Upon seeing the tattered notebook, Hettie finally realized the source of everything. "These are... from that wild mage?"
"Exactly," Gawain replied, his expression thoughtful. "He was a low-tier mage, forever oscillating between the ranks due to being ostracized by the mainstream mage community. His talent exceeded everyone's imagination, yet this era offered him no space to flourish." He glanced at the notebook in his hands, adding, "After reviewing some of his research notes, I believe the value of this notebook is equivalent to at least half a duke's territory."
Hettie was taken aback. "Really?!"
Gawain's statement was not an exaggeration. In fact, from a technological development perspective, the legacy left by that anonymous wild mage would likely reveal increasingly higher value over time. Although all his research was still at a rudimentary stage, Gawain understood well that for many groundbreaking ideas and concepts, the initial stage is often the most valuable.
He placed the notebook on the table and looked up at Hettie. "His daughter, a girl named Annie, likely suffered from elemental assimilation syndrome, which is arguably one of the rarest magical ailments. As a mage, you should be familiar with this condition."
"Elemental assimilation... That's a disease unique to the Violet Kingdom, with a very low incidence rate and no known cure," Hettie nodded slightly. "I suspected as much when I first read those diaries."
In this world, where magical powers exist, many phenomena starkly contrast with those of Gawain's homeland. Some are beneficial, while others, like elemental assimilation syndrome, represent the worst of these issues.
This ailment, triggered by magical erosion, commonly occurs in areas dense with magical power and active elements. During the Gondor Empire's era, it frequently appeared near the depths of the Blue Wells in the imperial capital. Even at the height of the empire's prosperity, it was considered nearly incurable. In the present day, it has become a "specialty" of the northern Violet Kingdom.
If extraordinary powers in this world represent gifts from nature to humanity, then elemental assimilation serves as the accompanying malice within that gift.
Elemental assimilation syndrome only manifests in newborns, resulting from the fetal development process when subjected to magical energy radiation. Children afflicted by this disease may initially develop normally, but as they age, they gradually exhibit signs of being eroded and assimilated by specific elements. The afflicted individual's physical body undergoes transformation, increasingly becoming half-elemental. As normal biological tissue is gradually replaced by elemental matter, they also begin to face rejection from the material world—except for a few races with special talents, no elemental beings can exist long-term in the material realm; this is a natural law of this world.
This process accelerates as the disease progresses and is irreversible. Once more than half of a person's biological tissue becomes elementalized, they are effectively "exiled" from the material world, pushed into the elemental plane corresponding to their type of elemental assimilation syndrome.
Then, they die in the liminal space between the material and elemental worlds—the remaining biological tissue makes this process exceptionally horrifying, akin to being torn apart.
Annie, the daughter of the anonymous wild mage, likely suffered from this ailment, specifically a shadow-elemental variant: the rarest among all forms of elemental assimilation.
While mages and scholars have dedicated years to researching various elemental realms, they have encountered significant challenges studying the mysterious shadow realm.
"Elemental assimilation syndrome cannot be cured; it can only be delayed, and the most effective 'delay' method is to use magical power to bind the patient's body, similar to how elemental summoners use magical shackles to force elemental beings to remain in the material world," Hettie explained, though she was only a low-tier mage; she was quite knowledgeable about these theoretical concepts. "However, this is more difficult than binding an elemental being because elemental assimilation syndrome deepens over time, requiring sustained magical infusion throughout the process."
"A second-tier mage—one who has been rejected by the Arcane Council—lacks the capacity and financial resources to maintain such an expensive treatment," Gawain nodded in agreement. "So, he devised his own method—constructing an extraordinarily efficient self-charging magical array and breaking the ironclad rule that such arrays can only operate on internal cycles, turning it into a device to 'charge' his daughter. He was effectively forced into this solution because all large magical focal points had already been occupied, and the scattered minor magical energy focal points in the forest provided insufficient energy. However, he solved this problem using his unique talent."
"But that unusual surge of magical energy damaged his array..." Hettie suddenly realized. "If that's the case, doesn't that mean this self-charging array named 'Magic Web' has significant flaws? It would become unmanageable during magical surges..."
"No, the surge of magical energy did not damage the structure of the array; it has well-designed safety measures," Gawain shook his head. "I personally observed the structure of this array and can confirm it remained intact until the end. According to the wild mage's diary, the problem arose not from the array but from the 'Shadow Transformation' ritual he attempted to perform. The magical bindings can only delay the process of elemental assimilation; they cannot cure it. By that time, Annie was already on the brink of losing control, so the wild mage risked executing a ritual he could not fully manage—resulting in the excess magical energy generated during the surge exceeding his capacity."
