"The secrets of the Elemental Planes? I don't know, either. You might as well ask the mages for information. Why are you so surprised? I, Aillé, am not omniscient. I seem to know a lot, but that's only because I've lived for so long. The history of the Four Elemental Planes is even longer than that of the mortal plane. The Creator Goddess Aichy used the Four Elemental Planes as the foundation to create the entire plane. I wasn't even born back then, so how would I know? "
When I asked Aillé about the secrets of the Four Elemental Gods from the Four Elemental Planes, he actually gave me such an answer. When I mentioned the Creator Goddess, that cold, black-clothed Death God actually had an expression of nostalgia and reluctance.
"As for the Four Elemental Gods, that's just their name. They're actually nothing more than storekeepers appointed by the Creator Goddess. With Aichy's authorization, they indeed control a portion of the dimensional laws, but they definitely don't rule over the entire plane. Heh heh, nobody would be able to rule over such a plane. Otherwise, that would be the equivalent of ruling over a quarter of the world and all life. "
The information I obtained from other sources (Marguerite's friendly contribution) also proved the truth of Aillé's words. The most obvious proof was that even when the Four Elemental Gods were sealed away, the Elemental Planes still existed. Even if an Elemental God died, a new Elemental God would appear in just a few hundred years.
In theory, the Goddess of Chaos Cynthia had inherited this power from her mother, Aichy. She could control the Four Elemental Gods and indirectly control this world. Cynthia's will was still influencing these planes, which was why this plane was also leaning towards Chaos.
Unlike what most people thought, this wasn't a world with nothing apart from the earth element and sandstorms. On the contrary, as the most ancient plane in existence, this world was incredibly rich in resources and products. All sorts of ancient species grew and multiplied here. Diamonds and rare minerals that other planes viewed as rare treasures weren't rare at all. Buried beneath these ancient hills were rare treasures that other planes would never be able to find.
Most of the residents here were naturally earth elemental creatures. But unlike the humanoid elemental creatures in the mortal plane, the elemental creatures here weren't used to taking human forms. They came in all sorts of strange shapes. Some looked like dragons, some looked like stone giants, and some looked like giant crabs and other insects. Most of them chose to imitate powerful existences that they had seen before.
Although their appearance and species were almost the same, they had one thing in common. At least part of their bodies were elementalized, and they could devour each other to evolve into stronger existences.
It was said that Ömdiroken had evolved from a weak Rock Giant. Due to the high concentration of elemental power, the body parts of the elemental creatures here were also very good magic materials.
Where there were benefits, there would naturally be intelligent creatures. Where there were huge benefits, there would naturally be gold miners who didn't fear death. After the Elemental Gods and other "managers" were sealed, these Elemental Planes were no different from open warehouses. There were countless ways to invade them. Many factions had established their own bases in the various Elemental Planes.
In an area known as the Karo Hills, the Mage Country of Arlodante had established a base in the Earth Elemental Plane. Over a hundred mage towers and magical devices had created a defensive force field. The dark purple, semicircular magical barrier prevented wind and sand from wreaking havoc in "Karo Town." This made this place the largest foreign resident base in the nearby several thousand kilometers.
Various species could be seen everywhere on the streets of Karo. Although most of them were humans, elves, and beastmen, which were common species in the mortal plane, there were also many demon descendants in the lower planes. It was even possible to see mechanical puppets and mimics from other worlds. Of course, there were also goblin merchants. However, there was one species that was the rarest. It was the elemental species that was rarely seen in the mortal plane.
The reason for their birth was quite complicated. Some were the descendants of high-level elemental creatures and ordinary lifeforms, while others were the elementalization of ordinary lifeforms in this plane. However, the most obvious characteristic of these elemental species was their skin color, which was rather strange. Some had bumpy brown skin, some had burnt red skin, and some even had all sorts of crystals embedded in their foreheads, giving them a rather frightening appearance.
However, due to part of their bodies being elementalized, they were natural elemental mages. They had excellent elemental perception abilities, and with just a bit of training, they could become outstanding elemental mages. They didn't need to worry about elemental magic backlashes or anything like that.
For the Mage Country, apart from the various local specialties of this plane, these native Elemental Sons were all excellent seedlings. And for earth magic masters, this Earth Elemental Plane with its extremely high elemental density was also the best place to cultivate. Not to mention, there were all sorts of rare magical beasts here, so how could they just give up on this place?
But recently, this place had met with some trouble.
The Earth Elemental God had returned, and these uninvited residents were finally going to face the returning master of the house.
It was quite obvious that as the nominal master of this world, Ömdiroken, it was impossible for him to have a group of uninvited guests living in his home. More and more local residents suddenly changed their attitudes towards Karo City, and the beast hordes attacking them became more frequent.
And the rising Elemental Tide and the return of the Earth Elemental God caused the sandstorms to become even fiercer. Karo's protective barrier's energy consumption had already reached more than 150% of last year's energy consumption.
"We can't go on like this."
