Sword of Dawn

Page 133

"...I want to say goodbye to Earl Taut first," Santis' father finally nodded and said, "I can't just leave like this."

Santis' mother glanced at her husband in surprise: "Jon?"

"My son is right. We should try to live elsewhere," said the father through clenched teeth. "Last week... the fields and barns of the Mackintosh family outside the city were confiscated because they believed in the Night Goddess and did not Willing to convert. My dear, I have an uneasy feeling that the atmosphere in town is changing, and we'd better take this opportunity to get out of here."

The mother, who has been used to obeying her husband's arrangements all her life, bowed her head: "...Okay, I will listen to you."

An hour later, after waiting for his younger brother to return home and informing the family of the arrangements, Santis returned to the carriage with the Cecil family emblem hanging on it. He turned a corner and headed towards Crown Street in the central area of ​​Wangdu.

"Where should we start?" Jibri, who has never been to the capital, asked Santis's opinion modestly: Although she is eloquent and has received training from the Military Intelligence Agency, in this strange environment she Still decided to listen to the experience of the "local snake".

"I'll write to a friend I know who is more qualified. The 'Handyman's Association' can hire messengers who can deliver letters anywhere in San-Sunil within a day. And send another later. The messenger goes to the Mage Association and uses the Lord Duke’s badge as a voucher to announce the recruitment of mages. Miss Jibri, I would also like to trouble you to go to the ‘Scholar’s ​​Hall’ next to the Silver Castle with the Duke’s proof documents. An organization of scholars in the Royal Capital, where you can post information to recruit scholars, maybe they will be interested in the Gondor relics unearthed in Cecil Territory and the rare animals and plants in the Dark Mountains..."

Santis assigned tasks one by one, and finally he paused, then turned to "Fast Leg" Pierce: "Mr. Coin releases a message of recruiting craftsmen, mainly to recruit rune craftsmen and skilled mechanics, and release the news according to the remuneration of the "magic technician" in the territory. In addition, it should be explained that the recruited craftsmen will be accepted before Cecil training, but even during the apprenticeship period, they can still get two-thirds of the salary. I believe that the income of Cecil's magician is enough to tempt many people."

Jibri looked seriously at Santis, who was calm and orderly, and suddenly couldn't help laughing: "Mr. Santis, you seem to have changed."

"Is there?" Santis was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Maybe I finally understand the meaning of the Duke's sending me here..."

Chapter 0320 "Master-Apprentice Inheritance"

The young low-level female mage Mary walked heavily on the stairs leading to the magic laboratory. The magic spar lamps embedded on both sides of the corridor emitted a constant and bright light, but this light could not dispel the uneasiness in her heart at all. .

During this period of time, the apprentices in the entire tower have been suffering from the same anxiety—the mental problems of the old magician seem to be developing and deteriorating in a new direction. When he was stimulated by something, he first asked his apprentices to dismantle the spiritual protection circles in the tower day and night, and then he dismantled one of the three magic laboratories without hesitation, and set up a large number of shelters inside. He locked himself in the new laboratory all day long, studying things that the apprentices could not understand and did not dare to inquire about. He began to talk to himself more frequently, Grumbling, sometimes dancing and laughing in the laboratory...

He seemed completely insane.

The only thing the apprentices feel lucky now is that the new madness of the old mage seems to have given him no time to punish others. For so many days, none of the apprentices has been whipped or scolded. The old mage seems to have been completely immersed in his deranged spiritual world , I even forgot that I still have a group of apprentices.

So Mary felt that she was probably the most unfortunate of all the apprentices at this moment—because the old mage Daniel actually remembered herself in the madness, and sent a servant to inform her to find him in the new laboratory...

Is it a new crazy experiment?Or an inexplicable punishment?Or was it just a casual greeting from the old mage in a state of insanity?

At the end of the stairs, a slightly dimly lit corridor appeared in front of my eyes. At the end of the corridor was the magic laboratory. A servant in a short black robe came from the corridor, bent slightly in front of Mary, and said in a stiff and deep voice: "Master is waiting for you."

"I see." Mary nodded, and walked forward over the servants.

The servants in the mage tower are all slaves purchased by the old mage. Except for the old housekeeper who does not know how old he is and is always suspicious, all the servants have undergone neuron modification surgery and spell brainwashing. The emotional "living dead" takes care of the life of the old mage and all the apprentices, and also serves as the experimental material for the old mage when necessary.

Mary used to be afraid of them and sympathized with them, but now, she is only numb to the servants of the living dead, no different from treating a golem.

