The next day, Lind took Lena and Isha to visit Lysha, while also confirming the results of the Rune Master Society’s research.
Actually, Lind had already prepared for the worst, which was that the research of the Rune Master Society would have no reference significance. However, that would only mean that there was one more Rune Master suffering from Magic Power Illness in the territory. Although the territory was facing financial strain due to an increased population and a singular industrial structure, it was far from being unable to support a few mouths.
“Good morning, Miss Lysha.”
Lind casually walked into the room and greeted Lysha.
In the face of the lord and the lord’s wife visiting in person, Lysha appeared flustered. Although Lysha’s family held a higher title than Lind, the family title had already been inherited by someone else, and Lysha herself did not hold any title. Coupled with her lifelong dedication to treating illnesses and conducting research, Lysha was also unfamiliar with the etiquette among nobles.
However, when she saw the lord’s wife casually pull out a chair and sit down without any pretense of etiquette, Lysha suddenly felt much more relaxed.
This territory seemed a bit different; both the lord and lady did not seem to place much importance on formalities. Especially the lady, who seemed to have never learned basic etiquette, clearly believed that arriving was sufficient.
“Good morning, Lord.”
Lysha respectfully greeted Lind while holding her research notes.
Lind nodded slightly. After stealing a glance at Lena, Lysha relaxed a bit, which made Lind feel that bringing Lena along was the right choice—helping someone insecure find confidence. Lena, you are so great.
Bringing Lena along was not just to ease Lysha’s tension; Lena and Isha could be considered the two highest-ranking professionals in the territory. Although Lind could also use magic and divine arts, those abilities were inherited from female skills recorded, and he himself did not even know why he could use those spells and divine arts.
The divine arts Lind possessed were purely black box techniques. It was like riding a bicycle; everyone knew that stepping on the pedals would move the two wheels, but the specific principle had not been conclusively established in the scientific community until Lind crossed over.
“Are you getting used to living here? I don’t know much about Magic Power Illness; is there anything you need help with?”
Facing the lord’s concern, Lysha lowered her head, hiding her expression behind her thick glasses.
“Living here is already better than when I was at the Rune Master Society. I can handle the Magic Power Illness myself. Thank you for your concern, Lord.”
This response sounded like an attempt to put on a brave face. However, Lind did not intend to pry any further and pulled out the information that the shop owner had given him yesterday. “I read your detailed information last night. Although you are a first-level Rune Master, you actually don’t draw runes and magic circles by perceiving magic power, right?”
Although Lind believed his tone was quite gentle, Lysha immediately became tense and replied anxiously, “Rest assured, Lord! Even though I can’t perceive or manipulate magic power, I will absolutely not make mistakes when drawing runes!”
Lind quickly detected the key term in Lysha’s words.
“Absolutely? How can you guarantee that the runes you draw will absolutely not make a mistake?”
There still wasn’t a standard template for drawing runes and magic circles. Each professional’s drawing would have personal habits to a greater or lesser extent.
These personalized runes rarely made mistakes because those who could perceive and manipulate magic power could constantly verify whether the rune could operate, whether the magic power flowed smoothly, and whether any adjustments were needed in the runes or magic circles.
If drawing a rune was like writing a line of code, professionals could continuously debug while writing.
But Lysha could not; since she couldn’t perceive and manipulate magic power, it was like she was writing code in a notepad—she would only know if the code worked after she wrote it all and tried to run it.
Even if there was an error after running it, Lysha wouldn’t be able to determine which part was problematic.
“I’m very sorry, Lord. I… I also can’t be sure if the rune will make a mistake. I just said that because I was afraid you would dismiss me.”
Lysha’s head shrank into her shoulders, which made Lind realize that his tone had been too serious.
If she really feared being dismissed, Lysha wouldn’t have said that. It was evident that she had a different method to ensure the runes wouldn’t go wrong.
