Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 313 - 312: Digging Pits and Setting Traps

”A big question?”

Hearing Gawain’s words, Daniel’s first reaction was a moment of confusion, then he looked at the things manifested on the table.

They seemed like ordinary pieces of paper, the books looked very simple and cheap, with no gold foil on the covers or high-quality calfskin covers—honestly, he had never seen books this casually made.

”Let’s begin, all the materials are here. Do as much as you can,” Gawain glanced at the old mage and then adjusted his posture in the chair to sit more comfortably, ”I’ll determine if you really meet my requirements based on your performance.”

The old mage suddenly realized this was a test. He saw Gawain’s calm demeanor, but it set off alarm bells in his mind.

Then, he solemnly looked at the sheets of paper with questions and opened the books marked as ”reference materials”...

Gawain watched silently from the side, while also devoting some of his focus to monitoring the movements on the surface level of the mental network. On one hand, to check if anyone was paying attention to this secret space, and on the other, to keep analyzing the Eternal Sleepers’ network architecture, learning their mysterious knowledge.

He wasn’t in a hurry because he had already determined that in this mid-layer network space, the flow of time was slower than in the dream city. He had already instructed Amber to assist from the real world, so spending days and nights here with the old mage working through papers was no problem.

Daniel found that he couldn’t fathom what this ”Wanderer from Outer Realm” was thinking, but for his own safety, he chose to comply with the other’s request. Still, when he focused on those so-called ”big questions,” a ridiculous and inexplicable feeling rose in his heart.

He had thought the ”test” proposed by the Wanderer from Outer Realm would be something more terrifying and bizarre, that the papers might contain knowledge of forbidden and blasphemous fields, or depict arrays and symbols that could scramble the mind, and that he would have to protect his life in the face of these lethal things. But unexpectedly, the first test he saw was purely a math problem, and a very simple one at that, involving just some addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

What kind of test is this?

The old mage felt odd but didn’t dare to voice any doubt, instead bowing his head to easily complete the calculation and write down the answer: as a mage, basic mathematical ability was a mandatory course for him.

He then looked at the next question, which seemed slightly more complex and began to touch on practical applications: calculating the volume changes and density changes of a certain Magic Potion before and after distillation...

But this was also no big deal; his apprentices could handle it.

Next question, calculate the burnout time of a certain magic circle under full load operation...

Next question, calculate the area of a strange shape—this shape was composed of a series of circles and triangles, rectangles combined together.

Next question, calculate the maximum theoretical interference value M that a certain Rune Domain can withstand on specific magic-conducting materials... What is a Rune Domain? What is the interference value M?

Daniel looked up a bit dazedly, but before he could ask, Gawain silently pointed to the ”reference materials” to the side.

The old mage wiped the sweat beginning to form on his forehead and opened the book to read it seriously.

He felt as though he had returned to his youth, back to the days of learning Magic under a mentor in the Mage Tower.

No, he was more tense and diligent now than back then!

He bowed his head, almost wanting to bury it in the pages, exerting all his imagination and understanding to learn the knowledge, to memorize the formulas, and to think about their correspondence with real-world magic circles. Whenever he managed to grasp part of it, he immediately tried to apply it to those questions, and then—to face the next, even harder problem.

Those things became more and more incredible, further and further removed from intuitive life experiences. Initially, Daniel merely didn’t understand the questions’ meanings, but he possessed the mathematical skills needed to solve them. As long as he meticulously went through the explanations in the reference materials, he’d manage to work out the problems. Slowly, however, even the formulas and symbols for calculation were becoming unrecognizable!

Sweat started to stream down Daniel’s face, and breathing became increasingly difficult.

This was indeed a test, and truly a devilish one...

Daniel’s heart raced faster, feeling that this was probably a malicious punishment from the ”Wanderer from Outer Realm,” retribution for his previous ”little actions,” but at that moment, he suddenly heard Gawain’s voice coming from the side:

”That will do.”

He looked up and saw Gawain snapping his fingers lightly, causing all the half-completed test papers and half-read reference materials on the table to vanish.

”The test... is over?” The old mage looked at Gawain in disbelief, ”I... didn’t finish...”

At this point, the old mage really wanted to ask: Will I die if I don’t finish writing? Will I be decapitated if my explanation is not detailed?

”Not bad, better than I expected,” the words Gawain said with a smile allowed Daniel to breathe a sigh of relief, ”I didn’t expect you to understand it all or finish it. I just wanted to see your mathematical foundation and your ability to accept new knowledge. You’ve surprised me—I thought a traditional mage of your age would have become rigid and find it hard to learn new things.”

Daniel silently sighed in his heart: It’s certainly hard to accept new knowledge at an old age... but who doesn’t have some potential when in a life-or-death situation!

