Sword of Dawn

Rune masters are indeed "craftsmen", and their labor is no different from that of masons in the eyes of professional mages, but Gao Wen is very clear that there are still differences, and they are very different:

Rune masters don't just draw the magic circle according to the drawings, they must also be able to actively modify and adjust the position of the runes, and they must also be able to conduct tuning tests on those runes that are not sure, and to do this, They must master the skills of sensing multiple runes and performing "magic tuning" on the adjusted runes.

This is something that can only be mastered by a first-level mage!

Chapter 0108 Runes and Formulas

Drawing magic circles and depicting runes is a job with high technical content. As a unique product of this world, it is not just a simple "painting" like many people imagine—although it is purely based on the original picture Drawing is really easy, but to become a rune master, you can't just learn to draw.

If it is simply to draw the magic circle according to the drawings, then ordinary people can do it, even if it is a commoner who can't feel the magic power at all, as long as you tell them how to draw and what to use, they can draw the magic circle. This is a simple "produce and copy" job.

But in addition to this kind of production and copying, rune masters also need to have the ability to create and adapt to changing circumstances: they need to help mages make magic props, or draw magic circles on various complex magic-guiding materials, and each magic prop or guide The properties of magic materials are different, and there are countless changes in combination. This is doomed that they cannot draw the magic circle completely according to the drawings in the book-they must draw according to the different carrier materials and the use of the magic circle. Change the arrangement of runes on the magic circle, or fine-tune the position and connection method of each rune.

In short, what runegraphers create is a "blueprint". Every time they draw, they are drawing the original mother copy and creating.

And this process requires the ability to perceive magic power and the ability to "tune" runes.

The former can determine whether each rune can function normally in the process of drawing the blueprint, and perceive whether there is interference between the runes that exceeds the threshold, while the latter is a skill that injects its own magic power into the runes for actual testing—although rune masters often There is no ability to drive the entire magic circle, but it is still possible to test a partial rune group.

To achieve these two points, at least one must become an official mage of the first level. It is absolutely impossible for mage apprentices to do this, because mage apprentices simply do not have the ability to sense and manipulate multiple runes at the same time, and their magic power cannot be accurate. Control, external output, if it is done...they will graduate.

And Jenny's information clearly stated that she was a sorcerer's apprentice.

This time Jenny heard Gao Wen's question clearly, but she didn't know how to answer it. After hesitating and weighing for a long time, she chose to lower her head, and said in a low voice, "It's luck, my lord."

"Luck?" Gao Wen raised his eyebrows in a disapproving tone.

"Yes, luck," Jenny still lowered her head, "my intuition is good, and I can always find the correct arrangement of runes. You should know that the arrangement of runes has certain rules. As long as you have enough experience , coupled with enough intuition, can accurately arrange those..."

"If you were really lucky, you would have died in an accident before you accumulated enough experience," Gawain interrupted directly, "Although I am a knight, I also understand the basic principles of magic—for a magic circle In other words, the position and connection method of each rune are quite strict, unless you have an insight into the laws of all the runes in the world and their combination, otherwise it is impossible for you to arrange each of them in place. Arrangement of runes There are indeed rules to follow, but I have never heard of anyone who has analyzed the arrangement of all runes, and it is precisely because human beings cannot analyze every combination of runes that they need 'perception' and The two abilities of 'tuning'."

Gao Wen said, staring at the silver-haired girl in front of him: "Look up, and tell me the truth - how do you know where each rune should be placed when you have no way to perceive and tune, and What effect does each rune have?"

Probably Gawain's tone was so serious that Jenny couldn't help shivering, and she didn't dare to speak. Seeing this, Hetty remembered the role that Gawain told her before, one strict and one lenient, so she spoke in a soft tone. : "Don't be nervous, this is not a royal capital with strict rules, nor is it a dull and old-fashioned secret society. We welcome and encourage all behaviors that can contribute to the construction of the territory, even if such behaviors are deviant, it doesn't matter."

