Chapter 22: A First Glimpse of the Magical Language, the Cornerstone of Spells

As night fell, Lin Bo laid a tarp on the floor of the third-floor machine room, sat cross-legged, and began tinkering with scrap metal. For a mage, the purpose of dismantling a machine is not to put it back together again. What he sought to understand was why the ancient mechanists had designed the components the way they did. The structure of a machine dictates its function, and the design of that structure encapsulates the brilliant ingenuity of its creator.

Lin Bo engaged in a silent dialogue with every gear, every driveshaft, and every metal plate, listening as they recounted the processes they had endured—how they were cast, polished, and integrated into larger assemblies. Through this communication with the machinery, Lin Bo caught a glimpse into the torrent of history, discerning the traces of ancient mechanists within the idle chatter of metal and plastic. Although he could not speak directly to the departed, merely observing their work allowed him to capture their underlying philosophies, design思路, and research directions.

This was an intuition possessed only by seasoned professionals, much like recognizing the quirky, useless inventions of a creator like Hand-made Geng just by seeing a kitchen knife phone case or a piano barbecue grill. As a novice, Lin Bo could barely grasp ready-made blueprints, let alone conceive of original design philosophies. Yet, once he grasped the intent of the designers, their previously complex structures suddenly became clear and intuitive. Why were certain modular components specially modified—was it for efficiency or stability? Was the shape of the external armor intended for protection or aesthetics? Such questions were answered during the dismantling process, and by comparing them to the universal structures of components found in books, the ingenuity of the designers became even more apparent.

Merging intangible theory with concrete objects was like lighting a lamp; fragmented knowledge connected, and his entire line of reasoning was illuminated. This joy of sudden enlightenment permeated his heart—not the intense, adrenaline-fueled excitement of a fierce battle, but a vast, breezy sense of contentment, like standing in the open countryside. Lin Bo knew he had tasted the true essence of learning. With this motivation, even the dullest problems in mechanical theory would henceforth be a source of joy rather than lonely drudgery.

His "Surface Touch, Internal Insight" skill continued to improve. After reaching Level 2, the difficulty of gaining experience increased significantly, requiring precise identification of the types and locations of internal components. Machines of the same model provided proficiency only a few times; once the structure became too repetitive, the difficulty dropped, and the skill check would no longer trigger. Aside from the shield guards, he had already analyzed and dismantled all the mechanical sentinels scavenged from the dungeon, yielding only 52.5 points of proficiency. He knew well that even dismantling the shield guard would provide, at most, a dozen more points. The design logic of this series of mechanical androids no longer held any novelty for him.

Level 2 "Surface Touch, Internal Insight" had reached a stage where he needed to draw from a wide variety of sources; only the works of different mechanists could expand his perspective. Lin Bo was grateful to have an online friend who could provide such diverse research materials. Seeing that it was already late into the night, he put down his pen, tidied his study notes, stood up to stretch his legs, and applied the ointment given to him by [Starry Eyes] onto his bruises, feeling the cooling medicinal power permeate his muscles.

Not long ago, the Soul-Calling Witch had sent him a collection of herbs. As Lin Bo requested, they were varied in type but small in quantity, perfect for slow, deliberate tasting. Most importantly, these carefully selected herbs had no toxic side effects, meaning even if multiple materials were ingested at once, they would cause no harm. Lin Bo intended to use these herbs to grind his "Pharmacist's Tongue Insight" to Level 3. At Level 3, a significant change would occur: he would become immune to the toxicity of the herbs he tasted. This would allow him to begin identifying the medicinal plants around Stone Tower Town. Without sufficient poison resistance, he would not rashly taste wild flora. Everyone knew how Shennong had died, and Lin Bo had no intention of repeating that fate.

He would place a sample of herb in his mouth, use his tongue to communicate with the medicinal juices, listen to their "speech," and compare them with the knowledge in the "Grand Pharmacopoeia" to judge their properties. Once the skill check succeeded and his proficiency increased, Lin Bo would spit out the herb, rinse his mouth with water, and take the next sample. Lin Bo felt as if he were tasting different flavors of chewing gum; thinking of it that way, it was quite amusing. The taste and texture of the drugs were strange and varied, and sometimes, the pungent flavors made it difficult to maintain his composure.

It was repetitive work. At first, even with full concentration, it was a chaotic struggle, but as he became more skilled, he grew relaxed, even finding the leisure to let his mind wander. Since obtaining the class trait "Listener of All Things," Lin Bo had heard many voices of nature, and he gradually noticed a peculiar phenomenon. The languages spoken by inanimate objects—wind, waves, metal, medicine, and so on—though obscure, shared a high degree of correlation in their grammatical structures and phonemes; it was highly probable they were all using the same language.

This was a profoundly exciting discovery. Lin Bo knew clearly that the language used by all things in nature was not a mundane tongue created by intelligent life, but a root language imbued with magic. For a True Name Mage, language is power; if one masters the magical language, one can perform miracles through the power of speech. Magical language is divided into two parts: True Names and non-True Names.

True Names represent the entire essence and manifestation of a thing. Just like Lin Bo's True Name, "Copper Moon," he is the True Name itself; his body, soul, emotions, and destiny are all converged within it. The non-True Name portion consists of nouns and verbs, such as "star," "flame," "viscera," "flicker," "leap," "wriggle," and abstract concepts like "the four directions," "life and death," "love and hate," or "you, me, and him." These non-True Name elements were what Lin Bo usually heard from the voices of all things; he had never heard a single True Name. All things do not easily reveal their own or others' True Names, preferring to refer to them with various nouns. Lin Bo had once listened to the whispers of the asters in the courtyard; they only used the word "flower" to refer to themselves, never giving the True Name "Aster."

Learning the magical language was extremely difficult. Lin Bo had been listening for two days and had only remembered a few simple words. When he had started learning Kening from scratch, he could communicate with Old Tim without barriers within four days. He was certain his memory was reliable, but the phonemes of the magical language floated in his mind like ice cubes, melting very slowly. So far, Lin Bo had only mastered the magical words for "come" and "go."

He realized that only when he truly comprehended the connotation of a magical word—rather than just memorizing its pronunciation and semantics—could he engrave it in his heart and utter it with his voice. Magical language spoken by a mage manifests miracles through the power of speech; these words and phrases are the incantations of a True Name Mage. Although both are powers of miracles, incantations and True Language Arts are fundamentally different.

True Language Arts are like programming software; they can achieve any function, but they test a mage's foundation heavily. They belong to the path of asceticism, where it is hard to start and even harder to master. Incantations are like pre-packaged applications that perform fixed tasks. They are easy to start with, but to achieve complex tasks, one must research long, intricate, and profound spells; thus, mastering them is equally difficult. In short, True Language Arts lean toward the sciences, while incantations lean toward the liberal arts.

Whether it was science or liberal arts, Lin Bo was currently just a self-taught amateur, a backwoods wizard who didn't know a single incantation. He hoped to encounter magic-related dungeons in the future, where there might be a chance to meet other mage players. After all, the road of self-study is long, and if there were like-minded companions to support each other, the journey would be smoother and faster.