Super Magician: The Magic Network Collapsed Again at the Start

Chapter 16 Flame Fist and Fortress

Anser was startled, but breathed a sigh of relief after looking up and recognizing the person: "Finn."

"Hurry up—" Finn ran over in a few steps and lifted Blatt up from the other side.

“Wait…” Blatt raised his hand to stop them, took a deep breath, and forcibly activated “Recovery”.

After a few teeth-grinding sounds of bones colliding, his chest slowly returned to normal, and his breathing became easier. However, he was covered in sweat, his veins were bulging from the pain, and his jaw muscles were trembling.

Anser knew that he was using the Qi Returning Bone Setting technique. The healing potion was different from the wound healing technique. If the bone was not set or sutured in advance, it might grow crooked.

"Have one." He took out three magic berries and gave one to each person.

Regenerating energy consumes one's own stamina and energy, while magic berries can replenish a day's worth of nutrition, sometimes more effectively than healing potions.

"Walk--"

They quickly left the house and came to the bridge. Rand and the others had already retreated to this point, only twenty or thirty meters away from them.

The rooftop is no good, as it would make us easy targets. The bridge, with Rand and the others providing cover, is relatively safer.

Seeing that the others were alright, Rand's expression softened slightly. He waved for them to retreat quickly, while he led his men to demolish houses and build obstacles without restraint.

The retreat speed suddenly increased.

The healing potion truly lives up to its reputation as an essential medicine for novice professionals; its effects are surprisingly good.

The two men helped Blatt run a hundred or two meters. His breathing had stabilized, his limbs were strong, and he could jog on his own.

By this time, they had basically shaken off their pursuers. The gray dwarf slaves were crowded on the narrow bridge, blocked in front and cowering behind, which made the gray dwarves angry and helpless.

As they approached Dragon Rock, Anser looked up at the towering Flame Fist Fortress. It was indeed magnificent, with ballistae on each level of the walls and several catapults on the top.

There were many Flame Fist soldiers on the city wall, but after so long of fighting, not a single one came out to provide support, and the gate had not been raised, keeping the church convoy and many refugees outside.

"A bunch of cowards!" Blatt hissed angrily, his face devoid of its usual composure.

Having narrowly escaped death, he became increasingly disgusted with Flame Fist's inaction.

A few minutes later, the group arrived at the fortress, and the gates finally opened slowly. The refugees rushed in, with Anser and the others at the back.

The gate was opened halfway and then stopped. After everyone had gone in, the gate immediately closed again, demonstrating an extreme fear of death.

The passageway was unusually dark; the wall lamps were not lit, and the only light coming in was from the other end of the passageway.

Anser cast a light spell on his staff, which transformed into an ambient light tube. The bright white light immediately dispelled the darkness and illuminated... the refugees and wounded scattered on the ground.

The refugees couldn't run, the wounded couldn't run, and even Rand and Zahir were covered in wounds.

Berg arranged for the priests to retrieve medicine to save the person and perform on-site stitching. The technique was rough but skillful, showing that Tyre's followers were not only good at fighting.

Anser and the others sat leaning against the wall, watching the chaotic scene, each lost in their own thoughts, and for a moment no one spoke.

"How are you feeling?" Anser turned to look at Blatt, a hint of emotion in his eyes.

He saved her in return, and in turn, he saved her. The javelin was very powerful, and her shield spell might not be able to withstand it.

“Hehe…” Blatt turned his head to stare at the scaly light on Anser’s face, without saying a word, just chuckling incessantly.

Finn sat on Anser's other side, his eyes gleaming: "Is it worth it?"

“You think I’m a pushover?” Anser turned his head and met his gaze. “We are saving ourselves.”

"Just run away," Finn said, his eyes full of doubt.

"Where do you think we're going?" Anser rolled his eyes at him, gaining a new understanding of his mind. "If Rand and the others don't come back, do you think we can get through this gate?"

Flame Fist might be able to stop civilians or adventurers, but even if they're clueless, they can't possibly keep Rand and his companion out of the door.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Blatt asked hesitantly.

"Heh, who knows?" Anser seriously doubted that if they didn't shake off the pursuers, Flame Fist could block them outside and watch them all get killed.

