Alonte Empire, Southern Territory, Province of Spring.

Although it is only March, the temperature in the province of Spring is already close to the summer of Ankenrein, and the grain-producing province of the Alonte Empire has already entered the cultivation season early. As soon as the sun rises, the peasants carry their baskets on their backs and go to their land. They would be busy all day there until the evening, when they could return home and have a hot meal. As for the small citizens living in the city, they also started their day early. And those rebels entrenched in Lingtun Dao City also seemed to smell the warmth and started a day's training.

These armies who had followed Archmage Parker Ravibond's rebellion had been in Lintondo for nearly four months, and had been driven all the way south by Imperial forces from Winder Province to Spurin Province, where they were nearly wiped out by Imperial forces on several occasions. However, perhaps luckily, or perhaps the Emperor and Prime Minister did not really want to wipe out the former Grand Magus, Ravi Bond's team entered a long-term stalemate with the Imperial army surrounding Lington, and after that, the news of Elena's forbidden spell came that the Imperial army seemed to have received some order to completely stop the offensive, and even the original blockade was basically lifted, and it seemed that the existence of this team was acquiesced. And the residents of Lingtun Road, except for a few who fled, most of them are still living their lives.

"Your Excellency......"

In the former Tritheistic Cathedral of Lington Road, the head of the Gushan Mage Tower, now the second controller of the Ravibond army, and the head of the Mage Tower, Aynio Zoro, leaned over slightly respectfully and looked at the Great Magus in front of him. Parker Ravibond was half-lying on a tweed chaise longue, his eyes half-closed, as if he was deep in thought, and as if he had fallen asleep. A copy of "Discussion on the Structure and Stacking of the Circle" brought out from the Mage Tower was casually put in his hand, opened half of it, and marked it with a color pen, line by line, very serious.

"Hmmm......"

Ravibond snorted softly and opened his eyes. He was so sleepy that he couldn't sleep, so he had to close his eyes and recuperate, but he was always disturbed. He was a little impatient, but he knew that he really had no reason to be angry, so he had to snort softly. For an elderly person, this is already a very nurturing reaction.

"Liam Hall, vice president of the Imperial Academy, is here, waiting for you outside."

"Little Hal, hah."

Ravibond chuckled, but forced his spirits. He was very old, and his body, which had lost the support of his magic, was crumbling every minute and every second, like a castle built on the sand, precarious under the tide of time. But even so, he still hoped that he could live a little longer, not for a long time, as long as he could figure out how the young man who was far away in Anken Rein could mobilize his magic power in the world after the Great Demon Tide.

"I asked him in?"

The head of the Gushan Mage Tower, Ainio Sauron, understood what Ravi Bond meant, and bowed slightly. Seeing that Ravi Bond had sat up straight, and knowing that he understood what he meant, he turned and led Liam Hal in, and led him to sit down beside Ravi Bond, before standing far away, leaving room for the two old acquaintances.

"Teacher, your body ......"

Liam Hal was also a magical apprentice at the Solid Mountain Mage Tower, where he studied for ten years, from the age of six to sixteen, he was Ravi Bond's most admired student, and the most brained student of that class. At the age of sixteen, after failing to activate his magic sense, he resolutely gave up his studies in magic and devoted himself to science. Unlike other archmages, Ravibond does not have the concept of magic exclusivity, and is not averse to new technologies that do not use magic, and even raises his hand to welcome them. In his mage tower, only about 60% of the courses that magic apprentices need to learn are related to magic, and the rest of the content is just budding scientific knowledge. This respect and emphasis on non-magical technology is also the core reason why the Alonte Empire is the de facto owner of the most advanced science and technology in the continent.

"There's not much time left, you've learned back then, magic can delay aging to the greatest extent, but once we lose them, it's time for us to leave this world. More than 190 years of life have long exceeded the physiological limits of human beings, haven't they? ”

Ravi Bond was in good spirits, and although his face was wrinkled and his voice was weak, his tone was still the same high-spirited Magister he had been back then. Hal smiled and nodded, took the tea from Ernio Sauron, and handed it to Ravibond.

