"Not now. If there's anything, we'll talk about it when I'm back …" By the time Lin Li finished his sentence, he was already in the corridor. He hurried all the way to the guild's guest room. Just as he entered the door, he saw Kevin pacing back and forth anxiously.
The person in charge of receiving Kevin was an Archmage. His name seemed to be Stuen or Stuan. Lin Li had seen him twice before he went to the Shadowglen. He knew that he was one of the important figures in the Alanna Guild of Magic. His status should be similar to Darian's.
It seemed that although Macklin did not say anything, he still took this matter seriously.
"Mr Stuen, can you tell me when Felic will be back?"
"This …" The Archmage hesitated. "To be honest, I don't know. Felic's trial mentor is Mr Macklin. Other than Mr Macklin, we don't have the right to ask about his whereabouts …"
"But …" Kevin opened his mouth, and his expression was unusually anxious.
"Good afternoon, Mr Stuen." After Lin Li entered, he greeted the Archmage first before turning around. "Long time no see, Kevin."
"Long … Long time no see." Kevin's face was full of surprise. "Felic, when did you come back?"
"Felic, you're finally back. Your friend has been waiting here for two days, and has been looking for me every day. If you didn't come back soon, I would really have gone to Mr Macklin to ask for him." Steuen was a good-tempered Mr. Nice Guy. He chuckled and cracked a few jokes before opening the door and walking out of the reception room. "Alright, take your time. I still have something to do, so I won't be accompanying you."
"Goodbye, Mr Stuen."
After sending Gryffindor off, Lin Li turned around and asked with a puzzled expression, "Kevin, what exactly happened?"
"Something big has happened …" After not seeing him for more than a month, Kevin seemed more haggard than before. His hair looked messy and his eyes were bloodshot. "Demon … Demon Fall Valley has been lost …"
Lin Li frowned. He did not panic in the face of this sudden bad news. In fact, he had already mentally prepared himself on the way here. Since Kevin had appeared in Alanna, something must have happened in Jarrosus, and it was definitely not a small matter. Otherwise, with Gerian's competitive character, he would never allow Kevin to come to Alanna to look for him.
At first, he even thought that something had happened to Gerian.
But fortunately, fortunately …
Although the Demon Fall Valley was important, it was not a big deal to lose it. He could just take it back when he had the time.
Hence, he asked in a low voice, "Shadow's Nest did it?"
"Yes …" Kevin nodded and leaned against the chair weakly. "Less than a month after you left, the people of the Shadow's Nest attacked the Demon Fall Valley."
"They used to attack often. Why didn't they defend it this time?" Lin Li was a little puzzled. The Shadow's Nest coveted the Demon Fall Valley. This was something that everyone in Jarrosus knew. They would be restless almost every month. In Gerian's words, this was even more timely than Old Merlin's period.
Whether Old Merlin had his period or not, it was not a question. Anyway, the Shadow's Nest had not succeeded once in the past ten years. Why was it so coincidental this time? He had just left Jarrosus, and they had already taken the Demon Fall Valley?
"This time … This time …" Kevin hesitated for a while, as if he did not know where to start. After about a minute, Lin Li heard his voice again. "It's different this time. Their combat abilities are much stronger than before. If not for the fact that I recognized a few old acquaintances during the battle, I would have thought that it was another force that attacked the Demon Fall Valley."
"Much stronger combat power?" Lin Li was stunned, but he reacted immediately. "You mean, they got better equipment?"
There were only two aspects to an increase in combat power. Stronger individual strength and better equipment. In a battle of hundreds and thousands of people, unless there was a complete suppression of levels, individual strength was negligible. Moreover, a breakthrough in individual strength was not something that could be done overnight. What reason was there for hundreds and thousands of people to break through at the same time?
The most direct and effective way was still in equipment.
Especially at a low level, a set of trash equipment and a set of excellent equipment were two completely different concepts. For example, if you gave a mage who had just broken through to level-five dozens of scrolls, dozens of potions, and a Robe of the Void, he could easily kill more than ten mages of the same level.
