Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 263 - 262: Path to Truth

Gawain’s questions came one after another. After bombarding Heidi with several consecutive "whys," she felt that the excitement and joy that stirred her emotions just now had significantly cooled down — just a moment ago, she thought she had touched a realm in the magic world that no one had ventured into before, mastering new knowledge unprecedented in the past. However, after Gawain finished asking his "whys," she realized that she understood even less than before.

Not only did I fail to uncover any truths about the world, but I also became more profoundly aware of my ignorance regarding the truth.

Even though this wasn’t the first time Gawain threw out a series of "whys," Heidi still felt intense pressure.

But the same couldn’t be said for Kamel, who showed no signs of disappointment on his face — because he had no expression at all — this ancient Master Mage fell into deep thought after hearing Gawain’s questions. These questions echoed in his mind, suddenly reigniting a passion that had been dormant for centuries. He thought of long, long ago, back when he was still a Mage apprentice, when he first discovered that there were so many mysteries in this world, and his mentor had once said:

Humans always progress from the unknown to the known, and then from the known to another unknown. As long as your mind can still harbor new confusions about this world, your steps forward will never halt.

Master Kamel never imagined that a knight leader would be the one to reignite a new drive for him in the world of magic. He sincerely marveled, "Leader, your heart for seeking the truth is admirable, surpassing even many conservative magic researchers."

"I’m just overly curious and can’t help but ponder over many things," Gawain said with a smile, shaking his head while looking at the Magic Obelisk in the center of the room. "A long time ago, I had this kind of question — what exactly is the ’magic’ that permeates the world? Why can only a small portion of humans naturally sense magic? How exactly does magic influence all things? I once tried to find answers in ancient scriptures and historical records, but found nothing... People seem solely engrossed in the one-sided use of magic, with few considering its essence..."

Kamel let out a long sigh, "I believe that throughout history, there must have been people asking such questions, but unfortunately... our civilization still hasn’t taken a decisive step in this essential field."

Gawain pondered as the emergence of the Magic Obelisk had already sparked a series of associations in his mind, and these associations coincidentally aligned with an old speculation about magic he once had:

Is magic a kind of "wave"? Or something with properties similar to "waves"? Or is the phenomenon of "magic" itself a kind of fluctuation?

But in this world with its bizarre physical properties, do these omnipresent "waves" still conform to the same rules Gawain knows? Throwing a stone into water and seeing the ripples appear seems simple enough, but in the unseen realm of magic, does everything function the same as in the material world?

Even the magic sensing ability of a legendary knight can only perceive the vague and chaotic magic-pervasive environment in nature; currently, there is no technology capable of observing and testing magic precisely... But perhaps Kamel could?

With this thought, he looked at Kamel and Heidi, tentatively trying to inspire their creativity, "Have you ever thought about what exactly magic relies on to propagate when the Magic Obelisk is operating?"

"’Rely on’ what?" Heidi frowned, showing a thoughtful expression, "Magic transmission requires a medium... But in the absence of a medium, how exactly does it propagate..."

Kamel too fell into thought, "The ancient communication spell was the first to break through this bottleneck. Information, carried by magic, could reach distant places in an instant, but its appearance was purely coincidental. Ancient Mages only discovered it by chance, finding it very practical, but until today, no one has figured out the principles behind this spell... those ancient magic symbols haven’t been improved for thousands of years."

Gawain felt as if a light had flickered in his mind, as if seeing a glimpse of hope in unveiling the mysteries of magic through the ancient communication spell and the existing Magic Obelisk, along with some dawn in solving communication issues: "Even though their actual effects differ, both involve the ’inexplicable’ propagation of magic. I think there’s something common between them."

Heidi looked down at the "Receiver Device" in her hand, where a small piece of Holme Crystal embedded in the center had dimmed with the extinguishment of the "transmitter end," yet her thoughts were more active than before.

What kind of mysteries are hidden within this small device?

"I actually have a hypothesis," Gawain said cautiously, seeing Kamel and Heidi deep in thought, "Do you know about the ripples in the water?"

"Ripples in water?" Heidi couldn’t immediately make the connection, "What does ripples in water have to do with magic?"

