Chapter 533 — The Angres Loom
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
"Unfortunately, the Ansethians started earlier and have gone further than us. It is said they have not only built machines that can do work, but even machines that can cast spells—His Imperial Majesty is deeply unsettled by this, so we cannot stop here."
"Machines that can cast spells..."
The mages buzzed with discussion. These transcendents, drawn from all across Typhon, possessed of extraordinary minds and insight and skilled in researching every obscure field, naturally grasped the deeper meaning in Daniel's words. They were shocked by this concept that defied common sense—some even felt dread and resistance—yet they could also imagine the significance behind such technology. To them, this thing was like a heretical, forbidden domain—and yet now, the mission the Emperor had given them was precisely to be heretical, to research the forbidden.
A strange kind of thrill spurred them on; they were intensely nervous, yet eager to try.
Daniel left the laboratory, leaving those Imperial mages gathered around the runes, still excited and agitated. The apprentice Mary followed behind him.
"No wonder His Imperial Majesty recruited researchers from outside the Royal Mages' Association," Mary said, keeping pace with her mentor. She had worked at this Imperial research facility for some time now, and this life, so different from her former days in the mage tower, had changed her once rabbit-like temperament somewhat—at least now she dared to voice her opinions unprompted. "I suppose only people like these could hear the concept of 'machines that can cast spells' without such strong resistance, and instead take an interest in researching it?"
"They are still a pack of fools... only a little smarter than the biggest fools," Daniel appraised caustically. "To think a result like this could satisfy them... They have no idea how astonishing the mathematical principles behind it truly are."
Mary wanted to say that things had to proceed step by step—that anyone who had never encountered runic logic could not possibly think that far ahead upon first seeing the Magic Net—but she knew that if she said so, her mentor would surely be angry, so she wisely shut her mouth.
Daniel was in quite a good mood at the moment. He raised his head and looked ahead, at the long, straight corridor of this Imperial research facility, at the rooms neatly lining both sides, and at the mages, scholars, and alchemists coming and going.
This was the "Imperial Artificers' Association," established by personal decree of the Typhon Emperor Luoyan. From the name alone one could see that this was an organization entirely distinct from the Royal Mages' Association, the various craftsmen's guilds, and the scholars' associations. Here, people with knowledge and skill were integrated together, jointly devoted to creating practical new things and new technologies. Since the facility's completion seven years ago, it had produced several epoch-making technologies capable of influencing the entire Empire—such as the coal-acidification technique already promoted nationwide, the new road-building craft, and the new white crystal production technique that reduced costs to one-tenth of the original.
This facility was founded by the great emperor Luoyan, while its concrete design—including the style of the laboratories—was the work of Windsor Maple, president of the Royal Mages' Association. That female president, famed as a genius, had boldly reformed the conventions of traditional mage architecture, replacing the old dark, cramped private laboratories—steeped in mystery yet utterly impractical—with spacious, brightly lit large-scale laboratories.
It was said that many traditional mages rather disdained the laboratories in the "Imperial Artificers' Association," holding that they had lost the mystery and nobility of mages. Yet in Daniel's view—
"Windsor does have some merit when it comes to designing laboratories."