Once again, Rei gazed upon the Root in the sky.
It truly had been a very long time.
After completing the Advancement Ritual, Rei could now feel far more clearly that connections linked him to countless existences scattered throughout the world.
All of them were mages.
Every single person who had learned his magic.
The improved foundational spells he had once created—such as True Flame Art, Focused Frost, Split Thunder, and others—had now been mastered by enormous numbers of people. These were all merely First-Tier spells.
The difference was that Rei had redesigned them to be easier to learn while also making them slightly stronger than ordinary First-Tier magic.
And afterward, based on those perfected First-Tier foundation spells, Second-Tier derivative systems had been developed.
Because of the Talent: Ascension—
Even when two spells differed by an entire tier, the essence between them and the transitional structure connecting them remained almost completely homogeneous.
It was equivalent to modifying an already flawless spell framework.
At the same time, Rei could also sense that his new magical theories had already spread throughout the world. The magical knowledge he had disseminated had fully propagated.
They had acknowledged Rei's magic.
Acknowledged the advancement he brought to the exploration of the Root.
Only now could he truly feel how immense his influence across the world had become.
The answers of the Root had gained even broader interpretation.
Rei slowly raised one hand.
The clouds across the heavens split apart into countless streams of multicolored light.
「Seventh Forbidden Magic — Element」
To demonstrate the fruits of his path, Rei chose to display the Primordial Forbidden Magic during his advancement.
Compared to Root Magic, Primordial Forbidden Magic was clearly far rarer—and vastly more difficult to master.
And even harder to cast.
Being capable of releasing Primordial Forbidden Magic as proof of one's exploration toward the Root was itself evidence of standing unimaginably close to the Root.
BOOM!
Elemental radiance erupted outward.
Even the silver moonlight pouring from the heavens transformed into the colors of the elements.
Throughout the Land of Moonwatch, countless mages looked up toward the sky.
This time, Rei's casting of Elemental Genesis was not meant to harm anyone.
It was merely proof of his path toward the Root.
Yet because of that—
Countless awakened individuals throughout the city witnessed it.
And merely by witnessing it, they felt their understanding of the Root elevate.
Their comprehension of the elements deepened further.
In the sky above, the projection of the Root released endless hazy currents of energy, gradually enveloping Rei completely.
This Advancement Ritual was neither overly complex nor especially time-consuming.
The moment Primordial Forbidden Magic was unleashed, there was no longer any need for further proof.
Rei's advancement had already been acknowledged as complete.
He could feel power flowing into his body.
His mana reserves rose level after level, and upon reaching this stage, Rei felt his mana beginning to fuse with the world itself.
He could feel his consciousness drawing even closer to the Root.
「Mage Class Mastery Acquired — Forbidden Caster: After casting Primordial Forbidden Magic, greatly obtain Root Comprehension feedback related to that Forbidden Magic.」
「Mage Class Mastery Acquired — Myriadfold Caster: The greater the number of spells cast simultaneously, the more mana each spell may contain, and the greater all spell potency becomes accordingly.」
Once again—
Rei experienced the sensation of a tremendous leap in strength.
It truly had been a feeling he had not experienced for a very long time.
Although he had continuously researched magic and accumulated more knowledge within the reset timelines, if one really thought about it…
There had not actually been that many true qualitative leaps.
It was similar to physics on Earth.
Fundamental physics had made no revolutionary breakthroughs; only applications continued evolving.
At the time, Rei's increase in strength had merely been improvements in flexibility of application, finer control, and the ability to cast more spells…
If one were truly speaking of qualitative transformation—
For ordinary mages, being able to cast more Sixth-Tier spells would already count as a qualitative leap.
But for Rei…
The magnitude of that improvement had simply been too small.
Of course, Mage Class Masteries were only a tiny portion of his true strength.
The most important thing—
Was still the Talent gained upon reaching Level 6 Mage.
「Talent Acquired — Mana Expansion (Common) >> God-Tier · Absolute Mana Sea」
A Common-grade Talent.
Mana Expansion merely allowed one's mana reserves to become somewhat larger than those of ordinary mages.
So this awakened Talent…
Was related to mana itself?
「God-Tier · Absolute Mana Sea」
「Effect: Expands a Sea of Mana centered upon oneself. Whenever mana is consumed, instantly recover 1000% of the mana lost simultaneously. Mana capacity gains limitless growth with absolutely no upper boundary. Any method used to increase maximum mana will accelerate the expansion of the Mana Sea.」
「Mana Sea — While within the Mana Sea, all damage received is negated through mana consumption. Within this domain, others are incapable of using their own mana. All mana originates from the Mana Sea and may only be utilized with the user's permission. All spells may cover the entire range of the Mana Sea. The Mana Sea may expand infinitely.」
「Allows massive mana infusion into all spells, greatly amplifying the power of all magic.」
「Unlocks the vast majority of advanced mana applications.」
Absolute…
Mana Sea.
Hoooo—
After obtaining this Talent, Rei slowly closed his eyes.
An invisible tide spread outward in an instant.
CRASH—
Dense mana formed into an ocean, instantly covering a radius of ten thousand kilometers centered around Rei…
Then twenty thousand.
Thirty thousand…
Fifty thousand.
One hundred thousand.
Two hundred thousand kilometers.
Rei felt his mana reserves explode upward instantaneously.
Within only a few breaths, his mana reserves had already become tens of thousands of times greater than when he had been a Level 5 Mage.
One had to understand—
Even as a Level 5 Mage, Rei's mana reserves had already been absurdly high.
They had even surpassed those of ordinary Level 8 mages.
But now…
That mana quantity was increasing by tens of thousands of times over—and this was still far from the limit.
It felt like rediscovering the sensation he had experienced when first training Mana Tide.
With every breath, his mana multiplied beyond the previous amount.
Then multiplied again!
SHHHK—
The Absolute Mana Sea continued expanding.
This Mana Sea was practically an extension of Rei himself.
He even felt as though his own body had expanded across that enormous range.
Five hundred thousand kilometers.
One million kilometers…
Although it was called a "sea,"
it was actually more like a hemispherical domain.
Aside from not occupying the upper sky, everything below the hemispherical radius centered on Rei—including the oceans themselves—had become covered by his mana.
Mana itself had become an extension of his body.
One million kilometers.
Two million.
Five million…
Ten million kilometers.
The range covered by the Absolute Mana Sea rapidly approached the point where it would envelop the entirety of the Land of Moonwatch.
Before long, the Mana Sea extended far beyond Moonwatch itself…
And Rei's total mana reserves had already grown to billions of times greater than before his advancement.