The formation of a stable magical structure requires more than just mathematical guidance. The attributes of mana itself also vary greatly, and the properties of different polarities of mana are likewise dissimilar. Even a tiny conflict in certain qualities could lead to catastrophic magical accidents.

There are many historical records of incidents like pyromancers burning themselves alive, cryomancers freezing themselves into ice sculptures, or aeromancers shredding themselves into mincemeat.

Thus, even though Lawson knew much modern mathematical knowledge, he did not dare claim he could swiftly expand the logical magic system. Of course, those were matters of the arcane arts, while mages were still mortals who could not transcend the mortal plane.

Take now for instance. After some cerebral questioning, both of their faces showed signs of weariness. Lawson had been traveling all day without a moment's rest, while Countess Aumicha was advanced in years and had been kept up late into the night after a busy day. She was clearly forcing herself to stay alert.

Seeing the elderly Countess unable to stifle her yawns, Lawson tactfully said, "My lady, it's getting late and you must have many matters still to attend to. I shall take my leave."

"Mm~ Go then. Marcilli, show Lawson to his quarters."

"Yes, my lady." Came the steward's response from outside.

When Lawson reached the door, he suddenly felt something important had been left unsaid. Disregarding decorum, he turned back.

"My lady, there is one more thing I must report."

The elderly Countess failed to restrain herself and yawned again. Oddly, Lawson yawned along with her. Then Marcilli outside also joined in with one.

Lawson and the Countess exchanged looks and finally laughed it off.

The Countess rubbed her forehead with a finger. "Just the most crucial parts."

Lawson then briefly recounted Aurelia's matter, excluding the later parts about the encounter with the Winterspawn apostle. After he finished, he softly summarized.

"This mysterious woman claims to be the daughter of a certain undying being. And her mother's archnemesis is likewise a sentient ancient banyan tree that calls itself the Winterking."

"This matter has exceeded old Shabolai's and my capabilities, so..."

Unexpectedly, the elderly female Countess seemed rather unconcerned.

"There have been no undying beings in the Goldwater Highlands for a long time. Nowadays, many people enjoy masquerading as transcendent lives to fool others."

"You're young and lacking in experience, so being duped is normal. But there's no need to fret over this."

After some thought, she felt the matter should not be dismissed too lightly either.

"These fellows muddying the waters by borrowing the names of the transcendentals. Usually it's fine to ignore them, but now with the frost dwarves invading, it cannot be tolerated."

"But we need not handle this. The Sanctum of Purification naturally will make these charlatans know their place."

Seeing her attitude so certain, Lawson felt further discussion was fruitless despite disagreeing internally. Bowing once more, he took his leave.

In the corridor, Marcilli personally led the way. After walking some steps, the Countess's voice came over.

"Marcilli, later notify General Volpus to arrive at the Crescent Gardens by six in the morning. I want those frost dwarves to taste the Silvermoon Fire!"

"Yes, my lady."

Marcilli called over a maidservant and instructed her to lead Lawson to the guest quarters. Asking pardon, he briskly turned and left.

Subsequent matters were unrelated to Lawson. A small commoner mage apprentice had no right to participate in the Silvermoon Castle's highest military meetings. Eavesdropping on even a sentence could land him in trouble.

Moreover, in the sprawling Silvermoon Castle, powerful experts abounded. Dealing with a bunch of invading frost dwarves from afar should be no arduous task.

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Thus, Lawson set his mind at ease and casually washed up before stripping off his outer garments and lying in bed to sleep.

The moment his body adhered to the bed and his mind relaxed, the accumulated weariness from a full day of traveling erupted like a flood, making every muscle in his body sorely painful.

Considering he had already meditated at the city gates earlier, doing so again would exceed his body's limits. He allowed drowsiness to consume him.

It seemed only a few breaths before he sank into slumber.

As he slept, after some unknown passage of time, he suddenly felt someone calling his name. Oddly, he clearly felt someone calling him yet heard no sound, and had no way to discern who the voice belonged to.

This sensation was bizarre, like a nerve in his brain being lightly plucked by a finger. He felt himself awake, opening his eyes, yet he saw nothing. Pitch darkness all around, hands invisible inches from his face, as if submerged in thick ink.

"What's going on? Sleep paralysis?"

In the hazy dreamscape, Lawson was quite perplexed but did not feel afraid. His previous Earth life experiences told him that when someone was excessively fatigued during the day, sleep paralysis could occur at night. Additionally, overly heavy bedding or sleeping prone with pressure on the chest could also cause similar sensations. In short, these were normal physiological phenomena.

