Chapter 1220 - 1219: Progress of the "Door" and Setting Foot in a Foreign Land

Chapter 1220: Chapter 1219: Progress of the "Door" and Setting Foot in a Foreign Land

The bitter wind howled across the walls and towers on the plain, bringing sharp whistling sounds between the temporary barracks. The imperial flag with a blue background and golden patterns fluttered vigorously atop the towering flagpole. Technicians and engineers heading to their workstations walked along the roads between the camps, and ahead of them, the large hexagonal prism-like facility had begun to take shape.

The magical obelisk that temporarily provided energy for the construction camp stood at the end of the road. The Holme Crystal revolved in mid-air, emitting a steady and gentle blue halo. Within the coverage of the magical power field, various engineering machinery was starting up one after another. Kamel floated out from a nearby building, looked toward the hexagonal prism in front—the base of which was cast from reinforced concrete and was about the size of a barn. The upper part of the prism body glimmered with a cold iron-grey hue, and faint blue glowing lines were embedded in its icy outer wall. A bit higher, one could see the crystal device floating around the outer wall and the top structure that had not yet been sealed.

Today’s welding work had already begun. Dazzling streams of light burst between the steel frameworks and metal panels on the top layer of the prism. Technicians wearing engineering magic transmission terminals were completing the encapsulation of the power pillar in tense but orderly fashion—that was a vertically penetrating alloy device composed of numerous stacked magic circles and mechanical adjustment axes. Essentially, it was a more precise and specialized "power spine," which was equivalent to the heart of the entire facility. It could deliver pure, finely tuned arcane energy to the top-level focusing unit, while also synchronizing with the two other energy towers near the portal.

This is the arcane energy source device designed by Kamel. It is not merely an enlarged version of his laboratory model. To support the boldest "portal" operation mankind has ever attempted, Kamel poured all his wisdom and achievements in the arcane realm into these devices. While ensuring abundant power, he aims for the entire facility’s reliability—this is why three such "hexagonal prisms" were built around Winterhold Castle. Theoretically, as long as one energy tower can maintain more than fifty percent output power, the portal to the kingdom can remain stable.

"Master Kamel." "Good morning, Master Kamel." "Morning, Master."

Technical personnel constantly passed by, constantly paying respectful greetings to this Great Arcanist from the Gondor era, which even included the occasional Typhon Empire person—those were Typhon Magicians responsible for technical handover with Cecil Camp.

This made Kamel somewhat emotional—just recently, the two countries were at the brink of war, seemingly on the edge of a chasm. But with the alliance established, shared interests and the grim reality have tied everyone together. There might still be tension in some areas between Typhon Empire and Cecil Clan, with some people resistant to the increasingly friendly exchanges between the two nations. Yet here... everyone had to exhibit sufficient honesty in their attitude.

Of course, the reasons why Typhon Scholars showed such respect for Kamel went beyond this; their respect was more due to the "uniqueness" of this Great Arcanist—an academic master who was already a Master Mage during Gondor’s time and had faced the power of the gods, possessing a life form beyond most people’s imagination, combined with his formidable individual power. These factors together compelled anyone with some knowledge of the supernatural realms to approach Kamel with an attitude of reverence.

Kamel shook his head, tossing irrelevant thoughts out of his mind.

He wasn’t concerned about how the Typhon Empire people viewed him. In fact, he didn’t care about anyone’s perception of him. He came here to undertake an unprecedented historical task, one that was unimaginable even during ancient Gondor’s time, a task countless generations of Defiers fought for all their lives but never succeeded. He had to focus all his limited energy on this matter.

Just then, a somewhat familiar young female voice suddenly sounded from beside him: "Kamel... Master, the mentor sent me to confirm the situation of the energy system with you..."

Kamel turned to the voice and saw a young female mage in a black dress and with black shoulder-length hair standing beside him, watching him.

This was Daniel’s apprentice, one of the "technical diplomats" sent by the Typhon Empire to liaise with Cecil Camp. From public records, he first met this young Typhon girl during the early stages of the "portal" plan’s initiation.

