Miracle Card Shop: All My Cards Can Be Actualize

"What do you mean, why am I doing this? Isn't it obvious? I'm arming the local authorities with weapons that can neutralize mana usage to enable them to suppress troublemakers," Daniel answered with a knowing smile.

"I know that! But you're a mage yourself, and you're helping ordinary people!? This is no different than betrayal! Are you aware of what you've done?" the man roared, questioning Daniel's motives.

"Yes! That's right!"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Traitor!"

At this point, many others joined in, berating Daniel without restraint, as if he had committed an unforgivable act against both god and man.

"What's your name?" Daniel asked, his voice devoid of warmth.

"Theodore Jefferson," the man replied fearlessly. "Why? Are you going to use your power to suppress me? I'll have you know, I'm just a lone mage without any family or background. I don't have anyone behind me, so I'm not afraid of any retaliation!" he said with bravado.

Hearing this, Daniel let out a knowing smirk. "That's very good, Mr. Jefferson. A lone mage without family or background means you're the perfect pawn that can be discarded anytime."

"What do you mean?" Jefferson's tone lowered, his bravado still present but with a hint of alarm in his eyes.

"It means exactly what I said. But that's not the point here..." Daniel paused, then looked around the venue, especially at the seats of those who had first jumped up along with Jefferson. He then continued.

"From what I know, there shouldn't be any distinction between mages and ordinary people. In terms of Animology, or rather the study we undertake in magic school regarding the nature of souls and magic, it's an undeniable fact that every human on earth has mana veins or mana pathways in their soul, like blood vessels throughout their being.

These facts mean that every human on earth has the potential to use magic and learn how to wield it like us, mages. The only reason why the study of magic is reserved for a select few in high society and the elite is due to our modern-day mana depletion situation. The remaining mana in the world is insufficient to be shared with everyone.

Thus, magic has become the privilege of the select few who have the most resources in society," Daniel explained his perspective, then continued.

"So, my point is, given these facts, I don't understand why you are so alarmed and accuse me of betrayal. What I did was provide the means for non-awakened people to defend themselves against awakened people. And I only provided these means to local authorities. Or do you think that those causing trouble for us should go unpunished?" Daniel asked.

"I don't mean that. I mean, they should be dealt with by you! Not ordinary people. We are mages! We should have some dignity!"

"Dignity is only granted to those who know their duty and responsibility, not to opportunists who think they can challenge our authority and get away with it," Daniel retorted, immediately shutting Jefferson up.

"Judging by your use of terms like 'Awakened' and 'Non-Awakened,' and your action of providing anti-mana weapons to local authorities, and considering the video feed showing how easily those ordinary local authorities suppress mages—they seem to know what they're dealing with.

Are you perhaps trying to expose the Curtained World to the masses?" asked one of the mages in the venue, a clear hint of threat in his voice.

The exposure of the Curtained World—or the world of magic and the supernatural—to the masses has long been a taboo, shunned by mages and supernatural societies. The idea of exposing it is so sacrilegious that anyone who does it faces harsh punishment and severe condemnation from the mage community.

This custom has been upheld for a very long time, to the point that no one questions it anymore. However, this taboo also has a very reasonable basis.

"Yes, I told the local authorities about the existence of magic and mana," Daniel answered. His response caused a clamor throughout the venue. Some were in disbelief, some were angry, while others smiled as if things were going their way.

Of course, those smiling had ill intentions, thinking Daniel was finished and planning to take advantage of the situation.

"You! You did what? You..."

"Before you hurl profanities or any unsuitable words at me, listen first..." Daniel spoke. His voice, amplified by the speaker, was so loud that it caused the mages to shut up and cover their ears, calming them down.

"I've looked into the historical records of mages. It turns out the real reason why the Curtained World needs to remain a secret and why it is taboo to tell any ordinary person is due to one main reason: the depletion of mana on Earth.

Since the war with the gods in ancient times, which caused the gods to abandon the mortal realm and the old gods to suffer from a severe lack of faith from their followers, they became unable to transform faith into mana for the world. This made the world's main mana generation method nonfunctional.

This left only other, less efficient mana generation methods, such as the sacred mana sites, like the largest mana font in the world under the Hightower or the mana font at some active volcanoes.

But as you all know, mages are always hungry for more mana, and mana is a crucial resource for our everyday lives. Much like today's global warming problem, no one wanted to fix it until the problem was burning their backside.

So, the mages of that time, even though they knew they had lost the main way to generate mana, decided to ignore the problem, acting like it wasn't their issue. They continued to consume mana, depleting many natural mana fonts. They figured they would die before the problem manifested itself and left it for their descendants to fix.

And we did fix it—or rather, we only remedied it to some extent. The prohibition of Curtained World knowledge to the masses was one measure, and the invention of modern magic that conforms more to science led to more efficient magical phenomena with much less mana than ancient magic.

According to all of this, if we can produce enough mana to be shared all over the world, haven't we fixed the main problem? Wouldn't we no longer need to keep the Curtained World a secret? Didn't the Hightower try to open a hell gate in my front yard because they were trying to use hell mana to supplement mortal realm mana?"

Daniel explained, then paused, allowing the people in the venue to digest what he had said.

"No, Lord Emberweave, there is another matter you need to consider. Ordinary people are afraid of us; they won't easily accept the existence of magic. They will fear what they don't understand.

Also, how are you going to replenish the world's mana? And you also need to consider the problems that will arise after the mana has been replenished. How are you going to deal with the gods?" another mage asked. He was not part of the group that sneered at Daniel but one of those who decided to watch and consider what was best for their families.

"That is the main point of this conference. We have a technology that can replenish the world's mana within five years, and in three months for a limited area such as Southeast Asia. As for the fear of the unknown regarding magic, that's easy to fix.

After we replenish the world's mana, we can share the method of how to use and wield magic with authorities and influential or educational organizations and let them do the rest. Sooner or later, ordinary people will see magic as just another human ability, no different from the ability to lift heavy weights like weightlifters.

As for the problem of the reemergence of the gods, you don't need to worry about that," Daniel said with a smile, then continued to explain how he would replenish the world's mana.

His explanation was much the same as when he persuaded Tsar Dimitri to support the Order of Ember. When the mages were introduced to the machine that could replenish the world's mana with minimal cost and create natural mana fonts, it was like they were being shown technology from the future that they had never even dared to dream of.

Then came the demonstration of the alchemy behind the machine that creates Chromatic Philosopher's Stones—the fuel used for the mana regeneration machine. The people in the venue were in awe.

"Excuse me," one of the mages listening to the presentation raised his hand. Daniel paused and turned toward him, giving him the opportunity to ask his question.

"I don't want to interrupt, but how are we going to address that problem?" the mage asked, pointing at the screen where the red areas continued to flash. He used the word 'we,' indicating that he already considered himself a member of the Order of Ember.

Seeing this, Daniel smiled. It was time for the main course.