Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 737 - 736: Shadows of the Mind

Frost Moon draws to a close, and winter has arrived in all the countries of the Northern Continent.

The bitter north wind howls through the city streets, creating sharp whistles as it passes between buildings. Snow on the rooftops is blown off, dancing mid-air into a hazy curtain, as though another round of snowfall is upon us.

But all of this is kept at bay by thick walls, laminated crystal glass, and the heating system.

Gawain sat in his study, flipping through a book about the folklore of the Northern Continent, while his other hand held a dipping pen, sketching whatever images and inspirations came to mind on a piece of draft paper. The howling wind outside, filtered through the glass, became a faint echo indoors, blending with the low melody from the magic device in the corner, calming his mind even more.

Betty stood quietly beside the desk, hands clasped over the apron of her maid outfit, nodding off with soft snores.

Gawain glanced at the dozing Betty and couldn’t help but smile and shake his head, redirecting his focus back to his casual sketches. Suddenly, he felt an unusual sensation with the dipping pen, accompanied by a soft "crack." Glancing down, he saw that the well-used pen had cracked at the tip, its ink leaking through the fissure and staining the paper.

Frowning, Gawain set the broken pen aside and looked at the lines sketched on the paper—a meandering river flowed quietly, with quaint brick houses along its banks, a little stone bridge arching over the water. The sunset cast a glow on the eaves of waterside homes.

The spreading ink stain on the stone bridge seemed as if it were gradually devouring the scene.

Casually, Gawain crumpled the draft paper into a ball and tossed it aside, just as the study door opened and Amber walked in.

Betty, startled awake, stood up straight but relaxed again after seeing who it was, stifling a yawn.

Gawain looked up at the half-elf young lady entering the room and couldn’t help but grin: "...It’s really cold now, isn’t it."

"...Huh?" Amber hadn’t said anything yet and was momentarily taken aback, "Why mention this all of a sudden?"

Gawain pointed to the window: "This season, not even you are coming in through the window anymore."

Upon hearing this, Amber immediately put her hands on her hips, glaring: "What nonsense! It’s freezing and windy out there, climbing to your window on the second floor against the wind and snow, risking being locked out—I’m not insane!"

Then she noticed the crumbled paper on Gawain’s desk—everyone knows Amber is a creature of insatiable curiosity—so she couldn’t help but come closer with curiosity. After discerning from Gawain’s expression that it wasn’t anything confidential, she casually uncrumpled the paper, seeing only a strange drawing on it.

"What’s this place... Gondor Empire maybe? Isn’t the sun drawn a bit small..." Amber blinked, "A strange architectural style, looks quite nice though... But based on the architecture, it probably can’t be the northern parts of the mountain range, right? Where do you plan to promote it?"

"Just a random sketch, consider it a figment of my imagination," Gawain flicked the paper in Amber’s hand with his fingers, and the drawing depicting another world silently turned to dust, "Let’s not talk about this anymore, anything of note?"

"Hey, don’t destroy it, what a pity..." Amber instinctively exclaimed, then shrugged, "Nothing major, just some news about Typhon’s border troops already outfitting their magic vehicles... earlier than we expected."

Hearing Amber’s words, Gawain lightly pinched his jaw, pondering for a moment before smiling slightly: "It was bound to happen, it’s an inevitable trend. Notify Longwind Fortress to maintain vigilance."

"Got it. Also, Aunt Heidi asked me to remind you," Amber continued, "the Imperial Academy is set to open next month, with scholars from all over starting to arrive at the end of this month. Have you set the specific opening date?"

"The Imperial Academy... this matter is finally ready," Gawain said, nodding, "The opening day is set for the first rest day of next month, no changes to the other schedules."

"Got it, I’ll note that down."

Gawain gave a small nod. After a brief pause, he asked casually, "Oh, what’s Bard up to now?"

