Chapter 311: Miraculous Logic
"This member, Eternally Seventeen—her magical knowledge runs impressively deep, arguably even beyond my own. And that other one, Roar of the Evil Dragon, isn't far behind either. Both of them are genuine heavyweights in the field of magic, either one of them could pass for a Sorcerer Supreme in their own right."
After skimming briefly through one of the group files, the Ancient One couldn't help but feel a touch of genuine admiration.
This wasn't false modesty on her part—she genuinely believed both members responsible for these files possessed magical mastery on par with, if not exceeding, her own, especially given the sheer volume involved.
Thousands, tens of thousands of spells, one after another, dizzying in scale—and none of it looked remotely fabricated or thrown together carelessly.
Which left the Ancient One even more astonished. How had these two members managed to compile this much material?
Something this vast couldn't possibly have been accumulated without thousands of years behind it.
And then there were the genuinely dangerous-feeling dark magic entries, along with all manner of curse-based spells, which sent a distinct chill down her spine.
Still, it sparked considerable curiosity in her too—this was an entirely different magical framework from anything in her own world, and quite a few of these forbidden spells looked genuinely, terrifyingly destructive.
Studying these properly might just spark some genuine new insight for her own craft.
Honestly, the Ancient One had lived several hundred years at this point, and had already started feeling somewhat weary of it all—she'd been searching for a successor to hand off the Sorcerer Supreme mantle to.
But ever since joining the Dimensional Chat Group, that weariness had, oddly enough, receded by more than half.
Replaced instead by a genuinely burning thirst for knowledge—specifically, knowledge about all these other cultivation systems represented throughout the chat group!
The magic files alone added up to tens of thousands of entries at minimum, and factoring in alchemy and other miscellaneous knowledge on top of that, the total climbed close to a hundred thousand.
Nearly all of it had been uploaded by two members—Eternally Seventeen and Roar of the Evil Dragon—with a portion contributed by I Am Thor, God of Thunder! as well.
Presumably, all three of their home worlds had genuine magic systems of their own.
"If I actually studied all of this properly...how long would that even take? Decades? A full century? Suddenly I feel like I haven't lived nearly long enough. Maybe I really could stand to live another two or three hundred years more? Given how this Dimensional Chat Group works, the membership's only going to keep growing over time, and presumably so will the variety of magic systems represented."
After murmuring to herself for a moment, the Ancient One dove straight into serious study.
Despite being Marvel's own Sorcerer Supreme, properly studying an entirely different world's magic system meant starting from square one—working through the most basic spells first and building up from there.
So the Ancient One didn't bother with the terrifyingly powerful forbidden curses, nor with the highly abstract, seemingly logic-defying conceptual magic. She started instead with the most basic apprentice-level curriculum.
Naturally, she was just as curious about the non-magical disciplines too—Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and the like, all the martial-arts-style techniques equally caught her interest.
After all, she was a close-combat sorcerer herself. Was it really so strange for a close-combat sorcerer to take an interest in martial arts?
Not at all—if anything, it felt entirely natural. At least, that's how the Ancient One saw it.
Of course, one shouldn't get too greedy all at once. Best to first work through Gensokyo's apprentice-level magic system properly, and once she'd gotten a solid handle on the basics, she could turn her attention to the martial arts systems next.
Before long, the Ancient One had settled into full lurk mode. For a sorcerer of her age, burying herself in serious study came naturally—she'd probably only surface again if something in the chat genuinely caught her interest.
Little Sphere: Hey, why'd the new heavyweight go quiet so soon after joining? No way they're already in full lurk mode this fast, right?
Little Sphere: Or maybe they just haven't settled in yet, so they're lying low for a bit to get comfortable?
The Ancient One: ...Not quite. I'm simply studying magic. This Gensokyo-based magic system has genuinely caught my interest.
My True Form Is Cola: Ooh? New heavyweight's learning Gensokyo magic too? Same here! Sure, my mastery's nowhere near Yukari-senpai's level, but I'd still rank near the top within the chat group, no question!
Eternally Seventeen: That's right—Little Umaru's one of this humble self's beloved disciples! The rest of my disciples are Eriri, Sakura, and Hinata!
Eternally Seventeen: The Ancient One, if you ever have any questions about Gensokyo's magic system, feel free to message me privately anytime—this humble self will answer everything, one by one.
The Ancient One: Hm...much appreciated, in that case. Back to studying now.
Eternally Seventeen: Looks like the sorcerer faction's officially taking over the chat group now!
RawrSoFierce: ...Where exactly did you get that impression from? The chat group's magic-users total exactly seven: you, the old hag; the Ancient One; Eriri; Sakura; Umaru; Thor; and Hinata.
RawrSoFierce: Meanwhile the martial-arts faction's got eleven: me, Kizaru, Sengoku, Whitebeard, Maidang, Kaguya, Master Roshi, Josuke, Ying Zheng, Wandering Earth, and Shiba Thor.
Terrible Tornado: The chat group's only superpower-user, quietly trembling in the corner.
WolfKingOfQingQingGrasslands: Bottom-tier science-and-tech member, also quietly trembling.
Eternally Seventeen: Eh? Wait, hold on, isn't Josuke's main power his Stand, not martial arts? And Shiba Thor's whole thing is the hammer!
Crazy Diamond: Ahem, well, actually I do primarily train in martial arts these days—my physical strength's honestly stronger than my Stand at this point.
I Am Thor, God of Thunder!: Even without Mjolnir, I can still rightfully call myself the God of Thunder these days.
Eternally Seventeen: ...UNACCEPTABLE, how did it end up like this?
[...]
So martial arts remained the dominant faction in the chat group after all?
Unacceptable!
This humble self is absolutely going to make sorcery the dominant faction in this chat, hmph!
As for why she'd developed such a bizarre, burning ambition in the first place?
Because Yukari genuinely believed sorcerers' special effects looked way cooler when they fought!
All those flashy, dazzling techniques flying around left and right—didn't that just scream impressive and mysterious to anyone watching?
As a member of the Dimensional Chat Group, one absolutely had to maintain a certain level of style and swagger!
Well then, there was really no accounting for the logic running through this particular youkai sage's head—she'd been alive for who-knows-how-many years, and her thought process remained fundamentally impossible for any normal person to follow.
Probably not a single other member in the entire chat group operated on the same wavelength as her.
Not even Thor the dragon, who'd lived even longer than she had, could keep up with her particular brand of logic either.
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