Section Sixty-One: Monument to the Revolutionary Heroes (Part Two)

Without directly answering the question, Machiavelli continued on his own accord, "Then let us look at the Church that defeated the necromancers. To some extent, the branch churches established by the Church everywhere also possess the function of gathering the source of faith. Perhaps at the branches housing sacred relics, the deities even store a portion of the converted holy power there for their own use. Thus, the Church exists in a semi-interconnected state, whereas the necromancers are completely isolated from one another."

Grant nodded in understanding. As Machiavelli described, the Church's parishes operated on a separated system of revenue and expenditure; the energy generated by all faith was collected, converted into holy power by their deities, and then a tiny fraction was redistributed to specific points for emergencies. Compared to the necromancers, the Church's network was vastly superior. Although their deities might view mortal affairs with a detached indifference, failing to think in human terms, a deity nonetheless functioned as a central coordinator. In times of crisis, no matter how much the god regarded them as mere ants, they would not allow their instrument—the Church—to be wantonly destroyed without a replacement. This was where the role of the central coordinator came into play: a massive amount of faith power from elsewhere could be converted and channeled to reinforce a single point. While this network was hardly under human control and was quite dismal in nature, it at least retained a degree of connectivity.

"Therefore, if we are to solve this problem, there are only two methods," Machiavelli said, narrowing his eyes. "First, theoretically, we could construct a magic array with an infinite coverage area."

"That is impossible," Grant stated flatly. "Let alone infinite coverage, a magic array capable of generating any effect across the entire continent is barely feasible. How many magic crystals would it take to build an array centered on Gaul that radiates across the entire continent? Furthermore, this model has a inherent flaw: the farther one gets from the core, the weaker the effective range of the radiation becomes. Once outside that range, spellcasters nurtured under this model would have to rely solely on their own cultivation and meditation."

The theory and method proposed by Machiavelli essentially involved using the source of faith to gather mental energy, convert it into other forms of energy, and then create methods and rules to utilize energy under this paradigm, producing effects similar to divine arts. This would allow the Revolutionary Army to rapidly train a certain scale of spellcasters, providing them with energy support in a manner akin to divine arts. Thus, within the radius of the magic array, an endless supply of energy could be obtained. Naturally, this energy supply was limited rather than infinite. For instance, if this first approach were adopted, the closer one was to the core of the magic array, the easier the energy radiation transmission would be; the farther away, the more severe the attenuation.

This was a measure of last resort because the Revolutionary Army lacked the time to cultivate a qualified cohort of spellcasters from scratch. Although spellcasters were easier to train than mages—since they did not need to master the vast theoretical knowledge required for future advancement, but merely needed to master skills specific to a specialized tier—even so, training a competent spellcaster without a span of several years remained impossible. Yet the current timeline allowed the Revolutionary Army no luxury of slow development over several years. Once the war between Landia and the Church concluded, whichever side emerged victorious would sooner or later make a move against Gaul. To deter this war, they had to possess a strength that would make the adversary hesitate.

Therefore, if this magic array could succeed, the spellcasters whom the Revolutionary Army needed to train in the short term could bypass the stage of meditating on mana, because the magic array could directly supply them with spell-like abilities channeled in a manner similar to divine arts. Afterwards, these individuals could cultivate and train to develop their own mana, enabling them to cast spells even outside the array's perimeter.

"Yes, so this is merely theoretical," Machiavelli sighed. "If our supplies and manpower were infinite, we could build such a nearly infinitely covering magic array. But that is only theory; in reality, we cannot accomplish it. Therefore, we are left with only the second method: first, construct a magic array capable of covering the region you currently wish to control, ensuring that mental energy generated by faith can be gathered within this perimeter. However, within this zone, it will exhibit a state where the closer one is to the magic array, the easier it is to gather energy, and the farther away, the easier it is for that energy to dissipate."

Grant said, "It would suffice to temporarily cover the vicinity of Gaul City, but what about afterwards?"

"Learn from the Church," Machiavelli replied bluntly. "However, the form cannot be like theirs, establishing churches. Doing so would require massive human and material resources, and subsequent maintenance would be terribly troublesome."

"Of course we cannot be like them," Grant shook his head. "If we were like them, how would we differ from the Church? They are founded upon the exploitation of mankind; we are not."

"Therefore, I drew inspiration from something else," Machiavelli smiled. "The totem poles of the orcs."

"Totem poles?"

"Yes. Ancient orc legions possessed a type of totem pole unique to their most formidable berserker legions. It is said they were sacred relics blessed by the God of War. Whenever they marched onto human battlefields and their warriors charged, the shamans would activate the power on the totem poles to bestow certain supportive buffs upon their warriors. You must realize that orcs lack magic, yet they have never built altars in human territory, making it impossible for them to directly utilize holy power as the Church does. Yet when confronting humans and facing human magic, those totem poles played a monumental role."

Machiavelli continued, "If we have sufficient magic crystals, we can manufacture something similar—for instance, erecting comparable monuments to heroes across various regions, as you suggested. As long as we calibrate the effective range of these objects, we can achieve an inter-region circulation of energy. Within these regions, you could field a massive number of spellcasters in a very short time."

Upon hearing this, Grant nodded and said, "Your second method means building a similar magic array using magic crystals at regular intervals, only on a much smaller scale?"

"Precisely. These small magic arrays are essentially miniature versions of the core magic array beneath the Hall of Valor, just on a vastly reduced scale. Consequently, the energy they can store and receive transmitted from the core array is limited. However, as long as we ensure that at any given point, several such small magic arrays overlap to cover the area, it will be sufficient to support a batch of spellcasters in performing their duties," Machiavelli smiled. "However, this is a colossal undertaking and must be done gradually. This second plan requires even more magic crystals, but it is more refined and more conducive to long-term development."

Grant nodded again. This plan sounded precisely like a mobile telecommunications network, erecting a base station every few hundred kilometers, except that cellular networks were only used for transmitting information. Moreover, if this plan truly succeeded, not only would it help reduce attenuation during energy transmission, but as they expanded outward in the future, they could extend these magical base stations wherever their expansion reached.

Seeing that Grant grasped the second method with ease, Machiavelli let out a sigh of relief. Although he had strong personal motives for constructing this device, he had indeed poured a tremendous amount of thought into the overall plan. It could be said that such a conception could scarcely have arisen in anyone else's mind; while other transmigrators might understand the principle of base stations, none could simultaneously possess his breadth of knowledge encompassing divine arts, spells, and orc totem poles, and successfully fuse them into a cohesive whole.

"Now, the final crucial element is magic crystals. To realize your plan, a vast quantity of magic crystals is required," Grant said slowly.

Machiavelli hurriedly replied, "There is a way. Although acquiring a large number of magic crystals in human territory is difficult because mages also require them, but..."

The two exchanged glances and spoke in unison, "The orcs!"