Chapter 832: Chapter 831: The Confusion Brought by the Unknown

A fully armored black dragon descended from the sky, stirring up a massive water column on the White River—such a thing startled even the Cecil citizens who often witnessed strange occurrences. Soon, patrol officers along the river and embankment reported the situation to the Administrative Office, and the news quickly reached Gawain.

Just as the patrol officers were reporting the news, Gawain already knew what had fallen from the sky—Rebecca sent an urgent communication from the experimental base in the district, indicating that the fallen object over the White River should be Maji, who had encountered a mechanical failure...

Today seems destined to be a lively day. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

After soaking in the icy White River for a moment, Maji felt the cramps in her body and the dizziness in her head had slightly subsided. She checked her injuries, then struggled to support her limbs and stepped through the riverbed silt, moving towards the riverbank.

Perhaps the fall severely damaged the mechanical structure of the Wings of Steel, she felt some joints in the iron framework fixed to her wings were stuck. This made her posture somewhat awkward and required extra effort, but she finally reached the shore, hearing the noises and vaguely the engine sounds of mechanical boats, she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

It seems her fall caused quite a disturbance, there should be many onlookers on the shore, and the mechanical boat sounds...likely indicate that the authorities have learned about the "fallen object," and the river management department sent a "tug boat" to help her ashore...

Maji thought about it, feeling that suddenly emerging as a massive black dragon from the White River, and with terrifying "armor" hanging all over her, would probably cause considerable trouble. Though many from the Cecil Clan knew their emperor had a black dragon and even witnessed the scenes of a "black dragon fall" from the flying base, the White River is near the Inner City District, so it’s essential to avoid unnecessary chaos.

Moreover, considering the need for confidentiality of her cutting-edge technology.

So she abandoned the idea of directly going ashore in her current form, and instead transformed into human form underwater, while sensing the crowd on the shore, finding a relatively less crowded spot to climb ashore...

As for the dispatched "salvage team"...she’ll explain later.

Near the riverbank where people gathered, at a more inconspicuous edge of the shore, the sound of rushing water suddenly arose, followed by a figure with shoulder-length black hair, wearing a black maid uniform, and looking soaked, emerging from the water.

Maji’s steps were somewhat unsteady, the injuries suffered in dragon form reflected in this human body, she staggered onto the shore, appearing quite bedraggled, but slowly, she began to smile.

The more she laughed, the happier she became, even laughing aloud.

"Mom, there’s a sister over there! Seems she just came out of the river, she’s soaked!"

Maji stopped laughing, turned to look and saw not far away a child gazing with surprise at her, accompanied by a young woman with wide-open eyes.

"Don’t shout! Might offend people!" The young woman scolded her child with a lowered voice, then looked at Maji with some tension and concern, calling out across the distance, "Miss, do you need help?"

Maji smiled and waved her hand, heat rose from her body, rapidly drying her clothes soaked by the river water, as she headed towards the Inner City District.

Meanwhile, she felt a tinge of puzzlement and apprehension—when she fell, she vaguely saw a shadow flash past in the river water...but when she came to her senses, she couldn’t find any clues around. Had she hit something?

Hopefully she hadn’t hurt anyone...otherwise, with such speed and force, it would be hard for anyone to be unscathed...

...

Inside the Cecil Palace, in a room with a large pool, clear water suddenly stirred and gathered into a female figure in midair.

Betty, who was stirring the pool with a large wooden ladle, was startled, almost dropping the ladle into the water. She stepped back half a pace, then locked eyes with Tiel emerging from the water.

Two seconds of delay, Betty belatedly bowed, "Miss Tiel, good afternoon!!"

"Ah, good afternoon..." Tiel replied dizzily, seemingly not fully grasping what had happened, "Strange, wasn’t I in the White River... Oh my!"

Some chilling "final memories" surfaced in the sea demon’s water-filled mind.

Betty was startled by Tiel’s exclamation, gripping the long wooden handle tightly, eyes wide looking at the latter, who shivered slightly, her long tail curled in the water, looking at the royal maidservant supervisor with horror: "Betty! I was stabbed to death by an iron chin just now!!"

Betty: "...?"

"These days, afternoon naps are really getting more dangerous..." Tiel continued speaking gibberish, "I shouldn’t have gone out, staying indoors would never encounter this... hey, Betty, by the way, is the water getting saltier? How much salt have you been adding?"

...

Several minutes later, Maji, having returned on her own from the "crash site," stood in front of Gawain.

"I’ve heard," Gawain casually placed the document he was browsing aside, looking at the Dragonborn lady standing before him with a peculiar expression, "You were testing Rebecca’s ’Wings of Steel’... Did the test fail?"

"I encountered a mechanical fault in the air, but I wouldn’t call it a complete failure," Maji promptly replied, "The takeoff was smooth, and for the first hour the flight went well; I believe the Wings of Steel are viable, albeit with some design flaws that need adjustment..."

