Chapter 318: Magical Spirit Gear
"Then, Chairman, I look forward to a pleasant cooperation!"
George sighed in relief upon hearing that, reverting to his human form once more.
If Aleister had insisted on a fight, even if he transformed into the same state he used when battling Kull, he likely wouldn't have won and would've had to flee in disgrace.
This outcome was, to him, quite satisfactory.
He no longer needed to travel all over the world seeking churches to learn magic—he could now study directly under this figure who had grasped the essence of magic. The efficiency of his education would no doubt improve dramatically.
In fact, he believed that the chairman standing before him, if subjected to the right kind of ritual, might even be able to ascend from human to Magic God.
"Since you're not Clone No. 9981, how should I address you from now on?"
With the decision to cooperate made, the killing intent in Aleister's heart faded, and a smile once again appeared on his face.
"Just call me George."
George replied:
"Could I have a room in this building? That way, I can easily find you whenever I need to consult you about magic."
"Of course, no problem. I'll have someone arrange a suitable room for you shortly."
Aleister had no objections to George's request.
In fact, he preferred that George stay within the building.
Although they had agreed to cooperate, he wasn't completely at ease with George yet.
Since George knew his identity, keeping him close at hand was more reassuring.
The main reason was that his Academy City-wide surveillance system, the "AIM Diffusion Field", was useless against George.
And so, George peacefully stayed in the building for about half a month.
During that time, he learned a great deal about magic from Aleister and gained a much deeper understanding of the essence of magic in this world.
It must be said, this man who participated in the invention of modern magic systems was truly exceptional. Any problem George raised could be answered flawlessly, and Aleister would often extrapolate further magical knowledge from those issues.
Though magic systems differed across worlds, their essence was not that far apart.
As George gained deeper insight into this world's magical essence, he also found new inspiration for his research into the magic systems of other worlds.
He had long harbored the idea of fusing the various magical systems from different worlds, keeping the best and discarding the worst, to create a new system more suited to himself.
But he had always struggled because what he learned only touched the surface—merely copying without grasping the fundamentals—so progress was slow.
Moreover, few magicians in other worlds had reached Aleister's level. Relying on self-enlightenment alone would never be fast.
In the Harry Potter world, the strongest wizard was Dumbledore. But to say Dumbledore had grasped the true essence of that world's magic? Not quite—there was still a large gap.
In The Sorcerer's Apprentice world, his instructor was Balthazar. But now, George had surpassed him.
As for Merlin and Morgana in that world, they might have touched on some essence of magic—after all, each created numerous spells.
In Fairy Tail, there was even less to say. Most of the magic George learned there was self-taught. The guild's mages generally learned magic through combat, with very few dedicating themselves to the academic study of its essence.
They relied purely on emotion to awaken latent power and grew stronger through battle.
It was said that during the age when dragons still lived, there had been many academies devoted to magical study—but they had all been destroyed in the dragon wars.
In Middle-earth, he was now establishing an academy with the Elves. Perhaps in the future, there would be a chance to study the essence of that world's magic together.
However, he believed that to truly delve deep, he needed to go to Valinor, the land of the gods.
On this particular day, George was in his room researching this world's Spirit Gear. The term "Spirit Gear", in George's eyes, referred to magical tools and weapons.
But they differed from ordinary magical tools.
Spirit Gear in this world was typically modeled after artifacts found in various mythologies—partially replicated, then imbued with magical abilities to create functional equipment.
Though replicas, they did often exhibit powers similar to those of the mythical artifacts they mimicked.
The stronger the mythical artifact, however, the harder it was to replicate as a Spirit Gear.
Like the last time he encountered Index, the nun who carried within her the 103,000 grimoires—her lavish white silk robe embroidered with golden threads was an ultra-luxurious piece that the Church had spent immense time and effort crafting, one of the highest-tier Spirit Gears.
The name of the robe was "Mobile Church"—a full replica of the Holy Shroud of Turin (the cloth said to have wrapped the saint pierced by the Spear of Longinus), and it contained all the essential elements of a "Church".
Theoretically, while wearing the robe, Index possessed nuclear bomb-level defense.
Even if a nuke went off point-blank, she wouldn't suffer the slightest injury.
George thought that if he could master such magical crafting techniques, then when his power was great enough, he might also be able to replicate powerful Spirit Gear based on mythologies he was familiar with.
For example, the legendary treasures from Investiture of the Gods or Journey to the West.
Even if he couldn't replicate 100% of their powers, having just one ten-thousandth would be enough to make him grin in his sleep.
And these mythologies didn't need to be Western—they simply had to be part of the creator's known mythology. That was enough to replicate similar effects.
After all, these artifacts didn't truly exist—it was magic that made them manifest. This is what this world's magicians often referred to as the "Idol Theory".
"Miss George, the Chairman requests your presence."
Just as George was immersed in his research, a knock came at the door.
George checked the time—it wasn't his usual hour to consult about magic:
"This timing… looks like he wants me to do something."
His cooperation with Aleister did come with certain conditions.
The two still didn't fully trust each other.
Though Aleister guided him in learning this world's magic, it wasn't without reservation—he only taught George the modern magic systems he'd created, withholding the ancient ones.
So George also had his own requirements when doing tasks for Aleister. He wouldn't mindlessly go around killing innocents or causing destruction. He would try to complete missions, but if the enemy was too strong, he couldn't guarantee success.
If he couldn't win, he would prioritize his own life.
He needed to understand the content and general intel of any mission—he wouldn't go into something blindly.
Aleister didn't trust him, and likewise, he didn't trust Aleister. If it turned out to be a suicide mission, he'd be walking into a trap.
Aleister, for his part, also required George not to block the "AIM Diffusion Field" surveillance while away on missions—to prevent him from leaking secrets to the Church.
That, of course, wasn't an issue for George. He never planned on leaking anything anyway.
(End of Chapter)