The Earth Elemental Plane's Spatial Shackles were becoming more and more stable, and the amount of magical energy needed to transmigrate between planes was constantly increasing. And the amount of investment needed here was constantly increasing. As a native elemental mage, Etadya was quite troubled.
More than ten years ago, Etadya had joined the Mage Country as a mage apprentice. Now that he had become a Gold-rank mage, Etadya was quite familiar with this city. But recently, he had been feeling more and more uncomfortable, as if this beautiful city where magic civilization gathered was a type of restriction, and in the depths of the wilderness, there was a will that was summoning him.
And he wasn't the only one feeling this way. In the past three months, more than ten young apprentices had already disappeared into the sandstorms, leaving behind only their mage robes and staffs.
"Ömdiroken? How troublesome. "
As a Gold-rank mage, Etadya definitely wasn't an ignorant rookie. Only the legendary Elemental God would be able to have such a huge impact on the entire Earth Elemental Plane.
He was quite powerful and could resist the summoning from his soul, but it would be difficult for those rookie apprentices to do so. Every single elemental species was precious, and it would be quite painful to lose them for no reason. That wasn't even the most troublesome part. Two days ago, a demonized apprentice had actually crazily rushed into the Earth Elemental Plane's magic core, intending to turn off the barrier launcher. That was quite shocking.
"There's still no reply from the Mage Country? At the very least, send us a few archmages to control the situation. "
"No, the Mage Country is also in trouble. The Bardi Empire suddenly had a small skirmish with us, and most of our combat strength has been lost. And from my private sources, I learned that the Water Elemental Plane and Wind Elemental Plane are also in similar trouble. Plus, teleportation between the Elemental Planes is becoming more and more difficult. I'm afraid that not only will our assistance not increase, it might even decrease."
"If there's a problem with teleportation, can't we use the gnomes' teleportation system? Their dimensional tearing devices should still be usable, right? "
"A fixed failure rate of 20% is too much. Teleportation of resources is fine, but teleportation of living creatures is too dangerous. Also, those gnomes recently changed their rules. They actually want us to buy 'insurance,' or else they won't let us transport the goods, and they won't compensate us if we lose them. "
"Insurance? What's that? "
"It's something that's recently trended among the gnomes. I think it's from the Underground World's gnomes. You have to pay them a deposit first, and if there's an accident that causes a loss, they'll compensate you."
"Isn't that a good thing? Then let's buy it. Didn't we already pay for our teleportation losses in the past? "
"The problem is that we didn't even pay for it. Archmage Edwin, who's in charge of teleportation, is furious. "
"Why? Aren't gnomes supposed to be very sincere in their dealings? "
"He said that we stored a special magnetic energy item in the goods, which affected teleportation. This was a failure caused by our human error, and he wants us to compensate for the losses."
"Ridiculous! Why didn't you say so earlier if special items couldn't be used for teleportation? You only said it after you failed? What about the next time? Archmage Edwin probably won't give them any more excuses. "
"Our luck was even worse the second time. We encountered a spatial storm, and half of our goods were lost."
"He should be paying for it this time, right?"
"No, there's a clause in his insurance contract that says' no compensation for losses caused by force majeure '. That teleportation error caused by a natural disaster like a spatial storm was counted as force majeure."
"Then why did we even buy that insurance?! Isn't this a scam? Isn't there someone to pay for our teleportation losses? "
"… Yes, we only realized after we suffered a loss that we have to buy a special 'teleportation loss insurance' to pay for the teleportation losses. In the end, the third time, Archmage Edwin simply signed all the additional clauses."
"Don't tell me we were scammed again? Don't tell me that gnomes actually tear up business contracts? "
"… This time, the spatial tearing device actually exploded. Only then did we realize that in this situation, we have to buy that 'accidental explosion insurance', or else we won't pay for it."
"Buy, buy, buy. Can't we just buy everything?"
"But the problem is, that 'explosion insurance' is more expensive than all the other insurances combined. But everyone knows about gnomes, not buying that explosion insurance is equivalent to not having insurance at all. Archmage Edwin was so angry that he had a stroke on the spot … "
Etadea's mouth gaped, but no words came out. But this matter was not over yet. The mage apprentice said with an expression that did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"The gnome merchants in our city have also learned this trick, selling all kinds of insurances like crazy. And haven't there been a lot of elementals going missing recently? Those fellows actually bought a personal accidental disappearance insurance, specifically looking for young apprentices to sign it, and even openly announcing the disappearance of people, causing everyone to panic. "
"… Did they pay for it? There's no need to answer, I've already guessed it, they definitely didn't pay for it! "
"Your wisdom can illuminate this piece of sky. Yes, this group of damned profiteers, they didn't pay even a single copper coin! They actually need the policyholders to apply for compensation themselves! People are already missing, how are we going to get them to pay for it? "
Suddenly, a sharp voice sounded behind him.
"Hello, I'm from the gnome Amway Life Insurance Company, may I ask if you know Amway?"
Etadea turned around, it was a short gnome who was well-dressed, carrying a handbag in his small hands, and a face full of smiles.
