[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies":3,"chapter-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-4":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Notes on Kraft Anomalous Studies",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2283482,4467,"Chapter 4: Chapter Three: On Snowy Days, Don","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-4",4,"\u003Cp>This time, Kraft awoke in the dim natural light, seeing beams squeezed through narrow cracks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Glass existed in this world, but it was stuck at a technological level that made it impossible for transmigrants to profit easily from it, and lacked large-scale production. Glassware was still rare items for now, let alone glass windows, which were even more technically demanding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, most houses still had wooden windows; to enjoy the experience of morning sunlight filling the room, one could only leave windows open in summer—but that was clearly impossible now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The house Kraft was currently staying in had once belonged to what might be called the village head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “might be” was added because this title had no official recognition; there were no lords or other rulers here to confirm it. As long as the other villagers felt this man handled affairs well, he took on the duties of hosting outsiders and mediating neighborhood relations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After seeing Kraft and his cousin’s clothing, the village head naturally took his family to squeeze into the neighbor’s house, vacating his own in exchange for a substantial payment—two privately minted, tarnished silver coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, when Kraft returned and reported expenses to his grandfather, he would report two full-weight silver coins—the kind issued by the kingdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though this was the village head’s house, expecting good conditions was unrealistic. The walls were made of stone and clay mixed together, reinforced with a frame of local spruce wood, paired with wooden windows that didn’t fit tightly—the insulation was in a vague, almost mystical state, delivering a harsh lesson to anyone accustomed to sleeping naked at night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The interior partitions were single-layer wooden boards, greatly simplifying the process of waking up a companion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft rolled out of bed and slapped hard against the wooden partition between the two rooms: “Lein, are you awake? You still need to leave today for Wendeng Harbor.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you want me buried halfway by snow, I can leave right now.” The window was flung open from outside, and a golden-haired head dusted with snow poked in. “Also, urging someone to leave should happen in the morning, not at noon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s already noon? With this much snow, what are you doing outside?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I went to check on that black pillar—I think we should give up on bringing it back.” Lein shook the snow off his body. Though he’d been active all morning, he showed no ill effects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When everyone doubted Kraft could survive to adulthood, Lein had once been treated as a half-heir to the family; year-round training had long accustomed him to the cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why? I think Grandfather would be delighted to place it in the courtyard—he and the teacher could circle it for a month. If necessary, we can wait a few more days.” Kraft tried to hold out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I suggest you go see it yourself—maybe you can chop it down with your sword?” Lein chuckled, patting the scabbard at his waist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft arrived at the excavation site with his sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no real intention of challenging the massive stone pillar with it—merely because never being separated from one’s weapon was a habit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether out of professional duty as an heir to a family known for splitting skulls, or out of reverence for his most valuable possession, a weapon should always remain within sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The large pit around the black stone pillar had expanded another circle; even someone who’d never set foot in the earth knew that dealing with frozen ground in snowfall was no easy task.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several men, shivering from the cold, huddled around the pit’s edge; their faces were obscured by the dense snowflakes. When they saw Kraft and Lein approaching, they quickly scattered, making way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The prismatic black stone still stood firmly centered in the pit, pointing precisely upward, with at least two meters exposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had first revealed only a black corner, discovered when a village child tripped in the fields. Fuming, he dug all afternoon; when adults came looking for him at dusk, they found a large, highly regular, patterned object.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After villagers dug downward, assuming it might be something valuable, they realized it was a pillar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, looking into the pit’s depths, beneath scattered soil clumps, lay a black, rough, horizontal surface of the same material as the pillar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The junction between the pillar and this surface had been cleaned clean—no trace of joints, appearing entirely as one unified whole, preserving the continuity of the patterns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The carver of the upper portion was likely an obsessive-compulsive perfectionist: from the flat top downward, the incised patterns deepened uniformly, interlocking across all six sides to form shapes resembling characters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Near the base, the patterns spread out in a free yet orderly manner, evoking fluid motion, cascading like water against the plane, splattering outward and winding away into the distance. At a glance, one might even mistake it for living snakes slithering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft stepped back from the pit’s edge; loose surface soil detached and rolled downward with a rustling sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He watched silently as they slid down the pit wall like a miniature mudslide, finally settling atop the serpentine patterns, covering a small patch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Could this just be a larger base? What if we dig further to the side?” he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice sounded faint in the snowy wind, so faint he wasn’t even sure what he’d said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even just this portion alone can’t be moved by any cart from the harbor,” Lein turned his gaze from the pillar. “Perhaps you really want to try cutting it down? Even if you could, it would be a terrible waste.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, even in Grandfather’s vast collection, it would be hard to find anything so… indescribable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft knew he could never split it open—but even imagining such an act felt utterly unacceptable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shivering villagers nearby had not left. Kraft paused, pulled out his money pouch, and gave each of them one black silver coin—the agreed-upon payment upon completion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lein watched the villagers thank Kraft, then sprint toward the village, their figures quickly blurred by the wind and snow. In the distance, low clustered shapes—less than two hundred paces away—marked the village, visible clearly when they first arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The snow seems to be getting heavier. Shall we head back?” Lein looked at Kraft, still standing frozen in place, sensing this treasure hunt was likely over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps they could return to Wendeng Harbor and pick up some small, pleasing trinket from a street stall. In Lein’s view, the stone-carved rune-eye he’d brought back last time wasn’t bad at all.\u003C\u002Fp>",1091,"2026-06-20T02:15:55.761Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","eea3bf48a1ea9729e22da530ed1e9adffa5c49a7d8b65eb237d35ca0343caa60","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-5","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-3",406,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnotes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-cover.jpg"]