Chapter 974: The Arrival of the Council's Main Force - Senior Brother, Don't Hit My Head! |
"When will someone from home come..."
"Yes, when will someone from home come..."
Garrett and Lynn sat in a small inn in Walsingham town, sighing at each other, one long sigh after another.
They had rushed all the way back to the town on the east coast. They had sent a message back through the Mage Tower (the identity of a level nine mage and a large box of magic crystal energy had been of great help), but now they had nothing to do and were idling here every day—
What?
Shopping?
This small town was so tiny that walking from the port to the edge of the wasteland took less than half an hour. What was there to shop for?
The entire port was basically a collection of shops that bought all sorts of raw materials—magic beast meat, magic beast hides, magic beast tendons, various herbs, pearls of different sizes, magic beast bones. You could walk from one end of the street to the other and back again and have seen everything.
And Garrett already had a lot of these raw materials in his possession, and they were the highest quality. In places close to human civilization, you typically wouldn't find powerful magic beasts. There was nothing special to see.
The goods in those shops wouldn't even sell in middle-class neighborhoods in Nevis; they could only be sold in the slums. Even here, Garrett would poke his head halfway into the shop, look in the dim light, and then turn away—
There was no good shopping, no tourist attractions. If he wanted to fish, going to the seaside was pointless because as soon as he sat down, Cirilla would dive into the water with a splash. Then, a huge, dark shadow would dive deep into the sea.
Garrett: "..."
Cirilla, we're here to fish, not to catch fish! When you dive in like that, how can there be any fish left around?
With nowhere to shop and no entertainment (going to the bar every day and dealing with the waitresses was something Baronessimo enjoyed tirelessly, but Garrett couldn't stand even a glance at it), Garrett and Lynn, who were fed up with dissecting spell models, could only sit in the inn and sigh.
When will someone from home come... Don't make them wait for three months... By the way, even the fastest sea ship would take a month and a half. Does the council have the courage to send an alchemy ship, or something even stronger...
"Meow!"
Mr. Troka suddenly cried out. With a light jump, he leaped from the table to the windowsill, reaching out to the distant sky with his claws. One grab, one slap, then another grab—
Garrett and Lynn turned their heads simultaneously, looking up at the sky. Their eyes widened at the same time:
"What is that!"
In the distant sky, a black dot rapidly approached, growing larger and larger. At first glance, it seemed to be at the limit of visual distance, just a tiny dot;
On the second look, it resembled a winged torpedo, swimming freely between the clouds and the sky;
On the third look, the torpedo turned out to be composed of two parts. The lower fusiform body was divided into two colors by a midline: light white like the sky on the bottom, and dark like the earth on the top;
Above the fusiform body, there was a row of sails, staggered front to back, all fully spread. At first glance, they looked like they were made of canvas, but upon closer inspection, each sail was glowing with seven colors and numerous magical symbols, faintly visible and slightly rising.
"This is... This is..."
"An airship? Such a big airship?!" Garrett craned his neck, trying hard to get a better look. He had seen and ridden on council airships before; there was a special place near the top of Igor Peak for docking airships;
But such a large airship, flying all the way from Nevis, was unexpected. It might even have to fly from here to the Kingdom of the Eagle God...
The council was going all out this time!
Garrett suddenly felt a weight on his shoulders. With such a large airship dispatched, the council's determination and investment were evident. With such a significant investment, if it failed...
Could they rob the Kingdom of the Eagle God enough to cover the losses?
Amitabha, bless. Better not have such bad thoughts, strive for a win-win outcome...
"By the way, should we go to greet them?"
Lynn waved a hand in front of his face. Garrett, still gazing at the distant airship, had a vacant look in his eyes:
"I was wondering if this small town of Walsingham has a helipad... or an air harbor? Where will this airship land?"
Before the words were out of his mouth, a colorful beam shot from the top of the Mage Tower at the port, heading straight for the airship. The beam pierced the sky, reached the vicinity of the airship, and with a snap, spread out into a light screen, blocking the airship.
