Super Magician: The Magic Network Collapsed Again at the Start

Chapter 88 Ahoge (cowlick)
The distance is too far; even with a telescope, it's impossible to see clearly.

Anser dared not look too long, lest he be targeted by the flying dragon, which would be very troublesome.

According to Giant Tail, the Green Dragon Queen's dragon guard consists of about ten squads, each with 3-5 dragons, scattered across various locations. They are very undisciplined, and the tribes surrounding their territory are their prey, eating whoever they can catch.

The wyvern's challenge level is 6, but it is much stronger than the dinosaurs, which rely solely on their size and have no extraordinary abilities. Its super-fast flight speed and highly venomous tail sting alone make it exceptionally troublesome.

It's not that dinosaurs weren't strong; in nature, their large size was their most practical advantage, making them very effective against warrior-type classes. Taking a hit from them was barely a hindrance, and ordinary arrows were like toothpicks to them. However, they were quite ineffective against area-of-effect spells from spellcasters—they couldn't dodge them and had no resistance…

Anser swooped down and landed on the deck as lightly as a seabird.

"There's fighting in Twilight City, and I saw dragons..." He waved to Salian and the others, quickly describing the situation.

He used the common language of Faerûn, deliberately ignoring the Great Tail. There was nothing he could do about it; the Great Tail was, after all, a native of Abel. One side was a strange land dominated by humans, the other the Emerald Kingdom, his native home. Who knew what he would choose?

“We’re going to abandon ship.” Salian gently stroked the bulwark, his eyes filled with reluctance.

“This river has changed course eastward, flowing south along the edge of the Claw Peninsula and joining the bay at Twilight City. Going directly there is definitely not an option. It would be better to find a place to land on the peninsula’s coast,” Anser pondered.

“There are a lot of people in the Claw Peninsula and the bay. Travelers going to Belgost and Candlekeep will also stop here for a while. We should be able to hold out for a few more days. Shall we go into the city to organize a defense or leave directly?” Salian looked at Anser.

“Claw Bay borders Abel, and the situation might be more dangerous than we imagine. Going inland might be better.” Anser wanted combat experience, but didn’t want to face the dragon.

“Alright, I’ll have the crew pack their bags.” Salian made a quick decision, then gestured with his chin toward the giant tail, “Go talk to that guy and test his attitude.”

“Okay,” Anser replied.

No one expected the situation to change so quickly; Giant Tail, the guide, was forced to resign after only one day of work.

He pulled the giant tail to a corner, briefly explained the situation to him, and secretly observed his expression.

Giant Tail paused for a moment, then hesitated and asked, "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"That depends on your attitude. If the Green Dragon Queen wants to kill us, I will definitely resist," Anser said calmly.

Giant Tail's eyes widened, and its voice trembled with excitement: "Will the Emerald Kingdom... be overthrown?"

"Well, it's hard to say. Anything can happen in war." Anser felt that no one could threaten the Green Dragon Queen in the short term unless the big boss of Faerûn intervened.

“I’ll follow you.” Giant Tail grinned, showing no concern whatsoever.

“Okay.” Anser laughed heartily.

He realized that the "merciful" Emerald Queen was not popular, and that her methods were not secretive; most intelligent races were only forced to submit to her under pressure.

Even in the chaos before the disaster, Feren was like paradise compared to the disorderly state of Abel.

“Go ask the first mate for a hooded robe to temporarily conceal your identity and avoid implicating your people,” Anser patted his arm.

"Hmm." Giant Tail was taken aback, not expecting Anser to have thought of everything so thoroughly.

In fact, all races in the world of Abel are also present in Faerun. The Quese has many races, so having one more lizardman is not a big deal.

Anser went to the cargo hold alone and found the two baby raptors locked in a cage.

They were about to leave, and they couldn't take much food with them, let alone two disobedient little dinosaurs.

His friendship spells have worked several times in the past two days, but once the spell wears off, they quickly return to normal, only no longer baring their teeth at him or resisting his feeding.

