Our first lecture at the Silverwater Academy Pablohetra involved the Immovable King Kaltinas standing on the teacher’s podium drawing magic runes. The runes were displayed on the spherical blackboard in three dimensions, allowing them to be seen from any seat in the auditorium.
“Thus are the hieroglyphic runes used in the Silvercastle World Balandias. The way of writing these hieroglyphs are very specific, as the runes themselves possess magic power. Powerful casters can construct a castle with a single rune, while ordinary casters can write thousands without raising even a hut.”
Kaltinas wrote several kinds of hieroglyphical runes: runes that looked like birds, water, a castle. As hieroglyphs, they were closer to illustrations than letters, and they held more magic power in themselves than what the caster put into writing them. I gazed at them with my Magic Eyes.
“Hmm. Where does the magic power flow from?” I asked.
“From Balandias,” Ottolulu answered behind me. “Magic flows from the shallows to the depths. The Seventh Elenesia World is located deeper than Balandias. Thus, order from Balandias is effective here. Magic laws are included in this.”
Ottolulu told us that Militia World was located on a provisional level zero. Since there were no worlds before us, only the order of our world existed. But the deeper the world was located, the more orders and magic laws were mixed within that world. The world at the bottom, then, had to be utter chaos.
“Can magic of the deep-level worlds be used in shallower worlds?” Misha asked, tilting her head in question.
“It depends on how similar their orders are, and the restrictions of the specific spell involved,” Ottolulu replied. “The existence of magic like Zecht, Fless, Gatom, and so on has been confirmed in most miniature worlds and can be used with little disparity. They are called universal magic.”
There were magic laws that commonly existed across all miniature worlds. Spells that used those laws could be cast without any problems.
“Deep magic that can only be used with the order of a deep-level world cannot be used in a shallow-level world. However, this rule is not absolute. There is a method to use deep magic in a shallow-level world called an upstream spell formula.”
“A way to reverse the deep-level world’s magic law to flow towards the shallows, I’m guessing?” I said.
“Yes. Magic that incorporates an upstream formula can be used in the shallows too.”
That was pretty much as I expected, though I still had other questions about this.
“But do understand, misfit, that upstream formulas are not so simple,” Kaltinas interrupted, having heard our conversation. “Upstream formulas involve reversing the order that makes magic flow from the shallows to the depths. Of course, in terms of the general miniature world, such a feat is impossible. Order can only be reversed when spellcasting, but even a ruler chosen by a chief god would struggle to accomplish this. Changing the flow of the vast Sacred Silverwater Sea is akin to casting greater magic!”
Kaltinas drew a complex magic formula on the spherical blackboard.
“This is Balandialtar, the highest grade of castle construction magic from our world. The spell creates an indestructible castle that will remain standing even after the world perishes. And it comes with an upstream formula to be used in shallow worlds,” the Immovable King said proudly. “The only chance of victory an ephemeral world would have against a twenty-first level world is to learn the deep magic of a twenty-second level world or lower—and use their upstream formula.”
“Oh? I didn’t think you were the type to give advice to his enemies,” I said.
Kaltinas snorted. “You haven’t officially joined the alliance, so you may not be aware of this yet, but the Pablohetra Academy Treaty states that all lectures must be conducted with honesty and sincerity. Why else would we be standing here giving information to the likes of you?”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied just as an unfamiliar chime rang.
“Thus concludes our lecture. At any rate, you won’t be able to use upstream formulas in time for our battle. Even a genius spellcaster would need a month to learn deep magic from scratch. Whether a misfit can reach there with an entire lifetime to learn remains to be seen.”
The Immovable King grinned at me mockingly before leaving the auditorium.
“Ruler Anos,” Ottolulu said. “There is still some time until the next lecture. I shall show you around Pablohetra.”
We followed her out of the auditorium.
“I shall explain to you how the Silverwater Ranking Skirmish works and the conditions for officially joining the alliance,” the Arbitration Goddess said as she walked us through the palace. “The Silverwater Ranking Skirmish is a mock battle held in free waters—a contest over firedew. The firedew retrieved by Pablohetra is distributed to both schools, with the goal being to steal the other school’s firedew. The match is decided by one of three conditions: stealing all of the enemy’s firedew, knocking out or exterminating the enemy’s army, or a declaration of surrender by the enemy chief god and ruler. There are no rules on killing.”
“Huh? Isn’t that more of a real war than a mock battle?” Eleonore asked cheerfully.
“No. True war would risk the extermination of an entire silver bubble. It is not the gods or the people that Pablohetra is trying to protect, but firedew. That is the core principle the alliance was founded on.”
“Are there no rules against decapitating chief gods?” Shin muttered quietly.
“None at all. If a chief god perishes in a Silverwater Ranking Skirmish, their miniature world becomes incapable of maintaining their firedew, which flows out into the silver seas. The right of retrieving that firedew goes to the school that defeated them. In short, the ownership of firedew shifts.”
The Jizett I signed had stated something similar.
“Wait, so if we take out their chief god, everything in their world will belong to us?” Eleonore asked.
“That’s right. It will be up to you whether you make the Silvercastle World Balandias into the Second Militia World or take the firedew into Militia’s World and aim for the deeper levels. It is the victor’s choice.”
“Are there any other options besides colonizing the world or stealing the firedew?” I asked.
“As long as the total amount of firedew is consistent, you may do whatever you wish. For example, you could take half of the firedew and place it into the First Militia World, leaving the remaining in Balandias as the Second Militia World. If you have difficulty performing such a split, I can assist you.”
“Are there any benefits to turning a miniature world into a colony?” Eldmed asked.
“In Pablohetra, it gives you an advantage when rising through the ranks. The school with more silverfoam in their possession has the right to hold a skirmish in their free waters. It is why the Second Balandias World was chosen as the stage for your skirmish.”
In other words, the more worlds one held under their control the more likely they were to advantage themselves in future skirmishes by fighting in one’s home grounds.