n

n

nAce gave rewards to the players who attended today's event. He made sure that they will be satisfied before they left the plaza. Although it was almost midnight when everything was settled, he didn't felt sleepy as he has a lot of things in his mind.

nRegarding the

"time magic

" he pulled out today, he didn't bother telling the players to keep it as a secret since it would definitely be futile to do so.

nHe had made prior arrangements about this anyway so he didn't have to worry if all the powerful organizations learned about this later on.

n

"There's really no traces, huh...

"

nAce didn't sleep after this event as he monitored Avalon's action on the moon. In truth, he was still worrying a bit about the Celestial Being that disappeared together with the joint clan's space shuttle.

nHe just couldn't believe that they would disappear just like that. There must be an explanation...

n

"If it's really capable of hiding from Avalon, it would be a problem if it made a surprise attack... Can they even be reasoned with? They seem lawless when the prince describes their nature.

"

nThe existence of a Celestial Being was not included in his calculation at all.

nHe won't be able to relax until he was sure that the being had either perished on that explosion or confirmed that it meant no harm to his plans.

n

"Avalon, how long do we have to wait until can we launch another spaceship?

"

n The new supplies from Veda and other suppliers will arrive three days from now. We can launch another spaceship once the supplies for the Moon Base was completed.

n

"Three days, huh... Very well. Always monitor your surroundings there. We'll take action against the vanguard once I arrived there.

"

n Affirmative.

n

"Oh... By the way, don't stop creating spaceships here. We will just send it there if there's no longer any space here.

"

n Affirmative. Adjusting priorities...

nAce had limited space in his territory, he couldn't just dock all his spaceships here as he needed to create tons of them.

nHe then proceeded to make arrangements here and left some messages for his senior apprentice, Miss Yumi, and the others.

nHe was really thankful to these ladies helping him deal with the politics involved in all of his creations.

nHe remembered that due to recent plans of creating a couple more Mage Towers by some powerful organizations in the country, there should be a shortage of top-class Mana Stones in the market. This was also one of the key components in his recent creations.

nHe was almost unable to procure enough supplies in time.

nFortunately, after he consulted it to his senior, it didn't take long before his other senior apprentices, who were unable to visit here because of their recent projects, managed to give him a supply from a different channel.

nWell, Veda may be able to acquire them from different countries, but the time it takes would be a very long one so it was a good thing that he managed to deal with it and got a better option.

nAce smiled wryly as he realized that there were a lot more people that he owes a favor.

nBeep! Beep!

nThe young man squinted his eyes after hearing that particular sound of notification. He had a sudden feeling on who was on the other line.

nHe checked his communication device and noticed that it was from Wallace and he was being contacted now through Veda's help!

n'What took you so long?!' Ace exclaimed in his mind after confirming his thought.

nHe was hoping that Wallace would be able to give him an exact time about his arrival in case he was still planning on staying at the northern continent.

nAside from that, he wanted to get a clear line of communication.

n'Good timing... I should make him aware of the vanguard....'

nAce thought as he accepted the connection.

n***

n

"That was fun!

" Hilda cheerfully said after leaving the Mt. Raven.

nThey learned many things about this event and they even gained some rewards. It was honestly a bit embarrassing for them to receive such gifts without giving something in exchange.

nThe gift contains some mana artifacts that Ace made while practicing, there were also pieces of information about mana formations and arrays that came from Veda and some memory crystals regarding magic technology depending on their luck.

nAce truly wanted to give them enough exposure to these types of knowledge.

nAfter all, he believes that the fusion of magic and technology was the key to this era's prosperity. Although it would take time, it was better than doing nothing.

nIn the end, Ace told the players that they only have to play the game seriously and learn everything that it could offer in exchange for the gifts they receive. That would be enough for him to get satisfied and this made players even more passionate about the game.

n

"That was surely fun... I still can't believe that there was someone capable of reaching the moon... That's so awesome... Do you think that we'll receive an offer from him? I mean, I probably did better during my simulation test...

"

nEscanor said after a while.

nThe Academy wasn't lacking in their teaching methods and he was only thinking that getting hired by the Traceless Hands would give him more excitement and allow him to learn more things.

nAfter all, Wallace was just a student and he was already capable of managing his time and doing incredible things. Escanor may not be capable of copying his senior's achievement but he believes that he'll benefit a lot by working for him.

n

"Well... We can't use the game's leaderboard as a reference... Sigh~ I really thought that it was a real event, you know? Anyway, I'm not sure if I could get an offer... Though I'm actually curious about what's in the contract he wanted us to sign...

"

n

"Maybe some nondisclosure thing. There would surely be a lot of secrets that he had to reveal once you're hired. Who knows? Maybe that time magic and huge ramp might be involved...

"

n

"Lina, now that you said it, it does make sense. He would definitely not allow just anyone to learn the secrets of his creations. Haha! I would no longer be surprised if he just suddenly showed us another project... like having sentient machines or something similar...

"

n

"That would be absurd. His current automatons were already capable of answering tens of questions. That's already impressive. If it could really have sentience, he would no longer be considered as a human.

"

n

"Haha! Of course... I'm only telling.

"

nEscanor said as he shakes his head while remembering his conversation with the automatons during the other's magical one-minute-test...

n***

nSomewhere very far from the Mt Raven.

nA strong wind came that even the birds were unable to steadily fly.

nHowever, a young man with short gray hair stood calmly and embraced the wind.

nIt seems that he was enjoying the dangerous breeze that could cut even an average human into many pieces.

nThe young man was the real Wallace and he was still on the northern continent, however, he was now standing on a floating island and it is going to the southern continent's direction.

n