Chapter 31 Magic Research

Lide returned to the Mage Tower at night. The hazy magic lamps cast a fantastical glow inside the tower, giving it a Harry Potter-like atmosphere.

He handed over all tasks related to the transactions with the Alex Chamber of Commerce to Laurent and selected a few clever Mage Apprentices from the tower to accompany him.

In the future, the Golden Wheat Commerce would become an important part of the Crimson Mage Tower, and allowing these Mage Apprentices to be involved early was a good thing.

On the seventh floor of the Mage Tower, the Night Goddess had already draped her skirt over the entire world.

Looking down from a high place at Green City, it completely lacked the dazzling lights of the modern world.

Scattered lights were only seen in the neighborhoods where the Nobles lived. Most shops along the streets had closed, with only a few still lit by oil lamps or magic lamps, remaining open for business.

The streets were desolate, and even beggars were reluctant to wander the streets after dark.

The moon, half-covered by white clouds, shed a hazy and cold light.

The bustling city of the day had settled into silence.

The Bloodline were the favored ones blessed by the Night Goddess.

Lide clearly felt his control over magic power become instantly more lively as the last glimmer of light disappeared from the sky.

In the daytime, the magic power around him felt like mercury, requiring more effort to mobilize. At night, however, the magic power transformed into something as clean and gentle as a stream, easily manipulated by his spiritual power.

Though the magic power remained the same, the night amplified the Bloodline's sensitivity to it, creating this unique feeling.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Bloodline's strength increased by at least 50% after nightfall.

Lide was long accustomed to this phenomenon, thus preferring to conduct his magic research at night.

Having spent several days researching, supplemented by the Blood Clan Ancestor's two centuries of knowledge, Lide had gained a deeper understanding of magic.

For a mage to cast a spell, it had to be completed through a magic model.

Magic models were much like computer programming, where fixed formulas could be inputted to directly obtain results.

The sole difference was that magic models required the input of magic power.

A low-level spell's magic nodes did not exceed a hundred, and the Mage's Hand spell had only thirty magic nodes.

Dozens of magic nodes formed a model, operating in a fixed pattern, and magic power had to be input to activate the model to produce the spell.

But Lide was extremely curious whether a magic model's nodes were entirely fixed and unchangeable, and what would happen if the magic nodes were moved?

The soul from the modern era harbored a boldness towards magic far beyond the imagination of this era; the mages of the Glory World bore a deep-rooted reverence for magic.

Even the Blood Clan Ancestor had never attempted to modify a magic model, as it required not only a profound understanding of magic but also an extensive knowledge reserve and a heart not in awe of the Magic Goddess.

In Green City, only an Extraordinary Mage had successfully improved a magic model, while even the three Great Mages with levels exceeding fifteen had not conducted research in this area.

After several days of contemplation, Lide was prepared to attempt modifying a magic node tonight.

To prevent any unexpected incidents, he took thorough precautions.

First, he would study the Mage's Hand, a low-level spell, as it was the simplest among all the low-level spells, with only thirty magic nodes.

Many mages did not even recognize it as a proper spell, considering it merely a trick.

Moreover, the Mage's Hand was not an offensive spell, so even if the casting failed and backfired, he could withstand the backlash.

The current Mage's Hand was quite limited in functionality, only capable of manifesting a semi-transparent giant hand.

The giant hand he conjured with this spell could exert about 150 pounds of force, consuming ten points of magic power.

Typical Mage Apprentices could not come close to this power; their giant hands usually only managed a strength of just over ten pounds, vastly inferior to his.

However, these magic apprentices also consumed ten points of magic power, meaning that despite casting the same spell and using the same amount of magic power, the results differed greatly.

This led Lide to hypothesize two additional theories about spellcasting.

If the depth of magic power determined the strength of the spell,

If higher levels optimized the use of magic power.

Lide was immensely interested in exploring these mysteries of magic.

