Auran was also fond of these drinks when all the depression from not being able to advance in the time field crashed down on his mind. He found comfort in these drinks—but not always, because the thing is, this drink was quite expensive.
Clink!
Two cheers, their glasses met and they drank the liquid inside. Within a few moments, Auran felt the nature of the drink taking effect.
"I'm grateful for your help, Auran, especially for that circle you taught me," Henry said in a humble tone, leaning on the curious sofa.
"I'm happy for you that the circle worked, but you didn't have to bring something expensive like this for celebration. Ahem! Did the head committee say anything about using a circle to guide the cursed energy?"
Auran, just like Henry, leaned back and made himself comfortable for a mindless moment.
"Don't think much about it. I just received a few gifts from friends as congratulations—most of them were money—so I had more than enough to buy a liqueur. Also, after everything, I sent what was left of the money to the family of the prisoner who helped me in the experiment. Although he was a test subject, he still had a loving family to take care of."
Henry became silent, remembering the family of three that had sent letters asking about their father.
"Well, that's that. And on the other hand—yeah, yeah—they praised it, especially the circle. That's why I'm special here—to say thanks and also offer help to you. Since I'm now a graduated student, I can go back to the main residence. Maybe they might have some source knowledge for the Time Path. I can bring one more person along with me as a friend. What do you think?"
"Going back to the main residence."
Auran showed a pondering expression, but not for long.
"It's an attractive offer, but unfortunately, I have to pass. I am in no need of any more source knowledge to develop my theory."
Henry felt his drunkenness reduce a bit upon hearing Auran. He knew what Auran said meant one thing...
"You... Did you finally develop a theory?" Holding the glass in his hand without taking a sip, Henry gazed at Auran with sharp eyes.
Auran, on the other hand, took another sip and nodded his head as he leaned back on the sofa. He didn't need to look at Henry to see the unbelievable expression that had appeared on his face. Auran expected that reaction—and he enjoyed it. It was finally time for him to enjoy this feeling again: the joy of achieving something that others could not even fathom.
"Oh... con–congratulations," Henry said, with a face that didn't even know what it was saying. He was obviously happy for Auran's achievement and wished the best for him. But he also felt a sense of loss. This feeling erupted from the thought of not returning the favor Henry had received from Auran. Henry felt somewhat guilty in his heart.
"Well... if there's any other way I could help you, you can ask me for anything. I would do my absolute best to help you."
Said Henry, then he took a sip from his drink to loosen up the frustration bubbling in his mind.
"If a situation arises, I'll let you know."
Auran assured Henry, but he did not truly took that to heart. He was someone who worked alone and rarely needed anyone's help for anything.
"So, what's this new theory of yours?"
Henry asked curiously. He was someone who showed his theory openly to Auran, so asking him back about his theory didn't appear rude in any way.
"It's still in the basic development stage. I'll let you know as soon as I finish developing it."
Auran did not reveal what his theory was. The main reason was that he still hadn't decided whether to reveal it to the head committee or anyone else. That decision came to him after seeing how they had treated him when he hadn't achieved anything.
Although his family still allowed him to stay in the academy and supported him with a monthly fund, bit by bit they still reduced these privileges. The monthly allowance he received from this month onward only allowed him to spend on necessities. And even then, he had to spend a hefty amount on new furniture for his room.
Henry took another sip, which emptied the full glass he had poured. That one glass was enough to make his brain melt, and while talking, he could hardly keep his eyes open.
"Oh, so you're gonna take another few years to finish developing it? Oh man, if it takes that long, I'll be a master of curses by the time you graduate.
Hurry up, man... hurry up..."
"It's not gonna take years for me to surpass you all," Auran disliked the way Henry addressed the matter of his theory. But once he looked, he saw Henry leaning on the sofa with his eyes closed. The glass that had been in his hand had rolled away and fallen to the ground.
"It's not gonna be long until I..."
A sense of inferiority rose again in Auran's heart—a fear that he would once again fall behind others. Even though he had the notebook and had already stepped onto the path, just following the footsteps in the book, he didn't know how long it would take for him to fully master it.
Auran stood up, leaving Henry—who had already fallen asleep on the sofa—and walked to his bedroom, where he got onto the bed and closed his eyes.
In his mind, the image of the notebook appeared, and Auran flipped it to the second page. Once before, he had already glanced at the second page before stepping out for the lecture. Because of this, he knew the contents of the second page.
[Process of Bonding with the Flow of Time]
As the title of the page suggested, the second page contained information about how Auran could become a Bind Magician. Usually, to become a Bind Magician, one had to go through a careful process that was observed by a few experts in the field. Being bonded to one's magical field had its own dangers if things got out of hand—which could happen if the magician undergoing the bonding was inexperienced in their field.
That risk was the reason most magicians who underwent this phase were those with graduated knowledge—those who had studied, created, and had enough understanding of their field to know how to handle the bonding process.
However, in the book, there was a written procedure on how to undergo the bonding process without anyone's help. But the more Auran read the content on the page, the more he furrowed.
To undergo the binding process alone, Auran needed a few preparations—like the heart of a Mineral Bear and the blood of a newborn Ghostspider. Both of these items were extremely hard to acquire and were very rare to even hear about. Moreover, both belonged to the category of ingredients that greatly increased the inner body's resilience.
