Apparently, in Yuinri’s view, possessing a method to resist contamination was simply a given.

Kanzaki Rei raised a hand slightly.

An invisible barrier formed around him.

This was Mese’s Root Magic—

Origin.

Used to block contamination.

In truth, Rei now had three different ways to resist contamination.

One was Origin.

One was Unsolvable Mystery, making others unable to perceive his existence at all.

And the third—

Was the sea-of-consciousness defensive structure Lottie had taught him.

Any one of the three was sufficient on its own to block contamination.

Hummm—

The ritual within the great hall lit up.

"I wish—"

"That my Tier 6 Cryptic Scholar talent can answer the questions within the Forbidden Magic Ruins."

This advancement ritual had been specifically prepared for Cryptic Scholars.

Its structure was unique.

Rei could tell.

What a pity—

His progress in ritual studies had slowed somewhat.

Without the corresponding class,

Studying deeper layers of that field had become much harder.

Shhh—

Light ignited in Rei’s eyes.

Then—

A tree-shaped pattern manifested in the sky.

[Tree of Unknown Mysteries]

Every branch contained dark nodes and bright nodes.

Rei could see written information on every point.

As his gaze fixed on the tree—

Understanding arose in his heart.

These...

Were the world’s unresolved mysteries.

And what he needed to do now—

Was choose one unsolved mystery on the tree,

And resolve it.

At present,

All he could see were Fifth-Tier mysteries.

Rei glanced over them.

And chose one categorized under Magic.

He considered his attainments in magic anything but shallow.

Though he had neglected magic somewhat lately—

He was still far beyond the vast majority of mages.

Hummm—

The mystery entered Rei’s mind.

Unlike the examination in the White Tower—

This mystery...

Had no answer in the world yet.

If he could solve it—

Advancement would pass.

If he failed—

He could simply abandon this attempt,

Restart the advancement ritual another time,

And choose a different mystery.

No real loss.

[Given that magic is born from the heart, a product of interaction between mind and reality—how does influencing the mind alter the form of magic?]

The question...

Was unexpectedly grounded.

Rei had seen this theory before.

Though among magical doctrines there were countless schools.

This was merely one incomplete viewpoint among them.

He hadn’t expected such a question in an advancement trial.

The mind influencing magic—

That was certain.

And conveniently—

He had recently learned quite a bit from Lottie regarding mental sciences.

There was much there he could draw upon.

Rei thought.

Staring at the sky in contemplation for an hour.

At last—

He arrived at an answer.

With a slight movement of thought,

He submitted the millions of possible results he had derived.

Demonstrating the overwhelming majority of ways the mind could transform magic.

As the mystery was solved—

He saw another bright point appear upon the tree.

Another unsolved mystery in the world vanished.

Then—

A baptism like spring wind washed over him.

And Rei saw countless already-lit nodes upon the tree blaze more brilliantly than ever—

Radiant.

Dazzling.

These—

Were all truths he had discovered.

The Primordial Sea.

Lottie.

The Deep Earth.

White...

Everything he had seen.

Everything he had understood.

All of it had become accumulation in the Cryptic Scholar’s pursuit of hidden truth.

Rei had gained recognition from the Tree of Unknown Mysteries.

An existence equal to the Root itself.

And with that recognition—

He felt spirituality erupt like a geyser.

Violent.

Vibrant.

His five senses awakened once more.

His ears seemed capable of hearing all things,

Distinguishing every individual sound.

When his perception expanded—

It no longer required concentrating on a small portion.

He could directly sweep an entire region.

[Tier 6 Cryptic Scholar]

[Technique Acquired: Universal Resolution]

[Technique Acquired: Exhaustive Hypothesis]

[Cryptic Scholar Mastery Acquired — Perceptive Sensitivity: Any stimulus triggering intuition can be traced back to its origin, revealing further information.]

[Cryptic Scholar Mastery Acquired — Reconstruction: Extract additional hidden information from sources of information.]

These two masteries—

Were immensely useful to him right now.

Lately, his intuitions had been appearing more and more often.

Uneasy intuitions.

Strange intuitions.

But tracing the source of those instincts had always been difficult.

Intuition itself was a form of partial foresight of things yet to happen.

And because of spirituality,

His Seer class,

And Final Sense already possessing danger premonition—

His instincts had become absurdly sensitive.

Even the slightest disturbance passed through his intuition first.

And yet...

Precisely because of that—

His intuition had become too sensitive.

Any small ripple would trigger some premonition.

But Rei had no way to track down the source of every instinctive warning.

So he could only remain constantly guarded.

Using foresight.

Probing the future.

Again and again.

Now, with this class mastery—

He could finally identify what was triggering those intuitive warnings.

[Talent Acquired — True Seeking (Transcendent) >> Divine — Deepest Truth]

...So many awakened talents tended to start at Transcendent rank.

And now—

Both his wishes had already been used.

For the moment,

He could make no more wishes.

Unless...

He advanced to Tier 3 Seer.

Or—

Freed his wishes first.

Rei examined the Tier 6 Cryptic Scholar talent he had obtained.

Divine — Deepest Truth

When this talent exists, one witnesses only truth. If one possesses this talent while trapped in an illusion, control of the illusion is seized.

The instant he activated its effect—

Rei suddenly felt something and sharply looked up.

Through the open skylight of the dome—

He saw the heavens interwoven in red, white, fire, and blue.

Before a full question even formed—

His intuition had already delivered the answer.

This was...

The struggle for Moonstar.

It had already begun.

It was only hidden from mortals.

The distant affairs in the heavens would not affect him for now—

Then suddenly Rei felt his sea of consciousness churn violently.

He immediately turned inward and observed it.

And what he saw—

Was nothing like the magnificent golden architecture he believed he had constructed.

Instead—

His entire sea of consciousness floated like bubbles,

Dreamlike mirages drifting everywhere.

And at the very center—

There stood a seven-colored great tree

He had never planted.

At the same time—

A severe sense of dissonance struck him.

Rei saw within his own heart

Many emotions and thoughts

That did not belong to him.

What...

Are these?

How had I never noticed this before?