"Yes, you can."
"What? Really?"
"You can choose to walk the Bloodline Sorcerer Path, which is considered an alternate form of the Mage Path," Professor Burbank nodded. "By altering your DNA and implanting the bloodline of a powerful lifeform, you can acquire many of their unique talents and powers. It's a broad, powerful path with many influential individuals. For example, Lord Drakken is a Red Dragon Bloodline Sorcerer."
"I'm suddenly invested. Professor, can you explain in more detail?"
"We will have a class on the different extraordinary paths, but for now, let's focus on the history lesson. Any more questions on the Abyss Epoch?"
"I'm currently interested in the state of the Abyss Dimension now," a student asked. " For an unknown reason, the Sage did not completely wipe them out. Surely, they are now under strict supervision?"
"Yes, and no," the professor replied. "The Abyss Dimension is still a scourge on the Astral Cosmos, invading and destroying countless dimensions. However, once in a while, all top civilizations will gather for the [Abyss Purge] to drastically reduce their population."
"What's the point of doing all that? Wouldn't it be better to just isolate these things and prevent them from harming other dimensions?"
"I have no idea why the Sages have chosen to do things this way, but that's how they are, "Professor Burbank shrugged.
"I don't like that."
"Me too."
"But we're powerless to do anything about it."
"A sad truth."
"We're powerless now, but what about the future?"
"Do we have a future?"
"Don't be so pessimistic. Other dimensions have successfully resisted; why can't we?"
"That's easy to say, but …"
"Alright, if no one has any more questions, we will move on," Professor Burbank proclaimed.
"I have a question that's been plaguing me."
"Go ahead, Ms. Laury."
"Is there really no 7th-tier path for Knights?"
Professor Burbank glanced at the student who had spoken; he remembered that she had previously said she had a boyfriend in the Knight Program.
"Technically speaking, there is a complete Knight Path from Tier 7 to a Knight Sage."
"Then, how come all professors claim the knight path ends at Tier 6?"
"It's because those paths are not accessible," Professor Burbank replied. "The [Militas Dimension], also called the [Knight World], has created a complete Knight Path. Unfortunately, due to their history as survivors from the Gremor Empire, they are extremely xenophobic and have a deep hatred for magic.
"They refused to share their knowledge with any other dimensions. More importantly, they are very aggressive about the Knight Path. They will not only hunt down and wage a civilization-wide war against anyone who uses their path, but in the past, they would even attack any civilization that created its own 7th Tier Knight Path. Luckily, pressure from the other Sages stopped their extreme actions, but even to this day, they still try to interfere in other ways.
"And given how difficult it is to truly break the limit of the flesh — which is the inherent flaw of the Knight Path — most civilizations will not spend too many resources on creating a new path when there are easily available options such as the Divine Path."
"Sir, we now know only an Archmage of Tier 7 Transcendent can deal with Demon Lord Shakurri. The tower must have a plan for knights to reach Tier 7, right?"
"Yes."
"Does it only involve the Divine Path?"
"Yes and no. The tower will analyze Earth's situation, and based on how things proceed, they will determine whether the Divine Path is the best choice for you guys."
"I see. Thank you for clarifying."
Professor Burbank nodded. He answered a few more questions before continuing with the class.
"We are currently in the Eighth Epoch, and as of now, there has not been a defining moment, race, or civilization associated with the Epoch, which has resulted in quite the controversy about the name. There have been a few events — two, in particular — but no one can come to a general consensus."
The professor changed the hologram to show a small goblin piloting this large mech with a spherical main body and elongated limbs. Runes flashed across the mech, and they seemed to resonate with a blue glow around the mech's heart.
"Goblin Engineering had become highly popular and sought after during the war against the Abyss, and at the beginning of this epoch, it had reached its pinnacle. It spread to every corner of the Astral Cosmos. Countless top civilizations bought or had direct contact with the goblin race. Alchemists who graduated from Goblin Schools were highly sought after. And in many places, it was considered high-class or high-society to utilize goblin technology.
"Then, the goblins turned on everybody. They proclaimed themselves the successors to the Gremor Empire and launched a rapid invasion across countless dimensions, breaking numerous peace treaties.
"The worst part is that everybody realized that the goblins had left a hidden command inside their technology, which not only allowed them to gather data — primarily world coordination — from everybody they sold to, but also turned on their owners. Most civilizations were caught off guard, and the goblins missed this opportunity; they used the momentum from the betrayal to conquer a significant portion of the cosmos.
"Luckily, the Sages reacted swiftly this time, forming a coalition to deal with them. The Goblin Incursion ended in their defeat, and the goblins were prepared to sign a humiliating surrender treaty. However, Sage Lamar fiercely rejected any compromise. It's understandable since her homeland was destroyed in the war.
