Sword of Dawn

Amber got under the table on the spot: "Wow! What's going on, what's going on!?"

Gao Wen ignored this cowardly guy, but strode out of the tent and looked in the direction of the sound.

He saw many alarmed soldiers running towards the southeast corner of the camp, which was in the direction of Hetty's magic laboratory!

Oh my god, the art exploded - Rebecca's mobility is really super.

Gao Wen immediately ran over there.

Although there is the magic laboratory's own protective circle and Hetty's protective magic over there, and Gawain has also told Hetty to pay attention to the safety of the experiment before, there should be no accidents, but listening to the sound of the explosion , The precision instruments in the laboratory may not be able to save much.

We have to go to the rescue before Rebecca is hanged and beaten by Hetty...

Chapter 0081 Monster, Monster

When Gawain arrived at the southeast corner of the camp, a group of soldiers had already gathered here—Byron Knight, who was patrolling nearby, immediately brought people over to maintain order after hearing the movement, and dispersed those daring civilians .

But to be honest, even if no soldiers stepped forward to expel them, there were not many civilians who gathered: they were not only afraid of the authority of the nobles, but even more afraid of the power of magic. It is undoubtedly a weird and terrifying place in the eyes of people, and the explosion from the laboratory is even more frightening. Although it is human nature to watch the excitement, there are some excitement that even the most daring people dare not go to.

Gawain saw a big hole in the wall of the magic laboratory, and billowing smoke was coming out of it. The smoke was mixed with a pungent burnt smell, and there was some magic power that had not yet dissipated. It was shining in the smoke, and Hetty and Rebecca had already rushed out of the room, both of them were ashamed from the smoke, and Hetty was calling the water flow to clean the soot on her hair and face in a panic, while Rebecca After seeing Gao Wen, Becca rushed up excitedly: "My lord ancestor! The power of art is really powerful!"

Gao Wen held down Rebecca, who was obviously a little excited, and looked worriedly at the culprit and victim of the experimental accident who seemed to have just been rescued from a black coal mine: "Are you two okay? Why did the wall blow up?" collapsed..."

The power of this explosion was stronger than what he had expected - originally he thought that there was protective magic, and what detonated were only some unencapsulated crystal particles, so it would not cause much harm.

However, he overlooked one thing: this explosion is not a gunpowder weapon on Earth, but a magical effect. For explosion magic, whether it is sealed in a hard airtight container has a limited impact on its power...

"The effect of a large number of crystal particles being detonated at the same time is a little bit beyond expectations," Hetty finally used the summoned water to wash herself into a human appearance, and stepped forward to answer after hearing Gao Wen's question, and at the same time Angrily, he threw a ball of water and smashed it on Rebecca's face, "Of course, the more important thing is that she placed the two test samples too close together! Double the amount of crystal particles were detonated at the same time!"

Gao Wen silently glanced at Rebecca, thinking that the stupid roe deer might really be unable to escape the beating today...

After confirming that both of them are fine, Gao Wen was more or less relieved, and then it was time to care about property: "Is the loss big?"

Hetty showed a painful look on her face: "The magic circle I used for the experiment was destroyed, but fortunately, at the moment of the explosion, I vented most of the power to the direction of the empty wall. That set of expensive crystals The resonators were not affected - instead half the wall needed to be repaired."

Gawain silently glanced at Rebecca again. Since the most expensive crystal resonator is not broken, then the stupid roe deer should not be killed...

Rebecca didn't notice it at all. Of course, it's also possible that she hadn't woken up yet. She noticed that the ancestor's eyes drifted over several times, and she asked in a daze, "Master ancestor, what are you looking at me for?"

Gao Wen thought for a while: "Are you resisting beating?"

Rebecca scratched her hair: "It's okay... I used to fight with wolves when I was young."

"Then it's fine," Gawain waved his hand, "How many samples were used this time? How is the rune trigger working?"

"Just... two small piles," Rebecca gestured with her hands to approximate the dosage, and she showed a very proud look when she lifted the rune trigger, "and let me tell you, the rune trigger is really effective! It is connected to the explosion circle as the starting energy, which is enough. As long as the magic circle has this initial energy, the subsequent explosion process can be fully supported by those crystals. I plan to try the magic of the rune trigger next time. Cannot activate other types of rune groups... Ahhh, it would be great if the magic power had a more precise value. I could know how much magic power is generated when the rune trigger is closed, and I could also calculate the consumption of an initial rune group to run. How much magic power..."