Hence, when he heard that the Shadow's Nest's combat power had increased, the first reaction that came to Lin Li's mind was that there was something wrong with their equipment!
"Yes …" Kevin nodded with a pained expression on his face. "I can't believe that they have so much magical equipment. It could be said that everyone has one. Every one of them is holding a Frost Magic Sword and a Fire Magic Sword. Oh yes! And the Blade of Annihilation … I've never seen so much magic equipment in my life. They even have a team of heavily armored warriors. I have no idea what kind of metal their armor is made of. They're like monsters. Spells below level-5 can't do any damage to them at all … "
"Heavily armored warriors?" When Lin Li heard this, he was slightly stunned. For someone like him who was proficient in forging, magical equipment was nothing special. Frost Magic Sword, Fire Magic Sword, Blade of Annihilation, they were just names that sounded scary. With Lin Li's current forging standards, he could forge magical equipment of this level with just a few pieces of scrap metal.
What really caught his attention were the heavily armored warriors.
The consumption of heavily armored warriors was notoriously high. Just a set of heavy armor made of fine iron would cost at least tens of thousands of gold coins, not to mention the magical attributes and the expensive maintenance fees in the future. It was no exaggeration to say that the consumption of a heavily armored warrior was not much less than that of a mage.
There were many mercenary corps in the Felan Kingdom, and many of them were extremely rich. However, only the Silver Hand could really afford to raise heavily armored warriors. And with this combat power, the Silver Hand had successfully occupied the position of one of the top three mercenary corps in Alanna.
The Shadow's Nest was at most a third-rate force in the Felan Kingdom. What right did they have to do that?
Moreover, they did not seem to be ordinary heavily armored warriors …
"Kevin, are those heavily armored warriors completely immune to magic below level-five, or are they only resistant occasionally? Think about it carefully. This is very important. "
"Completely resistant." Kevin's tone was very certain.
"Indeed …" Lin Li nodded, and did not continue to say anything more. However, there were already some doubts in his heart. An armor that could completely resist magic below level-five was not something extraordinary. Among the blueprints that Lin Li knew, there were at least a few that could achieve such an effect.
But it was also because of this that he became even more doubtful.
The few blueprints in his memory required at least a high-level blacksmith. The Shadow's Nest was only a third-rate force. How could they have the ability to poach a high-level blacksmith? What's more, these few designs were all expensive goods, easily costing tens of thousands of gold coins each. If the group of desperadoes from the Shadow's Nest really had so much money, would they still need to covet the Demon Fall Valley all day long? They would have already formed a group and gone to Jarrosus City to rescue young girls who had lost their footing …
Lin Li thought for a long time, and suddenly asked out of the blue, "Is Ysera doing well?"
"Ah?" Kevin's face was blank. He could not understand why Felic would suddenly ask such a question. Did the Shadow's Nest's occupation of the Demon Fall Valley have anything to do with Ysera?
But after being stunned for a while, Kevin still answered honestly, "He did not suffer any losses. He only had a caravan robbed. But to be honest, he really helped a lot this time. Not only did he provide us with all kinds of resources, he even sent us 20 Magic Shooters from the Mannes Family. If not for their help, I'm afraid we would not have lasted even a week."
"20 Magic Shooters?" Lin Li nodded, and eliminated the suspicion of Ysera.
In the beginning, he really thought that it was the Mannes Family who was behind this.
When he left Jarrosus, the Mannes Family and the Guild of Magic were like a family. Lin Li was very clear that this was only because there was no chance. If there was really a chance to dominate Jarrosus, the Mannes Family would not let it go, and Ysera would not be polite, either.
The matter was clear. With the Guild of Magic's current strength, and the various potions he left behind before he left, the Shadow's Nest had no chance at all. If not for this, Lin Li would not have left so easily.
But it had only been a month, and Kevin came running to him to tell him that the Demon Fall Valley was lost. If there was no one supporting the Shadow's Nest, who would believe it?
The Shadow's Nest's attack this time had the smell of money from the beginning to the end. Whether it was magical weapons or magical armor, they could all be said to be things that were burned with money.