'Could it be that his intelligence is too low?' Anser was puzzled.

The lizardmen tribe tried to tame dinosaurs, but the results were extremely poor. Carnivorous dinosaurs were highly aggressive, while herbivorous dinosaurs were practically mentally challenged and had very low obedience.

Sometimes you get beaten half to death and don't even know why you're being beaten.

'Even if Microraptor's intelligence isn't as high as a parrot's or a crow's, it shouldn't be too far off, right?'

Anser stood in front of the cage. The two baby raptors, thinking he was going to feed them, came closer at the same time, tilting their heads to look at him. "I'll give you one last chance."

After saying that, he cast a friendship spell on one of the small raptors. It went smoothly because it... was used to it.

Anser opened the cage, took it out, and tried to command it through language and gestures.

Despite its stupidity, it always tries to understand Anser's intentions and attempts to do so.

However, as the effects of the friendship spell wore off, it became lazy and listless again, even resisting Anser's touch, and quickly flew away after Anser opened the hatch.

With a hiss, the little raptor fell from the sky, already hardened when it landed, its body covered in a layer of frost.

The other pygmy dinosaur was so frightened that it covered its head with its wings, huddled in a corner of the cage, and trembled.

Anser had lost his patience and grabbed it, then used a friendship spell on its face. This time, it didn't even fail the check and was unusually compliant.

This little raptor was smarter than the other one; it had a better understanding and was very cooperative.

A few minutes later, it was still standing obediently on Anser's shoulder, with a perfect posture, as if this were its home.

"Heh, very good." Anser raised his hand to pat its head, leaving his magical mark on it. "You have a tuft of hair on your head, so let's call it Ahoge."

The ahoge let out a soft whimper, though it was unclear whether it understood.
-
The fairy boat continued sailing along the river, but the atmosphere on board was no longer as relaxed as before; it was heavy and oppressive.

The crew members' eyes kept unconsciously drawn to Anser and Salian.

From the air, the peninsula looks very close, but in reality, it is still quite far away.

It wasn't until evening that they followed the river to the western side of the peninsula, which was at least twenty or thirty miles away from Twilight City.

The river crashes into the rocky peninsula here, and is then forced to change course southward, rushing southeastward along the coastline. The current is very rapid, and the river channel is over 100 meters long.

In the captain's cabin, Salian pointed to the nautical chart and analyzed the current situation.

"There are no good landing points nearby, so let's continue south. There's a small port city in the central part of the peninsula called Yacheng, which belongs to an ancient noble family and has very high walls..."

He's been sailing for decades, and there's no part of the Jianwan coastline he doesn't know.

“That works too. The war must have just started, so the enemy can’t advance that quickly.” Anser recalled the scene he had witnessed during the day and agreed.

“But we can’t stay here for long, can we?” Careno asked.

“Yes, let’s rest for now and leave the peninsula early tomorrow morning. It’s too dangerous at night,” Salian affirmed.

The main force attacking the Emerald Kingdom is the kobolds, followed by the dragonborn, and the high-end forces are the dragons and half-dragons, all of whom are races with night vision.

Kobolds don't like daytime with sunlight, but as consumables, the Green Dragon Queen likes to have them clear the way for everything.

The Quesser continued sailing until nightfall before turning into a bay—no, a river bend.

Although it is called a river bend, it is actually a small lake that is recessed into the riverbank for hundreds of meters. The entrance is only 100 meters wide, and the two sides are sea cliffs, forming a natural sheltered bay.

The fairy boat extinguished all its lights and quietly sailed into the river bend, where only scattered lights came into view.

"Thank goodness." Salian breathed a sigh of relief.

“It’s like a mountain city,” Anser remarked.

Under the moonlight, it's almost impossible to find a flat area in Yacheng that exceeds 100 meters in height; the terraces are layered like rice paddies, creating a sense of depth.

At the highest point sits a small castle, its mottled walls covered with traces of repair, exuding a sense of weight and age.

(End of this chapter)