Pillars of Ita

"...The story originated from an opportunity. The fragments contain a flash of hope, but they are tempting to take a dark path. That is the end of the empire, and the three magician factions are falling apart."

The tall Ota is like a silent mountain, occupying a corner of the hall without saying a word, making the originally empty hall seem cramped.The kobold Pepe opened the grate of the fireplace, brought some gray wood, built it piece by piece, and lit the fire.

It didn't seem to find such trivial matters boring at all, but was keen on it, raised its head and looked at the girl with dark eyes.Aona gave it a look of approval, and Pepe wagged her tail happily.

The flames rose up and reflected on everyone's faces, as if dispelling the darkness and chill of the underground world.With fire in her eyes, Aona told everyone the old story.

It was a time of great turmoil. The end of the Elkins dynasty was not only described by the decay of the upper class and the distress of the lower class, but many factors together outlined the end of the dynasty.

The battle over the configuration of the magic furnace.

This story is extremely famous in the history of alchemists, and craftsmen's associations around the world will also tell the past to the apprentices who started later, as a teacher for the future.

The academic dispute between the United Magic Furnace and the old school eventually led to the collapse of an empire, like a vicious joke history has played to the world.Of course, that was not the main reason behind everything, but it did become one of the most famous fuse events in the history of Altaria.

When Miss Scholar told them about the past of the Northern Empire, she did quote this ancient story to everyone.

But Aona made it clearer.

In that era, mortal technology had an end visible to the naked eye.The first technical route is stagnant in front of the old magic furnace, the second technical route has long been turned into empty talk, and even its host has been missing for many years.

The third and fourth technical routes were also mired in fog. The architect, light guide, and potion wizard were trapped in a maze whose name was Crystal's End.

Technologists look forward to a revolution. They can already see the new world beyond the cage, which is the height reached by the Numelin elves, and it is the possibility that mortals can stand shoulder to shoulder with magical creatures.

But inside the cage, there is nothing to do.

The tower-type magic furnace is actually the abbreviation of the joint magic furnace, another general name for the crystal tower structure.The tower structure is a series structure, that is, the core of the magic furnace composed of the main crystals in a distributed manner.

Before that, alchemists usually believed that the core crystal must be an independent and complete natural crystal element with high purity, because the natural and complete crystal has better permeability, and the less flaws, the more efficient its energy storage and transfer. high.

It is precisely because of this characteristic that Ed the great alchemist chose such a high-quality crystal as the core of the first-generation magic furnace when he designed the magic furnace 300 years ago.

But just like everything in this world, high quality means scarcity. Although there are a large number of crystal veins all over Altaria, all naturally existing things have an end.

After 300 years of rapid development of magic technology, the imperial people found that they had already mined almost every crystal mine in the wild. Except for the defective crystals that can be seen everywhere, high-quality crystals became increasingly rare.

Until only one crystal was produced in half a year.

When Aona said this, a burst of sparks burst out from the flame in the fireplace.

The flash of flames was reflected in everyone's eyes, and even Jita held her breath subconsciously.

Shui Wuming and Luo Wei looked at each other, the silent crowd could imagine what a desperate era it was.

They have heard about this past, from the literature, from the teacher's word of mouth, and even from other people's conversations, but it is just a sentence on the sheepskin hand scroll.

The battle over the configuration of the magic furnace, the end of the crystal.

The empire collapsed.

But the collapse of the dynasty is more vivid and thrilling in Aoona's words.

Without the supply of crystals, there would be no new magic furnaces, and even the original stock would decrease sharply.And without the magic furnace, there would be no magic skills, let alone everything that the mortal world should have.

You can imagine a present without the modern system.

That is not only a cliff-like decline in the quality of personal life, but also a collapse of productivity.The production system composed of magic technology completely collapsed, followed by endless violence and famine.

In order to solve the imminent crisis, war has become a must.

However, the high military expenditure further contributed to the financial crisis, making the already impoverished empire further crumbling. Coupled with the already decayed upper class, amidst the superficial singing and dancing, a dynasty is stepping towards its end.