And in the whole of Jarrosus City, who would be so rich? Without a doubt … the Mannes Family and the pretty boy Ysera.
So after Lin Li heard about it, the first person he suspected was Ysera.
But listening to Kevin's words, it did not seem to be the case …
Ysera was, after all, a young talent. To support the Shadow's Nest and the Guild of Magic at the same time, Lin Li believed that he would not do something as stupid as fighting each other with his left hand.
Even if it was to dispel the Guild of Magic's wariness and leave a way out for himself, there was no need to put in so much effort. 20 Magic Shooters was not a joke. Jarrosus was not Alanna, where Archmages could be seen every day. Since Old Merlin's disappearance, there was only one Archmage in Jarrosus, and that was President Gerian. The strength of a Magic Shooter could already be considered as a top powerhouse. Ysera had really put in a lot of effort by doing this. It seemed like he was determined to stand on the side of the Guild of Magic …
But other than the Mannes Family, who else could come up with so much money? Lin Li thought about it, filtering through the 17 forces of Jarrosus one by one. No matter how he thought about it, he could not think of a force with such strength.
"Could it be an external force?" When this thought suddenly popped up, even Lin Li himself was shocked.
If it was really an external force that coveted the Demon Fall Valley, things would be much more complicated.
If one of the 17 forces of Jarrosus supported the Shadow's Nest, it would barely make sense. Maybe it was to attack the Guild of Magic, or maybe it was to fight for the hegemony of Jarrosus. In short, no matter what the reason was, it was barely worth using a lot of money to exchange for it. But what was an external force after?
Even if they attacked the Guild of Magic, they would not get any benefits. Jarrosus City had always maintained 18 forces for thousands of years, and the first position was also held by these 18 forces in turn.
This was just like the change of the royal family of the High Elves during the Dark Ages. For thousands of years, the royal power had always been held by the six royal families with the bloodline of the Sun King. No matter how they killed each other, the one who won the throne in the end would definitely be the descendant of the Sun King. As long as the power of the final winner was enough to intimidate the other royal families, the other royal families would willingly wait for the next opportunity.
But if the one who won the throne was not the descendant of the Sun King, or even a High Elf, the result would naturally be obvious …
No High Elf would allow himself to be ruled by someone other than the descendant of the Sun King. If such a situation really happened, the entire High Elves Dynasty would completely riot, and all the High Elves would use all their strength to pull the usurper down from the throne.
The situation in Jarrosus was similar to this …
There were too many forces crammed into a remote small city. Be it the six underground forces or the 11 mage families, they would never allow other external forces to intervene.
At such a time, if an external force attacked the Guild of Magic, they would be happy to watch from the side. When the Guild of Magic was completely destroyed, they would express their grief while secretly thinking about how to take advantage of this opportunity to gain benefits.
But if this external force still wanted to reach into Jarrosus City after attacking the Guild of Magic, then the leaders of the other 17 forces would not be so easy to negotiate with.
Reaching into Jarrosus City would result in bloodshed.
As for those truly powerful forces that were strong enough to destroy the 18 forces of Jarrosus with a wave of their hands, they would probably look down on Jarrosus City.
No matter how one looked at it, there should not be any external force supporting the Shadow's Nest.
But no matter how Lin Li thought about it, he could not think of other possibilities. He had already eliminated the 17 forces of Jarrosus City, and the Shadow's Nest did not have this ability. Could it be that this external force was not interested in Jarrosus City, but the Demon Fall Valley?
If that was the case, then the Demon Fall Valley would have to be reevaluated …
Why would a force that could provide so much magical equipment for the Shadow's Nest be interested in a few rare mineral veins or herbs growing on the mountains? The things they wanted were definitely far more than these.
"How is the guild now?" After a moment of silence, Lin Li asked about the current situation of the Guild of Magic.
Actually, to Lin Li, this was what he was most concerned about.
