Many doubts
While Ximu and the others were exploring the dormitory area, Ruixia was also busy in the base.
In addition to using the images sent back by the "insect swarm" to establish corresponding regional monitoring, he also released a group of mechanical insects that were still able to move but had suffered certain damage during previous use, and deliberately approached and tested those bright twisted vortices.
"Some of the mechanic bugs that entered those vortexes reported damage immediately upon contact, while the rest have largely lost contact and their whereabouts remain unknown. The appearance of so many dimensional breaches in one place can only mean that this place, seemingly peaceful, is actually very unstable, and—"
As Ruixia spoke, she turned down the two screens and put them together for comparison.
"This is the actual image and energy analysis diagram of the stairwell. Look, isn't it the same as the supply area before? Many places don't match up at all. This misalignment is prevalent everywhere we go, yet it's completely unnoticeable. It can even cause us to walk on roads that shouldn't even exist..."
"Illusion."
Xi Mu understood what he meant and continued, "So, everything here is a gigantic illusion, so real that it can be mistaken for the real thing."
"Yes." Ruixia's expression was also solemn. "Moreover, this place obviously has its own unique laws. Everyone who enters will be affected by them."
Outside, he was threatened by the ubiquitous hidden magic circles. After entering the academy, he was faced with the possibility of becoming a "local" one day... The situation did not last long and soon became embarrassing again.
"Then... since these vortexes might have teleportation capabilities, can we use this method to get out?"
Morina raised her hand and suggested another possible scenario.
This is indeed possible, because when she suddenly appeared by the lake, Ruisha observed that a distortion nearby disappeared very coincidentally. Perhaps Morina was teleported from there, but...
"There are so many distortions. Let's not even talk about whether we have enough tools to test them one by one. Even if we find a point that can be used for teleportation, what can we do? The disappeared mechanical insects have never sent back any information. We have no idea where they were sent to, nor do we know their current condition.
"If the other side of the vortex connects to a tangible place, then that's fine. Even if it's dangerous, there's still some hope for survival. But if the other side is some kind of spatial turbulence, or a void abyss where no one can survive, rashly entering it would be utterly suicidal."
However, judging from the various data collected previously, the vortexes in the dense forest and those currently within the academy are basically the same in terms of energy form, but there are some subtle differences in the details...
It’s a pity that Ruixia is not a magician. Without other data support, she really can’t see any problem from such a subtle difference.
"You say... is it possible that there is an existence here that is independent of time?"
Not knowing what he was thinking about, Ximu looked at the unchanging night sky outside the window and suddenly said this.
Following her gaze, Ruixia and Morina felt something in their hearts and were a little dazed for a moment.
Yes, not only is the law here severed from the normal world, it seems that even time never flows - they have never felt hungry or thirsty since they came here, and even the position of the stars above their heads has remained unchanged.
Moreover, from Ruixia's professional perspective as a mechanic, the level of mechanical technology here cannot be said to be extremely backward, but it is also far from cutting-edge, and it does not seem to be at a level that a great magician who controls a certain area would be willing to purchase.
Furthermore, in the process of reviewing the literature, they encountered some obstacles to varying degrees.
Although these books or manuscripts are almost all written in the common language of the mainland, in terms of some words and writing, in addition to the sloppiness caused by the writer's personal habits, there are also very obvious words and usages that are no longer commonly used today, and even the meanings are completely different.
The difference between them is somewhat a sign of the times...
The passage of time was cut short.
For some reason that they didn't understand yet but must be very important, everything here seemed to be frozen at a certain moment.
All the people staying in this academy lost connection with the normal world. Over time, their bodies gradually disintegrated, their minds were lost, and they became monsters wandering in the eternal night.
When they first came here, the ground collapse they observed in the supply area might be the true appearance of the building in reality... But if the strange force that pulls this place out of reality does not disappear, then this place will always be the illusion of a magnificent academy that is brightly lit but forever stagnant!
"...It seems that we must find out what happened here."
The three of them looked at each other and realized that this was the key to solving the problem.
In order to eliminate the abnormal state in the academy and make it return to the rules of the normal world, it is necessary to find the source of the change. But no matter what the cause of this change is, the dean, Fises, who has not appeared since his retreat, must be the key figure.
"Damn it! If I had known this would happen, I should have kept that old man here!"
It was not unreasonable for Morina to think so. After all, she had initially learned about the various situations in the academy from him.
But Ruixia didn't hold out much hope for this.