"At the Sorin Giant Tree’s Druid Research Institute, working as a researcher and special advisor. Reports from the monitoring staff say he’s doing well, actively cooperating with various operations and assisting the team there in transferring a large number of dangerous samples out of the underground ruins," Amber reported, "Now that the transfer of those hazardous samples is mostly complete, Bard’s next task is to collaborate with the Druids and scholars to study the photosynthesis of the Sorin Giant Tree in winter—they hope this research can aid in improving crops."

"Hmm, very good," Gawain nodded, then asked, "What about Beltira?"

"Engaged in photosynthesis."

Gawain: "...Huh?"

Amber couldn’t resist rolling her eyes: "What else would you expect her to do?"

Gawain paused for a second, holding his forehead: "...True, she’s a plant after all, usually just..."

In the midst of his sigh, a peculiar vibration from deep within his spirit suddenly emerged, halting his speech.

Across the table, Amber cast a curious gaze: "What is it?"

"Hold on, Daniel seems to have something for me," Gawain waved his hand, "Watch for me, I need to meditate. Betty, stand by the door, don’t let anyone in."

Amber agreed readily, while the little maid dashed to the door. Without further delay, Gawain quickly concentrated, gradually immersing his consciousness into the layer of the spiritual network.

After a brief dizziness and illusion of spatial displacement, the scene before him transformed into the Origin Space, a vast and serene expanse of azure skies and waters. Gigantic geometric patterns and gear-like structures rotated silently in the sky. On the vast, windless and waveless water surface stood numerous metal platforms—unlike when this space was first created, these metal platforms were no longer barren; they were now equipped with various experimental devices, forming distinct research environments.

In the distance, lights flickered on the metal platforms, indicating that a group was currently connected to this network space via immersion capsules, conducting some experiments.

The open area at the center of the Origin Space is never disturbed by those experimental environments. Here still stands a white round table, with a circle of empty chairs around it. Daniel stands in front of one of the chairs, and upon seeing Gawain appear, the old Mage immediately bows respectfully: "My lord, I apologize for suddenly disturbing you."

"No need for formalities," Gawain waves his hand and casually sits down in his high-back chair, "What happened?"

Daniel immediately replies: "My lord, recently there have been some anomalies in the mind network, I felt it necessary to report this to you."

"Oh?" Gawain lifts his eyelid, "Tell me in detail."

"Here’s the situation..."

Daniel reports in full detail the recent rumors and strange tales circulating in the Eternal Sleepers’ mind network, along with the various clues he’s gathered through his own connections and forces, leaving nothing out.

"...Basically, these are the kinds of abnormal phenomena that have appeared in the mind network recently. The Supreme Council of Bishops claims these are just rumors, and my investigations have yet to uncover solid evidence of the above anomalies, but judging from the frequency and range of the ’sighting reports’ and the intelligence I’ve gathered from within the bishops’ circles, the situation might not be so simple.

"It seems the operation of the mind network indeed has some issues. The stability of some virtual spaces is declining, and certain Eternal Sleepers who have been connected to the network for a long time likely have encountered troubles—I found some hidden rescue messages in the deep database, but for some reason, when I reached out to those members who sent out the rescue messages, they knew nothing about it.

"Recently, three areas at the edge of the dream city have been locked down. The Supreme Council of Bishops claims it is for data reconstruction and necessary maintenance, which is quite a normal operation. Temporary lockdowns at the edges have happened before, but having such an event occur in this time period inevitably raises suspicions."

As Daniel relays the intelligence he collected, Gawain’s brows knit more tightly the more he listens.

The anomaly is already very apparent. Perhaps the ordinary believers are still deceived by the Supreme Council of Bishops and the Pontiff of the Eternal Sleepers, but Daniel, as a bishop, has gathered enough intelligence to confirm that the mind network indeed has issues.

Its operation has encountered a fault, but... what is the cause?

Gawain instinctively glances around the Origin Space, an irrational association spontaneously arising, making his expression involuntarily peculiar.

