manynovel Page 187
Page 187
"Wait, Yashutia, what's in that big bag you're carrying on your shoulder? You're not going to secretly take the vegetables you grow at home to sell, are you?"
"How could that be?!" Yashutia immediately raised her eyebrows and exclaimed, patting her chest.
“I, Yashutia, am certainly the kind of person who brings good things home from outside! These are all alchemical wastes; I plan to sell them at the magic market in Lundia!”
"A magic market?" Latis was taken aback.
"Yes, it's in a rather remote part of the outer city, bordering the Senhai Territory. There are few mage towers there, and a market that's open all year round. The things in the market aren't as expensive as those in the magic material shops, and mages quite like to go to the early morning market."
Yashutia switched her hand to carry her enormous bag and continued:
"This is what a customer told me a few days ago. I've been minding the shop, and business has been good lately. I've met all sorts of monks and sometimes hear some rumors."
"I see." Latis scratched his head. He hadn't really paid attention to how business was at his family's prop shop. It seemed that he would have to take a good look around Lundia after he finished the mission.
He glanced at the large bag, which he estimated to weigh forty or fifty pounds, his lips twitched, and he shook his head, asking:
"Are you going to the early market now? Go ahead, remember to come back early."
Yashutia scratched her head, walked over to Latis, and whispered:
"Big brother, I have something to report to you... Well, I've already transformed into that... you know, the magic network around Lundia is too dense, so I'm planning to go out into the wild soon to find a suitable place to cultivate. Um... Don't worry, big brother, I will never cause trouble outside!"
“I see…” Latis fell into deep thought. As a lich, Yashutia indeed couldn't find a suitable place to cultivate in Lundia. After thinking for a moment, he handed the high-level magic-gathering tower of Runetik to Yashutia and said:
"Take this, you might find it useful."
"Alright!" Yashutia stuffed the Demon Gathering Tower into her bag, then, as if suddenly remembering something, quickly pulled a scroll from her inner pocket and stuffed it into Latis's pocket, whispering:
"Watch it when no one's around!"
"What is it, a love letter?" Latis couldn't help but mutter about her mysterious behavior.
"Ah, ah... I'll write that later if necessary!" Yashutia coughed twice, then laughed, shouldered her large bag, and ran outside. At the end of the road, she suddenly turned back, waved, and called out:
"I've already entrusted the family shop to Lord Frico and Lord Serfal to take turns looking after it, so you can rest assured, brother!"
"Freiko is alright." Latis glanced at Freiko tending the flower field not far away, then turned to look at Serfal, who was glaring at him with intelligent eyes. A faint worry welled up in his heart, and he murmured:
"But Serfa...is minding the shop?"
"Don't worry, there won't be any problem!" Serfar grinned and struck a perfect bicep-flexing pose.
"..." Latis rationally abandoned his contemplation of this uncertain matter, turned to the half-elf, and said with a smile:
"I'm off now, Arte. Remember to contact me if anything happens!"
"Have a safe journey, brother."
A slight ripple appeared in the half-elf's lake-like eyes. She gazed deeply at Latis's face, then raised her hand to her chest and bowed solemnly.
Latis approached the half-elf, took her hand out of sight, kissed it, then laughed heartily, turned sharply, waved, and called out:
"Everyone, I'll be back soon!"
"Goodbye, Big Brother!" "Goodbye, Boss!" "Goodbye, Little La!"
"goodbye!"
The farewells from behind fueled Latis's steps, propelling him to run swiftly out of the mage's territory like a gust of wind.
……
……
"Third Ring Spell - Manipulate the Dead: Creates a small to medium-sized humanoid undead creature that does not require focused control and can automatically follow commands for a period of twenty-four hours."
Materials needed for inscription: biological bone ash, fresh blood, sclerotium thorn, black mamba venom/pepper vine juice.
"Magic Pattern Three-View Drawing: ..."
"Fourth Ring Spell - Wither: Releases a necromantic wave that drains the target creature of its moisture and life force. It is ineffective against magical golems and undead creatures, but its effect is doubled against plants and plant-type monsters."
Materials needed for inscription: withered ghost flower, dried swamp mud, biological ashes, and decaying organs of higher organisms.
"Magic Pattern Three-View Drawing: ..."
"hiss……"
Latis quickly closed the scroll that Yashutia had given him and couldn't help but gasp. He had only glanced at it casually on the way when no one was around and had already seen the inscription methods of four or five spells. However, judging from the materials and effects, these spells were almost all necromancy spells!
For a moment, he felt that the thin scroll had suddenly become hot to the touch. Necromancy was a school of magic that was resisted by the entire magic world. Even the magic network, which contained tens of thousands of folk spells, could not find a trace of necromancy.
"Where did Yashutia get this?"
Latis took a deep breath, quickly calmed down, looked around to make sure no one was there, and then picked up the scroll again.
He examined it carefully for a while, and suddenly saw a line of small characters on the back of the scroll.
"To my elder brother: This is an ancient magical record that I found hidden near my hometown, Pandora. I've already made a copy for myself, but you can keep the original! The magic network isn't 100% secure, so you must have a backup plan! — Yashutia Kurosawa"
"The necromancy was found in Janium?"
Latis frowned slightly, glanced at the words "Pandora Town" again, and put the scroll into the interdimensional gap.
"I have little doubt about Yashutia's character anymore; she wouldn't lie to me about something like this. So, does that mean Janium once possessed magic? Or at least necromancy?"
