Chapter 138: The Power of Calculation

“The Magic Web’s unlimited expanding structure?” After listening to a chain of terms that suddenly popped out from Rebecca’s mouth, Gawain was a little confused as he asked, “Have you mentioned this to me previously?”

“I am not the one that mentioned it. You are the one that mentioned it! Have you forgotten about it?” Rebecca was brandishing her staff around as she said (to be honest, Gawain was really worried that Rebecca’s hand might slip, and the magic staff would smash on his head), “Didn’t you mention to me before to make the Magic Web more extensive, more expandable, and to make it easier to lay down and reduce the units? I have been constantly thinking about this matter but didn’t have any results for a long time, until recently…”

As Rebecca spoke, she pointed at the panting Jenni and said, “Didn’t Jenni arrive just recently? And she even brought over the rogue mage’s earlier research information. I was finally able to comprehend the entire system. Lord Ancestor, do you know? The rogue mage’s notebook can only be considered a portion of the result. The Magic Web written on it was just the second half of the theory. Without the first half of the deduction process and construction principle, we could only use a very silly method to make an ‘imitation’ of the Magic Web. The information that Jenni possessed was the rogue mage’s entire logic of the initial construction of those basic runes…”

Rebecca might seem to be silly and dim-witted normally, but once there was a mention about her specialized domain, she would be able to blab constantly. Gawain knew that this young lady would surely continue talking until the next meal; therefore, he quickly interrupted her, “Stop, stop, stop. I understand your meaning. You are saying you have finally gathered all the theory and finally grasped the principle knowledge of the Magic Web’s arrangement, and it isn’t just a slavish copy, right? I understand what you are saying. Let me take a look at the unlimited expanding structure you said.”

“Let’s go inside to see. There are plenty of scrolls!” Rebecca hooked onto Gawain’s arm and walked towards the tent. While walking, she turned back and shouted to Jenni, “You come too! Most of the calculations were done by you!”

Inside Gawain’s tent, Rebecca had an excited expression as she opened up the scrolls of paper that Jenni brought over. She laid them out in sequence on the entire table before finally opening her large-sized sheet of paper and placing it in the middle.

The papers were filled with calculation formulas, diagrams, and summaries of the logical processes. It used a cautious and unbelievable logical method to repeatedly optimize and organize the basic runes. Each paper could be seen with dense lines and diagrams, and even though Gawain had substantial knowledge on magic, he still felt dizzy at the first glance. But when Rebecca laid out the final piece of paper, all the complicated calculations and connections had been simplified.

On it, there was the most fundamental unit diagram; it was a hexagon of symmetrical structure. It was formed with an eight-rune combination: six runes would form the frame, while two would be situated in the interior. Its simplicity and elegance had reached an unbelievable degree. Just a mere glance of it had attracted Gawain’s eyes to it.

“This…”

“This is the Magic Web’s most fundamental unit.” Rebecca’s eyes were sparkling. “Before completing all the possible optimizations and simplifications, I realized that the Magic Web only requires eight runes to carry out the basic replenishing and output functions, while there is only one interference bond in the interior. As such, every ‘unit’ would have an extremely low interference threshold, and when more of such units are connected, the interference would actually decrease. Take a look, it is symmetrical and complements the sides, so…”

Gawain wasn’t listening to the rest of the things that Rebecca was saying. In front of his eyes, there was a stunning scene that belonged to the future…

This hexagon unit could be expanded and extended. Using its symmetrical structure, countless hexagons could be connected into a honeycomb shape. It could be laid down anywhere — factories, cities, activity areas. This grand energy source design had finally gotten rid of the restrictions of a ‘magic circle’. After Rebecca and Jenni’s days and nights of optimizations, it had turned into a fundamental unit and had become the most impressive magic phenomenon.

The Magic Web could finally become a Magic ‘Web’.

“How do we solve the problem of replacing ‘Magic Web 1’ with this structure?” Gawain immediately asked a very practical question.

Magic Web 1 and Magic Web 2 that used the same model were currently operating for the steel works and the brick-kiln yard. There was another small-scale ‘Prototype Magic Web’ that was supplying force for the Magic Powered Engine at the mines. The old model of the Magic Web might be ‘old’, but it had only been operating for a few months. Rebecca could have come up with a more advanced ‘Honeycomb Magic Web’, but it wouldn’t be worth it to directly replace the old models of the Magic Web. It was a huge expenditure for both the manpower and resources of the territory.

“Don’t worry, I have already thought it through.” Rebecca obviously wasn’t worried as she said, “The hexagon structure might be entirely different from the previous Magic Webs, but it is practically sliced out from the old Magic Webs and transformed. The two models could be directly connected, and it would only require a slight modification of the rune arrangements at the connections. Jenni is a grade-four runemaster. This would be her specialty.”

Gawain nodded with satisfaction and said, “Very good. From now on, all the Magic Webs in the territory would use the new ‘Honeycomb Magic Web’ as a basic structure… But there is something I need to verify. Is it safe?”

At this moment, Gawain’s mind emerged with an extremely severe hidden danger of the ‘Magic Web’s collapse’.

Rebecca might have found the method to simplify and transform the Magic Web, allowing it to expand indefinitely and even connect with other Magic Webs; this would allow it to possess expansion capabilities, but this was definitely the greatest hidden danger. When all the Magic Webs were connected, it would mean that all the risks were connected. Massive amounts of magic would surge from this structure that could be expanded without limits. Once there was a problem… the berserk magic might spread through the entire Magic Web and destroy all the magical devices that were connected!

