Above the mage

Chapter 409 A Surprising Discovery

The rain continued, and the dark clouds were mottled.

Tyrrell.

Zuowen Burns rode on his Fiery Mane horse, his hair completely soaked with rain and sweat, sticking to his face, making him look somewhat disheveled.

He, who is usually very conscious of his image, couldn't care less about that at the moment.

Behind him, Ur arrived late.

"Young Master Zuo, what's wrong?"

He wondered why Zuo Wen Burns had suddenly stopped, even though they were already in town.

Sitting atop his fiery-maned horse, Zuo Wen Burns gazed towards the docks, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Let's go to the town hall first."

He was actually thinking about the sequence of actions.

"it is good."

The two hurried along the fairly wide road until the town hall came into view.

Zuowen Burns dismounted without needing to tie the reins, as the exceptional intelligence and spirit of the Fiery Mane horse would wait by his side.

He walked towards the town hall gate without stopping.

When staff members stopped him to inquire about his origins, Zuo Wen Burns simply said, without looking at them, "The Sea Sentinel Mage has come to provide disaster relief," and ignored their explanation, heading straight into the town hall.

Ur followed closely behind.

As soon as he stepped inside, Zuo Wen Burns noticed that the town hall was bustling with activity, with many people who looked like businessmen coming and going.

Seeing this, he frowned subconsciously, and for some reason, he had a bad feeling.

With this bad feeling, Zuowen Burns arrived at the mayor's office.

The other person hadn't closed the door and was tidying up their hair and writing something in their office.

He simply walked in.

Mayor Tyrell, sitting at his desk, heard footsteps but didn't look up. He said, "I've told you before, you must unconditionally respond to the official order to lend you ships before a natural disaster. However, if your ships are damaged during the disaster relief process, we will provide compensation afterwards."

One could clearly hear the heavy impatience in Mayor Tyrael's voice.

Then he noticed that after he finished speaking, the footsteps suddenly stopped, neither leaving nor moving forward.

Mayor Tyrael looked up and immediately spotted Zuowen Burns's Sea Sentinel Mage uniform.

His expression changed, and he quickly stood up. "I didn't know it was Lord Sea Sentinel Mage visiting. I'm so sorry."

Zuo Wen Burns waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for excessive formalities. "The situation is urgent, so there's no need for unnecessary pleasantries... What does the 'ship requisition order' mean? Have you already requisitioned ships from merchants for disaster relief?"

"That's right," Mayor Tyrell nodded. "Tens of thousands of disaster victims in Upstream Yaxi Town are trapped on the highlands, lacking food and clothing, and need to be urgently evacuated."

"This was discovered by another mage from your Sea Sentinels who went ahead to investigate, and he even suggested that I quickly requisition ships and form a fleet for disaster relief," he said, subtly flattering him.

Zuo Wen Burns raised an eyebrow. Someone was actually faster than him?

How is that possible?

"Another mage from the Sea Sentinels?" he pressed.

"That's right," Mayor Tyrael nodded. "Your Sea Sentinels are truly efficient and effective. It's only been three days since the Fish Landing, and he arrived in our Tyrael town yesterday, sending two residents who happened to be on the shore back to inform me to quickly assemble a fleet and be ready for action."

"He himself continued to go upstream to investigate the disaster situation upstream, found the location of the disaster victims in Yaxi Town, and sent people to our town to lead a fleet of boats to the upstream to transfer the disaster victims."

Upon hearing Mayor Tyrael's words, Zuowen Burns' expression tightened, and even Ur behind him became tense, cautiously glancing at Zuowen's facial expression.

"This is the order to borrow ships and the ship information statistics." Mayor Tyrell handed the booklet he had just painstakingly written to Zuowen Burns.

He took the booklet and quickly flipped through it.

Zuo Wen's heart immediately sank.

Every available boat in the town that could transport people was reassigned to upstream disaster relief efforts.

Which sea sentinel mage could be so much faster than him?

It arrived yesterday, which means it was half a day faster than me.

Even the first batch of monks who set off only started an hour earlier than him. Could it be that third-ring monk?

Why would a mage from the third ring road not rush to Auckland to do something big, but instead pick up these scraps?

