Chapter 118: History—Begins

Mental power continued to simulate and deduce. Familiarizing oneself with magic arrays was a compulsory lesson for every arcanist. The more familiar one became with an array, the lower the failure rate during experimental inscription, and the faster an arcanist could master it.

Throughout the entire Tower of Sunlight, everyone could sense arcane power endlessly gathering on the top floor where the chief resided, while spiritual energy gradually calculated the core nodes of each magic array.

Verifying a spell was a long and arduous process. Each arcane pattern and node had to be simulated step by step before the initial inscription could be attempted on the silver plate.

“Grand Archmage Alan, I’ll need your help again this time. Help me condense my mental power and control the inscription paths. We’ll work together to make it.”

[You know how to call me Grand Archmage now? Why don’t you keep calling me Granny?]

Patrick cautiously asked, “Then, Granny, could you help me?”

[#$%@!...*%）]

In the end, Alan still came over to help. As before, Alan used his mental power to provide assistance while Patrick began his preliminary practice.

Inscribing a magic array was dull and tedious, but there was nothing to do except endure it in silence.

…

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Silvermoon City, the Cabolon Family.

“Paterson, what are your thoughts regarding your younger brother’s plans?” Old Phil and several others were discussing Patrick’s proposal with Paterson.

Nasalan Cabolon was somewhat reluctant. “Developing ourselves in Silvermoon City would certainly be advantageous, but the other members of the council will never allow us to expand freely. His concerns are well founded. However, asking every member of the clan to leave Silvermoon City seems rather unreasonable.”

“But Silvermoon City truly is a place rife with trouble.” Old Phil let out a long sigh. Having lived in Silvermoon City for thousands of years, how could he fail to understand the darkness beneath its glittering surface?

“Sunwing and the Dawnstriders have already prepared their moves in secret. Our economic foundation in Silvermoon City is gradually declining, while the center of the family’s finances is shifting toward the Sun Temple. Neither of those developments is within our control.” Paterson sounded unwilling, but there was nothing he could do. That was reality.

“But if we abandon Silvermoon City completely, how will the family develop in the future? Can we truly achieve success by transferring everything to the Sun Temple, just as Patrick suggested?” The butler, Melaris, was equally perplexed. Yet as the family’s first councilor, Patrick’s words naturally carried tremendous weight.

“Allowing those council families to stir up trouble around us while we offer no resistance at all makes us look far too weak. I admit that the four families—the Sunwings, the Dawnstriders, the Stars of Dawn, and the Morning Winds—hold absolute power in Silvermoon City. But it is not as though we are entirely powerless to fight back. In terms of status, Patrick has already become a councilor, a master of equal standing with the heads of the four great families. We have no reason to fear them.”

The other pillars of the family voiced what many members had long wished to say. They believed that the Cabolon family’s repeated concessions would only cause the council and its allies to look down upon them.

The truth remained the same: the Cabolon family’s development would inevitably consume the shares held by other families. Cutting off another person’s path to wealth was as unforgivable as killing their parents—and sometimes, it inspired even greater hatred.

With Patrick and Councilor Oxley cooperating in secret, the council had lost one enemy. But Silvermoon City was not controlled solely by the four great families. The lesser families, neither powerful nor insignificant, were all watching the Cabolon family intently. Some hoped to seize a share of the spoils; others wanted to watch the emerging family clash violently with the old guard.

In short, every one of them harbored ulterior motives while calmly observing the Cabolon family’s predicament.

Old Phil knew perfectly well that even if he joined forces with all their vassal families, they would still be no match for the council’s “allied army” in Silvermoon City. Yet there was little he could do about it. Phil Cabolon felt utterly exhausted—body and soul.

He had thought that, after seeing his youngest son become a councilor, the Cabolon family would have brought honor to its ancestors, allowing him to gradually withdraw from public affairs while handing the family’s primary responsibilities over to his eldest son. Who could have known that after Patrick became an executive councilor, one troublesome matter after another would come knocking? He was even more exhausted than before.

At last, after a long struggle within himself, his elder brother Paterson made a decision.

“There may still be room for development in the Sun Temple. Beyond Silvermoon City, we will be operating in an environment entirely under our control. Once Patrick’s floating experiment succeeds, even more elves will come to the Sun Temple to develop their futures. We have no need to worry about the family’s prospects. As long as Patrick remains an executive councilor, we will always retain the right to make our voices heard in the Silvermoon Council—and in Silvermoon City.”

Thinking of the relationship between Patrick and Alleria, Paterson continued, “If our marriage alliance with the Windrunner family succeeds, then the entire Ghostlands will essentially fall into our hands. In the future, how many councilors would dare disregard our opinions?”

Although the Windrunners had all originated as rangers, they had relied on their authority among the rangers to command the ranger forces of the entire Kingdom of Quel’thalas, thereby earning the family a seat on the Silvermoon Council.

“Perhaps this is precisely why Patrick is doing all this: to give the family better prospects for development. When the Cabolon family returns to Silvermoon City, we will be unstoppable.” Paterson pondered this silently.

…

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The inscription of the floating array finally began. After a long period of simulation and reproduction, Patrick had at last received the approval of Alan Moon Saint and could begin creating the floating array.

[Concentrate completely. Synchronize our mental powers. We are about to begin.]

Arcane energy circulated through his hands, while an energy chisel flashed across the thin sheet of arcanite. Lines of magical runes took shape in an instant. Alan’s mental power moved with effortless precision; even as he inscribed the array, he was able to blend arcane dust and potent magical essence into the process, incorporating the essence directly into the arcane circuits as he worked.

Arcane crystals and gemstones of every kind began to interlock around it. Once the inscribed arcanite sheets were complete, they were drawn into circular rings. More than a dozen rings of varying sizes were gathered together, their centers carefully aligned. Nested within one another, the rings rotated in different directions according to the flow of energy within each.

All the arcanite rings revolved around the central spherical space. The middle had been deliberately left open by Patrick, ensuring that the platinum disc stored within the secure chamber would have enough room to be placed inside the array assembly.

The arcane crystals that had already been inscribed around the perimeter rose into the air and formed a powerful crystal energy field over the entire structure. It would protect the arrays on the rings while also enhancing, guiding, and transmitting the effects of the spell.

The entire Sun Temple could sense the magical tide spreading from within the Tower of Sunlight. Surging arcane energy continuously burst outward, and the crystals mounted on the tower shone with extraordinary brilliance, as though proclaiming the tower master’s formidable spellcasting ability to every elf in the Sun Temple.

At last, the crystals atop the Tower of Sunlight began to glow white-hot, erupting with an intense arcane fluctuation. The surrounding air shook violently as pure arcane energy spread outward, then gradually settled back into normality.

In the distance, Alleria arrived at the Sun Temple immediately after finishing her official duties. She had not seen Patrick in quite some time and had hurried there without stopping.

Halfway there, she sensed a wave of arcane energy rushing toward her. The surrounding elves were all stunned, but Alleria alone recognized the familiar scent of Patrick’s magic—pure, clear, and natural. The elven woman smiled triumphantly, and the longing in her heart only grew stronger.