In the study of thaumaturgy, there exists a field known as “Forbidden Knowledge.”

Accompanying forbidden knowledge is another phenomenon: warp.

Whenever someone acquires forbidden knowledge, their warp level increases. The higher the warp level, the more likely strange phenomena will occur around them.

In milder cases, a sticky, magically-polluted puddle of viscous fluid might suddenly appear beneath one’s feet, or their vision might abruptly darken, making it difficult to see clearly. Sometimes, they might become ravenously hungry, craving to devour everything in sight yet never feeling full.

More severe cases involve vivid hallucinations. For example, swarms of tiny spiders might crawl out of the void and attack the hallucinating person.

It’s important to note that although these hallucinations are only visible to the affected individual, if those spiders manage to bite them, they can actually die from it. So if you ever see a thaumaturge fighting empty air, don’t be surprised, they’re simply protecting themselves from very real threats.

Besides hallucinations, others might suddenly feel intense heat and spontaneously combust, or develop a bleeding curse that continuously drains their health.

In fact, these phenomena that affect only the individual are relatively mild. Some warp effects turn the afflicted into a source of contamination, polluting any living being they come into contact with…

However, not all effects are necessarily harmful. Sometimes neutral phenomena occur. One particularly notable warp is “Deadly Gaze.” This usually manifests only in those with extremely high and irreversible warp levels.

People with Deadly Gaze have severely limited vision and cannot see things clearly at a distance. But any living being they do perceive will begin to wither away, ultimately leading to death.

As its name implies, whatever it sees, dies. It doesn’t harm the bearer themselves and can even be weaponized.

All these strange phenomena caused by forbidden knowledge are countless, and their disturbances to thaumaturges are unpredictable, they can manifest at any moment.

Most of these effects cannot be cleansed with milk; they must be endured until they fade naturally.

It’s also worth noting that some of these phenomena result purely from the researcher’s own mental instability due to studying forbidden knowledge.

Others, however, are caused by the research attracting attention from entities beyond this world.

They notice the forbidden researcher and attempt to send their minions, or exert their influence from the void.

When a scholar of thaumaturgy touches upon the forbidden, the forbidden itself will come seeking them.

—

However, since the moment he officially began his research, Garrett felt that his warp level had already built up to a considerable degree. His vision had darkened several times.

But nothing more serious ever seemed to occur.

Especially those phenomena that clearly indicated direct interference from otherworldly entities, they all seemed to be blocked, unable to extend their influence here.

All signs of interference from beyond had vanished, and only warps originating from within the researcher himself remained active.

They couldn’t interfere with this place.

“Does that mean I can study forbidden knowledge however I want now?”

Thank Eru Ilúvatar.

Although most warp effects didn’t pose a major threat to him, the occasional disturbance was still quite annoying.

Especially the ones that could affect other people.

While a substance known as Purifying Bath Salts could be used to cleanse warp from the body, it only worked on temporary, non-permanent effects. The deeply rooted permanent warps remained active.

The effects of permanent warp almost always bore traces of some kind of external entity.

He used to be concerned about this. But not anymore. The Creator of this world was shielding him from it all.

Clearly, those entities from beyond didn’t hold nearly as high a position as Eru Ilúvatar, and they couldn’t reach this world.

Verdict: Not even as threatening as Sauron.

—

The sun rose and set, and several days passed in quiet research.

That day, Garrett stepped out of the tower, embracing the warm sunlight. It felt as if even his warp level had been somewhat cleansed by Arda’s natural order.

During this period, he had unlocked all the chapters of Thaumonomicon, except for Eldritch Epiphany, which involved research into the outer void.

Unlocking Eldritch Epiphany required an item known as the Crimson Rites, which was usually only found in the possession of the Crimson Cult.

Obviously, there were no cultists in Middle-earth. At least, not yet.

But that was no great loss, what Eldritch Epiphany revealed wasn’t strictly essential. Being a proper, respectable thaumaturge was quite satisfying in itself.

Now, with all research avenues unlocked, the next and most important step was to begin the first major installation, one that would serve throughout his thaumaturgic career: the Infusion Altar.

This device could imbue aspects into mundane materials, or merge different aspect-infused objects into one, creating extraordinary items.

This was known as Infusion.

Unlike a crafting table, the infusion altar was a multi-block structure that required considerable space. Since the first floor of the tower was already planned out, he opened up the second floor, dedicating it entirely to infusion and other thaumaturgic crafts.

One by one, the aspects stored in ordinary greatwood staves were drained, and the materials needed to construct the infusion altar were gradually gathered.

Snap!

With the final 25 units of vis drained from a greatwood staff via a gold-capped staff, a square runic matrix slowly rose into the air. The arcane stone blocks at its four corners mysteriously transformed into cylindrical pillars, encircling the matrix in a protective formation.

This was the core of the infusion altar. It could perform calculations and execute functions, and even stored a small amount of vis, essentially, a primitive thaumaturgic computer.

Once the altar’s core was complete, he placed a series of pedestals around it in the proper configuration.

And so, the framework of the altar was complete.

But that wasn’t the end of it, thaumaturgic research always carried risks. When crafting high-tier magical items, the infusion altar could become unstable. The way to reduce that risk was to surround the altar with objects that contained stabilizing energies.

And so, the rotten flesh dropped by orcs long ago finally found its purpose.

This flesh could be refined in a crucible into tallow, which in turn could be used to make candles, low-cost and relatively aesthetic magical decorations.

He took some time to return to Wayfort, digging out several stacks of rotten flesh from a long-abandoned chest.

Wormi walked over, curious, and sniffed.

It walked away in obvious disgust.

Though Wormi disliked it, Garrett did not.

“Let us thank the orcs. They made a contribution to the progress of thaumaturgy.”

A short while later, 169 tallow candles were neatly placed around the base of the infusion altar to provide stability.

With the fully-equipped altar completed, he opened his Thaumonomicon and began constructing other essential facilities, placing them strategically across the second floor of the tower.

With that done, it was time to solve another major problem: Vis Crystals.

These were indispensable for the development of thaumaturgy. They were typically mined from special nodes, but Middle-earth had no such formations, and even the Nether didn’t generate them naturally.

To thaumaturgy, lacking vis crystals was like trying to play Minecraft without wood, completely impossible.

Fortunately, the Thaumonomicon revealed another method for obtaining vis crystals: by dissolving quartz fragments in a crucible containing purified essentia, one could crystallize them into vis crystals of corresponding aspects.

With that, the major resource problem was solved.

Everything was ready, and Garrett eagerly began working with alembics and crucibles, going through Essentia Distillation via Alchemical Furnace to extract the needed essentia from various materials. Before long, he crafted his first Quartz Staff.

This staff could hold 75 units of vis, three times more than a greatwood staff. Switching to it felt like upgrading from a wooden sword to an iron one, a significant leap forward.

75 units was a key threshold. The next tier up was the silverwood staff, which could hold 100 units, while the lower tier was the bone staff, which held 50 units.

Unfortunately, this world had neither Silverwood trees nor the proper bone materials.

But… he suspected that trees containing magical properties similar to Silverwood might indeed exist on this continent.

His thoughts drifted from the tower toward the Golden Wood on the eastern side of the Misty Mountains, the realm of Lady Galadriel, Lothlórien.

There, the land was filled with mallorn trees, whose trunks shimmered silver, and whose leaves gleamed golden.

Those trees were not native to Middle-earth; they originated from the sacred lands where the Valar dwelled, Valinor, the Undying Lands of the West.

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