Anyway, everyone in this tower is similar.

She walked through the corridor, pushed open the door of the new laboratory, and saw that the old mage was already waiting for her inside - with his back to the door, he seemed to be staring at something on the laboratory table in a daze.

Mary took a breath and walked into the laboratory: "Mentor, are you looking for me?"

The artificial nerve cords behind the old mage twitched, and then he turned around and stared at the female apprentice with his brown eyes: "Mary, you came just in time, come here—close the door."

Mary walked over apprehensively, and looked at the newly renovated laboratory.

The shelves containing animal samples and potions were moved to other places, and the original stone alchemy tables disappeared, replaced by a large test bench in the center of the room, and several on both sides of the room. With a long table and magic material storage cabinets, the new laboratory looked completely different from the gloomy and terrifying place before, but more like a normal magic laboratory.

The young female apprentice came to the experimental table and was about to ask her instructor what instructions she had, but she saw many blueprints and many draft papers filled with calculation formulas spread out on the experimental table.

"You, you are the best in mathematics and science among all my apprentices. I chose you—to complete the task assigned by the master with me!" The old mage glanced at Mary and said in an unquestionable tone, "You take With these in mind, solve these few questions!"

Do questions?

Mary was at a loss, but she took the papers and began to read the contents carefully, not daring to disobey the instructor's order.

It was a little difficult for her to understand. Although the math problems on the paper were all mathematical problems that could be solved with mathematical ability, the words and sentences were very different from the magic concepts she encountered in the past, but no matter what, she still persisted. Scalp looked down.

Then, she began to try to use her own understanding to solve the problem of calculating the range of the rune domain.

In the middle of solving the problem, a skinny finger suddenly stretched out from the side. Mary was startled, and then heard the tutor's words from the side: "Idiot! Where's your square symbol?!"

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Mary's forehead, but the expected electric shock or whipping did not come. The instructor just said coldly: "What are you doing in a daze? Correct it! Do you want to do the question wrong?!"

Mary hastily corrected her mistakes and continued.

But what she did was still very difficult—she knew both mathematics and science, but those definitions and formulas were too new and too abstract for her.

Understanding the topic added extra difficulty for her, so that she would make mistakes in what she could do, and soon she heard the instructor shouting in her ear: "You don't have a brain?! The theoretical value is 277! The actual interference The value has exceeded it! You are still going on?!"

"Have you seen any rune knots in the magic circle that can't be paired? Are you planning to connect the extra starting rune to your brain!"

"Quartz sand is negativity, it is negativity! Do you think it is mithril and pure gold? Let you design a magic circle, you will blow yourself up sooner or later!"

The tutor's scolding and roaring sounded almost every once in a while, and Mary couldn't help trembling every time, but slowly, she discovered one thing - the tutor was actually teaching herself something.

For the first time since the mentor became completely obsessed with performing the "connection" ritual a few years ago, he is teaching the apprentice the actual content again!

When I was in a daze, the instructor's voice rang again: "What are you doing in a daze? You still have two big questions to write! You are not allowed to eat until you finish the paper!"

Mary quickly lowered her head, and read the last two questions carefully, but a strange feeling emerged from her heart: Could it be that... the tutor has not gone completely crazy recently, but has really developed in magic research? Huge breakthrough, so fully immersed in research?

She knew that the original reason for the old magician's mental problems was that he encountered some desperate and huge problems in the process of magic research. After decades of being unable to break through, the originally strong and wise The promising genius mage has become gloomy and eccentric, cruel and twisted - the weird and terrifying "connection" ritual only magnifies his mental problems.

Ten minutes later, Mary pushed the manuscript paper towards Daniel: "Mentor, I'm done..."

The old magician glanced at her: "Have you checked it?"

"I... checked."

"let me see."

The old magician snatched the paper from Mary's hand, and carefully read it from beginning to end.

At that moment, I don't know if it was an illusion, but Mary seemed to see a trace of a smile on the mentor's always gloomy face.

"Hmm... so-so," the old magician's expression changed in a flash, and the next second he had a serious face again, "It's far worse than when I did it, and it took twice as long."

Mary could hear something else from this sentence: Aren't these questions written by the tutor himself?Did he do it again when he came up with the question?

Obviously, the old mage would not explain what he said, and Mary didn't have the guts to ask for such details. She just lowered her head and listened to the old mage continue: "Although you have used it for a long time, you have almost passed the test. You can take these materials Go back, read carefully, learn everything, and then teach the group of useless and idiots hiding at the bottom of the tower—tell them, I will test them in three days, if you can’t learn it, just wait to be made into a living dead by me.”