”This is one of the rewards I promised,” Gawain continued with a smile, ”Knowledge that is enough for you to continue forward on the path of exploring truth.”

Daniel was taken aback, unable to connect those things with the word ”reward” in such a short time.

But immediately, he recalled the content he had seen in the reference materials.

The knowledge used to calculate rune efficiency, rune interference, and array stability, the explicit rules for rune drawing, those formulas and theorems that were unbelievably concise and elegant...

If those things were real, if they were not just ”puzzles” designed to torment him...

Gawain watched the old Mage’s expression change, yet he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

When Ravencrest held that knowledge, he faced nothing but the mentor’s undue cruel punishment and wanton trampling, but when an ”unnameable Wanderer from Outer Realm” brought the same knowledge before another traditional Mage, what they faced was reverence.

He gently knocked on the table to catch Daniel’s attention and said flatly, ”Since you have the ability to learn these, I will hand over some other knowledge to you next, this knowledge... is not for you alone.”

Under the curious gaze of the old Mage Daniel, Gawain once again conjured two not very thick books out of thin air and placed them on the table.

With Gawain’s consent, Daniel impatiently opened them.

The first book had a bold line on the cover:

”Information Security and Network Architecture - Eternal Sleeper’s Special Edition”

”Take your time learning what’s on here, if you don’t understand something, I can teach you. I want you to disseminate this knowledge in the mind network under your own name, among the Eternal Sleepers. In this process, you will inevitably have countless opportunities to ascend your rank within the evil-cult. This ’ascension’ can be seen as your second reward. I will tell you in detail how to spread it, to what extent it should be spread.”

Daniel’s eyes widened, staring blankly at Gawain.

Gawain did not explain it on the spot, instead signaled him to keep looking.

The second book also had a bold line on the cover:

”Arcane Network Technology - Tifon’s Special Edition”

”You need to seriously learn what’s in this as well, though I believe as an archMage, learning this will be easier for you than learning that ’Information Security’. I will tell you how to gradually apply the knowledge here in the real world, but you need to temporarily control its dissemination—until I give you instructions, only then can you release them.”

Daniel’s eyes widened even further.

Gawain smiled, looking at the old Mage in front of him: ”You’re curious about my purpose?”

Daniel swallowed a gulp, he wasn’t dumb—if these things were brought out by some unknown nobody, perhaps he would still criticize a bit and dismiss them, but since these things were brought out by a ”Wanderer from Outer Realm”, he immediately regarded the content recorded in the two books with utmost seriousness and vigilance, and immediately recognized the immense value and power contained within this knowledge.

He believed that if the initial content of these two books wasn’t exaggerated, then they would be enough to change the entire Eternal Sleepers and also alter Typhon!

But they were brought out by a ”Wanderer from Outer Realm”...

Therefore... the Eternal Sleepers and Typhon might also fall into eternal damnation...

However, he currently couldn’t see what the fatal ”poison” in these two pieces of knowledge was—he could only see how sweetly enticing they were.

Daniel couldn’t help but recall the information he had seen in the mind network about ”Gawain Cecil”.

After that ancient hero was revived, he didn’t go power struggle against the contemporary Anzu Kingdom aristocrats, nor did he stir up any commotion in the court, but rather led a group of people to Anzu’s southern borders, beginning to build towns and develop the land... It’s said that in that newly established land, new things appeared every day.

New things meant new knowledge.

The Wanderers from Outer Realm would ”jump” between worlds, each time they descended upon a world, they did different things, sometimes bringing destruction, sometimes bringing salvation, and sometimes bringing transformation... He had already personally ignited ”the spark” in Anzu, now he was going to use his own hands to bring knowledge to the Eternal Sleepers and Typhon...

So the purpose or mission of this descent of the ”Wanderer from Outer Realm” is to spread knowledge?

As soon as Daniel thought of this, he immediately sounded the alarm in his mind: can’t reach conclusions so quickly, the Wanderers from Outer Realm are non-human entities, who knows what logic governs their actions, what principles they uphold!

Gawain didn’t need to guess what Daniel might think, so he didn’t let the other continue speculating, instead said forthrightly: ”These pieces of knowledge are a precious fortune; they are enough to bestow endless benefit on the receiver, but I can directly tell you that I left a ’key’ within them.

”At some point, I will use the ’key’ to exact the cost of this knowledge; for however much benefit they bring, I will exact an equivalent cost.

”As I said from the beginning, I adhere closely to the principle of equivalent exchange.”

Gawain paused for a moment, then looked into Daniel’s eyes: ”Do you remember the question I asked you at the start? If a greater form of salvation is placed in front of you, would you betray the Eternal Sleepers? Now add one more question—how much is your loyalty to Typhon worth?”