Polymath Redux

Chapter 15: Course laid in

"Did you just say the Magician's Chasm?"

Stella asked as she turned a pale gaze towards Rio.

Indeed the effects that the Magician's Chasm has on magicians is on an entirely different level than those suffered by normal people. Strong non-magician types are for the most part oblivious to the effects of rampant mana as they do not have a continuous interaction with them. The more weaker non-magician adventurers start suffering from the signs of mana fluctuation as they do not have a high tolerance as those who constantly fight beings of strong magic, however even then the most that could happen to those is passing out from long term exposure.

Even all that is only the tip of the iceberg for what actual magicians feel when drawing near the chasm's effects. Since magicians have a constant interaction with mana they can feel the fluctuations in mana as easily as one feels the changes in temperature. However that was simply the beginning, continued exposure can cause nausea and a loss of a sense of balance. Even more exposure and the magician can start to feel the mana inside their bodies boil, which affects their ability to cast magic.

The worst part is that since the mana is constantly fluctuating and rampaging the magician is unable to fall unconscious and continues to suffer from quickly deteriorating body conditions until they die or leave the premise.

All in all, a bad time.

"What was your brother even doing there?"

Wolf asked, curious as he knew the effects of the chasm well. Normal people and magicians wouldn't be able to get near it, meaning that Morialia's brother wasn't a normal person.

"He... he said he wanted research more about the effects of the chasm. Be- because he's a magician he said he might be able to create a new spell."

Morialia answered hesitatingly and with an unconfident answer. Of course this was all still just an act put on by Mordred to seem more convincing.

"A new spell...?"

Stella pondered. If one was able to study the effects of the chasm then it was indeed possible to create a spell with similar effects to the chasm, perhaps something like a spell to cause 'mana fluctuation' in enemy magicians, preventing them from casting spells and incapacitating them. If that was indeed the case it could potentially be one of the powerful anti-magician spells.

The notes alone on what Morialia's brother documented could be worth a small fortune. Rio and Stella couldn't exactly say they were uninterested upon hearing this, in the end they too were magicians and if this new spell went public it could affect them just as much.

"What should we do?"

Leona asked, however the question was more aimed towards the ones who would get most affected by the fluctuations, Rio and Stella. Everyone turned to look at them; while the product of research interested them, if they couldn't even get closer then there was no point.

"Wait, how did your brother even get close to that place? Normal people would collapse if they even got near it, magicians would suffer tremendously until they died. The only people who could even get there are non-magician adventurers that are at least SS rank."

Stella asked the little girl.

Morialia tried to act surprised for a bit before taking out a small artefact. It was a breathing apparatus, similar to an underwater breathing apparatus. It was in the form of a mask that covered their noses and mouths. It had an odd mechanical look to it but otherwise it didn't feel all that dangerous.

"What's this?"

Piquing Rio's attention she took a deeper look into it. She was supposed to be the resident artefact expert of the Hywel Knights but standing before her was an object she had no knowledge about. How could this be?