Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Chapter 555 Strategic Short Stories

Geralt touched the first copper ingot with his wand, and the surface began to turn red. The dark red color spread outward from the point of contact, the edges began to soften, and the shape of the metal became blurred.

With a flick of his left hand, the silver ingot was pulled over by magic and pressed against the copper ingot, and the two pieces of metal were heated together.

As the temperature rose, the dark red of the copper turned into a bright orange, and the bright white of the silver turned into white-hot. The edges of the two metals began to flow, permeate each other, and fuse together.

He added the auxiliary mineral powders one by one. The dark gray powder was poured into the molten metal, and the surface of the liquid flashed with a blue light before returning to its bright white state.

Then, the brown crystals are poured in, which increases the viscosity of the molten metal, reduces its fluidity, and makes the luster more uniform.

Finally, a fine white powder, so fine that the particles were invisible, was poured in. The color of the molten metal gradually transitioned from bright white to dark gold, and a very thin layer of colored film floated on the surface before immediately sinking back down.

Geralt's magic controlled the temperature and mixing ratio throughout the process. The magic at his fingertips stirred, pushed, and shaped the molten metal without any physical contact, relying entirely on magical manipulation.

The molten metal spread out on the ground, becoming thinner and thinner, flatter and flatter, with increasingly neat edges.

Geralt pointed his finger, and icy blue light fell from his fingertip, causing the temperature to drop sharply. White vapor rose from the molten metal, solidifying from its flowing state within two or three seconds.

A copper-silver alloy plate, about two meters square and three to four centimeters thick, lay on the ground at the entrance. Its surface was dark gold with a slight silver sheen, and it had a strong metallic feel.

Geralt tapped the board, producing a deep hum that transmitted vibrations from his fingertips to his wrist, and nodded in satisfaction.

Fabian and Gideon sat on the wooden bench by the door and watched the whole thing.

Fabian's mouth gaped open again, his eyes never blinking. He hadn't expected Geralt to be not only a skilled fighter but also an expert in alchemy. Was this German wizard really that versatile?

He secretly glanced at Dumbledore with accusatory eyes, wondering why Hogwarts didn't teach alchemy.

Dumbledore was sitting in a chair opposite him, his blue eyes watching Geralt work gently from above his half-moon spectacles, quietly.

After the alloy plate cooled, Geralt squatted down next to the plate and began etching the circuit.

Without using a wand, he simply used his hands, his fingertips landing on the dark gold surface, magic seeping into his fingertips and drawing lines on the metal.

Where the fingertip touched, an extremely fine groove appeared on the metal surface, less than one millimeter wide and about five micrometers deep, with the bottom of the groove gleaming with a silvery light.

The lines connect to form loops, loops nested within loops, one circle after another, becoming denser and more complex.

The patterns on the entire surface extend from the center outwards, with fine silver lines weaving an intricate net across the dark gold surface.

This process is much slower than melting. Each line must be precise to the micrometer level in position and depth. If it is slightly off, the two loops will short-circuit together; if it is too shallow, the magic transmission will be interrupted.

The three people watched silently, and Fabian finally closed his mouth, watching Geralt's fingers draw silver lines on the metal surface.

Gideon rested his hands on his knees, leaned forward slightly, and focused intently on the light.

Dumbledore held his dark purple drink, taking occasional sips, looking quite content.

After about an hour, the entire circuit frame was engraved, and the surface of the board was covered with dense silver patterns, with even spacing and clear layers.

Geralt flexed his fingers; his fingertips were a little red. He had been using magic to heat the metal for over an hour, and the temperature of his fingertips had risen.

Then he began to infuse the story, pressing his index finger on the starting point of the first loop in the upper left corner of the screen and inputting magic.

The silver pattern flashed, starting from the fingertip, and the light spread outward along the path. The flashed pattern turned gold, while the unflashed pattern remained silver.

A thin light curtain rose above the panel, creating a three-dimensional light and shadow image that floated about half a meter above the panel.

The first image was formed.

In a valley, a group of giants lived at the bottom. Stone houses were scattered throughout the valley, armored sentries stood on high places, and reindeer moved slowly in the hunting grounds. The giants had a rugged appearance, were well-proportioned, and exuded power.

Outside the valley, on the distant plain, two armies faced off, one side's flag gleaming in the sunlight, the other's flag advancing in the shadows.

