Chapter 146: The Origin of Magic
“Hunhun, do you think we need to prepare anything before going to Blackwater City?”
“Hunhun?”
Hunhun flew around the blood-red tree for a while, then carefully said:
“I think Master doesn’t need to prepare anything. With your wisdom, everything should be fine.”
“Don’t tease me. It’s always better to be careful. But since this trip is also for visiting family, I’ll prepare some small emergency medicine bottles first. As for the rest, we’ll see later. Before leaving, I need to deliver the potion bottles I promised Victoria.”
Last time, after learning about Blackwater City from Victoria, Peiya had promised to prepare some alchemy potions for her. Today was the day to fulfill that promise.
After all, who knew how long this trip would take?
Peiya prepared several bottles of alchemy potions at her workbench, packed them into a box, and brought them to the church.
“Is Victoria here today?”
Peiya asked the nuns about Victoria. Hearing her name, they pointed toward a small room in the distance.
“Victoria is in there adjusting her potions today. If you want to see her, go this way. There’s a small path that will take you to her quickly.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Peiya thanked them and walked alone to the door. She knocked, and after a moment, the door opened slightly. When Victoria saw who it was, she looked surprised.
“Miss Peiya, what brings you here today?”
“Did you forget? I promised to make potions for you. If you don’t want them, I won’t make them next time.”
“Oh, right! I remember now. Silly me. Come in.”
Victoria closed the door behind her and even shut the windows. Then she walked up to Peiya with a mysterious expression.
“By the way, I have some updates about what you asked last time. Maya and I have been investigating the floating bodies in the river that you mentioned. Also, Maya recently got some information, we don’t know from where, that this matter is closely related to the Beast Tamer Association…”
“...We suspect they are doing internal experiments. And from what I’ve sensed from my teacher, it seems that some people inside the church are also involved in these experiments. So if you plan to investigate, Miss Peiya, please be very careful. This situation is probably very complicated. There’s no need to rush in and get into trouble right away.”
Peiya nodded. “I won’t investigate it recklessly for now. Here, take these first.”
“So many alchemy potions? Are these all for me?”
“Yes. Consider it a reward for helping us before. You can use the ones you need, and the rest can help you with your studies.”
“Great!”
Victoria smiled brightly. With Peiya’s help, she now felt much more confident and no longer worried about her studies. She looked very happy and even brought out a pile of items to give to Peiya.
“These are some research materials I collected from the Holy Academy. You can take a look, maybe they’ll help with your magic.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Peiya held the materials in her hands, surprised by how many there were. At first, she thought Victoria would only give her a few notes, but there were far more valuable things than she expected.
Some of the information, Peiya had never even seen before in the real world, yet Victoria somehow got them.
“So many… no one suspects you?”
“It’s fine. The Holy Academy has strict rules, but things hidden in plain sight are not just done by me. I’m very careful, so they won’t notice. Go ahead and check the materials. If you find anything strange, ask me. I’ll study the potions you gave me in the meantime.”
“Alright.”
The two of them started working together. Victoria began studying the potions Peiya had brought. At first, she didn’t think much of it, but once she really looked closely, she realized something was very unusual.
The potions might look simple, but they were actually quite complex. Some of them were of such high quality that it made Victoria amazed.
And she could tell that Peiya had actually tried to hold back while making them.
What was this?
Was this like a top student trying to lower their own score on purpose?
Victoria didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The strength of a potion often depends on mental power, and the fact that Peiya could casually make so many potions like this showed just how strong her mental power really was.
Otherwise, how could she produce so many without even thinking?
Even ordinary potions could become very powerful if enough mental energy was put into them. That was the truly scary part.
Victoria had never imagined something like this before. Only after meeting a “monster” like Peiya did she realize that someone could really be this extraordinary.
No wonder her teacher wanted to recruit her, she truly had the ability.
Meanwhile, Peiya was carefully reading the materials Victoria gave her. She had to admit, these documents were very important. She marked a few key parts.
They talked about the origin of magic.
If she had to describe it simply, Peiya’s understanding of magic was more like an accidental discovery.
But the Holy Academy’s knowledge came from the wisdom passed down by ancestors.
The origin of magic came from a great human mage in the past, who separated different types of magic power and created the earliest forms of magic.
To be precise, people back then only had a limited understanding of magic.
At first, the great master was actually a performer, so he jokingly called these abilities “magic tricks.” That was also the origin of why people first called mages “magicians.”
At that time, people didn’t know what impact this power would have on the future of human society.
They only knew that magicians were very powerful and could create unbelievable wonders out of nothing.
As time passed, this phenomenon was recorded and preserved.
As more magicians appeared, more events related to them also happened. Like all things, magic had two sides. Some people used it to help others and fight monsters.
But others fell into the trap of power.
Later, some magicians who regretted their choices established early academies to regulate those who studied magic.
The rule that the Holy Academy does not open to the public was also set during that time. Originally, it was meant to select people who could benefit human society.
But as time passed, things changed.
People like Peiya, if they were lucky, they could receive support from the royal city. If not, they could only rely on business, crafts, or risk their lives in the Adventurers’ Guild.
Compared to hundreds of years ago, things were both very different and strangely similar.
After finishing reading, Peiya put away the report and walked over to Victoria. She saw her studying a potion called the “Greenfield Bottle,” and asked curiously,
“You’ve been staring at that bottle for a while. Is there something you don’t understand?”
“Oh, you’re here. It’s not that I don’t understand. I just think it’s amazing. The magic feels like water flowing in a river. I just tried a little, and it felt like my whole body was covered in green fields. It’s incredible.”
“Mm, that’s not hard. The formula is right here.”
“What? You’re just giving me the formula like that? Honestly, I think you could sell this to a perfume company and make a lot of money.”
Victoria looked shocked. She was really attracted by the scent, it felt like being in the middle of a forest.
Someone who didn’t know better might think it was a kind of field magic. Turning a fragrance into something like a magical field was really overkill.
Like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
But still… you have to admit, the smell is amazing, right?