After completing her first business deal, Touko wasted no time in starting to create a new body for Sellen.
Unlike Rennala's Unborn Child, which needed to be nurtured from infancy, Sellen was already a fully developed adult Glintstone sorcerer. Since her core consciousness and soul resided in her Primeval Glintstone, all that was needed was a body capable of unleashing her full magical potential—making the process much simpler.
Touko was highly experienced in this kind of work, as she had done the same when creating backup bodies for herself. The new body she crafted for Sellen was unquestionably superior to her original one.
Thus, Touko spent another four days using various materials provided by Aoko to build a brand-new body for Sellen, basing its appearance on the photos Aoko had taken of Sellen's original form.
Once Sellen was revived, Touko immediately informed Aoko. After all, Aoko had been the last person Sellen interacted with before losing consciousness. It was now Aoko's responsibility to explain the situation to her.
Under the watchful eyes of Aoko and Touko, Sellen silently familiarized herself with the various performance parameters of her new body, testing it by casting a few simple Glintstone spells.
"This body… is perfect," Sellen said with satisfaction. "It's even better suited for Glintstone magic than my previous one."
"Of course it is," Aoko said proudly. "When it comes to creating human bodies, Touko has yet to meet a rival."
"Well then, Miss Divine Being from a Foreign Land," Sellen said as she dressed herself in the robes of an academy sorcerer in front of the Aozaki sisters, "could you explain the current situation to me? I was expelled from the Academy as a heretical witch… so why am I now inside the Academy?"
That was a long story. Aoko poured herself a drink and began explaining from the very beginning, making sure to prevent this eccentric genius from overthinking things and turning herself into a Glintstone sphere again.
At first, Sellen occasionally asked about things she didn't quite understand, but as Aoko's explanation progressed—touching on Glintstone magic, the Mother of Fingers, and the Greater Will—Sellen fell into silence.
"If Lusat and Master Azur are considered grandmasters of the Primeval Current, then Professor Ymir is the grandmaster of grandmasters," Aoko said, taking out the Scarlet Staff. "All life in the Lands Between, as well as many of the Glintstones in the cosmos, originated from an explosion created long ago by the Greater Will. That includes the humans of the Lands Between—we are all children of the Greater Will."
"I've seen your experiment records where you turned Glintstone sorcerers into Glintstone spheres," Aoko continued. "The experiment had some practical significance, but its direction was entirely mistaken. The true origins of Glintstone and gravity magic lie in the Finger Glintstone Sorcery used by the Mother of Fingers. This is a form of magic known only to Professor Ymir, myself, and Touko."
Hearing Aoko's explanation, Sellen rubbed her forehead in frustration, visibly troubled. However, as one of the most brilliant witches in the history of the Academy, she could tell that Aoko was speaking the truth. Sellen had already verified parts of this information in her research. She had simply lacked access to the Finger Ruins, which had kept her from reaching the correct conclusions.
"That magic… Can I learn it?" Sellen asked after a moment of silence.
"Of course," Aoko replied. "Or rather, I must be honest with you—I also have something to ask of you, which is why I rescued you in the first place."
Sellen heaved a sigh of relief. To her, it would have been far more unsettling if Aoko had saved her for no apparent reason and then taught her advanced Glintstone magic without explanation. That would have meant Aoko had an even greater demand from her. But now that Aoko was being upfront about their transaction, Sellen felt more at ease.
"Go ahead," Sellen said with a smile. "Just freeing me from my imprisonment is already more than enough for me to repay you."
"It's simple," Aoko said straightforwardly. "One of the two main reasons Touko and I came to the Lands Between was to acquire its magical knowledge—especially the various forms of Primeval magic.
"We already know where Master Azur is, but as for Master Lusat, we need your help," Aoko continued. "We need you to locate the Glintstone Key that unlocks his prison."
"That's easy," Sellen agreed readily. "I was there when Master Lusat was exiled and sealed away. The key was hidden within the Academy. As long as Queen Rennala permits it, I can retrieve it immediately."
"Excellent," Aoko nodded in satisfaction. "One more thing—we want to learn the spell Stars of Ruin."
"That won't be a problem either," Sellen said. "However, the version of Stars of Ruin I learned is different from the original. The sorcerer who invented this spell was deemed a heretic and expelled from the Academy long ago. The version taught at the Academy now is merely a watered-down imitation."
"That's not an issue," Aoko explained. "I know the location of that heretical sorcerer's tower. Once we recover the original spell, we can study and refine it together. By combining it with the knowledge of Finger Sorcery, we can surely elevate this foundational Primeval spell to an even higher level."
"Looking forward to working with you," Sellen said cheerfully, standing up from her chair and shaking hands with the Aozaki sisters. "However, I must warn you—the starry sky of the Lands Between is still under a seal. If you wish to uncover the truth of Primeval magic, the greatest demigod stands as an obstacle that must be overcome."
Aoko was well aware of this issue. When she and Orange had studied Glintstone magic at the Cathedral of Manus Metyr, she had already noticed the problem.
Glintstone magic, being deeply connected to the stars, required real-time observation of celestial movements. This meant that with the night sky of the Lands Between sealed away by Radahn's gravity magic, all Glintstone sorcerers in the region were experiencing a weakening of their spells. Many forms of magic could not even manifest in their true forms under these conditions.
Since things had progressed to the point where ending Radahn's suffering was necessary, Aoko had no reason to hesitate. However, it would be best to keep this from Queen Rennala and Twin Moon Rellana. After all, Radahn was still Rennala's son, and killing a mother's child in front of her was never a good idea.
Thus, the official reason for the Aozaki sisters' actions would have to be rescuing the imprisoned Master Lusat. As for the burden of actually slaying Radahn—that responsibility would have to fall on Melina and the Tarnished.
Speaking of which… where had that Tarnished fellow wandered off to?