In the Mindlink Tech Lab, the old Druid Pittman was still lying quietly in the silvery-white seat.
The magic symbols at the seat’s base were flashing rhythmically. A faint layer of pale blue light floated on the artificial nerve cord that connects the base and the neural contact array. A low humming sound ca from within the device, the sound of the resonance trembling between the rune triggers. The old Druid sitting inside the device had his eyes tightly closed, as if he had fallen into the deepest of dreams.
"He’s already connected to the network," Gawain said, "currently communicating with the operators inside the network."
"Connection is stable, frequency orientation normal," Kal hovered near an operations console not far from the capsule, monitoring the flickering runes on the console as he spoke, "there are no signs of exposure for now."
"Vital signs are stable, neural stress is normal." "Ergency disconnect device is normal." "Continuously monitoring brain activity."
A series of reports echoed from various parts of the lab, and with these reports, everyone around the connection device breathed a sigh of relief.
Amber couldn’t help but mutter, "Whew—I thought the old man might die up there."
Even though she normally showed no respect for Pittman with her loud behavior, Gawain could see that Amber did care a lot for Pittman, who was almost like a foster father to her.
Gawain then looked towards Jenni, who was standing quietly not far away: "Is it true that the runic systems of the Eternal Sleepers can also be optimized and reorganized by rune logic?"
"Yes...yes," Jenni quickly replied, "although we encountered so difficulties initially when recalibrating interference values, we eventually discovered that the runic systems of the Eternal Sleepers still follow the rules of rune logic, and the inversion circle technique can also be applied to this connection device..."
"The Eternal Sleepers... their dark divine arts are similar to the Druid spells, also transford from divine arts," Gawain remarked thoughtfully, "Oh gods... your veils grow thinner by the day..."
"Test ti ended, preparing to transmit a prompt ssage... prompt ssage sent, received brainwave feedback from the test subject... disconnecting neural cord connection."
The technical personnel in charge of controlling the connection device suddenly spoke, interrupting Gawain’s soliloquy. Following a gradually diminishing resonating sound, the runic brilliance at the base of the silvery-white seat dimd.
Pittman lay quietly in the seat for a mont, then suddenly opened his eyes, and as if suddenly rembering how to breathe, he began gasping for air. The sound resembled an old bellows coming from his frail body. After about ten seconds, he stabilized and exhaled a long breath: "Ah... it feels good to be back in the body..."
"The first ti detaching from the mind network will likely cause significant dizziness and a sense of weightlessness," Gawain nodded as he watched an assistant step forward to help the old Druid out of the seat. He then showed a serious expression, "But before anything else, for the sake of rigor and safety, we must first confirm one thing..."
Kal left the console and floated next to the connection device.
Gawain looked into the old Druid’s eyes: "Prove that you are still Pittman, and not an Eternal Sleeper sneaking in through the network."
"Good luck ointnt, two silver coins a bottle, discontinued charms, buy two, get one free, divination first three tis half-price, free help with naming!"
Half of the people present covered their faces and turned away, and Kal’s brightness dimd by thirty percent in an instant, only Gawain approached and shook Pittman’s hand with a smile: "Welco back to Cecil. Do you feel any discomfort aside from dizziness?"
Pittman, after all, being a transcendent, stood beside the capsule for a while, took a few deep breaths, and regained his composure. He frowned slightly and pondered, "Generally no aftereffects, but... can we change the passphrase next ti? This phrase is too embarrassing for soone my age..."
"A seven-hundred-and-thirty-seven-year-old designed the passphrase for you, what’s so embarrassing for soone not even eighty-seven?" Before Gawain could start, Amber gave the old man a sidelong glance, shutting both elders up with a single sentence, "And do you even have a concept of ’embarrassnt’?"
Pittman: "..."
Gawain: "..."
"Tell us about the situation after connecting," Gawain thought the atmosphere was getting increasingly odd, so he quickly cleared his throat to steer the conversation back on track, "What layer did you infiltrate? What did you observe during the connection? Were you intercepted or scanned by the security system?"
The technical personnel on site imdiately gathered around, each with a curious and inquisitive look at Pittman, who then began to speak unhurriedly after sorting through his thoughts: "The layer I infiltrated should be what is called the ’Consciousness Plane,’ where the dream city is located, and it is the area where all surface consciousness converges. Most of the connection process was devoid of vision, only producing intermittent illusions... I must have completely bypassed the security chanisms, or rather, the security chanism completely ignored my connection..."
Pittman quietly described everything he saw and experienced during the connection process, and everyone around him listened intently, even the most restless Amber, who listened with wide and curious eyes without missing a word until the end.
"... In summary, I believe the first phase of our real-world testing was completely successful, the connection device is stable and reliable, and the ’secure channel’ is equally reliable," Pittman concluded, "The next step, we should consider multiple connections."
Gawain nodded slightly and looked at Rebecca: "Is there any potential for mass production of this connection device?"
"There are so challenges at the mont," Rebecca pondered and appeared troubled, "so key components can only be fabricated in the laboratory for now, such as the organic dium ring of the artificial nerve cord—which is mainly due to the complexity of the processing. The process requires frequent adjustnts using magic power devices and a certain level of Druid knowledge. The workers in factories might not have the necessary skills, and it will take considerable ti to train workers with sufficient skill levels."
In most cases, the major constraint on the mass production of new Cecil innovations was not machine precision, as the foundational work done by Nicholas Egg solved most of the precision issues at the onset. The actual long-term bottleneck was the skill level of the workers.
After all, humans are not machines. Training and accumulating a large, systematic workforce of skilled technicians takes ti.