The detonation of the crisis actually came from the conflict between the empire and the Gudasok lizard tribe. The Southward Plan caused the old and new empires to conflict with each other, and a great war broke out, as if a weak person lost his life again.

The Human Lizard War in 352 completely destroyed the last hope of the empire.

After that came successive riots, civil wars, and 360 years of turmoil from 373 to 14.

The empire is dying step by step, and the people of insight inside are still looking for the possibility of the alchemy revolution. Guzhi history played a black humorous joke with them, making them add one last chapter to this history. straw.

As the ancestor of the current joint magic furnace, the main idea of ​​the tower-type magic furnace is to use multiple crystal cores in series, and use lower-quality crystals to make up for the lack of high-quality crystals in a quantitative manner.

The veins of magic crystals can be seen everywhere in Altalia. Although the high-quality crystals have long been exhausted, there are still as many ordinary crystals as there are, and it is not a problem to use them for thousands of years.

But technological breakthroughs are easier said than done.

A naturally formed magic crystal has a uniform internal structure.But from one crystal to another, different crystals are not only different in impurity content, but also in the number of internal flaws, and may even have completely different internal structures.

Not to mention that there is still a problem of dissipation of magic power from inside and outside the crystal. The more crystals are connected in parallel, the smaller the marginal benefit.

These two major problems were problems that the alchemists of that era could not solve for a long time.

And in that year, more people even tended to think that it was impossible to achieve.

But as a latecomer, Fang Plover naturally knew the ending of this story, and it ended with one of the parties winning a big victory.The legendary configuration solves all the problems of crystal parallel connection, just like a beam of light injected into that dark world.

It's just that the light didn't shine gently on everyone.

It came late, and the reality played a dark joke on the people of the world who lived at the end of the Elkins dynasty.

The old and new technology lines clashed fiercely, even involving the political power of the empire behind it. After the defeat of one war after another, the contradictions within the empire became more and more acute.

The heavy pressure that suppressed the people at the bottom, and the imperial ruling class who regarded all this as a child's play, finally, in a series of open and dark arrows, academic persecution triggered a real conflict.

A verbal debate escalated into a battle to destroy the empire.

The dispute over the configuration of the magic furnace, hence the name.

The story told by Aona is happening in this era. The stagnation of technology has caused a general stagnation. People once vowed that the technology of mortals can be compared with that of dragons, but the oncoming reality is like an insurmountable wall. .

Makes every optimist go head-to-head.

The prosperous era seemed to end in an instant, followed by the cursed 30 years ago.

"In that dark age, there are still many people who want to uncover the first light before dawn," Ao Na stared at the magic furnace on the workbench with a distant gaze, "Those six Young people are just one of many such people. It's just that they have other adventures..."

The girl's tone became a little long, as if recalling a past: "Do you know the real origin of the tower-type magic furnace?"

Many thought it was the invention of Hein, or one of Hein's students, but they didn't know who it was.

It was even called a Hain-style magic furnace in later generations, but it was not the case.

The great alchemist Ed was active in the era when the empire was established, which was 1000 years ago, although there are some legends that describe that this legendary figure lived to be two hundred years old.But his first-generation disciple, Hayne, had been missing for more than ten years at the end of the Elkins Dynasty.

"As for Helinwell, the birth of the tower-type magic furnace is indeed related to him," Aona continued, "but it is not as sacred as you described in the previous story. The first ray of light shining into the dark world Light, as if a hero was destined to bring back hope in the darkest age of the Ossur."

It was just a means of propaganda.

The people present actually knew it in their hearts.

But Aona paused for a moment, and a smile that she didn't know whether it was sarcasm or mockery appeared on her slightly skinny cheeks, and she said in a daze: "Those people did go together, but for different reasons. Among them, Jedham is an ingenious craftsman, he is the heir of the school of construction, and in that era people called the alchemists of this school the builders."

"MTT is it." Xiaoyao whispered to the others.

"MTT is a construction craftsman. Constructor is an old title, just like a light guide. Alchemists in our era have long been classified in this way," Shui Wuming replied, "The original light guide is now Became a crystal craftsman. However, I have heard that there is a class of constructs called light guides, but the meaning of that name is quite different from its original meaning."

