Mage's Profound Truths

Chapter 21: Matrix Unit

“The directive has been confirmed. Activating Matrix Unit. Initiating host identity scan. Establishing profile database... Beep. Host identity confirmed. Proceed with binding?”

After a long pause, the cold electronic female voice echoed once again in Merlin’s mind.

“Bind it!”

Merlin didn’t hesitate in the slightest. He knew that once bound, the Matrix Unit would be accessible only to him. No one else could even perceive it, as this most advanced quantum computer had been injected into his bloodstream in liquid metal form, thoroughly fused into his flesh and blood, and utterly indestructible.

“Collecting blood sample. Binding successful! Reading profile... Beep. Profile invalid. Creating new profile... Please name the new profile.”

“A new profile, huh?”

Merlin’s eyes flickered. Then, in a deep voice, he said, “Name the profile Merlin.”

“Profile naming successful. Welcome, Mr. Merlin, to the Matrix Unit Quantum Computer!”

At this point, the Matrix Unit’s voice had changed to a pleasantly sweet female voice that sounded very comforting.

Merlin sat quietly on the high wooden stool. Although his expression was calm, his eyes flickered constantly, revealing the excitement surging in his heart.

For spellcasters, constructing a proper spell model sometimes required decades of effort for deducing and calculating. Even then, many spell models created were still unsatisfactory.

Building spell models consumed far too much time for spellcasters. Now that Merlin had this quantum computer—representing the pinnacle of his previous world’s technology—it might save him the effort of constructing spell models manually.

“No matter what, let’s test it first and see whether the ‘Matrix Unit’ is functional.”

Though inwardly excited, Merlin remained rational and calm. He knew that what he needed to do now was use the Matrix Unit to test these spell models and see if they worked.

With that thought, Merlin immediately issued a command to the Matrix Unit: “Matrix Unit, create a Fireball database.”

The Matrix Unit immediately began scanning and uploaded the dozen or so Fireball spell models that Old Aita had spent years deducing into the database.

“Fireball database created successfully.”

“Analyze these spell models immediately!”

Following Merlin’s command, the powerful quantum computer began its calculations. Its processing speed was unimaginable—as soon as it began, based on Old Aita’s dozen or so spell models, it generated over ten thousand new Fireball models, and the number continued to grow.

“Beep. Analysis complete. A total of 186,519 new models constructed.”

Hearing this, even Merlin was stunned. Just from a dozen models by Old Aita, over 180,000 new spell models had been created.

This was the strength of a computer. No matter how imaginative or mentally powerful a human might be, it would be impossible to conceive of all these possibilities or create such a massive number of spell models.

Of course, 99% of these spell models were definitely not what Merlin needed. He would still have to sift through them to find the ones that were most comprehensive and best suited for him.

Merlin considered stability to be the top priority in a spell model—not its destructive power. On a foundation of stability, the spell’s power could then be gradually enhanced. A model built this way would be optimal.

Merlin closed his eyes with a serious expression. He placed his hand lightly on the table, tapping rhythmically—a habitual gesture he made whenever deep in thought or facing a decision.

After a long while, Merlin opened his eyes and said in a low voice, “Matrix Unit, based on the database, select all models with greater stability than Model One.”

The “Model One” he referred to was the highly stable spell model created by Old Aita—the most satisfactory among all his designs. Its hallmark was extreme stability, and it was very unlikely to collapse when mentally simulated.

Merlin’s choice clearly prioritized stability over raw power. Only with a solid, stable model could higher-level spells be constructed progressively.

It was like constructing a building: a zero-level spell model served as the foundation. The stronger the foundation, the taller the future structure could rise.

Only after careful thought did Merlin make this decision.

“Filtering... Beep. A total of 138 spell models are more stable than Model One!”

The Matrix Unit quickly completed the filtering, and the result astonished Merlin.

One hundred thirty-eight models had greater stability than the spell model that Old Aita had spent years perfecting.

This was the power of high-speed computation. Human brains simply could not compare to computers in this field.

