Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 258: Can’t You Really Sleep?
After Lingge went to bed, Ovilla suppressed the urge to yawn with great willpower, and the force of writing was also much lighter. The rustling sound made by the tip of the pen sliding across the soft paper was no longer the sound of a musical instrument, but rather like the wind caressing the leaves, setting off the peaceful sleep of the quiet night.

The lights in the room were off, and only the princess' lantern was still burning on the table, emitting flickering candlelight, creating a little light in the dark night. Olvera used the candlelight that was so familiar and warm over the long years to illuminate the paper under her pen and the heavy book beside her, and wrote down the contents word by word, while being very careful not to make too much noise, for fear of disturbing the young man's sleep quality.

But Linge found himself unable to sleep.

This had nothing to do with Olvera, mainly because his mind was in a very clear state at the moment, without the slightest hint of sleepiness. When he closed his eyes, his mind would sink into the boundless sea of ​​ether, and he would see the ancient and majestic sacred tree standing in the sea, enduring the waves that had hit the rocks for thousands of years, and the mottled traces washed away were like moss clinging, deep and distant.

Two fruits hang on the branches, like two dim stars, one of which symbolizes the favor of the Shepherd Path [Premonition], and the other is the magic [Quick Thinking] from the Scholar Path Sequence 9. As the name suggests, this magic can make people's thinking more agile, strengthen their adaptability and reaction ability, and gain more outstanding talents in speech, debate, narration, record-keeping and other work that requires logic.

Lingge learned this magic to replace the Scholar's Path's Favor [Curiosity], which can effectively improve his efficiency in learning magic in the future. Among all Sequence 9 magics, it is considered to be a relatively practical type. Perhaps only the Warrior Path's Sequence 9 magic [Cold Weapon Mastery] is more practical than it. Unfortunately, the materials for that magic are insufficient, and the potion cannot be prepared for the time being.

Along with the ebb and flow of the ether sea, star-like points of light emerged from the sea and floated towards the big tree. A small part of them merged into the magic fruit of [Quick Thinking], while most of them passed through the branches and leaves and disappeared.

Those are the magical powers floating around in the mortal world. Only those who have awakened their spirituality can see them, but they can only be seen in the etheric sea. If you want to capture their existence with your naked eyes, perhaps you need a more special method.

Ling Ge watched this scene quietly. After an unknown amount of time, he found that he still did not feel sleepy at all. Instead, his mind was extremely clear. Could this be a side effect of drinking the potion? He thought about it, then lifted the quilt, stood up, walked to the table, and sat down opposite Avra.

"Hmm?" The princess, who was busy transcribing, raised her head dazedly, her eyes hazy and trance-like, as if she was still in a dream: "Lin...Ge? Didn't you say, haah~ didn't you say you were going to sleep?"

Forget it, as long as she's happy.

Aoweila was a little slow to react. She blinked her eyes, and the young man's face was reflected in her gradually clear eyes. The wandering star clusters slowly dispersed, casting light into every corner of her eyes. She said "Oh" meaningfully, "So you can't sleep either."

She seemed to be more motivated, and her writing movements became much lighter. The rustling sound of the pen tip touching the paper became cheerful and harmonious, reflecting her mood at the moment. Linger even heard a "hum hum hum" sound from her mouth, as if she was humming some untuneable ballad. The candlelight shone through the glass wall of the lantern, shining on the innocent face that had just entered the world for a long time, covering her with a layer of warm veil.

Because the young man was right in front of her, she yawned without hesitation, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and muttered vaguely: "Or do you plan to get up and come, uh, stay up with me?"

"what?"

Although, the two people's inability to sleep does not mean the same thing.

Ling Ge said expressionlessly: "I can't sleep."

Linger put away the thought of continuing to explain, closed his eyes silently, and lit up the star of [Quick Thinking] in the ether sea. Suddenly, his mind was refreshed, and countless inspirations and ideas emerged from the depths, but they were not chaotic, but orderly, making it easy to sort out the context and logic. In the past, many things that were difficult to figure out, reasons that were unclear, and even problems that puzzled him in college... The young man found that it seemed that as long as he changed his way of thinking, he could solve them easily.

"Yeah, I believe you, Lingge! If you can't sleep, then you can't sleep. Let's stay up late together!" She grinned and said with a smile: "Anyway, I can't sleep either."

