"This way, perhaps you will understand the dangers that magic brings!"
Heimerdinger, who was talking eloquently, wiggled his big ears and raised his index finger to show his strong confidence. Duke looked at the bewildered Jayce and Viktor from the side.
These two people never expected things to take such a turn.
Heimerdinger, this old homebody who had been cooped up in Piltover for nearly two hundred years, actually planned to return to his homeland, although essentially it was to correct his students' mistaken ideas.
But he was actually willing to return to his homeland; that was truly not easy!
"Alright, it's happily decided then!"
"Professor Heimerdinger, if I may interrupt!"
Duke couldn't suppress the envy in his heart and his yearning for Bandle City. He interrupted Heimerdinger and sincerely said, "Can I join your trip to Bandle City?"
"You want to go too?"
"Yes, I'm very curious. Rumor has it that Bandle City is a magical World independent of the material plane, where there are rules and phenomena completely different from the material World. As a scientific researcher, I am very curious!"
"Hmm....." Heimerdinger stroked his beard, and under everyone's gaze, he pondered for a moment. Then, looking at the broken rune pedestal again, he readily agreed, "Alright, I agree to your request!"
"If it weren't for you discovering the anomaly first, stopping the rune pedestal at the critical moment, and even summoning the Wind Spirit to protect all of us, we would all have perished here!"
"Then we'll add you. After all, your magic talent is about to awaken, and going to Bandle City will help your magic awaken and won't affect the material World."
"Professor Heimerdinger, is magic awakening very dangerous?"
Orianna couldn't help but ask. The word 'magic' was something many people previously didn't even dare to think about, as the original intention of Piltover's establishment was to avoid those mad mages and arcane practitioners.
"Extremely dangerous!" Heimerdinger's expression became serious. "To become a mage, one must first possess magic talent, but most wild mages haven't undergone systematic learning. Furthermore, magic talent awakening often occurs at moments of extreme crisis. There are even cases where unawakened individuals, upon awakening, have their magic explode, thereby obliterating everything around them."
"Duke's magic talent is very strong. To have such keen magic perception before awakening, his talent can be said to be the best I've seen in the past few hundred years!"
"For Piltover, for your safety, I think it's necessary to take him to Bandle City for awakening. The arcane elements there are much denser, and his awakening will be much smoother!"
Heimerdinger stated his thoughts. Duke looked at Mr. Colin, his nominal boss, who was currently his only visible constraint.
"You can go, but don't cause any trouble there!"
"Then the punishment for Jayce and Viktor is decided. You two go back and pack up. We'll depart tomorrow and return by noon!"
"But Professor Heimerdinger, isn't such a punishment too light?"
Councilor Mel raised her objection. Others didn't speak, but the meaning in their eyes was exactly the same.
"Councilor Mel, I think you need to understand the true meaning of punishment!" Heimerdinger noticed that everyone seemed dissatisfied with his decision, so he straightforwardly opened a small lecture session right there.
"Punishment is to make those who make mistakes understand their errors and prevent them from making the same mistakes again!"
"But these two young people, who dedicated their passion and enthusiasm to scientific exploration, did nothing wrong; they were just a bit radical and couldn't comprehend the dangers of what they were doing."
"Our severe punishment of them this time, causing both physiological and psychological harm, is very likely to backfire!"
"This current punishment might make them behave for a while, but what about the future?"
Heimerdinger said meaningfully to Councilor Mel, "To be honest, I might not be as good as you at managing the Council or Piltover, but when it comes to teaching and nurturing people, you are not as good as me!"
"Sometimes, constant suppression only leads to hatred!"
"I've learned a lot, Professor Heimerdinger!" Mel's face turned icy. Being lectured by Heimerdinger like a grandson in front of such a crowd truly made her lose face.
Although her age would make Heimerdinger consider her too young to be his granddaughter, she was now a Councilor, on equal footing with Heimerdinger in terms of status!
"Then let's end it here today!" After Councilor Mel spoke loudly, she walked towards Duke, a smile on her face: "Mr. Duke, regarding your work, we will prepare everything you need as quickly as possible!"
"Once you return from Bandle City, you can sign the contract. I will do my best to secure the best terms for you in the contract!"
"Me too!"
Madam Giramann also spoke up at this time. Since Jayce and his Hextech project were out of the picture, they should quickly invest in Duke's clockwork powered Exoskeleton.
"In fact, this matter is not urgent!"
Duke raised his hand at this moment, holding up his qingniao amulet. "I'm not in a hurry to sign the contract. I want to submit an application to the Council!"
"Is it about that Holy Spirit?"
"Exactly. Janna's existence has been forgotten by many people, even though she is still protecting us. But we cannot let her continue to be forgotten!"
"I want to propose to the Council that we build a temple for Janna and rekindle our faith in Janna!"
"That's easy to say, we will do our best to make it happen!"
The other Councilors also spoke up at this moment.
"Indeed, such a benevolent deity, who protected us today, would have been considered a miracle in the past!"
"It should be so!"
"Mr. Duke, you truly spoke from my heart!"
