Chapter 59: Romantic Clear Sky, Not So Romantic…

“Lord Constantine.”

The curse turned into a sigh, and the sigh transformed into a smile. By the time Constantine turned around, a smile was already on his face… Although in the eyes of those old nobles, this transformation process could be called slow and awkward, the little girl in blue robes clearly had no judgment about it.

Then, the smile turned into a sigh again. “Lord Constantine, how many days have you gone without rest? Staying up late is not only a great enemy of a woman’s youth but also the biggest killer of health… If you don’t want to end the seventy years of life you could use to study magic before you turn thirty, you’d better not easily cut down on your sleep time.”

A teenage girl with a look of exhaustion as if she were decades older was something Constantine had the fortune to see in his previous life, and it involved dozens or even hundreds of people lasting for months. However, he always thought that was a kind of torture inflicted by the system on people. If not for dealing with exams, people of that age shouldn’t have that kind of self-awareness.

But obviously, the person before him was different. As the young man sighed, he knew his reminder had fallen on deaf ears again. Although Christine’s face hidden under the hood was tired, it also held some excitement. Her eyes, widened by two dark circles, seemed to be shimmering with light.

This woman’s thirst for knowledge was truly extraordinary. As long as Constantine was inside the Magic Tower, regardless of time or place, she would occasionally appear by his side to ask questions. In just three days, this Miss Christine had already taken up at least twenty hours of Constantine’s time—the concept of external armor, the details of hot air balloon construction, and all sorts of fresh vocabulary Constantine accidentally let slip during these explanations, along with conceivable weapon systems, all became targets of this young lady’s relentless questioning. This was why the young man only completed his work on the Soul Gem just now.

Constantine was already annoyed—if she weren’t a beautiful girl, Constantine would probably have run to Archmage Nikolai to file a complaint long ago. Provided it would be useful, that is.

What stopped him from taking this action were also the various rewards she generously gave without hesitation. Inside Constantine’s dragonhide belt now were over a dozen potions with all sorts of weird effects, a worn-looking ancient Scroll, and two or three quite nice Alchemy products—although he had long been amazed by the wealth of Mages, Christine’s level of affluence still secretly astonished Constantine. Even the well-traveled Hartdiel was sometimes surprised by certain items the young girl brought out—like the previous Sorcery Ring and an Ioun Stone.

Of course, Constantine didn’t just take things without working… You see, one shouldn’t be so drunk and… ah, that’s getting off track. In short, Christine’s gains were also quite substantial, at least she herself thought so.

“Lord Constantine, I have carefully considered it. According to your earlier idea, turning Magic Power into a controllable energy source, then establishing appropriate circuits, could make magic controllable like a switch, organically collecting, storing, and utilizing it… It’s truly a creative imagination… but I must say, this idea doesn’t work…” Christine’s eyes showed thoughtful meaning, though her voice remained calm and indifferent. “No spell can long-term and stably directly draw power from the source of magic as a driving force. The magic source is one of the primal forces of the Multiverse. Any thought or action attempting to control it can only result in utter destruction… This is the conclusion drawn from countless experiments made by Mages since ancient times.”

“Really doesn’t work?” Constantine rubbed his nose, but he had other plans in mind—this was a question he proposed to the Sorceress yesterday. That power which drives spells, if it could be used constantly, would obviously become an infinite source of power. Of course, even though he now knew it failed, he also knew a key issue: energy can be converted from one form to another. Since the source of magic couldn’t be used arbitrarily, converting it into an energy source that could be used freely—for example, electrical energy—might work, right?

These seemingly ordinary conversations were also one of Constantine’s many gains. Christine might not have Vernal’s profound knowledge and massive item-crafting experience, but the girl’s advantage was that she wasn’t so hard to approach—although in the eyes of all Mage Apprentices, this young lady was indeed exceptionally cold, for Constantine, this was a treasure trove of knowledge where effort would yield returns. Some relatively simple Alchemy knowledge, if asked of Vernal, would probably only get curses as a reply, but from this blue-robed ally, he could get detailed explanations.

What Constantine currently found most troublesome was that his basic knowledge was still very lacking, so there were very few things he could ask about. The problems weren’t nonexistent; he just couldn’t think of them. Only those encountered and solved in actual experiments could become real knowledge; otherwise, it was all just superficial existence.

“There’s another matter that requires your assistance, Lord Constantine. If you have no urgent business, I hope you can depart immediately…”

But clearly, there wasn’t much time for thinking now. The little blue-robed Mage’s bad habit obviously hadn’t changed at all. Before Constantine could even protest, that dizzying feeling of the world spinning had already placed him in another space.

