Chapter 142: War (1)
"This is mine!"
"Mine!"
Inside the room, two short goblins shrieked, refusing to yield an inch as they fought.
"Sir, this is my food! He finished his and came to eat mine!" one of the goblins shrieked.
"Liar! I only ate yours because you were eating too slowly. It's your own fault for being so slow!"
"Enough, stop arguing. Tomorrow, you will give him your portion of food as compensation," Lauren told the goblin who had stolen the meal.
The goblin looked disgruntled, but after meeting Lauren's golden eyes, it shrank back in fear and swallowed its protests.
Lord Lauren usually gave an order only once. Anyone who disobeyed would become laboratory material.
Rumor had it that Lord Lynn, the wizard, frequently needed goblins as experimental material.
"It's not exactly a small amount, but those people have their elders helping them prepare, so it's only normal that they're faster," Selena said.
He hadn't yet secured the elemental plane connection quota required for the Elemental Pool, so strictly speaking, he only had one Energy Core Module ready.
Since there was no upper limit on Energy Core Modules, the more energy cores a massive wizard tower had, the better.
Now that she was back in human form, did that mean her curse had been lifted?
Even within the same divine power tier, there were gaps in strength, to say nothing of the stark divide between two completely different tiers.
"Long time no see," Selena said gently.
Rumor had it that Idor wasn't actually among the living; she might simply be an earthbound spirit trapped here by a curse.
An object shaped like a furnace sat in the vacant area. Pitch-black and octagonal, its surface was dotted with various-sized holes. A continuously burning deep-purple flame could be seen through them. This was the basic version of the Abyss Forge.
On her second day there, the framework of a wizard tower began to take shape in the empty lot by her residence.
She glanced at Lynn, never expecting him to have such a good relationship with this Idor.
Based on the potency of their divine power, gods were classified into six tiers: Micro Divine Power, Lesser Divine Power, Intermediate Divine Power, Greater Divine Power, Great Divine Power, and Supreme Divine Power.
Energy Core Modules were the hardest to acquire. Unless someone already possessed an identical module, they generally never offered them up for trade.
The energy cores used in her wizard tower were the Abyss Forge and the Titan Heart.
The two Energy Core Modules—similar in function yet with different focuses—were combined to satisfy different conditions.
"Who are you?" Idor frowned. She thought about it for a moment and realized she didn't know this woman.
"I'll probably be your neighbor for a while," Selena said softly. "Is Lynn around?"
A transparent runic channel connected the two energy cores, and from there, lines of runic transport channels spread out in all directions, feeding energy to every corner of the wizard tower.
A month passed, and the first three floors of Selena's fortress-like wizard tower were complete. These bottom levels housed her followers and the energy cores.
He and Selena had once traveled together from the cabin in the woods to Bangor Port. That was back when he was first coming into contact with supernatural powers. Walking alongside Selena through the wilderness every night had been an unforgettable period in his life.
"Then I wish you success," Lynn said.
As long as the Abyss Forge was activated, the special runic models inside would trigger its magic array, opening a channel to the Abyss. A continuous stream of abyssal power would fall into the Abyss Forge like burning coal, where it would be converted into pure energy and transported to the various modules of the wizard tower.
"As long as it's convenient for you," Lynn said, not refusing. He could use the opportunity to gain some experience by helping someone else build a wizard tower.
"Selena?" A hint of surprise flashed in Lynn's eyes.
Constructing a wizard tower was a major undertaking.
"I'm preparing to build my wizard tower. Do you have time to help?" Selena asked.
"Mentor Harlin told me to stay here for a while," Selena smiled.
"Mentor Harlin told you?"
"That's right," Selena nodded.
Selena's original intention had been for Lynn to simply exchange ideas with her. However, once he actually got involved, she was shocked to discover that his comprehension of runology far exceeded her own.
"Long time no see, Selena!" Lauren happily opened his arms to hug her.
The Abyss Forge plus the Elemental Pool.
Selena left and temporarily settled into another empty lot near Lynn's.
Selena looked at Idor. "You don't recognize me?"
Next to the Abyss Forge, a transparent, crystal-like heart hung in midair. It was the size of a water vat, and even though it had been extracted, it still beat faintly, as if it were still alive.
Moreover, compared to the Abyss Forge, the Titan Heart had another special effect: it could store energy.
"That's good," Selena said casually. Being of some help was good enough.
After leaving the house, Lynn and Selena exchanged pleasantries and grew a bit more familiar with each other again.
He remembered Harlin saying that Selena had previously been cursed, which was why she had taken on the appearance of a lizard.
A strange light flowed in Selena's eyes, as if she were trying to see right through Lynn.
Lynn opened his attribute panel and glanced at his runology, which was at Level 3 with 7% proficiency. "It's alright, I suppose."
Lynn also learned a lot while helping Selena construct her wizard tower. He discovered some minor flaws in his own previous tower design and promptly corrected them.
Just as he left the room, he seemed to sense something. He turned his head toward the door, a trace of doubt and uncertainty in his eyes.
Her initial mindset of simply exchanging knowledge completely shifted into one of learning.
Lynn invited her inside.
"Is it that rare?" Lynn asked.