"If that's the case... then I'm no longer worried," Hettie gradually nodded, her expression becoming complex as she looked at the notes left by the wild mage. "I truly cannot imagine that a down-and-out wild mage could create something like this... This large array made up of fundamental units is unlike any magical array I know. It seems to completely abandon all complex structures, maximizing simplicity."
"Let's refer to it as 'universality,'" Gawain smiled. "The work of laying down the experimental 'Magic Web' in the blacksmith's shop is..."
As he spoke, he hesitated between Hettie and Rebecca. It was clearly more appropriate to entrust Hettie with the technical work of laying down the magical array. However, Hettie had already taken on most of the responsibility for coordinating the camp's construction. Although she was highly capable in this regard, the task of building the magical laboratory still awaited her. Gawain truly did not want to burden her further. Passing it to Rebecca seemed feasible as well, since she could only cast fireball spells; however, laying down a magical array was different from casting a spell. Especially for a self-charging array, as long as she could follow the blueprint to complete the construction, that was sufficient. It merely required a grasp of theoretical knowledge and calculation skills, but he couldn't help but feel a bit hesitant...
Every time he looked at Rebecca, she inevitably wore a deer-in-headlights expression. Would she truly manage to accomplish this?
As if sensing Gawain's uncertainty, Rebecca didn't wait for Hettie to speak before bouncing up energetically. "Lord Ancestor! Leave it to me! I can do it!"
"Are you sure?" Gawain studied her intently. "The importance of this project exceeds your imagination; it can be considered a foundation for many of my upcoming plans. Can you handle it?"
Rebecca stopped bouncing, thinking deeply, and looked nervously at Gawain. "Then... if I mess it up, will you punish me?"
Gawain replied, "...Forget it; Hettie, you should handle this..."
Before he finished speaking, Rebecca mustered her courage and declared loudly, "But I still want to try!"
Gawain looked at this girl with curiosity. "Oh?"
"This array... it seems so interesting to me! I feel like there are so many parts that are... particularly good. Perhaps I can... I can..." Rebecca trailed off, stammering. After struggling to find the right words, she pressed on with determination. "Even though I can only cast fireball spells, my theoretical knowledge is solid! My calculation skills are good too! Besides, Aunt Hettie has been so busy lately, and aside from surveying the land and helping everyone with burning the fields, I haven't done anything. I feel that..."
Seeing Rebecca's anxious demeanor made Gawain smile. He turned to Hettie. "What do you think, Hettie?"
"Rebecca's theoretical knowledge and calculation skills are indeed strong. Setting aside her lack of casting ability, her talent may even surpass mine," Hettie remarked somewhat helplessly, casting a glance at Rebecca. "If only her temperament were a bit more stable."
"I'm definitely stable!" Rebecca insisted, though her gaze was still fixed on the blueprints on the table, which piqued Gawain's curiosity.
He couldn't resist asking, "Are you very interested in this magic array?"
"Yes!" Rebecca scratched her head. "In fact, a long time ago, I thought it would be great if we could simplify those complex magics. If casting spells could become easier, perhaps I could cast something besides fireball spells... This array gives me a lot of inspiration!"
Gawain stared at Rebecca intensely, causing the girl to feel quite nervous.
But after a few seconds, Gawain broke into a smile. "Alright, then this matter is entrusted to you."
Rebecca was overjoyed. "Really?!"
"Of course," Gawain said, pulling out another piece of paper from beneath the table—a rough sketch he had drawn for the blacksmith shop. "Design it on this scale, ensuring the entire yard can serve as the coverage area for the 'Magic Web,' while also building the first batch of furnaces here. You can retrieve the materials needed to lay the array from the Mountain Treasure Vault
, which has everything you need. Although this array is quite large, it's a 'basic array,' and I believe the materials in the vault, along with the quartz sand brought by Knight Philip from Tanzan Town, will be sufficient for you."
"This experimental Magic Web shall be named Magic Web No. 1."
With her new responsibility, Rebecca departed in high spirits. Hettie continued guiding the recently arrived serfs and townsfolk in setting up tents. For a moment, only Gawain and Amber remained in the large tent.
"You seem quite happy?" the half-elf observed, sizing Gawain up. "You weren't this pleased when you obtained the documents from that old king—are you enjoying teasing your several-times-great-granddaughter?"
Gawain: "..."
Could she not phrase things more nicely?