Jenny finally raised her head and looked in Gawain's direction, while the latter nodded slightly with a serious expression: "I can assure you that creative ideas are protected here, because I am the native of this land." law."

"Actually, it's not a creative idea," the silver-haired girl from the royal capital who became a fourth-level rune master as an apprentice finally let go. Book, "It's Logic and Computation."

Gao Wen put his hand on the book, but still asked, "Can I read it?"

"Of course, you are the lord."

Gao Wen opened this large book that looked quite old, and found that it was actually a handwritten note. The yellowed and curled pages were filled with runes, numbers, calculation formulas, and illustrations. It was worn and blurred. He flipped through it casually, and found that the handwriting in the whole notebook was still different: there were at least four different handwritings appearing on the page, and they appeared in order from front to back: Obviously, this notebook has changed at least four owners, and each owner has left his own records on it.

This book seems to confirm Gao Wen's vague guess before. He flipped the pages of the book almost with excitement and excitement, so that Jenny, who was sitting across from him, began to worry whether this precious note would be lost due to This rough flipping was damaged, and during this quick flipping, Gao Wen's eyes were suddenly attracted by an attached paper sandwiched in the second half of the notes.

This piece of paper was pasted between the pages of the notebook, it seemed to be an additional comment or summary, and the words on it made Gawain choke his breath:

The ratio of the energy level of all secondary runes to the energy level of higher-level runes is always one to three, and if the secondary runes are connected consecutively, they will enter into one every three, and they will be regarded as a complete higher-level rune;

The maximum number of connections between any rune and runes of the same level and position but different attributes shall not exceed eight, and the maximum number of connections with runes of the same level and position of the same attribute shall not exceed four;

Any rune forms a "knot" from the start character to the end character. The number of connection fields that can be filled in each "knot" rune must be an even number. Every two connection fields are counted as a "pair". Let the number of "pairs" in this field be is X, then the energy level produced by each "knot" rune is (X+1) squared;

In a magic interference area, two adjacent rune knots with exactly the same structure are set as a "interference knot", and the total interference value generated in the area increases sharply with the increase of the number of interference knots.The interference value of a single interference junction is a constant t=1.35, and the number of interference junctions is n, then the actual total interference value m=t*n cubic. (Remarks: Try to avoid adjacent rune knots with exactly the same structure can greatly reduce the generation of interference knots).

The copper is regarded as the "zero" level of the guiding material, and those weaker than the copper are regarded as negative, and those superior to or equal to the copper are regarded as positive. The number of knots is set to N, the number of rune attributes is set to Z, and the interference value generated by the interference knot is a constant t, then the theoretical interference value that the rune group within the range of the magic-guiding material can withstand as a whole is M=(N +Z*N)*t, for negative magic materials, divide this interference value by the constant E=1.66...

In any case, it should be ensured that the actual disturbance value m is less than or equal to the theoretical disturbance value M...

In the composite magic circle, the calculation formula for the "self-interference" generated inside the rune knot is...

In the composite magic circle, the best way to arrange each rune should follow...

There are more records to follow.

A large number of formulas, laws, and logic almost filled this appendix, and many of them can be seen on the pages after the appendix. Gao Wen could almost judge at a glance that this was already a summary and derivation with practical value.

It's just that they still don't seem to be the final results, and they still have some limitations of this era: many summaries are purely empirical products, and there is still a lack of clear formulas, and many formulas are too messy, and they have not been simplified and combined into More general formulas, and all these things have not been organized according to a system, but are piled up here loosely and independently, without any structure.

But they are already shocking things.

"You concluded these?" Gawain almost opened his eyes and exclaimed.

"No, no..." Jenny replied in a panic, "Not all, only part of this notebook was written by me, and the rest is... the legacy of the predecessors."

Speaking of the words "the legacy of the predecessors", her face was clearly gloomy and sad.

"Hmm...that's right, there are at least four kinds of handwriting on it," Gao Wen glanced down at the notebook, then flipped through the pages and suddenly found that the fonts at the beginning of it were vaguely familiar. After carefully identifying them, he turned his head. Looking at Hetty, "Do you have that notebook with you? The Wild Mage's one."

