Equipment Printing School Mage

Nineteen chasing the past

"Remove the magic!"

Emiya opened her mouth and breathed out the cold frosty wind from the mountaintop, pouring the wizard's most commonly used spells down at their feet.

Apodel's holy sword could protect them from harm, but unfortunately the range of the holy sword was too narrow - they couldn't spend the night in a cramped space of less than ten square meters.

The magic that spread around them gradually dissipated under the effects of Emya's spell - like the ebbing of the tide.

The magic surrounding the mountain was only temporarily suppressed, but they did have a chance to breathe.

Seeing that the spell was effective, Emiya couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He was not familiar with this relatively unconventional usage, so this suggestion naturally came from Yin's mouth.

Normally, dispel magic could dispel any persistent spell, whether it lasted a few seconds or forever, but being able to suppress it in such a short time was something he had never heard of.

At this moment, they had climbed all the way to the top of this nameless mountain at Yin's request.

Emya originally thought that the mountain was already very high, but as the surrounding clouds grew thicker, he realized that what he saw in Baldur's Gate was only the part below the clouds.

He thought Yin would start screaming again, but at this moment she fell into a strange trance, standing there motionless, her eyes slightly raised, her focus seemed to be at the end of the sky.

Emiya hesitated for a moment, then took out the Winter Wolf Cloak that had been given to her from the dimensional cave. The climate in Baldur's Gate was cool, and wearing this cloak would only make her too hot. So she had already taken it off.

Although, he was not sure what Yin's condition was now, and whether the cold and heat would affect her - but at least all her actions now were the same as those of ordinary people, with no difference.

He exhaled white air and wrapped the cloak around her. The wide cloak almost completely surrounded Yin like a quilt.

When Yin was concentrating, she was completely oblivious to what was happening outside. This kind of disturbance wasn't enough to interrupt her train of thought.

But it looks like she'll be busy for a while longer.

While dispelling the magic, Emiya had already managed to free up her hands and create her usual wizard's hut on this mountain. The protective spell she had used during this long rest night could prevent outside influences from entering, so theoretically, it should also be able to resist the effects of the nameless mountain.

While the mages were racking their brains to counter the magical effects of the mountain, the paladins could only do the most basic camp preparations - the mage's hut was just a house after all, and would not prepare beds or dinner for them.

"What a shame! This nameless mountain is so barren." Apodel Adrian naturally brought fuel with him, but unfortunately, he had no food. "Today, I used the granite fragments I broke off to shoot down a few hawks—they are the only animals that roam around this mountain."

"The good news is that the clouds here are thick enough, so we can make a fire." Mars skillfully cut up the hawk with a knife. "The berries of the druid are delicious. But I still prefer hot food with the smell of fire rather than the smell of sunshine."

At this time, Emiya slowly walked down from the high place: "Bad news, Yin started again. I guess she won't come to dinner. Maybe I will have to save her another portion."

Mars sighed. "Should I say she's peculiar or just innocent? This kind of thing happens almost every few days. To her, eating and sleeping seem to be a burden, and things related to magic are the real source of life."

Emiya shrugged. In fact, Yin was not very proficient in using cutlery at first. It was like he knew cutlery existed but had never used it himself. He even gave Yin some emergency training.

Apodel put the cut bird meat on skewers and placed it over the fire. "It's very rare. I can't say I know a lot about mages, but I do know a few. It may sound strange, but I've never heard of someone being so obsessed with magic."

Emiya sighed and took out the jars of seasonings she had taken from the Friendly Arms and placed them on the ground. "That's normal. I just don't find studying magic fun."

Hearing this, Mars couldn't help but raise his eyes from the fire. "A person who has been sleepless for days and nights for magic says that he has no interest in magic... Either you are being too modest, or you are more terrifying than silver."

"That's wonderful." Old Apodel sighed heartily upon seeing the two bickering. "When Imoen and I stumbled away... well, unfortunately, no matter how much I try to embellish it, it was still extremely embarrassing. Imoen's archery skills were truly terrible. I teased her for a long time when she shot all her arrows into nothingness before scaring off the two wolves."

"Imoen?" Emilia paused, then nodded. "Is that Lady Adrian from Baldur's Gate? I knew she had a deep connection with you, but I didn't expect it to be this deep."