The messengers from the two armies arrived at the entrance to the valley. The giant leader sat on a stone chair, watching the two messengers stand before him at the same time. One said something, and the other said something in return.

The scene freezes, showing the giant deep in thought, then the scene changes.

In the first version, the giants took sides, rushed out of the valley, joined the army with the shimmering banner, and on the battlefield, the giants' power overwhelmed their opponents, rampaging and winning.

The scene then shifts to a human-looking lord standing in a valley, pointing with one finger to a distant mountain, and saying to the giant, "I remember your contributions, but I need this valley. Move it over there."

The giants carried their packs into the deeper, colder mountains, and the last giant looked back at the valley where they had once been.

In the second version, the same opening scene unfolds: two armies stand in confrontation, and messengers arrive at the valley entrance. The giant leader immediately tells the two messengers to return and tell their respective leaders that they will not help either side.

The two armies clashed on the plains and fought for a long time until both sides were exhausted.

The victors turned to look at the valley. The casualties were too great, and they no longer had the strength to deal with the giants. They sent messengers to the valley and said, "We need to transport supplies through your valley. Name your conditions."

The giant leader slowly began to state his conditions.

The first story ended, and the light screen went dark.

Those who don't get vaccinated live longer than those who do.

Fabian blinked, and Gideon's brow twitched.

Geralt moved his fingertip to the starting point of the second loop and pressed down.

The second scene lights up, showing a giant chieftain about to go to war with another tribe. Before the war, he sent a young giant to stay near the enemy's territory for a long time to observe their sentry posts, patrol routes, hunting grounds, and water sources.

Upon returning, the leader used this information to target the enemy's weakest point and achieved a decisive victory.

In another version, the leader charged without looking at anything, but the enemy sentries spotted him in advance and surrounded him from three directions. The leader suffered heavy losses and fled back with the rest of his men.

Only those who have seen it can win; those who haven't seen it shouldn't even try.

In the third group, two tribes of giants faced off on a grassland, pointing at each other and hurling insults, on the verge of fighting.

An old giant with a hunched back walked from a third direction, and the giants on both sides fell silent when they saw him.

He stood between the two groups of giants and asked who planted the first tree on this grassland three hundred years ago, what the two sides said at the time, and who broke the agreement first.

Every word was based on evidence, and every detail corresponded to real events that had actually happened in the past. After both sides listened, they couldn't fight anymore.

The most skillful victories don't require bloodshed; memory and arbitration are more effective than fists.

When Dumbledore saw this, a glint flashed in his blue eyes.

The fourth group consisted of giants guarding the mountain pass. In the distance, an army was rushing towards them from the plains. The giants did not go out to fight, but stood at the mountain pass waiting.

The army had been running for days and nights, and by the time they reached the foot of the mountain, they were so out of breath they could barely stand. Their formation was loose and their morale was completely gone.

The giant charged down from the mountain pass and won easily.

Wait until the enemy is exhausted before attacking.

In the fifth group, two tribes fought fiercely at the bottom of the valley, causing boulders to fly and the ground to crack. The third tribe sat on the nearby hilltop watching, doing nothing.

The scene is viewed from the mountaintop, showing two groups of giants smashing each other. The giants on the mountaintop are sitting, some chewing on jerky, and some dozing off.

After the battle, both tribes were injured and climbed to the top of the mountain to beg a third tribe for help. Some repaired their belongings, while others borrowed food. The leader of the third tribe sat there and listened to their demands.

Sitting on a high place watching others fight.

Dumbledore's expression turned serious. He looked at the three-dimensional light screen in front of him, then at Geralt, his blue eyes looking at the mountain wall across the fjord, then back again, thinking that this scene seemed to apply to the British magical world today as well.

In the sixth group, a tribe had three neighbors. The closest neighbor had a conflict with the tribe, so the chief sent someone to find the furthest neighbor and reached an agreement.

If the one closest to you hits me, hit him from behind.

The neighbors who had recently heard the news dared not make a move. The leader hadn't actually fought; he was just letting the other side know that if they dared to hit him, they would have to face more than just him. He said that he and the neighbor were in cahoots, and that the neighbor should try hitting him.

Deterrence is sometimes more effective than force.

In the seventh group, a river encountered a huge rock. Instead of rushing straight towards it, the river flowed around it, passing by on both sides. The water then merged again behind the rock and continued to flow forward.

