Learning, Mastering, Solving Problems
When Fran flew down to find the mage Henry, the mage who had just been questioned snorted.
"Do whatever you want, you can go find whoever you want, they won't say a word, we've all signed an agreement..." He thought to himself, watching Fran's figure, then turned back to stare blankly at the inscription.
Henry was summoned directly to a small platform to the side by Fran. The walls of this platform were engraved with many bright blue Magic Inscription.
Henry scratched his head, somewhat confused as to why Fran had specifically called him over. Fran didn't explain, but simply commanded Henry:
"Explain to me what the inscription on this is, and why it's placed here?"
"Ah?"
Henry was taken aback for a moment before realizing why Fran had summoned him. After learning that he needed to do this, he suddenly wondered if he was still half asleep, otherwise why would he hear such an order?
"Boss, what do you mean by this?"
Henry didn't know Fran's name, and according to protocol he shouldn't, so he could only address her as "the leader."
What you call him is actually not important; what matters is why Fran asked him to do this.
"This is my order. Are you going to disobey this top-secret mission?"
Henry was speechless, and it took him a while to come up with a rebuttal.
"But this is not within the rules."
"My order for you to inspect those Magic Inscription now is also against the rules. Has the inspection been leaked to other departments? Has it been approved? What procedure will the final results go through and to whom will they be submitted?"
Henry didn't argue further, but simply gave Fran a slight reminder.
"But, Master, this knowledge of Magic Inscription is exclusive to the Construct School, you..."
"I know, that's why I told you to hurry up and tell me, don't waste my time."
Henry sighed, but still gritted his teeth and began explaining to Fran.
Fran didn't say which School she belonged to, and given Fran persistent requests, Henry had no choice but to explain it to her.
Fran, of course, waved the banner of top-secret operation with impunity, deliberately making it seem as if even her own School couldn't be revealed. Only under such hints would Henry divulge his knowledge of these Magic Inscription.
"This Magic Inscription uses a slot structure, and the pouring type is a standard umbrella shape, so it has to be placed there..."
"This Magic Inscription is on the same plane as the inscriptions of the same type mentioned above, and it is equidistant from all other inscriptions..."
"This is a separate inscription that bore the brunt of the pressure on the entire wall, so we have to repair it regularly..."
For Fran, who had never systematically studied Magic Inscription, this was like listening to gibberish—full of technical terms and standard references...
She knew none of these things; she could only rely on her memory to memorize them. Then she would stare blankly at those unrelated, utterly incoherent pieces of knowledge in her memory, until...
[You listened to an experienced and insightful mage explain the Magic Inscription on a wall, which deepened your understanding of Magic Inscription. Magic Inscription +5]
After gaining +5 proficiency, Fran looked at the seemingly unrelated knowledge and actually started to get a sense of it. She knew that this was the effect of the Panel.
Back in Harbos's class, she only listened to a short lecture, yet her Foundry Studies were already close to mastery. This shows that a lecture from a master in this field, regardless of whether he or she has prepared carefully, will be considered a bonus on the Panel.
Just like Harbos back then, the staff-making techniques he taught were far too advanced for the apprentices to understand. Even so, the Panel could still increase her proficiency very quickly.
The Henry she was looking for was the same; if the mage hadn't lied, Henry had been nominated for the Magic Barrier Award.
This award holds a similar position in the Construct School as the Gold Alchemy Award in the Alchemy School, except that the Magic Barrier Award is specifically for those sub-categories of magical defense.
Henry probably made some achievements in magical defense through Magic Inscription, which is why he received this nomination.
Henry's Magic Inscription skills were clearly recognized by the Panel; even without Harbos's master evaluation, they were still quite good and could increase Fran's proficiency.
Henry's mind raced; in truth, he hadn't explained anything complicated. Seeing that Fran didn't object to his explanation,
He then let loose and began to talk about the origin, changes, and arrangement of an inscription. His explanations were so detailed that he could talk for an hour about just three inscriptions without going into too much detail.
Fran would glance at the mages working over there every now and then, and if she saw anyone spacing out, she would tap them on the shoulder with her Telekinetic Hand to remind them not to get distracted.
She listened to Henry's explanation gradually, from not understanding anything at all, to beginning to understand some, until...
[Magic Inscription (Mastery) (Proficiency: 1/1000): A discipline created and utilized by mages; you are now able to apply this discipline to some practical tasks.]