"Lawson~"

He felt called again, slightly different from before. He roughly discerned the direction of the voice's origin. Since he couldn't see anything anyway, and couldn't open his eyes, brain still groggy, he groped along towards the voice. But searching in pure darkness was extremely arduous. With no reference objects, he soon lost his bearings.

Just as he felt directionless, he was called again. His sense of direction returned. He continued groping ahead. Like this, continuously groping, a faint glow gradually appeared ahead, like navigating a cave and seeing the exit up front. With the light to guide him, progress became much easier.

Lawson felt his pace quicken significantly, even starting to jog. He heard his own footsteps echo back from the front exit. A random thought popped up in his mind. 'There should be a massive enclosed space up ahead.'

Soon, he arrived at the exit position. Indeed as he expected, a gigantic space lay before him. The surrounding walls pitch black, nothing visible. At the center, a golden point of light. The distance was somewhat far. Lawson could not make out details of the golden glow, but a winding, twisting path conveniently led towards it from the exit.

In the chaotic dreamscape, it did not occur to Lawson to open his adventure log and zoom in to observe. He simply followed his curious instincts and ran along the path ahead. He wanted to see what was emitting that golden point of light.

He felt himself running very quickly, yet not feeling tired at all. But the golden point grew larger and clearer, gradually revealing its outline. It seemed to be a person, someone floating in midair.

"A mage?" Lawson wondered.

He kept running forwards. The figure's silhouette grew increasingly defined until finally, Lawson could see clearly, heart pounding uncontrollably. It was Aurelia!

Her arms spread wide, entangled by some indistinct, bizarre black mist. Thus her entire body was suspended aloft, resembling a cross like some alien world's crucifixion imagery.

She was stark naked, but her abundant golden tresses cascaded waterfall-like from her drooping head, concealing most of her body. Lawson gazing up could just glimpse her downturned face.

Her expression was largely tranquil, only slightly knitted brows hinting at some pain. Her eyes like autumn waters half open, their gaze seemingly completely frozen. It gave the impression this was a corpse long dead!

In the dreamscape, thick confusion welled up in Lawson's heart.

"This can't be just sleep paralysis! Sleep paralysis can't conjure such a realistic dream!"

"Where is this place? Who hung her up here? And why string her up like this?"

"Is she dead or alive?"

As if in direct response to Lawson's doubts, the frozen gaze moved slightly, meeting Lawson's eyes right on. In that instant, though she made no sound, her eyes transmitted endless meaning.

Pain, self-mockery, helplessness, pleading - all kinds of emotions clearly conveyed into Lawson's mind. Then in the next moment, Lawson saw the black mist coiling her arms stir and Aurelia's face grew more anguished.

She took a final look at Lawson before closing her eyes. In another instant, the scene before him swiftly faded to black, and Lawson's consciousness sank into chaos along with it.

Hard to say how much later, melodious birdsong reached his ears. Lawson opened his eyes and saw sunny skies and blooming flowers outside the window. It was already next morning.

Rolling out of bed, memories flashed through his mind as he dressed. The lightless unknown space, the blonde woman strung up midair, the bizarrely lifelike black mist - vividly surfacing in his thoughts one by one.

The sudden freakish imagery shocked Lawson into recoiling several steps and sitting back down on the bed.

"Was that a dream? But wasn't that dream too realistic?"

Finally settling his thoughts with difficulty, he could not help softly sighing.

"Looks like I guessed right." Aurelia had likely gone to take revenge on the Winterking but was not his match and got captured instead. The her in the dreamscape was very pained, very feeble. She probably could not persist much longer.

After thinking a bit, he began meditating. Sure enough, more power leaked out through the golden node again, about one tenth of the total. With Lawson's current strength, going to aid a transcendental was obviously a drop in the bucket, but still better than doing nothing.

He pondered briefly before opening his Divine Will manager and trying to increase resonance with the power flow. It actually succeeded. In the end, approximately half of his meditation gains trickled into the inscrutable void along the golden node.

"Though I don't know if this helped, it's doing what I can as a friend. I'll try my best to help."

How could he help? Transcendentals' affairs were beyond his capabilities to interfere. He could only inform the Sanctum. Recalling the Countess's reaction last night, he felt she had not taken it seriously enough.

'I'll write the Sanctum another letter elaborating on the situation, include last night's dream too. Hopefully it can increase their attention.'

"No, a mere apprentice's letter will doubtless be ignored. I'll have Master write it when I get back."

Just then, the door knocked again, Shabolai's cheerful voice coming through.

"Lawson my boy~ Wakey wakey~ Don't let the sun roast your bum numb!"