Chapter 2: Prelude to Chaos VIII

At the heart of material civilization is science. Human beings summarize all life experiences from ancient times to the present, and use categories, theorems, laws and other forms of thinking to classify and summarize what they see and hear, and then form a series of knowledge systems: firewood combustion can produce heat; Sulfuric acid is extremely corrosive; The sun rises in the east and sets in the west; The speed at which sound travels through the air is approximately equal to 340 meters per second; Electrical energy is generated when a conductor cuts a magnetic induction wire...... No matter how time passes or the times change, these law-like objective truths will never change. This is "reason", the first law of rationality, the foundation of modern civilized society.

In contrast to the first law, which is biased towards rationality, there is another law in this world: the second law that is biased towards spirituality.

Mana, internal power, spiritual power, magic power...... Although the specific name varies due to regional differences, the essence is the same. The forces of nature are channeled through life energy, and then a magical power that transcends common sense is generated. It is said that in ancient super-magical civilizations, there were even high-level arcane arts that resurrected the dead and changed the sun, moon and stars. However, these magical arcane arts disappeared along with the fall of the once-prosperous ultra-magical civilization......

In the early days of modern society, due to people's lack of understanding of supernatural powers such as magic, arcane, and immortal arts, and the ignorance of the religious rulers of the time, the power of "spirits" was slandered as "demonic contracts", "heresy", and "superstition". However, with the continuous development of civilization, "spirit" and "reason" constantly clashed and merged with each other, and finally "spirit" achieved the same status as "reason". With the rise of modern magic civilization, a compound scholar who mastered both "spirit" and "reason" knowledge systems was born. Through unremitting efforts, they find the connection between the real material world and the illusory spiritual world, and do their best for the prosperity of the magic civilization.

But......

If we call a scientist who has mastered "reason" a "gentle and elegant scholar", a caster who has mastered "spirit" is called a "calm and wise explorer". Then, the magicians who hold both the "spirit" and the "reason" are called "madmen" and "radicals" most of the time......

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Daddy Farrell smiled awkwardly, hesitantly as if he wanted to explain something. But before he could speak, Angelus said what he was about to say, "Don't mind, this is what the Magic Workshop is. I don't need to explain anything, I know it all. At the end, Angrus muttered quietly, "The disguise is so good, it almost tricked me." ”

"Uh......"

Daddy Farrell's face flushed. Although he had to admit that there were constant accidents and explosions to make the "true colors" of the magic workshop, he couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed when he was described by non-professional personnel. But when he opened his mouth and wanted to vouch for his reputation, and when he said a few words of defense, Kuran on the side also spoke. However, Curran's words made him feel even tighter: "After all, constant explosions are Srodwan's fine traditions." Fei'er is also half a magic craftsman, so she should have known this for a long time. ”

"Hmm. When I first came in, I thought it was too quiet, and it didn't go along with the tradition of Srodvan. I'm just thinking it's weird. ”

"That's your delusion! But it's also unavoidable. When I first visited, I had a similar idea......"

Angrus and Curran discussed one sentence at a time, while Father Farrell, behind them, looked at the two of them with a smile on his face.

"Explosions are king."

- Hey, you're talking like that.

"Uh-huh, yes, yes, that makes sense. It's hard to imagine what a magic workshop would be like without the sound of explosions......"

- This is a very serious topic, please don't talk about it as a joke so lightly!

Finally, Daddy broke out!

"You two guys! It's good to keep some morality! The Magic Workshop is a holy place, do you understand the Holy Land! A place that ordinary people would never have had the opportunity to set foot in their lifetime......"

"Not good." Both men shook their heads at the same time.

Looking at the actions of the two of them neatly drawing one, Farrell's father suddenly surged up in his heart with four big words "unladylike when meeting people".

"You, you...... Alas...... Don't say it, don't say it. Hurry up, hurry away. ”

Dad finally sighed and walked on dejectedly.

……

A room not far ahead suddenly made a loud "boom". Some kind of strange pink mist gushed out through the crack in the door.

"Woo! What a taste it is! It stinks! ”

The pink mist quickly dissipated. However, it left a proof of its existence for passers-by - a foul smell was suddenly enveloped in a foul smell within a radius of more than thirty meters around.

Angrus, whose face was a little blue from the smoke, immediately held his breath; Kuran on the side still maintained his usual calmness, but on closer inspection, it could be found that Kuran's brows were about to twist into two big bumps.

"What's going on here......

