Act VIII: Crossing the Door (1)
Frick thought he should have been prepared for it, and the fanatical sorcerer never knew the meaning of the word "enough is enough" when he was researching. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info
After that day, he visited William Coulter's laboratory every two or three days, and the sorcerer, though emaciated, did not lose his enthusiasm for his work in the slightest. He should have known that his body was about to reach its limit, but he was unwilling to stop and rest for a moment.
The appearance of the laboratory has changed a lot in recent days, and the cabinets with heavy stacks of books have all been removed, replaced by several tapestries depicting wonderful patterns that cover the entire wall. In addition to this, there are several mysterious carvings from a long history in the house, which are quite simple in workmanship, but the quality of which is completely different from the style that is in vogue today is impressive.
They are obviously defensive spell artifacts, and they also have a subtle resonance with each other, constructing a complete spell that follows a specific magical trajectory. Like the defensive circle outside the village of Lemonglas, they are special defensive spells that use fixed mana nodes to maintain the overall defense field, and under their protection, this room has almost castle-level defense.
Not only that, but Dr. Kurt spent this time concentrating on a special paint that depicted a Rubik's Cube on the floor of the room, which was based on a circle of circles. This is probably designed to ensure safety during the experiment, and even the foothold has been carefully planned.
But even if he used so many methods to keep the experiment going smoothly, he was still inevitably attacked by magic because he was too deep in the spiritual world. The world didn't reject him, and he had a lot of useful knowledge, but it was clear that there was nothing left to keep him safe.
Feeling that his physical strength was getting weaker and weaker, he could only ask his assistant to help him conduct research together. The young sorcerers in dark uniforms did exactly what he told, either silently filling in the cauldron with specific materials or staring nervously at the data on the instrument.
In the center of the room, in the center of the circle where all the defensive circles were guarded, there were four people sitting around a table with a large number of documents, potions, and emergency potions. Bursts of gentle fragrance wafted from the incense burner in the corner of the room, making people want to doze off.
"So...... Let me make sure again, are you all ready?" the speaker was none other than Dr. William Kurolt, the owner of the lab, "I have already explained the dangers of the experiment, and as you can see, I am the first victim - at least for now, you have a chance to quit. ”
If these words did not contain any threatening elements, I am afraid that even he himself did not believe it, after all, he still did not want his research results to be divided by others. If they retreat and leave now, then he doesn't need to be too responsible when they settle down afterwards.
Anyway, he relented and agreed to let the other magicians in the Magical Research Building share his findings, including those who were members of the Council of Ten. They are also elites in the field of spell research, and they also have many valuable resources at their disposal.
William Coulter is all about breaking free from the shackles of the material world with common sense to explore the vast unknown existence hidden in the depths of the spiritual world. Such attempts have been going on for decades, but it is only recently that he has managed to break free from the limitations of his body on his soul.
Some consider his research to be a strange and incomprehensible direction, since they can only deduce from his theories many conclusions that are more absurd and bizarre than the existing logic. He never bothered to explain his theory to the ignorant, and the few who saw its value were just thinking about how to get a piece of the pie.
It wasn't until shortly before the appearance of this young scribe named Frick Sierra that the by-products of his research into the dream world became practical. He was on the verge of despairing of the possibilities of the future, but Flick's new abilities were energized.
At the cost of weakening his body and soul at an unprecedented rate, he feared that he would be reduced to dry bones before his research was completed. He had never believed in God in the past, but only now did he wonder if there was really some force playing a prank on what was going on with him.
If his life came to an end here now, the results of his previous research would have been stolen by the mages who had been watching him for a long time. In order to avoid this unpleasant unfolding, he took an almost gambling approach to experimentation...... But after all, this will not last long.