The Origin Space was secretly carved out from the depths of the mind network by him, leveraging the Eternal Sleepers’ computational power and mind network traffic. Recently, due to new project groups being established at the Magic Guide Technology Research Institute, the frequency of Origin Space usage seems to have increased...

Damn, perhaps he’s been exploiting the resources too harshly, about to exhaust this sheep to death...

Daniel couldn’t possibly guess what kind of wild ideas the powerful Wanderers from Outer Realm was having in mind at this moment; he only became somewhat anxious due to Gawain’s sudden silence: "My lord?"

Gawain awakens from his contemplation, looking at Daniel: "Do you think... the anomalies in the mind network could be related to the Origin Space?"

"...My lord, honestly, I have considered this direction as well," Daniel ponders seriously for a moment, bowing his head in response, "After all, the Origin Space and the mind network’s operations are closely linked, and it’s recently engaged in several large-scale projects, extracting massive computational power from the network. However, upon careful inspection, I believe the likelihood that the Origin Space is causing the mind network faults is very low."

"Oh?"

"The computational power drawn by the Origin Space from the mind network belongs to the ’redundant’ section, in other words, it’s the computational power that exists outside the core range of the mind network and doesn’t affect the overall operation of the network," Daniel explains, "The original design of the Eternal Sleepers’ network resource management was very simplistic and crude, leading to a great deal of wasted computational power. After I restructured their management mechanism, this wasted computational power was hidden by me and exclusively used to maintain the Origin Space. Therefore, theoretically, no matter how the Origin Space expands or develops, it shouldn’t affect the main network..."

"Hmm..." Gawain strokes his chin, pondering, "So you’re saying that the abnormal fluctuations of the mind network won’t impact the Origin Space?"

"Theoretically, that’s the case, but we should still strengthen monitoring of the Origin Space," Daniel nods, "Especially since we have yet to ascertain the cause behind the anomalies in the core network. If there’re underlying issues in the foundation of the ’mind network,’ then even though the Origin Space and the core network are isolated, we cannot guarantee no problems will occur."

"Would researchers working in the Origin Laboratory be in danger?" Gawain voices his most pressing concern at the moment.

"At the moment, it doesn’t seem so," Daniel evidently already considered this aspect as well, responding promptly, "Those connectors experiencing abnormal states in the mind network have a common denominator: they’ve maintained long-term connections, undergone deep neural modifications, practically unable to completely disconnect, often deeply immersed, their mental ties with the network too close. However, our researchers in the Origin Laboratory connect through Immersion Capsules, having a layer of protection in the real world without undergoing deep immersion, and strictly adhere to the work schedule you set. They don’t maintain prolonged connections, their safety can be ensured."

Gawain breathes a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this: "That’s good... but we should still stay vigilant. I’ll remind my researchers to pay extra attention to their mental states when connecting to the network, and you continue to monitor any and all anomalies in the mind network."

Daniel immediately bows his head deeply: "Yes, my lord."

Gawain exhales, tilting his head to look up at the vast, boundless sky above.

Massive geometric structures and symbolic numbers continue to operate within the clear firmament, the invisible wall of data blocking the connection between this secret space and the main network. Standing in the vast expanse of water and sky in the Origin Space, visitors wouldn’t sense that there’s another, more enormous network running in sync with this space.

Yet after Gawain activates a more advanced authority, he can see much more—

He can see a vast network world parallel to the Origin Space, a magnificent dream city sprawling above this space, countless points of light drifting in the void, those being the Eternal Sleepers serving as computational nodes, residents of this network world.

And beneath his feet, under the vast "water’s surface," lies a more chaotic, more complex flow of light, which is the deeper foundation of the mind network, the darkest, deepest network "abyss" of this virtual world built over hundreds of years.

He frowns.

This sheep doesn’t appear to be exhausted because of him...

Then why did it suddenly end up like this?