"It's a small thing. The guys in the six groups of the workshop somehow got about thirty sachets of musk deer (a deer-like ruminant mammal) from the black market, and prepared to extract a catalytic enzyme that accelerates the activation of phase particles. Hey, after the trial is over, I guess they're going to plan to do it themselves and make some perfume or something. Father Farrell skillfully and quickly pulled out a mask strap from his bosom and shrugged his shoulders casually, "I did this when I was younger. The musk of the forest musk deer is expensive and accounts for a large proportion of many high-end perfume formulations. However, it is not so easy to extract musk, and the sachet is very difficult to handle. One of the most important is Shakcha solvent, adding less has no effect at all, but adding more ...... Hey hey........."

"Heh, hehe...... I see. ”

As he spoke, the door opened. Three men in gas masks rushed out desperately.

"Woo, whoa, whoa......"

They let out a series of indecipherable cries, like rabbits that have been hit by arrows, and "whoosh" and disappear at the end of the aisle.

"Oh! Don't be stunned here. Walk fast, stink, stink!! ”

……

"Woo! Woohoo......"

There was a faint roar somewhere behind him.

"What's that sound?"

"Voice? I didn't hear it. Delusion. ”

As soon as Daddy Farrell's words fell, a low roar came from behind him. Turning around, an adult winged tiger with a body length of more than four meters appeared behind him.

"Huh...... It's a rare animal. How did you get here? ”

"I don't know. But, Phil, are you interested? Have an all-tiger feast. ”

"No, thank you......"

Although it is said that the winged tiger is fierce by nature and very aggressive. However, for Angelus and Curran, no matter how fierce the Winged Tiger is, it is just a big cat that can fly.

Father Farrell frowned, "Winged Tiger? When was it shipped in? How did I not know? ”

The Winged Tiger opened its bloody jaws and let out an angry roar at the three people who had no sense of danger.

“…… Yes! I know. Dias! That guy must have messed things up again! Daddy Farrell slapped his thigh violently, and then quickly pulled out a small ball from his waist, "Little Sa! Don't move! Don't do it! ”

The winged tiger crouched slightly, and the wings on its back were spread out on both sides. It opened its mouth again and roared, swooping down on Daddy Farrell, who was closest to it.

The oncoming wind was mixed with a strong fishy smell, and the fierce attacking nature of the winged tiger was unmistakable.

But Daddy Farrell wasn't nervous at all, he just threw the ball out of his hand.

"Signal jamming bombs? Daddy, you ......"

In the face of a swift tiger, the conventional response should be to take a defensive stance or kill it outright. What is the use of signal jamming bombs?

But something unexpected happened.

The moment the signal jamming bomb landed and exploded, the oncoming winged tiger began to melt like winter snow meeting sunlight. In just two seconds, the winged tiger, which was more than four meters long and weighed more than three hundred kilograms, completely disappeared. There was no trace of anything left on the ground, as if it had never appeared.

"It's ......"

"Holographic imagery technology. As long as the source is shielded, it's no problem. ”

……

Three more small explosions were experienced. After affirming the objective truth that "magic craftsmen are crazy" many times, repeatedly, and unquestionably, the destination of this trip, the central area of the magic workshop, the "Heart Gap", has finally arrived.

However, before entering the gap between hearts, the three of them were stopped by the apprentice of the magician waiting at the door.

“…… To keep all your gear outside? ”

"Yes, that's right." The young apprentice who stopped at the door nodded.

"Metal, especially alchemy iron and magic products, can't be brought in."

Curlan was obviously familiar with the place, and quickly sorted out his belongings and put them in a small storage box.

"Xiao Sa, hurry up." Father Farrell also took out the various alchemy materials and magic guidance materials he carried with him and handed them to the apprentice one by one, "If you carry metal items on your body, the success rate of spell casting will drop a lot." Although things like alchemy products and magic guide products will not affect the caster himself, they will more or less affect the contract array. Therefore, when using the Contract Array, you should make sure that there are no items containing magic within ten meters of the surrounding area! ”

"No one ever told me about this......"

"It's normal, you've been to wartime workshops and makeshift workshops before. That kind of place doesn't pay attention to this. In fact, among the basic requirements for the use of the Covenant Array, this is the top three important matters! There is no way to enforce this standard in places such as wartime workshops and temporary workshops. ”

"Why?"

"Because there is not enough time, because there is not enough space, because there is not enough money, blah, blah, blah, blah...... Ahhh......h By the way, let's take care of the weapon. It's been a long time since I've checked Sa's weapon, hehe. Hey, take it. ”

Papa Farrell took a spare box from a nearby locker and threw it to Angelus.