From the 138 models, Merlin had to refine his selection even further.

“From the filtered models, select those with greater explosive power than Model Thirteen.”

Merlin gave the command in a deep voice. Model Thirteen was the most powerful of Old Aita’s creations, but its structure was extremely unstable. Using it carried high risks of collapse, which was why Aita repeatedly warned against it in his spell notes.

“Beep. Filtering complete. No spell models meet the criteria.”

Merlin frowned. Among the one hundred and thirty-eight spell models, there was surprisingly none more powerful than Model Thirteen.

But then he thought it through and felt relieved. A spell model that combined both stability and great power was hard to come by; one could usually only choose either, or try to strike a balance between the two.

Once he figured that out, Merlin continued to issue orders: “Change the selection criteria. From the one hundred and thirty-eight models, pick the one with the strongest explosiveness.”

Soon, an exceptionally complex spell model appeared in Merlin’s mind—clearly the one Matrix had selected according to his criteria.

This model was sufficiently stable. As for its power, Merlin thought for a moment and then softly asked Matrix, “Compared to Model Thirteen, what percentage of its power does this model have?”

“Based on calculations of the model’s structure, this spell model has seventy percent the power of Model Thirteen.”

“Seventy percent? That’s more than enough. It’s much better than the Model One built by Teacher Aeta.”

Merlin let out a small sigh of relief. To have seventy percent of Model Thirteen’s power was already quite good, far better than Model One created by Old Aeta.

Then Merlin gently closed his eyes and began to carefully examine this spell model—the one most suitable for him, selected from among 180,000 models.

Moreover, this model achieved a balance between stability and power. Even the model that Old Aeta spent over a decade building couldn’t match what Matrix produced in a short time.

Having chosen the model, the final step remained—using spiritual power to simulate the spell model in his mind. This step took the longest and was the most prone to failure.

For someone with weak spiritual power, it would be difficult even to memorize such a complex model—let alone simulate it in the mind. That would be even harder.

Although Old Aeta had left a note mentioning that Merlin’s spiritual power was strong and that he had the potential to become a caster, to truly become one, he had to complete this final step.

So, Merlin quietly closed his eyes, gathered his spiritual power, and began to simulate the Level Zero Fireball spell model.

The spell model refined by Matrix was even more complex than the one constructed by Old Aeta. Each curve was difficult enough to draw on paper with a pen, let alone simulate with spiritual power.

Faced with such complexity, the spiritual power consumption was unimaginable. Merlin felt fatigued just as he began to simulate the model—an obvious sign of extreme mental exhaustion.

One hour, two hours passed...

Outside, snow began to fall heavily like goose feathers, and even the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

Merlin sat motionless on the wooden chair for two or three hours. His legs were numb from the cold, but he felt nothing—his entire focus was on the spell model in his mind.

After countless simulations, Merlin finally noticed a change in his sea of consciousness.

The sea of consciousness was where spiritual power resided, the most mysterious part of the brain. The spell model Merlin simulated with spiritual power was now gradually taking form there.

“It’s finally done…”

Merlin abruptly opened his eyes, his voice trembling with excitement.

After three hours of effort, Merlin had finally succeeded in using his spiritual power to simulate the Fireball spell model in his mind.

As soon as the model took form, Merlin felt something different. Despite sitting still for hours with cold limbs, he now felt a warmth surrounding him.

When he slightly closed his eyes, he could see the Fireball spell model spinning slowly in his sea of consciousness, as if strands of firelight were being drawn into it from the outside.

Those flames reminded Merlin of fire elements!

Back when Merlin asked Mei Xue how to sense fire elements, she had described their appearance. Since Merlin lacked a fire attribute physique, he couldn’t draw fire elements into his body or become an elemental swordsman.

But now, with the Fireball spell model, he could clearly feel an endless stream of fire elements madly entering his body and quickly merging into the model—as if the model hidden in his sea of consciousness were a black hole devouring all nearby fire elements.