The two whispered, but did not attract the girl's attention.Aona continued: "Helinwell is Hein's student, and his goal is naturally to continue to preside over the second technical route, using non-attribute crystals to open the road to the civilianization of magic technology."

When she said this, Fang Yan's heart skipped a beat. He believed that only he and everyone in the Seven Seas Brigade would be surprised by this.He looked up at Aona who was talking softly, but she didn't look in his direction.

"Finally, Friston, this young man from the Eisengreen family is a close friend of Jeldom, but his research is completely different from the previous two. His research direction is the mechanical soul..."

Xiaoyao and Shui Wuming let out a soft 'ah' when they heard this, and they both looked at the tall Ota standing in the corner of the hall.

But the iron statue remained silent, not saying a word.

Fang Plover was also slightly surprised.Of course he understood that the story told by the other party would not have nothing to do with this place, but he was sorting out the clues in the story bit by bit when he suddenly felt the girl's gaze.

He raised his head and found that Aona was not looking at him.She seemed to be looking between herself and Sylwede, behind herself, but what was behind him?He remembered that there was only one tall bookshelf in that place.

But Aona quickly looked away.

She offered no explanation, and others in the room were left to speculate about the story's connection to Horta.

There were six people in that line, and there were three talented alchemists with very different personalities, each from different fields.

A noble son of the empire with a noble character, he only embarked on a journey to save the suffering of the world. He later became the most famous sword master in the history of the Osyrians.

There is also a wizard, a gray-robed warlock from the Draka family.The mages of that era were arguing about the origin of the ether, and the Star and Moon Tower was almost paralyzed because of the debate.

And the young wizard traced an ancient prophecy, which he believed he could find the answer to.

And in the end, he got a world.

As for the last person, he is the eldest son of the Horns family, His Majesty the Emperor of the Northern Empire.

They have experienced many hardships and been to many places, but they have not got the answers they want.And here, beneath the Nozpitz—what was then called the great Svendarak Forest—was the last stop of their journey.

The initiator of the trip was Helinwell, because he had heard that his long-lost mentor had appeared in this place. At the end of that story, he hoped to find some clues from here.

The others were either his relatives and friends, or formed a deep friendship with this Hayne student during the long journey. The most lonely mage among the crowd did not object to this Opinion.

They went deep underground and found a real treasure here.

A crystal, exuding green light, was inserted into the dark underground here like a priceless treasure.

"That's the world's first emerald star."

"Jerdem gave it this name. He thought that the magic power flowing in it was like a green glow, so he named it Cang Zhihui," Aona said, "The crystal contains endless power, and Answered the call of six young men."

Fang Plover raised his head abruptly, looking at the girl in front of him with an unbelievable light in his eyes.

But Aona was immersed in her own thoughts and didn't notice this moment.

Sylvaide put her hand on the back of his hand lightly, letting him relax from the tense state, and understanding the meaning of his miss, he took a light breath to suppress his emotions.

"That kind of power is called... Cang Zhihui?" Fang Yan relaxed and asked with a hoarse voice.

"Yes, that is a kind of magical power, as if it can create all things," Aona replied, "Actually, you don't have to pay too much attention to the truth or falsehood, just take it as me telling a story."

"I...understood." Fang Yan nodded.

"From the flow of that glow, they finally found a solution to the problem. Helinwell proposed the configuration, and Jeldham worked on it. They created the world's first tower-type magic furnace .The magic furnace has gone through many years, but I still think it is very precious, and I have Mr. Ota maintain it from time to time until today..."

Xiaoyao was taken aback, and finally noticed where Aona was looking. He pointed to the magic furnace on the workbench and stammered, "Then...then...that's...?"

Aona nodded slightly.

"An Jina is here," Xiaoyao almost thought he was an aborigine, "That is the world's first tower-type magic furnace, did you hear that?"

"I heard it, I heard it, don't be so ashamed." Shui Wuming dragged him back.

Fang Yan silently looked at the magic furnace for a while.

Looking back, he asked, "But that's certainly not the end of the story, is it?"

