Chapter 19: The Blessing of the Sacred Oak

Chapter 19: The Blessing of the Sacred Oak

Soon, Louis arrived at the gate of the West District. A few door-guarding Faeries were asleep. They woke upon seeing Louis, greeted him, and let him pass.

Since Louis often covered shifts for the Night Watchman, he was quite familiar with the Faeries at the gates.

Normally, the West District was forbidden to students, not just because the Sacred Oak was there. It was because the West District housed many strange and bizarre things, feared to scare students. Or to kill potential thieves.

Especially in the past few days, it seemed something had escaped from the Dark Domain, making the West District a key patrol area.

When covering shifts for Mister Collor, Louis mainly patrolled this district.

After signing in, Louis chatted briefly with the patrol leader. Hearing that Louis had again brought several bottles of excellent whisky, his colleagues felt a keen interest. Naturally, everyone forgot Louis being late.

Assigned to groups, Louis and the rest began their patrol. During the first half of the night, the Night Watchmen were dutiful. But in the latter half, everyone started slacking off. They generally stayed in the office, drinking and chatting casually. Only when the time came would one of them go out to complete the patrol.

And this task often fell to ‘the agreeable Louis.’

Standing in the vast plaza where the Sacred Oak grew, surrounded by towering structures, Louis looked up at the sky.

Against the backdrop of the glittering Milky Way, a giant moon occupied one-fifth of the sky. Clearly a gaseous planet, it loomed like a colossal giant overhead. Anyone with macrophobia seeing it would surely break out in a cold sweat.

This gas giant ensured the nights weren’t fully dark.

In the plaza encircled by trees, various strange fungi and ferns grew—some resembled bushes, others giant stamens. Others still towered like trees. Certain alkaloids filled them with abundant luciferin, making them glitter with diverse colors at night, remarkably beautiful.

A gentle breeze stirred. Spores atop the leaves swayed, releasing a shimmering glow.

Spores drifted like faint stars in the night air, akin to fairies in a mystical realm.

Beyond these glowing flora and Potions, authentic large trees ringed the plaza. These ancient trees reached towering heights yet were actually giant root columns dangling down from the main canopy of the Sacred Oak itself. Like pillars, or aged trees. Their trunks supported branches, leaves extended – a single tree forming a forest.

The colossal Sacred Oak ascended vertically into the heavens, its canopy spreading hundreds of meters wide. Countless Pixies flitted among its branches. Stones, even miniature islands, floated mid-air near its leaves.

Standing beneath the Sacred Oak, Louis closed his eyes. He saw another mark appear – a tick next to ‘White Sacred Oak’ on the Wonders list in his Storybook, after ‘Under Ocris’s Bed’.

[The Traveler followed the guidance and explored the second Wonder of this world.]

Simultaneously, a surge of Mana flowed from the Sacred Oak into Louis, bringing a wave of pleasant relief.

[After three millennia, the Sacred Oak sensed the presence of an Astral Traveler once more. It bestowed a blessing upon you: +1 Dexterity, +2 Strength, +3 Mana, +50 EXP.]

[Louis perceived the Sacred Oak’s pain – tiny beings had dwelled within its core for years, causing great discomfort. Perhaps the Astral Traveler could help it remove them.]

[Rewards Granted:

1. From now on, each day you come here, the Sacred Oak will offer a random blessing, chosen from three options;

2. Whenever you are beneath the Sacred Oak’s power (within Academy City), +200 Mana regeneration;

3. +100 EXP;]

Guided by the Sacred Oak’s will, Louis sensed something deep within the trunk. It was buried profoundly, fused with the wood. The Oak’s Mana was immense, making ordinary Magic futile.

This left Louis sweating profusely. Only after exhausting almost all his Mana did he finally dislodge the object using the ‘Four-Dimensional Inversion’ spell.

It turned out to be a small pouch squeezed within a wood burl.

[EXP +100]

After cleaning it, Louis discovered the pouch contained about seventeen or eighteen Ancient Gold Coins and a pocket watch.

Louis first glanced at his attributes.

[Louis Lv4 (85/100)]

[Strength: 6.9 Dexterity: 2.3 Mana: 10.1]

[Storybook Energy: 2]

[Magic Spells:

…

Demon-Banishing Charm Lv2 (0/30)

Evil Spirit Banishing Charm Lv1 (0/1)

Demon-Subduing Charm (Experimental) (??)