A beam of light shot down from the airship, hitting the light screen. The two beams entangled, merged into one, and then bent down, silently entering the Mage Tower. Soon, a mage flew out from the Mage Tower, stood high in the air, and saluted:
"Walsingham port's presiding mage, Blanche Astrea, welcomes the esteemed archmages! Please follow me—"
"Alright, let's go too. If they land and don't see us, we'll probably get a head knock..."
However, Garrett, who obediently went to greet them, still couldn't avoid being knocked on the head. The first thing Master Byerbo did upon seeing him was point a finger, sending a half-transparent mage hand to hit his temple with several light taps:
"Pop! Pop! Pop!"
"Ouch! That hurts!" Garrett cried out, clutching his head:
"Master Brother! Why did you hit me out of the blue?"
He obediently took the hits, but Cirilla couldn't stand it. She stepped to the side, frowning, and reached out to grab the mage hand. Halfway there, Garrett quickly stopped her, signaling with his eyes:
Don't argue with Senior Brother, you can't beat him! Take a couple of hits and he'll stop. If you fight him, I'll get hit even more!
Cirilla pouted and stepped aside. The mage hand, having finished tapping his head, spread out and started patting Garrett's head. Master Byerbo laughed with arms crossed:
"You're quite something now, huh! Became the Plague Lord? Hmm? Do you know that the neighboring department bragged about this to the teacher?"
"Uh..."
Garrett wilted. Seriously, it was the necromancers who started it, and they even went to the teacher to show off. How annoying!
If only he could beat them...
"Do you know how dangerous this was?"
Having patted enough, Master Brother threw a large pile of materials at him. There were large, hardcover books with gilded corners that weighed down his arms—Cirilla quickly took them and stored them in her space equipment;
There was a large piece of hard leather inscribed with numerous rough characters, the other side of the leather was very coarse, feeling like scales;
There were stacks of bound papers, which Garrett glimpsed were copied theses from the thesis library;
There was a small, yellowed, brittle book, an unknown predecessor's notes...
"These are all pitfalls experienced by previous mages. Study them carefully," Master Brother instructed earnestly, almost using the mage hand to grab Garrett's ear and pour the information in:
"In the past, mages have shown their power in the wilderness, among native tribes, or in other spaces, and been worshipped. This worship gradually led them astray."
His face turned serious, clearly having read these records and been deeply shocked by the tragic outcomes:
"Those who were lucky paid with more than half of their power and mental strength to escape; the unlucky ones became completely lost in the power of worship, becoming the form believed by the natives, losing themselves completely."
Garrett shivered. Luckily, he decisively bombed away those shouts of "Plague Lord" and abandoned them. If he had indulged even a little...
He might be wandering in the wilderness of the New World now, looking like the Plague Maiden. Oh, maybe not quite like that, since he was taller and stronger, possibly... looking even worse?
"Take these back and read them carefully." Master Brother admonished him earnestly:
"Read about the paths trodden by predecessors and their mistakes. Also, write down your own experiences this time and submit them to the council—this is very valuable experience. Your experiences will also guide future generations, don't forget!"
Garrett nodded obediently with a bitter face. Great, now the "Plague Lord" joke would be written down. Everyone would call it a joke and laugh it off, but now he had to write it all down in detail...
Submitting this report to the council would permanently label him as the "Plague Lord." Would he ever be able to shake it off?
"By the way, where's your thesis?"
"Ah? Thesis?"
"You're already at level 10! Did you gain nothing new in the New World? No new magical insights? No new experiments?"
Master Brother threw a disapproving look at him, firing one question after another. Each question made Garrett shrink a little further:
"I came here to save people... I did new experiments
but..."
"No buts! No excuses!" The mage hand rose again, poised to knock:
"Take these days to organize your thoughts and write a thesis! Before we depart, you must finish it and send it through the Mage Tower to Nevis! Let the teacher see your recent progress!"
Garrett: !!!
No way, I'm already level 10! I'm halfway to becoming legendary! Why do I have to write a thesis even on an adventure to save someone?
Even elementary school students don't have to do homework every day during summer vacation!
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