After the failed attack on the base, the Trolls began to retreat.
Metri led the Mages in collecting some books from the Trolls. Through studying the text within, they discovered these Trolls belonged to the Evil Branch Trolls.
According to Metri's understanding of Trolls, the Evil Branch Trolls are a major offshoot of the Amani Trolls, with a population of at least several hundred thousand. From this, it's highly likely that the Trolls attacking the base were a sub-tribe of the Evil Branch Trolls.
From the Kaldorei's understanding, Trolls should be divided into Amani Trolls and Gurubashi Trolls, and their scale should be empire-level.
The Amani Trolls have over a dozen branch tribes under them, which are equivalent to great nobles, either dukes or counts. Below these dozen or so branch tribes are many smaller tribes, equivalent to minor nobles, similar to barons and viscounts.
Whether it's the Amani Trolls, the Evil Branch Trolls, or a small tribe under the Evil Branch Trolls, their leaders are all called Chieftains. This means that in Troll society, regardless of whether it's an emperor, a duke, or a baron, they all share one title, creating a dizzying level of chaos.
Moreover, these Chieftains are all tall and powerful, with astonishing combat prowess. In the primitive social structure of the Trolls, only such strong individuals can lead their tribes out of difficulties. And only such powerful individuals can suppress dissenting voices within the tribe.
Anyone who has run the Zul'Farrak instance knows that Chieftain Ukorz Sandscalp has a habit of sacrificing Trolls to the Hydra loa Gahz'rilla, which has led to a dwindling population of Sandfury Trolls. Those who remain alive are like walking dead; they can only numb themselves and dare not oppose Ukorz Sandscalp's commands.
With the second wave of reinforcements, the Beta Group, the base also began to operate. The Alpha Squad went to the opposite bank to establish a new base, preparing to welcome the First Legion.
Gale, adhering to the principle of 'provisions before troops,' prepared to advance steadily into the forest.
The Beta Group began to explore deeper into the forest. They built small camps along the river, and then, using these small camps as a base, gradually explored the forest's terrain. They carried the Mages' Arcane Eye with them, and the Mages would record the images captured by the Arcane Eye to create magical maps.
Looking at the gradually forming magical map gave Gale a sense of déjà vu, like playing a MOBA game.
However, after the Kaldorei explored an area, that area would lose its vision again, which greatly annoyed Gale. Not being able to have 'all-seeing eyes' (map hack) would be the greatest insult to a Mage, wouldn't it?
Thinking of how he could place wards in games, Gale felt that it should be possible in reality as well.
He immediately recalled the Eye Stones in the Alliance and thought he could create a special treasure for providing vision.
Gale voiced this idea and immediately received support from Metri.
"I've been studying the Troll totem poles these past few days. With a little modification, they could be made into a magical vision totem."
Gale looked at Metri in surprise. Wasn't that like true sight and observer wards? To come up with such a brilliant idea without game inspiration, this kid is a talent!
However, true sight and observer wards alone couldn't satisfy Gale. He needed a treasure that could observe the surroundings through these 'eyes.' Furthermore, this treasure could project the vision provided by the 'eyes' onto a magical map.
"How do you plan to modify these totems?"
Metri said, "Re-enchanting the totems to constantly maintain Arcane vision."
Gale thought for a moment, then said, "You can try it first. Come find me when you have results."
Metri was overjoyed that Gale approved of his idea. He immediately returned to his room and began to modify the totems.
Gale also returned to his room and began to design the Eye Stone.
The greatest function of the Eye Stone was to view and project the vision provided by the 'eyes.' Following this direction, Gale quickly thought of surveillance. Wired surveillance wasn't suitable for the current situation; wireless surveillance was worth considering.
There was no need to consider power, as everything used in the magical world was energy. The main thing was to simulate the connection between the surveillance and inspection devices.
The magical world didn't have WiFi, but it did have contracts. The purpose of a contract was to establish a connection between two different creatures or objects.
Contracts between living beings were more complex, but contracts between objects were much simpler.
Thinking of this, Gale took out his notebook containing contracts and quickly found a visual sharing contract suitable for Arcane vision.
However, contracts were one-to-one, meaning such a contract could only bind the Eye Stone to one 'eye.' This was clearly not feasible, so the contract had to be changed to one-to-many, and ideally, it should be able to bind multiple 'eyes' simultaneously.
With a clear idea, Gale immediately modified the contract. This was quite simple. After finishing, Gale experimented with it and found that he could indeed use multiple Arcane Eyes simultaneously.
That's right, Mages and Arcane Eyes also had a visual sharing contract.
However, controlling Arcane Eyes required a great deal of mental effort. Gale was already overwhelmed just controlling three Arcane Eyes at once.
With the contract test successful, Gale immediately set about making the Eye Stone.
The main material for the Eye Stone was gems. Gale first used an ordinary gem for testing and found that ordinary gems could only bind twenty to thirty 'eyes' simultaneously. Using rarer gems greatly increased the number.
Finally, Gale took out the most precious gem in his pocket, the Asunite Eye Stone that was left over from making the engraving drill.
After binding the contract, Gale found that he could bind over a thousand 'eyes.'
Gale was still not entirely satisfied. A thousand seemed like a lot, but for the entire forest, it was a drop in the bucket. It seemed he could only place 'eyes' in critical locations, just like in games.
The Asunite Eye Stone was not only hard but also possessed a large amount of energy. Gale confidently enchanted it with a constant Arcane Projection spell to project the vision onto the magical map.
Just as the Eye Stone was completed, Metri excitedly rushed over.
"Gale Mage, I've finished modifying the totem!"
Metri held up a re-enchanted totem, demonstrating its function to Gale.
"As long as you stick the totem into the ground and input any energy into it, it can be activated. Moreover, it requires very little energy, so even a warrior can use it."
Gale smiled and nodded, "Indeed, very good."
Then he took out the Asunite Eye Stone and bound it to the totem on the ground. When he activated Arcane Projection, the scene observed by the Eye Stone immediately appeared in the air.
"This--"
Metri exclaimed. He hadn't expected that he had only modified a totem, and Gale had already figured out how to use it and had even created an enchanted gem that could observe.
Both were genius Mages. He had previously thought Gale was just lucky to surpass him in strength. Now, it seemed there was indeed a gap between him and Gale, and it was not a small one.
He secretly resolved to learn diligently from Gale. He would not only study his spell theories but also his magical thinking.
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