Chapter 197: The Reverse Transformation Array

Although the territory had already begun constructing large numbers of brick houses, with all the old tents replaced and many wooden houses being torn down and rebuilt in batches, Pittman’s residence remained the very same wooden cabin he had started with. This wasn’t due to any ascetic streak in the old man—far from it, he was hardly the type—and it wasn’t because Gawain was targeting this unruly elder either. Rather, it was because many of the druids’ spells were closely tied to organic environments. Their magical laboratories required abundant wooden materials as conduits for magic, and wooden houses were far easier to modify and catalyze with magic. So this cabin had been kept all along, and judging by Pittman’s satisfaction, it was going to stay that way.

In fact, although it was still the same cabin, after months of magical modifications by Pittman, it had transformed completely. The wooden planks, once lifeless after being cut down, had been “revitalized” through prolonged druidic enchantments. Vines and leaves sprouted from the cracks between the boards, making the cabin not only sturdier and more airtight but also far more beautiful. Inside, thanks to natural magic, the environment was warm in winter and cool in summer. Gawain was convinced it was a very comfortable place to live.

Otherwise, that old rogue who spent his days hawking ointments, freeloading meals, drinking, and gambling would have long since come to swap houses with him. Pittman wasn’t the type to settle for poverty; otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken up antique appraisal just because druidry didn’t pay well.

Stepping into the cabin, which looked brand new—and in fact seemed to be improving every day—Gawain immediately spotted the old druid bent over a workbench, busy with experiments. The old man had clearly noticed the lord’s arrival but didn’t look up. “My lord, please wait a moment. I’m almost done here—spell experiments can’t be interrupted. These devices are a bit outdated, so I have to keep a close eye on them…”

Amber, standing nearby, cut him off without hesitation. “Stop pretending. None of those containers have even started reacting yet. This obsession with academic research and devotion to truth doesn’t suit your lordly image.”

Gawain had just been halfway moved by Pittman’s diligent attitude when Amber’s blunt exposure made him glance at the old man suspiciously. Pittman straightened up from the bench, puffed out his cheeks, and glared at the half-elf lady. “I’m just trying to scam some research funding! What’s your problem?”

Amber rolled her eyes. “Obviously, I’m on whoever pays my salary’s side.”

“Ahem,” Gawain quickly cleared his throat to steer the conversation back on track. “I came to see your experimental results. It seems you’ve cracked the key step for mass-producing potions?”

At that, Pittman put down the outdated alchemical tools he’d been using to fake reactions and stood proudly, leading Gawain to the other side of the lab where the alchemy platform was set up. “Take a look at this!”

Curious, Gawain approached. On the platform was a complex array of interconnected flasks, retorts, condensers, and distillation pots—typical alchemical apparatus. Though the setup was intricate, it wasn’t especially unusual compared to Pittman’s previous potion-making. What really stood out were the two containers etched with elaborate magical runes, and a strange array of unfamiliar sigils in the center of the platform.

Gawain was certain that normal alchemy tables and vessels didn’t have such markings.

“What are these?” he asked.

“This is the ‘Druidic Divine Array’—a magical array designed to replace the caster’s participation,” Pittman said with a proud blink.

“The Druidic Divine Array?!”

“Yes,” Pittman nodded. “As you know, the biggest obstacle to mass-producing druidic potions was the final ‘enchantment’ step, which required a caster’s involvement. Only druidic magic could catalyze these potions.”

He paused, then continued, “Druidic magic originates from ancient natural divine arts, completely different from the modern conventional magic system. There’s no established ‘spell model to rune array’ conversion system for it. In other words, many druidic spells can’t be converted into magic arrays. This meant we couldn’t simply carve runes onto objects to replace casters, like with the Arcane Network or thermal ray guns. This limited potion mass production because druids are few, and each individual’s magical capacity is limited.”

Gawain looked at the usually irreverent old man in surprise. “So you managed to convert druidic magic into a magic array?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s an ancient druidic divine array,” Pittman said solemnly. “Back when the druidic order was still a nature deity cult, druidic magic was a form of divine magic, and the ‘divine array’ was the framework for that magic.”

“For that, I pored over countless ancient texts—spent 127 gold coins on books, plus extra for runners to fetch them…”

Gawain interrupted with a laugh, “That serious tone doesn’t suit the topic. I’ll reimburse you later.”

“But I remember all druidic divine magic has long since become defunct. How can those ancient divine arrays still work?”

“Of course, they can’t be used directly. But look at these runes… don’t they seem familiar?”

Gawain looked again, now noticing that the magical patterns on the containers and the symbols on the alchemy platform did look somewhat familiar—especially the way elemental runes and holy symbols were combined. It gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.

