Of course, the levitation magic pattern is just an example Angel provided. The actual pattern engraved on the wall is not the levitation magic pattern but one concerning energy expression.
This energy expression magic pattern is divided into three steps: energy interface, energy transmutation, and energy output.
To merely discuss the energy interface and energy output steps would be to describe fixed effects common to virtually all "energy source" setups, making them hardly worth mentioning.
The step that most concerns Angel, and which he finds hardest to comprehend, is the second step—energy transmutation.
The Mana Hut has been sustained for a millennium not by the Magic Crystals Angel previously suspected, but by wind.
The inexhaustible force of the wind on Wind Island is converted into energy to drive the magic pattern, thereby maintaining the Mana Hut for a thousand years without failing.
This seems somewhat plausible, but the actual execution is extremely difficult.
Research on "energy transmutation" has long been a popular subject in the Wizards’ Realm. Angel, during his time teaching at Ashiliya Academy, heard about several mechanical alchemy teams tackling this challenge, though with little success, despite producing many by-products like the Energy Stabilizer.
Even when Angel met with Book Elder, one of the three Ancestral Spirits of the Barbarian Cave, the latter was also researching energy transmutation.
This shows that the topic of energy transmutation is indeed flourishing throughout the Wizards’ Realm.
Energy transmutation is not impossible, but the manipulation involved is exceedingly difficult, and trying to express it with "mechanical" or "magic patterns" is exceptionally challenging. At least until now, Angel had never heard of a similar precedent.
That’s why, when Angel saw an energy transmutation step within this magic pattern, he was utterly stunned.
Initially, he approached the magic pattern horn of this step with excitement and reverence, hoping to observe and learn.
But after a careful study, he was left with only one thought: What on earth is this!
Like the previous example of the levitation magic pattern, this magic pattern horn for the "energy transmutation" step is so rudimentary that it’s infuriating.
Stripping away some unnecessary details, it comes down to just three magic pattern horns: wind, conversion, and magic power.
In Angel’s conception, any magic pattern horn dealing with energy transmutation should consist of thousands of expressions to justify the countless scholars’ efforts in the Wizards’ Realm.
To think that just three magic pattern horns, written as casually as by a magic pattern novice, could convert wind into the energy sustaining the Mana Hut for a millennium? This must be a joke!
Angel’s eyes were wide as he witnessed that the result of the "energy transmutation" expression process was this?
If you were to say this was a work of a magic pattern novice, Angel would totally believe it, for the expression is so superficial and crude.
But if it were indeed a novice’s creation, why did it work?
Yes, no matter how skeptical Angel was, and no matter how absurd it seemed, the undeniable result was—
This magic pattern is functional, and even thousands of years later, it is still operating stably.
"Could it be my previous thoughts were mistaken, that energy transmutation really only requires these ’wind, conversion, magic power’ three magic pattern horns?" Angel pondered silently as he sensed the steady supply of magic power from the final "energy output" expression of the magic pattern.
Reasoning backward from the result, the magic pattern must be successful, which in turn means the three magic pattern horns related to energy transmutation are correct.
However, this conclusion only holds when reasoning backward; to those with even a bit of magic pattern knowledge, the composition of these three magic pattern horns is utterly ridiculous.
Angel fits into the latter group; internally, he was split, with 99% of him disbelieving that these three magic pattern horns could express energy transmutation, only 1% of him hesitated, wondering if there were other concealed magic patterns not yet discovered.
Angel verified that the 1% suspicion was impossible, leaving only the former conclusion.
The essence of a wizard is that of a researcher; as a researcher, mere guesses make poor evidence, so Angel decided to experiment hands-on himself.
He took out a piece of magical parchment with relatively good energy guidance, pulled out an engraving pen specifically for magic patterns, and a set of energy guidance stabilizers, aiming to replicate the wall’s magic pattern directly onto the parchment to further determine its effectiveness.
Though the wall’s magic pattern appeared quite crude to Angel, even the engraving step of the "energy interface" seemed simple; he made no modifications or optimizations to the magic pattern, replicating it exactly as it was on the wall.
As he struck the final stroke, the magical parchment suddenly exploded without warning, scattering into countless disordered fragments.
This indicated that the engraving had failed.
To lend more credibility to the experiment, Angel repeated it several times, even optimizing the magic expression he found rudimentary.
Yet no matter how he tried, the end result was always failure.
Angel was not surprised by this outcome; it matched his initial notion that these three magic pattern horns were insufficient to express "energy transmutation."
Thinking it over carefully, one would understand: if it really were that simple, wouldn’t it have crushed the intelligence of the countless wizards over the ages who have researched energy transmutation?
However, while the experiment’s outcome matched Angel’s expectations, in reality, the energy transmutation did indeed operate successfully. What secret lies hidden within this?
Angel sat back in front of the wall, examining the magic pattern there as he reconsidered and began his research anew.
This time, he observed with meticulous detail as if viewing through a microscope, scrutinizing inch by inch. After more than twenty hours of effort, Angel finally arrived at a... conjecture.
Based solely on the magic pattern expression, it was impossible to discern logically, as there were too many errors, and everything seemed wrong.
However, setting aside the magic pattern expression, concentrating solely on sensing other anomalies, Angel quickly focused on the "conversion" magic pattern horn.
This magic pattern horn is actually the core of the entire magic pattern, key to converting wind force into magic power.
Angel ignored the skill level of the magic pattern horn’s creation and its inherent meaning, regarding it as a whole and sensing it.
It was then that he discovered an anomaly.
This magic pattern horn emitted a very strong mysterious aura.
In other words, the source of the mysterious aura Angel had always sensed was not some half-step mystic creation; it was emanating from this magic pattern horn.
From this, a hypothesis arose in Angel’s mind: The reason the wall’s magic pattern can be successful, and wind force can be transmuted, is not because of the magic pattern itself but due to the influence of a mysterious force.
Mysterious forces are inherently illogical, defying common sense.
Only such an unconventional ability could make those rough Magic Patterns truly achieve the expression formulas that countless Wizard predecessors failed to accomplish.