Forbidden. Four-Dimensional Inversion Lv4 (172/1000)

…

…]

Louis had long felt the Demon-Banishing Charm and Evil Spirit Banishing Charm were flawed. Recently, he’d focused on researching them, referencing many books in the Library.

As his understanding deepened, leveling these two spells became much easier. He’d realized they might originate from the same magical root and was attempting to fuse them. Insights led him to create a new spell, which he tentatively named the Demon-Subduing Charm.

Whether it worked remained to be tested.

Louis set this aside for now. Closing his eyes, he focused on the Mana within him.

A peculiar sensation had just arisen in Louis.

It was new, perhaps a change triggered by his Mana reaching 10.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at a patch of bushes nearby. Instantly, they burst into flames.

No spell was used. He’d simply willed it to burn, and it burned.

[To Louis, wielding such power felt like an ordinary application of Mana. Yet, among those he’d met, only Super Witches like Little O, whose Mana surpassed three digits, seemed capable of this…]

Louis rubbed his chin—he secretly felt his ‘Teacher Your Highness’s strongest attribute wasn’t Mana, but Strength…

[Perhaps this perception held truth, as the royal lineage of Isolda bore the blood of the Red Dragon…]

[He wondered about Little O Your Highness’s Animagus form. Her magic seemed poor—hardly any spells above Lv3. Yet many highly skilled Professors showed her profound respect…]

Shaking off the distracting thoughts, Louis flipped through the Storybook, scanning his known spells. He harbored a feeling—powerful Magic existed in the world, but seemed deliberately ‘controlled’ by those atop the pyramid.

Louis ceased his pondering. He spent one unit of Storybook Energy to gain insight into ‘Four-Dimensional Inversion’.

Shards of starry imagery flashed before his eyes. His grasp of the fourth dimension deepened.

[Forbidden. Four-Dimensional Inversion Lv5 (Max)]+

‘An ultimate spell, yet its max level isn’t 999? Yet I can level it that high.’ Louis stared at the ‘+’ symbol behind, deep in thought. He felt certain the spell had layers beyond—twisting space like a Rubik’s cube.

He tapped the Storybook. Nebulas seemed to swirl before him as sudden clarity dawned.

[You have gained insight into ‘Forbidden. Four-Dimensional Inversion Lv6 (Max)’]

Closing his eyes, Louis sensed the spell inched closer to manipulating space like a cube. He could likely achieve more now.

A beautiful little Magical Creature with wings atop its head—gleaming cerulean blue with vibrant jade-green highlights, a Biggwich Bug—flew past Louis. Then, something bizarre occurred.

The small creature kept flying towards a flower nearby but made no progress. Moving forward only transported it suddenly back behind its starting point.

Its surrounding space seemed to become a Möbius strip.

Louis watched the tiny being, fascinated. Director Trif would’ve gaped; normally only Wizards or Witches stung by one could perceive it!

After a moment, Louis pointed his finger at the small Magical Creature. Instantly, the Biggwich Bug split apart into countless cross-sections in the air. Strangely, these sections kept flying as if unharmed.

Louis gestured. The sliced Bug stretched like a skewer of grilled gluten. Visible within the slices, the creature’s tiny heart was pounding—then suddenly accelerated, as if startled by the trickster Wizard before it.

Its sight remained unimpaired.

More miraculously, Louis could clearly see crimson trails flowing through its miniature vascular system. Blood didn’t gush; instead, it traversed across seemingly empty gaps between separate body sections.

Only when Louis crooked a finger did droplets of blood fly from the tiny creature into a test tube in his palm.

‘The fourth dimension. Now this Magic deserves to be called Four-Dimensional.’

Louis nodded. Suddenly, pain shot through his leg. Looking down, his Wizard robe was ablaze! If not for his outrageously strong constitution, he’d surely be burned!

The fire he’d casually ignited had mushroomed, now threatening to spread. Several bushes nearby were engulfed. Smoke billowed, stinging Louis’s eyes.

‘Too engrossed! Forgot the fire!’ Louis hurriedly waved a sleeve. “Quickly Refill!”

Instantaneously, fierce winds erupted. Dark clouds churned violently. An enormous torrent of water plunged from the heavens like a dragon. It obliterated the flames, leaving behind a small pond and a winding, shallow stream.