I'm The Only One With Cancer

Chapter 187: Original Magic Skill

’So that was it...’

Zen felt helpless in his heart.

Zoltes did not duel on the matter as he said, "Well, back to the Flights of Eternity. It’s a magic artifact with elements of illusion, gravity, and space magic."

"Oh?" Zen’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"When you climbed the stairs earlier, did you feel as if the air got heavier with every step?"

"Yes."

"That’s the gravity magic in application. How about the fact that you cannot see the end of it, no matter how much you ascend?"

"I experienced that too."

"It’s the illusion magic engraved in the artifact. Finally, no matter how high you climbed, the stairs seemed endless, right?"

"Yes..."

"That’s the magic that distorts space itself: called Space Loop."

"Oh..."

Hearing his experience earlier recounted in detail, Zen could not help but feel a little embarrassed.

Seeing the change in his expression, Zoltes chuckled lightly, "That’s why when I sensed that someone was climbing the Flights of Eternity without the required token, I was really surprised, you know?"

"I didn’t know..."

"Haha, don’t mind it too much. I know that since you’re an otherworlder, you could be classified as some sort of newborn in some way in our world."

Being called a newborn, Zen did not exactly feel comforted as he posed a question in an attempt to change the topic.

"By the way, what sort of experiment are we going to do?"

Zoltes began to ponder his words, "To be honest, I’m still not sure at this time. How about we begin with my end of the deal first?"

"You mean..." Knowing what he was implying, Zen felt surprised.

"Yes, let’s start with teaching you magic."

Zoltes had a relaxed expression on his face, "How many magic skills do you know? Fireball, Water Bullet, Earth Wall, and the like—"

"Wait a minute."

The old man suddenly seemed to have realized something as his eyes shot wide open.

’Didn’t he cast Contain earlier? Was it from a scroll? An artifact? Some sort of amulet where the magic was engraved so that it would be ready to be cast by the wearer of said artifact?

I need to make sure...’

Zoltes stared Zen in the eye as he asked, "You... do you have the Mana Assembly skill?"

"Yes."

’Huh...’

Hearing Zen’s unhesitant and straightforward answer, Zoltes had disbelief written all over his face.

"Cast a Fireball towards me."

"???"

Zen did not know why the old mage would order him to do such a thing, but he shrugged and pointed at him the way he did earlier.

Wuv—!

Mana began to gather at the tip of his finger, coalescing with the surrounding mana before combusting into a ball-shaped fire.

It was a simple Fireball made with the basing casting steps of Perceive, Infiltrate, Interfere, and Manifest, unlike the miniature sun earlier.

"You really do have it!"

Zoltes exclaimed out loud, "It really is the original magic skill...!"

"What original magic skill?" Zen asked in return, his brows furrowed slightly in confusion.

This was the second time he heard the words "original magic skill", as the first time was from the old mage with the bandits back at the second forest.

Zoltes had an excited expression on his face as he asked in response, "Before I answer your question, can you tell me one thing: Was Mana Assembly your talent, something you awakened on your own, or a skill book?"

"It was a skill book given to me by my teacher." Zen answered honestly, ’It wouldn’t be good to lie about these kinds of things, since it’ll be bad if they have some way to find out if I’m lying...’

’Goodness gracious!’

Zoltes felt extremely shocked in his heart, ’This gives me an idea of what kind of teacher this kid has! Not only did he teach him Contain, one of the— if not the most difficult and versatile defensive spells, that mysterious teacher was also capable of giving a Mana Assembly skill book!’

’This old man’s reaction implies that the original magic skill is the Mana Assembly given to me by Teacher. But it’s just an epic rank— sure, it’s a top-tier one, but his expression looked as if it was something a legendary or mythical rank instead...’

"Excuse me, but what really is this original magic skill you kept muttering about?" Seeing that the old mage was immersed in his own world, Zen could not help but ask.

His words snapped Zoltes out of his daze as he cleared his throat with a cough, "Pardon me... Hmm, where should I start..."

