Chapter 106: Cave of Eternal Magic
"Did you come to borrow a book from us today, Rosa?"
Rosaline shook her head when Percy asked this.
"Uhm, no. I actually came to talk to you. I wanted to thank you for the other day. I know it wasn’t any of your business what happened to Hildegard, but you still stood up for her and helped her to stay in school. You even gave her sanctuary in the library so she could continue studying. I’m really grateful."
Percy hummed.
"I didn’t really do much of anything, Miss Rosa. No need for thanks."
"Yes, you did! You did a lot and really helped her! So, I brought you this."
Percy looked down as Rosa lifted a box that she was holding in her left hand, and Percy immediately realised what it was.
"You cooked a meal for me?"
Rosa blushed slightly at the shocked tone Percy used, and she nodded once.
"Yes, I did. I know it’s not much, but I just wanted to show how grateful I was. This is a delicacy from my hometown. It helps boost stamina and magic power to make working easier. Uhm... I hope you’ll like it."
Percy smiled thankfully once Rosa said this, and he was reminded of the time he had spent in Rosa’s hometown, Vedan. It was a large town outside of the major cities, and Percy had stayed there for a few days after a massive battle against a demihuman general to help the people rebuild what had been destroyed. While he was there, they just kept feeding Percy nonstop, and Percy knew that making a meal for someone was the Vedanite way of showing maximum gratitude!
"I’ll make sure to eat all of it. Thank you, Rosa."
Rosa blinked in surprise when she heard Percy say her name without any honorifics, and for a moment she was transported back in time to someone else who called her name just like that! But the memory only lasted for a moment, and once Percy put the food behind the desk and stood back up, Rosa returned to the present.
"Did you also want to meet Hildegard? She’s having her magic class with Rita right now, but you can go see her if you want."
Percy asked this while tilting his head to one side, but Rosa quickly shook her head and said that it was fine! Rosa had actually come here just to see Percy, and the fact that Hildegard was with Rita meant that Rosa really didn’t want to go and see her right now! It was obvious that Rita didn’t like her, and Rosa didn’t want to deal with the scary vampire woman again!
"I’ll see Hildegard later, maybe once the investigative reports come out. Hopefully things work out, and they don’t find her guilty of anything."
Percy hummed in agreement, and Rosa smiled sadly as she continued.
"But it’s a shame that she already missed so many classes. With such bad attendance, I don’t think it’s possible for her to finish at the top of the academic rankings anymore. Hildegard was really looking forward to visiting the Cave of Eternal Magic."
Percy blinked in confusion when he heard this, and he immediately asked.
"Cave of Eternal Magic? What is that?"
Rosaline actually raised a brow in surprise when she heard that question. Rosa couldn’t believe that there was someone in this school who didn’t know what the Cave of Eternal Magic was! But from the look on Percy’s face, Rosa could tell that he was serious, and Rosa spoke up:
"You really don’t know what the Eternal Cave is?"
"I’ve never heard of such a thing. Is it a magical construct?"
In this world, there were magical constructs that allowed mages to infuse certain spells or runic algorithms into an area so that the area would be more magically potent! This method was very common amongst practicing mages who were trying to improve the rate of their Mana Flow technique so that they could break through to another realm, but it was also extremely difficult to create these Magic Constructs since magic grows weaker the moment it leaves a mage’s body. So the construct would only last for a short time depending on who created it!
Rosa nodded to Percy’s question, and she went into a lecture mode as she spoke.
"Yes, you’re right, it is a Magic Construct. But it’s not like the regular Magic Constructs that vanish after a few days. The Eternal Cave has been around for the past ten years, ever since the academy was built, and some people believe the Academy was actually built here because of the cave. The Cave is a Mana Hub with the single highest concentration of raw mana ever discovered in the Kingdom. They say that just stepping into the cave would be enough to allow a mage to increase their mana replenishing rate by a hundred times."
Percy hummed in surprise. That was very impressive! Most Mana Constructs were barely able to boost a mage’s mana replenishment by two times, so this Cave was very well made! Percy asked:
"So you’re saying this cave is some sort of reward for the best students?"
Rosa nodded.
"Yes, in the final year, the students’ scores from their five years in school are accumulated, and the best student is given the opportunity to enter the Cave and train for one week. This is a very rare privilege, so the students always work very hard to make sure they win. With how things were before the incident, Hildegard and Mirio were tied for the lead. Mirio was very dominant in the first three years, but Hildegard was already catching up recently, and she would’ve passed him if she had a good attendance record and great scores this semester. But that won’t be possible now."
Rosa smiled sadly as she thought about what could’ve been. Hildegard’s story was an amazing example of rising from adversity, and Rosa wanted Hildegard to win more than anything else. But right now, Rosa would just be happy with Hildegard clearing her name once and for all!
Percy was honestly surprised to hear this whole story. Percy already knew that the school gave awards to some great students, but he never thought that there would be such an honor attached to being the best student in the graduating class! Percy felt a little bit of pity towards Hildegard for not being able to get into the Eternal Cave and gain the benefits, but right now, Percy knew she had more important things to worry about. If Hildegard couldn’t clear her name, then not getting into the Eternal Cave would be the least of her worries!
Instead, Percy was more interested in what sort of magical algorithm was used to preserve such an enormous amount of raw mana in that cave for so long! Percy asked:
"This Cave of Eternal Magic. Who’s responsible for creating it? Was it the old man?"
Rosa didn’t need to ask which ’old man’ Percy was referring to, and although Rosa was a little put off by the fact that Percy was referring to her grandfather in such a disrespectful way, Rosa didn’t bother saying anything about it since she understood their relationship! But Rosa just frowned in confusion, and she shook her head.
"No, grandfather is strong, but he can’t make a Magic Construct that powerful. Rumor has it there is an artefact inside the Cave that constantly releases raw magic and saturates the environment in its essence. The only thing the school created was a containment algorithm that traps most of the released mana inside the cave. I asked Grandfather recently about it, and he said that it was true."
"Did he say what artefact was being used?"
Percy tilted his head while asking this, and Rosa’s face split into a proud smile as she leaned forward and spoke to him in a low, conspiratorial voice.
"Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but the artefact is a magic staff that once belonged to Verati. The Diamond Star Staff."
Percy’s face twisted in disbelief.
"Huh? The what?"
Rosa blinked at Percy in confusion, and she wondered if he was trying to pull her leg!
"What do you mean ’huh’? Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of it before! The Diamond Star! One of the greatest artefacts that Verati ever used! It was seen with him for multiple years during his journey, and it always let off an impossible amount of magic! The staff is a part of a trio of magic artefacts! The Diamond Star Staff, the Midnight Moon Gloves, and the Robe of Invulnerability. Verati always used them during his battles!"
Rosa gave Percy a disbelieving look as she began explaining all the lore of Verati’s artefacts to him! It was as if Rosa was some sort of rabid otaku explaining her favourite anime to a normie who just didn’t understand, and Percy couldn’t even wrap his head around what the hell he was hearing!