Mirror of Truth
The large library before Ximu was brightly lit and ingeniously crafted. Although she had forcibly stopped the changes, it was still intricate and unique, like a maze of books, full of mysteries, and every detail showed the designer's cunning wisdom.
The vast library within the hand mirror was a shattered mess, pitch black. The towering bookshelves surrounding it were already rusted, some even collapsed and weathered. The torn pages of fallen books lay scattered on the ground like tear stains, a complete relic of a long-dead building.
Moreover, the internal architectural structure shown in the mirror was completely different from what she saw at the moment.
There are no interspersed platforms, no mazes of bookshelves, and no strange corners that are hidden very trickily and are perfect for sneak attacks - this is an interior space that is completely consistent with the square building on the outside. The bookshelves, tables and chairs on each floor are placed in similar positions, but because of its age, many floors have collapsed to varying degrees.
Suddenly, he intuitively felt the absurdity of Ruixia's perception of something wrong when she first arrived at the supply area. The more Ximu used the mirror to look around, the more frightened he became.
Sure enough... this is the true appearance of this magic academy.
After actually stepping on a piece of ground that no longer existed in the mirror, Ximu took a deep breath and completely believed Ruixia's previous judgment.
Someone has created a "false impression" over the reality...and what's even more terrifying is that this false impression has reached the point where it can be mistaken for the real thing!
At this moment, Ximu's own face reflected in the mirror also began to change inexplicably.
A black mark like a spike appeared on her forehead, as if someone had gently cut a wound on it with a sharp knife.
A pitch-black liquid of unknown texture oozed out from between her eyebrows. It started with just a little bit, and then poured out like a floodgate opened, drowning her in an instant!
In great fear, Ximu suddenly turned away the hand mirror and looked blankly ahead. It took him a while to come back to his senses from this horrifying shock.
She vaguely felt that she knew what this meant, but she didn't dare to think about it any further.
This mirror can reflect the "real" appearance of things...
Could it be that she had already...
At the moment when the thought of despair came flooding in like a tide, a green light suddenly lit up at her waist, and a refreshing coolness instantly spread throughout her body, making her originally turbulent mood return to clarity again.
Raising his hand and touching the rune of purity engraved on his belt, Ximu was glad that he was fully prepared this time.
This time she was acting alone. If she was inexplicably brought into the illusion again without the protection of her teammates, it would be dangerous.
Patting his cheeks, Ximu turned his attention back to the present, trying not to look at himself in the mirror, but only using it to reflect the surrounding scene so as to find the window through which he had entered.
She had taken care to remember the location before, but the library had undergone many changes and the window had long been moved to an unknown place.
Moreover, based on the differences in her two landing points, even if she found the same window, she might not be able to return to the place where she entered previously.
But with the help of this hand mirror, things become simpler.
No matter how the structure of this large library changes, Morina and Shiori waiting outside are real.
And the facts were not beyond her expectations - the position of the window from which a vague figure was visible almost perfectly matched the height and direction of her when she came in from outside.
After confirming the target, Ximu did not hesitate and once again broke the fragile barrier on the window. He quickly climbed out of the window and successfully saw his companions who were waiting on the small platform outside.
"Wow, you're back?"
The priestess girl, who had been lying on the railing out of boredom and about to collapse to the ground, quickly stood up and came over to help her.
"You've been gone for a long time. We were just discussing whether we should go back and get some sleep before coming back to see you... How's it going? Are you okay? Did you find anyone? Is the princess in there?"
Ximu didn't elaborate immediately, but just shook his head lightly.
But before Morina could express her disappointment, she pulled out the hand mirror from her bosom and whispered, "The princess isn't in there... but I found her special place and discovered this."
The short-haired girl and the swordsman came over curiously.
In the mirror, the two people's appearances were normal, but the buildings reflected around them looked particularly dilapidated and desolate.
+++
"A mirror that reflects the 'truth'..."
After returning to the base and listening to Ximu's experiences in the library, Ruixia pondered for a long time, as if she had thought of something. She turned on an instrument similar to a sensor device and placed the hand mirror on it.
After a short while, countless complex magic runes slowly emerged from it and slowly combined into several complete spells, which were densely packed, complex and varied.
"Sure enough... this is a magical weapon."
Only Ruixia could understand the complex data jumping at high speed. After repeated observation and continuous analysis, he raised his head and explained professionally:
"This mirror may look insignificant, but it actually contains a very advanced power. It even involves a small part of the 'rules'. That's why it can always reflect the truest form of things without being disturbed by illusions. Moreover... it even has a teleportation spell engraved on it."
This hand mirror should be considered as Millianna's personal belongings. In addition, she has been looking for it in the room in the dormitory building but can't find it. So it is not difficult to imagine where this teleportation is sending her.