"That senior always evades the key issues. If he really wants to recruit us into the academy, he wouldn't say much to us. And... to be honest, if we really start a fight, we might not win."
"He doesn't want us to die, but he doesn't want to help us himself either."
Thinking back on the old man's words and actions, Ximu felt that he was more concerned with protecting himself.
"Yes. But... do you have a feeling that he really wants us to enter the academy?"
In response to Ruixia's question, Ximu nodded, and Molina immediately agreed.
This is not difficult to notice. In order to let them return to the college, the person in charge of the logistics department who was in charge of the spare keys actually opened the door for them again after the commission was completed. In order to make it more logical, he even entrusted such an important key directly to these young outsiders.
This is very abnormal.
If the old man didn't want to give it, judging from the skills he occasionally showed, he could have taken the spare key directly after the gap in the seal was opened. The so-called "covering up the mistake" was completely an excuse.
Moreover, they needed the combined efforts of several machines to transport the huge amount of data, but the old man could collect it all in a wave of his hand and take it away -
But isn't this even weirder?
It was just a matter that could be solved in the blink of an eye, but he insisted on running out first and then finding someone to help him go in and get it.
He seemed to be unaware of what happened in the academy, but was very secretive about returning to the academy.
In the name of commission, he gave them a lot of things, even a rough map of the academy and a brief introduction to its defense configuration.
He was quite restrained at the beginning, but when they completed the task, he became even more exaggerated. He gave them a bunch of things coolly, even books on space magic, as if he was afraid that they would not realize the danger of those twisted vortexes.
Every word he said seemed to have a deeper meaning, but on the surface, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it, as if he was really just an old magician who left the academy in a hurry and forgot something, and then simply captured a group of passing adventurers to sneak into the academy to help him retrieve it.
"But, for a 'local,' doesn't he look a little too 'normal'?"
Ximu and Ruixia understood what Morina meant, and looked at each other in silence for a moment.
Yeah... Compared to those broken magicians whose faces couldn't even be found, the old man was indeed creepily normal.
Normal appearance, normal conversation. Although the content of the conversation is difficult to tell whether it is true or false, it is a real exchange of wisdom.
You can feel that the person in front of you is indeed a "person", not some other strange thing.
"Then why wasn't he affected by this sudden change? Was it because he had already left the academy when the incident happened?" Morina continued to ask.
This is not impossible.
Perhaps because of the seal, this change was controlled within the academy, so people who had already gone outside would no longer be affected.
Moreover, Ximu still had some doubts as to whether this old man was "the same" as them.
However, regardless of whether the reason for his leaving the hospital was true or not, if the other parts were indeed true, we could infer the approximate time when the incident occurred.
"Let's review the timeline."
Ruixia sat closer, took out a piece of parchment from somewhere, and began to write and draw on it.
"The initial changes here were caused by a war between two countries. The dean of this magic academy, Phises, and the vice-dean, Mia Rhodes, happened to belong to different national factions. Phises's background, uh..."
After all, she had only heard it from the old man once, and Ruixia couldn't remember the specific names of the two countries at all, and her hand stopped writing.
Morina looked helpless and obviously didn't remember it either.
Seeing that they were stuck, Xi Mu reminded them, "The dean is from the Kingdom of Lun'ate, and the vice-dean is the chief court magician of the Kingdom of Keden."
"Oh, yes, yes!"
Giving her an approving look, Ruixia wrote the names of different kingdoms under their names, then drew two lines that met at one point, wrote the word "quarrel", and put a question mark behind it.
"Perhaps the war between the two nations affected the surrounding areas, but Saint Feses Academy, averse to conflict, closed its doors as usual. However, on the eve of the sealing, the two former friends had an argument for unknown reasons and parted ways unhappily. The Vice-President then left the academy, and the sealing proceeded normally."
Ruixia kept talking, adding comments on their relationship as she spoke.
"That old senior said that the seal was set by the dean himself. In other words, until the academy was officially closed, even though the dean hadn't shown up again, everything was still normal."
"So, the change must have occurred after the academy was locked down?"
The information the old man provided could only be deduced so far. Faced with this conclusion that had been reached long ago and with no new progress, everyone was a little frustrated for a while.
When turning around, Ximu's eyes swept across the magic book that Ruixia spread out beside him, and suddenly he felt something.
She took the book and looked at the title and author's name on the cover.
Elementary Theory of Space Magic.
By Mia Lloyds K. Steinfeldt.
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