If magic nodes were not fixed, could adjusting the nodes or the magic circuits between them improve the magic model, to reduce magic power consumption or enhance its power?

What would be the consequences of reducing or increasing magic nodes?

With these thoughts, Lide's heart pounded with excitement, filled with curiosity about his hypothesis.

Like a child seeing their favorite toy, yet he was a practitioner.

The first step was to input magic power.

Lide carefully observed the magic circuit from the initial magic power input to the last node.

After connecting all thirty magic nodes, the Mage's Hand model instantly took shape, and he could clearly sense that releasing this magic power would successfully cast the Mage's Hand.

He did not release it but gradually reduced the magic power input. As long as magic power was consistently fed, the magic model remained activated and ready to cast the spell.

He reduced the magic power until it reached the operating limit of the magic model. Any further reduction would cause it to collapse, so Lide stopped decreasing it.

Reducing the magic power input was to minimize damage in the event of backlash, while activating the magic model allowed him to observe the function of magic nodes more intuitively.

The next step.

Reduce the magic nodes.

Lide was incredibly focused; this was his first attempt.

After developing the idea of modifying the Mage's Hand, he had practiced casting the spell more than a hundred times over the past two days to familiarize himself with it.

Thus, he was intimately familiar with the structure of this spell.

He first numbered the thirty magic nodes from one to thirty.

The twenty-third and twenty-fourth nodes in the Mage's Hand model were extremely close. Removing one would allow the magic circuit to bypass the magic power connecting the two and link directly to the next node.

If one magic node were removed, could magic power consumption be reduced after casting?

Removing a magic node was straightforward; controlling the magic circuit to skip this node and link directly to the next achieved the goal.

Lide slowly extended his spiritual power to control the magic circuit to bypass the twenty-third node, connecting the twenty-second node directly to the twenty-fourth.

Whoosh~

When the magic circuit bypassed the twenty-third node, the entire Mage's Hand magic model shuddered as if on the verge of collapse.

Lide was prepared and remained calm, slightly increasing the magic power input.

The shaking magic model temporarily stabilized under the strong magic power.

Just as Lide let out a sigh of relief, the model collapsed in a flash of light.

Lide's head throbbed as if pricked by a needle.

The first experiment.

Failed.

Fortunately, the backlash from the Mage's Hand was minimal, and with the strengthening effect of the night on his control over magic, Lide recovered after resting for about ten minutes.

"No, a magic node cannot be removed simply because it is close to another. This node might be essential for stabilizing the model.

If it is for stability, could I add another node parallel to this one to reinforce the model?"

Subtracting one led to collapse, but what about adding one?

Having anticipated failure, Lide was not discouraged and focused again, reinjecting magic power into the Mage's Hand model.

This time, he added a magic node parallel to the twenty-third, connecting the twenty-third and twenty-fourth nodes.

Adding a magic node was also simple; concentrating spiritual power on one point to leave a mental imprint, then linking it to the magic model with a magic circuit, integrating this additional point into the model.

After adding the extra node, the magic model did not show signs of collapse, but rather operated normally.

Lide was delighted. This approach seemed correct; magic models were not immutable.

After running for several minutes, he confirmed the model would not collapse.

With a snap of his fingers,

Crack~

A semi-transparent Mage's Hand appeared before him.

However, this Mage's Hand was entirely different from the original version.

The original Mage's Hand was a giant hand, but now it resembled an aberration.

The five fingers were reduced to three, the arm had tripled in size like a hammer, and the spell radiated a sense of discord and eeriness.

Upon seeing this, Lide felt elated instead of disappointed.

"Successfully casting the spell without the magic model collapsing means my hypothesis is valid."

This imperfect spell greatly encouraged Lide.

Successfully casting it meant the direction was right.

Since the direction was correct, now what was needed were continuous experimental refinements until he understood the role of each magic node, and improved and repaired them, transforming this low-level spell into a new one.

Lide was filled with interest and confidence about this.

Researching magic was incredibly fascinating. The joy of creation could hardly be described in words.