The Wizard's Secret Journey

Chapter 245 Aftermath (4k)

"finished?"

Outside the watchtower, Samuel came to Lynn's side and looked around with him, speaking in a low voice.

“Perhaps,” Lynn silently glanced around and echoed in a low voice.

The grayish-white light had completely dissipated from the sky above the Gray Forest Ruins. Even the blood-red warning lights that had illuminated the camp had gone out.

The cold, silvery moon emerged from behind the dark clouds, replacing the blood-red pillar of light and illuminating the land.

The Silver Ring Watchtower 16-8 stands majestically atop the hillside, its deployed defensive shield emitting a faint white glow in the darkness.

The Horsens School camp, which had been taking shape at the foot of the tower, had been reduced to ruins.

The wooden fence surrounding the watchtower was crooked and collapsed, and the buildings in the core living area and the outer functional area had all collapsed, leaving only broken timber scattered all over the ground.

As for the surrounding area?

The surrounding area was even more appalling.

The adjacent gray forest no longer exists.

Trees lay fallen in large numbers, their remaining branches showing an unnatural dryness and decay, the bark peeling off as if their life force had been instantly drained.

This place will probably only be called a gray wasteland in the future, rather than a gray forest.

The hillside where the watchtower was located had also collapsed considerably, riddled with cracks, and the topsoil had been eroded, exposing the gray-black rock layers below. The ground pressure had also increased the elevation by several meters.

The riverbed at the foot of the mountain was exposed, with murky water carrying withered branches and gravel.

The air seemed to be filled with a faint smell of decay and the burnt smell of extinguished energy.

The night was extremely quiet, with only the faint hum of the watchtower's protective shield and the mournful sound of the wind blowing through the ruins.

Lynn and Samuel gazed together at the distant Graywood ruins.

The massive architectural ruins revealed their terrifying outlines in the deathly darkness, sending a chill down one's spine.

The two of them silently gazed at the Gray Forest ruins.

The Golden Thorn apprentices surrounded them, but none of them spoke.

Five minutes passed, and no new gray-white disaster wave formed at the Gray Forest Ruins.

Ten minutes later, news came from the fortress:

"The gray-white disaster has ended."

"Each camp should tally the casualties and losses, quickly organize the remaining wizards to resume normal patrols, and build a new defensive line."

Immediately afterwards, information came from the camp:

"Each outpost should immediately organize personnel to go to the nearby watchtowers to investigate, count casualties, and report losses."

Perhaps to ensure effectiveness, both messages were sent to all wizards.

"It's finally over!" The Golden Thorn apprentices cheered instinctively with joy!
Lynn and Samuel also breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It's finally over.

Despite the twists and turns, no one died in the Horsens School watchtower; only Samuel was injured, but he is now much better.

"I'll go turn off the shield first," Lynn said, jumping towards the watchtower.

Since Silver Ring Fortress dared to issue such a notice, it must have a certain degree of confidence.

Considering that Silver Ring Fortress provided an early warning before the previous Gray-White Catastrophe, although it wasn't very accurate.

But Lynn felt that at least half an hour from now, Graywood should be safe.

The sooner the watchtower's protective shield is closed, the sooner the cooldown period will pass, and if something goes wrong, the sooner it will be able to reopen it.

Moreover, and most importantly, it can save magic stones.

Accompanied by a buzzing sound.

The pale white protective shield that enveloped the Horsens School watchtower gradually disappeared.

Samuel entered the watchtower and asked:

"What should we do next? Can the watchtower resume its magic power supply?"

"The underground magic energy veins are still in a state of disorder due to the impact, and it is temporarily impossible to restore the magic energy supply."

“As for now—” Lynn shut down the watchtower’s light screen and pondered, “You organize the apprentices to rebuild the camp and wait for the people from the outpost to arrive. I’ll go and take a look around.”

Samuel nodded.

Lynn carefully inspected the watchtower and, after confirming that everything was normal, he drifted away from the watchtower and began to wander around.

As a first-tier wizard, he was very fast, especially when flying alone.

In less than two minutes, they had already explored the entire area covered by the watchtower.

In a corner on the southeast side, Lynn discovered Gobert's body.

Several miles south of Gobert's body, he found Benjamin's body.

Under the erosion of the gray-white disaster tide, the two were already unrecognizable, their bodies withered like children.

Even the witch's robes he was wearing turned to ashes, and most of his storage rings and other items were also damaged.