"However, since the majority of Sages had agreed, there was nothing she could do — or so everybody thought. As a Shaman Sage, she was well-versed in curses, and she placed a nasty curse in the very source of the goblin's bloodline. To this day, that curse is famous throughout the Astral Cosmos:
"From this day forward, you will be beasts of lesser intelligence. You will crave raw meat and give in to your lesser instincts. You will lose your spoken tongue, one of the very essences of your civilization. You will treat your young even worse than animals. And more importantly, from now on, the gift of mana will be stripped from your essence; you will never experience its wonder again, generation after generation, until the end of time."
"What a bone-chilling curse."
"Maybe, but I feel it was warranted."
"Is it though? So many war-mongering and genocidal civilizations in the cosmos, and their ending was probably not as terrible as this."
"Sir, I've met a few goblins, and they seemed perfectly fine," a student asked.
"That's because a few of their surviving [Sages] sacrificed their life to protect some of their homeworld. Unfortunately, that only saved less than 10% of the entire goblin — I mean, hobgoblin — population."
"Sir, how can someone curse an entire race's bloodline?"
"That's the power of a Sage."
"Sir, that's not much of an answer."
"And why do you think a 3-ring mage would know how a Sage's power operates?"
"Hmm, that's true."
"Anyway, the Goblin Incursion occurred in the year 1876th of the Modern Epoch, and ended in Year 5808," Professor Burbank continued. "Two hundred years later, the second major event occurred. Weary of the constant state of war of the Astral Cosmos, Sage Neutralis weaved Dimension Law 9ZP3 into the fabric of the universe to give hope to smaller and weaker civilizations."
"We're finally getting to talk about that law? I have so many questions."
"You're not the only one. Chapter 6 is very vague about it."
"Go ahead, Mr. Ericson," Professor Burbank nodded.
"Before, I assumed this law was something countless civilizations agreed on. But now that I know it's a form of magic, my first question: why does someone need to activate? Why can't the law be activated as soon as a dimension is invaded?"
Professor Burbank briefly paused, "Because the Sages modified it to be as such."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know. What I do know is that, in its original form, Dimension Law 9ZP3 was a tangible power of hope. Once a dimension was invaded, the power of hope would condense into a Guardian Spirit to protect and aid the defender.
"Many Sages did not like this as it interfered with their race or civilization acquiring resources. They tried to eliminate Law 9ZP3, but Sage Neutralis was one of the strongest, and he had allies. The topic became contentious, even showing signs of major division and conflict. Everybody was still reeling from the Global Incursion, so a compromise was made.
"Dimension Law 9ZP3 was modified, and a Supplementary Accord was established. The result was the current 'business model,' for lack of a better term, in which different factions or groups would take on the task of helping these civilizations in place of the Guardian Spirit."
"…Since it's a business, what does the tower get out of this?" someone asked.
Professor Burbank was silent.
"They can extract Earth's resources," Zane commented.
"Resources? What resources do we have?"
"Gold," someone replied. "That's why they limit the use of Earth currency, but not gold."
"But, is gold useful to a magical civilization?"
"They use regular ores and alloys, but I've also read in the library that Alchemists can turn regular minerals into magical ores: copper can turn into copper essence, silver can turn into mithril, and gold can be converted into divine gold."
"It's probably not just gold. I've read that raw diamonds make the best material for soul gems; they seemed better than artificially created diamonds or lab-made ones. And I think we've only scratched the surface of how valuable our resources are."
"You have no idea."
"What do you mean?"
"All of you are thinking about the variety of resources on Earth, but forget the quantity. Do you understand how vast the universe is? How many rare minerals does it have? Approximately 200,000 tons of gold have been mined throughout Earth's history. But a few random asteroids just in our solar system could have a deposit of millions of tons."
Everybody took a deep breath. Anyone with a basic understanding of astrology knows the Solar System is small and insignificant compared to the observable universe, yet it has so many available resources. Then, how wealthy is the Earth Dimension?
"It's really not easy teaching these civilizations with a well-developed education system," Professor Burbank sighed. In the last assignment, he only had to teach these ignorant and poor farmers who were just happy they had enough to eat. How could they have figured out so much in just one conversation? The intelligent ones who did were too timid to reveal it out loud.
"Alright, let's settle down," the professor stated. "The tower is a business, and all businesses must recoup costs and make a profit. And as one of the best in this line of work, we follow all the rules of the Supplementary Accord, which prevents the forceful extraction and acquisition of resources.
"More importantly, our leader — Sage Firenz — was a major supporter of Sage Neutralis. He created the Dimension Tower because he shared Sage Neutralis' belief that all dimensions have the right to survive, and to serve as an example for others in this business on how to conduct themselves."
"That's such a PR answer," Zane thought. Regardless, it's still a good thing that the tower has directly expressed its opinion. Business requires good press, which is a kind of limit or shackle. He raised his hand: "Sir, can we see the exact wording of Law 9ZP3 and the Supplementary Accord?"
"I'm sorry, but that's a privilege reserved only for Grand Mages."
Zane sighed, not surprised by this answer. Based on how Madam Valeria acted, he had a feeling this would be the case.