"Oh, okay."

Angelus took the kit and began to release the weapons, conceptual armaments, and other items he was carrying with him.

"Hmm...... There's not a lot of stuff. Xiao Sa, no matter what, you are also a quasi-heavenly knight, why don't you apply for more equipment......" Father Farrell frowned slightly, and glanced at the things on the table with a little surprise: a physical sword, an entity battle spear, a folding axe, seven pieces of alchemy iron, and three energy swords......

- From the type and number of weapons that a warrior carries with him, you can roughly guess his fighting style.

Although this quote is not a wise saying, it is an objective truth in many cases.

“…… All melee weapons? Why don't you even bring a gun? I know that it's not your turn to be alive for fire support, but that's too extreme. In case of any situation, be sure to attack from a distance...... Oh, can you just play 'Flying Sword'? ”

Daddy Farrell preached as he looked at the weapons on the table.

"Don't worry. Energy swords are all special-made. Can be used as a beam gun. ”

"Ah, look at me, I'm starting to get forgetful before I'm old. Alas...... I adjusted these two swords by myself. Belch...... Hey, what is it? ”

Daddy Farrell suddenly noticed that there was an energy sword in the rearmament box that he had never seen before.

"Oh, this was captured a week ago while fighting a paladin. I looked pretty good, so I stayed. ”

"Yes, the 'tin cans' have also opened their minds and started using energy weapons. Not bad, yes, there is growth! Ha ha! Where did that unlucky guy come from? It should be Eden. Edena seems to have been very uneasy lately. ”

Paladins are very common in theocratic countries. Paladins are often nicknamed "tin cans" by their opponents because they usually wear heavy armor that covers their entire body when fighting. The cultivation of paladins is very difficult, and even before the Second Firmament War, there were very few countries that had the strength to cultivate paladins. And now among the countries of the continent of Yaslot, only Eden has mastered the core training tutorials and techniques that are the most critical to cultivating paladins.

"Hmm. The identity of that guy is still being investigated, but Eden must not be able to get out of it. However, Eden will certainly not admit it. Nine times out of ten, there will be a rake. ”

"That's right, that's how old boy Sgradia works." Daddy laughed, picked up the energy sword, and looked at it carefully, "But...... This sword seems to be a bit special, not very common model......"

Hearing what Father Farrell said, Angelus also set his eyes on the energy sword: "Special? I didn't see it. Except that the cost of this sword is a little smaller than that of ordinary swords, everything else is also very ordinary. ”

After checking it over and over for a while, Daddy Farrell slowly lowered the energy sword. He touched his chin, pondered and said slowly, "Eden announced a batch of light and demon fission weapons called 'Nahir Type IV' more than a month ago. Based on the basic parameters they give, this energy sword is likely to be one of them. ”

"What's so special about this newly announced batch of weapons?"

When Daddy said this, Angelus was also a little interested.

"Yes! And very important. ”

"What?"

"Low energy consumption, low production costs, and low maintenance costs when used. To put it simply, cheap! ”

"......" Angelus was speechless.

"Hey, what are you rolling your eyes at? You know, cost is the most important thing in weapons research! Whether it can be mass-produced or not depends on the manufacturing cost and subsequent maintenance of the weapon! Daddy Farrell lit up the magic sword and danced a few times, "Hmm...... The magic consumption is indeed much lower than the standard product...... Xiao Sa, can you borrow this thing from me to study and study? ”

"No problem. If you like it, take it, you don't have to return it. ”

"Thanks......" Daddy Farrell took out various gadgets from the maintenance box beside him as if by magic, and happily traced along the lines on the energy sword, "Uh-huh...... Let me see what technology Eden has used to reduce the cost so much......"

But before Daddy could unlock the first seamless key, an apprentice's tactful reminder voice came from the side: "Master." The work has entered the final verification stage and is waiting for your acceptance. ”

"Oh? Oh! Daddy blinked like a child who had been robbed of his toy," ...... Alas, what a pity...... Pack it up and send it to Master Vane. ”

"Yes."

Dad reluctantly glanced at the magic energy sword in the preparation box, and looked away with difficulty: "How is the situation of the contract array?" ”

"The magic circuit and runes have been initially activated. Miss Yueling has already carried out the first launch. The start went very smoothly. ”

"Good...... Sa, are you ready? What you will see later is not just a contract array, but the most perfect work of art! ”