Lynn carefully examined the two bodies for a long time before he could barely distinguish their identities.

Under the cover of night, Lynn began to touch the two corpses.

His goal was very clear: it was either the magic stone, the knowledge crystal, or the Black Moon relic!
Lynn made that arrangement because of such selfish motives.

He then thought of the two wizards from the French Chamber of Commerce... Lynn felt that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they should be dead by now.

Now it seems that what he thought was indeed true.

Since Gobert and Benjamin were already dead, their belongings were naturally unclaimed.

It's a waste to leave it here; let him take it and put it to good use again.

"found it!"

Two minutes later, using his Black Moon spirit body, Lynn accurately located the Black Moon relics on Gobert and Benjamin's bodies.

The two Black Moon relics are held by the two individuals respectively.

They look very similar, both being a belt, and appear to be from the same series of Black Moon relics.

It is worth mentioning that although these two Black Moon relics are worn out, they do not seem to have been greatly affected by the Gray-White Catastrophe.

All functions are normal.

And after Lynn finished doing all that.

In the distance, on the horizon, a figure in white robes suddenly appeared.

Once Lynn confirmed that Gobert and Benjamin had nothing of value left, he gently waved his hand, turning them to ashes and burying them in the ground.

Burying oneself in the ground is Lynn's habit; the wizarding world does not have the custom of burial for peace.

However, the wizarding world highly values ​​cremation, presumably to prevent corpses from being used for witchcraft research.

It was for this reason that Lynn burned the two of them to ashes.

Regardless of who Gobert and Benjamin were or what they had done before, it all ended here.

Turning around, Lynn soared into the sky and returned towards the watchtower.

In his field of vision, the white-robed figure was also flying towards the 16-8 watchtower, just like him.

However, perhaps he noticed Lynn.

The figure in white robes turned a corner and flew towards Lynn first.

As he drew closer, Lynn could see that he was a male wizard from Silver Ring Academy. He had a refined appearance and looked to be around thirty years old. The silver ring badge on his chest gleamed in the night.

"Are you Lynn Kent?" the wizard asked, staring at the badge of the Horsens School ambassador on Lynn's chest.

“That’s right.” Lynn nodded.

“I am Yoro Van Buren, from Outpost 16-5. What are you doing here?” Yoro asked, puzzled. Although Lynn hadn’t made any deliberate attempt to hide, he had been making very little noise and was in the shadows, so Yoro hadn’t seen him.

On the contrary, Lynn discovered the wizard much earlier because Yoro was flying in the sky.

"The outbreak at the Graywood Ruins is over. I'm out on patrol," Lynn replied.

“I see.” Yoro, without any suspicion, sighed and said, “I came all the way from outpost 16-5. You are the first living wizard I have encountered.”

Lynn was taken aback: "The wizard apprentices at the 16-6 and 16-7 watchtowers are all..."

“That’s right, they’re all dead.” Yoro shook his head repeatedly, then turned around. “Let’s go, let’s go to watchtower 16-8 first.”

"I suspect that of the five watchtowers under the jurisdiction of Outpost 16-5, you are probably the only survivors."

"It's that serious? Aren't there watchtowers protecting it?"

Yoro glanced back at Lynn, a dark glint in his eyes. "The watchtower can indeed provide second-tier protection, and ordinary wizard apprentices can also activate it."

"The key point is that without magic stones or magic energy veins to provide power, the protective shield provided by the sentry tower can only last for a maximum of 5 minutes, relying solely on the energy it continues to generate daily."

"The original design purpose of the watchtower's protective shield was only to defend against potential Tier 5 intruders. Five minutes is enough time for the nearest outpost to arrive and provide support."

"But the gray-white disaster just now lasted for a full hour and a half."

Yoro's voice was somewhat low.

Lynn also fell silent; he hadn't thought of that.

Lynn raised his head, gazed into the distance, and murmured:

"If we have enough magic stones, there should be enough watchtowers to last until the end of the gray-white catastrophe."

“Of course.” Yoro nodded, then added, “provided they can activate the watchtower shields when the first wave of impact arrives.”

"Otherwise, under an impact comparable to a first-tier attack, they would not have had the chance to activate the watchtower's protective shield."

The gray-white disaster wave did not seem very powerful at the beginning.

But that only applies to first-tier wizards like Lynn and Samuel.

In fact, the first wave of the first round had already reached the first-tier strength, and it continued to increase afterward.

