"Bang!"
The half-finished magic scroll on the table suddenly exploded, and the flames that burst out blackened Stephen's face. His subconscious dodging action made him accidentally fall to the ground with a thud, looking very disheveled. He got up from the ground and reached out to scratch his messy hair, his face full of confusion.
Why not? Double the element absorption matrix of the Flame Magic Scroll. This spell should have no problem at all. Why did I write it twice, but each time it exploded directly halfway through? The places where the explosions occurred are all exactly the same... Where on earth is the problem?
Stephen is engraving a magic scroll.
The difference is that what he engraved was not the matrix characters on the magic scroll template, but the scroll magic matrix he recompiled himself. This was a double the magic matrix used in the Flame Magic Scroll - in a way, Stephen was creating his own curse.
A second-level magician creates a curse by himself?
If this were to be known, it would surely be treated as a joke, because that's an impossible thing. Creating one's own curse is at least something that only high-level mages have the ability to do. Low-level and intermediate mages wouldn't even try it.
But Stephen wouldn't think that way. Back then, when he had just learned a little programming language, he dared to try to crack the bank's defense system. For him, nothing in the world is impossible; it all depends on whether he dares to try. Although every attempt would turn out to be a disappointment, the more times he tried... Even the hardest wall can be broken by a nose, can't it?
Clang! Bang!
A few knocking sounds came from the door of the small dark room. Quinn's angry voice came in from outside the door: "Be careful for me. You've discarded over ten sheets of parchment in the past two days. Do you think that stuff is free?" Give me another picture fee. Believe it or not, I'll go in and beat you up!
"You think it's a game of house to carve thirty magic scrolls in a day. How could it be that fast without spending a few? If you're not happy, you can tell Bousca!" " Stephen was no longer surprised by Quinn's furious voice and shouted angrily at the door.
Of course, for him, carving a magic scroll is actually a very easy thing, just like writing a small program. With his level, he can achieve a 100% success rate. But these days, not only does he have to carve a magic scroll, but he also has to study this new double flame magic scroll. Naturally, it's inevitable that the parchment will be scrapped.
One after another, Quinn, who was waiting outside the door, was very unhappy. But Stephen's even more displeased tone still made Quinn calm down.
Stephen shook his head and smiled. He took a piece of parchment and continued to carve the spell with double power that he had developed. As expected, there was another "bang" after a moment.
It has been three days since Stephen was imprisoned in this small dark room. At Buska's request, Stephen would carve thirty magic scrolls every day.
Originally, it took him twenty minutes to carve a magic scroll, ten hours a day. But in the past two days, he has felt the pressure in his heart, and his speed has actually increased. On average, he can complete one scroll in fifteen minutes, which gives him plenty of time to study other scrolls.
Even so, the effect was very insignificant.
Although he was quite sure that there was nothing wrong with the magic matrices he developed, every time he engraved them onto the scroll, an accident would always occur. Where exactly was the mistake?
After being burned black and grey by the failed scroll once again, Stephen sighed and walked to the nearby basin. He dipped a towel in water and wiped his somewhat burning face.
Quinn brought him a bucket of water every three days. He had to cherish and use it. The small dark room was extremely hot and stuffy, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable these days. But he had to endure it and couldn't take a luxurious bath. He wiped his body carefully with a towel, wrung it out and was about to put it beside the basin.
At this moment, he glanced at his own reflection in the water. A drop of water dripped from the towel and fell into the basin, immediately causing ripples on his face.
Then, a glimmer of light suddenly flashed in his mind.
I doubled the absorption element matrix in the magic Scroll, but the entire magic matrix couldn't be completed as I requested. My matrix was fine, but the elemental powers absorbed by the two element matrices couldn't be perfectly integrated. The reason why the scroll exploded halfway through was that there was a lack of a catalyst for integration between them, just like me and my reflection in the basin. One real and one illusory. No matter how I coordinate, it's impossible for them to become two selves!
So, could it be that the magic matrix he developed had no hope of success from the very beginning?
"No!" Stephen's eyes, however, lit up even brighter. "Theoretically speaking, my magic matrix is absolutely flawless. The reason it failed was the lack of a catalyst that could fuse the powers of the two elements. And if I remember correctly, there is a magic character in the intermediate magic language that serves to coordinate the elements harmoniously..."
Stephen has read the intermediate and advanced magic language textbooks many times and is already very familiar with every magic character. However, what he is familiar with is only the form of the characters, but he cannot understand or master their meanings. Although there is a long and complicated introduction to each character in the textbooks, these introductions are really too obscure. It is very difficult for people to really understand the exact meaning of the characters just through these introductions.
If the form and meaning cannot be achieved simultaneously, it is impossible to truly master this magical character. When engraving a magic scroll, the starting stroke is that character, but if you cannot interpret the meaning of this character in your mind when you start to write, then this character has no effect at all.
But now Stephen has suddenly mastered the way, or rather the trick, of comprehending magical characters.
He thought for a moment in his heart, then took another piece of parchment and continued to carve this fire magic scroll with double power.
The difference is that between those two element absorption matrices, he added the magic character that served as a coordinating catalyst. If the meaning of this magic character was exactly what he understood in his mind, then when this character was added, the matrices in the scroll should no longer conflict and fail.
The magic characters on the parchment gradually increased.
Soon, Stephen's portrayal had surpassed the progress when explosions always occurred before.
The character he added in is valid!
In other words, he has mastered this magical character!
But before Stephen could be happy for long, suddenly "Bang!" With a whoosh, the parchment under Stephen's hand exploded again. This time, the flames from the explosion seemed even more intense than before. Stephen, who had experienced the previous times, managed to avoid being completely scorched by the flames, but he was still severely burned. A burning pain spread across his face once more, but he showed no sign of depression. Instead, he even cracked his mouth and laughed. His face blackened by flames and snow-white teeth made his expression look particularly comical.
This time it still failed, which proves that there are still discordant aspects in his matrix.
With the previous train of thought in mind, Stephen realized that it must be that other magical characters needed to be added to this scroll for harmonization.
"Learn from practice. In this way, I can master all the magic characters step by step!"
Stephen found a shortcut that could enable him to understand all the magical characters as soon as possible. The best part was... He doesn't have to worry about how much parchment and magic ink will be consumed during the practice process.
Casually wiping his blackened face, Stephen glanced at the stack of obviously insufficient parchment on the table and shouted excitedly towards the door, "Hey, tell Buska that there's not enough parchment and ask him to find a way to get some more back. Oh, by the way, two more bottles of magic ink too."
Quinn outside the door: "..."