Rebecca's thoughts diverged as she talked, and when she was halfway through the divergence, she pulled Piaoyuan's thoughts back with a slap in the face, and began to report to Gao Wen: "My lord ancestor, Let me tell you, Aunt Hetty didn't believe what I said at the beginning, she didn't believe that the rune trigger would produce a magical impact when it was closed, she said that it didn't have a structure for gathering energy..."

Speaking of the rune trigger, Hetty really praised Rebecca: "That thing is indeed a very good invention, although there have been magicians who have tried to cut a complete magic circle before. reorganization to control the magic mechanism, but no one thought of turning this division and reorganization into a fixed pattern. The rune trigger made by Rebecca uses a pair of fixed runes as the 'connection key', which This structure is in line with the 'universality' and 'normativeness' you often tell us..."

That's because Rebecca positioned the rune trigger as a product that "ordinary people can use" from the very beginning. She even thought that if the rune trigger was damaged, blacksmiths and apprentices in the steel factory could repair it by hand. That's why she simplified this structure to the extreme, even to the point where there is only one set of runes.

The mainstream mages in this world, who would have thought of this?

As for the "standard value of magic power" that Rebecca seemed to mention casually just now, Gawain also remembered it in his heart.

Although at the technical level of modern humans, they do not have the ability to accurately measure and standardize magic power, but in the Gondor period 700 years ago, there were already seeds of this aspect, and some magisters provided in the Deep Blue Well In the face of the almost endless magical power, they had thought about how to use this huge energy more accurately and more standardizedly, but it was a pity that the Deep Blue Well exploded before they could think about the result.

But since I want to develop based on the "magic power" of this world, standardization and standardization will sooner or later.

"Let's fix the magic laboratory first, and then we still need to continue the explosion experiments on those crystals," Gawain recovered from a short thought, looked at Hetty and Rebecca and said, "but the experiment method needs to be adjusted ...The power of those crystals exceeded expectations, and it is too dangerous to continue to test indoors. I set aside the gentle slope near the river bank on the east side of the camp as a test site for you. The terrain there is open and suitable for testing this kind of thing. In addition, you think about what to do Make a corresponding container to serve as the shell of the 'Rebecca Crystal', so that it can be turned into a real usable weapon."

Rebecca and Hetty nodded repeatedly and wrote down these instructions. After thinking about it for a while, Gao Wen suddenly remembered a very important thing: "Wait, and——you have thought about how to delay the detonation of the magic circle Is it time?"

"Delay the detonation time?" Hetty didn't react for a while, but then realized that not everyone can use the evocation hand to press the rune trigger from a long distance like herself.

With the current operation mechanism of the rune trigger and the explosion circle, it is a kind of thing that detonates when pressed, which means that this thing is simply a self-explosive artifact. After pressing the button, the enemy will die or not. I don’t know, anyway, I must be died……

In this regard, the ancient crystal of Gondor relies on the almost black-tech "identification of friend and foe" function to ensure safety, and there is also a very complicated detonation mechanism in the crystal that automatically operates after being out of the control of the owner, but this part of the rune In the eyes of today's mages, the group is simply an alien creation, and it is difficult to draw on paper, let alone restore it.

A lot of runes and magic circles popped up in Hetty's mind, and she tried to use these things to meet the "delayed detonation" request of her ancestors. She thought of adding a slow charging structure to those rune groups , when the rune trigger is pressed, it will start to be fully charged, and the next level of detonation circle will be triggered after the energy is full, but obviously - the instantaneous magic power provided by the rune trigger cannot satisfy this at all a little.

Rebecca was also thinking quickly in her head, but besides runes and magic circles, there were also a lot of springs and connecting rods in her head...

She is trying to satisfy her ancestor's request by means other than magic.

This is the difference in the way of thinking between a mage who knows a lot of spells and a mage who only knows one fireball.

The two great-great-great... great-granddaughters who were full of thoughts left with the task that Gawain gave them, while Gawain stood where he was, looking at the magic laboratory that was still emitting green smoke, feeling emotional.

Is there a magical...world?