Mary shrank her neck, and finally couldn't help asking: "Mentor, what are these things... for?"

"These are great knowledge!" The old mage opened his hands and said excitedly. Obviously he was in a good mood at the moment, and he patiently explained to his apprentice, "It's the knowledge bestowed by my great master! You must study hard , when you learn it, I will teach you how to form the magic net and how to simplify the magic circle—this is your great honor, and it is your great honor to be able to serve the master!"

Mary nodded hurriedly. She began to doubt her optimistic estimate just now—her mentor might still be crazy.

After he came into contact with a terrifying existence and made a deal with it, he really went completely crazy.

At this time, the old mage suddenly frowned, and then waved his hands impatiently: "Go out, that's all I can teach you today. My master is calling me, and I must respond immediately."

Mary knew that the "master" mentioned by the old mage was a terrifying mythical creature, or a similar mysterious existence, so she didn't dare to stay for a moment, and hurriedly nodded and backed away.

Before leaving the laboratory, she heard the old mage shout from a distance: "Behave well, you can eat meat at night!"

Mary bowed: "Thank you, mentor."

After the young female apprentice left, the old mage muttered some indistinct words in a low voice, and then hurriedly stood on a magic circle in the corner of the laboratory. After activating the warning and protection runes around him, his spirit Quickly emptied, the nerve cords began to help him establish a connection with the surrounding runes.

In the next second, he saw the environment around him turned upside down, and the space with the high blue sky, endless water surface, and a large number of metal platforms appeared before his eyes again.

Sure enough, as long as he is connected to the psychic network, he will be brought to this place—the control of the rogue outside the domain is absolute, and there is no loophole to exploit at all.

The old mage had already given up resistance, and he bowed respectfully to the blond figure in front of him: "Master, what are your orders?"

"Let's do some papers first," Gao Wen conjured up two sets of questions, "I'll see how you've mastered it."

The old mage: "... I will follow your order."

After a while, Gawain's yelling began to sound:

"What about your brain? Have you forgotten the basic definition of address mapping?!"

"Who told you that open ports cannot be faked!"

"I don't understand what the only valid code means? It must always match the spiritual frequency! Let you design the IP index, and you will burn your brain sooner or later!"

……

"Finally...have you checked?!"

Chapter 0321 "Fresh-up"

The long-lost city of dreams, the long-lost splendor, the long-lost palace of buildings.

The magician Daniel stood on the streets of this majestic city, looking at the magnificent buildings spread out in front of him and the pedestrians coming and going on the streets, he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart.

He returned to this place again—after a series of trials and "inheritance", he finally got the approval of that terrifying extraterritorial wanderer, and obtained the permission to reconnect to the mind network and move in the dream city.

But he knows that he is not free—and every day from now on, he will not be free in his activities in the mind network.

The Wanderer has left his spiritual imprint in his mind, and it is in the deepest part. He will never be able to get rid of this imprint. From now on, he must act as a servant of the Wanderer. He cannot say To reveal the master's secrets, one cannot do things prohibited by the master, one cannot try to break away from the master's control, and one cannot ask others for help in any form in the spiritual network or warn other eternal sleepers.

He doesn't need to think about circumventing regulations through covert actions and self-suggestion, because he knows that no matter how secretive he is, he can't escape the monitoring of wanderers outside the territory. The monitoring is located deep in the subconscious mind, and it is impossible for people to deceive their subconscious mind. ——Whether in this spiritual network or in the real world outside, as long as he subconsciously triggers the "keyword" left by the wanderer outside the territory, then the terrible punishment will definitely come.

But Daniel doesn't care anymore.

He has witnessed the mighty power of the Wanderers outside the Territory, and he has accepted those incredible knowledge inheritances. For him now, his more important identity is the servant of the Wanderers outside the Territory, not a follower of the Eternal Sleepers, let alone Typhon magician.

The old mage reshaped his image into the one he usually used in the spiritual network: an elegant middle-aged magician, and then walked towards the places where the middle and low-level believers gathered in the city.

He watched the Eternal Sleepers come and go on the city streets with cold eyes, and watched those people who knew nothing about the power of the wanderers from outside the territory continue their mediocre life, and suddenly a strange smugness appeared in his heart:

I am a person who serves that indescribable great existence, and I am one of the first messengers of the master to reshape this world!When the new era comes, I will be at the top of the order—what will this seemingly prosperous but illusory city of dreams be at that time?

The old mage thought it was strange to have this sudden feeling, but in the end, he chose to enjoy it.