Aona nodded again, "Yes, it seems that the secrets of the whole world are hidden in the flowing Cang Zhihui. The more young people study this, the more they discover the vast world. What they see It is a brand new world, starting from here, we can reach the ultimate goal—"

Her voice was not high-pitched.

But the hearts of the several alchemists present were all moved.The ultimate goal of mortal magic skills is to use the weak body of mortals to obtain power comparable to that of gods.

Make the most ordinary things in the world produce the greatest changes, the more ordinary, the more precious.This is the motto that all craftsmen must know when they get started.

One day, mortals can reach the sky.

Although Shui Wuming, Xiaoyao and others didn't know what those six young people saw from Cang Zhihui, they felt the same strange emotion, after all, that vast world.

Now it is becoming a reality.

It was the tower magic furnace that opened the door.

Although it is old and replaced by newer things, the hope it once brought will never be erased.

"So they must decide to change the world together?" Xiaoyao couldn't help but said, "Yes, on the one hand, the decayed dynasty is getting old, and on the other hand, the hope of a new life is born in my own hands. If it were me, They don’t want to use new technology to maintain the old rule, they must want to establish a new dynasty. I think, I have already guessed the end of this story..."

He said these words sonorously, and Shui Wuming couldn't help tugging at his sleeve, telling him to pay attention to his image.

But Aona didn't mind this, instead she smiled slightly, "You guessed right, you are indeed an alchemist, it seems that no matter how long it has passed, that person and his students will always view the world in this way .They thought so, and they did so. At that time, the empire had been torn apart, and they hoped to re-establish a banner in the troubled times—"

"Of course," the girl's voice changed its tone, a little softly, "For my sake, they didn't openly rebel, but hoped to take an improved route and repair a brand new framework for the crumbling empire."

"Miss Aona, are you..." Shui Wuming asked in surprise.

Aona smiled, "My name is Aona Lesvina."

"Ah!" Jita stood up from the sofa as if she had been shocked by electricity. She hadn't paid attention to this name at all just now, but at this moment her thoughts were immersed in the story of the end of the dynasty. Many of the most famous names of that era were one of them. A river of memory flows in her.

And one of them is freezing at this moment.

"Aona Lesvina Elkins, you are the last princess of the Elkins dynasty!?"

"It's been a title for a long time, I can't remember it anymore," Aona smiled and said, "Now I can't even keep my body, and the titles of the past are long gone, besides, the dynasty is no longer exists."

She said: "I only remember those adventures with the six of them, that was my happiest time. If it wasn't for everything after that, how I wish time was frozen before that—"

"Miss Aona," Fang Yan had expected that the other party's identity was special. If not, how could she have appeared here, and how could she have described the stories of the six legendary figures to them as if she had seen them personally, "What happened after that? "

"As the prophecy said, there is a flash of hope in the verdant fragments, but it is also tempting to walk on the path of darkness. The flowing radiance of blue not only contains the secret of the tower-type magic furnace, but also There is a hidden power to open the door to another world... He and Jerdem used that power to transform a machine, you should have guessed it, that is the Mr. Ota you see now..."

Aona said lightly: "Seven centuries later, I see that Mr. Ota can still see the scene of their dispute at that time. Helinwell found the possibility of the Zero Crystal from Cang Zhihui , was the first to leave this place. After that, other people also left one by one, only because of my serious illness, that trip also became the last trip in my life..."

Shui Wuming, Luo Wei, and Jita still couldn't help taking a breath, they didn't expect the end of the story to be like this.

But the girl didn't care too much about her fate, and continued: "He placed me in this place, and told me that he would come to save me one day, after he mastered the power of the entire empire. I care about my own destiny, but the ambition that flashed in his eyes that day made me feel a little scared... He really has a plan, and that plan can make that brand new empire surpass the whole world, and make the Oshu people live in a god-favored place. in the kingdom."

No one spoke, and they probably heard that the him that Aona mentioned was the one she was referring to.

After that, there was the story about the establishment of the Northern Empire that people were familiar with that Jita had told.

But that story was different.

Aona narrated: "But according to what I know, and everything you told me, he didn't succeed completely, or only half succeeded. The Northern Empire was established, but it didn't become a kingdom of God on earth. Those The plans they discussed have not been reproduced one by one, and the current empire is far from what I imagined. But I probably know what happened after that, and it must be related to that betrayal."

