Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 20: Expedition into Jackdaw Ridge
Reiner ran wildly through the forest of Jackdaw Ridge with Harvey on his back.

"Sir, the motor oil you mentioned, is it really better than animal fat?" Reiner was still able to speak steadily even in the intervals of running at high speed.

Every time he took a step, the violent tremor caused by landing made Harvey, who was lying on his back, feel like all the bones in his body were about to fall apart.

"Of course... besides... engine... oil,... shock absorbers... also... need to be provided for you!"

Harvey felt that not only were his bones about to fall apart, but he could also make a paused rhythm with his mouth that matched Reiner's gait.

"What's shock absorption? Ah, it's almost there, sir, look!"

Reiner stopped abruptly, and his alloy feet plowed a deep groove in the muddy ground.

The strong inertia almost made Harvey spit out his breakfast.

Harvey slid down his back, his whole body limp. He closed his eyes and relaxed for a few minutes before he had the energy to look around.

The dark green dense forest occupied most of the view.

The scenery on the north slope of Jackdaw Ridge is different from the bright and vivid light green of the town to the south. It is a deep and thick green that seems to have no end at a glance. Even the sky above is completely blocked by the towering vegetation.

"Are we not going off course?" Reiner stood on tiptoe and looked around.

Harvey didn't rush to cast the Reconnaissance Eye spell to confirm, because he had already found the obvious marks left by the hunter.

"Pierce has been here. Look at that tree." Harvey pointed to a thick tree trunk where a red cloth was tied crookedly. There was also a simple symbol they had agreed on engraved on the bark.

"Well, Pierce is really brave. He set out a day earlier than us and has already been here."

"I'm going to take five alchemy beasts with me. I'm braver than him," Harvey complained silently. "Let's go to the temporary camp marked in Pierce's mark first. We need to rest up."

Lennart squatted down, waiting for Harvey to climb onto his shoulders, but was ruthlessly rejected.

"Thanks, let me walk for a bit, Reiner, I'm about to throw up."

The camp location marked by the hunter's mark is not far away.

Harvey also admired Pierce's ability in the wild. Although he set out a whole day earlier than them, he did not have Reiner's abnormal alchemical prosthesis. With just the physical strength and speed of an ordinary person, he was able to cross the steep mountains so quickly and quickly descend to the forest at the foot of the mountain without getting lost along the way.

I'm afraid he could find time to survey the terrain and draw a simple map while he was on the move.

What is professionalism? This is professionalism!

……

Pierce arrived at the prepared camp ahead of time, located upstream of a mountain stream and in the lee of a huge rock.

A small bonfire was lit on the flat and clean rocks, and a plucked and cleaned pheasant was roasted until golden and oily.

Two sturdy trees next to each other built a huge "bird's nest" off the ground at half a person's height.

The nest is padded with soft, dry moss and pine branches, and covered with a rainproof awning.

This is the hunter's specialty. Sleeping in a "bird's nest" tent far away from the ground at night can not only effectively avoid poisonous insects, snakes and ants, but also defend against ordinary small wild animals.

"My Lord, Reiner! You're finally here. I was worried you'd stray from the route!"

Pierce squatted by the fire, taking a piece of hard rye bread, which he cut into thin slices with a knife and spread with the fat dripping from the pheasant.

"Sir, come and try my cooking!" The hunter handed over the grease-soaked slice of bread like a treasure, then looked at Reiner standing beside him and was stunned.

"Reiner, you should try it too... Uh, do you have enough charging magic stones? Did you bring enough before going out?"

Reiner squatted down nonchalantly and took out the magic stone from the small bag on his waist to replace it. "Of course, I won't be hungry or thirsty. Just take good care of the master."

"Have you determined the location of the ruins?" Harvey said seriously after swallowing two slices of greasy bread.

Pierce hesitated. "You told me not to approach rashly. I observed from a distance on a higher hillside."

"There is indeed a deep pit. That...that black tower seems to have fallen down."

Harvey nodded. "Tomorrow, have Reiner control the Alchemymon to conduct a close reconnaissance to prevent any accidents." He turned and reminded Reiner, "Don't be reckless. This is very likely a relic left behind by an ancient wizard. It's very dangerous."

"Those evil orcs have all evacuated from the north slope to the wilderness, leaving behind many traces along the way," Pierce quickly added.

According to what Pierce and Reiner had experienced before, the evil orcs had the habit of raiding south in winter.

Harvey felt that this winter was very unusual.

What exactly drove them to leave the warm south and return to the cold and food-scarce northern wilderness?

Could it be that I was able to frighten them and retreat just by wiping out a few small outposts with my own strength?

……

The night of tossing and turning passed quickly, but Harvey didn't get a good rest.

He had almost no experience of spending the night in the wild. Even though the hunter and Reiner were on duty for the first and second half of the night respectively, ten wolf spider alchemists were still on guard around the camp.

It still made it difficult for him to fall asleep peacefully.

"Let's go, let Alchemymon scout ahead."

He hoped that the existence of the suspected ancient wizard ruins would bring him some additional gains, or perhaps he could find out the reason why the evil orcs withdrew.

The three of them searched along the marks left by the hunter yesterday.

After walking for about two hours, we arrived at the edge of the ruins that we discovered when looking at it from the top of the mountain.

The lush green forest gradually became sparse, and the low vegetation turned slightly black and fell to the ground with dry leaves.

Hidden beneath layers of rotten branches, Harvey saw a long section of gray-white brick and stone base, hidden among dense dead branches and vines.

Is this the outer wall of the Mage Tower?
After carefully observing these broken and discontinuous brick and stone bases, I found nothing unusual.

Harvey decided to enter the ruins to find out what was going on.

The entire ruins were not very large. After walking only a few hundred meters deep, the three of them arrived at the pit.

After scattering the alchemical beasts around for alert, Harvey cautiously stood at the edge of the pit and looked down.

"Do you want to release the reconnaissance eye, sir?" Reiner asked in a low voice.

Harvey shook his head and motioned for them to look down.

The pit is actually not very deep, it's just because the wizard tower itself is built of dark unknown stone ore.

After it sank in, the entire pit was filled with black brick and stone fragments, and the huge broken black stone slabs almost filled the bottom of the pit.

The edges of the pit are neat and it doesn't look like it was caused by the earthquake.

It is very likely that the ancient wizard set up some destructive trigger trap device in the ruins. Once it is invaded or actively activated, it will immediately trigger the collapse and self-destruction of the wizard tower.

Harvey felt a pang of pain.

If there really are any treasures or precious books of magic left by ancient wizards in the tower, it would be difficult to preserve them intact.

"Reiner, use the command to let the two wolf spiders climb down and see if there are any remaining spell traps that have not been activated."

"Pierce, find an observation point high up and keep watch on the surroundings."

Harvey chanted a spell, activated the reconnaissance eye, and released it towards the bottom of the pit.

Now that we are here, we must find ways to plunder.

Otherwise it would be a waste of time, and Harvey would not accept such a loss.

(End of this chapter)