When the plot-skips players into the game world
Chapter 1116 - 445: The Good and Bad His Holiness the Pope

Chapter 1116: Chapter 445: The Good and Bad His Holiness the Pope

"This is..."

Sine’s voice suddenly became excited, even his fingers were trembling slightly!

It was a fragment cast by the Geometric Celestial Marshal into the Material Realm, containing one-fifth of the Marshal’s divine power, symbolizing absolute mastery over the element of "water"—the Water’s Regular Dodecahedron!

However, as a devoted seeker of the Path of Wisdom, Sine was not overly covetous of the power it carried. Rather, "power" as a concept itself was something the Transcendents of the Path of Wisdom had rejected—a thing long abandoned.

Back when they were mere mage apprentices, just entering the Mage Tower for studies, this core philosophy had already been instilled in them—

——Spells must never be symbols of violence.

Mages must also never use spells with transcendent power to impose dominance or claim superiority over others. Furthermore, spells should never be researched or enhanced for the sole purpose of showcasing destructive capabilities—intrinsically, all spells are merely by-products of the pursuit of wisdom, a symbol of the arcane.

Just as mages discover new truths, they tend to keep these findings secret—only needing to discover and safeguard secrets, allowing others to rediscover them in time, thus attaining feedback from the Path’s power. Conversely, if a mage enjoys demonstrating their prowess in public, they will often not grow very strong.

For this reason, mages habitually maintain an air of mystery. Many who disdain the Mage Tower’s research environment choose to live secluded in deep forests, or hidden among bustling streets.

Though it’s unclear when the philosophy of "spells must not be used to showcase violence" first arose... all Mage Towers within the Narcissus Duchy follow the exact same tradition. Moreover, mages who have defied this philosophy in the past have, without exception, paid a price—even skimming the boundaries was not tolerated.

During the Fractured Land War, due to alchemists introducing numerous new inventions for combat, and with necromancers and demon scholars actively engaging in the battlefield, the peace-seeking mages grew deeply anxious.

The First Daffodil Duke of the time had dual roles—President of the Court Alchemy Association and Vice President of the Mages Association. Duke Haisin’s title as a Duke was a designation granted by the Emperor during the latter years of the Helasal Empire, making him the Empire’s final nobleman.

Yet, despite his immense power as a mage, he was not regarded as the foremost figure of the Mages Association. That honor belonged to its President, "Leonardo," recognized as the strongest mage of the Helasal Empire.

It was Leonardo who initially planned to shift his research focus toward military applications—he aimed to develop a "weapon capable of obliterating all wars."

With assistance from Haisin, he decoded the technology behind the Rune Colossi on battlefields. These alchemical creations could release devastating lasers... which later became the foundation for the automatic defense mechanisms atop Mage Towers. But this did not satisfy Great Mage Leonardo, who resolved to continue his research on weaponry until he developed a "weapon capable of annihilating anyone by anyone," thereby bringing an end to the tiresome war.

However, just when his invention was nearing completion, he inexplicably went insane, becoming a pitiful madman, and ultimately disappeared without a trace.

At first, some speculated he had been cursed, while others suspected he had been poisoned to madness by an assassin’s venom. There were even claims that envious alchemists kidnapped him to extract the locations of his remaining manuscripts... an utterly absurd theory that was quickly dismissed as mere rumor. Yet, it surprisingly became a mainstream belief among the wisdom-revering Mage Towers, inciting a century-long animosity between mages and alchemists.

The manuscripts left behind by Leonardo Tower Master became treasures but remained undisclosed out of adherence to the mages’ code of secrecy.

Only later did a select few Great Mages learn that Leonardo had become a secret envoy of the Great Sage. Yet he personally warned these select few, urging them to cease their studies concerning "power and violence."

Thus, mages have always approached the notion of "additional power" with quiet reverence, avoiding it. This even explains why, when the Stibnites invaded, mages capitulated so smoothly—since they cannot actively pursue power, what’s the point in fighting? Besides, they couldn’t win anyway.

Sine, as the chief mage, was essentially in line to become the next Tower Master. Naturally, he was aware of this strict taboo.

Nonetheless, beyond the unparalleled power of the Water’s Regular Dodecahedron, it held another unique significance!

——It is universally known that fragments of the Geometric Celestial Marshal only appear near the most intelligent scholars and inventors.

Conversely, if someone... if someone were to obtain a fragment of the Geometric Celestial Marshal, and the fragment did not escape, then that person would be recognized as the smartest scholar and inventor of the age!

Mage Tower Masters within the Narcissus Duchy are generally at the Fourth Energy Level, with only a rare few reaching the Fifth Energy Level. Yet even the Fifth Level mages must afford special respect to Sandro Tower Master.

The reason is simple—because Sandro Tower Master holds a "Fire Tetrahedron!"

He is recognized by the Geometric Celestial Marshal!

Even Sine’s teacher, the most powerful mage currently in the Narcissus Duchy—the ancient Old Mage who has survived since the founding of the Duchy, one of the few Fifth Level Mage Lords, Lord Youlan... harbors strong envy over Sandro Tower Master’s recognition by the Geometric Celestial Marshal.

More than once, he has privately cursed Sandro, claiming he was merely lucky. If this were elsewhere, Sine had no doubt that he would attempt to seize the artifact. However, this is the Narcissus Duchy, where mages are dignified individuals who act with self-respect.