"So, Mr. Faisal, I wanted to ask if someone used the Ether Tower three days ago?"
The old man hesitated for a moment before picking up his glasses and said: "Wait a moment, I need to check it."
Fang Hong, seeing his demeanor, couldn't help but feel curious: "Why? Are there a lot of people using the Ether Tower?"
"Not really," the old gentleman shook his head as he adjusted the glasses on his nose: "If my memory serves me right, only one group has used it recently."
Fang Hong's jaw dropped, suddenly feeling that this matter seemed unreliable—he asked dazedly: "Then why do you need to check?"
The other person lifted his head, gazing at him over the top of the glasses with a somewhat disdainful shake of his head: "Young man, you're still too hasty. What do you know? This is called being responsible. Of course, I could tell you the answer from memory, but do you think memory is dependable?"
"A good memory isn't as reliable as a bad pen, understand?" The old man sighed as he spoke: "But speaking of memory, I don't mean to boast, but not many young people can match mine."
"It's not that," Fang Hong wiped the sweat off his brow: "Mr. Faisal, can't we just retrieve the scan records from that day?"
It's not exactly a secret.
But the old man was taken aback, slamming the table in a fit of rage: "The records are reliable, but they can still be wrong. What do you know, kid, do you still want to check?"
Fang Hong immediately wised up, nodding repeatedly: "Sure, sure, sure, Mr. Faisal, you're absolutely right. It's up to you, sir."
Only then did the old man squint his eyes, showing a rare sign of a teachable spirit.
Fortunately, checking the data didn't take too long, and realizing that his plan wasn't very reliable, Fang Hong saw that the old man was just pretending to look through the tables—he held back for a long time, not telling him:
The tables were upside down.
Luckily, he considered himself to have higher emotional intelligence than Luo Yu, because if the latter were here, he'd probably have been kicked out already.
And when Fang Hong looked at the scanned drafts he received—he immediately realized he couldn't understand them, as the scan records of the Ether Tower weren't in written reports, but a distribution chart with coordinates up and down that normal people couldn't understand without annotations.
But the old man had obviously anticipated this, saying smugly: "Young folks are young folks. Now do you get it? Did you think you could understand it just by holding the chart? Are you a specialist in Ether analysis, a Crystal Craftsman? Have you studied Ether distribution theory?"
Fang Hong was speechless; he really was a Crystal Craftsman—but apparently not all Crystal Craftsmen could understand this chart. Magic Guided technology has evolved to the point where specialties are very precise, just like Earth's technology.
Like in the Numelin Era, people like Ade and his student Hain Famm were versatile talents, now very rare, even practically non-existent. And the reason why the Numelin Elves could produce versatile Alchemists was also because of their long lifespans.
The old man eloquently critiqued him before concluding: "So, young people are reckless. Now do you understand why I checked first? If you don't heed the words of the elder, losses are immediate."
Fang Hong was speechless, thinking that this old man had learned quite a few phrases from the Third District. However, understanding the chart and checking first seemed unrelated. Plus, wasn't the table upside down?
He wasn't really checking, right?
Yet he dared not say so, having learned the old man's style by now. He politely requested: "Could Mr. Faisal help me take a look?"
The old man's vanity was greatly satisfied, so he took the chart, pointed to the distribution data on it, and explained: "It's actually quite simple. The coordinates of the four regions indicate directions, and the higher the data distribution, the denser the reaction of magic power—
Our world is full of Ether Magic Power; even scanning empty places will yield some noise feedback. But real Magic Creatures or Magic Items' echoes are much denser than noise feedback, like here and here—"
He indicated a few spots on the diagram, and Fang Hong glanced to find it was precisely the direction where he had seen those Arcanists heading that day.
A thought suddenly occurred to him, as that direction was also where their subsequent investigations showed slave traders had gone. He hadn't connected the two events together previously. So, could it be the Arcanists were pursuing those slave traders that day?
No, they should be called Blind Followers.
He pondered for a moment, then asked: "Mr. Faisal, what is the scanning strategy of this chart?"
This question made the old man look at him with new appreciation: "I didn't expect you to know about this, turns out you're knowledgeable. Let me see..." As he spoke, he adjusted his glasses and muttered: "Strange, I haven't seen this strategy before..."
"High magic power feedback, low elemental reaction... What kind of bizarre strategy is this," the old man suddenly realized: "I remember now; of course, this chart was made by those Arcanists three days ago. I said they are amateurs who don't understand magic detection at all."
He waved the chart excitedly: "Look at this mess. I said there couldn't be a scanning strategy I didn't understand..."
But Fang Hong remained silent on the sidelines.
The old man didn't understand, but he had figured it out. He might not have understood this scanning strategy before, but after the adventures he'd been through—he'd learned. It's indeed a rare strategy, as generally, when using the Crystal Tower, it was to detect the location of Magic Items, Magic Creatures, or Floating Ships.
Most Ether Magic Power possesses elemental properties.
But only one type requires low elemental reaction.
Or, more specifically, a reaction outside the five normal elemental types.
Dark Element.
The sixth element that scholars claim doesn't exist.
The Arcanists were searching for 'Demons'.
Looking at the excited old man, now that Fang Hong had obtained the answer he sought, he didn't feel as urgent as before. Kind-heartedly, he reminded the old man: "Mr. Faisal, I have to remind you of something."
"What?"
"Those Arcanists you mentioned, they're down there."
"What!"
"How dare they come!"
The old man flew into a rage.
...