The young man shook his head, dispelling the dizziness from the teleportation, and then he noticed the surroundings were completely different from before. This was probably some balcony of the laboratory… but only if there were balconies this big in the world. The area here was at least several thousand square feet. Although it seemed to extend from the Mage Tower, in Constantine’s memory, this balcony couldn’t be seen from below at all.

On this small square-like balcony now, Christine’s assistants were gathered in a loose circle, busying themselves around an object… An animal hide outer skin over a hundred feet in diameter had been inflated into a huge sphere. The pale blue painted skin swayed slightly in the air. A metal object, some kind of Alchemy item, was spewing crimson flames from the opening underneath the sphere. The buoyancy from the hot air made this big thing want to break free from gravity and float in the air, only numerous thin ropes connected it to a wicker basket on the other end, tightly secured to the ground.

“What incredible speed…” Constantine couldn’t help but rub his nose and sigh.

Even though this was something created based on his own concept, he had to admit that in this world where the largest sea vessels were only about thirty meters long, something of similar size yet floating in the air was quite impressive when observed up close… In fact, all the Mage Apprentices’ attention was almost entirely drawn to this colossal thing they had created themselves. Even when Constantine appeared again seemingly close to their idol, it didn’t give them much of a reaction.

In the many legends from memory, the combination of magic and science was always the most taboo method. Now it seemed, that should refer to this kind of terrifying efficiency—leather was far inferior to acrylic products, and stitching was originally a big problem. But now, the beast hide connections used Sovereign Glue, this magic-mixed adhesive, whose efficiency was far stronger than similar products from memory. The troublesome rope netting only required a small Magic Rope spell to assemble itself. Even the heating apparatus, the most difficult part from memory, posed no problem for the Mages… just a long-lasting flame Magic Array, and it didn’t need that much effect, just long-term maintenance. For an Alchemist, what kind of challenge was that?

“It’s basically complete. Let’s try it out…” Christine’s voice was full of excitement. She pulled Constantine directly toward the basket, completely disregarding the strange looks from the surrounding apprentices.

“Wh-what… You mean a test flight? The two of us? Now? Riding this? Are you joking?”

The best times for hot air balloon flight were one or two hours after sunrise or before sunset because the wind was usually calm and airflow stable at those times. Strong winds and heavy fog were unfavorable for hot air balloon flights. According to regulations, the wind speed must be less than 6 meters per second, visibility greater than 1.5 kilometers, and no precipitation in the flight airspace for free flight; otherwise, tethered flight was best.

The flight standards for hot air balloons ran through his mind. Constantine looked at the sun that had just risen to its zenith, felt the gentle breeze around him enough to make his hair flutter, and asked in an incredulous voice.

Moreover, for hot air balloon test flights, the most important thing was that there should be no dangerous objects like power lines or tall buildings nearby… Although they were now on a high floor of the Mage Tower, if they flew from here, Hayton City was full of buildings… Even if they were on top of the Mage Tower, the wind speed at high altitude was even more troublesome. Could this primitive leather balloon withstand the tearing of air currents? Furthermore, this wasn’t an era where people were indifferent to eighty percent of flying objects. The giant crossbows of the City Defense Army might not compare to guns from memory, but shooting down this huge, clumsy thing that could only drift with the wind wouldn’t be too difficult!

The only fortunate thing was that they didn’t need to equip parachutes—as long as they didn’t lose their spellcasting ability, Mages would never die from falling. Even Constantine, as a Sorcerer, was quite familiar with life-saving spells like Feather Fall. As a Formal Mage, Christine’s proficiency with the Teleportation Spell went without saying. So, after shaking his head for a while, the young man finally stepped onto that basket.

The flame Magic Array emitted a low hum. The connecting ropes were cut one by one. The lift generated by the huge sphere quickly sent this monster of several thousand cubic meters into the air.

The feeling of looking down from high altitude was indeed pleasant, especially over a medieval city like Hayton. The spotless main streets were packed with crowds. The Law Enforcement Office’s gendarmes patrolled everywhere, maintaining order; their colorful uniforms and tall helmets made them stand out in the crowd. Beautiful women strolling through shops and squares glanced admiringly at the guards out of the corners of their eyes, their fine skirts sweeping the sidewalks. And in those dirty back alleys…

The high-altitude wind blew around them. The balloon slowly climbed. The crowd gradually grew smaller, and the city’s full panorama came into view. Over a dozen fortresses, the outer city, and countless tall towers guarded Hayton’s arched city walls. At the center of this arc was the magnificent Hayton Royal Palace. Constantine blinked; his vision, far exceeding ordinary people’s, still allowed him to see the layers of magical auras surrounding that huge building. The surrounding space was even more vast. In the distant view, thousands of mountains and ridges were all within sight, plains and great rivers spread out before them. The fertile alluvial plain between two rivers stretched for miles, divided into countless large and small fields, turning the ground into a pattern of countless lines.

