Chapter 410: Sister, Are You Conjuring High-Energy Particles with Your Bare Hands?
Bernard struggled through thick and thin to climb up to the dragon’s nest. He hadn’t even stabilized himself when he was lured by a phantom and charged into the depths of the cave, confronting the dragon’s might head-on. Fortunately, the outcome was favorable. After unleashing his full strength, he finally broke through to the realm of a level eight warrior, only to be flipped over by the wing of a silver dragon...
After adapting to the power gained from his advancement, he meandered his way to meet up with Garrett, and together, they went to thank the silver dragon. Then, out of politeness, they sat across the long table from the boss, listening to Ophelia give a lecture:
"Displaying electricity? It’s quite simple," Ophelia picked up a silver pot engraved with patterns and poured red tea into their cups, one by one, from left to right. The warm tea steamed up, creating a thin mist. With a light hook of her fingertips, the silver dragon condensed the mist into a thin sheet:
"First, we condense a sheet of mist. You know this magic, right?"
Garrett nodded quickly, his face full of envy. A level one spell in the School of Illusion, the Mist Concealment, could summon a circle of dense fog surrounding the caster. Of course, he knew this magic, though he wasn’t as fast in summoning the fog, nor was it as evenly distributed. Well, mainly because there was no need, so he was too lazy to practice...
But no matter how much he practiced, he couldn’t do it like the silver dragon, who could snap her fingers and condense a small cloud of mist with such even thickness and concentration. Then again, manipulating mist seemed to be an instinct for the silver dragon?
He sneakily glanced at Seraina. However, Seraina had no concept of "sneakily" and directly made a face at him:
"I can do it too! Hmm, just not like Auntie..."
"Seraina is still young," Ophelia said warmly to her niece, then turned to Garrett:
"This magic was invented to amuse children. She’s too young to need it. Look—"As she said, with a slight movement of her fingertips, the mist jumped with dazzling lights. Garrett’s breath hitched, and he rushed to the front of the cloud screen, almost sticking his nose to it:
"Light scattering—no, wait, this isn’t light, this is—"
He stopped mid-sentence, hurriedly pulled out a piece of silk and a glass rod, and started rubbing vigorously. After a while, he used the glass rod to attract some paper scraps and cautiously approached the cloud screen. Three millimeters, two millimeters, one millimeter...
Under the watchful eyes of all, suddenly, the paper scraps moved without wind at the tip of the glass rod!
"It’s not light, it’s electricity!" Garrett suddenly looked up, staring intently at the gently smiling Ophelia, his face full of shock:
"It’s electricity—or maybe, also magnetic?!"
Light and shadows appearing in the mist related to electricity... Ionization? High-energy particles?! Sister, conjuring a cloud chamber is one thing, but conjuring high-energy particles?
Even for a silver dragon, you’re too powerful!
"Not bad, little mage!" Ophelia looked at Garrett in surprise. To be able to prove an electric field with such a simple method was already quite impressive; he even went a step further, associating electricity with magnetism?
Whether it was imagination or the foundation of arcane knowledge, it was exceptional.
"Indeed, it is both electricity and magnetism," she said with a smile, dissipating the mist with a wave of her hand, and casually pointing outside:
"We live in this dragon’s nest. On clear nights, the northern sky often displays a colorful aurora. We watch it for fun, and over time, we came up with this little trick."
Her tone was casual, as if it was nothing special, but internally she was extremely proud. Although not high in level, and without much combat ability besides illusion spells, no adult silver dragon could achieve this without their heritage. Alas, my brother doesn’t appreciate it, and neither do our kind, failing to see the difference from illusion spells...
She looked left, where Seraina looked bored, her face practically saying "just a toy to amuse children"; and then right, where Bernard was clueless, holding a biscuit, almost wishing to pour the plate into his mouth.
Hey, those are my biscuits! I baked them with effort! You can’t taste anything if you gobble them down like that!
Forget it, expecting anything from my niece was a mistake to begin with, and as for the barbarian, I shouldn’t have had any expectations. Ophelia turned her gaze back to Garrett,
her eyes lighting up with genuine joy:
Garrett stared straight at her, slowly opening his mouth, his eyes shining with admiration. It looked as though he was on the verge of prostration. Indeed, he almost was. A display conjured from studying auroras... Relying on the study of auroras to create such a display...
Without instruments, without equipment, purely based on the sensation of the Earth’s magnetic field and the flow of high-energy charged particles, as well as the luminous phenomenon of particle stream colliding with atoms, and even using this as a basis for magic!
Ma’am, I can hardly imagine the extent of your prowess!
Garrett’s admiration made the silver dragon lady very pleased. She dispersed the mist and condensed it again, the light and shadow on the cloud screen changing subtly, the magical fluctuations so minimal that they were almost imperceptible:
"As for your request, just guide the electric current out and connect it to the mist. How about it, would you like to learn now?"
"Please teach me, Lady Ophelia," Garrett immediately bowed:
"For this, I am willing to pay any price within my capability—"
"Hehe, no need for a price, after all, you’ve also helped me and Seraina," the silver dragon lady waved her hand kindly. A ding sound came from behind, and with a flick of her finger, a new plate of baked biscuits flew out of the oven, landing in front of Garrett:
"However, learning existing magic doesn’t require a price, but improving magic does. So, as tuition, you’ll stay here until the snow seals the mountains. During this time, anyone who comes to me for healing that you can handle, I’ll leave to you. How about that?"
"That’s wonderful, ma’am!" Garrett’s eyes lit up, immediately agreeing:
"Thank you for your generosity!"
New patients! New races, new diseases! With backup if he couldn’t handle them, such an opportunity was hard to come by!
Thus, Garrett began his study. This unnamed small magic, after Garrett asked for and was granted permission by the silver dragon lady, was named Ophelia’s Aurora Screen. The requirements for casting weren’t high, with the intensity of magical fluctuations at most level 1.
But the learning process was another story. The silver dragon lady taught with all her might, her saliva nearly drying up, yet Garrett could only condense mist and couldn’t make the mist show any fluctuations. His stubborn inability almost drove Ophelia to frustration:
"Did you really understand? If you understood, why can’t you cast such a simple spell?—Decar that guy, he said you were a genius, where’s the genius?"
Garrett: "..." Where’s the simplicity? Do I look like Ultraman Tiga to you, able to conjure high-energy particle cannons at will?
I can’t even make an electromagnetic cannon by flicking a coin!
Finally, having no other choice, the silver dragon lady secluded herself for seven days and nights, shedding more than a few dragon scales, and successfully drew out the magic framework. Garrett memorized the framework diagram by heart and barely succeeded in casting the spell. By then, Ophelia’s look towards him had turned to one of resignation:
Should I send him away?
Should I send him down the mountain now?
While she was pondering, the entrance to the dragon’s nest was filled with the loud flapping of wings, and a resounding voice shouted:
"Lady! Lady of the Shining Scales!—Help!"
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