In the blink of an eye, more than a month has passed. Autumn in the forest has come to an end, and winter is coming with a strong cold wave.
All the leaves of the trees have fallen, and the forest has become a little bleak. The cold wind blows through the dry treetops, making a "wow" sound, which makes people shudder.
Life has become difficult for the animals in the forest. Due to lack of food, they have begun to live hungry and full. Smart animals such as black bears and pythons have begun to hibernate.
As for Gregory, the behavior of "going out early and coming back late" has become his normal behavior, and he can't see his shadow all day long. In his human form, his face became more and more sallow, and he looked a little exhausted. He didn't know why.
Richard was not affected by anything. During this period of time, he concentrated on his research and came up with some results, on the one hand, the crystal skull, and on the other hand, the spells in "The Chapter of Monroe".
Regarding the crystal skull, Richard discovered something surprising after research, that is, the crystal skull was actually covered with magic patterns. Its magic patterns are several times higher than those seen in the secret chambers and altars inside the mountain. The surface and interior are completely carved with micro-carvings. They are almost imperceptible to the naked eye and can only be seen with lenses that magnify dozens or dozens of times. clear.
To put it simply, if ordinary magic patterns are regarded as simple circuits, then the crystal skull is already a complete small and medium-sized integrated circuit body. This is like the radio in the 1970s on the modern earth. Compared with the computer, its complexity is simply not an order of magnitude.
In the crystal skull, numerous magic pattern units are organically combined, giving the crystal skull numerous possibilities. Richard is convinced that if the crack is completely successful, it can play many roles. Of course, at present, he can only barely develop two functions - two functions that have been speculated before:
The first function is to input a specific wave of mana, causing the crystal skull to release a mental shock. After hitting a living organism, the target can lose control of its emotions and become furious, acting only on instinct. The more mana you input, the more pronounced the effect will be.
The scope of application of this function is actually relatively narrow. After all, when a target is out of control, it is not necessarily easier to deal with than when it is calm. It may exert more powerful combat effectiveness. This needs to be combined with the actual situation to choose whether to use it.
The second function is to generate a self-contained mental force field. The creature in the mental force field, if it is an intelligent creature, human beings, will have its mental power exercised and enhance its mental strength. If it is a non-intelligent creature, its mind will be improved.
The range of this mental force field can be controlled, and the smaller the range, the better the effect. Richard tried to reduce the force field to less than one meter, covering only his body, and found that it could significantly improve his mental strength. After more than a month, his mental strength has far exceeded that of a normal wizard apprentice, and has reached the level of a wizard. Keep moving forward.
In addition to the research on crystal skulls, it is the study of spells in "Chapter of Monroe". In more than a month, Richard learned many more spells. Although they are all zero-level spells and their effects are not very great, Richard is trying to transform and combine them, and release them through magic patterns, thereby breaking through the power limit of the wizard apprentice's zero-level spells.
…
That night.
The night is as cold as ice and the stars hang upside down.
Richard walked out of the castle and walked to the open space in front of the castle. Pandora was standing, looking up at the stars blankly.
As Richard approached, Pandora turned her head and glanced at him.
"What are you looking at?" Richard asked aloud.
Pandora's eyes flashed, she tilted her head and thought for a while, then replied seriously: "Stars." After speaking, she pointed to a certain star in the starry sky.
Richard looked over, looked at the star pointed by Pandora and said, "The North Star."
"Scared?" Pandora wondered, what is the North Star
"Have you noticed that the star is very bright and located due north?"
"Scared—" Pandora was stunned for a moment, then nodded after looking at it for a while, "Scared."
"So it is the North Star." Richard said, "The North Star itself is the brightest star that represents the direction of true north. Of course, the stars are moving, so the North Star is also changing."
"Scared?" Really
"Of course it is. Specifically, it is not the movement of the stars, but the movement of the planet we are on, um, the earth. It will sway within a certain range around something called an axis of rotation, like a high Trees, when the wind blows, the treetops will sway.
As for the earth, something called the axis of rotation, it will slowly sweep out a cone during its swing. There are some astrologers, um, people who like to look at the stars, and they call the time that sweeps through a cone the Great Year, or the Platonic Year. Converted to current years, it is about 25,800 years.
In every big year, the planet, well, the earth moves relative to the fixed background starry sky, and the direction of true north changes periodically, so the North Star changes accordingly. "
Pandora's eyes flickered, and the next moment she saw Richard reaching out and looking in the direction Richard pointed.
"That star, many people call it Vega, or Vega, or Alpha Lyra. It has a beautiful legend. More than 10,000 years ago, it was the North Star." Richard said, followed by another Pointing, looking over with Pandora.
"More than three thousand years ago, the North Star was replaced by that one. It was called Youshu, or it was also called Ziwei Youyuanyi, Alpha Draconis."
"More than a thousand years ago, the North Star was that one. It was called Polaris II, or Beta Ursa Minor. Of course, it was also called the 'Emperor Star' because at that time, as the North Star, it was very consistent with some People’s imagination of noble status corresponds to the person with the highest power on earth.”
"Of course, people will die and stars will change. As of now, this star called Gouchen 1 and Alpha Ursa Minor has become the new North Star."
"If you live long enough, you will find that in more than a thousand years, the North Star will become that one. It is called Zengba Shaoyi and γ Cephei. After more than two thousand years, it will become That star - Shangai Zengyi. After more than 1,500 years, it became the star called Tianhou Wu. After that, it became Deneb 4 and Deneb 2, and waited until more than 10,000 years later, after nearly 25,800 years. In the cycle of years, Polaris returns to its original state of Vega.”
Pandora kept looking at the stars in the direction that Richard pointed. She circled around and looked back, then looked at Richard.
At this moment, Pandora felt a very strange feeling in her heart. She couldn't tell what it was, but she felt that the person in front of her seemed very powerful. It was not the kind that she could defeat animals, but another kind - another kind that was stronger than her. More powerful, more powerful.
Well, it’s so messy. But that's what she felt.
We know that the stars move, we know what happened ten thousand years ago and ten thousand years after, so what else do we not know? What else can't be done? Ten thousand years, many, many hundred years plus one. Even she and even Gregory couldn't live that long.
But why does the other party know so much? Knowing so much, what have you been busy with? Why not play with her, why...
Pandora had many questions in her mind, but before she could speak them out, she heard Richard speak up first.
Richard said calmly: "I will leave tomorrow."
"Scared!" Pandora suddenly opened her eyes, looked straight at Richard, blinked, blinked again, and slowly lowered her head. He bit his lip lightly with his teeth, thinking about something seriously. After a long time, he raised his head, looked at Richard and said, "Don't-go."
Richard glanced at Pandora, then smiled, raised his hand and rubbed Pandora's head, and said: "No, I said before, there are a lot of things to do, and I can't stay here forever. Recently, can The work and research have been almost done, so I have to leave.”
Pandora opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but in the end nothing came out. Because she didn't know what to say. After all, she had never had any experience in persuading people to stay.
Feeling a hand rubbing her head, Pandora couldn't help but feel a familiar, comfortable feeling that made her want to lean against the other person. But for some reason, she didn't want to lean over. Instead, she tilted her head to the side and deliberately avoided the hand touching her hair. She gave him a vicious look, walked into the castle, and said, "Scare!"
In the night, watching Pandora walk into the castle, Richard shook his head gently.