C211: Ancient Language (2)
The next day Rudger brought the six volunteers to the lab.
"Starting today, you will undergo a clinical study for a week."
The students listened to Rudger's words with half-expectations and half-nervous eyes.
"Before entering, you made a mana test in advance, here are the results."
Through the mana test, it was clearly recorded how much mana they had and what was their maximum emission.
"Based on this record, I will measure how much mana has increased over the week and record it in detail. And the president who made this place will help."
"Hi, guys."
President Elisa Willow waves and speaks softly.
The students gathered at the meeting stared at her with a look, "Why is the president here?"
The main reason the six students were nervous was her presence on the scene.
"The president said she wanted to visit in person. We can proceed with the research thanks to the president, so we will welcome her with a happy heart."
The students clapped their hands with disconsolate expressions. However, the president was not the only one in the position of an observer.
"Oh, I can't believe I can see this kind of research myself!"
Luchek from the New Tower, who handed over his business card to Rudger on the day of the Magic Festival, a wizard belonging to the Old Tower and a wizard from the School Association were also present.
There were a total of four observers, including the president.
Luchek looked forward to it but on the contrary, the Old Tower wizard and the wizard belonging to the School Association were still suspicious.
They came when I heard that Rudger was conducting clinical research, but honestly the two of them didn't believe it could be done.
"First of all, before starting the research let me explain exactly how we're going to proceed. This study will start by suppressing the existing mana."
"Suppressing means taking the special medicine you mentioned?"
Aidan raised his hand and asked.
Rudger, standing in front of the magic board in the lab, nodded.
"Yes, of course, some people will wonder how that leads to increased mana emissions. So take a good look here."
Rudger showed the data he had been preparing on the magic board. Pieces of paintings that are winding but are somewhat regular appeared.
It was a language the students never saw before.
"That's…"
"Larsil, an ancient language more than a thousand years old."
Even if he explained it like that, Larsil was an unfamiliar word to the students. Rather, it was the observers who responded.
"What do you mean, Larsil? Are you saying that the method is written there?"
"No, more than that, Larsil is a language that has not yet been interpreted."
Rudger continued his explanation calmly when everyone was wondering.
"I'm not trying to teach you how to interpret it, so I'll just get to the point quickly. Look here."
Larsil was engraved on the magic board of the lab.
"As you can see, the form is messy. Since the Larsil language has a complicated language system, it was inevitable that it was cut off. A language should at least be intuitive and simple to learn. Look at this example."
Even the simple greeting, "Have you eaten?" has more than 10 different meanings starting from the smallest part.
"Larsil has little in common with the more than 3,000 languages that have existed so far. Therefore, it is difficult to infer it even in the languages that exist now. If there is any connection, there is a slight similarity in Quo-Denian."
However, Rudger continued his explanation.
"That alone does not completely decipher Larsilian because they used a total of three types of letters at the same time. Quo-Denian is part of the language that symbolizes 'Lar-Sil' among the three."
The students opened their eyes wide and it was the same for the observers.
"That's why the name Larsil was given to a language that should not have been named. The only interpretation, the Larsil part, became the name. The other two forms of language follow their words, one is 'Geu-ka' and the other is called 'Sham-la.'"
While listening to the explanation, Luchek of the New Tower was unknowingly amazed.
"I can see why Larsil was difficult to interpret. I can't believe they used three forms of language in parallel. Although they look similar, they are actually completely different characters."
He could understand why many wizards and archaeologists were not able to interpret it.
There was no way that there would be any improvement since they could not interpret even one third of the entire language.
"Rudger Chelici interpreted it?"
The observer from the Old Tower muttered as if he could not believe it.
Rudger's explanation followed.
"I have completed the interpretation of two other forms of Larsil, which are unknown to the public, and through this, I have learned the content of this manuscript."
Existing characters were erased on the magic board, and other characters began to be engraved.