In Gao Wen's eyes, Master Wild's notes are simply a treasure, but the most precious thing about them is the knowledge recorded in them, not the notebook itself, so he copied a copy of the notes and kept the copied copy himself, but kept the copy. The original was given to Hetty who was keen on magic research as a gift.

Hetty nodded: "Take it, these two days I just happened to be studying the discussion about the general rune group in it..."

As she spoke, she took out the old notebook from her pocket. Gawain unfolded it on the table and compared it with the notebook from Jenny’s hand—as expected, the first quarter of the latter Fen's handwriting is exactly the same as that of the wild mage!

This thick and old notebook is also one of the relics of the wild mage?And his relic is still circulating in the circle of mages, and has been studied and continued by at least three latecomers?

"You are..." Jenny also saw the notebook Hetty took out, and she subconsciously said, "Do you know its owner?"

"I've seen it before," Gao Wen said casually, and pointed to Jenny's notebook that recorded the rune calculation formula, "Since you have this in your hand, it proves that you have seen him too?"

"Unfortunately, when I got this notebook, it had changed hands three times," Jenny shook her head. "Have you seen him? Where is he now? Is he also in this camp?"

The expression on the rune teacher's face was full of admiration and excitement, but Gao Wen had to let her down: "He is dead, and the notebook in my hand is his only relic. Of course, now you have to add the notebook you have in hand." .”

Jenny opened her mouth, but finally it turned into a sigh: "Is that so..."

"You said that this notebook has been changed hands three times, so what about its previous owners?" Gao Wen didn't give Jenny too much time to immerse himself in emotion, he followed up and asked, "Those who pushed forward the research on the notebook , are they still in the royal capital or the secret society? Can you contact them?"

"They...are dead too," Jenny's tone suddenly became very low. "Its second owner died in an expedition, and its third owner, the one before me, was with me. Mr. Ravencrest, who learned runes together, died in a mission arranged by the instructor—the constant E=1.66 is his legacy.”

Chapter 0109 E=1.66

Under the questioning of Gawain and Hetty, Jenny finally stopped being silent, and the stories about this notebook and its owners were presented in full for the first time, and Gawain also knew more about that notebook. The matter of the wild mage.

The first owner of the notebook was indeed the wild mage, but he still did not leave his name in this notebook. Jenny only knew that he was a down-and-out, eccentric and marginalized senior. The mage came from the Violet Kingdom in the north of the mainland. He was once a member of the largest human mage organization, the "Secret Society". Therefore, her life was extremely depressing, and she finally left the secret society to heal her daughter and entered the territory of Ansu, and the notebook Jenny got was one of the manuscripts that the wild mage had left in the early years—if there was no If he is wrong, he sold it cheaply to a mage in the Kingdom of Ansu in order to raise travel expenses.

Perhaps it was only sold for three copper coins, or perhaps it was worth nothing, and was merely a gift of a large pile of books and notes.

And its second owner's situation is not that strong either. From the lines in the notes, it can be seen that the research that the mage is conducting is also "deviant", and the reason why he conducts such research is also the same. Personal strength is low and there is no hope of improvement.

A mage who was struggling with magic and runes hoped that logic and mathematics would help him explore the reality of this world, and the wild mage's research on the versatility and potential laws of runes gave him a bright light. The guiding light allowed him to vaguely grasp the path to explore the mysteries of magic even without the help of powerful magic power and personal strength, but the second researcher did not go far on this road.

Maybe it was to raise the cost of doing research, or maybe it was to verify a piece of data obtained from the notes. This unknown mage died on an expedition, and the few properties he left were quickly divided up. Clean, this precious notebook fell into the hands of Jenny's tutor.

But Jenny's mentor did not become the owner of this notebook, because the "orthodox mentor" disdained this notebook abnormally. He didn't think that two low-level mages could write a lot of calculations on paper. What truth is revealed, and that the second owner of the notebook lost his life in an adventure because he believed the nonsense on these waste papers-the poor guy who died in the ruins just proved the theory in the notebook. error.

