Although he had put the crystal away again, Gawain could still "see" that bird's-eye view in his mind, as though it were some kind of energy imaging. But he quickly found a way to turn it off: as long as he consciously shifted his attention away from the overhead view and focused on something else, the image would disappear on its own. Bringing it back was just as simple—he only needed to consciously call for it.
During this process, he no longer needed the crystal's power.
Some kind of mentally controlled "link" appeared to have been established, while the crystal's role in the process had probably been nothing more than that of a key... or a catalyst.
Gawain sat behind his desk, looking at the questions he had written on paper. He gathered his thoughts and tried to answer them.
Based on Gawain Cecil's memories, along with what had just happened, it could now be confirmed that changes in the "sun" overhead were directly connected to the Magic Tide on the ground. Whenever Sunspots appeared on the sun's surface, magic on the land would surge, and the elements would become active as well. The so-called Dark Magic Tide was actually an instantaneous eruption of vast quantities of chaotic, disordered magic—a process in which Elemental Power spiraled out of control like an avalanche and eroded the material world. As for the monsters that appeared within the Elemental Storm—their nature remained unclear, so for now, they could be regarded as a secondary phenomenon caused by elemental rampages.
The sentient beings of this world were no strangers to Sunspots and Magic Surge. It was a natural phenomenon, irregular but not uncommon. So Gawain boldly hypothesized that the essence of the Magic Tide was a Magic Surge that had crossed some "critical threshold." Once the amplification of magic in this world reached a certain limit, the stable order of the elements would be disrupted, and the Magic Tide would erupt.
What role did the sun play in all this?
Did Sunspots cause magic to surge? Or were the two not causally related, but merely two manifestations of the same event?
Gawain thought for a moment and added a small question to the paper: What was the sun's true nature?
It was a gas giant, which seemed certain—at least, that was how the "monitoring information" described it. Yet it was clearly very different in nature from the gas giants Gawain knew.
The gas giants of Gawain's homeworld were not celestial bodies that gave off Light and Heat. Though they were usually filled with tremendous amounts of nuclear fuel and released energy radiation of a certain intensity, they had not reached the fusion threshold. Such gas giants were "cold," like unlit furnaces. But the "sun" of this world was clearly providing the land with Light and Heat.
Had it been "ignited"? Or did it display such unusual properties because the laws of the two worlds differed?
After thinking it over, Gawain personally leaned more toward the second explanation. Those Sunspots and Magic Surge phenomena all reminded him that this world possessed physical laws entirely different from those of his homeworld. If he remained trapped in rigid thinking, he would likely be wasting his effort when considering these questions.
He also had an important reason for ruling out the first possibility: if that enormous sun in the sky really was an ignited gas giant undergoing fusion reactions, then it could already be regarded as a star. The Light and Heat it released would absolutely not be this limited. Given its apparent size and its nearly blue-white surface color, the heat it released should have been enough to burn the planet beneath his feet into ash.
Gawain wrote down his conclusion: The "sun" was a gas giant with unusual properties. Its activity affected the magic at the surface, presumably through some kind of catalytic energy radiation. The appearance of Sunspots might indicate increased energy radiation, but without effective means of detection, the answer remained uncertain.
Then came the second question: what exactly was this "monitoring satellite"?
It might have been an ancient civilization, or an outpost left in the skies above this planet by visitors from beyond the heavens. The civilization that built it had to be extremely advanced. At the very least, they were unafraid of the Magic Tide—the satellite could even hang leisurely in space and watch the show while the Magic Tide erupted. That alone demonstrated an overwhelming technological gap. But where was the civilization that had left this observation post—assuming for now that there was only one satellite?
Considering that the satellite he had crossed over through was severely malfunctioning, yet no maintenance service had appeared to repair it, Gawain boldly guessed that the civilization which left it behind had either already gone extinct or departed long ago, no longer paying attention to this place.
Of course, it was also possible that some big shot was so absurdly rich that losing a satellite or two was like using up a few napkins, so nobody bothered to check on it. But that possibility was extremely low, and Gawain barely considered it.
No matter what, the satellite was nearly done for, and no maintenance personnel had come knocking. For the time being, it seemed he did not need to worry about some super-civilization descending to beat up the little guys. That was good news—but on second thought, if that super-civilization could solve the Magic Tide problem and simply chose not to come, then that was terrible news beyond measure...
As for the satellite's intended function, perhaps it was meant to monitor Magic Fluctuation.
Gawain recalled the second type of bird's-eye view he had seen before—he called the clear satellite views he had seen over countless millennia the first type. In the second type, the entire land was covered by filters of various colors. Perhaps those shades represented Magic Fluctuation, and the synchronized changes in those colors whenever Magic Surge occurred supported that guess. So the satellite was actually an early-warning device for the Magic Tide?