"The ripples will spread outward!" The arcane magic on Kamel’s body brightened instantly, but he quickly fell into hesitation and confusion, "Could it be this simple? Magic Power... has stirred up ripples, so something is spreading along the ripples? Is it information that’s spreading... or energy? What’s the ’medium’ that carries the ripples? The water surface has water to create waves, but what is there in the empty space... is Magic Power itself the medium?"

"Or maybe no medium is needed?" Gawain tentatively suggested but then quickly held back, "I was just speaking off the cuff, don’t let my words influence you."

"We’re all just speculating, and everything we speculate at this stage should not be taken seriously," Kamel said seriously, "Leader, every word you say is highly referential—if you have any more guesses, please share them. I can see that you’ve thought a lot about this issue and probably already have some hypothesis-based ideas to share."

Gawain didn’t expect Kamel to be so perceptive. He hesitated briefly—not because he didn’t want to speak, but because he knew that the world’s rules were very different from what he knew on planet Earth. He feared that presenting a nearly complete theory based on Earthly experiences might mislead local researchers, steering them away from the right path. But Kamel’s words made him resolve: true researchers should be able to hypothesize boldly and verify carefully.

As long as he emphasized that everything he said was a hypothesis and didn’t interfere with Aunt Heidi or Kamel’s research ideas, there would be nothing to worry about.

So, he roughly introduced the concepts of waves and fields—he deliberately made his description simple and straightforward. This was partly for ease of understanding, and partly to make the knowledge seem like something he had come up with on his own, making it appear more genuine.

"To be honest, these are just my guesses based on daily experience and a superficial understanding of magical phenomena," Gawain emphasized after speaking, "However, I believe that the pursuit of knowledge and truth is like this, especially in areas where we can’t observe directly. All we can do is hypothesize the unknown based on what we know, boldly guess—then seek to confirm or falsify."

"Hypothesize... and then verify..." Kamel mused, "That’s what we did back in the day."

Gawain smiled slightly, feeling a minor pang: this attempt at showing off didn’t quite succeed...

But then Kamel continued, "However, there aren’t many people who can understand it as deeply as you do, especially considering you’re a knight lord by birth, yet you have such insights on the path of pursuing truth. This surpasses many so-called ’scholars’ who lead trivial lives."

Gawain was just about to speak when Aunt Heidi solemnly reminded Kamel, "Master Kamel, a knight compared to a mage..."

As soon as he heard the first few words from Aunt Heidi, Gawain broke out in a cold sweat, and before she could finish, he started coughing vigorously, "Ahem! Curiosity is human nature. Once the drive to explore is stimulated, there’s no real difference between knights and mages."

Kamel was quite curious about what Aunt Heidi wanted to say, but the wave of low pressure emanating from Gawain made him choose to ignore the question, and he nodded seriously, "I would certainly have disagreed with this statement before, but now I must agree with your point of view."

Gawain didn’t further extend the topic—he had already hinted enough. He believed that with Kamel’s intelligence, as long as he found one or two breakthroughs, combined with his own "innate abilities," he would definitely be able to pave the way in the domain of the essence of Magic Power. Further knowledge input would only restrict or influence this ancient scholar’s thoughts.

Kamel, taking both the transmission and receiver ends of the Magic Obelisk, left. Eager to immerse himself in a new round of research, he had rediscovered his direction in this unfamiliar new era. But before diving in, he first needed to hand over the relevant technology materials to Nicholas Egg of the mechanical research station, so that the current stage achievements could quickly become practical technologies for the territory to use.

The territory indeed had too few talents. If he could get some apprentices as assistants, he could have the apprentices run errands, saving all his time for the laboratory—Kamel used The Sculpture Hand to swiftly float with the "prototype" while contemplating how to increase the number of Mages on this land.

Aunt Heidi stayed behind in Gawain’s office. The elegant lady stood quietly beside Gawain’s desk and said softly, "Ancestor, actually, I think your ancestral teachings are quite..."

The elegance was fake; the thought process gradually leaning toward Rebecca was real.

"Things said just after a few drinks shouldn’t be passed down forever," Gawain felt a headache coming on at the mention and thought he should find a time to properly correct his two granddaughters’ worldviews. "Did you find out what I asked you to investigate?"

"Yes, it’s just as you suspected—among the refugees who arrived at the territory after the first snowfall, quite a few have questionable identities. Moreover, those with questionable identities almost all come from the entire southern borders, except for the areas of the Leslie territory and the Kant territory."