The Sorceress’s robe beside him also trembled slightly. Constantine smiled faintly, knowing she was just momentarily captivated by excitement—in fact, this kind of grand natural scenery most easily captivated people’s minds. Even the young man himself was momentarily enchanted—in the clear sky, high sparse clouds drifted gently. Wind came from afar, pushing a stream of clouds swiftly past, with cotton-like fluffy and soft edges, slowly but noticeably changing every moment:

Although he had experienced viewing the ground from an airplane before, the all-around feeling from a balloon truly wasn’t something the small airplane windows could compare to.

The vast, boundless scenery, a beautiful girl by his side… a strange surge of boldness rushed through the young man’s mind. He couldn’t help but stretch out his arms, letting the gradually strengthening wind rush through his Robe of Magic, enjoying the rustling sound that made him feel somewhat elated, as if he had an impulse to jump directly down.

“If we kept flying like this, could we reach high altitude, even the limit of the sky?” The next moment, Christine suddenly asked.

“This current balloon can’t do that. Although the altitude record for balloons is over thirty-three thousand meters… roughly a hundred thousand feet, to reach that level, you’d first need a very sturdy outer skin, protection against the low temperatures at high altitude, advanced heating systems, a sealed basket, and oxygen… Of course, if you use magic to solve these, it would be much quicker, for example…” Constantine, immersed in that wonderful feeling, casually responded.

But his voice abruptly stopped, as if choked off—Constantine shook his head. A look of annoyance flashed in his eyes. That short sentence of his had just revealed far too much information.

“As expected, what you know still far exceeds my imagination…” The Sorceress’s bright gaze locked onto the annoyed young man. Fortunately, her following words didn’t show much suspicion, allowing Constantine to relax slightly. “Such a vast amount of knowledge… how much more stuff would I need to exchange for it…”

“Under such conditions, there should be some more romantic topics to talk about, right… You actually say something so vulgar… Were you born to do business?” Constantine couldn’t help but laugh. This girl’s thinking was truly different from ordinary people. Then, his mood spoiled, a mischievous impulse rose in the young man. The corner of his mouth lifted in a malicious, evil curve. “The price I ask isn’t very high either—how about being my lover? Then I could often tell you a lot of knowledge for free, okay?”

“If that’s all you ask… I can agree.” The straightforward answer took Constantine by surprise. Even the young man who made the request was startled.

“You’re not joking?”

“Of course, if it’s just the price for gaining knowledge, this clearly isn’t heavy… Archmage Faust once personally used his Soul as a bargaining chip to exchange for all the knowledge in the world. Compared to that, being a Noble’s lover is obviously much simpler… Besides, you…”

“Then, if I did this, you wouldn’t mind either?” Christine’s cold reaction suddenly stirred some anger in the young man’s heart—trading anything for knowledge? Even one’s Soul counts? Even love counts? What kind of theory is that?

He directly interrupted her words, then pulled her shoulder over, bringing his face close to hers.

Originally thinking that this would definitely cause some natural frightened reaction from the girl—whether screaming or angry retorts, a slap, or even blasting him away with magic—the young man had mentally prepared himself. But then he awkwardly discovered her reaction wasn’t any of the ones he imagined.

The blue-robed girl made no resistance, not even a change in that calm expression. She just… gently closed her eyes…

“Hey, hey, hey… What do you mean? You wouldn’t really let me do anything, would you?”

Now, as the aggressor, Constantine was at a loss… At this distance, the sound of the high-altitude wind was completely muted. Everything on her face: the distinct dimples on her cheeks and chin, her skin as fair and refined as snow, the curve of her pale pink lips, grew clearer and clearer in Constantine’s vision. Even the warm, fragrant scent from her breath intensely stimulated Constantine’s thoughts. He felt as if his head was stuffed with a nest of hornets; the buzzing noise swept away all his ability to think!

“Never mind, let’s go all the way…” The young man/old man steeled his heart, and his lips fiercely pressed down…

The feeling of contact was extremely soft, as if melting upon touch…

Hum… Crackle, boom!

A strange sound suddenly came from above. Constantine startled. In urgency, he pushed downwards hard, and the two of them tumbled into the basket!

The metal ignition device trembled amidst the odd noise, suddenly turning into a bright fireball that exploded outward! The rising fireball crashed into the balloon’s skin in that direction. Successive flame explosions instantly engulfed all nearby flammable materials! The ropes on one side of the basket first caught fire with a whoosh; black smoke swallowed many ropes into the fire tongues, turning into black ash scattering in the air. Then the flames, like an uncurling elemental monstrosity, surged upward!

Constantine momentarily saw stars before his eyes… He could only instinctively hold the girl in his arms tighter…