At the very least, "early warning" should have been one of its functions.
It was just that the state of this observation post was probably worrying. No matter what orders Gawain gave, he could not make any adjustments to those images. Worse, the display would occasionally suffer severe interference patterns and shaking. All of it reminded him—the system was probably nearing the end of its lifespan.
That left only the final question: why had Gawain Cecil, an ancient man from seven hundred years ago, left behind such a crystal?
Gawain still could not understand all of the crystal's properties, but he had at least confirmed that it could help him reconnect with some monitoring station in the sky. Would this crystal work for other people too?
If it did, what had Gawain Cecil used it for back then? Had he also gained a satellite perspective like Gawain himself?
Emmmmm... the more he thought about it, the more it made perfect sense. The most formidable Expansion Knight of that era had been able to lead a group of refugees through the Magic Tide and monsters, complete a desperate breakout like some extreme parkour run, and establish a new kingdom because he had access to a full-map cheat...
But speculation alone would not do. He had to test it himself.
Holding the intact crystal, Gawain considered how he should test it. This involved his secret, so he could not casually hand it to just anyone. Though the natives of this world would probably be unable to make sense of a thermal-imaging-like bird's-eye view, he still had to worry that there might be exceptionally intelligent people among them who could infer some truth from those views.
So he needed to find someone reliable enough—someone who, even if they succeeded in the test immediately, would not cause anything uncontrollable to happen.
In truth, Gawain was worrying a little too much. Given the worldview of most people in this world, they would never have concepts like a satellite gaining consciousness, landing, and being reborn. If they suddenly saw a giant map through a crystal, their only thought would probably be, This thing is a Divine Artifact with an Eagle Eye Technique over ten thousand levels. But Gawain's thinking had not yet fully aligned with this world's.
So after pondering aimlessly for a while, he slowly raised his head and looked toward Miss Amber, who was standing beside the desk with her mind somewhere else entirely.
The half-elf girl felt a chill run through her body. Turning her head, she saw Gawain staring straight at her, and goosebumps immediately rose all over her skin. "Y-you... what are you trying to do?! You've finally revealed your noble nature and are getting ready to make a move on your own guard, aren't you..."
Not this one. She was disobedient, unreliable, and sly as a monkey. If he let her conduct the test, who knew how much trouble she would cause.
Gawain promptly dismissed the idea. Just then, someone came in to report that Rebecca, who had gone out to survey the land, had returned.
Gawain's face immediately lit up. "Hurry and have her come here!"
Rebecca soon rushed into the tent. She had spent most of the day running around outside, yet she did not look tired in the slightest. On the contrary, she was brimming with energy. She thought Gawain wanted her report, so the moment she entered, she hurriedly began, "Ancestor! You probably wouldn't believe how much good land there is nearby—I thought everything around the Dark Mountains was barren wilderness that couldn't be developed, but following the map you gave me, I actually found..."
"It's fine, that can wait," Gawain said, waving a hand to interrupt Rebecca. He handed her the crystal. "There's something I need you to do."
He watched his N+1-generation great-granddaughter with a smile, feeling that she was the complete opposite of Amber—
Obedient, reliable, and apparently had her brain caught in a door.
Rebecca blankly accepted the crystal Gawain handed her, unable to guess what her ancient ancestor wanted. "And then?"
Gawain carefully thought about how he had connected with the satellite and began instructing her from beside the desk. "Then imagine that, very high up—higher even than the clouds—there is something that can look down upon the land. Now do your best to establish a connection with that thing."
Rebecca blinked. "Oh, oh, you mean the Eye of Mystery?"
The Eye of Mystery was a concept among mages. They believed that everyone gifted in magic possessed a pair of eyes transcending their own bodies. These eyes floated above the entire world, immersed in the Aether Sea, observing the essence of the world and the flow of magic on behalf of the mage. The quality of these eyes determined each mage's talent throughout their study and advancement. Mages could not directly perceive these eyes, but their souls could in the subconscious—the process of meditation was the process of communicating with them.
That was not what Gawain meant, of course. "No, somewhere even higher than the Eye of Mystery, and something more specific. Something that truly exists, like a magical device."
Rebecca tried hard for a moment, then gave him a slightly apologetic smile. "But I can't see anything?"
Gawain then tried several other methods of guidance, yet the crystal in Rebecca's hand did not react at all.
It seemed... there would be no conclusive proof that Duke Gawain Cecil from seven hundred years ago had used a full-map cheat.
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