A few seconds later, realization dawned on him: this was the same kind of hybrid magic array used in the mountain ruins and the Shadow Realm—the massive mixed array designed to control and bind the flesh and blood of gods! That magic array combined elemental runes with divine symbols!

Gawain’s eyes widened. “This is technology excavated from the ruins?”

“Exactly,” Pittman nodded. “You had all those arrays copied from the mountain ruins, but Lady Hetty was stumped by the divine array parts. So she came to me for help. Although druidic divine magic is lost, as an ancient order that values tradition, we preserved those holy symbols purely as academic material. Hetty asked me to help decipher their meanings, and during that process, I discovered a bold experiment by the Gondor Empire…”

“A bold experiment?” Gawain frowned. From Pittman’s tone, he sensed this was no simple secret.

Of course, it could just be the old man’s new trick to scam research funds. If so, that would be easier to handle—just give him a good scolding. After all, as a 700-year-old coffin spirit and a 7-million-year-old satellite spirit, Gawain could beat up anyone here without worrying about accusations of disrespecting elders.

Though if anyone claimed beating an old man was child abuse, well, he’d just have to accept that.

Fortunately, Pittman wasn’t joking this time. “They were trying to ‘find an interface to divine power.’”

As he spoke, the old man pointed to the magical patterns on the containers and platform. “Unless you strictly follow doctrine, divine power can’t be harnessed by mortals. This is a universally accepted limitation. But the ancient Gondor mages apparently tried to defy this. They designed this hybrid array to bypass some kind of ‘restriction’ set by the gods, allowing them to manipulate divine power through magic. From the clues you found in the mountain ruins, their attempt was clearly successful—or at least partially so. They found a ‘connection point’ to control divine magic using magical runes. Although with our current technology, we can’t fully reconstruct that complex hybrid array or generate the immense energy needed to power it, we can still learn from their rune arrangement.”

What Pittman described was astonishing and promising, but Gawain couldn’t help but ask, “I recall others tried to use magic to wield divine power and all failed. One holy light priest was even consumed by the very light he tried to command… Are you sure this technique is safe?”

“There’s always risk with magic, but managing risk is part of our job,” Pittman nodded. “I know about those failed attempts—we discussed them last time. In my view, they simply took the wrong approach.”

“The wrong approach?”

“Yes. Those who failed tried to forcibly translate divine symbols into elemental runes by substituting them one-to-one, like awkwardly replacing every word in an Elvish text with a similar word in Common tongue. Even if the words are swapped, the grammar and syntax differences make the result nonsense,” Pittman shook his head. “The Gondor mages were much smarter. They realized human ‘language’ can’t ‘translate’ divine power. So they created an ‘interface.’ Instead of crudely translating divine symbols, they drew the divine array itself, then placed control runes at key points. At input and output stages, they used materials both sentient and conductive to serve as ‘conversion media.’ This way, they indirectly transformed divine power—from a rigid energy that must strictly follow doctrine—into a flexible energy, like mana, that mortals can easily use.”

For some reason, as Pittman described the crude substitution of divine symbols with elemental runes, Gawain’s mind flashed the words “machine translation.”

So this was the otherworld’s version of bad machine translation causing disasters…

“So, you’ve mastered this ‘interface’ technology?” Gawain shook his head, brushing away the ridiculous mental image, and asked.

“Not completely. After all, what you had copied were just some magic arrays, not the original Gondor research documents. I still need to study these arrays carefully to understand the interface’s exact principles,” Pittman said honestly, showing no arrogance in this risky, specialized field. “Right now, I’ve only found a partial application method and connected it to the ancient druidic divine array.”

Pittman stroked his beard and smiled. “Strictly speaking, what I’m doing with the druidic divine array is the opposite of what the Gondor mages did. They drew power from the divine array, but since druidic divine magic is long lost and its arrays can no longer release energy, I reversed the process—using mana to ‘charge’ the divine array and make it function. Of course, there’s some energy loss in the process, but it’s not too significant. Supported by the new hive magic network, the energy loss from this reverse transformation is perfectly acceptable.”

The old druid raised his hand, pointing to a corner of the apparatus on the alchemy table. “You’ve probably noticed this already—there’s a port here that connects to the leyline network. Once linked, the leyline’s power flows through this ‘Divine Energy Inversion Array’ on the alchemy platform, converting it into the energy of a divine ritual. This, in turn, catalyzes the potions in these two containers, as if an ancient druidic priest were casting spells on them—transforming ordinary herbal extracts into magical elixirs.”

Finishing his explanation, the old druid let out a long breath and turned to High Lord: “My lord, this is the mass-production method I’ve discovered.”

(End of chapter)