"We have officially signed the Moon Treaty with Elena, we will fully open our market to Elena, and we can also sell goods to Elena. They are now exporting small steam engines to The Surging Power Company in Anken Reyne, which is said to have a very good power-to-energy consumption ratio and a lot of innovation in the design concept. We ordered two and estimated that we would be able to get to Mosronin next month. ”

"Gastens is right", Ravi Bond held the teacup and sighed softly, "From the first great magic tide to the third great magic tide, the exhaustion of magic is an unchangeable fact, which is why we have always embraced new technology and science. Magic is a huge, gorgeous, but slowly sinking ship, and the people on this ship, if they don't want to be drowned, can only find another ship before they die. Gastens was in the same direction as we chose, except that we didn't meet a genius like him. ”

Hearing this, Hal frowned slightly, and Ravibond noticed his movements and smiled softly, "Liam, don't mind, you are already the top wise man in the human race, but he Gastens, a serf, has almost never been exposed to formal education, just studied with a low-level technician of the surging power for a period of time, and worked as an auditor for a few months at a university like Roswell's kind of unpopular university, he can get to this point, his knowledge of steam, his understanding of the steam engine, It is definitely at the top of this world. You shouldn't be jealous of him, you should be glad that Gastens wasn't born in Alonte and didn't receive the education you received, otherwise, the world wouldn't know what it's like......"

"Maybe he didn't design the machines, maybe he stole the work of his mentor, maybe there's some deeper collaboration between him and Surging Power—"

Liam defended a few words, but found that Ravibond was just smiling and silent, and he snorted helplessly and quieted down. He had walked all the way to the praise of people, and he had hardly encountered any setbacks except for a fall on magic induction. It is not very easy for him to willingly admit that a person is better than him, especially intellectually.

Even if he is now the first vice president of the Alonte Imperial Academy, and even the dean, he has promised to give him the position in the future.

"The hardest thing is to accept reality."

Ravibond put down the tea in his hand, gathered his body, and put his hand on the blanket on his knees. Although the sturdy young men outside had begun to put on short cuts to work, it seemed that winter was still lingering in this huge church.

"Tell me, what are you doing this time?"

Ravi Bond's voice was not loud, but his words were clear. Liam Hal nodded, pulling a scroll from his bosom.

"Your Majesty has officially signed the order, and you and your subordinates can continue to exist in Lingtun Road, as a duke similar to a fiefdom. Of course, if you are interested, Your Majesty says that he can also give you the title of Grand Duke, which is not difficult. ”

"Carney still knows me," Ravi Bond said, interrupted by a cough, "Since ancient times, magicians and the imperial power have sometimes been close and sometimes distant, but in any case, magic has never been under the imperial power. You had a good history of magic, so you should be familiar with it. Carney didn't give me the position of Grand Duke, but he still took care of my self-esteem. ”

"Your Majesty, he has always had no ill feelings towards you, and when he forced you to raise the flag some time ago, it was mostly a villain—"

"You don't have to explain this, Carney doesn't need you to be a lobbyist, and you're not willing to be a lobbyist. We can stay in Lington, not because of me, not because of you, but because of the genius you have always been reluctant to admit, Gastens. The forbidden spells of the north disrupted the emperor's steps, and I heard that there were voices among the people questioning his idea of the supremacy of science, although these people could not achieve great things, but an emperor like him certainly did not want to hear such a voice. ”

"The teacher is wise."

Seeing that Ravi Bond saw through the cause and effect of this incident, Liam Hal did not continue his persuasion, but changed to a more relaxed tone.