After a few moments of thinking, the old mage started speaking, "I’m sure you’re aware of the fact that magic itself is the only thing the System could not fully contain, right?"

’His teacher’s obviously outstanding, so this should be common sense to him...’ He added inwardly.

As expected, Zen nodded, "Yes, it’s the only ability that benefits from the System without suffering its restriction."

Zoltes smiled and nodded in agreement, "Yes! However, although the System could not restrict and turn it into a pure skill, it was able to limit it."

"Limit?"

"That’s right. As you know, Mana Assembly is merely an epic rank skill, right?"

"Yes."

"Even as a top-tier skill in the epic rank, Mana Assembly merely makes mages reliant on the system. Of course, it’s still better than magic skills."

"Excuse me, but can I ask what a magic skill is?" Zen could not help but ask with curious eyes.

’Wait a minute...’

Zoltes found his question weird.

’His teacher gave him the Mana Assembly as a skill book, but did not inform him of magic skills? Did his teacher simply forget— no, impossible.

The only conclusion is that his teacher is not aware of magic skills— possibly someone who’s old and a hermit who doesn’t socialize often, or maybe...

Someone considered a fugitive...’

Seeing the old mage keeping calm, yet quiet, Zen felt panic build up in his heart, ’Did I say something wrong? Why is this strange old man suddenly silent?’

He could not help but feel something weird, though he could not really point his finger at it.

Fortunately, Zoltes did not keep quiet for long as he spoke, "Yes. Magic skills are something that only came out in the recent years, as Mana Assembly is still too complex to mass produce. Magic skills are really just skills, but can be done with Mana Assembly as well, such as Fireball and the others I mentioned earlier. This is why Mana Assembly is dubbed the original magic skill."

’So there’s really a Fireball skill?’ Zen felt enlightened in his heart, though he could not help but feel a strong sense of strangeness as he glanced at the old man’s face before him, ’Could it be...’

Zoltes then smiled suddenly, "Back to the discussion regarding Mana Assembly. There was a myth that says: once one breaks through the limits of the System, one shall attain true magic."

"True magic?" Zen’s face showcased the perfect amount of surprise, ’He subtly changed the topic... There’s something strange about him.’

"Yes! Although Mana Assembly could be seen as a complex compound skill wherein you could use a variety of skills by learning it, true magic is something that can overturn the whole world itself. It’s something that bypasses the world’s laws— where the impossible becomes possible!"

Zen then tilted his head curiously, "But what does the myth mean by breaking through the limits of the System?"

"There’s quite a lot of assumptions and hypotheses regarding that, but..."

Zoltes paused for a moment and continued, "The most plausible among the countless studies done on that topic is to reach the Transcendent proficiency of Mana Assembly ."

"What? Isn’t that only legendary-ranked skills and above could reach Transcendent proficiency?" Confusion was apparent in Zen’s tone.

After all, this was a fact that was mentioned by Arthur back in their discussions regarding the most general knowledge in the Free World.

However, Zoltes looked like he had expected this reaction as he nodded, "Precisely. The meaning of the myth was taken both metaphorically and literally in this hypothesis, which is why it was seen as the most plausible one among its countless counterparts."

"But how?" Zen felt even more curious now; he was genuinely interested in their current topic.

Unfortunately, the old mage shook his head slowly, "That’s something that the Arcane Towers all over the world are currently studying for hundreds— no, thousands of years. After all, even the dragons, the beings blessed by the world itself, the ones with millennia of life, and the founders of the Arcane Towers had no idea regarding the matter."

’To break through the System’s restraints, huh?’

Zen’s mind involuntarily wandered as he was immersed in their discussions.

However, he could not help but inexplicably remember the fuzzy and vague runes he noticed back when he was casting magic in the real world.

’Maybe those runes hold the clues to this so-called true magic?’

Zen’s thoughts turned more chaotic as their discussion progressed.