But in fact, he had known this "Mary" for two or three years—within the neural network.

Mary tried to keep a tight face, aiming to project a business-like demeanor to counteract the instinctive nervous reaction upon seeing Kamel. Frankly speaking, she didn’t quite succeed—anyone could tell she was somewhat helpless in front of this Cecil Great Arcanist. But it was precisely without issue: Her nervous reaction was completely consistent with her usual personality, and with most low-level ordinary mages’ expected demeanor upon seeing a Great Arcanist—nobody here doubted her, except she constantly scared herself.

"Energy Tower One is already capped; as for Tower Two, it’s as you can see—the main structure is complete, and it can be capped within two days. Tower Three’s power pillar encountered a minor problem previously, with a few days wasted while waiting for rear-end shipment of spare parts. However, you and your mentor can rest assured—the final completion date will not be affected," Kamel said brightly, with a buzzing echo in his voice.

"Yes... yes, Master Kamel," Mary nodded immediately and then raised her head, gazing at the "Cecil industrial product" before her, which in style was completely different from traditional magical facilities—

The enormous energy track and the steel beams supporting it traversed the sky like some rugged spine, stretching from this camp all the way to the nearby Winterhold Castle. In the main building above Winterhold Castle, they merged with other structures and connected through a series of complex magical devices to the dome-high hall there. The young female mage knew her mentor and other scholars were busy in that hall, building the main body of the portal. Meanwhile, in other places in this region, in campgrounds and laboratories, more scholars from far places gathered, countless wise minds striving toward the same direction.

These scenes gave young Mary a somewhat unreal feeling—once an anxious Mage apprentice dwelling in a dilapidated Mage tower deep in the countryside, she never imagined she would one day find herself in such a setting, shouldering the responsibility of a "technical diplomat," a duty she dared not even dream of.

The young female mage was momentarily absent-minded, and Kamel had no intention to remind her. He merely turned around, slightly elevated his stature, and his eyes filled with arcane light swept over the vast barren land—in this extraordinary vision generated based on magic sensitivity, he could see a "spectacle" that ordinary mages, even with all their strength, could hardly observe:

Massive energy was converging around Winterhold Castle. The completed energy towers were test-injecting surging magical power into the energy track, while an invisible magical power field oscillated in the air, its focal point located at the castle center’s main building, where a vortex was gradually taking shape—Typhon Empire people were "test-running" the foundation unit of their portal. Perhaps it won’t take long for the immature vortex to truly open, becoming the first step in humanity’s venture into the realm of the gods.

...

The howling cold wind blew head-on, stirring the dragonhead banners flying high above the rough fortifications and sentinel towers in the distance. The sounds of the waves and the wind alternated, filling the ears. This was similar to but much colder and stronger than the Northern Region’s waves and winds.

Victoria stepped onto solid ground, the cold wind of Talronde impacting the aura of ice and snow protection around her, as well as the Wind Shield. This mighty ice Mage, secretly called "The Ruler of Northern Ice" by some, felt Talronde’s "good weather," and couldn’t help but squint her eyes: "Compared to here, the weather in the Bitter Winter Castle mountains is just mild rain and gentle wind."

A low and familiar female voice sounded from her upper right: "Indeed, the environment over in the Sacred Dragon Kingdom is much better than the current situation here—but I think to you, this degree of cold wind shouldn’t be much of a problem, right?"

"It’s just a little chill." Victoria said unconcernedly, turning to look at her traveling companion—a massive iron jaw caught her eye first, followed by the slightly fearsome head of a black dragon, a elongated neck, mechanical armor covering the entire body, and majestic dragon wings and tail. It was a complete transformation; there was no trace of the black-haired maid left on this imposing black dragon form.

"It’s truly incredible, Maji," Victoria couldn’t help but sigh, "although it’s not the first time I’ve seen it, I still can’t believe it’s you..."