"Your Majesty hopes that if you have time, you can study that Gastens, no matter what, although the current Treaty of Moon will not really threaten our market, but Your Majesty is not very happy to be led by the nose for such a step. He wondered if that Gastens could still cast his magic. ”

"Doesn't threaten our market?" Ravibond smiled, "When the legendary Magister Ludacris met the Dragons when he was young, the Dragons thought that he and his magic would not threaten the Dragons' status, but now? Self-confidence is a good thing, and being overconfident is stupid. ”

Hearing the teacher's words, Fu Diya Hani raised his eyebrows, he knew that his teacher valued Gastens very much, but he didn't expect the teacher to take such a fancy to Gastens. You must know that under the leadership of Emperor Fudia Carney, the Alonte Empire has clearly led other countries in terms of scientific and technological knowledge, and even the rear-loading steam rifle that Elena is proud of, their research institute made a slightly inferior but similar product at the end of last year. In this case, does the teacher really think that the ignorant man who was born as a serf can challenge Alonte?

"Don't underestimate him", although it has been more than twenty years since Hani left the Mage Tower, Ravi Bond still understands the meaning of Fu Diya's expression just now, "You are afraid of him and fearful of him because of his magic, and you have to respect him." But I think his greatest danger lies not in the magic, but in the machines, in his extraordinary understanding of the steam engine. ”

"The steam engine can't kill 200,000 people at once."

"But the steam engine is available to everyone."

The church was silent, and members of the rebels came and went around the church, and no one listened to the conversation between the two. Liam Hal looked down and muttered for a moment, finding a new reason.

"The steam engine is not something they can make."

"Well, time will tell if we're right or wrong, right?"

Ravibond didn't continue the little argument, he took the book next to him, flipped through it, flipped to one of the pages, and handed it to Hal.

"What is this?" Hal took it, recognizing his former textbook at a glance, and he looked at Ravi Bond's hand and saw a line of words marked with colored pencils.

"Once the magic array is connected in the right way, even if there is no guidance, the magic will start to flow in the magic array. This gives the magic circle a basis for being sensed by the Magister. ”

Knowing that his teacher must have had something in mind about this sentence to himself, Liam Hal looked down for a while and asked tentatively.

"Teacher, you're trying to say that he shouldn't have a magic array that he can use?"

"The existing magic circle has been destroyed after the third great magic tide, and in order to use the forbidden spell, he must establish a new forbidden spell circle. However, he couldn't have the resources to build a forbidden spell circle. Figuring out where he found the forbidden spell circle, and figuring out why his forbidden spell circle works, will tell if he can still release magic. ”

"I see!"

Liam Hal wasn't a dull man, and he realized for a moment what the teacher meant, "You mean he built a forbidden spell circle in Elena or somewhere else?" The previous spell used up the circle. If he still wants to cast forbidden spells, he must have more than one forbidden spell circle, right? ”

"Well, it was almost impossible for him to have a forbidden spell circle before, let alone two. Therefore, I don't think he will be able to release the forbidden spell in a short period of time. However, by giving his Elena time to develop, he could use more manpower and financial resources to build a second forbidden spell circle. When his second forbidden spell circle is built, if he can still retain the ability to mobilize magical power, he can naturally release the forbidden spell. ”

Ravi Bond had clearly thought about Liam Hall's question. He gave his answer, but did not explain further. In his opinion, magic is in the past, and the future is destined to belong to ordinary people. When the Emperor really recognized this, they could find the most correct way to deal with Elena. It's just that he himself may not be able to see that day.

"I see, teacher, I will report to Your Majesty truthfully."

Liam Hal bowed respectfully. Ravi Bond's reminder is very in place, the forbidden spell circle is a huge project, and if Elena wants to build it, there must be traces. Just follow this trail and lift the veil on Gastens . His Majesty the Emperor will be very happy to hear this news.

"Let's go, and when you come back, let Ernio Zoro receive you."

Ravibond waved his hand lightly for Hal to leave. Hal stood up, thought for a moment what he meant, glanced at the frail old man sitting on the chaise longue, and saluted respectfully.

"Goodbye, my teacher."