A place like the Demon Fall Valley was lost, and he could just take it back when he had the time. Apart from a rich and overbearing force behind the scenes, there was not much worth paying attention to. Instead, the current situation of the Jarrosus Guild of Magic made Lin Li's heart race. To him, the Jarrosus Guild of Magic was like another home. Whether it was the foul-mouthed Gerian, the calm and mature Kevin, or the group of mages in the guild who were as afraid of Gerian as mice seeing a cat, they had all become an indispensable part of his life.
If anything happened to the Jarrosus Guild of Magic, what was the point of taking back the Demon Fall Valley?
"We retreated early, so there were not many casualties."
"Where's the old fellow?"
"Uncle Gerian suffered some minor injuries, but it's not a big deal. He had almost recovered before I came." When Kevin said this, his expression was slightly unnatural, but he hid it very well. In addition to the fact that he had just lost the Demon Fall Valley, his expression was not good to begin with. Even someone as attentive as Lin Li did not notice it.
"That's good." Lin Li nodded, and then sat down with a peace of mind. "Oh yes, Kevin, are you free these few days?"
"Of course I'm free." Kevin smiled, but he still looked a little haggard. "Uncle Gerian asked me to come because he wants me to return to Jarrosus with you after your trial mission is over, so that we can take care of each other on the way."
"The old fellow is quite attentive this time …" Lin Li praised Gerian, which was rare. Then, he continued, "Then I'll help you find a place to stay first. We'll go back together after we're done with the matters at the end of the month."
"Okay."
After chatting with Kevin for a while, Lin Li was finally at ease. It was just losing the Demon Fall Valley; it was not a big deal. Lin Li was in a good mood, and brought Kevin out for a meal. However, Kevin's mood was completely different from Lin Li's. He was always frowning during the meal, and did not react much no matter what Lin Li said. At most, he would only force a smile when he was asked anxiously.
"I say, Kevin, don't keep the matter of the Demon Fall Valley on your mind …" On the way back to the Guild of Magic, Lin Li comforted him. "Isn't the Shadow's Nest relying on their good equipment? Don't worry, unless we don't return to Jarrosus, I'll immediately get a batch of equipment when we get back. Then, you can do whatever you want to them. "
Perhaps only Lin Li himself knew that he was not spouting nonsense.
For a freak who was proficient in the skills of all five elements, magical equipment was the least of his worries. To exaggerate a little, even if it was a piece of scrap metal in his hands, as long as he was willing to touch it, this piece of scrap metal could become a decent magical equipment.
It was just a Shadow's Nest. Lin Li really did not care about them …
"No way, Felic." However, Kevin's face was still full of worry. "You haven't experienced that battle yourself, so you won't understand. The Shadow's Nest is really too scary now …"
"Forget it …" Lin Li thought about it, and realized that there was really no way to communicate with this pessimistic fellow. Hence, he did not bother to explain. "Anyway, it's only a few days. Stay in Alanna with peace of mind. I'll explain it to you slowly when we return to Jarrosus."
"Okay."
After returning to the Guild of Magic, Lin Li first brought Kevin to his residence to settle down. After introducing him to Mason and Orrin, he hurriedly went to look for Macklin again.
The reason why he went to look for Macklin was firstly because Lin Li remembered that the old fellow seemed to have something to tell him before he went to the guest room. Secondly, it was because he wanted to help Kevin find a place to stay. Although the place provided by the Guild of Magic was spacious, it would not be able to withstand the torment after squeezing in Sean and Kevin.
Furthermore …
Sean's snoring was even louder than magic. Kevin would definitely not be able to stay in the same room with him. If he squeezed in, would he have to sleep in the living room like Lin Li? That was a little too outrageous …
Lin Li had just entered the door when he saw the old fellow glaring at him with a face full of displeasure. For a moment, Lin Li could not help but feel a little guilty. "What …"
"What? You still dare to ask me what?" The old fellow glared at him. He was so angry that his goatee was curled up. "F * ck, I'm just discussing a small matter with you, and you dare to make me wait for you all morning? Do you still have any humanity …"
"I have something to do …" Lin Li was really troubled. This old fellow's character was really like a child's. He hurriedly comforted him. "Come, come, come. Don't be so angry. You're already so old. Don't you know that anger hurts the liver? Besides, you're also a person of status. You have to pay attention to your image. Do you understand? Come, tell me what it is. If I can help, I'll try my best … "
"That's more like it …" With Lin Li's promise, Macklin smiled with satisfaction. "Actually, it's not a big deal. I just want to ask you if you're confident in the finals this time."
