Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 359 The Unpredictable Prado
"Eight Susolas"

With Ritas unable to hide his surprise, Sophia gave a brief account of what had happened.

Generally speaking, if one person suddenly becomes eight, the most likely outcome is that all eight people will insist that their existence is the only legitimate one, and then fight each other.

However, this did not happen among the Susora.

Because supplying energy to multiple "Susora" simultaneously would increase the consumption of magic crystals exponentially, the Susora quickly reached an agreement to allocate their action time, ensuring that only one Susora would be active at any given time. Even in emergencies, a maximum of three Susora would awaken at the same time. Then, the seven Susora that were not assigned a turn would fall into a deep sleep.

"That's a really efficient approach."

Ritas couldn't help but sigh.

After becoming a "magical tool", this "pioneer" can only be described as completely driven by rationality.

Even though this unusual experimental result didn't immediately cause any harm, there's no doubt that from that moment on, Susora went mad.

As a great scholar capable of creating magical artifacts from scratch, Susora's experiments on modifying herself were undoubtedly the result of countless trials, only being used on herself when she was 100% certain of their effectiveness.

This is precisely why the experiment was a clear "failure," and Susola couldn't find the reason or the source at all.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that with only one device capable of containing consciousness, memories, and other such things, the awakening of the other seven "Susora" bodies, which are merely empty shells, is essentially a paranormal event.

"So, looking back now, the reason 'Pioneer' went mad wasn't so much because the bizarre events exceeded his limits, but rather because his absolute belief as a researcher was refuted. I later heard from my teacher that from that day on, Pioneer's research on magical tools essentially came to a standstill. He became fascinated with things like souls, things he had previously scorned as ethereal and elusive. Of course, I don't know what his current state is. After all, you know... me."

Sofia shrugged.

Ritas, on the other hand, was once again filled with disbelief.

The huge airship that crashed at Earls Academy was something that Susora created decades ago, or perhaps in recent years.
Moreover, although it is unknown whether Susora's soul was split into eight, there is no doubt that Susora in his prime was the one with all eight Susora present.

The Four Sages

Even though Ritas had reached a certain height, he still felt that these four sages, who were equally famous in the world, were truly unfathomable.

When exactly did this incident involving the Pioneer occur? Was it close to the time of your death?

"Hmm, can we try to reduce the 'if you die, I die' kind of communication style? Don't let my appearance fool you, I actually care quite a bit about it."

Sofia pursed her lips and said,
"As for the exact time, why don't you try to guess? The hint is that this is the first formal lesson my teacher taught me. She said, 'The first lesson of a witch's disciple must be extraordinary,' and then she took me to the Pioneer to watch the entire process of his 'reincarnation' into a magical tool."

".Fifty years ago?"

"How could that be! Make a serious guess. 'Sometimes she makes inappropriate jokes!'"

Sofia grumbled, adding a note about Ritas.

"A hundred years ago?"

"It was forty-five years ago! It really was this child."

"."

Ritas couldn't immediately grasp what the huge difference was between forty-five years ago and fifty years ago.

But thinking about it, if Sofia were alive today, she would be at an age where she would be particularly sensitive to such delicate matters.

It seems that even a witch's disciple cannot resist a woman's nature.

"Forty-five years ago. In that case, Susola should also have nothing to do with your death."

Ritas frowned slightly as he spoke.

Although he gained inside information about the "pioneers," satisfying his curiosity, Sofia's words did not offer any real help in addressing the current situation.

"That's why I said they could only 'do' it. The suspicion was very limited, far from enough for the teacher to make a big deal out of it."

Sofia emphasized this again.

"When and by which of the other three sages was the closest you, Sophia, had contact with them before you passed away?"

Following Sophia's instructions, after refining his words, Ritas asked again.

"Yes, it must have been contact with the 'Spirit of All Things,' Artinia. A few years before my long slumber, I entered the 'Hall of Wisdom.' As you probably know, the Spirit of All Things is the ruler of the Hall of Wisdom. By the way, let me state this first: I cannot convey to you in any way what is inside the 'Hall of Wisdom,' nor the wisdom gained from it. Since we are now in such a special world, you should be able to understand better the unique rules and mechanisms that govern that place that gathers all wisdom."

Ritas, who really wanted to ask about matters related to the Temple of Wisdom, could only nod in agreement after hearing the answer.

In fact, Ritas was not surprised by such "rules".

Although the Temple of Wisdom is a very mysterious place with exceptionally high barriers to entry, a group of people still manage to enter it every few years.

Of these, most people will choose to remain in the temple of wisdom.

As for the small number of people who returned from the temple of wisdom, their performance was less about taking a vast amount of knowledge out of the temple and more about suddenly gaining enlightenment within the temple and producing astonishing results in a short period of time based on their original research.

"Although I can't quite put my finger on it, it feels like a truly remarkable place. Just being there, all your doubts will be answered. Or rather, doubts won't even be doubts anymore."

Sofia's expression was somewhat dazed, as if she were reminiscing.

"If possible, a lifetime might be too long. But spending ten or twenty years inside would be a wonderful thing. However..."

Sofia, her face filled with nostalgia, gently patted her stomach.

“My timing for entering the Temple of Wisdom was not perfect. So I only stayed there for less than a month before leaving.”

Listening to Sophia's words, Ritas felt somewhat sorry for his senior sister. In contrast to her advanced studies in the Hall of Wisdom, on the other hand, there was... Charlotte.