So the mentor just threw the note away, throwing it in the garbage dump outside the mage's tower - and was picked up by his "apprentice" Ravencrest.

And this so-called "apprentice" is actually the slave of the great magician.

This phenomenon is very common among orthodox magicians. Their apprentices are usually divided into two types: real apprentices and non-human apprentices. On the other hand, it was only used as an apprentice in the mage's tower, but it was actually used as a slave and experimental material.Ravencrest falls into the latter category.

Because of poor magic talent and not a famous family, Ravencrest has never been valued in the mage tower. Although he has a very high talent in mathematics and logic, but because of his poor spellcasting ability and rune sensing ability, he Called an "imbecile" and a "freak" by everyone in the mage's tower, the archmage reluctantly taught Ravencrest some basic knowledge, and then forcibly spawned him with cheap potions and rituals with huge aftereffects. As a formal mage, he will be trained in the same way as a rune master, and he is going to be responsible for drawing magic circles and making props.

Ravencrest picked up the notes at that time and became the third owner of the notes.

And it was several years after that that Jenny met Ravencrest.

Unlike the vast majority of "talented people" who can enter the Mage Tower, Jenny's background is more humble, and she was not even selected into the tower as a "Mage Servant": this thin girl came from a country far away from the king. In the poor countryside, the family's ancestors have never dealt with extraordinary people for generations, let alone have "noble blood of a mage".

She was able to enter the Master Tower because her hometown suffered a famine, and her family was about to starve to death. At that time, her "mentor" happened to pass by her hometown village, and wanted to "be kind and use the food in his hand to exchange some with the local hungry people." thing".

Jenny clearly remembered that it was a windless but very cold night. Her parents gathered the children together and drew a lottery, and she was only 14 years old.

The next morning, she was pushed into the "Master Magician"'s caravan and exchanged enough food for the family: two bags of wheat.

She still remembers that there were many things piled up in the caravan: unknown herbs, animal specimens, stones, metal, bark, and several numb children who were about her own age...

The car was full of experimental materials.

The magician exchanged the food for experimental materials, and she was brought to the mage tower as an experimental material.

After that, she met Ravencrest in the mage's tower, a "apprentice" who was a mage's servant but had a higher status than her.

Ravencrest was responsible for "feeding" the experimental materials.

The children who were brought together from the countryside were quickly put to use by the magician. Almost every two or three days, a child would be taken out. Some of them could come back alive, some could not, and Even those who came back alive soon became mad and weak. Jenny had realized her fate, but she did not run away.

Because Ravencrest reminded her every day: Don't run, it will be more terrible than death.

In this way, it was finally Jenny's turn to be "used". She couldn't remember the specifics of the day, because she was almost completely immersed in fear and confusion at the time, but luck favored her: after being sent When she was on the experimental magic circle, she was suddenly detected to have a very weak magic affinity.

She turned out to be gifted with magic.

Because of her magical talent and her honesty before, Jenny saved her life and became one of the magician's apprentices, and she was a "servant apprentice" with the same status as Ravencrest, and she also Got her own surname: the sorcerer had very casually named her "Perot."In the lingua franca of mankind, this word means "wheat" - because at that time she was bought back by a magician with two sacks of wheat.

Being out of the threat of death is already a great fortune for Jenny as the experimental material, but in fact her situation is still not clear: she just changed from a "thing" to a "thing" "slaves", and in many cases, there is not much difference between the two.

But at that time, Jenny didn't have much time to think about these things. She was extremely grateful to be able to survive, and she never thought about being able to read, read, and learn magic as a mage apprentice (even though she was a slave apprentice) Good thing, she began to learn that knowledge eagerly, reading, literacy, identifying runes, and memorizing spells almost day and night, and soon, she discovered that Ravencrest had similar hobbies and ways of thinking to her own...

They became good friends, forgetting the years of acquaintance, Ravencrest excitedly showed his treasured notebook to Jenny, and talked about the incredible things in the notebook that were rooted in mathematics and logic. , and the "apprentice" who has not received formal mage education at all absorbs the knowledge in the notes and builds his own worldview based on it.

