Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 918 - 917: The Day of Grid Connection

A brand-new tower-shaped building stands proudly on the high ground to the west of Bitter Winter Castle. The snow-capped peaks that never melt form an undulating curtain, serving as the backdrop for this tower.

The tower is constructed of steel and cement, with a hexagonal base and simple, straight lines. Mystical flowing light dances between the magic symbol lines and magi-metal at the lower part of the tower, seemingly full of life. There are also large-scale mechanical support devices and a crystal array made up of several crystals fixed atop the tower. In the cold winds of the far north, a semi-transparent magic shield prevents frost from penetrating, while the crystal array at the top of the tower continuously adjusts its structure and angle within the protection of the shield.

It hasn’t been activated yet; currently, the crystal array is further adapting to the magic environment near Bitter Winter Castle.

Amidst a snowstorm, Victoria and several powerful mages gently descended from the sky, arriving at this high ground which is protected by several sentinel towers and a circle of walls. She raised her head, seeing the towering structure radiating brilliantly, piercing the sky like a sharp sword, and couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

This is probably the most beautiful magic web nexus in the entire empire—the white coloring and simple yet strong lines may seem plain, but they perfectly complement the surrounding environment. During the design of this tower, Victoria even personally participated in some steps, ensuring the style of the northern magic web nexus synchronized to some extent with the equally white Bitter Winter Castle beside it. Now, she is very satisfied with the final presentation of this tower.

And the connection between this tower and Bitter Winter Castle doesn’t end here.

Beneath this high ground adjacent to the castle’s main building, within a series of magic web relay devices extending along the mountain body, surging magic power flows day and night—this main nexus is connected to Bitter Winter Castle’s magic power.

The Northern Wilder Family has been this nation’s most distinguished magic family for hundreds of years. Bitter Winter Castle holds the essence accumulated over centuries by the family. Victoria made full use of the existing and excellent magic foundation here—after thoroughly studying the knowledge regarding rune logic and magic guide technology, she and technical consultants from the imperial capital jointly designed an extensive system. This system, using the magic web as the "base," covers the magic structure of Bitter Winter Castle itself as well as the entire surrounding town, solving the issues of urban energy supply, magic web nexus energy supply, strengthening magic web stability, and upgrading castle facilities.

Now, this system is operational, gathering powerful and stable energy and injecting it into the towering structure before Victoria’s eyes. Soon, it will broadcast the further stabilized and adjusted energy through the crystal array at the tower’s top to the entire region, establishing stable connections with magic web nexuses in nearby towns.

"Send the message to the imperial capital after completing the final phase of the pressure test," the duchess said calmly, suppressing the expression inadvertently revealed, "You may begin preparing for the final network integration."

The mage beside her immediately departed upon receiving the order, while Victoria silently stared at the tower for a moment longer, then bowed her head and softly recited: "Goddess of Magic, Milmina... May you witness all of this..."

She rarely prayed to the Goddess of Magic. After learning many truths about the gods in recent years and personally witnessing two "divine disasters," she further reduced the frequency of mentioning "Milmina." But ultimately, she’s still a mage; some habits rooted deeply are not easily changed, even if it’s purely for spiritual solace. She maintains respect for the legendary "Source of All Magic," the "Supreme Magus."

The prayer received no response, but there was a vague sense of presence and psychological resonance—expected, understandable.

...

Along with a slight buzzing sound and the clicking of mechanical devices, a document slowly emerged from the printing device beside the desk. Gawain casually picked up the document and glanced at it, unable to suppress a smile.

"Byron’s meeting with the gray elves and dwarf representatives at White Feather Port was very successful. The initial voyage of the ’Curiosity’ exceeded expectations," he said to Aunt Heidi, who had just finished reporting, with a smile, "It seems the dwarves living in the far west of the continent are very interested in Cecil’s foreign trade machinery and magic guide technology—they might offer a very high price."

"Really? Ah... I’ve been waiting for this good news for days," Aunt Heidi blinked, her tone becoming very cheerful, "Dwarves have always been rich in gold, silver, and magic-conducting materials. However, the bow-shaped mountain ranges facing inland have long affected their trade with continental kingdoms. If we can open a sea route from Northport to Forge City, though it seems a bit far, the cost is undoubtedly much cheaper than land transportation."

"I’ve heard of the Dwarf Kingdom’s abundant mineral resources before. Honestly, restarting the northern round-the-continent route was largely motivated by the desire to establish trade routes with the dwarves—building a trade line through the Dwarf Kingdom borders and the Augari tribal country’s series of steep mountains is too difficult," Gawain said with unconcealed joy and relaxation, "This is good... Although the ’Curiosity’ only opened the route from Northport to White Feather Port this time, it’s at least a good start, showing that our entire plan is feasible."

As he spoke, he was mapping the northwest coastal area of the continent in his mind and matching the sailing data returned by the ’Curiosity’ with details on the map.

He could clearly "see" the positions of Northport and White Feather Port, as well as the bow-shaped mountain ranges of the Dwarf Kingdom and several natural ports facing the sea—frankly, for the gray elves who have already opened land trade routes and are geographically adjacent to the Cecil Empire, the White Feather Port to Northport line isn’t very significant. But as long as the sea route continues to extend, connecting White Feather Port and Forge City, the gray elf merchants can immediately reap great benefits—the short sea route is definitely easier than crossing the bow-shaped mountain ranges.

This point, Lady Venna Baizhi, with her keen vision, probably sees clearly as well. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have so proactively cooperated with the Cecil Empire’s route restart plan and agreed to open Moss Woods’ only seaport to Northport ships.

With further support from the gray elves, his route restart plan will undoubtedly become smoother...