Mars sighed and said, "Madam Adrian is also a wizard who uses arrows? I'm starting to doubt myself now."

They were childhood sweethearts and had been together since they were young, so they had probably been together for a hundred years.

Even if they were two elf friends, they wouldn't spend so much time together. It was perfectly normal for these two to end up together.

"No, no, no, she wasn't a mage at that time, so she was even more..." But at this moment, Apodel finally reacted after hearing a certain word and started coughing violently: "Wait wait a minute - Madam Adrien?! Is that how she introduced herself to you?"

The two of them looked at him in confusion: "...Yeah, what's the problem?"

"...Well, it's not a big deal. It's just that our relationship has never been made public. Our old friends might be wondering why we've been so hesitant to confirm it..." Apodel sighed and twirled the iron stick. "To outsiders, it must seem very strange that Imoen and I have been so close for centuries, but we've never taken that step."

Emiya raised her eyebrows. "I guess you can't tell us this reason either."

"Indeed." Mr. Son of Bhaal shrugged. "It would be better to talk about something else—"

"For example, we rose to fame in Baldur's Gate because we rescued Marshal Flame Fist and defeated Sarevok An'kif, my father's murderer and the mastermind behind his actions. That's true. But a few days later, I sparred with the newly recovered Marshal Flame Fist. I was surprised to find that Marshal Iltan's swordsmanship far exceeded my expectations. If he hadn't been poisoned, Sarevok's chances of victory would have been extremely slim! I was completely amused and confused at the time. In other words, our contribution back then was more like stealing the credit... If the Flame Fist had recovered and reorganized, overthrowing the Iron Throne would have been a piece of cake."

At this point, Apodale snorted, "So, now when I brag about my own deeds, I don't even want to mention Baldur's Gate."

Mars shrugged. "Candlekeep does have a record of this: Marshal Iltan was one of the founders of the Flaming Fist, and he fought his way through mountains of blood and blood to bring the Flaming Fist to prominence. He's also a formidable swordsman. Looking back, it's easy to understand. If Sarevok could truly defeat Iltan, given his style, he would likely openly challenge him on some occasion."

Emiya glanced in Silver's direction and replied, "However, time itself is the most precious commodity. If the Flame Fist has time, it can independently strike back. But on the other hand, if the Flame Fist cannot buy time to rebuild the organization, then everything that follows will be in vain."

"Ha. That's true."

When the first few skewers of meat came out of the oven, Emilia stood up and said, "Excuse me. I have to serve dinner to our Miss Silver - I hope she can eat them before they get cold."

Mars stood up: "Then I'll follow too-"

At this moment, Apodel suddenly reached out and grabbed him, then turned his head and shouted in Emiya's direction, "Then we will be responsible for the barbecue!"

After making sure that Emiya was some distance away, Apodel lowered his voice.

"Mars, there are some things I have never told you. In fact, your becoming a paladin was not entirely accidental. That day was not the first time we met."

Mars snorted, "I kind of guessed it—the selection process for Paladins is so strict. How could they just agree to take a kid who's yelling outside Candlekeep on the Paladin path? That would be irresponsible."

At this point, Mars frowned more and more tightly: "Teacher, you don't want to say that you are actually me..."

"No, no, no, no, what are you thinking! How could that be possible? Imoen would kill me!" Apodel coughed again from being choked. "It was just another coincidence. After the Arcane Disaster, the Church of Mystra was almost destroyed overnight, and evil surged. For a long time, Imoen and I lived a life of being hunted by the whole world, and we almost lost contact with many friends. It was much later that Imoen and I accidentally learned that our friend Minsk had mysteriously disappeared, but he was not dead yet."

Apodel's face was filled with both anger and amusement. "He's a genuine human. We originally thought he'd returned to Leatherman years ago, perhaps already dead in the ice and snow of Leatherman! We've spent so much effort, and all we can confirm is that he's turned to stone. We've painstakingly searched for information about him, and Imoen even joined the Harpers in the process. Even so, we still haven't heard from Minsc... I even thought, maybe he was petrified again while under the effects of some transfiguration spell?"

