"Hmm?" Tania had long since noticed that these were the potion formulas her father had always forbidden her to touch, along with a business plan for the Barto Hell potion enterprise.
"Record them, and hand these potion formulas to the Drow Elf Hiatt, who is under your brother's command. Tell her that from now on, our family's potion business will be entrusted to her," Attilicia said.
Someone has to shoulder the burden to allow others the peace to pursue their dreams and Legendary Destiny, right? The weight of that burden, of course, could not be placed upon his daughter Tania. And the Drow Hiatt was a fine choice for this task. Although this meant the quality of the potions produced might not be as high as those he made himself, and there was a risk of the formulas leaking in Barto Hell, the demand for potions there was so vast that even he, a single Dragon, could never keep up with production, even if he worked himself to death and used lich resurrection magic to extend his life. As for the formulas leaking, whether it was the [Clarity Potion] or the [Anger Potion], they were already almost common knowledge on the Elariya Plane. Besides, as long as he continued to learn, new potions would be invented. He still had that confidence in himself.
Tania suddenly gave her Dragon father a hug and said softly, "Then we'll see each other after a long sleep."
"See you after a long sleep," Attilicia patted his daughter's still tender back.
After sending Tania back to Barto Hell, Attilicia approached the old Devil Dalonas, who was leisurely lounging around. He made a formal Mage's bow and asked, "Lord Dalonas, might you teach me the Way of the Arcane?"
The old Devil Dalonas pretended not to understand. Knocking on his own head, he said, "I'm no Arcanist; I'm just a Devil."
But Attilicia replied with a smile, "I want to learn the philosophy behind your design and construction of the Soul Engine."
Dalonas narrowed his eyes, deeply examining the Silver Dragon before him, and grumbled, "Then you may have to start with 'Magic Dynamics'."
"Please, do not hesitate to teach me," Attilicia said, bowing even more humbly.
"TCH. You're the real devils here."
The old Devil felt his vacation plans were likely ruined.
「...」
Deep in the Anauroch Great Desert on the Ferren Continent, Attilicia began studying Magic Dynamics from scratch, even restoring arcane lore from excavated ancient Neisser tomes. Meanwhile, David, in a near-planetary orbit, had circled the planet Toriel thirteen times. He finally accelerated to 57,890 kilometers per hour, completely breaking free from the planet Toriel's gravity. He then launched himself toward Carpei, the closest planet beyond Toriel.
He had already transformed into a Silver Dragon using [Jealousy]. Space was frigid, and he couldn't maintain [Arrogance] mode indefinitely. However, his Silver Dragon form, being cold-aspected, allowed him to treat the extreme cold as negligible. Simultaneously, the Mana Energy Siphon glyphs carved on his scales allowed him to draw Mana Energy directly from the surrounding space to maintain a low metabolism, much like a Red Dragon slumbering in lava.
After six and a half hours, David reached the asteroid belt formed by the moon 'Suren'—the Tears of Suren. This belt, composed of countless asteroids and rocks of varying sizes, shimmered faintly in the starry sky. Each asteroid seemed gently caressed by the moon's silvery light, resembling strings of pearls floating in the night sky.
Legend said this belt was the aftermath of a great battle between Suren and her twin sister, Sar. For David, however, this was the first test of his interstellar journey. He needed to control the output from the six 'Celestial Wisdom Engines' on his wings to maneuver his body and avoid the rocks and asteroids drifting through space. At his current speed, colliding with even one would mean having to start over from scratch.
However, just as he was about to clear the Tears of Suren, David had a flash of inspiration. He used [Meteor Magic] to pull a small, relatively moving asteroid towards himself, encasing his body as if within a new eggshell. After disguising himself as a wandering 'micro-meteorite,' his nerves finally eased, and he prepared to enter the first phase of hibernation.
At his current speed, he estimated it would take roughly two years and two months to reach the planet Carpei. Using Carpei's gravitational slingshot, he would accelerate to about 90,000 kilometers per hour and then fly toward a huge water planet named Chadus by the Great Arcanist Oberon. After that, he would consecutively use the gravitational slingshots of Goss, Fern, Hekas, and a few other planets. This would increase his speed to 150,000 kilometers per hour (over 42 kilometers per second), allowing him to break free from the star's gravitational pull and head toward comets outside the star system.
This was destined to be a long and arduous journey, a test of endurance and mental fortitude—a thirty-two-year interstellar voyage. Fortunately, the old Devil Dalonas had already calculated the optimal route for him. David just needed to wake up periodically to ensure he could use each planet's gravitational slingshot to accelerate upon arrival.