On Earth, there were various circuit breakers, voltage stabilizers, and other safety devices to ensure the safety of the electrical network. Therefore, Gawain immediately associated it with the Magic Web and thought it might require similar safety measures too.

When Rebecca heard Gawain’s question, she was stunned and had a wide-open mouth for a long time before she replied, “Ahh… I didn’t think of that before…”

Immediately after, she had a worshiping face as she said, “Lord Ancestor is truly incredible! Why is it that even when new things are designed, it seems like you have already seen it operating for dozens of years and would be able to think of such practical questions?”

“Cough, cough… An old man’s experience, old man’s experiences.” Gawain coughed awkwardly and shifted the topic back on track. “Think about how to settle the safety issue of the web. The Honeycomb Magic Web would allow a free flow of magic and relies on the Magic Web’s equilibrium and leaking mechanism to ensure stabilized magic. But once a portion of the ‘unit’ loses equilibrium, the excessive amount of magic would exceed what the unit could withstand. It might just instantly burn up all of the neighboring units and cause a vicious cycle…”

Rebecca stared with wide eyes as though she was frightened by the possible outcome. Jenni frowned and tried her best to consider before saying, “Why don’t we… limit the size of the Magic Web and split it into sections.”

“Then we will lose the value of this honeycomb structure.” Gawain shook his head and said, “This honeycomb structure is to allow the Magic Web to expand and connect limitlessly.”

Rebecca looked at Gawain curiously and asked, “What is Lord Ancestor’s opinion?”

Gawain looked at the honeycomb unit on his table and suddenly asked, “How do you connect two of such honeycomb units?”

“Just connect them directly.” Rebecca nodded as though it was expected and said, “When two runes are placed together, it will increase the transfer efficiency to the highest rate.”

“Make the connection weaker.” The knowledge in this world didn’t seem to have a suitable solution. Gawain could only seek assistance from his previous life’s thoughts. “We can add on a partition… A connection made with black stone should have a good effect. Black stones are magic-guiding materials but have a weak tolerance. Once the magic waves are too intense, it will shatter.”

“You are saying to isolate each honeycomb unit with other units? Adding a ‘buffer material’ made with black stones in the middle?” Rebecca scratched her head and said, “But the black stones’ magic guidance rate isn’t good, and it will probably reduce the entire Magic Web’s efficiency by 25% or more…”

“In exchange, you would have safety. Even if a few units go out of control, they would be automatically excluded from the main web and wouldn’t endanger other things,” Gawain explained. “As for the lower efficiency… When the units are connected in large quantities, it will compensate for the loss of efficiency. Furthermore, this is only a preliminary solution. There will definitely be better solutions in the future.”

While speaking, Gawain laughed and said, “The current Magic Webs are still very primitive. Even after adding the honeycomb structure, it will still be primitive. It is directly extracting energy from the environment, and the magic-powered devices would directly receive the energy from the Magic Web. There isn’t any safety cushion in between. There isn’t any stable flow. There aren’t any measurements, and they don’t have any ‘guiding channels’. The energy consumption devices are directly placed on the Magic Web. Don’t you think that such a connection method deserves to be improved?”

Rebecca nodded pensively. Jenni wasn’t very used to such a conversation method with complete equality where everyone could voice their opinions. As such, she was obviously very reserved, but the flash in her eyes had proven that she was considering Gawain’s words.

“This is a new creation, and its development journey is still very long.” Gawain didn’t ask the two young ladies to understand the problems that might only happen a long time later. He said, “Take it slow. There isn’t a need to hurry. The two of you have accomplished great things this time. What kind of reward do you wish for?”

“I wish to change to a new crystal for my magic staff!” Rebecca wouldn’t possibly reserve herself with her ancestor grandfather. She immediately brandished her metal staff happily and said, “Look, the crystal on the magic staff is already very old!”

Gawain took a glance and immediately noticed that the crystal embedded on the tip of the metal staff was indeed very old. It wasn’t just dim, it also lacked several edges. Even the fixed supports for the crystal were obviously out of shape…

This was only possible if someone used the metal staff as a goddamned war hammer, right?!

Gawain’s brows jolted and wanted to persuade his little granddaughter to not change the crystal. Why didn’t she look for Nicholas Egg at the machining factory to get a spike and weld on three large square beams for her to use? However, he thought that since this young lady had contributed greatly and her mage-like aura could only be detected from that piece of crystal, he sighed in his heart before saying, “The treasure vault has a piece of fire elemental core. It was obtained from the Gondor Empire back then. You can take it and ask the rune craftsmen to process it before fixing it on the staff.”

Subsequently, he looked at Jenni and asked, “What about you? What kind of reward do you wish for?”

Jenni instantly shrank her neck and replied, “I—I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do… I don’t dare to ask for a reward…”

“Are you still not adapting to this place?” Gawain laughed and said, “In this place, all contributions are valued and will be rewarded. It isn’t related to your birth and status. I heard Rebecca saying that you are the one that did all the main calculations.”

“I…” Jenni hesitated and finally said, “I hope you can include the name of Mister Ravencrest in the list of contributors for the honeycomb-shaped Magic Web… Because the most important formulas were all created by him.”

“Of course.”