"Geu-ka"
"Sham-la"
The remaining two types of characters constituting Larsil were classified in detail.
"This is a word that can be said to be the basic framework. The grammatical part is complicated to explain, so I'll skip it. That's not what's important right now."
At that, the observers could not hide their regret and only the president was watching the scene with eyes full of composure.
The contents written in the Larsil manuscript appeared on the magic board.
"If you combine words like this to interpret the language, you can see that this manuscript was written by a wizard. According to the handwriting, ancient wizards in the past used primitive rough magic that had no established spells unlike today."
The power of ancient wizards, often described as a natural disaster.
It may have been a little exaggerated, but it was true that the magic of ancient wizards actually boasted superior power to modern magic.
Rudger's teacher used to say similar things often.
-There's no magic these days. In my day…….
Rudger has heard that more than 100 times while living with his teacher.
"According to this journal, the magic they used appears to be as powerful as it is simple. And it says it was possible because there was a 'great consciousness'."
"The great consciousness is……."
"Yes, that's how ancient wizards increase their mana emission."
And this was the reagent that Rudger was going to feed to the students in the clinical study today.
"The ancient wizards were small in number. At that time, wizard was a special position that only the chosen could ascend to. Compared to now, magic was not developed universally."
As a result, the number of wizards was small compared to now, but it was said that they did their best to groom every one of them and great consciousness was the central process in fostering such powerful wizards.
Rene raised his hand and asked a question.
"Then why is that method forgotten now?"
"There are many reasons, but it seems to have disappeared naturally over the years because it was also a way that only a few people followed."
"They couldn't increase the number of wizards?"
"Wizards of that era were very short-lived. They were great beings, but they used to die from frequent exposure to danger."
"Ah."
Even now, there were some wizards who sometimes got hurt or died because their experiments went wrong. It would have been worse in the old days when magic stability was lacking.
"To sum up, the great consciousness means to train in mana operation with your mana suppressed to the limit."
It's a rough idea that only ancient people could think of and it was unclear whether it would be useful, but that's why they created this place.
"Then I'll stop explaining here. Assistant Sedina bring what you've prepared."
"Yes."
Sedina moved quickly and brought the bottles she had prepared in advance to each student.
"This is…."
The students looked at the bottle in front of them and made surprised expressions.
In the bottles was the special drug made by Rudger, to be exact, it was a mana inhibitor that ancient wizards drank in the past.
"The color is unique"
There was a visual problem because it looked like sticky purple porridge and even bubbles were coming up.
Everyone, including the observers, felt the same way.
'Isn't this poison?'
They looked at Rudger with such questionable eyes, but he was determined.
"Drink it."
"What?"
"Drink it."
"What?"
"Drink it."
Drink this? Everyone thought they were going to die as soon as they drank it.
"Hey!"
The moment when everyone hesitated Rene took a sip of purple liquid and opened her eyes wide.
"What?"
"Rene, are you okay?"
"…… It tastes better than I thought?"
"Really?"
"Yes, I'm really fine. It's like sweet juice. You should try it, too."
Rene said so and drank the reagent at once to prove that it was not false.
Seeing that there was no change in her expression, it seemed to taste really good, contrary to its appearance.
"Then, shall we drink it?"
The people who hesitated began to put the reagents in their mouths one by one and various reactions erupted.
"Wow!"
"……mmm."
"Sweet."
Some said it was okay, and others frowned at the terrible bitterness. In particular, the most distressed were Erendir and Freuden Ulburg.
"Oh, I forgot to explain. There will be a difference in the taste that each person feels. Still, it doesn't affect your body, so just endure it and drink it."
'This man….'
Freuden stared at Rudger with a sharp stare.
'I'm sure he did it on purpose.'
Rudger lightly took Freuden's gaze.
Of course, the taste of the reagent varies slightly depending on the person and he added a lot of sweetness to make it less bitter for obedient students since the effect would be equal anyway.