Sure enough, even the first sound of art is completely different from the earth.

As an explosive that requires a specific magic circle to detonate, the power and safety of the "Rebecca Crystal" are not a problem, but it encounters great trouble in delaying detonation.

If it were gunpowder on Earth, all it needed was a fuse.

In the blink of an eye, Cecil's pioneering camp has taken root on this land for a month. The personnel and supplies promised by King Francis II have not yet arrived, but there is already a clear message that they are on the way—this year's Dorgon River. The water season was half a month later than in previous years, and the aid from the hinterland of the kingdom was also delayed on the road.

For these delays, Gao Wen can be said to have been psychologically prepared: In this world where everything is slow and backward, one cannot rely on others according to the precise and efficient social background on Earth, so his camp construction plan will not be affected in the slightest. According to the established rhythm.

A large number of tents in the camp have been turned into relatively strong wooden houses that can be used for a long time. At the current stage when cement is temporarily hopeless, Gao Wen plans to let the craftsmen open a new area on the west side of the camp to build brick kilns for firing clay. Bricks—Although making cement failed in this world, it is still possible to burn bricks. This is a technology that already exists in this world.

It's just that the traditional brick-burning relies on manual work, which is extremely inefficient and the price of the corresponding finished product is high. In places like Tanzania Town, only the bourgeoisie can afford brick houses.

However, before his plan could be implemented, a sudden change disrupted the rhythm of camp construction.

Several serfs who went to the mountain to search for quartz sand fled back in horror. Two of them were seriously injured, and the other one had stayed in the mountain forever.

They were attacked by "mutants".

Chapter 0082 Coping

Several soldiers guarded the camp in front of the central tent, and the few serfs who escaped by chance had already been brought into the tent.

Except for Knight Philip, who had to maintain order outside, all the leaders of the camp were also concentrated here.

The two wounded serfs were placed on a soft mat. Their backs and arms had scratches of varying severity, and due to the erosion of the corrupt force, these wounds had now begun to fester severely. Fortunately, the camp now With the druid, Pittman was using the potion he made and the spell of the druid to treat the wounded. The two unlucky serfs were considered to have saved their lives.

The other two uninjured serfs stood in front of Gao Wen tremblingly, fear still lingering in their hearts, even if they had fled back to a safe camp, they couldn't control the shaking of their bodies - but at least from several Those who survived the catastrophe a few months ago at least retained the courage to speak in full.

"Going west...after entering the mountain... on the side road, there are several monsters, blood-red demons, and we ran into them face to face!" A serf said tremblingly, "We He ran desperately, but Toke was caught by the monster, and he didn't move after a few moments..."

Knight Byron standing next to Gawain was obviously dissatisfied with this random report, he frowned: "How many? How many? Where exactly is the fork to the west? Those monsters move quickly, you guys How could it escape?"

The two serfs were taken aback by the harsh question of "Master Knight", and immediately became even more at a loss. Gawain immediately said: "Don't ask such a question, they won't be able to understand anything when they get nervous—you two Man, relax and tell me how you escaped?"

The two serfs looked at each other, and one of them swallowed: "Those monsters didn't seem to see us at first, they were... just wandering on the mountain road, and they suddenly caught up after we started running. The mountain road is narrow, and those monsters were stuck by rocks, so we ran out..."

"How many monsters have you encountered? To be specific?" Heidi continued to ask.

"Three...no, four," another serf snapped his fingers. "At that time we only saw three, but after catching up, there were four."

"That is to say, you only see a part of it," Hetty said while looking at Gawain with a worried expression on his face, "In fact, I'm afraid there will be quite a lot."

"Wandering..." Gawain pinched his chin and frowned, but he recalled the "giant planet activity parameters" collected from the monitoring satellite's perspective in the past two days. Obviously, there were no warnings about the rising activity of giant planets recently, and there was no magic power. Upwelling phenomenon, how did those monsters appear?Where did it come from?

At this time, the little old man Pittman, who was treating the wounded, finally finished casting spells. He stood up and breathed a sigh of relief: "These two people are fine... After drinking the potion I prepared, plus the druid's purification spell, the remaining The next step is self-cultivation, as long as you don't get infected again, it will be fine in a few days."

