Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Chapter 415 New Magic

As we all know, manufacturing heavy armor requires a lot of iron, but the current territory of the Charr is in the Nightmare Forest, where there are no mines that produce iron ore.

If you want to equip all your men with iron armor, the amount of iron needed would be staggering. The iron available in Goat Horn Town is simply insufficient to achieve this goal, not to mention that the construction of Forest City also requires a large amount of iron.

If you want to equip your men with armor in a cost-effective way, it's best to find a material that is easier to obtain.

Ants' chitin is a good choice; this shell weighs less than half as much as steel of the same size, while being very tough and retaining a certain degree of flexibility.

Of course, it also has a drawback, which is that it is not fire-resistant. As soon as a flame gets on it, it will quickly catch fire.

Fortunately, those human soldiers wearing armor were not resistant to burning either; throwing flaming glue at them had almost the same effect as wearing a chitinous shell.

Now, a treasure trove has opened its "door" directly in front of Charles and Diana, and the entire cave is filled with countless corpses of ants.

These giant ants have chitin covering their heads, thoraxes, and femora, but not their enormous abdomens. Previously, Shirley had seen a giant spider pounce on an ant and insert its chelicerae directly into the ant's abdomen.

Now, inside the cave, only fragments of their remaining chitinous shells can be seen; the rest of their organs and tissues have rotted away, turning into a viscous substance that has mixed with the soil below.

Charles didn't know how long the ant colony had existed, but he estimated that if all the chitin in it were utilized, it could directly arm a massive army.

This army could sweep across the entire continent if it had that many soldiers.

"I have to say, the food here is really awful." Charles covered his mouth and nose, holding a torch as he tentatively took a few steps inside.

Diana, standing behind him, looked somewhat disdainful, but her eyes held a complex and gleaming expression. "I didn't expect there to be so many materials here."

"Now, you're not worried about the armor anymore, are you?" After taking a few steps, Charles gave up on going any further in. The soil here was dark in color, clearly full of humus.

If he ventures too far in, his shoes will get covered in mud, which would be a fatal blow to the ants' fungal growth environment.

"The material problem is solved," Diana bent down, picked up a small pebble, and threw it towards the "mountain" of ant shells in the distance. "Now it's time for the craftsmanship."

The manufacturing process is also a problem, but that's no problem for Ciel.

If he had previously looked on with envy as he watched the worker ants carrying goods in his colony, now his eyes were filled with longing.

The Machine Factory City is calling him; perhaps the right tools will be there.

Spencer had previously stated that the Machine Factory City possessed a large number of processing machines, all of which operated using superhuman force. As long as these machines could continue to function, the chitin could be transported there, and with the appropriate cutting, trimming, and assembly, it should be possible to create armor.

This is why Xia Er was determined to take over the Machine Factory City; it was not only for the construction of the Forest City, but also for the needs of the army.

Imagine the future: a group of minotaurs clad in strange armor stand before a human army. After several volleys of arrows, these guys are unharmed and can even withstand the charge of human cavalry. Just thinking about this makes Xia Er's lips curl into a smile.

Human armies used to look down on other races, and even when facing the demon army at the opening of the dimensional gate, their generals would unconsciously maintain an air of arrogance.

This includes confidence in their own equipment, which other races do not possess the ability to forge, an ability that only humans, dwarves, and elves have.

More often than not, those races would try to seize items from human adventurers to arm themselves.

Now, Charles felt that he had found a new solution.

"Your smile is sly." Diana frowned as she looked at Charles by the torchlight. "I've only ever seen that expression on your face before, when you and I were making bets."

"Huh? Really?" Charles was taken aback, then quickly composed himself. "How could that be? I was just thinking about something."

"Hmph," Diana snorted, "It seems you have a way to solve the problem of the process."

"I have an idea, but it's not ready yet." Charles shrugged. The specifics would only be known after they arrived at the Machine Factory City.

"You're not thinking of shipping all these shells to Giraffe Town and having the blacksmiths there make them for you, are you?" Diana turned to look at the mountain of shells piled up. "I should warn you, those blacksmiths might not be able to handle this material properly. Also, if such a large quantity of material appears in Giraffe Town, it will shock everyone."

"I know what you mean," Charles nodded. "It takes a lot of skill to work with these chitinous shells; I doubt an ordinary blacksmith would be up to the task."

The blacksmiths in Giethoorn can only forge ordinary tools. Their daily work mainly involves repairing broken weapons and equipment, as well as forging some iron weapons and farm implements.

They rarely even make steel swords, let alone forge high-grade materials like dwarven steel.

Moreover, Xia Er also knew that ant shells could not appear in large quantities in Goat Horn Town. These things were produced in the forest, or rather, they were a kind of magical beast material. If they appeared in large quantities, it would definitely arouse suspicion.

He certainly didn't want the giant ant to be discovered by adventurers.

Aside from the material factors, there was another reason why Charles didn't want the ant colony to be disturbed: after meeting the little queen ant, he discovered that one of his abilities had been activated.

[The Queen Ant's Gratitude: You helped an ant colony reproduce, enabling this kind-hearted group to successfully overcome a crisis. Their queen ant sees you as a hero and benefactor. As long as the ant colony continues to reproduce safely, the queen ant will remember everything you did. This will enhance your abilities and gradually increase your resonance with the magic field.]

The state of the newly born queen ant changed after more than three months, as the baby queen ants quickly came of age.

This ability caught Ciel's eye at the time, increasing his resonance with the magic field, which meant he could have more magic casting abilities in the future.

A few days ago, when he fought Cunningham, he could only use [True Magic Burst] three times. If he continued to cast it, he would have to use the power granted to him by the demon lord Lust, but this would undoubtedly expose that he had learned advanced magic.

