Chapter 235 I am your Grandfather.
"You will be traveling through time and experiencing what the Past Civilization was like,
Prepare yourself to see a completely different world."
"What…?" Vaan blinked in surprise.
"That is correct, what we call the Ancient Ruins is not something 'left' of the Past Civilization, it is the Portal to that Lost Civilization."
Octavius revealed and Vaan couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You… you are telling me that I will be time traveling."
"That is correct." Octavius nodded.
"Something like that is possible!?"
Vaan was shocked.
Yes, he was in a world where Magic was possible, however, after living here all this time, he understood that the Magic here was not fantasy-like stuff he imagined, he couldn't just imagine anything and make it come true, there were strict rules he needed to follow to even step into the realms of Magic.
Magic was possible because of Mana, which Earth didn't have. In Agresia, Magic was no different than a study, take science for example.
As impressionable as it was, humans couldn't just do anything they wanted because of 'science'. They needed to follow the rules and research endlessly to invent something new.
Magic was the same, Mana allowed Mages to summon flames, however, this didn't mean something like Time Travelling was possible through Magic.
Time Travelling was still a fantasy-like concept, even in Agresia.
"Wait…"
Suddenly, Vaan's expression changed.
Time Travelling was known to be an impossible concept.
The Ancients Ruins of the Agresia Academy, however, were not a hidden secret. Yes, not a lot of students got the chance to enter the Ancient Ruins, however, students from the Major Families often entered the Ruins so it couldn't possibly be kept a secret.
At the very least, Major Families should know the possibility of time traveling and should have explored it even further.
If that was possible, the world would have been a much different place than its current self.
"Ancient Ruins are not something we can understand with our current level of magic, Vaan."
Suddenly, Octavius spoke up.
Vaan glanced at him and Octavius continued,
"Many have tried what you are currently thinking. Even your Vesta Family was one of the Participants.
However, in the end, it was later concluded that the Ruins are a natural phenomenon that cannot be explained. The fact that it appeared right at the center of the Agresia also helped with that conclusion.
The 'Portal' that takes you inside the Ruins is completely different from the Space Portals we use."
"…"
Vaan stayed silent.
The Conclusion was too simple for him to believe it.
Now Vaan wasn't much of an intellectual, however, even in his previous life, he had heard how those scientists craved knowledge. If something like a Portal that could take them to the Past appeared on Earth, it would make the Headlines and all the Scientists would get crazy over it.
Concluding that it was merely a natural phenomenon that couldn't be understood was the last thing they would do. Those crazy fools would seal the entire area for centuries just so they could understand it.
Those people would never let a sole power have a monopoly over it and random students would never get the opportunity to enter it.
As if he could sense what Vaan was thinking, Octavius spoke up,
"It wasn't worth the effort."
Vaan narrowed his eyes.
"A Portal that can take one to the past is something Mages would get crazy over. Especially you people from the Vestas, you would trade even your strongest artifacts in exchange for having a monopoly over them.
Actually, the Vesta Family Head of that time even offered to do it, the Academy was willing to make the trade, however, things changed once the first people who entered the Ruins returned."
"What happened?" Vaan questioned with a curious look on his face. It was something that his Mother didn't tell him. So he wanted to know about it even more.
'Wait… am I turning into one of those crazy bastards…?'
Vaan momentarily paused, soon however, he shook his head and decided to focus on what was in front of him.
"Even though we were able to Time Travell, the restriction we faced was simply too strong for us to get anything too valuable out of it."
Octavius revealed.
"Even though we could enter the Past Civilization, we couldn't interact with any of the living beings there."
"We couldn't talk?" Vaan tilted his head in confusion.
"Let alone talk, even getting discovered by any living being would instantly teleport us back."
"What…?" Vaan's expression changed.
The Past Civilization was no different than a Treasure Trove for the people of Agresia, however, to be able to perfectly take advantage of this treasure trove, they needed to interact with the inhabitants of the Past Civilization and learn more about them.
Without that…
The Value of the Ancient Ruins would drop in an instant.
"Wait…" Suddenly, Vaan realized something.
"Then entering the Ruins…"
"Mhm, you cannot interact with any inhabitants of the Past Civilization, even if a mere Beast discovered you, you will be sent back."
Octavius spoke up and Vaan just blinked without saying anything.
Wasn't this so-called reward useless then?
People entered the Ancient Ruins to learn about the Past Civilization and if possible, get a strong Artifact from them, however, if they couldn't even interact with the inhabitants… how was he supposed to get anything out of it…?
Honestly, Vaan was tempted to change his reward with something else, but suddenly, another question popped up in his mind.
"I was told that there are cases when people's lives are changed just because they were able to enter the Ruins.
How is that possible if interaction with inhabitants is not allowed?"
"Well…"
Suddenly, a strange expression appeared on Octavius's face.
Vaan narrowed his eyes and seeing that he wasn't getting out of this, Octavius spoke up.
"They stole."
"What…?"
"You are supposed to steal when you enter the Ruins."
"Steal…?" Vaan couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"That is correct. You enter the Ruins and Steal some valuable artifacts, the more valuable the Artifacts you steal, the better.
Of course, the better Artifacts are guarded heavily so it is pretty much impossible to get things like that however, there are some cases when the lady luck shines on you.
You find some great artifacts lying on the floor, you encounter two parties fighting each other only to end up dying and you come out as the sole winner, and…"
"So you are telling me that whatever I would get inside the Ruins depends on my luck?"
Vaan questioned.
"Well, if it was related to Skills, people stronger than you would have already entered and plundered that place." Octavius chuckled.
"Actually, in this case, the more skillful you are, the more difficult it is for you to get something out of value from the Ruins."
"What…?" Vaan tilted his head in confusion.
"You must be wondering that if we have to steal, then why not send spies or people excelling in concealing Magic to explore and get more out of the Ruins, no?"
"That is correct."
"It is because after Basic Level, the Ancient Ruins step into a dangerous area, if a Basic Mage, Swordsman, or Martial Artist gets discovered inside the ruins, he is simply teleported out of the Ruins.
The Intermediate or advanced level, however, does not have it so easy.
If an Intermediate-level being gets discovered inside the Ruins, not only is he teleported out, but he also suffers a penalty. As for how strong the penalty he faces is, there are no fixed criteria or a pattern that we could note, however, there are severe cases where talented people suffered through an unidentifiable problem that killed their potential and forced them to be stuck at their level for the rest of their lives.
And just the opposite, there are even cases where the penalty was simply a 2-hour sleep and everything returned to normal."
"That makes no sense." Vaan frowned in confusion.
"Well, if that made sense then I would have given you a more specific answer," Octavius replied and Vaan nodded in agreement.
Many experts spent decades trying to understand the unknowns, if he could do it in an instant then…
Well, maybe those old fossils would come out of their graves to kill him.
"What about the Advance Mages?" Vaan questioned.
"The pattern there is more predictable," Octavius replied.
"Then why is…"
Before Vaan could even question,
"It is either Death or turning into a Cripple."
Octavius replied and in an instant, Vaan shut his mouth up.
"That… is cruel…" He commented.
"Mhm, this is why it is prohibited for the Advanced Level Beings to enter the Ruins. Even the Intermediate Level Beings aren't easily given permission to enter, so, as a Basic Mage, treat this as a rare lifetime opportunity,
Don't try to change your reward to something else like you were thinking of doing."
Octavius spoke and Vaan widened his eyes in surprise.
"Are you a physic or something!?"
"Well, I don't know about being a physic, but,
I am your Grandfather."
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