At this moment, the machine’s buzzing and the printing device’s clicking suddenly arose again, interrupting Gawain’s thoughts.

He looked somewhat unexpectedly at the printing device connected to the Magic Web Terminal, seeing another document slowly emerging from the paper exit—on the already exposed half-page, he spotted the snowflake insignia representing the Wilder Clan.

The paper fell into the tray, and Gawain reached out to pick it up, while Aunt Heidi cast a curious glance at it: "Is it a report from somewhere?"

Documents directly transmitted to this study are usually quite special, rarely arriving in such quick succession.

By this time, Gawain had skimmed over the main parts of the document, understanding its brief content, which is indeed a big news.

"The northern magic web nexus is ready, a day earlier than expected!" He said with extraordinary joy, even more jubilant than when receiving Byron’s good news, "Victoria’s report—the nexus has completed all acceptance procedures and the final pressure test. Now, it can be integrated into the main network anytime—just waiting for the imperial capital’s command."

Aunt Heidi’s eyes widened immediately; she had been waiting for this news for a long time as well. Especially with the expected inspection date approaching recently, her anticipation was increasing daily. As someone who had watched the development of Magic Guide Technology firsthand, she was acutely aware of what the integration of the Magic Web across the entire Empire meant. After a brief moment, she displayed a particularly joyous expression: "Wonderful! We’ve finally reached this day!"

"How are the preparations going?" Gawain asked quickly.

"All departments completed their preparations the day before yesterday. Most of the personnel are on standby at the moment, and we have been waiting for news from the north," Aunt Heidi immediately replied. "If we start the integration preparations now, in about four hours, we can officially activate the first main nexus—starting with the nexus in Sherlin City."

"Then go ahead," Gawain nodded to Aunt Heidi. "The next few hours are going to be significant."

It was indeed a significant event. He was certain of this—just like the launch of the first Magic Web prototype, like Anzu’s civil war, like the establishment of the Empire, what was going to happen in the next few hours would be enough to leave a mark in history. He could already foresee this event being inevitably imprinted in the textbooks and test papers of future students. History lessons, political lessons, and even Magic Guide Technology lessons would all cover it.

Liberal arts would be a must-memorize subject, and science would also be a mandatory course.

Thinking of this, Gawain couldn’t help but twitch his mouth, revealing a peculiar expression.

The forefather suddenly showed a strange smile, which puzzled the Crown Princess of the Empire. However, Aunt Heidi soon pushed that doubt to the back of her mind—it was such a joyful moment, surely the forefather’s heart was stirred, and a complex smile was understandable.

She explained it to herself like this and then turned to leave Gawain’s study. She walked into the hallway, gazing at the neatly arranged Magic crystal lamps on both sides, exhaled softly, then lowered her head and clasped her hands in front of her chest to offer a brief prayer she hadn’t recited in a long time: "Goddess of Magic, Milmina... Would you be willing to witness it all..."

The prayer received no response, but she could sense a vague attention and a mental resonance—predictable and understandable.

...

At the Imperial Academy, in a brand-new classroom, upperclassmen of the Department of Magic sat neatly behind their desks, listening to the new "Concept of Neural Networks" course introduced this semester.

Dressed in the Department of Magic uniform, Elywen was intently looking in the direction of the podium, while beside him, a large boy with short brown hair and a few freckles was scribbling furiously.

"Storm," Elywen couldn’t help but gently nudge his newly acquainted classmate, whispering, "Don’t just focus on taking notes—the teacher is explaining critical theoretical knowledge."

The boy named Storm seemed startled, leaving a wavy ink mark on the paper with his pen. He glanced at Elywen quickly, his face showing a mix of nervousness and timidity: "I... okay, alright..."

Seeing the other party’s reaction, Elywen wanted to say something more. However, in the next second, a thunderous voice suddenly erupted from the direction of the podium: "No talking in class! Mr. Elywen Franklin!"

This booming voice swept through the classroom like a storm, instantly jolting all the students. Elywen Franklin even broke out in a cold sweat: even as the son of a duke, he felt extremely nervous facing this booming voice. In fact, there wasn’t a student in the entire Imperial Academy who wasn’t afraid of it.

He immediately sat up straight, adopting a posture of realizing his mistake, and cautiously glanced at the figure on the podium.

A short-statured middle-aged man with explosively standing hair was standing there. He was floating in midair, and beneath him was a set of Magic Web Projection Crystals, emitting a very faint humming sound.

After scolding the students, Magnan shook his head, turned around to look at the diagram he had just sketched in midair, and prepared to continue the lesson: "Alright, everybody, pay attention. We’ll continue to the next part: how to ensure multiple brainwave signals entering a single node do not interfere with each other. Listen carefully because the pioneers who summarized this knowledge once took a decade to solve this problem, and you lucky folks only need less than half a class! First..."

Magnan’s voice abruptly stopped just as he was halfway through speaking.

In the brief silence, the students inevitably had a little commotion. Elywen heard someone whispering behind him:

"Why did Mr. Magnan suddenly stop talking?"

"Could it be that Lady Selena turned off his speaking device again..."

"Shh—Lady Selena might be watching from the classroom."

"Silence!!" Suddenly, Magnan’s thunderous voice erupted again. He glared at the class, then waved his hand. "Alright, it seems today’s lesson will end early. There’s an assignment on the neural network that requires my attention elsewhere. The remaining content of this lesson will be covered next time."

Then he added in his booming voice: "But don’t think you can slack off—I have already prepared the test papers for the first part of the lesson for you! An assistant will send them here shortly, so spend the rest of this half-period as well as the next self-study period completing the papers!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Magnan’s figure instantly vanished from the podium, leaving only a bunch of floating formulas and diagrams in midair, and a classroom full of students looking at each other in confusion.