Scientific Wizard

"The magic core used to sustain the 'Lost Mist' has become unusable, and the alchemical array in the control room has been severely damaged," Victor shook his head, weariness heavy in his tone.

"Is there no way to repair it?" Lynn asked, puzzled.

"It's not that easy," Victor replied irritably. For the past few days, he'd been mixing various alchemical materials, attempting to mend the destroyed array, and it was driving him crazy.

The 'Lost Mist' wasn't an ordinary legendary spell; its range was astonishing, spanning over tens of thousands of square kilometers. It had taken a full nine months to lay down this array, and the resources consumed were incalculable.

Finding replacements for the materials and rearranging a legendary magical array was no simple task.

However, Victor had taken some remedial measures in these past days. The white mist still hung over the sea, albeit now stripped of its ability to block mental detection and disorient people.

Coupled with the wandering 'Eye of Death' and the previous reputation of the Misty Sea, perhaps they could deceive for a while, buying time until the repair work was completed.

Harof didn't hold much hope for this. The Church had gone to great lengths, smuggling in a statue of a dark god. It was evident that they were prepared to take action against them.

"She sacrificed a lot, being at least a Cardinal, maybe even the soul of a saint," sighed Aurora.

Those capable of executing this mission were undoubtedly the most devout believers. Otherwise, delving into magic was akin to breaking one's faith. After all, the source of a wizard's power lies in understanding and applying the laws of existence.

The more one understood, the more inevitable the doubts about the "Creation" recorded in the 'Scriptures,' especially upon learning that the goddess they worshipped was actually an 'evil' wizard. Few could maintain their faith.

"In any case, we have to consider the worst possibility—a war." Harof said gravely.

***

The meeting about the war went on for a long time, revolving around preparations before the specifics of time and place were known. A few frightened members proposed dispatching hundreds of alchemical ships to patrol the Misty Sea, sinking any vessels daring to enter. But that idea was quickly debunked.

Firstly, the Misty Sea was vast; a few hundred ships wouldn't suffice, and they also had to guard against attacks from the 'Eye of Death.'

Secondly, how would they prevent someone from sailing away secretly, or worse, revealing the failure of the Misty Sea's protection due to their activities?

"Lynn, how long does it take to make an airship?" Harof turned to Lynn for an inquiry.

"With sufficient materials, it'd take about a month, give or take, with ten skilled woodworkers. Having wizards would speed things up," Lynn pondered and responded.

Harof nodded; it was easier than he had imagined.

When he had ridden the airship before, he sensed its tremendous value in war.

Flight itself was an advantage, not to mention its ability to soar thousands of meters high, carrying substantial payloads. It could bombard from above. However, countering the Gryphon Knights organized by the Church remained the biggest challenge. Hence, further alchemical modifications were needed.

Considering this, Harof didn't rush to buy too many; he cautiously asked Lynn to make fifty airships as a trial.

Lynn offered a friendly price of a thousand magic gold coins per ship.

Once delivered, the principles would soon be understood, and the relatively low cost would likely be analyzed. Thus, even with knowledge premiums and development costs, Lynn didn't want to set an exorbitant price.

Harof readily agreed; fifty thousand magic gold coins were nothing for the Council.

Alchemists like Raphael immediately became active, presenting various design modification proposals. Some even brought detailed blueprints. Judging by the depth of detail, Lynn doubted these were drawn up in just these two days; clearly, they had been meticulously planned for a long time.

After the meeting ended, Lynn didn't hurry to leave but instead turned to several councilors.

"Lord Harof, I have another question. What exactly is the Dark God?"

Lynn was curious. Within the borders of the Sekas Empire, there were many rumors about the Dark God. According to church propaganda, wizards were followers of dark gods and demons, influenced and ensnared by them.

Initially, Lynn thought this was just church propaganda to suppress wizards. Now it seemed otherwise.

Rather than directly explaining, Harof countered, "How much do you know about spiritual energy?"

Lynn shook their head, indicating limited knowledge.

"It appears the legendary wizards of the Society of Mystical Arts haven't told you about this," Victor, the eldest in the wizard community, took the lead and began explaining.

"Originally, all wizards were spiritual energy users, influencing the material world with exceptional mental strength. Calling it the origin of magic wouldn't be an exaggeration."

During the incomplete development of the magic system, only such innate practitioners could become wizards.

The situation back then was far more chaotic than now. The wizards' research was described as having no taboos, but the current magic schools and the methods of ascension had been developed by these primal wizards in their quest to understand the world.

Subsequently, an unknown spiritual energy wizard discovered a secret: the ability to augment one's mental strength by consuming spirits.

This method of unnaturally boosting mental strength became the mainstream for the wizards.

"I suppose it had some kind of flaw, right?" Lynn pondered.

"Correct," Victor nodded. Amplifying memories and powers of tens or hundreds of spirits might hold, but expanding it to thousands or tens of thousands would overwhelm even the greatest wizards. Many lost their sanity or underwent drastic personality changes.

This state was termed 'soul contamination' and was extremely lethal for wizards because spellcasting relied on having a clear mind.

Of course, this method hadn't been entirely abandoned. Countless power-hungry wizards were devoted to researching spiritual magic, seeking a way to purify soul contamination. However, it proved futile.

But some wizards improved upon it, and Aila was one of the best among them. According to her, devout faith was the key to connecting one's spirits to each other.