Upon seeing this prompt, Fran instinctively felt the scene before her change instantly. The complex Magic Inscription that had been sitting on the wall had now become examples that Fran could study.
Just looking at those deliberately controlled spacings, she felt she had learned a lot; she hadn't realized that this could be done.
She could now understand about 70% of Henry's explanations, and she could feel the knowledge she had memorized being slowly broken down.
Fran glanced down at her watch and realized it was already 12:30. She was scheduled to participate in Magic Duel at 3:00 PM.
With about three hours left, Fran glanced at Henry, who was still engrossed in his explanation, then turned around and took out a pen and paper.
She was now able to perform a rough analysis of these inscriptions. Her eyes were fixed on the inscriptions on the wall, and she quickly noticed several problems.
Why are the Magic Inscription on the other wall not arranged neatly like on most of the walls? Why are the runes there so much dimmer?
Fran wrote down all these questions, then took out a new sheet of paper and created a completely new table. The horizontal axis contained specific indicators related to Magic Inscription, divided into more than a dozen categories.
Only now did she realize how inefficient the mages were. One mage could have inspected an entire wall in half an hour, but they were all crammed between two walls, treating her and Iris like fools.
But what's the point of them disobeying orders like this?
Even if there were a case where someone was deliberately targeting Iris, the possibility of that is extremely low.
First of all, this was a top-secret operation, so how would outsiders know that Iris was working in the Propulsion Department? Secondly, even if these people deliberately delayed the work, they wouldn't get away with it if Iris eventually came to her senses.
It's one thing to fool some mages who don't understand Magic Inscription, but the people above have many veterans of Magic Inscription. If they see Iris's truthful report, half of them will have to spend more than ten years in prison.
After all, this is the Propulsion Department of the Floating City; such disobedience is a serious crime.
Are these mages doing something shady behind the scenes, like cutting corners or damaging the Floating City's power system?
Fran thought this was very likely, but with her current level of Magic Inscription skills, it would be difficult to find any loopholes.
She couldn't be sure what was causing the malfunction in the entire Propulsion Department; perhaps there was some hidden secret that would make these mages willingly disobey orders...
However, she is able to advance the entire system's inspection work with her current level of expertise.
"Everyone, come over here. I need to rearrange the inspection process."
It took the group of mages a while to react. They all gathered around Fran, while Henry stopped explaining and looked at Fran with a puzzled expression.
Fran found a printer, printed out dozens of copies of the form she had drawn up, and then distributed them to the mages while saying:
"Everyone, remember this: starting from that wall, I have a chart here dividing the wall into different sections. Fill in the Magic Inscription status for each section according to the chart..."
The other mages present were bewildered when they received the form; why were there so many indicators?
They had encountered inspections before, and those indicators were much simpler than these, unlike these which require more than a dozen indicators.
"You all need to remember this. I know you haven't done anything before, and I also know that normally you should each check a small area, not all of you huddled together there..."
Only then did they realize that a mage who truly understood Magic Inscription had arrived.
"Remember, by 6 p. m. today, each of you must have checked at least three walls. If you fail, these forms will be evidence of your disobedience."
"I will report this to the Alchemy School Council, detailing your crimes of disobeying the Alchemy School's orders and failing to fulfill your responsibilities in important departments..."
Fran said firmly, looking at the various expressions on the faces of the mages who had gathered around.
Although she knew that these sorcerers might be hiding something, she had no way of knowing yet.
However, she could have these sorcerers leave traces for inspection first, and if any problems arose, she could directly hold them accountable according to the inspection report.
Fran glanced at her watch and realized that time was running out, so she told the monks to get back to work while she went out to take care of some business.
After Fran left, the mages who had started their inspection work, including Henry, all stopped, some with panicked expressions.
"Mage Owen, what should we do? It seems a mage who knows Magic Inscription has arrived. What if our secret is discovered..."
The somewhat mature-looking monk Owen, muttered to himself with a puzzled expression:
"Strange, why would the Alchemy School send a mage Magic Inscription for this matter? Shouldn't they have sent Alchemy School mage?"
Owen scratched his head. In the past, this department was inspected by mages from the Alchemy School. Those mages didn't know anything about Magic Inscription, and they always managed to fool them.
However, even if someone knowledgeable comes along, it doesn't mean they're in deep trouble.
Then, he looked at the assembled mages and slowly said:
"Don't worry about it. Just follow her instructions and do the checks. Generally, there shouldn't be any problems..."
"Show me the document after you've checked it..." he emphasized.