"I hope you don’t find my dragon form too intimidating," Maji slightly lowered her head, nudging Victoria’s shoulder with her jaw, "most ordinary people take a long time to adapt to the pressure dragons bring, and more than half of Bitter Winter Castle’s servants still don’t dare to take a big breath in front of my dragon form—even several maids who used to be on good terms with me now don’t dare joke around with me casually."

"Don’t worry, I’m not that superficial," Victoria said with a light smile, using her fingers to lift Maji’s iron jaw, "but, honestly, have you considered asking Mr. Nicholas to alter some aspects of your equipment’s design? Like this somewhat dangerous iron jaw..."

"Is there any need for alteration? I find it quite majestic," Maji shook her head from side to side, the shiny "ram horn" on her jaw whistling as it sliced through the air, "in the current mainstream Wings of Steel series, this sharp ram horn is one of the hallmarks of high-end products..."

Victoria didn’t know what to say for a moment; she always couldn’t understand the "trendy tastes" in the southern regions, which seemed to update several times a day. But her attention wasn’t focused on this matter anyway—

She looked towards the distance and saw the greeter from Coastal Shire already approaching them.

...

In New Argondale, amidst the increasingly bustling Adventurer Camp, Modir Vealt moved a wooden rocking chair out of the room. With adventurers bustling back and forth on the street, he climbed onto the rocking chair contentedly, swinging leisurely, while a packet of snacks floated next to him, supported by invisible magic power. On the other side, his favorite honey fruit wine hovered.

Cracking a couple of nuts, taking a sip of sweet wine, glancing at the busy adventurers on the street, he let out a satisfied sigh—Modir was very pleased with his talent for enjoying life.

And as long as adventurers passed by here, they all had peculiar expressions.

Just then, a somewhat familiar voice interrupted Modir’s leisure: "Master Modir, what are you doing?"

The old mage followed the sound and saw the familiar Miss Black Dragon, with an expression of suppressed strangeness on her face.

"Ah, can’t you see?" The old mage gestured at his lightweight clothing and pointed at the sky, "I’m sunbathing."

Miss Black Dragon looked up in surprise, only to see a starry sky glistening brilliantly—Talronde was in the midst of an extreme night, with starlight enveloping the land for six months, and even the sun was invisible. What kind of sun was this Great Adventurer basking in?

She couldn’t help but remind him: "Master Modir... it’s currently extreme night..."

"I know, but it doesn’t matter. As long as there’s sunshine in your heart, anywhere is a good place to sunbathe," Modir cheerfully waved, and his rocking chair swung again, "Of course, if you don’t mind, I could throw a Blazing Sunflare into the sky, then everyone at the Adventurer Camp could bask in the sun..."

The young black dragon was immediately taken aback: "...Please don’t do that!"

"Hey, don’t be so tense, I know my limits. I can ensure the Blazing Sunflare will dissipate naturally before reaching a dangerous height; not a single rooftop will be scorched..."

"No, no, it’s not about that," Miss Black Dragon waved her hands repeatedly, her expression almost turning to terror, "doing so would cause panic!"

"Alright, alright, dragons are more timid than I thought," Modir said helplessly, his previous interest falling again, adjusting his posture comfortably on the chair, he spoke to Miss Black Dragon like a person ushering away guests, "Then I’ll continue soaking up the sun in my heart..."

"...Master Modir," Miss Black Dragon, looking at the incredible actions of the adventurer in front of her, showed an expression full of helplessness, "I just wanted to remind you that although resting is your freedom, lying at the busiest intersection near the rally zone... adventurers coming and going are quite resentful."

"Resentful?" Modir blinked and sat up to look at the adventurers passing by, "What resentment would they have? No one has mentioned it to me."

Someone has to have the courage to bring it up here in person!

Miss Black Dragon was both amused and helpless as she looked at the Great Adventurer before her. After an awkward two or three seconds, she couldn’t help but sigh, saying, "You’re really bored with being stuck in the camp all day, aren’t you?"