"No abnormalities were found after the investigation…"
In the room, Lynn's expression froze slightly.
"That's right. Lord Shaun personally examined Ancott and found nothing unusual.
"Lynn, you can rest easy and leave now," the first-class apprentice said, then added meaningfully,
"At the root of it, you were once a member of the School, an invaluable connection countless wild wizards dream of. I must remind you not to squander it."
Lynn nodded in silence, placing his hand over his chest in salute.
"…My apologies for troubling the lords."
He turned and left the School headquarters. Looking up at the pitch-black night sky, he let out a quiet sigh.
Back in his carriage, Lynn returned to his residence.
Unable to sleep, he rose and went down to the underground meditation room to review the basic knowledge of magical arrays he had acquired that day.
He began with the preface.
"The Magical Array, formally known as the Magical Array, is one of the greatest products of wizardly wisdom.
In the earliest days, wizards, like all extraordinary beings, relied solely on instinct to wield supernatural power and to grow stronger.
Until one day, Wizard Tataki created the first 'spell unit', a crystal imbued with the Breeze Spell.
This was the earliest recorded instance of a wizard embedding magical power into an external object, marking the first step in the study of magical arrays.
That same year, in September, on the foundation of Tataki's research, Wizard Alcara used multiple 'spell units' to construct the first small-scale 'magical array'
a cleaning array formed by combining the Breeze Spell with the Water Drop Spell.
The following June, using the same principles, Alcara combined the cleaning array with another made from the Heating Spell and Wizard Hand, the 'Folding & Drying Array', to form a large-scale magical array:
The Fully Automatic Folding Laundry Array.
While its functions were crude at first, it contained boundless possibilities.
Alcara later developed many more large composite arrays, and he called the small arrays that formed a larger one 'spell modules.'
Spell Unit → Spell Module → Magical Array. Thus, the basic framework of magical arrays was fully established, ushering in a flourishing era of study.
It is worth noting that beyond crystals, wizards later discovered many other substances capable of holding magic and serving as spell units:
Gems, rare stones, exotic plants… the materials available for array construction are too many to count.
Today, magical arrays are a powerful and well-developed discipline, woven into every aspect of wizarding civilization.
From the simplest spell unit, the enchanted crystal, to modules like the Magic Stone Release Disc, and on to the pinnacle of arraycraft, such as the World Invasion Fortress, made from countless modules, all of these are direct applications of magical array knowledge."
Beneath the preface, in smaller handwriting perhaps added later was a single line:
"Though magical arrays are mighty, they remain external tools. The true core is still the wizard who wields them. Let future generations remember this…"
Lynn set the crystal down for a moment, his mind rippling like a breeze across a still lake.
Since arriving in this world, what he had seen and heard had often left him thinking it was nothing more than a backward, ignorant place much like the medieval West in his previous life.
But as his strength and position grew, his understanding of this world had deepened.
Especially after being introduced to magical array knowledge today, through its history of development, he had caught a fleeting glimpse of just how powerful, intricate, and flourishing wizard civilization truly was.
Ignorance and backwardness existed only at the very bottom.
The real cause of his earlier misconception lay in how unevenly this civilization had developed.
On Earth, which was probably not much larger than the Emerald Shadow Forest, everyone had been made of flesh and blood, yet they'd had a global network linking information across the world.
Even so, different classes and regions still lived worlds apart.
In this world immeasurably larger than Earth, with endless astral realms to conquer, no network, and power that could be contained within oneself, such an imbalance was magnified countless times over.
Different schools, different academies, were like different nations in his previous life: some had already reached space travel, while others could barely make a bicycle.
Steadying his thoughts, Lynn continued reading about magical arrays.
By the time daylight poured in from outside, he had finally skimmed through the entire set of introductory materials.
If not for the fact that he could barely understand most of the later sections and simply glanced over them, it would have taken much longer.
No wonder Faruga is so confident… Lynn rubbed his aching temples, then took out the mind shock spell crystal he always carried.
According to the theory of magical arrays, any material capable of carrying a spell can be considered a spell unit.
Naturally, spell crystals fall into that category.
Even wizard tools are essentially just devices inscribed with arrays.
This discipline has enormous potential.
Unfortunately, the first section is just the basics; most of the examples are incomplete units or modules.
There's only one fully demonstrated array: the Folding Laundry Array, which can be engraved in mojin on most objects to keep them perpetually clean. Strictly speaking, it's not particularly useful.
Lynn shook his head, but didn't mind much; he was still full of anticipation for the subject.
After all, coming from a technological golden age in his past life, he naturally had a fondness for such systems, and countless ideas were already sparking in his mind.
By array theory, things like airplanes or warships from my old world could be perfectly recreated here… but that would be too rigid. In a world where power rests in the individual, developing a wizard-robe mecha might be more fitting.
I recall a lecturer at the School saying that once wizards advance to the second rank, they generally begin constructing their wizard towers, though called "towers," they're essentially external armor for the wizard.
Putting away the crystal, Lynn took out a magic stone.
After a moment's thought, he decided not to begin studying the array of materials just yet. Instead, he prioritized learning an unmastered spell, Lesser Tailwind.
Which arrays held promise, but they would require long-term investment.
Right now, he needed to strengthen himself first.
He planned to finish learning the spells he had already purchased before gradually turning back to array study.
Before long, the comprehension process ended
Lesser Tailwind was successfully learned.
Yet Lynn kept his eyes closed.
After a long while, he opened them, raised his arm, and extended his index finger.
Whoosh, whoosh
What had once only manifested along the blade of his longsword, the White Crow Sword Qi now unmistakably coiled around his fingertip!
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