Within the Academy, there is a road that extends out from the Church of the Cuckoo. Only by following this route can one reach the true academy classrooms via the great waterwheel.
Along this unavoidable path lies a stone bridge—but at the far end of that bridge is a forbidden zone, a place into which academy sorcerers are not permitted to tread.
For at the end of the bridge, on a stretch of desolate wasteland, resides one of the Alabaster Lords, a being renowned for its destructive power.
Anyone who rashly trespasses into that area will be attacked without mercy.
It is said that this Alabaster Lord was once Radahn's teacher, later brought back to the Academy.
Yet there is also another theory—that this Alabaster Lord was not Radahn's instructor at all, but rather one who came to the Academy for some other purpose entirely.
After imprisoning the Queen, the Academy's sorcerers attempted several times to launch assaults against the Alabaster Lord, but each attempt ended inconclusively.
The Alabaster Lord, for his part, ignored the sorcerers who approached the stone bridge. As long as they did not cross the boundary at its end, he would not attack.
Since that was the case, there was no reason to go out of their way to provoke him—
Lucian stepped past the end of the stone bridge.
Beyond it stretched a vast field of withered grass.
At the center of the field stood a massive stone monument, and nearby flickered a constantly crackling mass of purple lightning.
Lucian was certain that was where the Alabaster Lord was.
He strode toward it without hesitation.
As he entered the grassland, a pitch-black void surfaced from within the violet lightning, and a figure slowly emerged.
From the hollow stepped forth an Alabaster Lord with a towering frame and skin like living stone.
He possessed long white hair and sharply pointed ears, with silver patterns running across his entire body.
Were it not for his aged face, his features might have resembled the elves often seen in fantasy films.
As he was now, however, he looked more like the Night King from another of George R. R. Martin's works.
The Alabaster Lord stood close to three meters tall, wielding an enormous, pale meteoric iron greatsword. His frame was lean, yet that stone body contained a power impossible to ignore.
In English nomenclature, these beings were known as Alabaster Lords, a name that directly referenced the marble-like nature of their stone flesh.
The Alabaster Lord awakened from his slumber and fixed his gaze upon Lucian.
At first, he assumed this was merely another foolish sorcerer who had come to disturb his rest, and he prepared to drive him away.
But then he noticed something unusual.
The Alabaster Lord stared deeply at Lucian. In his eyes, Lucian was shrouded in a layer of pale radiance.
There was no mistake, that was light from his homeland.
Upon Lucian's body was the mark of their origin.
The Alabaster Lord looked at Lucian and slowly spoke.
A heavy, resonant voice rang out, deep and metallic, almost like that of a Cybertronian:
"You have seen It?"
Lucian was momentarily stunned by the voice.
Aside from lacking any electronic distortion, it was genuinely overwhelming.
If someone recorded it, uploaded it online, and titled it "Is my mic peaking?", it would absolutely rack up views.
He quickly regained his composure.
'It? He's probably referring to that Outer God, something like a white dwarf star.'
'It did leave something behind in me, back then…'
Lucian nodded and said,
"If you mean that star among the constellations, radiating white light—then yes, I have seen It."
"And It granted me a certain power, though I don't yet know how to use it."
"I've heard that the Alabaster Lords' gravity magic is exceptional, far surpassing that of the Onyx Lords. That's why I've come to learn from you."
The Alabaster Lord nodded silently.
Lucian's words pleased him, especially the part about Alabaster Lords being stronger than Onyx Lords.
"If you wish to learn, then I will teach you."
"What is your name?"
Seeing how readily the Alabaster Lord agreed, Lucian was naturally delighted.
"My name is Lucian."
With this, the final gap in his arsenal, gravity magic could be filled.
Gravity sorcery had an extremely wide range of applications.
Even setting aside offensive spells, the mere prospect of flight in the future was reason enough for Lucian to master it.
Moreover, he wanted to understand exactly what that white dwarf-like star had left within him, and what purpose it served.
"Then I'll trouble you to teach me gravity magic. And… how should I address you?"
"Ozdis. That will do."
"Understood, Teacher Ozdis."
The Alabaster Lord Ozdis began teaching Lucian right there on the spot.
As a race that hailed from beyond the world, they had little patience for formalities or rigid rules.
Ozdis extended the hand not holding his sword, palm facing upward, and said to Lucian;
"Alright. Place your hand here."
Lucian did as instructed, setting his hand atop Ozdis's palm.
In the next instant, violet gravity magic surfaced in Ozdis's hand, and Lucian's own hand was firmly pulled in place by an invisible force.
Ozdis spoke slowly:
"Compared to my other kin, I have had more contact with humans, but I am still not suited to the Academy's style of instruction."
"Glintstone sorcery has been studied by countless people and requires wide dissemination. That is why it has formal teaching standards."
"And glintstone magic is exceedingly precise. Even the slightest deviation in magical power can lead to failure."