"When thinking about something impolite, your expression becomes especially noticeable."

"?"

Watching Sophia taking notes again, Ritas sometimes really wanted to ask these people who seemed to be able to read his mind if his expressions were really that easy to read.

"In short, because you discovered the accident, you left the Hall of Wisdom ahead of time? When you left, did the 'Spirit of All Things' stop you? There shouldn't have been any obstruction. Because if he had, the suspicion would be very obvious."

"Well, although the Spirit of All Things tried to persuade me to stay, he didn't show any unusual reaction after I clearly expressed my intention to leave. Although entering is very difficult, leaving the Hall of Wisdom is completely unimpeded. Also, the word 'accident' made me feel malicious. Although, I was indeed very surprised when I found out I was pregnant."

Knowing roughly what had happened between Ritas and Charlotte, Sophia didn't want to protest too much about Ritas's various forms of disdain for her daughter.

"Since the 'spirit of all things' side also sees no suspicion."

"So, by process of elimination, only 'The Thorough One' Ominas remains?"

Following Ritas's words, Sophia, as if answering her own question, revealed something rather astonishing.
"Actually, Master Ominas is like a half-teacher to me. In the past, I always addressed her directly as Teacher Ominas."

Ritas couldn't help but look puzzled, but he also completely understood why neither Sophia nor Livis could find a "suspect".

"Professor Ominas is quite famous for raising mazes, isn't he?"

Ritas nodded.

"But if a maze is nurtured to a certain extent in a specific way, the interior of the mutated maze truly becomes like an independent world. It is precisely because of this property that my 'recording magic' can do many interesting things within those mutated mazes. Therefore, after hearing about my magic, Teacher Ominas took the initiative to come to me, hoping that I could become her assistant."

Sofia clearly accepted the invitation from the "Thoroughbred".

Even though Sophia was the witch's disciple, she was ultimately not the "Tree Witch" herself. Therefore, when a sage at the pinnacle of the world personally visited and extended a sincere invitation, she felt only overwhelming gratitude.

Although Livis probably caused Ominas no small amount of trouble, Sophia eventually became the "Thoroughbred's" assistant for a period of time.

It was during this period that Ominas generously imparted a great deal of knowledge to Sofia, perhaps even more than her formal teachers. This is why Sofia considered Ominas a mentor to her.

In the following time, Sophia began to recount the various experiments she conducted with Ominas by recording magic.

Much of this was "known information" to Ritas.

Because those who are well-versed in the arts are the type to share their knowledge as much as possible. Much of the knowledge she shares doesn't even have any barriers to entry; even ordinary people who don't understand magic can access it.

However, in the eyes of those people, the things told by the Enlightened Ones may be even more fantastical than fantasy stories.

Ritas's expression turned serious when Sophia recounted the last thing she helped Ominas accomplish—an experiment using the mutated maze.

"'The fickle Prado.' That's my name and summary of that experiment."

After organizing her thoughts, Sophia began to describe the situation systematically.

Prado is a type of low-level dungeon monster that appears in mutated dungeons.

Its shape is very similar to that of a slime. Aside from crawling, its only ability is basically eating.

Ominas's original intention in using such low-level monsters was to conduct an experiment to see what level of "interference" would be enough to affect "history".

Within the mutated labyrinth, Ominas can create areas with completely identical environments. Sophia's "record magic," on the other hand, can generate Prados in these environments that are indistinguishable from each other.

So even though it has a somewhat "simple" feel, the two of them have genuinely created a small piece of "world" that can truly be recreated time and again.

After setting up the environment, the experiment begins.

The original Prado immediately crawled to where the food provided by nature was and ate it.

Next, in the new world, Prado will face two gifts of nature placed in different directions. After determining which direction Prado will crawl towards, the penetrator will need to find a way to change "history" and guide the Prado in the "next cycle" to crawl in the other direction.

Then, an unexpected incident occurred during the experiment.

Because in this new world, the enlightened ones have not yet provided guidance. Prado has already begun to wriggle in a direction completely opposite to that of Prado in the previous world.

Ominas initially thought there was a mistake in one of the experimental steps. He believed that the unwitting interference of this "god" from outside the world had caused a bias in the course of history.

Therefore, she demanded that Sofia cooperate with her, repeatedly recreating the "world" of the second step.

But the result was not much different from before.

Even without external interference, the direction of each Prado's creeping movement is uncertain.

Even if the distance between the two food items is changed, it will only affect the probability of the Prado crawling over to them.

Later, Ominas removed one food source, leaving only one. Although the probability is low, there are indeed a few Prados in those "worlds" who will stubbornly endure hunger, remaining motionless in place. Or, even though they can clearly sense the food ahead, they will inexplicably wriggle towards some other direction.

As for the experiments conducted over several days with limited conditions, which were then expanded to include a wider range of factors, the behavior of Prado dogs or Prado groups became increasingly varied and completely unpredictable.

These incredibly free Prados nearly drove Ominas mad, forcing Sofia to witness the two wise men going insane before her very eyes.

So Sofia named these little rascals and this experiment "The Fickle Prado".

"If even the low-intelligence Prado is so fickle, then for humans, there will only be more change? In other words, even if reincarnation exists, the events in each cycle will not be static. Even without external intervention, the course of events will not be fixed!"

After listening to Sophia's description, Ritas, whose eyes had been bulging out of their sockets, opened them even wider, clearly having obtained crucial information.

(End of this chapter)