Ling Ge knew what she was thinking and repeated helplessly: "I really can't sleep."

Anyway, it’s not a big misunderstanding.

The magical power of magic can even change the way of thinking that humans have subtly developed under the influence of the environment. This solidified logic can be completely broken out of with just a sequence 9 magic. How incredible.

The young man sighed a little, but did not forget his original purpose. After blessing himself with the effect of [Quick Thinking], he began to use his spirituality to guide the free and scattered magic power in the ether sea while it still lasted for a long time, and tried to analyze the first magic model.

Each magic model has a unique and complex structure inside, which is said to symbolize the basic structure of this magic. In the past, in the era of extraordinary people, people could not see it, so they could only digest it with the medicinal properties of the potion and control it with their own body and mind, but they did not understand their principles at all. The great wizard Merlin creatively drew the model of each magic, so that the magician can clearly see their structure and gradually understand and master it in the process of analysis. Therefore, the magician's control and manipulation of his own abilities are superior to those of extraordinary people in various aspects.

Perhaps this is also the reason why the magician finally won the war.

The process of analyzing the magic model sounds very abstract, but it can be compared to a maze. Magic power must pass through the maze and reach the end before it can be injected into its underlying structure and become the cornerstone of magic, allowing magicians to reach proficiency or even mastery. However, the routes inside the maze are intricate and change at any time. Only a very small amount of magic power can reach the end if it relies solely on magic power to find the route.

Therefore, magicians need to combine their own knowledge and understanding, use rational thinking and clear thinking logic to find patterns from these intricate and ever-changing routes, and then use spirituality to guide magic power so that they can successfully pass through the maze and reach the end.

Linger was now in the first step of "finding the pattern". Even with the blessing of [Quick Thinking], he could eliminate most of the wrong routes at a glance, but the constantly changing maze inside still caused him great trouble. He spent nearly an hour and a half, and until the effect of the magic [Quick Thinking] disappeared, the analysis progress might not reach 1%.

No wonder Saint Shallia said that the magic system has very high requirements for individual qualities.

Of course, it could also be because he had just become a magician and had not yet adapted to his power.

Ling Ge shook his head slightly and decided to take a break. After all, the magic of [Quick Thinking] had lost its effect, and his brain was almost reaching its limit. Continuing to analyze would probably result in half the effort and twice the result. The young man deeply understood the principle of combining work and rest.

Come to think of it, isn't it a little too quiet?
The rustling sound of the pen tip sliding across the paper, the off-tune humming, and the faint audible breathing of a princess who was so close to me... all seemed to have disappeared?
Did Olvera leave the room?

Lingge opened his eyes in confusion and found that the princess was still sitting opposite him. She was not copying books, but folded her hands on the book, sitting in a proper posture like a fifth-grade student in St. Lowood National School. She stared at him eagerly with her bright eyes. When she met his gaze, she shrank her head, then mustered up her courage and said hesitantly: "Um, Lingge, why don't you go back to sleep?"

Ling Ge did not expect that the princess, who was most afraid of loneliness and darkness, would actively persuade him to go to sleep. He was stunned for a moment before asking, "Why?"

"Because," Olvera hung her head, listlessly, "I heard from Metien that staying up late is bad for your health. I'm used to it, but you're not. If you keep staying up late with me, you'll be very tired tomorrow. So, go back to sleep, I'll stay here alone."

It is wrong to let others get hurt because of one's own willfulness and stubbornness. This is the princess's most simple understanding.

Lingge did not answer. He quietly looked at the princess who lowered her head and dared not look at him. After a while, he spoke softly. His calm expression seemed to become much softer under the candlelight: "It's okay."

"Didn't I tell you that?"

“I couldn’t sleep in the first place.”

In this deep darkness and vast unfamiliar city, human beings are such insignificant beings. Compared with the endless dream world that can be obtained after falling asleep, they seem incredibly humble. Therefore, it is natural that people sometimes feel scared and have difficulty falling asleep.

When two insomniacs accompany each other, it is only out of comfort, not sympathy or pity.

The princess slowly raised her head and looked at the young man in front of her with surprised and suspicious eyes. She saw a soft glow and gentle encouragement in his eyes. Only after she was sure that he was not deceiving her did she gradually smile and nodded her little head vigorously.

"kindness!"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)