A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 88 Brothers, blow it up!

"That's true." Peterson's expression changed upon hearing this.

In "darkvision," there was no direction from which the sound was coming. Archmage Humboldt thought for a moment and then told his apprentice to bring the master of the hunting lodge.

"We need you to provide Abbott...the clothes your son wore and the mattress he slept in."

The man's expression was unfocused, and his face was no longer flushed from his drunkenness during the day. He glanced at his wife, who was frozen in place, and said nothing, but did as the master instructed.

Archmage Humboldt first released the wolf and the wild boar from their captivity and gently stroked their heads.

The two animals immediately became alert. They sniffed the child's clothes and then split up to sniff around the village, especially towards the direction from which the crying was coming from.

Then the wolf and the pig returned. Humboldt knelt down on one knee and stretched out his hand. The wolf rubbed his nose against the archmage's hand and his tail began to wag.

So quickly it turned into a dog? Rorschach was a little envious of the nature-based mage; the taming efficiency was so high.

"I didn't smell the missing child," Master Humboldt said seriously. "But there's something big in the forest that wild animals dare not approach."

After he finished speaking, everyone became wary again. The high priest picked up a tuft of hair from the bedding and summoned a ghostly green flame to ignite it. The sparks dissipated, and nothing happened.

"Whether examined by physical or spiritual means, he is not a missing child."

The man watching lost all hope. He helped his wife back into the cabin and slammed the simple door shut.

"No need to look for anyone else, just attack."

At a command, the apprentice and Peterson raised their oak staffs, launching colorful balls in turn, shooting them into the dark forest.

Flames, ice, acid, lightning—different colored spheres explode with different powers.

The process of scattering the projectiles was quite exhilarating. Some of the colorful balls flew through the woods and exploded in the darkness, while others hit the trees. After a burst of intense fire, the woods returned to silence, and then the sound of children sobbing could be heard again.

"Have we been played by some kind of ghost?!"

Peterson was very annoyed. The resurfacing crying sounded like a provocation, like something dirty in the forest eagerly resuming its crying to show that the previous attack was useless.

call out--

The massive explosion illuminated the night. After receiving the order, Rorschach used the [Fireball] spell for the first time in a long time, blowing up all the surrounding trees and attracting the attention of Peterson and his apprentice.

The fireballs he now wields are far more powerful than those used during his official exams and when escorting caravans. With his improved control over magic, he compresses his magic to a certain level before unleashing the flames.

Not only that, the transformed "fire element"—that mass of plasma—is also compressed by him. When charging up, it visibly changes from an orange-red fireball to yellow, and finally transforms into a fully burning azure color, with scorching heat waves crashing in front of the caster.

Judging from the color, the core temperature is around 2000 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, due to the guidance and compression of the magic, too much heat was not lost or radiated during the power-accumulation phase.

Therefore, the difficulty in mastering the [Fireball] spell is avoiding burning yourself. Rorschach's spellcasting tips +1.

As it burst forth, the disintegrating fireball gradually lost control, the compressed matter and energy exploded, the rooted trees were snapped in half, and light and heat poured out wildly, pushing the air to create a deafening roar.

Everything happened in an instant.

I went to Rorschach just to test its power, but I didn't expect it to be so incredibly effective.

I wonder if the sand-covered corpse will become vitrified after being hit by two shots?

In a moment of wild imagination, someone caught a glimpse of a figure illuminated by the flashes of the explosion: "There's something there!"

Rorschach stared intently, and sure enough, something was scurrying among the fallen logs. It was perhaps two stories tall, with extremely long limbs crawling on the ground. It only flashed by, and he couldn't make out any more details.

Most people didn't see it, bewildered and immersed in the impact of the [Fireball] spell.

Then a venomous, hoarse roar echoed through the woods, fading into the distance.

"Master Rorschach, at this distance you may need to control the power of your spells, as they could easily affect others."

"I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time."

Master Humboldt had just missed the attack that was intended to be a probing attack but which had actually injured Rorschach, because he was preparing a large-scale spell:

He planted his oak cane into the ground, and golden-green light spread out from it, continuously expanding and supporting the barrier that enveloped the inn and the hut where the couple stayed.

As the barrier expanded, the oak staff also grew taller, its veins spreading out as if it had transformed into a towering tree, exuding a sacred and sublime aura along with Alexander von Humboldt.

Rorschach sensed that the magic within the entire barrier was now being absorbed and released around the oak tree, imbued with a sacred quality. Inside the barrier, the fatigue from casting the spell was rapidly fading.

"If it receives sunlight during the day, the barrier's protection and duration will be stronger, but moonlight is sufficient to provide shelter for the rest of the night."

Alexander, meaning "guardian of mankind" in the Yabbe language, was a name that perfectly suited the archmage at this time.

As the center of this space, Archmage Humboldt's words became even more authoritative. He issued the order: "Everyone can rest in peace, but do not let your guard down. Quickly adjust your state and restore your magic power."

Back at the hotel, Rorschach ran into Cavendish, who was climbing down from the roof, as he went upstairs. Cavendish was grumbling and clutching his equipment, muttering, "The etheric environment is constantly distorted; the refraction deviation is terrifyingly large."

Rorschach didn't say anything, but Peterson stopped him before he went inside:

"Master Rorschach. Master Humboldt requests your presence in his room."

In Humboldt's room lay a roll of parchment, which Rorschach recognized as a portable communication scroll.

Should we contact the Forest Tower?

"The situation tonight is not actually serious. At least the animals are just frightened, and the abnormality in the forest and that monster, as we have all seen, can be dispelled."

Rorschach nodded in agreement, and Humboldt continued, "But what I'm worried about is that we're currently only in a long-established outpost, which is the outer perimeter of the core area, and the changes deep in the forest are likely to be much more serious."

I have already contacted the Forest Tower for support. Do you, Mage Rorschach, think our team should continue?

"You're the boss, whether or not to organize a group is up to you." That's what Luo Xia originally wanted to say, but since they'd invited him to this little meeting, he figured he should at least show some brainpower.

"Based on the current situation, the people here have developed a 'tree god worship' other than that of Dryaz and Sylvanas, which must have an origin."

He thought of the giant tree in Melson's memory, and unfolded the map marked by the old village chief:

"Decades ago, an imperial force, along with mages, wiped out an elven settlement and encountered an extremely tall giant tree deep in the Black Forest."

This giant tree is also reflected in the source of the intelligence, the divine spell [Deryaz Forest], indicating that it is likely the core of the anomaly and is linked to the divine corpse incident in the secondary plane.

The divine spell that Luo Xia told the Forest Tower was still the Blood Array version; it's unknown whether they had even studied it.

While the three sorcerers were holding their meeting, the woman in the hunter's hut lifted the curtain, peered through the crack at the sacred guardian oak tree, and then said, trembling:

"Tree God! Tree God! We don't need you to heal Abbott anymore, we don't need to cure his disability, we just want you to give him back. Give my child back!"

"Do you want to die?" Seeing his wife getting more and more agitated as she talked, the man covered her mouth tightly.

(End of this chapter)