Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2500: Labyrinth Of Myriad Past

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Morningstar University Campus, Garden of Beginning

”You are right on both counts. The Time Vestige is both a safe zone and one big elevator into the Card World’s temporal river.

As a safe zone, the Time Vestige protects the users from all the side effects of entering the past while helping them learn to master time rule.

As an elevator, the Time Vestige helps us to travel to multiple time prisons Morningstar University’s predecessors created in the Card World’s temporal river—” Lucine explained, a little proud of her predecessor’s achievement in terms of time rule. But was interrupted by the boy, asking, ”Wait, I thought your university only had one time tunnel connecting this past with our present.”

Listening to the boy’s doubt, Lucine smiled and explained, ”Unlike our Time Vestige, which is singular throughout the Card World’s temporal river, our time tunnel is not singular, but various versions of it exist in various pasts. These time tunnels connect each of these various pasts in a sequence that only the core academicians of our university know, forming a network of time tunnels throughout the various pasts we have explored using the Time Vestige. Allowing us to access all the time prisons our predecessors created in various pasts with the cost of maintaining and operating only one time tunnel. Though it’s tedious and complex, it’s economical.”

”Ah!” I sighed in realization. Because the Time Vestige was singular throughout the card world’s time rule stream / temporal river, as in only one in all of the Card World’s time, I assumed that the time tunnel was also singular, but it wasn’t.

I had no idea how Morningstar University managed to ensure that the time tunnels of various versions of the past didn’t connect with the same past, but rather with different pasts, forming a non-repeating, non-looping, and uninterrupted chain of network of time tunnels connecting all the time prisons Morningstar University had created to trap the devils and enemies they couldn’t defeat.

Clearly, they put a lot of thought into creating their very own labyrinth of time. The work and resources that went into making this happen were no joke. I was impressed. This was the moment I truly felt they were deserving of their reputation of being one of the top ten universities in the Card World. They had earned it.

However, knowing about Morningstar University’s labyrinth of myriad past trapping various powerful devils, I felt that the information they gathered on the dark realm or Lucine was revealing to me was seriously lacking. I’m sure they knew more than the ’Ten Commandments’ faction and mistaking the Devil Merchant Code’s devil codex as the devil’s holy scripture.

I don’t believe that they didn’t manage to interrogate the devils trapped in their Labyrinth of Myriad Pasts. Not even a single one of them? I don’t believe it. I mean, they had several centuries, and you are telling me they didn’t manage to crack a single devil trapped in their time prisons? That didn’t sound like someone who had managed to make a labyrinth in time.

”What about the resources of the alternate pasts? Can you bring them into the Time Vestige?” I asked, knowing that resources from the past cannot be brought into the present or future; they will instantly rot into dust regardless of their grade and properties under the influence of the Card World’s Time Rule Stream (or Temporal River). Similar to how anything from the future and present that enters the past will be inflicted by timeline dementia.

”Young man, you ask all the right questions. Yes, you can take the resources of the past into the Time Vestige and use them for research, studies, or experiments, but nothing permanent. If you use them on yourself or in card creation, then you or anything you created using resources from the past will turn into dust once you return to your present. However, as long as you don’t break the time taboos, the Time Vestige is the best lab to conduct some of the most expensive research and experimentation without being conscious of funds or resources,” Lucine answered giddily.

As a researcher, one of her greatest regrets was the rare resources lost in experimentation, but this way that regret was no more. They looted the precious resources and items from time prison and used them to conduct experiments in Time Vestige without wasting a single penny. Even I was a little envious of this hack of Morningstar university and grew even more motivated to master the Time Rule.

I am sure that since they were capable enough to create a freaking labyrinth in time, they knew to find alternate pasts that were very identical to ours in every way possible to loot resources from to conduct their little experiments. Otherwise, it would be hard to trust the results they get from their experiments. These results might not be right in our present.

”So, what about new knowledge and information? Do you guys steal it from a past identical to ours and test it out in our present?” I asked, thinking, why stop at resources and items? Why not loot their unique knowledge and information as well?

”Oh, yeah. We do it as well. Big time. Why do you think we have double the copyrights and patents compared to other top ten universities? However, so far, we haven’t managed to find something of substance that could change how we live and see the world. Maybe one day we will,” Lucine sighed, expressing her regret. To her and Morningstar University, this was not stealing but akin to archeology. Therefore, not only was she not ashamed to admit this but also a little proud.

I thought she was being greedy but also understood where she was coming from. Any other respectable and reputed university in Morningstar University’s place would do and feel the same.

”How come with such a cheat you guys still haven’t managed to become the number one university of the Card World?” I indirectly asked Lucine about other top-ten universities. Wondering if they too had their own secrets, like Morningstar University. Otherwise, it would have been hard for them to keep up with Morningstar University, which had its own Labyrinth of Myriad Past to mine data from.