.....
Amidst the compliments, Duke's lips moved slightly, "I'm good to you, aren't I?"
"That's what you should do!"
Janna snorted impatiently, and at the same time, a bluebird emerged from the void, circling around the crowd. A green breeze enveloped the hall, and everyone felt the Terrify in their hearts alleviate at that moment, and the damage to their bodies caused by the magic fluctuations also vanished.
"So, what's the doctrine?"
Councilor Mel had already decided to bring Duke onto her side. She attached immense importance to every one of Duke's suggestions. Who wouldn't want to invest in such a promising young man?
"Cough cough..." Duke's eyes flickered. Janna noticed the change in his gaze and immediately felt a sense of foreboding. Before she could speak, Duke preempted her: "Anyway, it doesn't cost money, so believe a little!"
Everyone's expressions froze, but then good-natured laughter echoed through the venue.
....
The next morning.
Duke, with two large dark circles under his eyes, rushed to the academy after being continuously pecked by Janna, who had transformed into a bluebird. Ever since he uttered the doctrine "It's free anyway, so believe it a little" yesterday, Janna had been chasing him all day, and she still hadn't cooled down.
"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me! Wasn't I trying to help you better absorb faith?"
"But that doctrine is too casual!"
"It highlights your approachable nature!"
"Nonsense!"
"No, really, no!"
Duke arrived at the academy gates, looked at the magnificent entrance, and said to the bluebird, "I'm going to meet Heimerdinger. I'll probably be back by noon. You should go back to Zaun first and take good care of Powder and Vi!"
"I don't need you to tell me what to do!"
Janna snorted, and the bluebird she had transformed into heavily pecked Duke again, then soared with the wind and quickly left the academy gates.
"Such a petty broom head!"
Touching his head, Duke walked into the academy. The academy gates faced the academy square, which was paved with White marble tiles, and students in academy uniforms could be seen everywhere.
Viktor had been waiting for Duke in the square since early morning. Seeing Duke approach, he quickly went to greet him.
"Good morning, Duke!"
"Good morning, Viktor!" Duke and Viktor walked into the academy together, heading towards Heimerdinger's laboratory. Along the way, Viktor looked at Duke, wanting to speak multiple times, but he didn't know what to say.
"You want to ask about the Exoskeleton?"
Duke, sensing Viktor's thoughts, smiled and patted his shoulder, "After we return from Bandle City, I will specially build a unique Exoskeleton for you, making you like a normal person!"
"Thank you for your kindness, but I wanted to ask something else!"
"What do you want to ask?"
"If technology and humans were integrated, what do you think would happen?"
Listening to Viktor's words, Duke frowned and looked deeply at Viktor, saying, "Your idea is very dangerous, but also very groundbreaking!"
"But I must warn you, Viktor!"
"Please speak!"
"The reason humans are humans is because we have flesh and blood. If you blindly embrace machinery and technology, will you still be you?"
That one sentence left Viktor speechless. Seeing him lost in thought, Duke patted his shoulder again: "Alright, don't get stuck in a rut. Let's go quickly!"
"The journey to Bandle City, it feels like it will be very wonderful!"
"Mmm..."
Viktor was pushed along by Duke, but that idea in his mind still lingered. All Terrify stems from the unknown. If machinery were integrated into the human body, could the inherent flaws of humanity be eliminated?
For example...
Terrify!
...
Inside Heimerdinger's laboratory.
Heimerdinger was on a stepladder, drawing a door on a wall. The door had already been roughly outlined, and Heimerdinger was adding details.
Jayce sat on a stool nearby, his beard scruffy and his eyes filled with a hint of despondency.
"Oh, you're here, Duke!"
Noticing Duke's arrival, Heimerdinger dropped the chalk. His pet Poros chased after the discarded chalk. These magical creatures looked especially adorable and would gradually exhibit characteristics similar to their Master.
"Is this the portal to Bandle City?"
"Hmm, it hasn't been used for many years, so I don't know if anything will go wrong!"
Heimerdinger pulled a small glass rod from his clothes. "Well then, gentlemen, let us prepare to depart!"
"With pleasure!"
Duke looked at the nascent portal with anticipation, while Viktor went to Jayce's side and patted his shoulder in comfort.
Heimerdinger, muttering obscure and unpleasant words, touched the glass rod in his hand to the door on the wall.
The spot touched by the glass rod shimmered with Water ripples, which slowly spread across the entire door. The door drawn on the wall instantly rippled, transforming from a two-dimensional plane into a three-dimensional object!
"It seems I haven't reached the point of senility yet!"
Gazing at the manifested portal, Heimerdinger nodded in satisfaction.
"I'll close the door, so I'll enter last. Jayce, you go first!"
"Understood, Professor!"
Jayce walked dejectedly into the portal, followed by Duke, then Viktor, and finally Heimerdinger.
As Heimerdinger stepped through the door, his arm extended out again, touching the doorframe with the glass rod. His arm quickly retracted, and the doorframe reverted from three-dimensional to two-dimensional.