the magic network, did not cause a direct break. Its power and level were somewhat weaker.
Soon after.
The earth began to tremble.
It was as if a magnitude ten earthquake had occurred, with the base-severed mountain shaking violently, countless rocks rolling down, creating a thunderous noise. Dust, like smog, emerged from the ruptured earth and stone, obscuring the vision of the onlookers.
Amid the thunderous momentum.
The mountain, with a very large base circumference, wobbled and then broke free from the grasp of gravity, beginning to float towards the sky.
Not just that.
During the floating process, the mountain began to invert.
As if an invisible giant hand was manipulating it, turning a mountain upside down like a toy.
The peak slowly faced downward, and the large, neat fracture slowly faced upward.
The ensuing endless dust and falling rocks together formed a shockingly impressive scene.
Tenth Circle Arcana—Gravity Reversal.
Using an eleventh and a tenth circle arcanum in quick succession, even a grand arcanist like Eolum found it somewhat exhausting. Despite the support of the magic network, the consumption of his magical and mental power was quite severe. At this moment, Eolum's complexion had turned much paler.
However, it was not over yet.
When the inverted mountain flew over a kilometer high, and the effects of the Gravity Reversal were about to wear off, Eolum solemnly tore open a dimensional space.
A beautifully large, blue sphere with a diameter of more than ten meters flew out from it.
The core of the magic network.
The most critical thing for a floating city to continue ascending.
Looking at this giant core of the magic network, Garon could clearly feel that, the moment it appeared, the surrounding magic network seemed to become tighter. The energy circuits that comprised the magic network naturally clung to the core, countless elemental energies seeped out from the depths of the magic network, being absorbed by the core.
"What a treasure."
"Shame it only works with the magic network."
Garon eyed the core, blinked, and thought to himself.
Under Eolum's control, the core traced a beautiful arc in the air, finally embedding itself at the central position on the top of the inverted mountain.
Instantly, magical brilliance rose from the flat fracture.
Magic runes, pre-engraved on the mountain surface, shone with dazzling light.
With the core's enhancement, countless elemental energies were drawn from the depths of the magic network, enveloping the inverted mountain, continuously providing energy support for the Gravity Reversal, maintaining the stable posture of the inverted mountain between the heavens.
Under the thick night sky.
This floating, majestic inverted mountain attracted the gaze of all living beings.
The prototype of Nesseriel's first floating city thus appeared on the Ferun continent for the first time.
It's currently just a floating mountain.
But everyone knew that as long as it could maintain stable floating in the sky, with the abilities of the arcanists, constructing a suitable living city on this mountain would be an easy task, possibly taking less than a week.
"As an arcanist, one should break free from the shackles of the earth and explore the essence and truth of the world from the heavens."
Eolum gazed at the inverted mountain, his eyes seemingly filled with light.
Then, he flew up high again, coming not far from the silver dragon.
"My ideal floating city will be built on this mountain."
"What do you think?"
After pondering for a while, Garon, with a slightly squinted gaze, earnestly said, "High above, untouched by dust."
"With a floating city, you arcanists are almost like 'gods' in the prime material world."
Floating cities are not restricted by geography and can freely traverse between the skies.
If used in war, once Nesseriel's floating city system is perfected, there are few countries on the Ferun continent that can ignore the threat of floating cities. For instance, just parking a floating city in the airspace of a country's capital—would you attack or not? If you can defeat it and then sink the floating city, how would you defend against a massive city falling from thousands, or even tens of thousands of meters in the sky?
"God is a term we should use sparingly right now."
The saints have just demonstrated the power of deities in the eastern continent and have not left yet. Now, hearing the term "god," grand arcanists are quite reverent. However, once the saints leave Ferun and arcanum develops for a few hundred or thousand years more, the attitude of arcanists toward deities might be uncertain.
"Do the people of Nesseriel have much faith in the gods?"
Garon, looking at the inverted mountain, suddenly asked.
Eolum shook his head, saying, "Some, but not many."
"Arcanists seek knowledge and truth."
"We believe that through the study of the essence of the world, we can one day possess power that rivals the gods."
He paused, then added softly, "To me, the deities of the outer planes are just arcanists who have mastered some kind of ultimate arcanum."
"What about the Magic Goddess?"
"Your magic network is maintained by the Magic Goddess."
Garon said.
Eolum smiled, "The most followers in Nesseriel belong to the Church of the Magic Goddess. We truly respect this deity."
While it's said that the Church has the most followers, it doesn't really have many arcanists who worship.
But even with not many followers, the Magic Goddess tirelessly repairs the damage arcanists cause to the magic network. Is this because the Magic Goddess loves to give and possesses a selfless spirit? In reality, the Magic Goddess doesn't need many followers; the prosperity of magic alone greatly enhances Her divine power.
"Have you ever thought about creating a new magic network, independent of the Magic Goddess and managed by arcanists?"
Garon suggested to Eolum.
The magic network is actually quite beneficial.
Especially for true dragons, who practice both magic and martial arts, a magic network can significantly enhance casting abilities. If the magic network suddenly fails, their innate spell-like abilities and strong physiques won't be much affected.