'But Aidan, what the hell is that guy…….'
Aidan is a model student, but honestly, he was also the most elusive so Rudger added a special bitter taste to his reagent but surprisingly he drank it without changing his face.
"Oh, this is the taste of reagents from ancient people. I feel like I've already gotten stronger."
Everyone else who had tasted the bitterness looked like they were going to die, but he was the only one who muttered those words with a straight face.
"……You've finished it so there will be a response soon."
As Rudger said, the students who drank the reagent did not feel much at first, but after five minutes, they felt something was wrong.
"Ugh! My body is heavy."
"What's this feeling?"
They felt like they were submerged under the sea level while being bound by invisible chains. Obviously, there is no discomfort in moving their body, but the stuffy and intrusive feeling did not go away.
"Everyone seems to have responded."
"Sir, this is……?"
"As I said earlier, it is the effect of the mana inhibitor. Mana, which you used to handle naturally, is hardened and doesn't move properly."
"Something, something's hard."
"Of course, you're going through the process of learning, but you're definitely a wizard. Now that mana, which has always been with you, doesn't move as you want so you're no different from a slightly better ordinary person."
For a wizard, if mana doesn't move they want, they will feel like one side of their soul has disappeared.
"Try to move your mana in that state."
As Rudger instructed, the students concentrated their minds to use magic. The mana, which usually flowed naturally as if breathing, did not move as if it was blocked by something.
It felt like a huge dam was built into the flowing river and opened its floodgates a little so the students had difficulties extracting even 1% of the mana they usually used.
After 10 minutes have passed, no students have successfully released their magic and sweat began to flow over their foreheads.
"Stop. That's enough."
When Rudger's words fell, the students who were distracted took a breath that they had endured.
"Hoooo."
Rudger's heavy voice rang low in the laboratory, where only rough breathing was heard.
"Everyone must be tired because it's your first time. It's mentally exhausting since the mana that you used to handle naturally, doesn't move as you wish."
"Is this going to continue for a week?"
When asked by Aidan, Rudger replied yes.
"Today is your first day, so focus on getting used to the feeling of your heavy body now. The full-fledged training will begin tomorrow."
"How long does the medicine last?"
"Exactly one day."
Erendir made a sickening noise at his words.
She was already bothered by the foreign feeling in her body but when she heard that it would last one day she thought of giving up already.
To be honest, it would be a lie to say that she didn't underestimate this clinical study.
"A day will be enough to get used to the feeling, half a day, maybe even shorter, if you have some talent. You should know how to use mana in that state since the process itself is part of the experiment."
Rudger looked at the clock.
Before the full-scale experiment, he explained the ancient language and two hours passed already. It made him feel like he had another class.
"This is the end of the day. Since it's the first day, there's nothing to record."
"If we do this……It's going to be effective, right?"
Julia asked, wiping the sweat running over her forehead with a handkerchief. She was still doubtful whether it was really possible to increase mana emission in this primitive way.
"It's possible."
However, the answer that came back was determined.
"I'll show you the evidence."
Rudger released his magic by saying so.
A huge resonance rang around him and a bluish mist began to flow out and magical fog that appears when high-density mana is gathered was formed.
It was a phenomenon that could only be seen when high-ranking wizards used great magic.
"This is 50 percent of my total mana. It's exactly half."
That alone filled the lab with a bluish energy.
The students swallowed their breath and the spectators opened their eyes wide at the sight.
"It took less than two seconds to release this amount. It's a figure that far exceeds the wizard's average emissions."
Rudger's voice had a mysterious echo as if it were a man walking through a cloud in the sky.
Soon the blue mist was drawn back into Rudger's body following his will.
"If you guys follow my instructions well for the rest of the week."
Rudger, who appeared from the fog, looked at the students and said.
"You can be like this, too."
There was no answer because they were overwhelmed by Rudger's amazing performance.