This is the original design diagram of the magic conduction device.
The blueprint is rather crude, one might say it is inferior to most sophisticated products of this era. Judging by the blueprint, its designer could be said to have little talent in this area, even clumsy, making it a clumsy work indeed.
But at this moment, Brand felt a sudden clarity in his heart.
How did ’Origin’, one of the top ten player factions in ’Amber Sword’, manage to obtain the original blueprint from the production and design monopoly of the royal families of the major empires, and subsequently launched an era of ’independence’ for the players?
The answer was right here.
Brand had never expected to encounter such a thing before coming here. He never connected this frail girl to one of the top ten mysteries in the previous era of ’Amber Sword’. These seemed like completely unrelated events, and he had never even considered the possibility. If he were to describe his feelings at this moment, it would be one of overwhelming surprise and caught off guard.
So ’Staff’, the great commander of ’Origin’, never infiltrated any empire; he simply completed this hidden task line from the beginning.
Brand almost used all his willpower to keep his expression unchanged. The blueprint in his hand could be said to have epoch-making significance——
There are three types of powers in this world.
The first type is called the element, or a higher-level existential power. Fire, wind, water, earth, truth, and law, time and space, even matter itself, are forms of existence. Those who wield this power are known as warriors, elemental mages, wizards, and all kinds of great power users. Different forces manifest different characteristics in them, but they all share a common measure known as ’Oauth’——energy level.
The power of the element exists in latent form in different individuals until their nurtured strength exceeds 500 energy levels (Oz). The Flame Temple describes this as the ’Enlightenment Element’. From then on, these individuals are bestowed the title of ’Templar’.
This is a long, often unreachable process, as in Vorn, most people are born with strength only amounting to 0.3 energy levels (Oz). They may never reach such heights even if they spend their entire lives trying. But the heavens favor some people. In this world, there are those born with this qualification, who are called the Chosen Ones.
The second type of power is non-human power, known as ’Divine Power,’ also the power of faith.
The gods of Vorn have long divided into two pantheons, Hillma and Ainka. Hillma is secular, Ainka proud, but the gods hold dominion over the sun, moon, and stars, and the laws governing all things on earth, hence they are called deities. Their existence depends on this world, or rather, they are the projection of the rules above the firmament. They don’t need people’s worship, but mortals, out of fear of these mighty beings, develop faith—that the gods respond to their followers.
This response is ’Divine Power’, the power wielded by priests—the source of this power is the gods’ will to reshape the world, and their care for their children.
Thus, numerous sects on earth debate day and night. Their disputes stem from mortals’ misinterpretation of the gods’ intent or the gods’ own perplexity about transforming this world.
As for the third type of power, it is the power of wisdom, the power by which mortals reshape the world.
The magic conduction device in Brand’s hand is also known as the ’Magic Core’, the source of all magic power in this world. It transforms the energy in magic or elemental crystals in a non-artificial (mechanical) way to power everything from magic fire guns to warships and floating cities—it originated from the ingenuity of the cloth processing craftsmen wizards and was soon secretly controlled by the royal families of the major empires.
This new, mortal-created power quickly changed the world’s landscape. Beginning with the great development of productivity, leading to vast transformations, followed by the ensuing power and resource conflicts, and decades of Holy War and the November War, this world became turbulent over the past century.
And now Brand held the root of this turbulence in his hand——
Going even further, the epoch-making significance of this blueprint was that—despite it not being technologically advanced compared to most of the Magic Cores of this era, even considerably lagging by at least thirty years in transformation efficiency—it changed the nature of the monopoly of the Magic Core secrets by a few.
In ’Amber Sword’, the Magic Core named ’Star’, designed by Antitina, was first manufactured in the player’s territory twenty years later, marking the rise of players under NPCs.
And at this very moment, this symbol was in the palm of his hand.
He couldn’t help but take a deep breath and asked, "You designed this?"
Antitina was initially a bit nervous, but hearing this question, she was taken aback.
"You can understand it?" she couldn’t help but ask.
All her knowledge came from books. Despite investing all her interest and energy in the design of magic devices—though her past mentor told her that she lacked talent in this field, that her achievements on this path would be limited—Antitina still devoted all her money and effort to this path. Especially after her parents passed away, she committed herself wholeheartedly—selling off her family’s assets, nearly being deceived by a glib-tongued merchant once. If not for her noble status protecting her, she might have become someone else’s plaything.
But Antitina never gave up.
Especially, she insisted she might have discovered a path to the ’Magic Core’. She designed numerous blueprints, of which this was just one concept. It had a fatal flaw that consumed too much, making the finished product seem unrealistic. But the stubborn girl still believed her design was worth the price.
She had prepared herself for Brand’s ridicule and mustered up courage, but instead, she received this response.
"Very crude, but at least it’s a finished product." Brand replied.
"No, no, sir, you don’t understand," the girl started coughing, answering while coughing: "This blueprint is actually a semi-finished product, its input and output are entirely disproportionate——"
"What? You dare to offer a semi-finished product as debt repayment!" The Limp Man jumped up immediately upon hearing that.
But Brand signaled Batom to stop him and then looked at Antitina, saying: "It’s fine. In my opinion, this transaction is worthwhile. You fulfilled your words, Miss Antitina—you indeed provided sufficient payment, even more."
He wasn’t lying, it indeed was more. Compared to Borg’s treasure, this felt more like an unexpected reward.
The girl couldn’t help but widen her eyes——
(PS. Although I am quite ashamed, this month’s update was much less than expected, but I still shamelessly ask for votes.)(To be continued, for more, please visit www.qidian.com, support the author, support legitimate reading!)