Future Edward created two methods for the Magic Domain, and Present Edward decided to test the first one. So, he entered an enchanted room to prevent his destructive power from affecting the outside.
He decided to let his inner nerd out, so he made a sign on his hand and said: "Domain Expansion: World of Magic."
The surrounding space changed, and Edward found himself in an empty space with nothing inside. However, there was so much mana inside this space. Moreover, each piece of mana contained his imprint, granting him absolute control of this small space.
[Fireball]
Edward used a basic elemental spell. He looked at the fireball before him. Because of the intense concentration of mana in this space, the power of this spell was at least 20% stronger.
"This Domain method has too many flaws."
This technique is only an application of Sealing Magic. He used seals to create a contained space. Then, he scattered his own mana in the space while also branding the mana with his Soul Imprint, granting him absolute control.
The intense concentration of mana in this place increases any spells used. Furthermore, the combination of the mana concentration and imprint made it very difficult for any form of energy to exist in this place.
However, the flaw of this technique is that it requires too much mana. The Arcanist has to infuse too much of their mana into the sealed place, leaving little for them.
Of course, all decent Arcanists have mastered some Sorcerer's technique, so they can still manipulate the mana in the surrounding. And even if they did not, it is easy to accomplish since the mana has its imprints.
'The most important flaw is this domain is too easily destroyed,' analyzed Edward. His purpose in creating the Domain is to compete with the Gods' Divine Kingdom.
Although a projection, the Divine Kingdom is extremely powerful and could easily destroy the sealing technique that is the core of this technique. Lastly, Edward hoped for Arcanist's Domain to compete with the real Divine Kingdom.
And that's not an easy task.
From the information he gathered, Gods are omnipotent in their Divine kingdom. Anyone who invades will be immediately suppressed if not killed.
A Tier 9 God can seal a Tier 10 God in their Divine Kingdom if they can cut the Tier 10 God's access to their Divine Kingdom.
One of the many aspects that made the Gods one of the most powerful races is that they have absolute power in their Divine Kingdom.
So, as long as they decide to hide there, it is thousand times more difficult to kill them.
Right now, the only method he has to deal with Divine Kingdoms is to bomb it into smithereens from the outside with his Floating City. However, he has not tested this method yet, so he is not completely sure.
He feared the Divine Kingdom could use projection to affect the functions of the Floating City. So, he needs a Domain to counter this ability.
Furthermore, he thought it would be cool to humiliate some snobby God by invading their Divine Kingdoms and killing them inside.
'Jujutsu Sorcerers have to incorporate their Curse Technique into the Seal Space, thus creating their Domain Expansion,' analyzed Edward. 'However, Arcanists have many spells, and it would be meaningless to incorporate one spell into the seals.
'And based on future me's experiment, the Seal Space can fuse with 7 Spells.'
Curse energy is different from mana, the same method cannot be used to fuse spells into the domain as a curse technique. The answer Future Edward derived was using the sealed space as an artifact and enchanting it.
However, the problem with this method is that only 7 spells can be enchanted, which is not nearly enough for the versatile fighting mode of Arcanists.
Then, there is the issue that the Domain would require knowledge about Artificer and Enchanting before any Arcanist can use it. As such, Future Edward removed this technique from the final version and left notes about it.
'This Domain Expansion is perfect for Wizards or Warlocks who have a few spells and master them to a terrifying level.
"Aren't you embarrassed?" asked Morgana after seeing her boss's Chunibyo moment.
"No," replied Edward calmly.
"You should be."
"One of the qualities needed to be an Emperor and a Harem Seeker is to be shameless; to have thick skins as the easterners say."
"Well, I'm embarrassed for you."
"That's your problem," he replied. "Alright, let's test the second method."
To prove what he was saying before, he placed his hand together and said: "Domain Expansion: The Embodiment of Truth."
The surroundings changed the same way as before. However, he was not in an empty space. Instead, Edward found himself sitting on a golden throne with a towing gate behind him.
The gate contained symbols of different religions associated with knowledge and truth, like a single eye, a triangle, and the lotus.
At the foot of the throne were two bookshelves full of books. Additionally, there were many books floating in the sky and others scattered on the ground.
And like the previous domain, the environment was full of mana.
"Beautifully done," commented Edward as he observed his surroundings. His future self took into account the previous domain's flaw of incorporating many spells and found a solution.