The scene shifts to a group of giants blocked at the mouth of a canyon, unable to break through from the front. The leader leads a group of people over the side of the mountain wall and goes around to the back of the blocking side.

If you can't win a head-on fight, change tactics; fighting to the death is the stupidest thing you can do.

The eighth and last group has the longest and most complex visuals.

Scattered throughout a great mountain range are many tribes of giants. Two powerful external forces, represented by flags of different colors, are trying to win over these tribes.

The tribes that stood on the red flag were attacked by the blue flag, and the tribes that stood on the blue flag were attacked by the red flag. Every tribe that had taken sides ended up worse off than before, with their territory shrinking, their population decreasing, and some being forced to move to more remote places.

There was only one tribe that didn't raise any flags. Both sides came to win him over, and both sides treated him politely. When the war ended, the tribes that had raised flags shrank back one by one, while the one that hadn't raised a flag remained the same size as before.

Neutrality is the most expensive bargaining chip; once it's spent, it's gone. Choosing a side turns you from an independent party into someone else's tool, and tools don't have the right to set conditions.

Once all eight images were fully loaded, the light screen dimmed, and the silver loops on the panel returned to their original silver color, quietly embedded in the dark gold metal surface, waiting to be activated by magic again.

The entire plate lay heavily on the ground, its surface still warm from the etching process.

The whole afternoon passed, the sky changed from bright white to golden gray, the shadows grew longer, and the color of the fjord water changed from bright white to deep blue.

Geralt straightened up, stretched his neck, making two cracking sounds, and stood up to brush the metal shavings and mineral powder off his knees.

From the moment the first image lit up, Fabian's eyes never left the screen. What he saw was a spectacle: giants moving, fighting, building, and confronting each other in the light. The scene was spectacular.

But he only saw the surface of the strategic logic beneath the surface.

He realized he could have chosen not to fight, that he could have waited, that he could have let others fight first. He couldn't see the deeper things; this wasn't part of his knowledge, and no one had taught him.

Gideon saw more; he noticed the contrast between the two storylines in each set of stories, how different choices led to completely different outcomes.

However, similarly, while he could grasp some of the principles, he couldn't connect them into a complete system. Again, as the saying goes, no one taught him.

Dumbledore sat in his chair, not saying a word from beginning to end, his blue eyes watching the images on the board light up and then dim over his half-moon spectacles for the entire afternoon.

Dumbledore had prepared dinner sometime during the day. A pot of fish soup was simmering in a cast-iron pot on the stove, and the bread was freshly baked, still steaming when broken open.

The grilled fish fillets were arranged on a plate, sprinkled with some kind of spice, and were a golden brown color. They smelled of butter and thyme. There was also a small bowl of mashed potatoes and a pot of hot tea.

The fireplace was reignited, the new wood crackling in the fire, and the firelight shone on the log walls, warming the entire main hall.

The fjord outside the window turned a deep blue in the twilight, and the outline of the opposite mountain walls became blurry in the last glimmer of daylight.

The four people sat around the fireplace eating.

Fabian had bread stuffed in his mouth, a grilled fish fillet in one hand, and was gesturing with the other.

"Think about that part where the giant guards the mountain pass and waits for the enemy to run over. He just waits there without moving, waiting for them to run down on their own before charging in."

He sprayed breadcrumbs at Gideon: "So clever!"

Gideon sipped his fish soup, nodding occasionally and shaking his head sometimes. He felt that the truth behind it couldn't be summed up by mere intelligence, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

Geralt chewed on the grilled fish fillet, the firelight from the fireplace reflected in his amber vertical pupils. The fish was delicious; the old man's cooking skills were quite good, and the seasoning was very sophisticated.

He tore off a piece of bread, dipped it in the fish soup, chewed a few times, swallowed it, and then tore off another piece.

Dumbledore sat on the other side of the fireplace, holding a cup. This time the drink was pink, and he didn't know what it tasted like, but it still looked ridiculously sweet.

With a smile in his blue eyes, he listened to the young people chatting, occasionally glancing at Geralt with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

We had almost finished eating; the plates were empty, the cups were empty, the fish soup was all gone, and bread crumbs were scattered all over the table.

Fabian wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and Gideon gathered the bowls and chopsticks together.

Geralt leaned back, rested his hands on his stomach, patted it contentedly, and glanced at the sky above the fjord outside the window.

"Go knock on the door tomorrow."