"Yes, we all already know how dangerous this kind of spell is that is still in the experimental stage, but it is precisely because of this that you can't be left alone to suffer the damage of slashing your soul. The person sitting directly across from him nodded, a hypocritical smile on his dark face, "And don't look at me like this, I've been studying the dream technique for a long time, and I've mastered a lot of basic knowledge and skills to prevent danger." ”
His name is Warren Pringen, and he is also a member of the "Council of Ten", and he has spent all these years studying ancient texts and the ruins of ancient civilizations that lived in mythological times. He has studied dozens of different types of ancient texts and has come up with many shocking inferences.
In addition to these achievements, he has more than once used the technique of dreaming to explore the clues remaining in the ancient ruins. Although there are not many successful cases, he is undoubtedly a skilled person in the spiritual realm, and those words are by no means boastful.
But in addition to the well-known reputation of these people, this guy also has many connections with the underground trading market of the Gate of the North, and has many connections with illegal merchants in unknown corners. Through this channel, he also obtained a lot of ancient documents that should not be circulated in the market.
This man may not be trustworthy, but he is undoubtedly the one who has contributed the most to the room, providing a large amount of scarce resources for Dr. Coulter's experiments. As for the other guys, they just provided some nominal financial support, thinking that they would be able to sit back and enjoy it.
So after Warren Pringen, who contributed the most, made a statement, they also expressed their willingness to use this still experimental way to enter the realm of the spiritual world. It's not that they're not afraid that what happened to them about Dr. Coulter, but they are more worried than that.
As agents, they are merely instruments to convey the wishes of someone behind them, and if they are deterred by William Coulter's bluff threats, then the punishment that awaits them after that is surely more terrible than the erosion of their minds and bodies by magic.
"Now that you have enlightenment, let's get started. ”
Mocking the two agents and the operators behind them, Dr. Kurt glanced at Frick, who was sitting on a chaise longue not far away, and gestured to him to start the experiment, and the assistant who was busy in the room immediately delivered him a bowl of potions.
With the mages in the other labs joining the experiment, he was able to do less and less. Originally, he might occasionally bring some alchemy materials for Dr. Kurt, but now he only needs to stay in the chaise longue surrounded by several geometric Rubik's cubes and dream.
With what he had learned, Frick quickly recognized the Rubik's cube around him as a matching technique used to enhance the effect of mana output. Compared to the circular formation, which was completely aimed at protecting the people in the formation, this kind of technique had almost no way to protect him in it.
Perhaps he didn't think it was necessary, because in the experiments that continued these days, he showed a strong ability to adapt to the spiritual world. Although waking up from a dream is often accompanied by a slight discomfort, it has never produced any serious demonic erosion.
However, in fact, Frick believes that the reason why he didn't show too unusual reactions was because they were already ingrained in his body and consciousness. The symptoms of witnessing the hallucinations did not improve in the slightest, and they were only barely able to change the angle of their observation with self-awareness compared to the past.
――Maybe it's a little bit better?
However, the status quo is not good, but rather it has become a lot more troublesome, especially after the group of people that Dr. Kurt does not trust, they don't really want to help him with the experiment, but are just thinking about how to find what he wants from the lab.
To make matters worse, Dr. Kurt was running out of imitations of the "Red Liquid" he had refined, but he didn't have enough materials on hand, and he could clearly feel that the potions offered to him were getting less and less in place, replaced by another liquid with a strong smell of alcohol.
It was a potion that Warren Pringen had brought from his laboratory, and it was said to be a secondary potion used by sorcerers to perform Dream Initiation using the usual methods. In the absence of a catalyst for imitation of liquid red, they had to choose a less efficient method.
As a result, the experiment has only stopped at revisiting certain memory fragments in a variety of ways in the past few days, and has not made further progress. Perhaps this was a remarkable achievement in the eyes of others, but Frick noticed Dr. Coulter's dissatisfiedness.
It is likely that he has lost his breath for himself in this situation, so there are surprisingly many imitations that have been sent to Frick with various potions today. Contrary to the frugal style of the past few days, the golden-red liquid that was tumbling in the bowl was much more than the amount of the previous experiments drunk.
Presumably William Kurt was ready to take the plunge.