"Failure is an inevitable step in technical development; I understand," Gawain interrupted Maji, eyeing her up and down, "However, what about you... How are your injuries?"

"Thank you for your concern; I am fine now. I managed to decelerate on the last stretch, and after hitting the water, I only sustained minor strains and dizziness," Maji replied seriously, "The recovery capabilities of Dragonborn are strong, and besides, it wasn’t a severe injury."

"Well, you should still consult Pittman, and perhaps take a short rest," Gawain suggested while gazing at Maji with curiosity, "Additionally... what happened to the ’Wings of Steel’? Did they remain at the bottom of the river?"

Maji shook her head, "I still have them with me, on my dragon-shaped body—if you want to disassemble and examine them, we need an open space for me to transform."

"There’s no rush for that..." Gawain said offhandedly, though a surge of curiosity was rising within him. He stood from his desk, inadvertently examining Maji once again, "Actually, I’ve always wondered... What is the principle behind your dragon kind’s ’transformation’? During the change in form, where do the items go that you carry? It’s one thing for items on a human form, but even a massive apparatus like the Wings of Steel can hide with transformation?"

Maji opened her mouth, somewhat at a loss from Gawain’s barrage of questions, but she quickly remembered the emperor of Cecil’s strong curiosity about technology. In fact, from a certain angle, this legendary pioneer was one of the earliest technical experts on this land, one of the founders of Magic Guide Technology—Rebecca and her team of technicians often asked "why," undoubtedly a style learned from this legendary pioneer.

She admired him secretly, yet felt at a loss, forcing a not-too-stiff smile before awkwardly replying, "This involves a complex material transformation process, which even the Dragonborn are unclear about... It is a talent of dragons, but Dragonborn cannot be considered entirely ’dragon-like...’"

"Some scholars have speculated that the transformation spell of dragons is a type of spatial displacement, suggesting we store an alternate form temporarily in a space inaccessible to others, explaining the vast changes in mass and volume during transformation, though we do not acknowledge this theory...

"Another explanation describes it as ’elemental reshaping,’ positing that the transformation spell reshapes the elements comprising the body, akin to molding sand into different forms, with each grain of sand’s ’code’ remembered, and additional grains drawn from the elemental world, this ’beach,’ to create the body... In fact, this theory is even less applicable than the ’spatial displacement’ one, demanded too much explanation and unable to be verified through technical means...

"But personally, I tend to believe the second explanation."

Saying this, Maji couldn’t help but smile wryly and shake her head, "Perhaps the dragons of Talronde know more, with their advanced technology and broader knowledge... But they never share these insights, not with the mortal races of Loren Continent, nor with us exiled ’Dragonborn’.

The mysterious, intricate relationship between dragons and Dragonborn has always intrigued Gawain, but at that moment, his focus was primarily on the unknown knowledge—that the many transformation spells of this world had always confounded and fascinated him, a domain that rune logic could not fully explain, containing the world’s greatest contradiction and mystery of the "material boundary" within dragon transformation—

What exactly is this world’s "material"? Why does magic power cause such bizarre changes in matter? How does a gigantic creature weighing several tons transform into a nimble human, seemingly "vanishing" the massive mass... How does this process occur?

Attributed to elements? Attributed to spatial displacement?

Whatever the cause, it seems inseparable from the operation of magic power, which brings forth the fundamental question: What is magic power?

This concept highly likely being a "wave" type phenomenon, how does it affect the essence of all things...

Gawain furrowed his eyebrows, as today’s conversation with Maji seemed to trigger some intuition within him, refocusing his attention on the strange connection and "boundary" between this world’s matter and magic power.

For quite some time, he had been preoccupied with the Empire’s operation, with the complex dynamics across the continent; suddenly, the conversation about "transformation spells" pulled his attention back to the "unknown" boundary, his mind brimming with thoughts, he couldn’t help but think once again of the chaotic wave.

Under the influence of potent chaotic magic, a terrifying disaster upheaving matter globally.

Gawain’s thoughts sprawled unchecked, driven by inspiration as various ideas assembled and interconnected, his musings even leading to a somewhat absurd notion:

A worldwide upheaval of matter... Perhaps the chaotic wave is a "transformation spell" encompassing an entire planet...

"Your Majesty?"

Maji looked at Gawain, noticing his sudden lapse into silence, his expression growing increasingly solemn. Her initial awkwardness swiftly turned to tension, and she gently called out to awaken Gawain from his reverie.

Regaining composure, Gawain organized the thoughts and various conjectures sparked earlier, planning to gradually sort through them afterward, while slightly apologetically he looked to Maji, "Apologies, I was momentarily distracted by my thoughts. Where did we leave off?"

"We were discussing the principles behind transformation spells," Maji, though puzzled, didn’t press further, merely lowered her head to respond, "I mentioned that Talronde might hold more relevant knowledge, but dragons never share their knowledge and technology with outsiders."

"Talronde..." Gawain couldn’t help murmuring softly, "The homeland of My Little Pony... Truly intriguing indeed."