And the answer to this problem was the Soul Dimension. The source of all Arcanist's spells is their Soul Dimension; it is the place they construct runes or magic models when casting spells.
So, Future Edward created a way for Arcanists to project their Soul Dimension into the real world–similar to Divine Kingdoms. This method is brilliant since Arcanists also have absolute power or control in their soul Dimension.
Edward's Domain Expansion looked this way because of his Soul Dimension. Under its influence, the domain took the shape of something that represents his core values, a manifestation of his essence.
He has a throne because he is an Emperor. Of course, if he has the ambition to become an Emperor, the Domain Expansion would also show one even if he was not.
Edward loves knowledge and the pursuit of truth, hence the gate and books.
[Fireball]
A massive fireball appeared in the large space. Upon closer observation, he saw one of the books on the sky flip its page.
"The boost in power is at least 40%," he uttered with shining eyes. The boost to his spell was not only the result of mana in the air, but from a mysterious power originating deep from his soul.
'So, the Domain Expansion can also mobilize some of the power of the Soul Flame,' he analyzed. He knew the source of the extra boost and believed once he fully understood the Soul Flame, this boost might also increase.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"The idea and execution are great, but the flaw is even worse than the first method," commented Morgana.
"Indeed."
According to Future Edward's tests, the projection of the Soul Dimension has no power and cannot affect the real world. So, he tried to fuse it with the Seal Space to create the Domain. Sadly, this method failed.
So, he tried many methods to sustain the projection and allow it to have an effect on the real world. In the end, he found that it could work if he created a pocket dimension and fused it with the projection.
And upon success, he created this domain.
However, this is the core issue. To cast this domain, an Arcanist would need to be able to instantly create a pocket dimension. Unfortunately, besides Edward, there are only 50 Space Arcanists in the Empire with this capability.
Space Magic is already a rare form of magic, let alone people with great achievements capable of instantly creating pocket dimensions.
Even if this domain required prep time, allowing a person to create the pocket dimension first before fusing the Soul Dimension's projection, not many people would meet the requirement to use it–unless they ask someone else or the Empire to create a pocket dimension for themselves.
As such, although this method is brilliant, it is also not applicable.
"At least we know what direction to work toward," added Morgana.
"True."
The next step to achieve a Complete Domain Expansion is to find a way for the Soul Dimension Projection to require no medium–just like the Divine Kingdom.
The next day:
Edward walked out of the room and immediately saw the team waiting for him.
"You should have made a decision?"
"Yes," replied Tobias. "We accept your offer."
After seeing how the Arcanist effortlessly decimated these top reincarnators, he knew he had no choice. So, he talked to the team and tried to convince him. Luckily, no one was stupid enough to refuse or pass on such a great opportunity.
"Excellent," replied Edward before taking out the Cube Artifacts and giving each person one–except for one person, Kingsley.
"What about me?" asked the Technomancer.
"Your situation is different," explained Edward. "You don't have a Soul Dimension, and based on my current technology level, I cannot guarantee I can hide from the Lord God."
"What does that mean for me and the mission?"
"You will be a dormant spy," explained Edward. "I will erase most of your memories and save them. Then, after studying your case and gathering more technology from the Samsara Hall, I will send one of them to contact you and 'activate' you."
Edward sighed. His previous plan for Kingsley was to create an artificial Soul Dimension for him. Unfortunately, he was not confident in hiding it from the Samsara Hall and the Purple-Robe Daoist.
So, he has to wait until he understands Kingsley's weird situation of why he is not affected by the rules of other Universes. He also has to wait for the Empire's soul technology to reach the same height as the magical side.
Luckily, he already has a direction of research. When he asked Kingsley why he did not have a soul, the latter once mentioned the soul was the result of quantum mechanics, the complex interactions of subatomic particles within the brain.
So, he will study how to hide information in these subatomic particles and their intricate interactions, achieving the same result as the Soul Dimension's Fourth Layer.
"As you wish," said Kingsley calmly. According to his analysis, being a dormant spy is safer in the early years because of his innocent status or lack of information.
He will be the same Kingsley before he meets the Arcanist until he awakens.
"So, what's next?" asked Tobias after fusing with the cube. He tried to find it inside his body with his Observation Haki, but it was futile.
Edward did not immediately answer him.
"Morgana, did you get all the coordinates I asked for?"
"I should finish calculating them tomorrow."
