The devil popped out of Adam and smiled as they picked up the crystal skeleton. However, as soon as they looked at the crystal skeleton, they said with disdain, "Master, this is the medium they use to summon the god -- and it reeks of low-level energy. This is so pathetic! They want to invade the Mage World using... this?"
"No..." the priestess said weakly. "Put down my child..."
"Your child?" the devil asked.
"Please, let go of my child -- the Supreme God promised me that as long as I help him infiltrate this world, he will resurrect my child..."
"And you believe in such lies?" the devil said, morphing into a human figure.
The devil was both stunned and overjoyed -- they couldn't believe that there are such stupid and foolish people in this world! Resurrection in the true sense cannot be morphing flesh or manipulating the dead -- even the recreation of souls or implanting memories cannot be considered resurrection. As long as the original self is dead, whatever resurrected will always be a shell of its former self.
Resurrection also means manipulating the timeline, erasing the fate of the person who died.
"How could you ever understand the power of the Supreme God? He will never deceive me!" the priestess refuted, but it only sounded as if she was trying to convince herself.
"Hahaha! Master? Did you hear that? She said "resurrect my child"! How could she ever believe that?!"
Adam wasn't interested in mocking a dying person. He calmly stepped forward and took the crystal skeleton from the devil's hands and stepped in front of the priestess, ready to end her suffering.
"I can't die like this... I have to bring my child back..."
Adam reached out, preparing another electric spear.
"It's true, isn't it? The Supreme God can resurrect my child..."
Adam immediately stabbed forward and the priestess disintegrated into ash.
"It is impossible," Adam said solemnly.
A light breeze blew away the remaining traces of the priestess, doomed to never know Adam's answer.
After a while, Crystal and Ophelia returned to Adam. Soon, William came too.
Adam didn't ask about William's whereabouts either. It didn't really matter to him, but William showed a big smile and asked, "Adam, is the matter resolved? Is the skull the medium?"
"Yes," Adam said, surprised at William's tone. "It is."
"Adam," Crystal said while supporting Ophelia. "Miss Ophelia, she's..."
"I'm fine!" Ophelia forced out with a hoarse voice, pushing Crystal's hand away. "Don't you want to go to the North to see your family? Let's go together."
"But... your body..."
"I'm fine," Ophelia reassured. "Let's go."
Adam could sense that something was wrong, but he had no interest in asking what she didn't want to disclose.
"Then, I'll wait for you in the Southern Harbour City for seven days. If you do not come back within seven days, I will return to the Academy first."
...
For the next seven days, Adam refused all of the invitations from William and the Duke, and stayed in his room every day, either to test his electric magic, or to study the crystal skeleton.
The devil was a constant annoyance, however.
"Master, do you know why only Level 5 Mages are called Transdimensional Mages?"
Adam was stunned for a moment, and asked, "Why? Has your memory finally been restored?"
The devil laughed, but shook their head, "Only mages above the fifth level have the ability to interpret the coordinates of different worlds through a medium. Don't ask me how I know this, but this is the rule of all worlds. If they aren't a transdimensional mage, then they have no way to interpret the coordinates of a world."
Adam glanced at the devil coldly, and the devil felt a shiver run down their back. They quickly transformed into a female form and shivered, "Master, what are you trying to do?"
With a swipe of his finger, an electric whip was conjured from his fingertips, punishing the devil mercilessly.
Adam is experimenting with his magic.
He used to think that it was meaningless to try and manipulate the elements -- a cluster of flames, or a fire dragon could do the same job, but now, he no longer thinks so.
Altering the elements could heavily improve the lethality of magic -- if he could channel the magic into something with a form, then the more elements that specific medium could accommodate, allowing for stronger magics.
Adam found this very interesting -- turns out, all the elemental magic books in the library were the results of a mage who had mastered the elements.
This is exactly like programming back on Earth -- a mage is a programmer who has mastered its own knowledge. Programs are just like magic.
Adam was incredibly proficient in this. After he figured out what he wanted to do, one by one, different kinds of electric magic were successfully constructed by him. Because he is the one developing this, he can do whatever he wants with him, which saves him money. He has nothing but time to experiment.
Moreover, the runes used to conjure this were relatively simple. As long as he can prove that these runes were consistent and stable, he could sell it to the Academy. As for whether or not others could copy his runes to master electric magic, that wasn't his problem.
After returning to the Academy, Adam plans to use a new batch of runes to apply for the establishment of his new laboratory. Now, he was sure that the Academy would not reject him.
On the evening of the sixth day, Crystal and Ophelia returned to the Southern Harbour City together, alongside the Earl and Dark Cloud.
Adam and the Earl didn't speak to each other. The Earl simply came since after the destruction of the Royal City, they needed a new leader.
On the contrary, Dark Cloud was excited to see Adam, and trotted over to Adam, rubbing Adam with its face and licking him affectionately.
Adam remembered that this war-unicorn was the first creature to recognise that he was no longer the previous Adam. He flashed a rare smile, and played with Dark Cloud for a while, and prepared its food as well. The devil was showered with feelings of jealousy, refusing to believe that Adam could be so nice.
While Adam was away, the devil sneaked up to Dark Cloud and ruffled its mane and muttered, "What have you done to my master? Why has he never been nice to me?"