"betray?"

Fang Plover suddenly remembered that this was not the first time she mentioned this word.Including Ota, Pepe also told them about the treachery of the imperial people.

That must have something to do with the story.

Aona nodded, "I heard that in the end, the six young men turned against each other. They never came back here, and I only got a letter from Jeldham in the long time afterwards, which said that the empire The changes that have occurred, His Majesty the Emperor... that person has severely harmed the alchemists of the new school. A group of alchemists came here to escape, and built the underground city with the help of me and Otta."

from then on.

People who lived underground no longer believed in people on the ground. The alchemy school of the empire was divided into two, and the origin of the zero-type crystal and the tower-type magic furnace has since been cut off in the dark underground.

Although this story still didn't answer Fang's doubts about the zero-type crystal underground in the elven ruins, it also made him suddenly enlightened and understood the reason for the inheritance of the second underground technology route here.

It's just that he pursed his lips and didn't say a word.

"Where's the mage?" The Paparael was interested in this, "Why did he disappear in the end? You haven't finished your story yet."

"Parker." Miss Nightingale said angrily, does this guy really read the atmosphere?
But Aona seemed to have a very good temper, so she only smiled slightly, "Actually, I don't know much about him, and I don't even know his name so far. He is withdrawn, he is indifferent to everyone, and Always on his own, it's just curious that he's actually been in the story, making the final leg of his journey with the others."

She recalled for a moment, "I just remember that the young mage found something underground here, an unowned grimoire, and one other thing. He was the second to leave, only After Hellingwell."

"What about the green star?" Miss Nightingale saw that Aona didn't mind the offense from the Paparars. She glanced at Fang Plover and asked the same question.

"He took it away," Aona replied, "I don't know the whereabouts of the green star after that. From what you said, it has never appeared in the history of the empire. It may be another story."

This him.

Naturally, it was His Majesty the founding emperor.

The flames in the fireplace were peeling and burning, and the atmosphere in the hall was a little silent for a while. No one expected to hear such a thrilling history, as if they were in it.

But Fang Plovers only thought about Cang Zhihui and the tower-type magic furnace. He suddenly felt itchy on the back of his hand, only to realize that Sylvaide was pressing her hand on her hand, gently pressing it with his fingertips. Write a few words.

"She wasn't telling the whole truth."

Miss Tata's voice sounded in his heart.

Fang Plover didn't expect that Miss Longhun would have the ability to help Sylvaide spread the word.

He nodded slightly, expressing that he knew that Aona said that the tower-type magic furnace was the world's first tower-type magic furnace, but in his opinion, it must be impossible.

Because it was a zero-type magic furnace.

According to Aona's previous description, Helinwell got the inspiration for the Zero Crystal from the Verdant Star after first inventing the Tower Magic Furnace.

In other words, the birth of the zero-type magic furnace must be later than the original version of the tower-type magic furnace.

But why would she lie about this detail?

Fang Yan suddenly thought of something, "Ms. Aona, you and Mr. Ota should have seen those imperial people above, right? Do you know what they are doing here? Why did the earth elements go to war with the imperial people?"

"Actually, I'm also very worried about this," Aona said with a bit of worry when she mentioned this matter, "But regarding the above devices, I may be able to provide you with some information within my ability."

"Ms. Aona, do you know those devices?" Fang Yan asked in surprise.

"I can't say we know each other," Aona looked at him and replied, "It's just that I have seen similar devices before, those huge machines, the pillars inserted into the ground, and the tower-type magic furnace that powers them. I I remember seeing similar things on the blueprints of Hellingwell and Jedham..."

"It's just strange that I haven't seen the Imperials use something like this for many years. I don't know why they rebuilt these devices after hundreds of years..."

"What, are you sure, Ms. Aona?"

"Well," Aona nodded, "the past time seems to me like yesterday, I clearly remember the dispute between them, those blueprints were spread out on that workbench, the things on it Exactly the same."

A flash of light flashed in Fang Plover's mind, and he finally understood why the energy supply equipment of those devices outside used such an old-fashioned tower-type magic furnace.