"But gravity magic is far more straightforward and brutal,"
"It's less about finesse, and more about mastering gravity itself."
"So for now, experience it directly. First, understand what gravity truly is."
Lucian nodded. He could understand this kind of teaching method.
As long as one's grasp of gravity magic was deep enough and their magical power sufficient, its applications were far more flexible and varied than glintstone sorcery, which was constrained by rigid formulas and structures.
General Radahn's many uses of gravity magic were the clearest example of this.
Besides, beings like the Alabaster Lords, Onyx Lords, and Crystalians were extraterrestrial entities to begin with. Teaching others had never been their primary purpose, it was merely incidental.
Given that, such a primitive, experiential teaching method wasn't strange at all.
Lucian carefully felt the gravity-aligned magic emanating from Ozdis.
The first thing he sensed wasn't some profound, mysterious enlightenment, but the sheer magnitude of Ozdis's power.
As alien races that had descended upon the Lands Between, the Alabaster and Onyx Lords had never shown any desire to rule or dominate. They simply chose places to reside, yet were still revered as "Lords".
There was no doubt why.
It was because of their overwhelming, peerless strength.
The Alabaster Lord before him, Ozdis, already possessed power at the absolute pinnacle of the heroic tier.
It had to be said: the lifeforms drifting through the void between stars were truly terrifyingly strong.
Even the numerous Astel larvae—creatures that appeared almost mass-produced, each possessed at least hero-class strength.
Fallingstar Beasts stood at the level of top-tier heroes, while fully matured Astels rivaled even powerful demigods.
As for the Alabaster and Onyx Lords, they should all fall somewhere between hero and top-tier hero.
Lucian coated his hand in magic. Using the contact with Ozdis's gravity-aligned power as a guide, he began converting his own magic into gravity magic.
Previously, during his battle with Radahn, Lucian had used the Ruins Greatsword several times to unleash Wave of Destruction.
Because of that, he already had a rudimentary understanding of gravity magic.
It wasn't deep, but at least he wasn't starting from nothing.
Before long, under his deliberate attempts, the magic in Lucian's hand changed its nature. A violet glow identical to Ozdis's appeared in his palm.
The moment this purple gravity magic manifested, it immediately began to collide and contend with the gravity magic in Ozdis's hand.
Lucian's hand was steadily forced away from Ozdis's.
Gravity-aligned magic repelled itself, this was one of its inherent characteristics.
Ozdis looked at Lucian with mild surprise.
Their kind was born with an innate command over gravity. To him, this level of control was trivial—but for a human, it was nothing short of exceptional.
He had lived in the Lands Between for a very long time, interacting with many humans.
This was the first time he had ever seen someone grasp gravity magic so quickly.
Was it because of this talent that He had taken notice of him?
After a brief pause, Ozdis strengthened the gravity in his hand severalfold, forcing Lucian to continue resisting.
Under this immense pressure, the magic in Lucian's hand fully transformed into a pure, vivid purple. Between their palms, arcs of violet energy crackled and danced.
Lucian flexed his fingers.
At this moment, his hand had completely separated from Ozdis's, able to move freely.
Seeing that Lucian could now release gravity magic with ease, Ozdis withdrew his power.
He nodded.
"Very good. Very good. You have talent."
"In that case, I'll try teaching you attraction directly."
"If you master attraction, then there's nothing left to teach."
Lucian raised an eyebrow.
Skipping straight to the highest difficulty?
"Let's try it," he said.
Ozdis raised his hand once more, aiming it at Lucian.
Lucian mirrored the motion, placing his palm opposite.
In the next instant, as attraction waves spread outward from Ozdis's hand, an overwhelming pulling force surged toward Lucian.
Lucian tried to counter it with the gravity magic he had just learned.
But the gravity magic that had worked moments ago was effortlessly crushed by the attraction wave.
Lucian frowned.
The amount of magic Ozdis was outputting hadn't changed, so why was the result so drastically different?
Ozdis spoke calmly.
"Unlike those Onyx ones, what we wield is attraction, the core of gravity itself."
"Feel it carefully."
Lucian's mouth twitched slightly.
This gravity magic instruction really was crude, boiled down to nothing more than figure it out yourself.
And according to Ozdis, attraction was the most difficult aspect of all, yet he was still expected to comprehend it through sheer experience.
After struggling for a while, Lucian finally asked,
"Teacher… is this attraction already considered magic?"
Ozdis shook his head.
"This doesn't yet qualify as gravity magic. It is merely a way of applying magic."
"Gravity-aligned magic is the foundation, but it can branch into many different forms."
"Attraction, repulsion, gravity lightning, Wave of Destruction… all of these are different manifestations of gravity magic, and all of them are more advanced."
"As long as you grasp these forces, no matter how you use them, it is all considered gravity magic."
"Think of this step as the equivalent of shaping glintstone in sorcery."
"That should make it easier for you to understand."