Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"What is an evil god?" Vivian asked, frowning. She had heard of such things before, but they only existed in fantasy books.

"Some higher-level beings have already possessed considerable power and are worshipped by those very weak races," Archmage Victor explained to his apprentice. "Their power is second only to the gods and the six great demon lords, and one powerful evil god whose power is even comparable to that of a dragon."

Vivian listened to her teacher's explanation and her eyes widened in surprise. "I thought they were just things written in books to add mystery. I never imagined they actually existed."

"Yes, they do exist, but only in the Nightmare Forest," Afif said. "The humans on the continent all believe in the Four Gods. No one would believe in evil gods, so they can only bewitch the weaker races. Once they dare to leave the forest, the Church of the Four Gods will immediately regard them as heretics and false gods and eliminate them as soon as possible."

"So, the evil god has been hiding in the Nightmare Forest." After listening to the two archmages' explanation, Vivian realized the terrifying power of the evil god. It was definitely not a powerful enemy that she could touch. Even a powerful human army might not be able to deal with it. However, she immediately thought of her brother. "But my brother might be an adventurer now. He might encounter the evil god."

“Not necessarily,” Archmage Victor immediately said. “Evil gods usually reside deep within the Nightmare Forest, while Shar is just an ordinary adventurer who only wanders on the outskirts of the forest and doesn’t venture deep into it. He probably won’t encounter an evil god.”

"That's great." Vivian breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease after hearing her teacher's analysis.

"Don't worry, little Vivian, I'll help you as soon as I recover," said Archmage Afif with a smile.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Afif." Vivian nodded solemnly again.

"Oh, still the old gentleman," Afif raised his left hand and shook his index finger, "when will you finally address me as Teacher Afif?"

Vivian didn't answer, but just smiled apologetically. At the same time, she glanced at her teacher, Archmage Victor, who was calmly looking at the items around him, but the smugness in his eyes was undisguised.

"Teacher brought me here on purpose this time," Vivian thought to herself. She knew that her teacher could have chosen not to bring her to Golden Flower City, but instead sent a letter or, as before, directly invited Afif to the magic tower at the bottom of the sea. However, she had some skill in arcane magic, albeit only a little, which made her teacher very happy. He even took the initiative to bring her to find the arcane archmage Afif.

This feeling is very similar to the nobles that my father took me to see when I was a child. Back then, my father would say things like, "This is my daughter. Isn't she beautiful?" And my brother Charles would say to me, "Let him show off. After all, he has such a beautiful daughter. It would be a shame not to show her off."

"You just mentioned that Count Valentine had those enormous magical beasts brought to Plantagenet City." Archmage Victor put down his cup and looked calmly at Afif across from him. He no longer had that "showing off his child" expression from before, but was now discussing something very seriously.

Vivian listened to her teacher's words and realized that they seemed to be discussing something, so she sat up straight and stopped daydreaming.

“Yes,” Afif looked at his “old nemesis” and his smile faded. “I guess you thought of him too.”

"Cunningham is still conducting his horrific experiments," Victor sighed softly.

"He won't give up. Even if he's expelled from the Spells Federation and wanted by the entire continent, he'll continue his life experiments." Afif shook his head slightly.

"Who is Cunningham?" Vivian turned to look at the two archmages and asked.

"A clever and obsessive fellow with high magical skill, a powerful dark mage whose abilities are no less than ours." Archmage Victor slightly raised his hand, and a line of ice emanating from his palm shot out, quickly outlining a figure in the air. "But for a vague and elusive goal, he was willing to harm hundreds of lives."

"Hundreds?" Vivian covered her mouth, but the scream still escaped.

"That's just what the report said. I think they were giving the Spellcasting Association some face. In reality, almost a thousand people should have died by now," Afif said calmly, glancing at Vivian. "After all, he's been researching the plague for decades and needs a lot of 'experimental materials'."

"The plague?" Vivian looked at Afif, her eyes full of questions.

"He wanted to conquer the plague, to free all magic users from its torment and pain," Archmage Victor said, shaking his head and sighing. "But for thousands of years, no one has been able to escape the plague. Countless people have tried to eliminate its effects, but without exception, they have all failed. The plague is incurable."

"The plague?" Vivian looked at Afif, her eyes full of questions.

"He wanted to conquer the plague, to free all magic users from its torment and pain," Archmage Victor said, shaking his head and sighing. "But for thousands of years, no one has been able to escape the plague. Countless people have tried to eliminate its effects, but without exception, they have all failed. The plague is incurable."

"We don't know where he's hiding now. Those high-level mage hunters are searching for him all over the world." Afif also sighed slightly. "However, this is his own fault. After all, so many lives have been lost, and he still has to pay the price."

"I'd heard about those giant spiders and cave bees before, and my gut feeling was that they were his work." Victor patted his thigh a few times, and the arcane archmage Afif opposite him nodded, clearly having the same thought.

"Those enormous magical beasts?" Vivian asked suspiciously. "Don't those things all live in the Nightmare Forest?"

"Some archmages have the ability to transform some creatures in the forest into magical beasts," Afif explained, glancing at Vivian.

Then he slapped his thigh, not saying anything more about it, and stood up directly. "Let's not talk about this anymore. You can stay in my floating magic tower for now. Once my magic power recovers, I'll help you immediately, little Vivian."

Vivian smiled gratefully again, then took a sip of the slightly cold Red Bull drink in her hand.

Then, remembering something, she looked up at the arcane archmage Afif, "Old Master Afif, your magic tower floats in the air, that must be difficult, right?"

"Hahaha," Afif laughed heartily, "It is indeed very difficult. It requires a very powerful arcane rune array, and at the same time, it needs to be constantly supplied with magic crystals."

"Then," Vivian paused for a few seconds, "have you ever heard of cities floating in the sky?"

Afif smiled and said:

"That's absolutely impossible."