It turned out that it was not the design of this era.

But what exactly is that?
He vaguely felt that the imperial people's unusual interest in the tower-type magic furnace might also come from the same direction.Aona once mentioned that the six young men had a grand plan, but the plan was eventually abandoned due to betrayal.

Did the Empire pick up the plan again, where did they find Hellingwell, or Jedham's legacy?
If that plan itself was based on the inspiration from the Green Star and the birth of the tower-type magic furnace, then all their technological explorations in that era would be justified.

It's just that technology is always moving forward. Why are the imperial people suddenly interested in a plan 700 years ago?No matter how grandiose the plan seven centuries ago was, it is a thing of the past.

Fang Plover did not dare to draw a definite conclusion, because he had another conclusion in mind.

"Ms. Aona," he asked again, "are the blueprints you mentioned still here?"

Aona nodded, but shook her head again, "It's still there, but before they left, they locked all the things they left behind in a box. The box was locked in a way that they were proud of, and I didn't They are not alchemists, and they cannot unravel the traps they left behind."

Fang Yan couldn't help but looked at each other with Luo Wei and Shui Wuming.

"We are alchemists," he replied, "maybe we can see some clues from it, but Ms. Aoona, are you sure to hand over that box to us?"

Aona pondered for a moment, then asked with some surprise: "Are you also curious about what the imperials did? Are you going to help me and Mr. Alphonse, but you have thought about it, and you want to be enemies of the imperials? "

"I don't want to force you, but those documents are the most precious legacy they have ever left, at least I don't want to hand them over to the empire, to the descendants of that traitor," the girl said quietly, "...I don't know if I should trust you, but if you leave here, I won't make things difficult for you."

Fang Plover also hesitated.

Want to fight against the empire?
Is it worth it for a batch of unknown documents?

Although he already knew the grievances between the founder of the northern empire and the girl in front of him, but as the other party said, that was already a story seven centuries ago.He can't get these old things and punish the ignorant people outside, right?

It is understandable for Aona to call those people the descendants of the traitors, because she is a witness of history and has resentment in her heart.But he can understand, but it is difficult to empathize.

But the plans of the imperial people always made him feel a little uneasy.

"I can try it," Fang Yan replied, "but I can't guarantee what I will do to the imperial people, I can only guarantee that I will keep my mouth shut and not disclose what I have seen to anyone outside of here .”

"But can I trust you?" Aona asked, "Mr. Ed."

"I don't know," Fang Yan shook his head, "Because only I can confirm my inner thoughts. Whether you can trust me or not depends on you."

"Okay," Aona sighed, "I like your honesty. In the long time, I have actually learned some ways to look at people. I don't think you are the kind of person who will lie easily, but what about them? ?”

The girl looked at the others.

"Sister Luo Wei, Liu Liyue, Xiaoyao, and Shui Wuming are all craftsmen, and I may need their help," Fang Yan replied, "But I really can't vouch for others."

He looked at several people.

Xiaoyao raised his hand and said, "I have a simple idea, let's make a contract with Ms. Roman, make it a commercial contract, and use the most severe one for breach of contract, that is, a little more handling fee, We can still afford this amount of money, and I am also curious about the contents of that box."

"I agree." Shui Wuming also replied.

Aona was stunned, she didn't expect these people to use such a method, of course she knew the goddess of commerce, the Orin pantheon had existed for thousands of years before the mortal empire was established.

But there is no temple for business ladies here, and there is no priest for the other party. How can such a contract be drawn up?

"This is simple," Fang Plover replied, "It is difficult for others, but it is not so complicated for us."

He shook his hand lightly, and under Aona's surprised gaze, presented a translucent page of light in front of her.

The girl's gaze at this moment was as shocked as that of a mortal who saw the devil make a soul contract in front of her for the first time, "This...is this...?" Breathe, "It's really a business lady's deed."

"Wait," she couldn't help looking at Fang Plover and asked, "Are you also Ms. Roman's pastor?"

Fang Plover shook his head. "Ms. Aona."

"We are the chosen ones."

……

9000 words, bear brothers