Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 151 Complex Charging Matrix
This is an experimental logbook that records one of Herbart's important experiments, while also interspersing some comments and complaints about daily affairs.

It is evident from the words that this mage possesses considerable strength and status.

The spells and rituals used in the experiment reached as high as the seventh ring of the magic network. Even excluding these advanced spells, the complex and incomprehensible arrays and spell circuits reminded someone of the time in Highhold, when they were reading cryptic texts.

The materials and funds required for this experiment were enough to make his heart race even with a slight estimate.

Without Bodyan's approval and support, the pirates' money didn't come easily. How could they possibly waste it on magical experiments like it was nothing?

But after Zhang Yuan read through these notebooks, he couldn't help but be moved.

This is a charging magic circle.

The charging array itself is nothing special; it's just a common method used by mages to replenish the energy of enchanted items such as staves or to increase the number of spell uses.

Herbart's painstaking efforts and the enormous financial and material resources he devoted to designing the architecture, and the final product he achieved, were certainly not the kind of ordinary, mass-produced goods.

Although enchanted items may seem far less impressive than permanent items that automatically replenish spell uses, this is indeed the case when comparing spells of the same level.

On the other hand, the difficulty of crafting items with constant magic is also far greater than that of items with enchantment. The effort required to craft a fireball staff is only enough to create a level one magic missile for a ring.

More importantly, many high-level arcane enchantments come at an absurdly high cost, basically requiring the caster to permanently sacrifice their soul power as a price, which in gaming terms means—losing experience levels!
Such a terrifying investment would deter the vast majority of mages. Apart from those legendary archmages, no one could afford or was willing to do such a losing proposition.

In this respect, the gods have a unique advantage: they can use the power of faith to pay for it. Although it is equally valuable, it is much better than suffering losses themselves.

It is precisely for this reason that many powerful magical items in Faerûn are called artifacts.

If you are lucky enough to obtain a ring that allows you to cast a daily Law of Death, there is an 80% chance it was created by a Death God rather than by a legendary mage who had nothing better to do.

Compared to the difficulty of obtaining items with constant magic, obtaining items with enchanted magic is somewhat easier, but there are only so many of them.

When it comes to high-level arcane magic or deep magic webs, nothing is easy or without cost.

Take staves as an example. You've heard of the Ice Spike Staff and the Death Cloud Staff, but who has ever heard of the Meteor Explosion Staff?

It wasn't that the mages didn't want to, but these advanced spells were simply too far beyond their capabilities, and their staffs were simply unable to support them.

You can bring a dog onto a carriage, but you can't bring an elephant or even a sperm whale, can you?
The only things capable of recording these high-level arcane spells, especially ninth-circle arcane spells, are extremely precious spell gems and scrolls drawn with dragon leather and dragon blood, or rare materials of a certain rank.

Moreover, they are mostly single-use items, so there is no such thing as recharging and reuse.

Just like the health manual in Zhang Yuan's hand now, the whole book is essentially a one-time-use item for infusion. Otherwise, with those health care guides, who knows how long it would take to improve?

As for what kind of spells were stored, Zhang Yuan could roughly guess.

There are many ways to improve physical attributes, but one that is so straightforward, simple, and without any side effects clearly points to something else—

Make a wish!
According to his deduction, the manual contains this ninth-circle arcane spell, but all the triggers, invocation procedures, and invocation statements have been fixed and standardized. Users only need to unlock the seal to use it easily. In short, it's a black box of spells.

The reason this manual has survived to this day is not because Herbart didn't want to use it; on the contrary, he had already used it once. The current manual on physical health, which still possesses abundant magical power, is the product of the magic circle he designed being recharged.

Herbart did succeed. These legendary books that could directly improve the user's physical fitness never had any concept of charging; once used, they disappeared immediately.

However, according to his notes, this item, which should have disappeared, has been perfectly preserved to this day, and even the power it contained has been replenished. This can only be described as a success.

However, this success also has serious flaws.

The various experiments, rituals, and formations recorded in these notebooks are difficult for Zhang Yuan to even understand with his current level of arcane knowledge, let alone master. However, Herbart, the inventor, did give his own estimate: about eight years.

This is the recharge time required for top-tier infusion products like "The Handbook of Physical Health".

Herbart's achievements were remarkable in any case, but the nearly eight-year wait was indeed too long.

In fact, he himself was on his deathbed in the second year of using this magic array, which he named the Compound Energy Matrix, to charge the manual.

As his life was drawing to a close, Herbart asked Bodyan to do one last thing.

Faced with his old friend's request, the legendary captain had no reason or thought to refuse. On that day, as promised, he placed the unfinished ceremony, along with his research findings, into the tomb, to rest alongside its original owner.

Only Bodyan's prestige could make these pirates obediently seal this rich burial goods into the coffin instead of looting it all.

Furthermore, there are still some puzzling aspects, such as why Herbart insisted on keeping his most prized work hidden from the world instead of passing it down to future generations.

There was no point in guessing; he had plenty of time to read these notes and books. So Zhang Yuan simply canceled the light spell above his head, crawled into his sleeping bag, and fell into a deep sleep.

The carriage traveled on its way, and with the help of two knights acting as temporary drivers, it returned to Belgost in less than two days.

The journey was peaceful, with the occasional goblin being easily dealt with by the Chaos Knight and the two bored henchmen. The mage was happy to have some peace and quiet, focusing on reading the Herbart's Notes manuscript he had just acquired.

“I did it! I did it! I did something that no one else dared to even dream of. My name will be remembered in history, and my genius will illuminate the future of arcane magic! I have to tell Bodyan so he can know this good news too.”

"The legend is true! I never thought such a book actually existed. It's a pity it doesn't enhance intelligence; it's just a boon for Bodean, that muscle-bound guy. Wait, this book can't just go to waste like this. Perhaps I can..."

"Finally got it. It took a lot of effort to get this book from that guy Bodyan. Doesn't he realize that if I succeed again this time, the gains will be far more than just this one handbook?"

"Dry!"

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(End of this chapter)