Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2230: Chapter 2231: The Incredible Magic Tattoo Horn

Of course, the levitation magic pattern is just an example Angel provided. The actual pattern engraved on the wall is not the levitation magic pattern but one concerning energy expression.

This energy expression magic pattern is divided into three steps: energy interface, energy transmutation, and energy output.

To merely discuss the energy interface and energy output steps would be to describe fixed effects common to virtually all "energy source" setups, making them hardly worth mentioning.

The step that most concerns Angel, and which he finds hardest to comprehend, is the second step—energy transmutation.

The Mana Hut has been sustained for a millennium not by the Magic Crystals Angel previously suspected, but by wind.

The inexhaustible force of the wind on Wind Island is converted into energy to drive the magic pattern, thereby maintaining the Mana Hut for a thousand years without failing.

This seems somewhat plausible, but the actual execution is extremely difficult.

Research on "energy transmutation" has long been a popular subject in the Wizards’ Realm. Angel, during his time teaching at Ashiliya Academy, heard about several mechanical alchemy teams tackling this challenge, though with little success, despite producing many by-products like the Energy Stabilizer.

Even when Angel met with Book Elder, one of the three Ancestral Spirits of the Barbarian Cave, the latter was also researching energy transmutation.

This shows that the topic of energy transmutation is indeed flourishing throughout the Wizards’ Realm.

Energy transmutation is not impossible, but the manipulation involved is exceedingly difficult, and trying to express it with "mechanical" or "magic patterns" is exceptionally challenging. At least until now, Angel had never heard of a similar precedent.

That’s why, when Angel saw an energy transmutation step within this magic pattern, he was utterly stunned.

Initially, he approached the magic pattern horn of this step with excitement and reverence, hoping to observe and learn.

But after a careful study, he was left with only one thought: What on earth is this!

Like the previous example of the levitation magic pattern, this magic pattern horn for the "energy transmutation" step is so rudimentary that it’s infuriating.

Stripping away some unnecessary details, it comes down to just three magic pattern horns: wind, conversion, and magic power.

In Angel’s conception, any magic pattern horn dealing with energy transmutation should consist of thousands of expressions to justify the countless scholars’ efforts in the Wizards’ Realm.

To think that just three magic pattern horns, written as casually as by a magic pattern novice, could convert wind into the energy sustaining the Mana Hut for a millennium? This must be a joke!

Angel’s eyes were wide as he witnessed that the result of the "energy transmutation" expression process was this?

If you were to say this was a work of a magic pattern novice, Angel would totally believe it, for the expression is so superficial and crude.

But if it were indeed a novice’s creation, why did it work?

Yes, no matter how skeptical Angel was, and no matter how absurd it seemed, the undeniable result was—

This magic pattern is functional, and even thousands of years later, it is still operating stably.

"Could it be my previous thoughts were mistaken, that energy transmutation really only requires these ’wind, conversion, magic power’ three magic pattern horns?" Angel pondered silently as he sensed the steady supply of magic power from the final "energy output" expression of the magic pattern.

Reasoning backward from the result, the magic pattern must be successful, which in turn means the three magic pattern horns related to energy transmutation are correct.

However, this conclusion only holds when reasoning backward; to those with even a bit of magic pattern knowledge, the composition of these three magic pattern horns is utterly ridiculous.

Angel fits into the latter group; internally, he was split, with 99% of him disbelieving that these three magic pattern horns could express energy transmutation, only 1% of him hesitated, wondering if there were other concealed magic patterns not yet discovered.

Angel verified that the 1% suspicion was impossible, leaving only the former conclusion.

The essence of a wizard is that of a researcher; as a researcher, mere guesses make poor evidence, so Angel decided to experiment hands-on himself.

He took out a piece of magical parchment with relatively good energy guidance, pulled out an engraving pen specifically for magic patterns, and a set of energy guidance stabilizers, aiming to replicate the wall’s magic pattern directly onto the parchment to further determine its effectiveness.