By the time the final wave arrived, the strength had already faintly touched the lower limit of the second tier!
For ordinary wizard apprentices, without the protection of the watchtower, they would have absolutely no chance of surviving such a disaster.

Lynn did not speak again.

The two of them went to watchtower 16-8 together.

Yoro first greeted Samuel, then went into the watchtower to begin a basic inspection.

This is a requirement of the camp.

At the same time, Joros asked:
"What is the casualty situation at Watchtower 16-8? How many wizard apprentices died?"

“No wizarding apprentices have died,” Lynn and Samuel answered together.

Yoro stopped what he was doing, looked up in surprise, and exclaimed:

"You guys are really amazing."

在看到16-6，16-7哨塔的惨状后，约罗觉得16-8哨塔纵使幸存了下来，但多少也会有一些伤亡。

Surprisingly, no one died here.

However, Yoro then thought that this was a watchtower guarded by two first-tier wizards, and he no longer found it strange.

Yoro briefly inspected the watchtower, confirming that all functions were normal. He also reviewed the records from before the Grey Tide, and after confirming that the Golden Thorn Apprentice had obeyed the orders at the time, he got up and left.

Yoro certainly saw that the Horsens School was slacking off in the face of orders to continue patrolling.

But given the current situation, he figured the academy wouldn't pursue the matter too seriously, so he turned a blind eye.

Watching Yoro leave, Lynn wasn't in a hurry to examine the newly acquired Black Moon relic. He turned to Samuel and said:

"The magic energy vein has almost returned to normal. I'll try to restore the power supply. You can continue rebuilding the camp."

……

Time passed quietly.

The darkness in the sky gradually faded, and the moon's silhouette slowly disappeared.

The warm yellow sunlight of the morning fell on the gray forest ruins, but instead of bringing warmth, it made the scene appear even more desolate.

As far as the eye could see, the earth lay bare and broken, with lead-gray remnants of the gray forest scattered crookedly.

On the contrary, watchtower 16-8 has returned to its former orderly state.

Lynn stood at the edge of the camp, his gaze sweeping over the ravaged land.

Dust drifted in the air, mixed with a certain rotten smell.

Below, Samuel is directing the Golden Thorn apprentices in repairing the final section—the camp's wooden fence.

The Golden Thorn apprentices were exhausted and terrified after everything that happened last night, but they were still working silently and efficiently.

Lynn withdrew his gaze and walked towards the Black Falcon.

He had just repaired the power supply module of the watchtower, and the reconstruction of the camp was nearing completion, so his help was no longer needed.

Silver Ring Fortress has not yet issued any new orders.

Now is the perfect time to study the two newly acquired Black Moon relics.

Upon entering the meditation room, the materials that had been neatly arranged on the table were now scattered on the floor. This was likely due to the final shock of the previous night.

Fortunately, Lynn usually keeps things well organized, so the wooden crate that was specifically used for storing things fell down, but thanks to the crate's built-in shock-absorbing properties, all the materials were intact.

This also includes those counterfeit Black Moon runes and Black Moon Seed runes.

Lynn took them out one by one, running his fingertips over them lightly, his gaze becoming deep.

If it weren't for the watchtower's protection last night, even if he managed to escape on the Black Falcon, he would probably have been in a very sorry state.

He needs greater power.

Therefore, cracking the Black Moon Rune is now an urgent matter!
Lynn took a deep breath and began his research.

Half a day later.

Suddenly, an acquaintance arrived at watchtower 16-8.

"Long time no see, Mr. Karls," Samuel greeted his acquaintance.

The latter smiled warmly: "I knew you were still alive."

He looked around again, "Where is Lord Lynn?"

"He's still in the meditation room. I've already notified him, and he should be here soon."

Karls nodded, relieved.

"Fortunately, I had just left the Gray Forest Ruins last night. When the gray-white calamity arrived, I was already on the edge of its reach."

"I risked my life to finally escape."

At this point, Karls suddenly lowered his voice:
"Sir Samuel, do you know what I encountered on my way here?"

Samuel shook his head.

"It's a wizard apprentice, a wizard apprentice who secretly escaped!"

Samuel was startled.

But thinking of the horrific scene from the previous night, he quickly felt relieved.

Karls sighed and asked, "I heard that many wizards died last night, is that true?"

“…I’m not entirely sure.” Samuel shook his head.

Just as Karls was about to press for more information, a familiar figure came into view.

He then stood up and said with a smile:
“You’ve finally arrived, Lord Lynn.”

(End of this chapter)