Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 108: Runes and Formulas

If drawing magic circles were as easy as following the blueprints, an ordinary person would be able to do it. Even a commoner who couldn’t sense magic could draw the magic circles as long as they were instructed on how to draw and what to use when drawing. It would become a simple ‘produce-then-repeat’ job.

Apart from the production and repetition, runemasters would need the ability to create and to adapt according to situations. They would need to assist mages to produce magic tools or draw the magic circles on various complicated magic-guided materials. Each magic tool and magic-guided material had different attributes, and when put together, there could be countless variations. It inevitably meant that they couldn’t just draw magic circles according to the blueprints… They had to change the runes’ sequence on the magic circle according to the materials and the function of the magic circle. Or they would have to make minute adjustments to the runes’ positions and the methods of connections.

In short, the runemasters were creating ‘blueprints’. Each time they drew, they would draw the first edition of the blueprint and make a new creation.

And this process would require the ability to sense magic and to conduct ‘tuning’ for the runes.

The ability to sense magic would be used to make sure every rune was working normally during the process of the drawing as well as to sense if there was any disturbance between the runes that were above the threshold. The ability to ‘tune’ would be to inject one’s own magic into the runes to conduct a practical test… Runemasters might not be able to activate the entire magic circle, but it was possible for them to test parts of the rune array.

To do these two things, one had to be an official grade-one mage. Apprentice mages definitely wouldn’t be able to do such things as apprentice mages didn’t have the ability to sense and control complex runes. Their magic wasn’t precise enough and couldn’t be released outside their bodies. If they could do these things… they would have graduated.

Jenni’s information clearly stated that she was an apprentice mage.

Jenni had heard Gawain’s question clearly during the first time, but she didn’t know how she should reply. She hesitated and considered for a long time before she lowered her head and said, “It was luck, my lord.”

“Luck?” Gawain’s brows lifted and didn’t sound like he was convinced.

“Yes, luck.” Jenni’s head was still lowered as she said, “I have great intuition and would always be able to find the correct method to arrange the runes. You should know that there is a certain rule for rune sequences. With enough experience and intuition, one would be able to accurately arrange those—”

“If it was really luck, then before you accumulated enough experience, you would already be dead.” Gawain interrupted Jenni and said, “I might be a knight, but I know the fundamental principle of magic. For a magic circle, each rune’s position and connection method are relatively strict. You would have to already be familiar with all of the rune’s rules and their formation methods in this world. Otherwise, it is impossible for you to arrange all the runes in their proper positions. Rune sequences might have a rule to comply with, but I have never heard of anyone analyzing all the rules of the rune sequences. It is also because it is impossible for humans to write down all the rune combinations. Thus, there is a need for the abilities to ‘sense’ and to ‘tune’.”

As Gawain talked, he stared at the silver-haired young lady in front of him and said, “Raise your head and tell me the truth… Without the ability to sense and tune, how are you able to know each position of the runes and the effects each rune would generate?”

Perhaps Gawain’s tone was too stern, it caused Jenni to shiver uncontrollably, and she didn’t even dare to speak. When Heidi saw the situation, she recalled that Gawain had instructed her to assume the roles of a stern individual and a lenient individual. Therefore, she used a gentle tone to say, “You don’t have to be nervous. This isn’t the royal capital that has strict rules or the oppressive and inflexible Association of Mystics. We welcome and encourage all actions that would be beneficial to the construction of the territory. It is fine even if the actions are unorthodox.”

Jenni finally raised her head and looked at Gawain. The latter nodded sternly. “I can guarantee that creative ideas are protected in this place. Because I am the law of this land.”

“It actually isn’t a creative idea.” The silver-haired apprentice mage who was a grade-four runemaster had finally spoken. She then turned to the bedside and retrieved a large and heavy book. “It is through logic and calculation.”

Gawain put his hand on the book but still asked, “Can I take a look?”

“Of course, you are the feudal lord.”

Gawain opened up the book that looked rather old and realized it was actually a book of handwritten notes. The yellowed pages were filled with runes, numbers, calculation methods, diagrams, etc. There were writings that were already blurry due to wear and tear. He casually flipped through and realized that the handwriting on this notebook wasn’t uniform. There were at least four different handwritings in the book, and they appeared sequentially from the front to the back. It was obvious that this notebook had gone through four different owners, and each owner had written down their own records.

This book seemed to have verified Gawain’s indistinct conjecture. He was almost excited and inspired as he flipped through the pages rapidly. It had caused Jenni who was seated directly opposite to worry if her precious notebook would be damaged due to the violent flipping. As Gawain was flipping through rapidly, his vision was suddenly attracted to an attached piece of paper that was sandwiched in the latter half of the notebook.

This piece of paper had been pasted to the middle of the page with glue, and there seemed to be an additional annotation or summary. The words on it caused Gawain to suffocate for a moment: [E/N: Yeah, just skip through the next few paragraphs.]