Although this guy usually hangs around in the camp, eating, drinking, tricking people, divination, and selling a lot of weird potions that are useless, but anyway, the ability of a druid is real, especially at this time, Gawain is even more fortunate Because of the existence of this guy, he nodded sincerely: "Thank you for your hard work."

"Don't talk about this, we are a salary-paying friendship, saying that hard work hurts more money," Pittman waved his hand, "But I have to remind you, I can heal the injuries on these two people, but I can't heal the injuries of the 800 people outside. People are flustered, these four people ran back crying all the way, and the two who were injured shouted louder, and now the entire camp probably knows about it..."

Gao Wen took a deep look at this seemingly unreliable old man, but couldn't help but thank him a little.

He didn't need to remind himself of this.

"Heidi, you go to make arrangements first. All the out-of-the-box exploration and collection work will be stopped today, and the construction in the camp will continue as usual, and the food will be distributed as usual. Keeping order is the first priority. Byron Knight, lead people to strengthen patrols —— Polish the armor and weapons, and tell Knight Philip by the way, that the newly recruited militia is also armed."

After giving instructions for the camp, Gao Wen turned to look at Amber: "You..."

Before he could speak, Amber bluffed: "If I say no, will you slap me against the wall with your big sword?"

"Yes, and it's the kind that can't be picked off."

Amber curled her lips: "Okay, then I'll go."

"I haven't finished yet," Gao Wen stood up, "I'll go with you."

Amber's eyes widened in surprise, while Hetty next to him followed closely and said, "Ancestor, you should stay in the camp—it's too rash for you to investigate the movements of those monsters..."

"What?" Gawain turned his head and glanced at Heidi, "Is it because I have been drawing drawings here for a long time, and you all have forgotten what I did 700 years ago?"

Everyone in the tent was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly remembered the fighting power of the ancestor in front of them...

For a while, Gao Wen has been nesting in the tent drawing design drawings, drawing plans, and researching strange "alchemy formulas". They have almost forgotten the real occupation of this fierce man... Specialized in fighting small monsters on the border of the kingdom. what!

Fortunately, Gao Wen didn't tell anyone about the real situation of his "dropping". At this time, he saw the effect-as long as Gao Wen stood up, the people next to him would be filled with a kind of honeyed confidence no matter how weak they were. ...

"If there were really only three or four mutants wandering in the mountains, I would have killed them easily. If it was a large group, then Amber and I would be able to escape unscathed and come back in time to set up defenses—or take you to evacuate," Gao Wen had an expression of "Don't panic, it's all technical adjustments, believe me, it's a big deal, my ancestors will take you flying with a full-level number", while talking, he glanced at the two serfs standing in front of him, "As for you Two... I need you to lead the way."

When the two serfs heard this, they were so frightened that they nearly collapsed to the ground, and even cried bitterly: "Master, master!" "We don't want to die!" "Those monsters can eat people!"

Those who lived through a Cecil catastrophe faced them with far greater fear than those who only heard about them through hearsay.

What's more, they just narrowly escaped death once today.

However, Gawain had to let them face those monsters again—or even let everyone in the entire territory face those monsters again if necessary.

"Stand up, you must lead the way, this is an order from the lord," Gao Wen said in an unquestionable tone, "and you don't have to worry about your own safety, I will fulfill the noble's duty and protect you until you return safely."

The two serfs looked at each other. Of course they knew what Gao Wen meant by "the duty of the nobility". That was exactly what the nobles and lords preached all day long. ?When the time of life and death is really approaching, the lives of these pariahs like myself are not as precious as the lives of noble lords!

But even so... disobeying the lord's order seems to be a dead end.

Seeing them hesitate, Gawain said lightly: "I am Gawain Cecil, the legend of killing hundreds of thousands of monsters 700 years ago, you think there are hundreds of thousands of monsters in that mountain to take your lives You know, if the monster really came, it would be the safest to stay with me instead."

Gao Wen's idea is quite simple: anyway, no one can beat him here, so let's blow it up.

Uneducated serfs at this time could easily believe Gawain's self-praise. After all, the legendary story about Gawain Cecil is well-known in this kingdom. Hearing this living legend (who just came back to life) spoke so indifferently. They assured themselves of this in a calm tone, and they immediately reacted, realizing that even if they really encountered a monster, it would be easy for the lord in front of them to protect the two of them.