"Finals?" Lin Li was stunned. He did not quite understand why the old fellow would suddenly ask this out of nowhere.
"F * ck …" Macklin looked at Lin Li's blank expression, and immediately became angry. He gritted his teeth and cursed. Then, with a look of exasperation, he lectured, "You little bastard, can't you work harder? Look at Gryffindor, and then look at Sarsen. These few people who have the chance to win in the end, which one of them is not working hard from morning to night? Every one of them wants to move their home into the Omniscient Tower? Even that useless Mason knows to work hard. You little bastard, you've been gone for a week. Do you still want to win? "
"Why don't I want to win …"
"You want to win?" Macklin snorted through his nose. "Tell me, how many times have you been to the Omniscient Tower since you got the pass?"
"This …" For a moment, Lin Li could not help but feel guilty. Now that he thought about it, he really did not go to the Omniscient Tower that many times after he got the pass. However, no matter how guilty he was, this fella would not admit it. "How can I remember how many times I've been there? Anyway, I've been there many times."
"Forget it, I won't argue with you about the past. I'm telling you very seriously now, from tomorrow onwards, you're not allowed to go anywhere. While there's still time, I have to teach you personally, lest that old fellow Andoine says that I'm not responsible for his disciple. You work hard. Unless you can break through to the Archmage Realm, my teaching for you will continue for a very, very long time …"
"…" Lin Li rolled his eyes. He was really embarrassed to tell the old fellow that he had broken through to the Archmage Realm.
"Why, you're not convinced?"
"No, no, no, I'm very convinced … But I'm very curious. You've never cared about me before, why are you so anxious today?"
"Damn it, how can I not be anxious!?" It would have been better if Lin Li had not asked. With this question, Macklin immediately flew into a rage. "I only found out today that that fella Gryffindor had already broken through to the Archmage Realm a few days ago. Damn it, this fella is really something. He actually secretly became an Archmage, and kept it from me. If it wasn't for me being well-informed, you would have most likely suffered a big loss in this finals!"
"Gryffindor has also broken through to the Archmage Realm?" Lin Li was shocked. Although he had faintly felt that Gryffindor had an almost innate difference compared to the other trial mages around him during the previous meal, he was only close to the peak of the Magic Shooter at that time. Unexpectedly, after not seeing him for a few days, he had already taken the last step and reached the Archmage Realm that most mages dreamed of.
Even Lin Li felt that such a speed of improvement was a little unbelievable. It was no wonder that Macklin would be so angry after hearing about it. The results of the apprentice's trial were directly related to the reputation of the trial mentor. If he lost to Gryffindor, Macklin would probably not even be able to lift his head in front of Gryffindor's trial mentor in the future.
"What do you mean by breaking through to the Archmage Realm?" Lin Li's unintentional question made Macklin feel awkward.
"This … I mean, Gryffindor is indeed the number one magic genius of Felan. I'm really impressed that he has broken through to the Archmage Realm so quickly!" Lin Li vaguely changed the topic, but he could not help but feel surprised. It seemed that this number one magic genius of Felan was really not a joke …
"Impressed my a * s!" Macklin blurted out. "What's there to be impressed about? Damn it, I've lived for so long, but I've never seen anyone with better magical talent than you. What's Gryffindor to me? When he was your age, he had only just broken through to the Magic Shooter Realm. As long as you work a little harder, it won't be a problem for you to catch up to him."
"You really think highly of me …"
"Nonsense. Do you think that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can become my trial apprentice? If not for your talent, I would have taught others long ago …" Macklin finished scolding, and stood up from the chair. "Come, follow me to the Spell Testing Hall now. I have to teach you well."
"Do you have to be so anxious …?" Lin Li rolled his eyes. Under Macklin's urging, he had no choice but to follow him to the Spell Testing Hall obediently.
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