"I won't go into detail about the process, but in short, all our efforts were in vain. We've traveled all over Faerûn, and there are only a few cities we haven't visited yet. If he's really hiding in one of the remaining cities, it only means that one of us must have been extremely unlucky." Apodile sighed. "After years of hard work, Imoen and I had no choice but to give up. But we still had a lot of scrolls of unpetrification left, so I simply went to places where creatures like petrified lizards were found, specifically to rescue those victims."

"Of course, the victims are diverse...old men, children, adults. Men, women, even non-humans."

"There are even some pregnant women in there." Apodel looked at Mars meaningfully, "So, Mars. Although you were born in 1451, your mother was actually pregnant much earlier. It is extremely difficult to let these people who have been toyed with by time return to society, so I do my best to meet all their requests. And your mother requested to go to Candlekeep to find out what happened during this long time. It was probably there that her due date arrived."

"You really know how to make fun of me." Mars covered his face and sighed, "You know very well that my mother died before I can remember. So what does the time of my mother's pregnancy mean to me? Anyway, my biological father would not have lived through these hundred years. You don't just want to see me screaming and crying because of my life experience? That's a pity, I think this kind of thing is completely irrelevant."

"Oh, that's great." Apodel's face was full of smiles. "Speaking of which, did you discover anything worth mentioning this day in Baldur's Gate?"

"...Unfortunately, yes. And it's related to you."

"Is it about me again? I have so many enemies. Just click on any map of Faerun and there's likely someone within a hundred miles who wants me dead." Apodel said nonchalantly, "The saying 'too much debt, no worries' is just that. Who is it this time?"

"It's related to your other identity." Mars hesitated and whispered, "It seems someone is planning something related to the Sons of Bhaal again, plotting murder at Baldur's Gate... We suspect someone has successfully reduced the number of remaining Sons of Bhaal to single digits."

"Crench!"

As soon as he said this, the iron stick in Apodel's hand was instantly bent into a "U" shape by his fingers: "...Then, I must contact Imoen immediately."

******************

Emiya was holding a skewer of meat, brushing off the cold wind. Yin, who was hiding in the thick cloak of the winter wolf, remained standing.

Just as Emiya was about to move closer, she heard Yin muttering.

The blood of murder is a despair in name only.

[Enduring obsession is the reason for indulging evil]

[The omitted offspring are like ants that bite through the dam]

[The blade of fantasy is the brilliance that tears through the darkness]

Twenty Rivers of Time

Yin's voice wasn't loud, and her words weren't clearly heard over the whistling mountain wind. But it wasn't the first time she'd spoken in that slightly ethereal tone. Therefore, Emiya immediately realized what had happened.

He stood there, trying hard to remember every word Yin said in his mind, and then he didn't even dare to speak.

But this time, he quickly realized that he was being a bit too sentimental. Yin didn't fall into that kind of empty state. Instead, he turned around naturally, tightened his winter wolf cloak, and covered his mouth with his hands and blew out a breath: "Emmya? Why are you here?"

Emiya breathed a sigh of relief and said unhappily, "I was worried you'd be too cold on this mountain, so I prepared to collect your body."

"What do you mean by collecting corpses?! Am I going to freeze myself to death?" Yin jumped on the mountain peak. "If I'm really cold, I'll naturally warm myself up!"

"That's so gratifying—for someone who's only just learned how to eat and sleep, you're making rapid progress!"

"Hiss—" Yin was so angry that he became like a balloon. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Deliver the food." Emiya controlled the small fireball to circle around the skewers a few times. "Do you remember what you were doing just now?"

The last time Yin made a prediction, his behavior was extremely weird - and the result of the prediction was the same.

Yin took the skewer without hesitation and stuffed it into his mouth. Then his face suddenly wrinkled: "--I have to say, this meat is really tough."

"You know now that food is very different from food." Emiya shrugged.

This guy, who not long ago had confidently claimed that nothing besides magic was worth noting, now at least understands that food is different from food.

Yin glared at him angrily, his cheeks puffed up from chewing. "I...seem to have remembered something. I was just trying to predict the future."

Emiya raised her eyebrows. "--Just a prediction? I always thought it was some kind of... foresight into the future?"