Just as Lind was trying to comfort Lysha again but didn’t know how to start, Isha softly consoled Lysha, “Don’t be nervous; the lord just wants to know how you ensure that the runes won’t make mistakes, not that he wants to dismiss you. This place isn’t the strict magic association, and there are no cumbersome formalities. You only need to speak about what you know, and if you have any difficulties, please speak to us directly.”
Lena chimed in, “Exactly! Isha was a rebel at one point; our Lars Family can certainly support a Rune Master! Right, brother?”
Lind looked helplessly at Lena, wishing she would just remain silent.
Perhaps due to Isha’s unique charm as the female protagonist, Lysha glanced at her notebook, looked at everyone, and said, “It’s about patterns.”
“Patterns?”
This time, it was Isha’s turn to be surprised. As the only one among the three who had received a formal magic education in the Royal Capital and seriously studied, she understood how outrageous it was for Lysha to say those three words.
In the current market, magic circles, even those in textbooks, carried the strong personal flair of those rune masters and had no unified patterns or rules at all.
Are there patterns in rune arrangements? Certainly, but unless one mastered all the runes and arrangements in this world, it was impossible to merely rely on patterns to combine the ever-changing runes.
“Indeed, there are patterns, and those patterns can be deduced through logic and calculation.”
Perhaps because she was discussing her area of expertise, the young girl suddenly became animated, filled with confidence.
“To be more precise, it’s about formulas. As long as one determines the position of a rune, considering the rune’s final purpose, output power, and available linking methods, the position of the next rune can be deduced through mathematical formulas. Once the positions of three runes are confirmed, theoretically, the positions of the other runes in a magic circle can also be deduced one by one.”
After saying this, to make it easier for everyone to understand, Lysha took out her drawing tools and began to draw a magic circle right in the room.
“For example, if we want to draw a steam magic circle, we need to use source water, water spray herb powder, and moonflower to create a condensation rune. Then, we can confirm the output power and linking methods for this condensation rune made from these materials.”
Lysha focused entirely on smashing, mixing, and applying the discussed materials onto a carving knife and began drawing runes on the floor.
“Next, from all the linking methods of the condensation rune, we will confirm the positions of the other two runes not aligned in a straight line with the condensation rune.”
As the carving knife danced elegantly on the floor, Lysha quickly finished drawing the other two runes.
“Thus, the three runes not aligned in a straight line can determine the approximate shape of the magic circle. Combining this shape allows us to deduce the remaining runes one by one.”
In the astonished gazes of Isha and Lena, Lysha was like a calm artist, calculating on drafts while using the carving knife in her hand to draw the magic circle.
Lind stared at the draft paper beside Lysha, which looked increasingly familiar.
Because while Lysha was inscribing the runes, she also briefly drew a coordinate axis on the ground as a guiding line.
Followed by a series of numbers and incomprehensible formulas being scribbled on the coordinate axis.
Mathematics… to be more precise, geometry, equations, and linear algebra.
There were also many symbols and formulas that Lind couldn’t fully comprehend, but the draft paper filled with flying numbers and symbols reminded him of a former life math teacher who was often bewildered and afraid to stay in the faculty office due to being bombarded with questions.
Just as Lind was still in a state of confusion, Lysha had already completed the magic circle. She took off a necklace around her neck and placed it at a position on the magic circle.
Immediately, the magic circle activated smoothly, and beads of water formed on the edge of the table; the air in the room began to feel somewhat humid.
“Something like this…”
After finishing the magic circle, Lysha returned to her previous nervous and insecure demeanor.
“Can I take a look?”
Coming back to his senses, Lind pointed at the draft paper on the ground.
“Of course, you are the lord, and since you bought me, you can naturally see it.”
Lysha respectfully handed the draft paper to Lind.
Lind looked at the scrawls on the draft paper, feeling a bit overwhelmed, internally cursing, “Damn it, I thought this world relied on metaphysics, but you’re actually telling me to believe in science?”
