A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 565 First Visit

With the new communication system, replies come quickly.

"If you have time, please come to the Forest Tower as soon as possible. You can use the guild teleportation array. — Humboldt"

Is it some kind of emergency? Rorschach was taken aback. He brought along things he might need, including the "monster figurine" sealed from the last cataclysm and the mask Hill had given him.

Despite having collaborated with these nature-specialized mages on numerous occasions, this was Rorschach's first visit to the Forest Tower.

The teleportation array emitted a burst of rainbow light, as if it had taken a great deal of effort to teleport Luo Xia here, which surprised the guild staff for a moment.

Upon exiting the nearest city base, the green-robed mages waiting in the guild hall immediately rose to greet him.

"Sir, please get in the car."

The car that picked up Rorschach was surprisingly a small one. The area where the Forest Tower was located was obviously a large village. They first took the planned urban route, and later they had to cross a large field covered in white snow.

Rorschach recognized that the vehicles used for reception were made in their own factory, but they seemed to have undergone some customized modifications.

When the rural dirt roads were bad enough, there was even worse snow and ice. The mage responsible for picking up Rorschach parked the car and pulled a lever.

Instantly, the [Hovering] circuit covering the entire surface of the car lit up, and the whole car wobbled and rose up. Then, pressing it again revealed a thruster in the area where the trunk used to be, and it began to provide new thrust.

Holy crap, there's even a bit of a push-back feeling. Rorschach felt like they were approaching 200 kilometers per hour. They sped across the plains like arrows released from a bow.

"Did you modify this yourself?"

"It was Master Humboldt who personally tried it out; he liked tinkering with vehicles." The atmosphere at the Forest Tower didn't seem very solemn; the spellcaster in charge of reception casually mentioned the archmage.

"He ruined the car you gave him, but was too embarrassed to ask for it back, so he got the chief to approve a sum of money to buy a bulk of cheaper Volkswagen models."

The composed Humboldt master also had this wild side. Rorschach noted: "The design of these cars wasn't prepared for such high speeds; the drag might be a bit too high. If aerodynamics were taken into account, they could go even faster."

"Really? You should speak to Master Humboldt yourself; we don't understand these things either. But if it can be done faster, then it would certainly be useful."

"Would it be useful? In what way?" Are you aiming for the sky? How about getting Hercules Corporation to sponsor the development of an extreme sport?

"I'm sorry, Master Rorschach, let's talk about it inside the tower." The mage was being coy, but he had a good reason: "It's a confidential matter, and only Master Humboldt or the Chief is qualified to tell you personally."

The Forest Tower is situated at the intersection of vast farmland and the Black Forest, both of which are their "research subjects".

When the high-speed flying car crossed an invisible boundary, the towering tower revealed its true form to Rorschach.

Its base and main body are both very large, with diagonal branches that support many observation towers.

In short, its posture resembles a towering tree, while also reminding Rorschach of the ranger's tower.

The invisible boundary has no conspicuous energy barrier, but it cannot be said to be completely invisible—within its coverage and concealment, there is not a trace of snow, and all that can be seen are lush green fields and forests.

The car slowed down, partly because the fuel was running out in the second phase, and partly because there were mages and apprentices scattered around the ground at the foot of the tower.

As we got off the bus, the receptionist jokingly reminded us, "We have to be careful. Who knows what kind of research subjects are growing on that patch of land? If you trip and fall here, one of our seniors might have to delay graduating for a few more years."

Unfortunately, the joking atmosphere came to an end. After Rorschach entered the tower, most of the spellcasters who passed by were in a hurry, and their faces showed signs of fatigue and seriousness.

Rorschach initially thought the cattle and horses were being exploited too much, but when he saw Humboldt, he had a similarly serious expression: "Welcome, Master Rorschach."

"Master Humboldt, are you... a clone?"

Humboldt's clone gave an embarrassed smile, or perhaps it was just that the corners of his mouth were turned from downwards to horizontal: "I apologize for being so rude, the real body was just too busy. I knew you would see through me."

"It's alright, I don't mind. Is there some emergency that prompted you to come?"

"There are emergencies everywhere. Master Kober and I are traveling all over the empire, while this avatar of mine needs to guard the Forest Tower. In addition, it's best to discuss the following matters face to face, so I'm troubling you to come."

After Rorschach warned of the possibility that the food might be contaminated by the Mother Goddess, the Forest Tower reacted immediately and began an investigation.

Their numbers are limited, and in the past, "going down to the grassroots" could only reach a limited number of areas on a point-to-point basis.

The Imperial Army's temporary requisition of grain facilitated the initial investigation, essentially bringing together samples from across the country. The Forest Tower tested the Imperial Army's rations and was shocked by the results—almost half of the grain appeared to be contaminated.

The pollution is still very light. If it weren't for Rorschach's report and the research on the polluted samples from the Mother Goddess, the mages of the Forest Tower might not have been able to detect it in previous years.

Humboldt's face showed worry: "If it is man-made, there is still hope of controlling the situation, no matter how bad it is. The problem is that since the last anomaly that covered the whole world, there are areas where the power of the Mother Goddess seems to have emerged naturally, continuously affecting the local creatures, including people and crops."

"What we fear is the spread of this regional contamination. It is mainly concentrated near the battlefield, the western coast of the Empire, and northern Valois." This terrible fact, once made public, will cause great panic.

Rorschach also felt the situation was serious: "So, we need to find a way to purify it? I can help."

"This is one measure, it doesn't solve the fundamental problem, but it's almost the only thing we can do right now. However, we want to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which means we need to find safe new food sources."

"for example?"

"Last month, a student from your Mage Tower published a paper that caught our attention. It's a study on the air elemental plane. The corresponding author is Mage Caroline, but she wants us to communicate with you."

Is that so? Rorschach had always left his abducted apprentices to their own devices, and he really didn't know how many articles his mage tower had sent to the guild.

"I never imagined that the Air Elemental Plane had a complete ecosystem. Would you be willing to help us make an attempt?"

"There is no land there, but food can be produced." Even though it was an avatar, Luo Xia's eyes still shone brightly when he saw the middle-aged man in front of him, as if he genuinely believed in this ideal.

Luo Xia was truly astonished by the audacity of the mages of the Forest Tower: "The organic matter and nutrient raw materials in the Air Elemental Plane are extremely scarce."

"But the air plane is vast enough, and we are confident that crops only need sunlight, air, and water to produce food. If we can develop vehicles that can move at high speeds in the clouds, we can establish incredibly vast botanical gardens that can avoid the Mother Goddess's contamination."

Hmm. It seems there's actually some feasibility to it. It appears that modifying cars isn't just something Alexander did out of personal interest.

Even so, could we feed the entire world? Is it too late to start now?

Humboldt's eyes were resolute: "It's better than doing nothing."

(End of this chapter)