Since it was a matter of convenience, there should be no problem at all.

So they finally nodded in agreement.

Hetty called two soldiers in and asked them to take four serfs (including the two who had just finished treatment) to go down to rest for a while and eat something, then she turned to Gawain: "Ancestor, actually, you don't have to tell the serfs that Many, for them, obeying orders is fundamental."

"But it's better to let them take the initiative to obey orders than unilateral coercion," Gawain waved his hands, and looked at Rebecca, "How's the progress of those 'arts'?"

For him, this is the most important thing right now.

Rebecca hesitated for a moment, and reported truthfully: "The crystal particles have been in production, and the output is getting bigger and bigger. Now I have accumulated a lot. I have also made some explosive circles and corresponding rune triggers, but the delayed detonation In terms of... there is still no progress, and there is no finished product."

Hetty knew what Gawain was thinking, and she had a worried face: "If those monsters are really coming this way, we might not be able to wait for the 'art' to come in handy."

"No... Delayed detonation is just one of the usages, but not all of them." Gawain shook his head after a short pause, "Rebecca, go find some craftsmen and hunters who know how to make traps. I'll tell you later. what should you do."

Rebecca nodded without hesitation: "Okay!"

Until this time, Knight Byron couldn't help but said, "Are you planning to let the camp face those monsters?"

"This is just an option. How to deal with it will wait until Amber and I understand the reality of those monsters," Gawain said while thinking about what he can do now, "By the way, Byron, go write A notice... Well, let’s say that mutants have been found in the mountains and their whereabouts have been grasped, because Duke Gawain Cecil has full experience in dealing with mutants, so monsters are nothing to worry about, let everyone work with peace of mind , Whether you stay or withdraw, you are waiting for new orders. In addition, find two literate soldiers to read the announcement."

Byron took the order, while Hetty's eyes widened in surprise: "Ancestor, are you going to tell those commoners just like that... let them know that the aberrations really exist?!"

"They already knew," Gawain glanced at Hetty, "when the four serfs ran back yelling, they already knew—it's just that they weren't sure and didn't know the whole truth. .”

Hetty hesitated: "Then if you tell them the whole truth..."

"Then they won't continue to guess randomly, and won't guess in a worse and worse direction," Gao Wen said. "The clearer and more certain we can say, the sooner they can stop panic and speculation. This It’s worse to be secretive than that.”

Hetty nodded helplessly: "Yes, what you said makes sense."

"Amber, go and prepare." Gao Wen took a deep breath, "Come with me later to see where those monsters come from."

Chapter 0083 The Origin of the Monster

Deep in the dark mountains.

The pioneering team has been active here for a month. After initially gaining a foothold, Gao Wen will send out various exploration teams every day to search for supplies and survey the terrain in the southern mountains, western forests, eastern mines, or the wilderness on the other side of the Baishui River. The serf's route into the mountain is one of the natural mountain paths discovered in recent days.But even though it was newly discovered, there have been exploration teams and soldier patrols going back and forth several times, but no trace of the monster has ever been found.

Those aberrations have no doubt appeared here very recently.

The road into the mountain was not easy. Although Gao Wen and Amber had amazing feet, there were two ordinary serfs who couldn't walk so fast. It took them nearly an hour to finally get close to the side road where the monster attacked. near the mouth.

As she got closer and closer to that place, Amber, who is usually carefree and jumpy, couldn't help becoming nervous. She held the small dagger tightly and lowered her voice: "It's been so long, those monsters should also Wander away..."

"Not necessarily, you don't understand the 'habits' of aberrations," Gawain looked at the rocky mountain road ahead and the overgrown plants on both sides of the mountain road, his eyes stopped on a steep mountain wall that seemed to collapse at any time After a long time, he said in a low voice, "They are not normal life forms. They don't need to eat in a magic environment. Apart from the instincts of attacking intelligent life and tending to the source of magic power, they also have no clear purpose of action. If there is If there is a human or magical response, they will pounce, but if not, they will wander aimlessly, or stay in place. Of course, if their numbers reach a certain level, their actions are unpredictable. "

"So what the hell is an aberration..." Amber muttered, her eyes constantly wandering between the shadows among the trees, not to be vigilant against the enemies hiding in the dark, but to constantly look for escape routes.