Chapter 636: Cloud Printing, Semi-Automatic Printer

Ever since that Yueshilan Family arrived, Elves have been coming to Savile Town continuously, but at this point, there is no need for Xia Duo and Niya to step forward personally.

Through Patriarch Aoruipusi of the Silver Leaf Family, Xia Duo learned from that Yueshilan Family that an Elf High Mage had appeared in Kangnifeila City and taken away all the Elf Elite Mages, who were similar to human High Mages.

In other words, those remaining were at most at the level of Intermediate Mage, so Xia Duo chose to entrust the Silver Leaf Family with the responsibility of receiving the Elf refugees; of course, reception was only the final step, as the main goal was to persuade them to leave.

It was not to persuade them to return to Cormanthor, as that was unrealistic. Persuading them to stay peacefully at that supply point to the east of Savile Territory was what would be best for everyone.

Although the arrival of the Elves meant a crowd of refugees, this busy and chaotic atmosphere also diluted the worry Xia Duo felt in his heart regarding the Drow and the Dragon Disaster.

Perhaps it was because there were so many Elves acting as a buffer, or perhaps it was because the threat had not arrived day after day, causing the feeling to fade over time; in any case, Xia Duo had indeed felt much more relaxed these past two days.

He was no longer as he had been before, prepared 24 hours a day to respond to any slight disturbance; life had to go on, and it had to go on normally.

……

Tower of Time, inside a certain workshop.

Xia Duo was carefully assembling a neatly shaped magic device on the laboratory bench; although his movements were very cautious, his mindset was quite relaxed, as the manufacturing difficulty of the Magic Scroll Printing Machine was far less than that of a Flying Sword.

Since he had even managed to make a Flying Sword, this Magic Scroll Printing Machine was simply nothing to worry about.

The main body of this thing was a rectangular table, about half a palm high; on one side of the table was a long, narrow rectangular ink cartridge, which was divided into three compartments to accommodate three different types of ink.

In addition, this ink cartridge could also be removed and replaced with other spare ink cartridges; in terms of design philosophy, Xia Duo referenced the ink cartridges of printers on Earth.

Of course, it was certain that the shape would be different; he just prioritized convenience, focusing on practicality, and did not put too much design into the appearance.

As for the inside of the table, it contained the Mithril Components and the Energy Core; for the sake of easy inspection and maintenance, Xia Duo did not encapsulate them, as he was the one using it anyway, and he could fix it at any time if it broke.

Besides the Mithril Components and the Energy Core, the other materials for the printing machine did not involve the core functions of the machine, so there was nothing to be particular about, and Xia Duo chose the most common Iron.

If it weren't for the fact that metal shaping was more convenient, using wood would actually be more cost-effective.

After snapping the last latch into place and applying a little force with his hand to ensure the whole thing was stable, a laboratory version of the Magic Scroll Printing Machine was considered complete.

As for linking to the Magic Net, that had already been linked after installing the Mithril Components and the Energy Core earlier.

……

Next, Xia Duo prepared to actually use it.

He first took a stack of Parchment from his Personal Space and placed them one by one into the six grooves on the printing platform, filling the grooves almost completely.

At present, automatic paper changing either involved mechanical structures or required additional Spell design. Xia Duo was not skilled in the former, and the latter required a large amount of time to research.

It was not something that could be realized in a short time, and the current printing machine could already greatly reduce the time consumed in the process of making Magic Scrolls; adding automatic paper changing would only provide limited improvement to efficiency.

After loading the "printing paper," Xia Duo began to add ink to the "ink cartridge." This time, he was preparing to print 3rd Circle Fireball Scrolls, which required the use of 【Sand Crystal Ink】.

This type of ink contained not only the "Sand Crystal" in its name but also a significant proportion of Ruby Powder; it was sold outside for 200 Gold Coins per small bottle, and one bottle could draw about two Fireball Scrolls.

For the Tower of Time, it was of course cheaper to buy the materials and prepare this type of consumable himself, and when settling accounts for members of the Tower of Time, the price was also lower than 200 per bottle.

But regardless, this type of ink was still very expensive, and Xia Duo poured 10 bottles into one of the compartments of the long ink cartridge at once, filling it almost to the brim.

From this, it could be seen that he was full of confidence in whether this printing machine was usable.

Next, Xia Duo took out something similar to a 3.5-inch floppy disk from Earth and inserted it into a slot on the side of the printing machine; if this thing were missing, the person starting the printing machine would have to control the printing content.

This thing had never appeared in the 【Projection Plane: Arcane Empire】 either; the printing workers there were at least Official Mages, and the printing machines were linked together with a Communication Array, which could produce an effect similar to "cloud printing."

This was something Xia Duo could not compare with; he did not have a large number of Mage workers to serve him, nor did he have a nationwide Communication Array as an external data source, so all he could think of was a physical "external plug-in."

The core of the printing machine was 【Transcription】, a 1st Circle Spell that could print any content provided by the Spellcaster, but the Spell itself also had a certain degree of openness; converting "Spellcaster-defined input" into "physical plug-in input" did not present any threshold.

The thing similar to a floppy disk that Xia Duo took out actually contained Mithril Components inside its Iron shell; when he inserted it into the printing machine, it was similar to conducting a Spellbook bridging experiment.

It was just that a bridging experiment involved equivalent replacement, whereas here, it was just adding a portion of structure to the core Mithril Components of the printing machine.

The effect of adding this structure, reflected in the Spell effect, was to print the Arcane Geometry of 【Fireball】 directly onto the paper.

Currently, Xia Duo had already prepared several external printing plug-ins for different Spells; if he wanted to change the printing content, he just needed to swap them out and adjust the corresponding ink cartridge.

It was not the most convenient method in theory, but in the short term, this was all Xia Duo could do.

……

With everything prepared, Xia Duo started the printing machine. There was no noise that might occur with printers on Earth, only the sudden flash of magical radiance, and the complex, precise patterns he had envisioned had already appeared on the Parchment in the six printing positions on the printing platform.

"I suppose it's semi-automatic!" Xia Duo muttered slightly.

This printing machine had to be started once to print once; of course, it could be designed for continuous printing, but that would require the automatic paper-changing function as a complement, and for the time being, there was no need for such a high-end, fully automatic printing machine.

Just with this current one, in the blink of an eye, 6 copies of 【Quasi-Magic Scroll】 appeared.

Except for the final 【Link Magic Web】 which the machine could not replace, the other pre-steps that originally required the Spellcaster to spend a large amount of time were instantly completed by the printing machine.

And this was just a semi-automatic printing machine; if it were fully automatic, to the point where the machine could replace the Spellcaster in linking the Magic Scroll to the Magic Net, the prospects would be simply unimaginable.

……