Chapter 53: Bow of Imaginary Numbers
A Magus is unlike other classes, who can simply grab a blade and leap into combat.
An orthodox Magus is a cold-blooded creature, relentlessly pursuing the Root.
To achieve the Root, they'll stop at almost nothing.
In this world and this era, Pergolas, the Magus from Lyceum, is one such creature.
However,
A Magus is more akin to a researcher.
Magecraft, most of the time, is used for 'research,' not specifically for fighting.
Those who treat magecraft as a mere tool to gain personal benefits are at the very bottom of the Magus hierarchy, scornfully known as Magecrafters.
Pergolas is not a Magecrafter. Yet, to continue his research on Aristotle's Metaphysics, he had no choice but to join the unsavory group of headhunters to secure funding for his studies.
His research topic is the syllogism from Prior Analytics, an argument that draws new conclusions solely from premises without needing additional terms.
In the realm of magecraft, this argument manifests as:
Disproving Imaginary Numbers.
Imaginary numbers are "things that are possible but do not exist in the material world."
Aether, a hypothetical element, is the necessary medium for giving magecraft form.
In an accidental discovery, Pergolas found that inexperienced Magi, when attempting to summon elements through magecraft, would sometimes fail due to their lack of skill. This failure would produce a different kind of byproduct:
Ether blocks, formed when magic power loses its direction and materializes.
Pergolas discovered this logic and applied syllogism to it, exchanging premise terms to discuss situations of necessity and contingency. This ultimately led him to a new conclusion:
By reversing the process of aether formation, one can obtain 'imaginary numbers.'
Simply put,
It's similar to turning stone into gold.
A stone cannot become gold, but in the realm of 'imaginary numbers,' a stone might become gold. However, this outcome doesn't exist in the material world. What does exist in the material world is a logic similar to this process, like firing sand into glass to greatly increase its value. By studying this process, confirming the possible existence of such an 'imaginary number,' and then using this as logic to directly obtain the result by skipping the process, one can finally work backward from the result to find flaws in the 'imaginary number's' logic, thereby thoroughly disproving it.
Every 'imaginary number' disproved refines Lyceum's ultimate logical model, making it more precise until this world only contains 'necessity.' In this process, researchers also gain power, status, wealth, increased magical power, improved circuits, and even the respect of kings.
Pergolas began researching this topic at thirteen. Now thirty-six, he has only just advanced his research to the point of obtaining 'imaginary numbers.'
This step, which took him a full twenty-three years, earned him a valuable internal professorship at the Lyceum Academy, making him a master Magus. He even gained the opportunity to listen to the teachings of the pioneering philosopher, Aristotle, who established the entire metaphysical magecraft foundation.
However—
Suya achieved this step in just 5 seconds.
Not Greek, not a Greek Magus, unfamiliar with Greek magecraft, and ignorant of Lyceum's magecraft foundation,
He didn't even understand how magecraft is constructed, nor did he know the names, origins, spell structures, activation conditions, effects, limitations, or traditions required for magecraft.
So, was it possible for Suya to use this 'bow'-shaped imaginary number magecraft?
Suya mused that it was possible.
After all, no matter how complex the underlying theory of this magecraft was, its steps seemed to be just three:
Create a bow with magic power.
Create an arrow with wind elements.
Draw the bow, release, and shoot!
And so—
The magic power born from the Sea of Imaginary Numbers automatically matched a similar magecraft for Suya in the 'negative' world.
Then,
A strange flood of knowledge inexplicably filled Suya's mind!
"So that's it! So that's it!"
He lifted his head in surprise, his eyes gleaming, unable to suppress an excited grin:
"Magecraft is so convenient!"
"Then—"
Suya stared coldly at the grey-haired Magus before him, who was encased in a wall of wind blades, forming an impenetrable defense.
"First step, concept extraction!"
As his voice fell,
1440 large and small scarlet magic circuits lit up all over Suya's body. His meager magic power flowed through them like a tiny droplet in a metropolitan sewer system.
Then, Suya's consciousness suddenly blurred. Though he felt like he was still standing in place, he also seemed to be dragged into another world—one that was 'infinitely large, infinitely vast, infinitely many,' yet contained nothing, saw nothing, not even the concept of 'nothingness.'
The two worlds overlapped before his eyes, and a blurry object linked by his magic power appeared.
Suya instinctively reached out,
And then,
Extract, replicate, materialize!
"Form of the Bow · Archer of Ether!"
A dark red light bloomed in Suya's hand, inch by inch forming a translucent, dark red greatbow, one and a half meters long!
"Second step, divine word insertion!"
Suya seized the bowstring, and with his E-rank strength, pulled the taut string back with all his might, shouting clearly:
"With the will of Heracles as bone, with the tide song of Triton as string—"
"Here,"
"The falling fire that strikes down Venus, or the echo that pierces the underworld!"
"Bow of Imaginary Numbers · Divine Era Echo!"
Whoosh!
A storm even more terrifying than the endless convergence of wind blades before him arose!
A massive amount of wind, combined with imaginary number magic, condensed into a dark red, translucent, spiral-shaped arrow upon the greatbow!
A dense, labyrinthine pattern of magical text instantly unfolded beneath his feet!
At this moment, Suya felt a blur before his eyes. The magic power that had just been generated in his body was instantly drained.
He immediately released his hand,
The arrowhead instantly burst forth with a pale blue flame!
"—Shush!"
The violent wind caused by the arrow's flight whipped Suya's bangs high!
The bone forest suddenly lit up!
The dark red light arrow instantly plowed through the ground, directly piercing the wall of wind blades!
And then,
It shot towards the Lyceum Magus hiding within!
Pergolas's eyes widened in disbelief at the scene, yet he had no way to escape this arrow!
In an era where one could freely connect to the Greater Source, a Magus's rank was determined by research achievements and the possibility of magecraft, not by mundane physical attributes.
Therefore, although Pergolas was a master-level Magus and a high-level Archer, his physical attributes were all E-, only at the peak of a professional level, with his magic power reaching D-.
He couldn't evade this arrow with physical ability; he could only rely on magecraft.
But,
He wasn't a Magecrafter who lived and fought by it.
In his haste, he could only think of turning the ground beneath his feet into water, allowing himself to sink and thereby evade the arrow.
However,
By the time he thought of it, it was already too late.
"Pfft!"
The dark red arrow instantly pierced through Pergolas's brow!
In his final moments, he stared at Suya, thirty meters away, swaying with the greatbow in his hand.
His eyes showed an incredulous astonishment,
Immediately after,
Knowing that death was imminent, Pergolas surprisingly didn't mind it at all. His gaze simply shifted slightly, falling upon Suya and the greatbow in his hand,
"Indeed, this chaotic magical property has appeared again..."
"Then, the next time we meet, the Academy will surely—"
"Seal. Designate!"
Bang!
Pergolas's corpse fell, transforming into the shape of a strange bird.
The wind gradually died down,
With the magic power supply cut off, the earth recovered with a rumbling tremor, leaving only a box-shaped giant pit where it had been.
Thirty-plus meters away, Suya didn't quite catch the Magus's dying murmur.
At that moment,
He only heard a sound like a storm, like dice tapping on a skull, begin to echo.