A large building with a tall spire and a light golden exterior wall appeared in front of it. That building was a meeting place. Two rows of giant sculptures playing horns were lined up at its entrance. In and out, Daniel tidied up his clothes, calmly and firmly followed the crowd to the gate.

That is the place where middle and low-level believers meet and exchange knowledge and information, and it is also the first step for him to carry out his master's will.

The words the master told before going offline echoed in Daniel's heart:

You are already a mature eternal sleeper, it's time to learn to stand out by yourself, startle everyone with words, beat the crowd with skills, and then reach the pinnacle of life.

Daniel entered the assembly hall. The hall on the first floor of the assembly hall is spacious and bright. Many long tables filled with food and wine are distributed around the hall. In the most central place, you can see crystal pillars: that is the port for accessing the advanced network, uploading, publishing, and reading information.

Daniel ignored the delicious food and wine around him, and also ignored the two female eternal sleepers with charming faces and enchanting bodies walking towards him. He went straight to the crystal pillar, put his hand on it, and issued a message that he could issue at his level. Highest Weight Information:

"Important knowledge sharing—personally significant discoveries—hopefully draws attention.

"I think the psychic network we use actually has serious security flaws. Once unauthorized visitors access the network, it is extremely difficult to find out, and we cannot determine the true status of each visitor on the network...

"I have a set of plans for building network security norms, and I also have some ideas that can improve the efficiency of node management...

"In addition, our database management is also lacking in order and chaos. When looking up information, people feel cumbersome and clueless... With the continuous development of the network, we will save more and more information, and the chaos of the database The situation is bound to intensify, and for this, I have some proposals for a standardized database, which I will name database management...

"I hope to get the attention of higher-level nodes."

……

Daniel sent these messages that had been brewing and editing for a long time, and then left the place directly.

He is not worried that his information will be submerged in the huge data of the psychic network, because he knows that the upper echelons of the Order of the Eternal Sleepers—those nightmare bishops and archbishops are always paying attention to this network, and even the pope himself keeps a close relationship with the network. All-weather connections, those powerful eternal sleepers have the strength to match their status, they will not let go of any information flowing on the network, and can pay attention to those worthy of attention in an instant.

Even if the other party only had a glimpse, he also believed that the problems he pointed out could arouse the great attention of the top leaders of the religious order.

Although the master once told him to first attract the attention of the Eternal Sleepers of the same class or slightly higher level, and then gradually find ways to attract the attention of the top of the order, but he knows that there is a better way to get himself into the sight of the top of the order as soon as possible ——And this action has been approved by the master.

Daniel used to have infinite awe and admiration for those bishops. He admired the strength of those bishops, but after reading the knowledge taught by the master and knowing what database architecture, directory index, and calling rules are, his awe of those bishops The heart is gone - using powerful brain power and magic power to control the entire network, its behavior is really not much different from a wild beast fighting with strength.

Just as Daniel expected, within a few minutes, the messages he sent had already attracted the attention of the Bishops of the Eternal Sleepers.

In the gorgeous palace located in the central area of ​​the City of Dreams, a circular hall was suddenly lit up, and countless mysterious (actually just light and shadow effects) lines appeared on the surface of the huge round table in the center of the hall, while figures stood around the round table Appeared out of thin air.

These are the Bishops of the Eternal Sleepers scattered across the continent.

A bishop wearing a golden crown spoke: "Important information has appeared on the Internet."

Someone nearby responded: "We are already paying attention."

"The nightmare instructor named Daniel discovered a major security risk in the network, and the ideas he proposed are in our blind thinking..."

"It has been preliminarily determined that those vulnerabilities are real — but no one has noticed, let alone proposed a solution."

"We should be thankful - a talented compatriot caught the bug before it turned into a major crisis..."

"The Pope has ordered that we confirm all the loopholes as soon as possible, and hurry up to contact the nightmare instructor who discovered the loopholes. Since he can detect the flaws of the spiritual network so keenly, then he must have a unique talent in this regard. .”

……

Cecil led, and Gawain slowly woke up from the "meditation" state.

He silently glanced at Amber in front of him: "Do you always get your face so close?"

"I just want to see when I can successfully scare you!" The half-elf lady smiled playfully, "It turns out that you are so calm every time. Tell me the truth, do you actually not fall asleep every time? ? You just pretended to be asleep and teased me!"

"How can I be as boring as you?" Gao Wen casually pulled Amber aside, stood up and moved his shoulder joints in a good mood, "Didn't anything happen during my 'meditation' period?"