n

n

nIt is of utmost importance to learn the affiliation of any human they've met.

nThe customs of the Galactic Federation and Meredith Empire, the two superpowers of the galaxy, were different.

nBecause of this, Ace immediately identified himself to the Arians so they could relax a bit in front of him.

n

"I'm Wallace Ravencroft… I'm not from the Federation or the Empire right now… But you can say that I'm leaning towards the Galactic Federation. You don't have to be too wary of me. I don't intend to do any harm from you people…

"

nHe decided not to use

"Heather

" in the meantime as Captain Heather's Zymeth Spaceship was known throughout the galaxies. Ace wanted to avoid getting connected with them at this time until he managed to gain their complete trust.

nAce has already removed his bio-armor so they could clearly see his face.

n

"Wallace? Ravencroft?

"

nThe Arians behind Shreguc muttered softly as if they were trying to recall someone with that name.

nTheir memories were good but they couldn't remember any outstanding person with such a name.

nAnyway, they were still surprised seeing a human here and have many questions in their minds. It was the same for Ace. He planned to discuss something with them that might be helpful when the other forces of the Empire had finally arrived here.

nAfter all, they only wanted the destruction of the relic, which was believed to be the

"Cube of Paradox

" based on Avalon's deduction. Their goals were entirely different from the Empire itself.

n

"I'm Shreguc Stoutsnarl. I'm the Captain of… Ugh… I'm now only managing this warship called Omen. May I ask if you're a servant of the Xeno Collective?

"

n

"Servant?

"

nAce realized that they were still thinking this way. He couldn't blame them as no one really tried explaining the details to them.

nVeda used them as test subjects while Avalon just used them as a labor force to build the fortress.

nThese people couldn't decline because their weapons and all other types of advanced equipment were confiscated. Aside from that, they were also guarded by several Mech Frames and automatons.

nThey were obviously prisoners or more like workers for the

"Collective

".

n

"I guess we'll have a lot of explaining to do…

"

nIf Ace wanted their full cooperation, he must also try to gain their trust so that they wouldn't work half-heartedly. He wanted them to become even more productive today and in the future.

nWhile this was all happening, the magicians were getting used to their spacesuits not worrying whether it would be damaged or destroyed completely.

n

"Wind Enchant - Haste!

"

n

"Earth Enchant - Protection!

"

n

"Prime - Focus Shot

"

n

"Archon – Earth Bind!

"

n

"Rock Storm!

"

n

"Ice Blade

"

n

"Petrification!

"

nThe magicians started casting Grade 1 spells and targeted the dummies within the arena they were at. There were hundreds of these dummies so they didn't have to worry about not getting one.

nAs they got used to the control of their mana, they started casting Grade 2 spells, and finally, several Magicians cast their Grade 3 spells.

n

"Ugh… I won't do this again…

"

n

"My head hurts… Aahhh~ Casting Grade 3 spells without amplification and support of the world's mana is too difficult even for me…

"

n

"That's true, we should only cast Grade 3 spells if we're in an extremely tough spot…

"

n

"Maybe we can try to cast one with the cooperation of five magicians?

"

n

"That's a good idea…

"

nGrade 3 spells weren't impossible to cast by just using the magician's internal mana. However, it would exhaust too much of their energy if their Mana Artifact couldn't help them handle all the burden it could cause, or the spell was too large that it might require the support of the world's mana to stabilize them.

nThis practice lasted for a couple of hours and felt extremely satisfying. They learned the limit of their spacesuits and created a guide of their own when using their magic.

n

"Hilda! Is everything alright? You look exhausted?

"

nRay Penber asked as he noticed Hilda was listlessly looking around the arena.

nThe latter nodded as she showed her hands holding a Mana Stone.

nIt was slowly regenerating her Mana but while doing so, she was also studying the Mana Formation and Array that was supporting the arena.

nThe materials used to build the Arena were already at the top of its class but the formation and array that was used were also incredible.

n

"I heard that we're the first magicians who had arrived here. Even Wallace said that it was his first time…

"

nHilda said which confused Ray… Their other friends had also gathered as they replenished their mana.

nLina and Escanor understood what Hilda was trying to say…

n

"Do you think that Wallace built this place and sent it here even before his first official space launch program?

"

n

"That's impossible… Something this big would be noticed by the Grand Arcanists or Grand Sage of our country… Even the neighboring countries would have no problem detecting this…

"

nThey were trying to find out the origin of this place because the existence of mana formation and the array should be unique to their world as per their Virtual World education.

n

"I don't think that those orange people can use mana.

"

n

"Oh? How did you know that, Lina?

"

n

"Err… I tried using a bit of mana to test them but they did not respond at all…

"

nNormally, Mana Shells would immediately manifest when a mana practitioner had sensed foreign mana coming close to them. However, these orange people were oblivious to the fact that they were being surrounded by mana a while ago.

n

"Then, who made these solid Mana formations and arrays?

"

nThis question made them silent again to think of an answer. The appearance of the Mech Frames and Automatons here wasn't surprising to them since it can be controlled from afar…

nBuilding things together with the orange people should be something easy for them. However, anything that was related to Formation and Arrays must be done by Magicians as far as they were aware of.

nAvalon who had heard everything remained silent and would not answer even if it was asked.

nAfter all, the secret of those special automatons who made these possible was related to Wallace's Divine Sense and the Memory Crystals.

n