Garon thought about setting up a dragon-specific magic network on the planet Kara after returning to the main timeline.
However, his understanding of the magic network isn't sufficient to create one himself.
So, Garon intended to encourage Eolum, whose magical knowledge surpassed his own, in terms of creativity. While Garon's talent in spellcasting is superior to that of ordinary casters, it falls short when compared to someone of Eolum's caliber.
If Eolum succeeded, he could just copy the work without having to research it himself.
After hearing
Garon's suggestion, Eolum shook his head.
"Creating a magic network isn't extremely difficult."
"At its core, a magic network is just a structure that stabilizes chaotic and disorderly elemental energy."
"It's easy to create a similar magical device."
He looked around, his gaze settling on the distant, unreachable horizon, "The real challenge is spreading the magic network across the entire world."
"If the magic network's range is small, if it's not omnipresent, then building it is somewhat meaningless. After all, some amplification arrays are even stronger than the magic network."
"To construct a world-class magical network is not something a few grand arcanists can easily accomplish."
What about combining magic with machinery?
Hearing Eolum's words, Garon thought of Earth's network base stations in his previous life.
With mechanical means, a similar effect might be achievable.
Compared to pure magic, mechanics only require sufficient resources to mass-produce large numbers of physical magic network nodes. Establishing a magic network on planet Kara is not impossible.
Garon's mind became active.
"Hmm, this is worth pondering."
His creativity might not match Eolum's, but that doesn't mean Garon lacks creativity entirely.
However, setting up a magic network in the prime material world is an enormous project. If it were to be implemented, it would inevitably require the cooperation of the entire dragon race on planet Kara, not something that can be accomplished overnight.
"If successful, what should the dragon race's magic network be called?"
"Dragon Network? Dragon Magic Network? Magic Dragon Network?"
Garon didn't dwell on this question.
He planned to consult Eolum on various questions about the magic network, as the grand arcanist could answer many of his queries.
However, Eolum had his own matters to attend to.
He and the other arcanists of Nesser began discussing the future vision of the floating city.
"The floating city will be a city belonging to us arcanists."
"Suspended in the heavens, far from the mundane, arcanists can cast aside distractions and concentrate their energies on the pursuit of knowledge and truth."
"The exchange and collaboration between arcanist residents can also allow us to travel further and longer on the path of truth."
Eolum's words were simple.
The first floating city held special significance, and Eolum planned to name it after himself.
Additionally, he requested the assistance of arcanists in establishing the floating city and expressed his warm welcome to arcanists from all over to settle in Eolum's floating city. He also encouraged grand arcanists to build their own floating cities, offering to provide the spell and manufacturing method of the magic network core free of charge.
In Eolum's view, the floating city is where arcanists should live.
As for non-arcanist commoners of Nesser, Eolum didn't consider them.
Including Eolum himself, ninety percent of arcanists are actually a very proud group. They may not show obvious reactions on the surface, but deep down, they look down upon, even disdain, beings without magical abilities.
Eolum is a contradictory person.
To his fellow Nesseriel arcanists, Eolum generously shares spells like the Eternity Spell, Mountain Severing Spell, and Gravity Reversal Spell, all of which are beyond ninth circle, but there's no place for common Nesseriel citizens in the floating city. His broad-mindedness is only accessible to arcanists.
Next, the excited arcanists successively ascended the inverted mountain.
With the construction of numerous spells, simple houses and buildings rose from the ground.
Garon landed on the edge of the inverted mountain, peeked down, and saw a miniature landscape of the earth through the clouds.
By this time, the inverted mountain had reached an altitude of ten thousand meters.
Eolum controlled the magic network core, allowing it to stop here, quietly floating and standing, majestic and sturdy, unmoved by the winds from all directions.
Time passed quietly.
The efficiency of the arcanists at work was impressively high.
When the night was torn by the first light of dawn and darkness dissipated.
In just one night, a rudimentary floating city had already taken shape.
Since it was all built by the arcanists themselves, houses with completely different styles, like works of art, were scattered and intertwined at the top of the inverted mountain. Some arcanists, wishing to gaze directly at the clouds below, even created extended tracks at the edge, building houses on these tracks, both daring and dangerous.
Of course, compared to a real city, this floating city was still far from completion.
But with the presence of arcanists, it wouldn't take long for a true floating city to emerge here, attracting the gaze of all intelligent beings on the Ferun continent.
"I also want a floating city."
Garon, seeing something desirable, wanted one for himself.
And since a floating city needs a continuous energy supply, if he wanted to build one, he would need the existence of a magic network. Without a magic network, the difficulty of building a floating city would skyrocket.
After being busy for a while, Eolum found some free time.
This first floating city, on its pre-set trajectory, began to slowly move along the borders of Nesseriel. This city in the sky cast a day-darkening shadow on the ground, startling countless beings and attracting many curious and probing gazes.
Some arcanists who had heard about Eolum's plans to build a floating city but didn't quite believe it were shocked upon seeing the giant mountain in the sky.
More and more arcanists entered Eolum's floating city.
This city in the sky grew increasingly prosperous.