"Disobedient children need to be taught a lesson," Selena said. "The academy's higher-ups intend to use a few disobedient empires to kill the chicken to scare the monkey. The fates of these empires will be given as rewards to the best-performing apprentices. Furthermore, rumor has it that a Merit System will be implemented, allowing merit points to be exchanged for various materials from the academy's inventory."
Lauren knew this, so he was determined not to betray his master's trust. His master was entirely engrossed in his experiments every day, so Lauren had to properly manage the conflicts between these different races and absolutely could not let such trivial matters disturb him.
"I heard from my mentor that the situation in that large plane had pretty much stabilized. The academy was already harvesting its resources, but then the Gods Alliance suddenly intervened and increased their support for certain factions. Because of that, the hard-won stability was thrown into chaos again. Word is that the academy's higher-ups are furious."
Planes with no gods or only a few deities were designated as ordinary planes. Even if gods existed in such planes, the planar restrictions meant their divine power would never exceed the Lesser Divine Power tier.
As wizards conquered plane after plane, they classified these different realms into various grades.
"Are you not planning to go?" Selena looked somewhat surprised.
"Then I must have mistaken you for someone else," Selena shook her head.
"A friend of mine."
"Lynn, who is this?" Idor, dressed in a fluffy black-and-white princess dress, dropped by for a visit and "happened" to spot the unfamiliar Selena.
"The academy's higher-ups will issue a notice in a little while. I'm just giving you the news in advance. The prices of certain goods on the market should have already started to rise by now."
"I don't have a very deep understanding of runology, so this is a good opportunity for us to discuss it together. How is your runology?" Selena asked.
A complete large plane contained a multitude of cults, empires, races, and legendary entities.
"Speaking of which, I'm quite curious. It's only been a little over ten years. Back then, you were just a boy who had barely come into contact with wizards, yet now you're already preparing a wizard tower. I find it truly incredible."
Lynn's thoughts drifted to the two modules he had prepared.
In truth, Idor had been in Demon City for a very long time, and plenty of people had known her over the years. Countless wizard apprentices had met her over the past two millennia, but through cycle after cycle of reincarnation and wiped memories, they all eventually became strangers.
"Actually, that plane isn't as dangerous as you might think. Our academy has been laying the groundwork there for many years," Selena said. "The wizards carrying out the harvest and conquest there are all from our academy. The higher-ups have their battlefields, and apprentices have theirs."
His own two Energy Core Modules were both connected to external planes. They acted like two massive intake pipes, siphoning water from an ocean and a lake, respectively.
"Have you arranged a place to stay?" Lynn asked.
"No wonder." Lynn nodded. It made sense why the batch of raw ore he had bought yesterday had spiked in price by five percent; people who caught wind of the news early must have already started hoarding materials.
"I'll think about it. If I decide to go, I'll let you know," Lynn told Selena.
She and Idor could have been considered friends back in the day.
"Right next door to you." Selena pointed to the side.
Lauren turned and left. Right now, he handled almost everything in the house, as his master, Lynn, had given him full authority.
Lauren hurried out of the house. In the open space outside, a lady wearing a long dress made of green scales was watching him with a smiling expression.
That was a chessboard where only Great Wizards could truly intervene and stir the winds of change. Ordinary wizards could only harvest resources in ordinary planes.
As long as war broke out, the prices of war-related materials were bound to surge.
"If you want to go too, we can cooperate. It works out since we're already familiar with each other," Selena offered.
Meanwhile, the Titan Heart next to it inherently contained intense energy. It constantly absorbed the free-floating energy in the air. When operating at full capacity, it could even form a siphon, greedily devouring massive amounts of energy from the surrounding space.
"The master is in. Please wait a moment." Lauren went down to the second basement level and entered the laboratory.
Only planes hosting a large number of gods, a wide variety of intelligent races, and deities possessing Greater Divine Power were classified as large planes.
Although her face was unfamiliar, Lauren sniffed the air and broke into a smile, instantly recognizing her identity.
He informed Lynn of Selena's arrival and mentioned that she had transformed into her current appearance.
Selena spoke up. "Who knows what drove those deities in the Gods Alliance crazy, but they launched an attack on a large plane our academy is currently conquering. I heard the academy is preparing to retaliate. This is an opportunity for us apprentices; I plan to go there and advance to a throne wizard."
"Just our academy?" Lynn was surprised. He had assumed that several factions were jointly conquering that large plane. He hadn't expected the Demon Wizard Academy to be doing it alone. Barring any surprises, the Gods Alliance's intentions were clear—they were directly targeting the Abyss Wizard Academy.
"That is quite close," Lynn nodded.
However, if he encountered a sealing ability that completely isolated both of his core modules, he would be in deep trouble.
The Titan Heart acted like a massive solar battery, while the Abyss Forge was akin to an enormous diesel generator.
"Oh, so you're Lynn's friend. Hello, I'm Idor." Idor stepped forward and extended her right hand.
Though Lynn didn't actually know if such an ability existed.
During this period, the Abyss Wizard Academy's sign-up sheet was posted in the service hall. It wasn't rolled out with the massive fanfare one might expect—perhaps because, in a war of this scale, apprentices were little more than cannon fodder, and their presence barely made a difference.
Nevertheless, this sign-up sheet sent significant shockwaves through the apprentice circles in Demon City.
Many wizard apprentices reached out to one another to form alliances, hoping to scavenge a few crumbs dropped from the wizards' mouths in this large-scale war.
(End of Chapter)