"Take it slow, promoting such devices for the entire population is not realistic..." Gawain sighed, acknowledging the reality, "For now, continue with lab manufacturing and assemble devices for a project team to use. Determine the specific number based on actual needs."
"A project team’s use..." Kal sensed sothing from Gawain’s words, "Are you planning to conduct an experintal project in the mind network of the Eternal Sleepers?"
"Doesn’t it sound great?" Gawain raised an eyebrow, "Such a good technology should be used for research. Using it for daydreaming would be a waste, wouldn’t it?"
Kal paused slightly, then bent down, with a hint of laughter in his tone, "...I completely agree."
"Well, we should give this connection device a na," Gawain nodded, pointing at the silver-white chair or rather, the capsule on the platform, "Do you have any suggestions?"
Pittman and Jenni exchanged glances with each other—except for Kal, whose expression was hard to read—then they unanimously looked at Gawain.
"We believe that you should na it," Jenni said with a smile, respectful and earnest, "Although it is the result of our creation, all the related technologies were collected by you through various ans, and most of the inspiration for the project also ca from you, so it is only fitting for you to na it."
Although Gawain wanted to say that the glory of the technology should go to the inventors, after thinking it over, it seed that most of the technologies in this connection device originated from the Eternal Sleepers, so he didn’t decline further. Instead, he looked at the silver-white chair, lost in brief thought.
A little mischievousness unknowingly surfaced in his mind.
After all, the style of this thing isn’t normal anyway.
"An Imrsive Neural Capsule," Gawain said a na he found to be most in line with the style of the object, "Let’s call it the Imrsive Neural Capsule — abbreviated as the Imrsion Capsule, how about that?"
"Imrsive Neural Capsule..." Kal repeated the makeshift phrase. Although it sounded quite odd, the short set of words perfectly described all the characteristics of the connection device, and he couldn’t help but nod, "It’s a good na."
Gawain and Amber left the Magic Guide Technology Research Institute, along with Pittman, who was heading back to rest.
The streets of Cecil Castle remained bustling and lively.
"It’s a spectacular city," Pittman suddenly remarked as they walked down the street, "really, incredibly beautiful."
"The Dream City?" Gawain stopped in his tracks, giving the old man a glance, "Be careful, it’s easy for first-tirs to get lost in it."
"I won’t," Pittman blinked, then chuckled, "That city is indeed beautiful, you could even call it perfect, but precisely because it’s too perfect, it doesn’t appeal to — its perfection scares a little."
Gawain shook his head, continuing his stride forward: "An overly perfect world inevitably makes one think of the heavenly kingdom where people supposedly go after death. Entering such a city while alive certainly adds to one’s unease."
Pittman suddenly grew curious, "Do you have experience, is there truly a perfect kingdom after death?"
"...I was just making a comparison."
They passed the "Athyst Avenue" at the edge of the Mage District, where a crowd was gathering in front of a newly opened shop.
Gawain looked ahead, noticing the shop entrance had the "Administrative Office Regulatory Program" sign hanging, and in the window beside it were neatly lined, sunlight-reflecting, tal-textured large arm rings or gauntlet-like devices.
Gawain murmured softly, "The first magic terminal retail shop open to civilians has begun its trial operation..."
As one of Cecil’s earliest Magic Guide Technology products, the magic terminal wasn’t particularly high-end, and as a platform compatible with exchangeable core modules, it had significant civilian potential right from the start—it could be equipped with offensive spells to act as a weapon or fitted with auxiliary magic symbols to beco a convenient tool. For Gawain, who always wanted extraordinary powers to be accessible to all citizens, civilian use was inevitable.
As early as last year, Rebecca and others successfully built engineering terminals with welding, cutting, and pulling functions based on the soldiers’ magic terminals and distributed them to mage technicians and engineering personnel. After gathering information and improvents over so ti, a more user-friendly, safer, and cheaper civilian version finally appeared before the general public.
These magic terminals had lower power but could still release the most basic few tricks and several toned-down protective spells. Ordinary people could use them as tools, and when out in the wild, they provided a ans of self-defense, making them quite convenient.
But Gawain, observing for a while in front of the store, noticed that while there was a considerable crowd, only a few citizens were actually buying the magic terminals.
"It’s understandable. To most people, magic is still an ’extraordinary’ thing, even if magic power is everywhere around them. Most probably never considered they’d use it to ’cast spells’ themselves," Pittman said from the side, "Besides, to be honest, dozens of silver coins, although not much, is still a significant amount of money for many. Ordinary folks, who are used to frugality, wouldn’t hastily spend so much on sothing unfamiliar just because it’s novel or interesting."
This was an inevitable phenonon in the process of promoting Magic Guide Technology.
Gawain looked at the shop with the gathering crowd, thought for a mont, and turned to Amber, saying, "Have your agents guide the situation a bit."
Amber casually replied, "Okay."
Hearing Amber agree so readily, Gawain was surprised, "Why did you agree so quickly this ti?"
"Being a shill is a talent among many of those rascals," Amber waved her hand, "Guiding the situation just ans acting as a shill, isn’t it..."
Gawain: "...Your understanding isn’t wrong."
The three took one last look at the shop selling the civilian magic terminal. Before leaving, Pittman suddenly remarked, "Actually, the neural cord technology can do more than just establish brain-machine connections and let people enter the mind network; there’s a potential application direction."
Gawain’s tone lifted, "Oh?"
"You aim to have ordinary people command magical power too — the magic terminal can solve half of the problem, and the neural cord... might solve the other half for you."
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