In the blink of an eye, nearly thirty years had passed.
The once crude city had now become a bustling place, with traces of magic everywhere. Even the ground bore arcane runes with special effects, magical items were ubiquitous, and arcanists were seen everywhere. Around the floating city, a huge shield based on the magic network core had appeared.
The shield's effect was similar to a Mysterious Lock Domain.
This was a result of the exchange of spells between Eolum and Garon.
Moreover, not long after Eolum's floating city ascended, other grand arcanists began constructing their own floating cities.
Over the years, three more floating cities appeared.
Eolum's was the most prosperous, but the other three also attracted many people, especially since Eolum's floating city was running out of living space.
The method of constructing floating cities became increasingly mature.
It's foreseeable that in the near future, one after another, majestic and grand floating cities will ascend, becoming the solid foundation of the future Nesseriel Empire.
In a certain area of Eolum's floating city, there was a cave-like gigantic dragon's nest.
Over these thirty years, Garon had not left. To facilitate discussions with Eolum on various issues, he settled in this floating city. The residents here basically knew of Garon's existence, the legendary dragon, and rumors spread that this friend of city lord Eolum, the legendary dragon, was the chief culprit behind the destruction of the Imaskar Empire.
Almost no one dared to provoke this unfathomably powerful legendary dragon.
Why "almost"? Because a young, newly advanced grand arcanist, during a visit to Eolum, had a friction with the legendary dragon, initiated a provocation, and then, Nesseriel never saw that grand arcanist again.
Because of this,
Garon earned another nickname in Eolum's floating city: the Silver Winged Harbinger.
The grand arcanists who came here were all very polite to Garon.
An interesting incident also occurred.
A refugee mechanist from the Imaskar Empire, by chance, came to Eolum's floating city.
After getting drunk in a tavern, the mechanist, holding a cup, loudly declared his determination to seek revenge on the dragon that destroyed the empire. Then, he was knocked unconscious by an unknown staff and thrown out of the floating city overnight.
Over these thirty years, Garon spent most of his time charging the time gate.
Being away from the main timeline, the flow of time did not cooperate, and the recovery speed of the time gate was indeed slow. Fortunately, it was now fully charged, enough for Garon to return to the main timeline.
In his free time, Garon focused on spellcraft.
He often discussed the truth of spells with Eolum, the top grand arcanist, deepening his magical knowledge and understanding of the magic network.
Eolum was not one to keep secrets; he taught Garon many legendary arcanum.
These legendary arcanum, without the magic network, would have reduced power and increased casting difficulty, but they were still powerful tools.
Besides, Garon also brought his enchantment and abjuration spells to the legendary level, not just limited to his favored evocation school.
His spellcasting abilities became increasingly rich and profound.
By now, Garon was starting from the basics to learn necromancy because he had the contents of the Horcrux and the foundational knowledge collected from the Noah continent. His necromancy inheritance was relatively complete. As for enchantment, divination, and other spell schools, he lacked complete spell knowledge, so he hasn't started learning them yet.
All told, Garon spent about fifty years in Ferun, becoming more thoughtful.
However, since his physical growth was synchronized with the main timeline, he decided to calculate his actual age according to the main timeline.
Now, the time gate was ready to be activated.
Garon planned to leave.
He had fully understood the use of the Imaskar artifact. Once back in the main timeline, if the Second Imaskar Empire sent a mechanist army to deal with him, they would regret it immensely. Although Garon already had a set of artifacts, he wouldn't mind adding more to his collection.
"I'm leaving."
Garon contacted Eolum.
Over the decades, his friendship with the grand arcanist had deepened, so he informed him before leaving.
"Leaving the floating city? Where are you going?"
"Just as I was thinking of leaving the floating city to wander other parts of the Ferun continent to clear my mind, do you want to join?"
Space rippled slightly, and Eolum's figure materialized from illusion to reality, appearing in Garon's dragon's nest.
Garon shook his head, looking at the smiling grand arcanist, "I'm leaving Ferun."
Eolum was momentarily taken aback, then said, "Are you returning to your prime material plane?"
Garon nodded, "Yes."
Eolum showed a look of regret, "It's a pity, Nesseriel can't do without me, otherwise I'd also like to visit other prime material planes."
After a pause, he looked up at the majestic and sturdy silver dragon, seriously saying, "My friend, I'm glad to have met you. You've provided me with a lot of help."
Without Garon's spell knowledge, Eolum's floating city and many key spells couldn't have been successfully researched so quickly.
Garon learned a lot from Eolum, and so did Eolum.
"There are no parties that don't end."
"But I might come back to Ferun in the future."
"By then, I hope to see an arcane empire more glorious than Imaskar."
The Imaskar magic ring spun up, emitting a faint glow, enveloping Garon within it.
The reluctant River of Time began to flow faster, eager to send Garon, who had been plucking its waters of time daily, away. Enveloped in the waters of time, the silver dragon's figure gradually faded and completely vanished from Eolum's sight after a few seconds.
Eolum looked at the empty and dim dragon's nest, stretching out his hand.
He gently brushed his palm across the intangible and insubstantial River of Time, showing a thoughtful expression.
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