"Your sea sentinel mages are indeed incredibly efficient. According to those two residents, the sea sentinel mage from yesterday was just an apprentice mage."

At that moment, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Mayor Tyrell remarked, "To be able to ascertain the extent of the disaster in Yaxi Town in just one night."

Zuo Wen Burns remained expressionless, but inwardly he was terrified.

He set off immediately upon receiving the order, riding the Flamemane Horse with excellent stamina. How could an apprentice mage be so much faster than him?

Unless... the other party is traveling by water.

The journey by water is much shorter than the journey by land.

But the question is, given the treacherous waters we've seen along the way, how could a novice mage have reached Tyrael so quickly and safely? Was the mage suicidal?

Also, who exactly is this novice monk?

With a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, Zuo Wen Burns took out the map.

One step at a time, one step at a time.

Missing Tyrael Town is certainly frustrating, but now is not the time to wallow in self-pity.

These three days are considered the golden period.

The first three days after the whirlwind landed were the golden time for rescue; in other words, it was also the best time for him, as a sea sentinel mage, to make a contribution.

Now, we must set our next goal and make the most of this last day.

However, knowing that someone was half a day ahead of him, Zuo Wen Burns was caught in a dilemma.

The other party's route is also Tyrael Town to Yabble Town. Now that things are settled here, is it possible that his next target will also run into me?

After all, there are only a few towns surrounding Tyrael and Yabble, and everyone is a smart person, so the final choice will definitely be similar.

Therefore, if I continue to follow the conventional approach, I am very likely to repeat the same mistake and end up getting nothing by following in others' footsteps.

Let alone a major achievement, he probably wouldn't even get a third-class merit.

Zuo Wen Burns gripped the map so tightly that large sections of the map's edges wrinkled.

No, we can't afford to take chances and have another disaster like this, or our disaster relief efforts will be completely fruitless.

"The situation is urgent, so I won't stay any longer." He maintained his composure, bid farewell to Mayor Tyrell, and strode out of the town hall.

Ur quickly followed.

As soon as he left the town hall, Zuo Wen Burns mounted his horse.

"Young Master Zuo Wen, where shall we go next?" Ul also mounted his horse and asked, "Auckland City."

"Huh?" Ul was puzzled. Zuo Wen Burns had just said that with his abilities, he could only do odd jobs in Auckland.

We should focus our efforts on these small towns.

"No one knows which town this all-powerful apprentice mage will go to next after resolving the disaster in Yaxi Town. If I continue to rush to the town to provide assistance according to the original plan, and if I happen to run into his destination, then my trip will have been in vain."

"Going to Oakland, even if it's just doing odd jobs, is better than getting nothing!" Zuowen Burns said through gritted teeth.

Upon hearing Zuo Wen Burns say this, Ul immediately nodded sincerely, for what he said did indeed make a lot of sense.

"Hurry up, we've already wasted a lot of time with this wasted trip," Zuo Wen Burns said coldly, spurring his horse on and galloping away without paying any more attention to Ul.

Watching the other person's figure disappear quickly into the distance, Ur could only grit his teeth and chase after the splashing water.

Whoohoo!

The salty and fierce sea wind, carrying rain, scraped against the canvas.

The continuous, undulating sound of the canvas billowing has been going on for nearly five hours.

The thick ropes creaked on the mast, and with each sway of the rain-soaked hull, the deck planks creaked against each other. In stark contrast to these loud sounds was the unusually solemn atmosphere on each ship.

The sudden call to arms, the terrible weather, the impending perilous war with uncertain outcomes, and the unfamiliar naval battle scene all weighed heavily on the hearts of the mages, leaving them with no time for idle chatter.

And this kind of repression is contagious.

The warships cut through the waves, relentlessly cleaving the sea surface and stirring up piles of white foam at their bows.

Before the water droplets could completely fall, they were torn into fine mist by the gale and merged into the vast rain curtain.

Gao De stood on the second deck, staring at the sea in front of him and looking around.

180 kilometers.

Given the speed of the warships, they should have already arrived.

However, the closer you get to your destination, the stronger and more intense the winds blowing from the wind belt towards Auckland become.

In other words, the warships had been sailing against the wind all the way here, and even with other power sources besides sails, their speed was greatly reduced.

Gao De was pondering and planning the impending war.