"seems like I have to have a strong heart to undergo the binding ritual... The heart must be the source where time binds with me."
Skipping the page, Auran tried to turn to the next one, but to his frustration, he wasn't able to flip it.
[Undergo the Binding Ritual for the Third Page to Be Revealed]
Seeing the notification sent by the notebook, Auran stopped trying to turn the pages.
Phew...
He sighed and leaned back on the sofa.
"The necessary materials are out of my league to acquire, even if I waited a long time... Should I proceed with what I planned?"
He doubted himself and glanced at Henry, who was already deep in sleep and had started to snore faintly.
"Improving is not just following someone's footsteps. It's about learning from others and trying things myself while seeking something more than what already exists. That's what I've believed from the start—and even from the future, I should know what that means."
"I hope future me did not change this thought... and forgive me for what I'm doing now."
Auran closed his eyes again and turned to the second page, where the process of the binding ritual was written.
"The notebook from the future sought time mana to sustain and improve itself, and in the binding ritual, I bound myself with time mana, which also helped the book to draw more time mana. But what if, instead of me, it was the notebook that was bound with the time mana? "
Auran had an idea and proceeded to test it. He followed the steps written in the book. First, he drew a new space circle upon his chest. Afterward, he had to wait for the time mana to be drawn into his body. Unlike the circle he used when casting basic time spells, the time mana pouring out from this circle was very thin—thin enough for someone like Auran to endure, as this was his first time carrying time mana in his body.
Once the mana entered his body, Auran decided to send it toward his head. The process was not as simple as he had imagined. With only a thought, the time mana didn't move. Auran had to guide the time flow carefully through his body, avoiding any collision with vital organs.
It felt as if his blood had mixed with the mana of time, which caused his body to feel extremely heavy. Drops of sweat appeared on his forehead when he finally managed to drag the time mana carefully to his head.
From then on, he didn't have to guide the way. The moment time flow reached the skull the notebook seemed to sense it and began attracting the time mana toward itself.
But a problem arose.
Once the time mana got extremely close to the book, an invisible wall-like effect suddenly appeared around it, blocking the flowing mana, making it unable to pass. Auran tried all the methods he could to bypass the wall, but the invisible barrier itself seemed to be made from a time spell at a level far beyond what he could currently understand.
"A protection method... well played, future me."
Knowing he wouldn't be able to pass the barrier, Auran halted the flow of time mana and slowly erased the spell he had cast.
He opened his eyes and reached for the bottle of liquid on the table. He was frustrated and wanted to calm his brain.
"There's so much inside the bottle... we didn't even finish half."
At that moment, his hand halted its movement.
"Since I cannot inject mana from outside... what if I use mana from inside?"
It was a crazy idea that came out of nowhere, but he still tried it. He was a curious genius who would do anything, even if it seemed absurd or foolish—and the drink that had loosened his brain's capacity made his decision-making ability drop to the floor.
Auran made a bold move and once again tried to sneak time mana into the notebook. When the invisible barrier appeared, he drew the space circle upon the surface of the barrier, as close to the notebook as possible. It was an intense movement he performed using only his thoughts to cast the spell. Because the circle was still a basic one, he was able to finish it successfully.
After drawing the circle, Auran cast a spell, opening one of his eyes and looking at the bottle of liquid in front of him.
"Appraisal."
[Detected: The basic spell "Appraisal" has been activated. Undergoing spell process...]
The notebook took hold of the spell's casting process. It had the ability to create a small circle and extract information from it. Unfortunately, this circle did not allow the flow of time to come out.
However, at the moment the notebook cast the circle and began extracting information about the bottle, Auran controlled the circle he had drawn outside, which resulted in a sudden shake in the circle the notebook had cast. He intend to use the circle as a magnitude that can draw out mana from the other circle.
"It's not enough..."
Auran manipulated the circle to the utmost of his ability to influence the circle that was inside the notebook and finally saw the sign of time mana flowing out from it. However, it was like a blockage had broken—time mana instantly poured out and flooded all around the mindspace.
[Error... Error... Error. Overload of information detected. Launching terminal sequences... Error... Error... Overload of time flow detected. Error... A massive amount of time energy detected... A breach of... Error... Error... Failure to assess the situation...]
The time mana overflowed the book and even began pouring out from the imaginary space and into Auran's brain.
Auran instantly felt like he had been hit with an immense amount of information, which made him completely unable to think.
"Oh crap... I messed up."
Since his brain was the one hurting, his hand hurriedly reached for the bottle of liquid and began drinking the whole thing in a few gulps. Surprisingly, this proved effective, as he felt like he had detached from the flood of information. However, he still felt incredibly messed up in his head. He kept hearing the echo of the notebook trying to analyze what was happening and search for a solution. The sound of it also gave Auran a headache.
Blurp!
Auran felt his brain going numb. Mixed with the uncontrollable amount of information and drunkenness, he didn't even know when he blacked out on the sofa.
The last thing he saw in his vision was the only thing the notebook managed to do before it went silent—and that was giving the result of the appraisal spell.
[Appraisal complete]
*Item Name: Mental Deregulation Potion
*Purpose: Decreases the mental capacity and processing speed of high-aptitude magicians. Provides a calming sensation in return to the user.
*Ingredients: Malv flower seeds (can only be found in Pocket Realm 097)