Though the wall’s magic pattern appeared quite crude to Angel, even the engraving step of the "energy interface" seemed simple; he made no modifications or optimizations to the magic pattern, replicating it exactly as it was on the wall.

As he struck the final stroke, the magical parchment suddenly exploded without warning, scattering into countless disordered fragments.

This indicated that the engraving had failed.

To lend more credibility to the experiment, Angel repeated it several times, even optimizing the magic expression he found rudimentary.

Yet no matter how he tried, the end result was always failure.

Angel was not surprised by this outcome; it matched his initial notion that these three magic pattern horns were insufficient to express "energy transmutation."

Thinking it over carefully, one would understand: if it really were that simple, wouldn’t it have crushed the intelligence of the countless wizards over the ages who have researched energy transmutation?

However, while the experiment’s outcome matched Angel’s expectations, in reality, the energy transmutation did indeed operate successfully. What secret lies hidden within this?

Angel sat back in front of the wall, examining the magic pattern there as he reconsidered and began his research anew.

This time, he observed with meticulous detail as if viewing through a microscope, scrutinizing inch by inch. After more than twenty hours of effort, Angel finally arrived at a... conjecture.

Based solely on the magic pattern expression, it was impossible to discern logically, as there were too many errors, and everything seemed wrong.

However, setting aside the magic pattern expression, concentrating solely on sensing other anomalies, Angel quickly focused on the "conversion" magic pattern horn.

This magic pattern horn is actually the core of the entire magic pattern, key to converting wind force into magic power.

Angel ignored the skill level of the magic pattern horn’s creation and its inherent meaning, regarding it as a whole and sensing it.

It was then that he discovered an anomaly.

This magic pattern horn emitted a very strong mysterious aura.

In other words, the source of the mysterious aura Angel had always sensed was not some half-step mystic creation; it was emanating from this magic pattern horn.

From this, a hypothesis arose in Angel’s mind: The reason the wall’s magic pattern can be successful, and wind force can be transmuted, is not because of the magic pattern itself but due to the influence of a mysterious force.

Mysterious forces are inherently illogical, defying common sense.

Only such an unconventional ability could make those rough Magic Patterns truly achieve the expression formulas that countless Wizard predecessors failed to accomplish.

Although Angel referred to it as a conjecture, based on previous experiments and various phenomena on site, he was certain that this was indeed the truth.

But, on the other hand.

Why does one corner of the Magic Pattern contain Mysterious Power?

Humans are almost incapable of directly grasping Mysterious Power, so there may only be one answer: this Magic Pattern was inscribed using an external medium.

Only things that are Mysterious Objects can leave behind a Mysterious Aura from a Magic Tattoo Horn.

Angel speculated that it might be a Mystical Pen?

He guessed this because this Mana Hut was constructed by Feng.

Putting aside the identity of the Wizard, Feng’s profession could be called: painter.

For a painter, the most important external item is actually the pen. Given the rank of a Magic Painter Wizard, owning a Mystical Pen seems plausible.

With the enhancement of the Mystical Pen, the Magic Painter Wizard could construct such a long-standing Mana Hut with his poor Magic Pattern skills.

Having figured this out, Angel sighed in disappointment.

He originally thought he could find "treasures" here or gain some compensation, but now it seems it was all fantasy. There are neither treasures here nor any valuable findings.

As for "energy conversion," if this were usable knowledge, Angel would be very pleased, but an effect achieved with Mysterious Power that lacks knowledge foundation and can’t be copied, what use is it?

Overall, the only gain for Angel was the speculation about Feng possessing a Mystical Pen.

And the usefulness of this information is close to zero.

It was as if he gained nothing in this hidden passage, merely losing over thirty hours of his life.

