A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 482 The Birds Hold a Meeting

Feuerbach, transformed into an owl, traversed the Black Forest at an unreasonable speed, swiftly skimming over the lush vegetation beneath him, and was nearing the meeting place.

The meeting place was quite remarkable; it was an open space with a huge tree stump in the center. It was unimaginable how tall it must have been when it was still intact; now, all that remained were scorched remains covered in moss.

On the torn surface of the wood fibers, birds of various colors were already waiting. Most of them were owls, defying their usual routines, and they nodded knowingly when Feuerbach landed.

Sunlight shone on the wood stubble, and a shape gradually emerged from the glare. A snow-white swan descended from it, its appearance accompanied by a shadow. Soon, the shadow also came to life, and a black swan emerged. The relationship between the Tower of Light and the Tower of Darkness is quite complicated, but even the other mages cannot explain the details of their relationship.

Finally, ravens and seagulls from Istani arrived.

A raven, carrying a bloody eye in its beak, gurgled as it surveyed the scene. A large, bushy owl uttered Master Cano's disdainful hoot: "Thomson, your behavior is still as disgusting as ever."

Among the archmages present, most had bird-shaped clones, some were familiars, and others, like the Storm Tower representative, had their pets carrying the [Magic Eye]. This eye not only grants the caster its vision but also allows them to use spells below the seventh rank.

There were also people like Feuerbach who arrived in person, but he and the others couldn't determine who else was the real person attending the meeting.

"Now that everyone's here, let's begin." As the host, Kober took it upon himself to preside over the meeting.

"This is too troublesome. When will we be able to find a new space?"

"Let's just use that secondary plane. By the way, how's the situation over there?"

The chief of the Thunderstorm Tower replied: "I am closely monitoring the 'refugees' who have migrated to this plane. The situation there has initially stabilized, so it's best if we don't disturb them any further. Master Kano and I have both decided not to disclose the teleportation coordinates of the sub-plane anymore."

Kano echoed, "The focus now is not on that. Seeing that both the Republic and the Empire have had enough rest, I think the Empire will launch an attack on the Republic before the large-scale harvest."

"Yes, a lot has happened in the Empire recently. The new emperor is eager to prove himself with a military victory, which is also related to the Summer Night Uprising." The mage tower located in the Empire is monitoring the mobilization of the Imperial Army.

In order to avoid the Imperial Army from retaliating against the electoral reforms again, the capital put the entire army on high alert to distract them. In addition to preparations along the main defensive line, it also attempted to sabotage the main grain-producing areas north of Valois.

Carnot knew that Valois was also preparing for a large-scale operation, and one artillery general had even suggested that the main force should be deployed outside the homeland to sustain the war effort and alleviate the extreme logistical strain. That artillery general seemed to be someone he knew.

"What attitude should the guild take? Since the Valois guild has already cooperated with the National Salvation Committee, our Imperial branch should also be allowed to have appropriate contact and cooperation with the Imperial authorities."

The Empire's mage tower representatives have discovered that the opportunity to restore the guilds to normal functioning within the Empire has arrived, due to the split among the army mages and their break from royal control.

Wilhelm II no longer trusted most of the mages accompanying him, and the royal family's attitude towards the guilds softened somewhat. They even tried to get the Arcane Senate to control those "lawless spellcasters." After all, the guilds had always maintained a glorious isolation and had never considered sending a group of mages to kidnap His Highness the Crown Prince.

Kano then began peddling his ideals: "Therefore, monitoring the 'Tree of Truth' is absolutely necessary! It will become the basis for controlling spellcasters and the bond that restores the guilds' intercontinental nature. We can centrally monitor a portion of the branches from each tower and report back to each other."

"Perhaps this idea is outdated. Monitoring the 'Tree of Truth' is no longer sufficient to control all spellcasting situations." Feuerbach's owl form had an anklet on its right leg, which was actually a storage ring. He took out two tutorials on spell clouds from it and tossed them to Cano.

The chief of the Arcane Tower reported the existence of the "Spell Cloud" to the other archmages for the first time, roughly explaining its operating principles, as well as the existence of the "Spell Tree".

"Therefore, even if we monitor the main chain of spells, a considerable amount of magic will still be mediated through the 'Tree of Law'. I'm not sure about the effectiveness of monitoring the Tree of Truth yet; I can only say that the existence of the Tree of Law will make the situation much more complicated."

"Why are you only telling us about something this big now!" Some of the chiefs were stunned. When did a completely new spellcasting system appear? And isn't that Tree of Truth supposed to be the only one in mythology? How come there's a second one after the first one was discovered?

"Because I have been observing its effectiveness for some time now, it has proven to work well, greatly reducing the learning threshold and even the casting threshold of spells. And most notably, I successfully used it to cast a ninth-circle spell today."

Kano was somewhat annoyed by the blemish on his blueprint: "This shows that the holder of the Tree of Law is at least an archmage."

"Given past experience, we can no longer allow a high mage to act on his own. We should make necessary contact with him, conduct a thorough assessment, and take coercive measures if he does not cooperate."

Feuerbach said in a deep voice, "Isn't that too forceful?"

"Tough? We should show toughness! Are we going to continue down this path of complacency until the situation is beyond repair?" Kano seemed to be influenced by the atmosphere in Valuwana; his demeanor resembled that of a member of the National Salvation Committee, raising one wing as he delivered his speech.

"Priests, it was our indifference to the Necromancer that allowed him to nearly murder at least 100,000 people, causing irreparable consequences. Now, a new danger has emerged: a monopolist of the spellcasting system has appeared. Should we continue to wait until the last minute to deal with it?"

"We are the Arcane Senate, bearing the future of all mages on our shoulders. Let us not be weak any longer, let us not compromise any longer!"

The other birds nodded in agreement with Cano's speech. Listening to Feuerbach's description, they understood that once the new spell system was implemented, it would indeed impact the entire mage community. Whether for better or worse, it and its system should be brought under the control of the Senate.

Finally, Chairman Cano solemnly asked, "So, Master Feuerbach, do you have any information about the creator of that so-called 'Spell Cloud'?"

"The information I have is extremely accurate and detailed." The person being questioned felt immense pleasure at this point; his efforts to conceal the protagonist's name had been quite effective: "He is an Imperial citizen, a graduate of the Imperial Royal Magic Academy, and is currently twenty years old."

The other mages were all astonished that the Imperial Academy, a mere amateur institution, could produce such a prodigy. The bird controlled by Kober grinned and displayed a human-like smile. The more Kano listened, the more suspicious he became, especially the part about a year of study abroad at the Tower of Stars and current residence in Bain.

Feuerbach, as if triumphant, declared to the previously incessantly chattering Cano, "The creator of the Spell Cloud is Rorschach!"

Kano immediately interjected, "I made a hasty decision before without having complete information. Now I feel that we should take the initiative to show goodwill towards such a talented young man. I know Rorschach well; he will cooperate with us."

(End of this chapter)