They are completely unaware of how deviant this kind of research method that relies on formulas and calculations to approach the truth is in the eyes of orthodox mages who believe in pursuing truth with personal strength.

On the other side, Jenny's "mentor", the powerful magician, soon discovered that Jenny's magical talent was actually low and pitiful. This sick child who crawled out of the experimental materials had and only had a little bit of magical power With her spiritual talent, she may only be able to master a few apprentice-level spells and tricks in her lifetime, and miss out on the ranks of formal mages.

So he quickly stopped investing in Jenny, and desperately wanted to recover the cost. He gave Jenny a bottle of potion and a blueprint of the magic circle, and asked Jenny to drink the potion and forcibly catalyze it into a magic circle. Level mage, and then start the rune master's practice.

Ravencrest, who had already drank the potion, stopped Jenny in private, and gave a bold suggestion: why not believe in the knowledge in the notes, believe in the formulas deduced and summarized based on the knowledge in the notes, and try not to use spells , and only rely on mathematics and logic to control those runes?

Jenny followed Ravencrest's advice and completed the reconstruction of the circle as an apprentice.

That is probably the first "calculated" magic circle in this world.

But her "mentor" didn't reward her for this, instead she was furious, and quickly found out that Ravencrest was "playing tricks", and then he traced the existence of the notebook - this is The behavior of almost "betrayal" made him even more angry. He thought that a research notebook full of nonsense from a poor mage with low strength could confuse his servants in his mage tower. It is a great insult.

The great magician was furious and was about to destroy the notes and severely punish his two "apprentices", but at this time Ravencrest bravely stood up for the first time and took the initiative to face the anger of his "mentor".

He took his punishment alone and kept the notebook and Jenny at the cost of an eye, a quarter of his soul and two tendons, trying to convince the tyrannical archmage, keeping the notebook and making the stupid It is valuable for the apprentices to study the notes—there may be something worth investing in in the notes. He and Jenny can become such test subjects to make magic circles and runes according to the methods recorded in the notes , so that if it succeeds, all the results will belong to the great magician. If it fails, the magician will only lose two experimental materials.

Jenny's mentor accepted this statement and asked two bold apprentices to continue this research, but he never gave up the constant ridicule and blows - he believed that those who could not control high-level runes at all The rune research done must be absurd and ridiculous, just like a serf guessing the king's menu. Without the ability to perceive and control the runes, but relying on a few calculations to guess the power of those runes out of thin air, isn't it ridiculous? What is it?

But no matter what, Ravencrest and Jenny were finally able to continue to study the contents of the note, and they quickly discovered that there was an obvious "fault" problem in the properties of different magic-guiding materials, such as the transmission of magic power. The fault seems to divide all the guiding materials into two intervals of "positive" and "negative", and a mysterious constant affects the actual performance of the guiding materials in these two intervals in the magic circle. It turns out that various guiding materials only affect The "output power" of the magic circle, and the anti-interference stability of the magic circle itself mainly depends on the arrangement logic of the runes, and the relationship with the magic guide material is only affected by its positive and negative polarity and a constant...

They began to deduce this constant and gradually approached the final result. However, on the eve of success, their mentor suddenly gave them a task.

Go to an out-of-control mana well and reset the rune array there.

This is completely beyond their runecaster skills, and resetting the rune array of a mana well is not a runecaster's specialty: it's the job of a full-fledged mage.

But the instructor's order is absolute, and there is another sentence along with the order:

"Didn't you say that all runes can fit in your formula? Then go ahead and do it."

Ravencrest accepted this order, he knew very well that the great magician had lost his patience, because the latter was not a person who could tolerate his servants acting freely, so he had no choice at all, and went to the magic well to adjust the runes , just allows him to verify one of the most critical issues.

Jenny's memories were coming to an end, and her tone was very calm, so calm that she didn't seem to be talking about herself: "Mr. Ravencrest told me before leaving that he would adjust those runes according to the first guess, If he came back alive, E equals 1.29, and if he doesn't, E equals 1.66—he didn't come back."