"What do you think the future will be like? A book in a library where you can walk over and read everything?" Yin cupped his hands together and breathed hard on them. "I can't do that anyway. Information is scattered everywhere in this world. I've only pieced together this mess and made an irresponsible guess. Don't blame me if I'm wrong."

Although Yin's words were convincing, Emiya felt that she was quibbling no matter how she looked at it.

In the Sharptooth Forest, her behavior was clearly beyond prediction.

Aimiya hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help asking, "Are you clear about the principle? Are you sure it has nothing to do with time?"

Yin raised his head in confusion: "Why do you think it has something to do with time?"

"Why?" Emilia opened her mouth and was about to tell her about the weird things that had happened in the Sharptooth Forest, which she had always denied, but her eyes widened instantly.

He still had the impression of those days in his mind, but when he recalled it carefully, a sense of confusion immediately rushed into his mind.

On the first day, Yin didn't recognize them. After some entanglement, Yin gave her name. After deciding to join the team, Yin gave her prediction.

On the third day, Yin summarized what had happened and embarked on the journey with them.

Everything seems to be going fine except that Silver's predictions were very accurate.

Did anything special happen in between? It seemed not, at least he didn't remember it.

Emiya took a deep breath, and the cold air filled his lungs, making his respiratory tract a little painful: "Strange... I clearly remember-"

"Actually, I remember you acting strangely during those few days. But I can't quite recall what happened then." Yin exhaled, as if anticipating this. "Time is full of unknowns and extremely dangerous. If, by some chance coincidence, you managed to gain some benefit from it—you're lucky, but that's enough. Don't delve into it any further."

She looked at the hazy clouds around her, as if she saw the Chongsa River roaring at the foot of the mountain.

“Time is like the Chongsa River beside Baldur’s Gate—flowing from east to west, it flows into the sea and cannot be changed.”

Emilia replied, "That is, it is not absolutely unchangeable."

"Indeed," Yin replied. "As far as I know, this river didn't exist long ago. It was created because the elves wanted to create a promised land all their own. But their high magic once again caused a devastating disaster—earthquakes, tsunamis, and even continents drifting and colliding. The entire Toril was turned upside down, and countless people perished."

"If you try to manipulate time, you might achieve some success, but you'll definitely create more disasters along the way. So, don't delve into it, don't question it, and stop here." Yin's voice was more serious than ever. "Don't do things that you can't control."

Emiya hesitated for a moment. "So, what should I do with your prediction? Pretend I didn't hear it?"

"Applications at this level shouldn't have much of an impact. The most dangerous thing is going upstream. If it's just about predicting the future, it should be okay. So acceleration and slowing down spells don't matter." Yin stretched out his finger and tapped his cheek.

She pondered this topic, "Actually, time itself isn't that stable either. Sometimes, there's even a gate connecting two points in time... Damn it, thankfully, these aren't everywhere like the dimensional gates!"

"What about crossing that fixed time gate? What can you do on the other side of time?"

Now that Yin's burden has been thrown out, Emilia can't just ignore it.

However, Yin completely ignored his rare thoughtfulness and said seriously, "I remember... the standard handling procedure... seems to be..."

"Greet with a smile, give you an oriented tour, follow you throughout the entire process, keep you under close surveillance, and get out of here right after you're done?"

"Why does it seem more and more wrong the more you talk about it! And this doesn't seem to be the rule for traveling through a time gate, right?"

"Don't ask me, that's all I can remember." Yin curled his lips. "Anyway, I want to go back to the wizard's hut. I don't remember me being so afraid of the cold before... I really want to light a fire and play with it."

"Children should not play with fire."

"I'm not a child!"

Observer of the World of Faerun

The New Moon Day is coming.

Over the next few days, the nights were going to gradually become darker.

But during these few days when the stars shone brightest, a city beneath the Troll Mountains along the Sword Coast had already fallen into the arms of darkness.

Or perhaps it could be said that this place has already been mired in darkness and death for thousands of years.

Although the continent of Faerun is a mixed bag, on the whole, most of the people of Faerun act fairly and honestly - perhaps not everyone is brave enough to do what is right, but they generally look down on necromancers who play with the dead and slave traders who take away the freedom of others.