After figuring out his next step, Edward started to ponder how to create the Sixth True Magic and what kind it should be. After considering a few ideas, a thought suddenly popped into his mind:
"I can try to do something based on Morgana," he muttered; he missed the little elf: her constant chatter, weird personality, and how easy she made his life.
'My real body is already improving her main processor by fusing it with the Speed Force. Maybe my research here could help the process,' thought Edward, who found this identity more appealing with each passing second.
"If I want to finish this as soon as possible, I need a sample." Edward had an idea, but there might be some danger involved. However, considering he had Ea, he felt it was worth it. So, he went to see Tohsaka.
"You want me to recreate my family's Jeweled Sword?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why? Don't you want to recreate one of your family's lost legacy?"
"I do, but knowing you, there must be another reason you're suddenly interested."
"Fair enough. You only need to know your success will summon someone, and I need to talk to that person."
Tohsaka stared at him briefly before accepting. They headed to the clock Tower to begin working on the sword, and just as Shirou helped in the other timeline, Edward used his magic to help her finish the sword.
As expected, Zelretch, owner of the Second Magic, showed up once it finished. He invented Jewel Magic and passed it on to one of the Tohsaka's Ancestors.
"Arcane Emperor, I wanted to see you."
"You know me?" asked Edward.
"I've been observing this timeline," said Zelretch. "Humanity was saved once I created the Second Magic as I imbued them with endless possibility. If this timeline fails and humans die, there are other choices. But you, who suddenly popped out of nowhere, imbued them with endless possibilities for success and prosperity."
'So, that's why Akasha created a background for the Arcane Empire — to give the humans of this world a greater future. I may be more right than I believed — she's preparing for the upcoming war,' thought Edward.
"Our conversation can wait since I'm sure you have things to say to her."
"Thanks for your understanding," said Zelretch. As Edward gave him the room, he talked to Tohsaka. A few minutes later, Edward returned since they called him.
"Is something wrong?"
"I want to take her as a pupil, but she told me to ask you."
"That's a good idea," said Edward before glancing at Tohsaka. "Why are you hesitating?"
"But…but."
Edward sighed, "You know I can't stay, and Zelretch, as the owner of the Second Magic and teacher to your ancestor, is the perfect teacher for you."
"I…understand."
"I can't believe someone is reluctant to learn from me. Well, considering the competition, I guess that makes sense," said Zelretch. "Give us a moment." Tohsaka left the room, leaving the two.
"So, what can I help you with?"
"I'm designing the Sixth True Magic and want to see yours first for research."
"Passing on any true magic is not a simple–"
"I'm not asking you to teach me but to show me."
"For someone like you, is there a difference?" rebuttered Zelretch.
"You, of all people, should understand better than anyone the importance of this magic. So, name your price."
"I want the design for Netheril."
"You're asking too steep of a price for just showing me the Second Magic. Choose something else."
"Fine, how about the blueprint for the Aether Core."
"You seem to know a lot about my floating city."
"I am the observer of countless timelines. What do you expect? So, do we have a deal?"
"We have a deal." Edward immediately sent the blueprint to him; of course, he did not show the latest model. Zelretch then cast the Second Magic: Kaleidoscope. With this spell, Edward saw the operation of myriad timelines, including the one with his Arcane Empire. He also saw how this magic involved rewriting the world, influencing or rewriting records.
'This True Magic does involve the Rules and even combined many of them,' analyzed Edward. 'More importantly, it seems to grant its wield a certain authority or privilege in the world.'
In Edward's eyes, the owner of these True Magics seemed to be like the GM in a game with powers or authority to modify the game or the world as they saw fit.
"Did that help?"
"Yes, and thank you," nodded Edward before leaving.
"Who are you, Arcane Emperor?" muttered Zelretch before meeting with Tohsaka. They agreed on a designated time before beginning their training. Meanwhile, Edward immediately started working on his magic.
He took this opportunity to analyze the Anti-Life Equation to further his understanding of the Mind Rule, and he added the Knowledge Rule, Soul Rule, and others to create the Sixth True Magic: Nigh Omniscient.
"Let's try this thing out." Edward immediately cast the spell, and his mind left his body, entering a higher plane where all records and knowledge exist — the Root.
"So, it did work," he muttered calmly. Reaching the Root is the goal or ambition of all mages, but he was relatively calm about the entire thing.
'I wonder what the relationship of this world is with the Akashic Records?' He knew there must be some connections but did not know exactly.
'Forget about that for now,' said Edward. He left a special rune in the Root before leaving. Once his mind returned to his body, Edward found out he had turned into a human computer with access to endless knowledge.
Anything he wanted to know, he would get the knowledge or answer from the Root. And if he did not know, he could calculate or deduce the answer from abundant data.
"The only downside is this thing puts heavy pressure on my soul,' he complained. He expected this spell to have limitations but did not expect it to be so severe.
"Let's finish our main objective."
He immediately used his new spell to analyze Ea and the Chains of Heaven. He discovered that Ea drew power from a primal source of power that existed once the universe was born. That power contains the power of creation and destruction, meaning it can revert the multiverse to its genesis state or recreate it.
"All worlds have a period of Genesis or before the Big Bang. if I can tap into it, I should be able to create a Tier 11 Weapon," muttered Edward, who focused on the Chains of Heavens. It worked similarly to Ea, with the idea that all Divine Being originated from a source. Since the chains are made from that source, they can restrain all Gods.
"Very well. Cosmus, you wait for my return."
Edward was still unsure whether to pass the Time Game, so he needed to travel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, during his stay in the world, he will prepare to deal with that bastard who dares to label him as a criminal.
"Let's see who will judge who," he sneered.
Edward spent more than three years on this project, but most of the time, he stayed inside the lab and saw Tohsaka and Sakura a few times. Now that he was done, he only had a few things to do before leaving. His next step is to see Scathach.
He realized the Root had no knowledge about Primordial Runes, and there were few reasons he could think of to explain this situation: Scathatch or Odin removed the knowledge from the Roots, or the Root itself purged the knowledge from his records to prevent it from spreading. A few magicians have taken things from the Root so it can hide things from its people.
Regardless of the reason, he wanted answers.