Gao Wen lowered his head and looked at the notebook. The record on the constant E was written in brand-new and delicate handwriting, which was written by Jenny.

Chapter 0110 When the Storm Begins

After a long time after Jenny finished speaking, neither Gawain nor Hetty broke the silence.

But Hetty could feel that a powerful aura was overflowing from the ancestor, and his side was like an ice cave, so that just sitting nearby, she felt that the magic power in her body was gradually freezing—and this kind of The unbearable feeling lasted until Gao Wen opened his mouth.

Gao Wen spoke in an unexpectedly calm tone: "What's your tutor's name?"

"...William, William Birkenstock," Jenny said slightly, "he is not a court mage, but he has a lot of status in Saint-Sunil City, he is an honorary advisor to the Royal Society of Mages, and... he is very powerful. "

Gawain just nodded quietly: "William Birkenstock, honorary advisor to the Royal Society of Mages, I see."

Hetty felt that the atmosphere was too oppressive, and she had to say something to re-flow the almost frozen air: "After that? Are you still studying the content in the notes?"

"I pretended to give up the theory in the notes, but I was secretly studying," Jenny said in a low voice, "The tutor had a little interest in the notes, but he didn't bother to read them carefully, but just sat and watched What can we come up with? The death of Mr. Ravencrest seems to be evidence, making the instructor confirm that the research in the notebook is absurd and wrong, so he completely diverted his attention from this aspect, and I pretended to give up the same those theories."

"So, he will never know the existence of the constant E. He doesn't bother to read any of the statements in the notes carefully, and completes all judgments based on his impressions, based on his stupid impressions," Gawain said in an extremely contemptuous tone. "He didn't know what he was scorning, he didn't know what he was missing, he didn't even know what he was missing - I never heard such a stupid and ignorant person."

Jenny opened her eyes slightly. This was the first time she heard someone use the words "stupid and ignorant" to evaluate her mentor, a person who was well-known in the Royal Mages Society and even had an honorary seat in the Arcane Society. great magician...

But she didn't dare to echo Gao Wen's words, she just lowered her head slightly and continued: "Then I slowly became a skilled rune master. My mentor once wondered why I could complete rune adjustments with apprentice-level magic skills, but There are still many things he has to pay attention to, and there are too many servants and apprentices like me in his mage tower, so he quickly took his attention away from me-until not long ago, the king wanted to form a southern border pioneer The news of the team came, and various powerful nobles began to set up this team, and the instructor suddenly found me..."

Hetty snorted lightly: "So it was that great wizard William Birkenstock again who packaged a fourth-level runemaster who was a mage apprentice as a mid-level professional and arranged it into the aid team."

"Probably he just wants to get rid of a burden. After all, I am in his heart... I have always been regarded as disobedient and untalented," Jenny nodded with a wry smile, "and letting a mage apprentice fill up with the level of a rune master is already It was a serious deception and humiliation, so he probably got the instruction and support of some big figures in the capital. Lord Duke, I want to remind you that I am not a special case. Half of the team of 100 people are Those who are stuffed in like this are basically people who are squeezed out and deviant. They either have no status and are the burden of being kicked out, or they have a professional level but are actually useless. Like the second-level official mage Mr. Santis, although he is a second-level arcanist, he is actually born with weak mental power and can only cast three or four second-level spells in a row, and Mr. Bruce, the carpenter, he He spent half his life researching institutions, but he was squeezed out by the carpenters' association because he was not sociable. He was expelled from the association many years ago. It was not until this time that the association organized an aid team that the association temporarily found him. Fill up in the team..."

Hetty was dumbfounded when she heard this: "What about the nobles in the capital..."

However, Gao Wen couldn't help laughing, "Instead, I would like to thank them, every family that intervened in this matter, and also thank Jenny, your mentor—those idiots will never know how much wealth they missed. Deviant ? Well, the most feared thing in this land is apostasy, if those people who stick to the rules and bring a lot of connections come here, I don't want it!"