And although it's a magical tool involving "rules," it doesn't seem to have any other high-end uses other than preventing the user from being deceived by illusions...
Judging from the level of magic displayed by the princess, this thing seemed more like a prop her brother had made for fun, and later gave it to his sister so that she could enter and exit the dormitory building more conveniently.
Even the room has to be deliberately hidden... I can only say that Her Royal Highness the Princess is really introverted.
"Then can we also use this teleportation spell to find Millianna's room directly?"
Morina asked, raising her hand.
This time, it was not Ruixia who answered her, but Sorens, who had been staring at the formed runes and thinking hard for a while.
"...I'm afraid not. This teleportation spell has been carefully tuned and requires a specific magical fluctuation to activate. I think only Her Highness Milliana herself can properly activate it. Moreover, the range of application of this spell is limited. Even for Her Highness herself, I'm afraid she would have to be close to the final teleportation point to use it."
After all, he is the only magician here, so his words are more credible.
Besides, he did mention that Millianna would be escorted back to the dormitory by the knights... If teleportation could be activated anywhere, why would it be so troublesome?
"Then... where does she usually teleport?" Morina asked.
But Sorens could do nothing to help with this problem.
For a princess who had almost no interaction with a commoner student like him, he had already racked his brains to piece together the information that "she should live in the dormitory" from various fragments of chat.
"……ah."
Having said that, Ruixia suddenly exclaimed, as if remembering something, and swiftly pulled up several analysis charts from the numerous screens that clearly showed some abnormalities.
"Speaking of which, there were a few data anomalies that we couldn't find the cause of... One of them happened to be near the dormitory lobby. How about we go there and take a look?"
As the first stronghold they occupied, the monsters in the dormitory area had been almost cleared out. Since they had nothing to do, the group took hand mirrors and went downstairs in a mighty procession, gathering in the public hall on the lowest floor.
The space here is incredibly spacious, flowing vertically. From the pavilion housing the altar, one can gaze directly up at the exquisitely crafted dome. Paintings depicting the phases of the moon and astrology, interspersed with sculptures of guardian beasts on the walls, create a vast, dreamlike universe.
The scene reflected in the hand mirror was far from beautiful.
Not to mention being neat, even the proud dome has been damaged for the most part, revealing the real starry sky above... It's a pity that none of them has any outstanding achievements in astrology, otherwise, through the real starry sky shown in the mirror, they might be able to calculate where they are in reality at this moment.
"No, the 'real' dormitory building is so badly damaged that even using a mirror won't reveal anything..."
Ruisha sighed helplessly.
From the analysis of energy fluctuations, it can be seen that there are obvious restrictions in the area above the lobby and under the dome, but it is obviously part of the "illusion" and nothing can be seen with a hand mirror.
"Then I'll go up and take a look."
The silver-haired girl has always been very executive. As soon as she finished speaking, she stepped on the arches and various raised decorations on the wall and went up without a trace. Even Ruixia, who was right next to her, didn't have time to stop her.
This kind of wall with various leverage points made climbing it effortless for Xi Mu. She quickly reached a certain height and began to pay attention to prepare for possible attacks from all directions.
But unexpectedly——
The expected attack did not occur, but after entering a certain range, Ximu's originally powerful limbs suddenly lost their strength. In a daze, he actually fell straight down from a high altitude!
To be honest, this height is nothing for a nimble person.
So when Zhui Neng saw this, she just raised her eyebrows at first. After confirming that Xi Mu seemed unable to use even her magic power and would surely hit her head on the ground if she did not intervene, she was ready to step forward to rescue her.
But someone was obviously faster than him.
The two mechanical puppets that had been following behind them, with little presence, strode forward, one on the left and one on the right, and spread out their four arms tightly together, then quickly spread them out to form a simple small net, accurately catching the falling girl.
"Ximu!"
The black-haired boy rushed over and repeatedly checked whether she was injured. He was relieved only when he met her normal blinking eyes.
"How could you go up there so recklessly? We don't even know what kind of restrictions there are! Someone could fall to their death from this height. What would we do if we weren't there?!"
Indeed, making people lose their strength instantly and fall to their death after entering the restricted area is indeed a strict and cruel defense... Although ordinary people probably wouldn't run to such a place for no reason.
but……
"It's because you're here that I dare to go up like this."
She was not being reckless, but she knew that if something really happened, the people below would never sit idly by.
At least—Richie would definitely help, wouldn't she?
Faced with the girl's frank trust, Ruixia sighed helplessly, her cheeks slightly red. She was too embarrassed to continue nagging, so she could only look away and slowly help her sit up.
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