Finn and his companion had mixed feelings on their faces, but they believed most of it in their hearts.

The Flamefist Legion has a long history. Although there have been some unexpected events, it has mostly been under the direct control of the Duke of Rivendare. While not entirely impartial, it is certainly a competent police force.

Especially after the treacherous Van Sampure family was purged, the Council of Four became a Council of Three, which actually increased stability. Furthermore, the Grand Duke's successors have all been decent; while not exceptionally outstanding, they haven't made any major mistakes. This relatively stable environment has kept Flame Fist away from turmoil, ensuring his principles haven't deviated, and his reputation has remained consistently positive.

However, one cannot judge the actions of a person or organization based on their usual behavior after a disaster.

Based on Flame Fist's turtle-like behavior these past two days, Anser concluded that they were unreliable and couldn't help but overthink things.

After a long silence, Finn spoke hesitantly, "The situation is complicated. Perhaps... we could go together?"

Anser looked at Blatt, who shrugged: "It's up to you."

“Sure, I want to be the captain.” Anser agreed without hesitation.

“Okay…” The two nodded readily.

After spending time together and fighting, the information about Blatt and his companion has been updated.

[Blatt, Neutral Good, Human, Level 2 Warrior, Health: 18, Strength: 15, Agility: 13, Wisdom: 14]

Finn, Lawful Neutral, Half-Elf, Level 3 Ranger (Beastmaster), Health: 25, Strength: 12, Dexterity: 16, Charisma: 8

The attributes are not yet complete, but they are already quite useful, especially the faction attribute, which can at least identify those with ill intentions.

The nine factions are not artificially created labels, but rather fundamental laws of the multiverse, manifested in the divine domain, magical effects, and outer planes (such as the lawful good of Mount Heaven and the chaotic evil of the Abyss).

This is fundamental knowledge for professionals, especially for professions such as paladins, druids, and priests, as it concerns their lives and future.

However, the camp is merely a superficial concept; it is entirely determined by individual subjective will and behavior, and is a dynamic ideological concept.

Gods and demon lords can directly perceive the true nature of mortal alignments, and some spells can detect good and evil or moral inclinations. However, most people have a vague understanding of alignments and can only roughly know whether they are good or evil.

Faction doesn't actually affect team formation, but it does affect teamwork and trust.

Blatt is neutral good. Creatures of this alignment will help others as much as possible and act within the limits of the rules, but will not be bound by them.

Blatt certainly fits this description; he's usually quite carefree, but when it comes to a matter, he's truly serious.

Finn is lawful neutral. Creatures of this alignment have a set of rules of conduct, which may come from laws, traditions, or personal creeds. They will not be swayed by the pleas of those in distress or by the temptations of evil.

Finn is noticeably withdrawn and somewhat self-centered, only becoming more talkative when he's with Anser; he's probably attracted to good looks.

Because Anser is a charming person who appeals to both men and women!

As they chatted and laughed, the topic naturally returned to the disaster.

"Why would underground creatures come up here? They're afraid of the light, yet they still insist on coming up. It's really interesting," Blatt quipped.

“The collapse might be located right in the area where the gray dwarves live,” Anser guessed. “The underground resources are scarce, so they might just be here to plunder, or they might want to settle down. Right now, the magic network is in disarray, and the gray dwarves’ psionic energy is unaffected, so the situation is very favorable for them.”

However, you're wrong about one thing: many subterranean creatures are sensitive to sunlight and dislike it, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're afraid of it.

"You... know a lot about this?" Finn asked curiously.

"It's from the book, the Underdark, I know a little bit about it." Anser said casually, though the original owner had never read such books.

But he was very familiar with DND, almost an expert, while the indigenous people like Blatt had limited areas of activity, shallow knowledge, and little understanding of things outside the human world.

As they were talking, a series of hurried footsteps came from the corridor.

A dozen or so warriors dressed in identical studded leather armor strode into the passage, swords and shields in hand, and immediately began to roughly drive away the crowd.

"Get up, get up..."

"The fortress is now closed; no one is permitted to remain..."

"Go quickly, don't force me to take action..."

"..."

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(End of this chapter)