"Alright." He looked at the group. "I will leave this timeline tomorrow. You guys should return to God Space and wait until your next mission to contact.
"The Purple Robe Daoist should be keeping watch on you, so wait until a couple of missions before contacting me. Now, you only need to act normally."
"I'm nervous," said Michelle.
"You don't have to be," reassured Edward. He had his reasons for saying that. The artifact he gave them will be quite handy. His future self programmed it to do a variety of things, including subtly influencing their mind to be calmer in stressful situations.
It will also prevent their facial expressions and body language from changing and revealing certain information. Finally, it can even blur or seal their memories of this event, making it seem as if they knew nothing.
After reassuring the group, he proceeded to deal with the final preparations. He made it look as if he did light experiments on all the captured reincarnators–including Tobias' group.
Then, after Morgana got the coordinates for worlds like Fate, One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, World of Warcraft, Underworld, Resident Evil, and Rebirth of the 8th Circle Wizard, he left this timeline.
…
As soon as Edward left, the Samsara Hall sent a message that the mission in this world was terminated and all reincarnators would return immediately.
A white light enveloped Tobias, and after opening his eyes, he immediately discovered something was wrong. After every mission, he would return to his personal room, a pocket dimension over which he has complete control.
And by using Samsara Points, he can design the room however he wishes; he could turn it into an experiment room or a divine place like Asgard. His personal room imitated Water Seven from one piece and was full of training places like Gravity Room.
However, he was now in an all-white room with many others; to be precise, with all the people who participated in the previous mission–including the Tier 8 Reincarnators.
He saw an enormous light that was scanning everyone's presents. So, a look of worry and fear appeared on his face. His movement was so natural that Tobias himself did not notice any anomaly.
Everything proceeded normally until the scanning light reached two people. Tobias recognized these two–Tamat and Bai Li.
Suddenly, something came out of these two's bodies and appeared in this white room. Every reincarnators recognized this person as the Arcanist who captured them.
Then, they realized why this Arcanist did nothing to them besides a few experiments–he wanted to use these top reincarnators to invade the God Space.
As soon as Edward's clones appeared, they did not waste time and began bombarding this place with powerful spells. So, hundreds of magic circles appeared in the sky, bombarding the white space with terrible attacks.
Unfortunately, a mysterious power appeared and easily dealt with his attacks. Then, a strange fluctuation emanated from the room, and the clone stopped. They discovered their mana stopped working.
'Anti-Magic?' thought of the clones before sneering. They converted the mana inside their bodies into different energy before continuing their bombardment.
The clones made it look as if their only objective was to get out of this place and access the highest secrets of the Samsara Hall. However, they could not leave the room, and the power of the Samsara Hall would use ways to deal with whatever energy they switched to.
In the end, the clones acted ruthlessly and attacked the reincarnators; they had no reserve in their desire to use these people as pawns. Luckily, according to his calculations, the Samsara Hall intervened and saved these people.
However, this was not Edward's final trump card. Before leaving, he secretly went to the reincarnators' planet and gave the clones he left in their bodies some Void Energy.
He processed this Void Energy to suppress the Creation Characteristics and boost the Destruction and Space-Time. So, when the clones used it, it was truly a weapon of pure chaos and destruction.
Unfortunately, even this attempt failed.
The power from the Samsara Hall became more intense and easily dealt with these Void Energies. In the end, the clones exploded themselves and erased all traces of their existence.
Then, the group stayed in the white room for more than 8 hours before they were allowed to leave.
Blank Realm, the space between dimensions or timeline:
"Fail?" muttered Edward as he sensed the fate of his clones. Although he wished they could achieve something, his main objective was to use them as a distraction and remove suspicions from Tobias' group.
Of course, he also used them to gather more information. During their mad bombing of the white space, the clones were also gathering data by scanning the surroundings.
"Well, it doesn't matter since the first step is completed," muttered Edward before returning to his timeline.
Although he was only gone for a few days, it felt like years because of how much happened in such a short time. Plus, he missed Tsunade's blessed asse…face; yes, he missed her beautiful face.
After returning, Edward felt peaceful. Then, he also felt a sense of repulsion from the entire universe.
"It seems I don't have much time left."
He knew the Universe Will was beginning to reject his presence in this universe and wished to expel or banish him. Luckily, he still has time to do a few more things as he waits for his ride to come pick him up.
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