A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 87 The Dark Forest Tide

The jay has beautiful plumage, with a chestnut-brown back, a fluffy white tail, and bright blue flight feathers that are the finishing touch.

But their calls, like those of their other corvid relatives, are hoarse and particularly eerie.

The continuous "screams" in the forest at night came from the jays released by Master Humboldt.

Everyone was startled, and Master Humboldt opened his eyes: "They've arrived."

A rustling sound echoed through the forest, causing the branches to tremble. The apprentice and Rorschach cast a Light spell in the direction of the sound, illuminating the trembling vegetation before extinguishing itself.

The area around the village was plunged back into darkness.

Master Humboldt and Peterson raised their oak staffs and paused, causing the light waves to surge again. The light emitted by the [Daylight Spell] was once again "repelled" by the Dark Forest.

So they changed tactics. Peterson gently patted Rorschach's shoulder, and his vision suddenly became clear. "[Darkvision]?" Peterson nodded.

"I won't use it. Under the effect of [Dark Vision], it's inconvenient for me to observe and compare the night sky with stars." Cavendish refused directly, still somewhat sulking: "Since you're all so capable, I'll continue doing the work Master Cano asked me to do."

"Ignore him." Luo Xia was too lazy to pay attention to this guy.

The sound of the leaves rustling and rubbing grew louder and louder, its frequency rising and becoming increasingly sharp, converging into a sound like the shriek of a banshee.

"I didn't hear you." Rorschach could already see the beasts' eyes as they charged straight toward the village, their eyes reflecting the village's light.

"Didn't you hear anything?" Peterson had to shout to ask the question, with a background of shrill, dizzying roars.

"None of these animals roared."

Was it drowned out by the forest's "calls"?

No, these beasts are so focused on running that they don't even have time to open their mouths.

The wild boar crashed straight into the vines and became firmly entangled. Even as the thorns pierced its flesh, it continued to wriggle and tear itself apart.

The stag, taller than a man, lowered its head and displayed its antlers, pushing aside the vineless barricades, and was about to step onto the earthen wall. Rorschach and his apprentice each cast spells; Rorschach successfully froze one, while the others were repelled by the apprentice's missiles, turning around in pain.

Luo Xia looked around and saw that the deer fortress and chevaux-de-frise had been destroyed, but his own earthen wall was still sturdy and no animal could break through it.

Humboldt's brambles had trapped many frightened animals. From the distance, Rorschach viewed them from the earthen wall as a bountiful harvest of sticky mouse traps.

"They have no intention of attacking us. We have already captured enough samples, and the focus now is on driving them away."

Two apprentices from the Forest Tower and the mage Peterson used the [Greasy Spell] to construct a magnificent "Greasy Avenue" along the earthen wall.

The rapidly running livestock couldn't stop their front hooves, tumbling and rolling several times on the oil stains before crashing heavily against the wall.

Rorschach activated his massive [Mage Hand] and with a flick, the fallen Pig Brother spun around like a top and rolled to the side.

The animals that had been pulled from the earthen wall struggled to their feet and ran back behind the monks and apprentices.

They were being driven by what was behind them, and everyone present realized this.

After what they considered to be their first experience with a beast tide, everyone became even more tense, doubling their alertness to prepare for the challenges ahead.

Wolves and lynxes.

The forest predators, who are usually mortal enemies, now completely ignore each other's presence, tucking their tails between their legs and desperately propelling themselves forward.

Rorschach still couldn't hear the roar of the beast. The screams from the forest grew stronger and stronger. It was as if it had a physical presence, like a sharp cone, piercing the ears of everyone present, going straight from the eardrums to the brain, causing the audience pain and confusion.

In the midst of this spiritual cleansing, the forest canopy in Rorschach's eyes swayed constantly; it was so dense that it was opaque, and under the moonlight, only silhouettes remained, transforming into black waves.

hum-

The world is quiet.

From the extreme noise to the sudden silence, Rorschach heard a slight ringing in his ears. Then came a reassuring voice: "Everyone, do not panic. Now communicate using [Communication]."

Rorschach observed the wolves attempting to climb the earthen wall. The wall was already dented from their previous collisions, providing footholds for their claws. Rorschach wasn't about to expend his magic to cast [Stone Shaping] at this moment; the cost-benefit ratio was too low.

He directly rubbed sparks to ignite the "oil-slicked road" outside the wall, turning it into a "fire-slicked road."

Wolf and Lynx, you're going to be famous!

The lead animal raised its head, and Rorschach and the others could no longer hear it, but the animals had clearly received the leader's signal and turned their heads to change direction.

However, some wolf pelts were already stained with grease and ignited. Master Humboldt glanced at Rorschach, said nothing, and summoned thick vines to bind the fire wolves. The plants summoned by the spell were completely unaffected by the flames. Steam rose from the vines, extinguishing the flames on their bodies.

After an unknown amount of time, the second wave of beasts receded. All the animals captured by the thorny bushes were gathered together by the archmage in one place, still enclosed and separated by thorny vines.

He crouched down and reached out to touch the ground. Within his "magic control" domain, Rorschach could feel a surge of magic rushing past his feet and disappearing into the forest.

"The anomaly has passed." With this announcement, the master stood up, simultaneously dispelling the surrounding silence.

Everything is back to normal, at least on the surface.

The dark forest ceased its surging, the shrieks vanished completely, leaving only the footprints of numerous animals and the scorched traces of fire around the village.

The animals seemed to have returned to normal, and began to squeal and make a ruckus, just like in a zoo.

Peterson instructed his apprentices: "You all come and soothe the animals in these cages, practice a bit."

The apprentices of the Forest Tower were given a chance to practice, and they repeatedly used the [Beast to Friend] spell, successfully calming down some small animals.

However, all the large animals were completely unaffected by the spell. The wild boar kept poking at the cage with its tusks and snout, and after feeling the pain, it tried to dig a hole in the ground to escape. The red deer used its large antlers, and the wolf tried to cut the vines with its sharp teeth.

Suddenly, a huge, snow-white wolf appeared outside the cage. Its thick, fluffy fur shone in the moonlight, and its bright eyes rivaled the stars and moon in brilliance as it looked majestically at the animals below.

It growled at the unruly creatures, revealing its scimitar-like teeth. All the animals immediately fell silent, and the wolves lowered their heads and whimpered softly, tucking their tails between their legs in submission.

While the onlookers were still stunned, the White Wolf King transformed back into Master Humboldt: "Don't stand there frozen. Check these animals. If they still don't behave, just paralyze them with poison."

Tonight is over, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, I can finally take turns sleeping.

Rorschach moved closer to Magister Peterson and Archmage Humboldt. Just then, Ella, who was monitoring the remaining village couple, ran to report: "During the beast tide, the two of them didn't leave the hunting lodge an inch."

"Did you hear that?"

A new sound has emerged from the once quiet forest.

The crying was a child's cry, starting with soft sobs, then choking and breaking up, growing louder and louder.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the sound.

"My child! It's my child! Albert! Is that you, Albert?" The disheveled woman pushed open the door of the hut and stumbled as she tried to rush out of the village.

Rorschach used [Mage's Hand] to clamp down on the crazed woman, while Peterson covered her face with one hand, putting her to sleep.

"Something's not right. This crying isn't right." Rorschach listened more closely. He sensed something was wrong, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"It's definitely not right for a child to be crying in a forest where a beast tide has just emerged."

"No." After listening for a moment, Rorschach finally caught the discordant note: "This crying... is repeating itself."

Sobbing—intermittent crying—whimpering, and then the same sobbing again.

Finished writing before midnight, time for bed!

(End of this chapter)