“…All inferior rune’s energy levels have an energy ratio of 1:3 as compared to runes that are one grade higher. If inferior runes are continuously connected, three would become one, making it a complete rune that is one grade higher.”

“…Random runes of the same grade, same positions, and different attributes can only be connected no more than eight times. Runes of the same grade, same positions, and same attributes can only be connected no more than four times.”

“…When the originating character and the ending character of random runes form a ‘bond’, each ‘bond’ rune’s interior could be filled with connecting fields that must be an even number. Every two connecting fields are considered a ‘pair’. The number of ‘pairs’ is X and every ‘bond’ rune would develop energy level X+1.”

“…In a magic interference area, two completely identical and adjacent runes would produce an ‘interference bond’. The overall interference in the area produced would drastically increase due to the increase of interference bonds. A single interference bond has the interference value of constant t=1.35, and when the interference bond’s number is n, it would cause an actual overall interference value of m=t*n3. (Note: Avoiding identical runes being adjacent to one another would greatly decrease the production of interference bonds).”

“…Among magic-guided materials, purple copper is ‘zero’ grade; those weaker than purple copper would be negative; those superior or equivalent to purple copper would be positive. Positive magic-guided materials can endure theoretical interference value M during rune connections. The number of rune bonds is set as N, and the number of rune attributes is set as Z. Interference values produced by interference bonds are set as t. As such, magic-guided materials within the range of a rune combination would be able to endure a theoretical interference value of M=(N+Z*N)*t. The negative magic-guided materials would divide the interference value by the constant E=1.66…”

“In all circumstances, the actual interference (m) should be smaller than the theoretical interference value (M)…”

“In multifunctional magic circles, the formula for ‘self interference’ produced by the rune bonds is…”

“In multifunctional magic circles, the optimal arrangements for runes should follow…”

There were even more records at the back.

There were massive quantities of formulas, rules, and logical deductions filling up this paper attachment. There were also a lot more on the page behind this attachment. Gawain merely took a glance and judged that this was already a summary and derivation that had practical value.

It seemed like they weren’t the ultimate result. Furthermore, there were also limitations due to the era. Many summaries were purely the product of experience and lacked definite formulas. There were also plenty that had messy formulas and had yet to be simplified and merged to become formulas that could be used anywhere. Moreover, these things weren’t arranged into a system and were scattered and accumulated individually without any rules.

But they were already extremely astonishing things.

“Are these summarized by you?” Gawain looked with wide eyes while asking with surprise.

“No, no…” Jenni answered with a little panic. “Not all of it. Only a part of this notebook was written by me. The other parts… are the legacy of the predecessors.”

When speaking of the words ‘legacy of the predecessors’, her face had an obviously dull and sorrowful expression.

“Mm… that’s right. There are at least four kinds of handwriting on it.” Gawain lowered his head and looked at the notebook. He then continued to flip and suddenly realized that the words in the beginning were rather familiar. After verifying for a moment, he turned to look at Heidi. “Did you bring that notebook along? The rogue mage’s notebook.”

The rogue mage’s notebook was simply a treasure in the eyes of Gawain, but the most precious thing recorded inside was knowledge and not the notebook itself. Hence, he had made a copy of the notebook and kept that copy with him, but he had given the original as a present to Heidi, who was passionate about magic research.

Heidi nodded. “I have it. I just happen to be researching the interchangeable rune combinations inside it for the past two days…”

As she spoke, she took out that book of old notes which Gawain placed on the table. He then compared it with the notebook from Jenni… As expected, one quarter of Jenni’s notebook had the exact same handwriting as the rogue mage’s notes!

This thick and old notebook was also one of the rogue mage’s legacies? Furthermore, these had been circulating in the mage’s circle and had been researched and carried on by at least three other individuals?

“This…” Jenni saw the notebook that Heidi had taken out, and it caused her to subconsciously say, “Do you know the owner?”

“I have met him.” Gawain replied casually and pointed at Jenni’s notebook that contained the rune calculations. “Since you have this, does it mean you met him too?”

“It is very regretful. When I obtained this notebook, it had already switched hands three times.” Jenni shook her head and asked, “You have seen him? Where is he now? Could he be in this camp too?”

The runemaster’s expression was filled with traces of reverence and excitement. However, Gawain had to disappoint her. “He has already passed away. My notebook is his legacy. Of course, now there is also your notebook.”

Jenni opened her mouth, but it ultimately turned into a sigh. “Is that so…”

“You said this notebook has switched hands three times. Where are the previous owners?” Gawain didn’t give Jenni a lot of time to immerse in regret and immediately asked, “Those people that carried on the research, are they in the royal capital or the Association of Mystics? Can you contact them?”

“They… are dead too.” Jenni’s tone suddenly became even gloomier. “The second owner had died in an adventure. The third owner is also my previous master. He is Master Ravencrest, and he perished in a mission arranged by his mentor… Constant E=1.66 is his legacy.”