It was late autumn, and a thin mist was rising.
It was not the Misty Moon yet, but the capital of the Typhon Empire, Oldenheim, had always been a city with a lot of rain and fog. As the Frost Sky Tower gradually moved towards the highest point in the sky, the thin mist began to visit this' young 'capital more frequently, especially after a cold autumn rain, when the mist would arrive as expected.
The autumn rain was always continuous, and even after the rain stopped, there would still be occasional raindrops falling from the sky. Between the cold rain and the hazy mist, the solemn black towers and rows upon rows of spires of Oldenheim stood silently on both sides of the main road. The black-haired female mage, Mary, was wrapped in her slightly old black mage robe, walking quickly down the street with her head lowered.
The Wind Shield blocked the cold air of late autumn and the falling raindrops, but the scenery in the mist still brought a chill to the bottom of one's heart. Mary subconsciously tightened her robe, and then the image of her teacher, Daniel's angry face appeared in her mind. If her teacher saw her walking down the street with her neck shrunk, he would probably be angry again.
She shook her head, tossing these unnecessary thoughts aside, and then raised her head to look forward.
It was late autumn on the streets. In the countryside, it was impossible to see anyone on the streets at this time of year, but in Mary's vision, there was more than one group of people walking in the hazy mist.
These people wore thin old linen clothes, and wore felt hats or dirty bandanas on their heads. Most of them were numb men, but there were also some children and women with sleepy faces. Most of them were walking in the same direction, their steps heavy, and their faces expressionless. In the early morning mist, these people walking on the streets looked as strange as ghosts walking out of the mist.
Mary knew that these were the men who had gone to work in the factories--the textile mills, the printing presses, the rune foundries, and the pyrolytic chemical--and the factories had begun to multiply last winter, and so had the men.
The factories brought prosperity, allowing the entire city to operate at an astonishing speed. It also allowed the small nobles who had once lost their power and wealth to return to extravagant banquets and parties. As the apprentice of an archmage, and as a rising star of the Imperial Craftsman Association, Mary was fortunate enough to participate in the gatherings of the big shots. She more or less knew how the factory owners accumulated their wealth so quickly. The wealth came from the astonishing production efficiency of the machines, the timely implementation of the market laws by the emperor, and even more so, from these walking corpses … people.
But the factory owners did not care about this.
Mary knew. She knew how her teacher was pushing everything behind the scenes. She also roughly knew what kind of plan was behind this miraculous factory boom. As the person who knew everything and the main assistant of her teacher to carry out the plan, the young female mage once again tightened her robe on the cold street and hurriedly walked past the numb 'new citizens'.
After passing through Parmel Street and a few towers at the edge of the mage district, she arrived at the residence of her mentor and a few apprentices, including herself. It was a luxurious mansion located in the upper-class district of the rich.
This mansion had three floors, two towers, two gardens, and a complete stable and servant's quarters. It was a gift from the president of the Royal Association of Mages to her mentor.
The gatekeeper was a familiar male apprentice. The freckled young man had a strange expression on his face when he saw Mary. Before Mary could ask, the young apprentice took the initiative to say, "My mentor is in the 'cellar'. He wants you to go there as soon as you come back."
Cellar …
Mary's heart suddenly skipped a beat, but she quickly smoothed out all the changes in her expression and nodded slightly. "I understand."
She walked through the courtyard of the mansion, into the main house, down the stairs, and came to the entrance of the cellar. Ordinary apprentices and servants were forbidden from approaching this place. Mary saw two puppet servants with empty eyes waiting at the door.
The young female mage swallowed. She kept reminding herself that her mentor had become more and more amiable recently. She then pushed open the door of the cellar.
This underground space had been transformed into a secret laboratory by her mentor. The magic crystal lamp powered by the magic network lit up the entire room. Mary quickly saw the old mage Daniel in a black robe in the corner of the room, and behind Daniel, she saw a strange-looking … chair.
It was obviously a magical creation. It was placed on a base engraved with runes. She could see a faint light flowing on the side of the chair. Some strange metal points were distributed on the back of the chair, and the back itself seemed to be wrapped in some kind of magical leather. The moment she saw the chair, Mary associated it with the sacrificial devices described in some horror stories.
Daniel looked up. His tawny eyes stared at the female apprentice who was standing at the door, slightly at a loss of what to do. "Come here. Master wants to see you."
Mary took a deep breath.
She did not remember how she moved her feet to the chair, nor did she remember how she clumsily secured her position with a belt and buckle according to her mentor's instructions. There was only one thought in her mind: this day had finally come. She was going to be sacrificed to that terrifying 'master' by her mentor …
She knew that there was a 'master' behind her mentor. Of course, she knew that the sudden knowledge and terrifying plan were all arranged by that 'master'. Those fragments of knowledge had pushed the development of magical engineering in Typhon, and the first step of that terrifying plan had changed the balance of power among the nobles of Oldenheim. Apart from that, there was also algebra, three-dimensional geometry, calculus, runic logic … that knowledge was awe-inspiring, but it also made one realize the nature of the 'master' behind her mentor.
It was said that only the indescribable Evil Gods from another world would give out 'knowledge' in such a generous way, and this' knowledge 'came with a price.