"Did you know? Recently, a group of kidnappers appeared, causing the number of missing elementals to skyrocket. But our Amway Life Insurance Company, in response to such a situation, especially … I don't know what kind of insurance you need, if you're not satisfied with any of them. "
"Scram!"
Etadea, who had always been known for being approachable, angrily roared through his teeth, but the gnome salesman had no intention of giving up.
"Rolling injury insurance? We have it too! Although I don't know why the demand for insurance has skyrocketed recently, customers are always the king! You can roll, I'll pay! "
…
In Karo City's archmage council, Myth-ranked archmage Kaid also had a worried expression. As the highest-ranked archmage here, he knew far more than his subordinates.
As a true top-level archmage, the Truth Overseer's intelligence system wouldn't forget to give him a special report. Of course, he naturally knew that the situation in the Bardi Empire had been rapidly changing recently, especially the conflict between the Bardi Empire and the Bardi Empire. This definitely couldn't be described as a small conflict, and if it wasn't handled well, a new war would break out.
Reinforcements from the Bardi Empire couldn't be relied on, the environment was becoming even worse, and the threat of the legendary Ömdiroken was becoming more and more apparent. Not only that, but there were also problems within the Bardi Empire.
"Teacher, those damned gnomes are becoming more and more outrageous. Not only are they spreading rumors everywhere and shaking the hearts of the people, they've even recently started raising prices and profiting from the country's crisis. Why don't we chase them away!"
It seemed that the gnomes had truly gone overboard this time for the normally calm Etadea to be so angry.
"Then we can just starve to death. 70% of our business system is in the gnomes' hands. Perhaps you can teach us how to use magic to make bread."
His other disciple, Soranto, was still as calm as ever, but his sarcastic tone made Etadea quite displeased.
"You think the gnomes are difficult to deal with only because you're too simple-minded."
"Hmph, then our great scholar Soranto will be able to deal with those greedy misers. Alright, then I'll send you to talk to them about the issue of the recent increase in food prices. "
"… I can't do it either, but that doesn't mean that no one can. I'll recommend someone who can actually gain an advantage in negotiations with the gnomes. The gnome's contract has more than 50 clauses that are seven to eight pages long. That fellow's contract actually has more than 800 clauses that are as thick as a book. He's able to make the gnomes dizzy just by talking about it. Recently, he's been relying on negotiations with the gnomes to earn money. Now, wherever he appears, those misers will immediately surrender and hand over their bottom line. "
Soranto's words caused the other two archmages to be astonished. To be able to win against the cunning gnomes in business negotiations, such a person was completely unimaginable and incomprehensible.
"Is he a great merchant from there?"
"No, he looks like a ranger who's here to hunt. Negotiating is just a side job that he occasionally returns to the city. He spends most of his time outside hunting. His strength isn't much, but his luck is quite good."
"What do you mean?"
"He's clearly just a Silver-ranked warrior class, but the first time he entered the city, he actually brought along the venomous stinger of the Supreme Demon Scorpion. That's a powerful opponent that even a Gold-ranked warrior wouldn't dare to face alone."
"Perhaps he's hiding his true strength. If he's alone outside, it's not that surprising."
"That's what everyone thought at first, but we met the prophet archmage Alu. He was indeed a Silver-ranked warrior, but what shocked everyone was what happened afterwards."
"Hmm?"
"The second time he returned, he brought back an Earth Elemental Commander's Crystal Core. That's definitely not something that a Gold-ranked warrior can deal with. And after that, the prey he brought back became stronger and stronger, and the time between each trip also became shorter and shorter. And … "
At this point, Soranto intentionally paused, as if he was keeping everyone in suspense. Only when he saw that his master and senior were both looking at him did he continue proudly.
"The most recent time he returned to the city, he brought back the heart of a magical Mountain Giant that had undergone its second evolution!"
"A magical Mountain Giant would require a Gold-ranked warrior to deal with. For a second evolution, even a Legend-ranked warrior might not be enough! How is that possible!? That's a qualitative change! In such an environment, even I would have to be careful when facing off against a powerful Mountain Giant. "
This time, it was Kaid's turn to be astonished.
"Does he have a team to support him?"
"How is that possible? He came in here to eat meat and sleep, while leaving his entire team to eat sand outside? Also, detection magic showed that the moment he left, he headed straight for a high-danger area. His prey would most likely only suffer frostbite or cut damage, so he should be an ice-type magic swordsman. "
"Frostbite? In this place where the water element is almost nonexistent and ice magic's power is greatly reduced, he could cause frostbite to an earth elemental creature? "
This was even more unusual. Archmage Kaid was now interested in this legendary person.
"Arrange a meeting for me. I'm getting curious. Right, what's his name? "
"Roland, but his nickname seems to be Blackhand. 'Blackhand' Roland."
Hearing this, Kaid instantly stood up, his face filled with astonishment and disbelief. But after a dozen seconds, he shook his head.
"If it's him, then anything can indeed happen. Arrange for me to meet him as soon as possible. Forget it, I'll go meet him personally. You guys should come with me as well. Perhaps he might even be your senior! "
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