The secondary plane of wind element is not a material plane, but a purely energy plane.

Apart from the dense, rampant wind elemental power, nothing else exists within it.

Therefore, the creatures existing in this secondary plane are all the purest wind element creatures.

The most common wind elemental creatures are air elementals, wind giants, and lurking ghosts.

For him, there was good news: ice magic was one of the most effective spells against wind elemental creatures.

Gao De is best known for his ice elemental magic and also wields a True Ice Magic Weapon.

It can be said that it is a perfect match for their major.

Just then, Gao De's expression suddenly changed.

"There's something there!" He fixed his gaze on the side.

There was nothing there; there was absolutely nothing.

However, this is not the case in Gaode Maps' view.

With Mandora's Eye activated, he clearly saw a slight flow of energy in the void.

"There might be an ambush." ​​Having made a discovery, Gao De immediately found the temporary commander of his ship.

This was a mage with a very rugged appearance. Upon hearing Gao De's report, his instinctive reaction was that it was impossible.

The Thorn Crown was leading the way, and even the high-ranking mages on board didn't notice the ambush. How could Gao De have discovered it?

Even if he was a sea sentinel mage, it still didn't make sense.

"They came from the side and have only just approached, which is why the Thorn Crown hasn't spotted them yet." Knowing that the other party might not believe him, Gao De explained the reason before the other party could raise any questions.

The possibility of someone being a fool is very low, given their high rank and high status as a high-level mage.

Therefore, even though he still had some doubts, as the commander-in-chief, he treated it as if it were true.

If it's a false alarm, it'll only cause some trouble at most, but if it's real and you don't take it seriously, the price you pay will be much higher.

He understood the difference between being cautious and serious.

"All personnel on alert! There may be an ambush. Launch spells to attack the left and right flanks!" The commanding mage issued the order immediately, with an unquestionable air of authority.

He himself immediately cast a spell in the direction Gao De pointed out.

He slightly bent his index finger, and a beam of blue light shot out.

Zizizi!

The blue light transformed into a long arc of electricity, extending into countless branches of lightning, and slammed down into that space.

The space was clearly empty, yet at the moment the lightning bolt struck, it made a sound, as if it had hit something tangible.

Then, a cloud of white mist suddenly appeared and exploded.

Before the fog appeared, Gaode also heard an extremely piercing screech.

"A lurking ghost!" Upon seeing this, the chief mage reacted quickly.

This is a wind elemental creature that is extremely adept at camouflage. It can blend into the gas, and even creatures of a higher level may not be able to detect its presence.

At this moment, the other mages on the ship also launched their attack according to the positions indicated by Gaode.

Several more explosions were heard.

Nearly a dozen or so clouds of mist exploded in the air, like a dozen or so fireworks blooming.

Then, the mist seemed to float in the air without any support, its wisps like tiny fish, and the sky became the ocean, spreading out in all directions.

They are the origin of wind elemental beings, namely wind elemental energy.

There aren't many lurking ghosts, only about a dozen, and they're all first-ring creatures, so they pose no threat whatsoever.

However, the chief mage's expression was not good.

The reason is also very simple.

These wind elemental beings must have come from that wind elemental secondary plane.

Their presence here indicates that the wind network has stabilized considerably, allowing first-tier wind elemental creatures to pass through.

Once the wind network is able to allow even the highest-level wind elemental beings in that plane to pass through safely, then the wind network will be considered fully formed.

"Time is indeed of the essence," the chief mage thought to himself, as he took out the alchemy machine and quickly reported the findings to the high-ring mage on the Thorn Crown.

On the other side, Gao De's expression was also unusual.

However, he was not concerned about the appearance of wind elemental creatures.

What Gaode Maps was interested in was the rapidly dissipating white mist.

Those are all wind elemental energies.

Pure wind elemental beings, upon death, do not leave behind corpses like leyline creatures.

Because wind elemental beings are merely aggregates of energy, while leyline beings are real, physical entities.

These wind elemental energies will dissipate completely in a very short time, merging into the vast mage plane.

In other words, this battle will only be a fight to the death, and there will be no spoils of war.

Gaode was prepared for this.

Just now, looking at the overflowing wind elemental energy, he suddenly remembered something, something he had temporarily overlooked.