"Sit tight. No matter what you see later, open your heart and accept it. Don't put up any resistance. Otherwise, you will be the one to suffer." Daniel pressed down on Mary's slightly trembling shoulders and said in a serious and cold tone.
Mary thought that she might be this' price '.
Her mentor continued, "You will arrive at a pure space. There, you will talk less and see more. That's because that's where the master's followers will gather. Each of them is much wiser, stronger, and more honorable than you."
Mary gulped. Finally, she could not help but want to say something to ease her nervousness. So she opened her mouth. "I … When I see the 'master', what … what should I say?"
Daniel stopped moving. His tawny eyes stared at Mary. She did not know if it was an illusion, but Mary felt that there was a hint of praise in those eyes.
"First, say your name," the old mage said with a serious face. At the same time, he activated the runic trigger on the chair. "Then, say — learning makes me happy."
"Ah …"
Mary let out a short cry of surprise in her confusion. However, before she could ask any questions, a sudden wave of dizziness pulled her into the depths of a bizarre illusion.
When she opened her eyes again, she was already in a vast space with a high blue sky, boundless water, and a large number of wonderful metal platforms.
Mary realized that she was no longer sitting on that strange 'sacrificial chair'. Instead, she was sitting on a comfortable high-back chair. In front of her was a gorgeous and spacious round table. Around the round table were neatly arranged seats. Some people she did not know were sitting in those seats. Across the round table, a tall and burly man was quietly looking at her.
Almost instantly, Mary realized that the man was the 'master' that her mentor had mentioned.
Although this was a round table where it was impossible to distinguish between the master and the subordinate, the man's aura was clearly different from everyone else.
Mary did not expect that the appearance of her 'master' would be like this. She thought that she would see a ferocious and terrifying demon, or some even more indescribable existence. But no matter what, a 'master' with a human appearance at least made her relax a lot. Just as she was relieved, the old mage Daniel also appeared in this space and sat on the chair next to Mary.
Daniel glared at the apprentice who was a little stunned. "What are you waiting for?"
Mary finally woke up from her dream. She hurriedly stood up in a hurry and stuttered what her mentor had asked her to say. "My … my name is Mary. I don't have a surname, and … and … learning makes me happy!"
The atmosphere seemed to be a little awkward, but Mary was too nervous to feel the change in the atmosphere. She saw that the figures sitting around the round table were all looking at her. Among them, there was even a spirit creature that was full of blue light. The 'spirit creature' looked at her with great interest and said in a buzzing voice, "This child is quite interesting."
A beautiful and elegant lady in a red dress smiled at her. "You're a little nervous. Relax."
A lively young lady with big eyes and long brown hair had a happy smile on her face. "Ah, you're the Mary who solved all the sixteen equations I came up with?! You're so awesome! My name is Rebecca. Did you really solve them by yourself? "
Mary was a little stunned for a moment. She suddenly felt that … the development of the situation seemed to be a little different from what she had imagined.
Gwen looked at the black-haired girl who was visiting the Origin Space for the first time with a slightly strange expression. He saw the nervousness and even fear on her face at first, which made him a little dumbfounded. "Mary, is it? Relax, welcome to the Origin Lab. "
"Origin Lab?" Mary was stunned for a moment. She was about to ask what the Origin Lab was, but then she remembered that her mentor seemed to have mentioned the name when he was adjusting her seat. It was mentioned when she was at her most nervous, so she swallowed her question and nodded quickly. "Okay, okay! I … I'm also very honored … "
Daniel's face turned sour. "Embarrassing."
Mary quickly shrank her neck. "I'm sorry, sir."
"It's okay. This child is very talented. Her talent is more than enough to make up for her little helplessness," Gawain said. "And I'm very curious about how you described this online conference to this child. She looked a little nervous and abnormal."
"I only said that you wanted to see her," said Daniel in a matter-of-fact manner. "The Origin Lab is extremely confidential. Before entering the network, I almost didn't tell her anything."
"… cautious, but it makes sense."
Thinking of Daniel's style in the real world and the psychological trauma he had caused his apprentices, Gwen could totally guess what was going on with this girl named Mary.
Forget it, let them solve their own problems.
Gwen shook his head slightly in his heart, then put the "newcomer" Mary aside for the time being and began the main topic of the online conference.
"First, I brought some information. Jenny, Kamel, Rebecca, activate your respective printouts and print out the information in the real world."
As he spoke, Gawain activated the memory conversion function of the Origin Laboratory. In the air above the round table, a large number of dazzling runes and lines were projected almost instantly, and they were then divided into concise and clear 2D disassembly diagrams one after another.
"This is the technical information of the elves. This part is their cooling rune array. This part is based on the oil coolant and the cooling system using an immersion heat exchanger. This is their anti-gravity array. It should not be complete, but it can be used as a reference. In addition, there is their shield projection method and the idea of stacking multiple layers of runes … "
"Wow!!" Rebecca's eyes widened as she looked at the complex rune array and the disassembly diagram of the device structure. She could not help but let out an exaggerated exclamation. "Ancestor, you have a strong memory … You are better at stealing than Amber!"
"Heti, remember to call me when you go offline."
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