Leonard stood where he was, a trace of pain on his face.
This time, the information was different from the previous two times.
Before, when he came into contact with the mysterious symbol, a huge amount of information had also poured into his mind, but most of it had remained unused, settling quietly in his head without causing any disturbance.
Only a small portion of it had formed the inheritance of ancient magic, telling Leonard how to cast a particular ancient spell.
But this time was different.
The vast amount of information that had accumulated before began rolling and reorganizing inside Leonard's mind, stacking together like building blocks until it formed a complete memory he could actually read.
This process was far more painful than simple information input. Leonard felt as though his brain were like a computer trying to run Minecraft at maximum settings, on the verge of burning out at any moment.
Fortunately, the pain came fast and went fast. All the information in his mind finished reorganizing in that instant, turning into readable fragments of memory.
Those memory fragments took the initiative to connect with Leonard's consciousness, unfolding scene after scene inside his mind.
The earth trembled. The sky churned. The whole world seemed to rise and fall like it was caught in a vast tide, while some invisible force seemed to be fading away.
Silver light blazed between heaven and earth as figures like gods gathered together. They seemed to be discussing something, but the silver radiance around them blocked the sound, preventing Leonard from hearing what they were saying.
Then, as if they had reached a decision, they raised their hands and drew all that silver light together.
The light converged, carrying symbols full of meaning. Those symbols came together between the silver figures and forged a silver sphere wrapped in mysterious runes.
The magic inside that sphere shifted back and forth between crimson and silver, and terrifying power surged around it.
By then, the radiance around the silver figures had already faded, but their true appearances were still impossible to see. Once the silver glow receded, the figures quickly vanished one by one, leaving only that silver-white sphere suspended in the air.
Then, as if the tide were going out, the magic in heaven and earth began to recede. The silver sphere seemed to have suffered a serious blow as well, and slight gaps appeared in the mysterious symbols on its surface.
After that, the sphere fell into the earth and vanished without a trace.
The scene shifted.
Inside a vast cavern, a twisted monster made of mysterious symbols let out a miserable scream and collapsed. It gradually dispersed, and in the end became the corpse of a goblin.
Chaotic crimson magic swirled through the air. A shadowy figure with an indistinct face waved a wand, gathering the magic together until it became that familiar silver-white sphere once more.
Only now, its surface was covered in cracks, and silver-white or crimson magic kept leaking out from within.
"This kind of magic... should remain buried in history."
A voice that could not be identified as male or female rang out. The figure raised the wand and poured all of their magic into the sphere, repairing the mysterious symbols on its surface.
At last, everything returned to nothingness.
Leonard watched those scenes, and deep shock rose in his heart.
Those images seemed to point to the origin and end of ancient magic, the process by which a sphere created by a group of ancient wizards, one that contained immense magical power, had its seal broken and was then sealed again.
The images faded, then gathered once more, only this time they showed a group of wizards.
Those wizards stood atop a high mountain, looking down with pity at the land scarred by drought and the people suffering from famine.
They raised their wands high, and the power of ancient magic surged. Streak after streak of silver-white light flew across the sky, eventually turning into vast clouds that covered the blazing sun.
Then rain poured down in torrents, each drop carrying magical power.
Withered trees put forth new branches and buds. Grass grew again across the barren earth. Illness retreated, and the wounds of the injured closed and healed.
That was where the vision ended.
Leonard slowly opened his eyes, and a flash of silver light passed through them.
A completely new ancient spell, something that could almost be called a miracle.
It promotes plant growth, restores injuries, cures disease. It really is an all-purpose support spell, Leonard thought to himself in amazement.
Only then did he notice Dumbledore standing beside him, quietly watching and waiting.
"You're awake? No problems, I hope?" Dumbledore asked.
Leonard shook his head. "I'm perfectly fine. Just a little dazed."
Dumbledore nodded and did not press him further, giving Leonard enough respect.
"Headmaster, now that you're standing right next to me, I suppose we should go into the ruins next," Leonard said with a slightly awkward smile.
His relationship with Dumbledore was only average. They were not close enough to share information freely. If it had been Midgard, Leonard would definitely have been eager to tell her everything he had seen and heard, but if it was Dumbledore... better not.
After all, this clue seemed pretty important. At the very least, Leonard now understood why ancient magic had disappeared completely.
From what he had seen, those silver-white figures were ancient wizards. They had created spheres filled with powerful ancient magic, seemingly intending to seal them away.
But for some unknown reason, the spheres had been damaged, their power had leaked out, and in the end they had fallen to the ground.
Over the long ages that followed, who knew what had happened. But that dead goblin was most likely Ranrok, the one who had nearly overturned wizard rule. He had stolen that power, only to be defeated by the last Heir to Ancient Magic.
In the end, that Heir to Ancient Magic had fully sealed the sphere of ancient magic, cut off the leakage, and caused ancient magic itself to vanish entirely from history.
Why had that predecessor decided to seal away ancient magic? What had he gone through to make that choice? Leonard had no way of knowing.
But Leonard believed that if Dumbledore learned what that predecessor had done, he would likely stop the exploration altogether and demand that Leonard stop pursuing ancient magic.
Dumbledore was a cautious, upright wizard. Since that predecessor had chosen to seal ancient magic away, Dumbledore would probably respect that choice as well.
But Leonard was not some upright person.
Give up power like this?
Dream on.
He did not know how powerful those ancient wizards had truly been, but their godlike bearing had been more than enough to tempt him.
They were gods.
The eternal youth, immortality, and indestructibility Leonard pursued might very well lie with those so-called ancient wizards.
So Leonard decided to keep this from Dumbledore for now and finish exploring the ancient magic ruins first.
He had to find that sphere containing the power of ancient magic and obtain that overwhelming power.
...