Filled with the utmost frustration, Angel reluctantly turned and left the passage. During this time, Angel also considered taking this Mana Hut away as a trophy, but, reflecting back, this Mana Hut required wind to maintain floatation. Even if he packed it away, he couldn’t satisfy the continuous air supply requirement. Additionally, the Mana Hut is not aesthetically pleasing and has no other distinctive attributes, so what’s the use?

Finally, Angel could only silently curse Feng a few times in his heart, then helplessly leave.

Once out of the passage and back in the palace, Angel was met with a gaping "O" mouth of surprise.

"Are you... Cubic?" Angel glanced over and found this intruding pink flying pig sitting beside Arnott’s sand cage, across from Dangross. They seemed to be having a quiet conversation.

Cubic obediently nodded: "Yes."

"Why are you here?" Angel casually asked.

Cubic glanced at the picture of His Soft Wind Highness behind Angel, then said: "It was the Sage who sent me here, saying the sir has some commands, wherever you’d like to go, I can be of service... This was also part of the Sage’s punishment for me."

Angel originally wanted to say, isn’t this Arnott’s task?

But after thinking for a while, he held back. Estimating, this was Kamil’s special gesture to send Cubic over, intending Angel to take Cubic away.

Angel didn’t chase away Cubic, as the time for it to leave Wind Island was approaching quickly. Having Cubic around during this period was of no concern.

As for whether to take Cubic away, Angel hadn’t yet come to a decision.

Angel nodded at Cubic and said nothing further, instead heading to the other side to locate the snoring Toby, tucked it into his chest pocket, and prepared to explore the palace.

Previously, his attention was entirely drawn by the Mysterious Aura, so he hadn’t closely examined the palace. He planned to thoroughly explore it now, as after all, this place was once home to Feng, possibly containing some important information.

While observing the palace, Angel also noticed Cubic was quietly asking Dangross and Arnott about the secret passage in the painting. However, Dangross and Arnott didn’t know much, being clueless when asked. Cubic then took the chance to sneak to the painting and explore, showing a strong curiosity for the passage.

Angel didn’t mind Cubic’s sneaky actions, rather he was surprised at how quickly Cubic, Dangross, and Arnott developed a harmonious rapport.

It’s understandable for Dangross, as its personality matches well with Cubic’s, so they got along easily. But Arnott is different, being introverted and sensitive. Cubic getting along with Arnott reflects its high emotional intelligence.

A child with such high emotional intelligence, why would it incite its partners to cause trouble when Angel arrived at Wind Island?

Angling a glance at the composed Cubic in the distance.

Perhaps Cubic also has its inner world, different from others.

Angel shook his head, deciding not to think about it anymore.

The interior of the palace was not large, though it had quite a few items. Besides the prominent painting of His Soft Wind Uranus at the front, there were other paintings within the palace.

These were not murals but framed oil paintings like those in galleries.

However, these oil paintings were created with special materials, maintaining their texture despite the ravages of time, possessing a timeless Hidden Meaning.

The paintings here were presumably left by Feng, and might contain some lingering intelligence.

Angel began carefully examining each painting.

An hour later, Angel had viewed ninety percent of the paintings, which, from the perspective of artistic technique and value, were quite high.

Though ordinary paintings without Transcendental themes, if placed on the auction block in the Sky Mechanical City, just thanks to Feng’s signature, they could fetch quite a price.

The added value mainly related to cultural aspects; from the contents of the paintings themselves, there was little usable intelligence.

They were mostly landscapes, and not even from the Tidal World. There were scenes from the Flourish Continent and many overseas vistas. Angel even recognized a painting of Corke Sky Pillar Mountain, a few hundred miles from Pat Manor.

Angel couldn’t discern any secrets within these landscapes.

Yet, as they were Feng’s creations, Angel diligently noted them down, planning to hold an exhibition in the Wilderness of Dreams later. Perhaps his mentor, Lord Rhein, etc., might discover some clues within these paintings.

Continuing to look for a while, Angel paused in front of one painting.