Ciel did not want his growth to be interrupted by other external forces.

Now, the Queen Ant's Gratitude can deepen his resonance. As long as the ant colony survives and is not wiped out, his resonance will continue to develop, and breaking through the limit of spell casting count is only a matter of time.

As for whether he could cast even more powerful spells in the future, Sharl thought it was not impossible.

Just like now, a new spell has appeared in his [Personal Magic Book]—[Mask of Hypocrisy].

【Mask of Hypocrisy: You can cast a spell on yourself, making it as if you're wearing an invisible mask, making others more likely to believe you're a kind and "good person." This spell can last until your magic power is exhausted, and it can be cast again to cancel it. Note that this spell has a certain charm bonus, cannot be cast on other targets, and can be seen through by those with very strong willpower.】

"This ability must be the magic that Lust casts on herself when she tries to deceive people." After defeating Cunningham, Charles discovered the new spell in the spellbook and realized that it was "borrowed" from Lust again.

In his opinion, this "Mask of Hypocrisy" was different from other magic, such as the "Curse of Intelligence Degradation" or the "Curse of Language."

Or it could be [Magic Burst]. These spells are offered to foolish signatories when a contract is made with lust, and they are generously given the choice to make one.

However, this spell, in terms of both its name and its effects, is something that Lust will absolutely not provide to its signatory.

"I think I've reached deep into the pocket of lust." That was Charles's first thought when he saw the spell's effect.

These spells were automatically learned after repeatedly using the Demon Lord's spells, under the effect of the [Blessing of Victory].

To be honest, Ciel was speechless. Why did he, a goblin, always have to learn magic like deception, lies, and hypocrisy?

Couldn't you give me some more advanced spells, like summoning an army of demons?

Is it really true that they can't escape the "inherent flaws" of goblins?

"If you're not going to ship it to Gieseck Town, what are you planning to do?" Diana asked, interrupting Charles's thoughts.

"We've only just begun to get a clue, we need to see how things go," Charles waved his hand. He didn't intend to tell Diana about the Machine Factory City right now. Although the former president of the Holy Army was very curious about the various secrets he had hidden, he only asked a few simple questions and didn't pursue the matter further.

Diana probably knew that if she pressed for too much information, the other party wouldn't tell her everything.

But the City of Machines is different. If the gates of the City of Machines are truly opened in the future, Diana will definitely know and be shocked by the size of the city.

If I tell her now, she definitely won't believe me.

Perhaps it's better to maintain our mystery once we truly witness the grandeur of the Machinery City.

Of course, all of this is contingent on the machine shop being well-preserved, or even having some of its operational machinery intact.

"So what do we do now?" Seeing that Charles was unwilling to say more, Diana could only sigh slightly. She had made a bet with Charles to solve the ratman problem within six months, and now she didn't want to get involved in the equipment modification.

Let the tribal leader worry about this.

"Let's go back first." Charles lowered his head, stepping on the soft soil. "I need to check on the mushroom experiment first."

Once the life experiments of the evil book are over, Xia Er plans to remove all the chitinous shells piled up here and then transform this place into a mushroom farm.

This huge cavern, with its thick layer of humus on the floor, is practically the perfect breeding ground for mushrooms.

I just don't know if the ants will accept mushrooms as food; hopefully, they will.

In the Nightmare Forest, a strange cavalry unit is slowly advancing westward.

A jackal leader, adorned with feathers on his head, pulled on the reins, urging the large bird beneath him to move towards the front of the procession.

"Goblin, you're too slow." The gnoll looked at the goblin beside him with some disdain.

Baldy quickly lowered his head. Although these gnolls were not likely to kill goblins directly, they would still be whipped if they did not show enough respect.

"Chief, I have been trying my best to travel." He did not beg for mercy, but simply raised his head slightly and glanced at the big bird.

You jackals ride big birds, while I'm still walking ahead on my short legs. How could I possibly be fast?

For some reason, gnolls like to travel by riding large birds. These birds are very tall, but they are not very convenient in the forest. Baldy has seen this many times. Gnolls have to take a detour just to avoid the branches of the trees in front of them.

If you walk straight past, those branches will affect the large bird, and might even poke its head.

-

Even so, the gnoll remained seated on the bird's back, as if he had become one with the bird's body.

"I wonder what kind of weird hobby it is." After seeing the gnolls avoid him a few times, Baldy couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Seeing the goblins gesturing for him and his tribe to set off on their large birds, the gnoll chieftain gritted his teeth. The goblins were right; these useless goblins were indeed short-legged and not nearly as fast as the large birds.

However, riding large birds is the privilege of the gnolls. There is nothing else to ride in the forest, neither human warhorses nor the more advanced griffins and winged horses.

Goblins are even less likely to have the right to ride large birds.

"You," the gnoll chieftain thought for a moment, then stopped urging him and said sternly, "hurry up."

This time, he must lead his troops to wipe out the goblin tribe that Quetzalcoatl called the rebels, kill their leader, and also incorporate the goblins. Only in this way can Quetzalcoatl return to his "altar" and bestow blessings upon the gnoll tribe.

He felt resentful when he thought about how the humans of the Argon Kingdom had driven him directly from the wasteland into the forest.

Their tribe had always been mercenaries employed by humans, and they only liked to "take" things, such as food, meat, weapons, and armor. They only "took" a little bit, but the gnolls had never stolen a single piece of gold, so how could they call themselves thieves?

Once the feathered serpent god's request has been fulfilled and its blessing received, then one can break out of the Nightmare Forest and have a proper "chat" with the humans of the Argon Kingdom.

Examine your own community to see if it is truly a group of thieves.

There's a saying that goes, "Good things are only for the strong."