"This is truly unbelievable... The Magic Network, the Goddess, the gods of Anium, the Queen, and the 'Teacup Faction' that Artemis mentioned yesterday, or perhaps the forces of legendary mages... What exactly is the relationship between these forces?"
"I'm starting to doubt that even if I find a barely safe ending by following the path simulated by the simulator, it might not actually be safe. After all, there's the factor of infighting between these forces behind the scenes, and I haven't even gotten involved yet."
"Then... it's necessary to start considering having our own power from this moment on..."
Latis pondered as he slowly walked along Tianhai Street.
In the past, he had considered spending his life under the influence of the academy or becoming a member of the floating island family, based on each simulation. However, after learning that the floating island was actually part of the path to godhood, he felt that the floating island was not stable and thus considered protecting his family under the protection of the goddess.
But now he discovers that even if he enters the Church of the Goddess, Queen Whiteley is still around him, and he dares not join the Queen's camp, for fear that the Queen will use something like "time flow" to come out of the simulator and kill him.
"The simulator says that people with extremely high magic affinity might be able to perceive simulated experiences. Rumor has it that the Queen's magic affinity is so high that it can even turn surrounding magic into a visible cloud of mist. Given this, it's almost certain that she could sense our encounter in the simulator. Fortunately, our encounter wasn't long; she should only be able to dream of fragments..."
Latis took a deep breath, looked at the dwarven magic equipment shop not far away, calmed his tense mood, and walked over.
"Come to think of it, I really did accept the emulator's claim that 'simulations are all real' very quickly... Is it because I don't have a real sense of it? Even if the emulator says so, I don't really believe it..."
"Maybe the simulator takes a bit of the soul from everyone in this world and puts it into a tabletop role-playing game; that would be a kind of realism... Oh well, I'll ask later."
He walked into the magic equipment shop and was surprised to find that the dwarf shopkeeper was not busy in the forging workshop today, but was sitting in the corner of the shop, staring blankly with his face in his hands.
Latis scratched his head, pressed the summoning bell, then waved at the bell that had looked up, and called out with a smile:
"I'm here to pick up my equipment, boss!"
"Ah, you're here."
Lingling stood up, laboriously picked up the sledgehammer from under her buttocks, and wobbled as she carried it in front of Latis in his shocked gaze.
"What, what is this?" Latis asked, looking at the hammer that was bigger than his head.
"This is your custom-made hammer." Lingling nodded very seriously and said:
"It's a rare find to find ancient materials from the Gold-Eating Dog. I wanted to test its performance further, so I added many precious materials. I didn't expect it to actually be able to melt all the materials together."
She squatted down, patted the hammer face, and said with a sigh:
"This is a special technology from the dwarves... It's really hard to imagine what kind of glorious history the dwarves had in the past."
"No, the problem is..."
Latis flexed his biceps and hurled the head-sized hammer. He paused for a moment, recalling how the Black Swamp Hammer had originally been only the size of a fist, and then, filled with grief and indignation, he shouted:
"How am I supposed to use this, man?!"
A forced smile appeared on Lingling's face. She circled Latis twice, patted his thigh, and said in a forced, serious voice:
"Young man, don't think it's just that it's ten times bigger. In fact, its effect is also ten times stronger. It's an enhanced hammer, one blow is stronger than ten blows. And when you wear it, its deterrent power is incomparable to the old little hammer."
"Fuck..."
Latis glanced at Lingling, who was looking very serious, and then at the hammer in his hand. He felt like he was about to lose control of his expression. He let out a long breath, silently hung the hammer on his left side, and took a few steps back and forth.
His left boot creaked under the weight, and when he looked back, he saw several shallow footprints on the hard ground.
"Gaia!"
Latis clutched his head in frustration, about to unleash a torrent of curses, when Lingling coughed guiltily, interrupting the commotion and forcefully changing the subject:
"By the way, Latis, you said a while ago that you were going to set off for a place where you could find materials for the Gold-Eating Hound?"
"...Yes, what's wrong?" Latis asked, clenching his fist.
"It's like this..." Lingling's smile gradually faded. She glanced back at the shop, which was crammed full of all sorts of equipment, and after a moment of silence, said:
"I have lived in Lundia as far back as I can remember. I can only learn about the houses and lifestyles of the other dwarves from some history books that are no longer in print."
"The gold-devouring dog material you brought me initially seemed novel, but during the forging process, for some reason, my heart burned like a furnace fire that grew stronger with each passing moment. When I came to my senses, I accidentally reforged your hammer into that state. I'm sorry..."
Latis scratched his head, sighed, took down the Great Hammer of the Black Swamp, weighed it in his hand, swung it casually once, and then grinned:
"Well, actually, it feels pretty good in the hand! I'm not lacking in strength, so this kind of weapon that can decide the outcome with one blow suits me best! You don't need to feel embarrassed!"
"Anyway, if you can find suitable materials in the future, I can forge them for you for free, whether it's large tools or weapons and equipment, consider it my compensation..." Lingling hesitated for a moment before continuing:
"Actually, there's something even more important I'd like to ask you."
"Go ahead and tell me, don't be shy," Latis said curiously.
Lingling walked out of the shop, glanced at the bright sky, then turned around and said:
“I have already turned down all the next casting commissions. May I go with you to that place where there are supposedly traces of gold-devouring dogs? I want to see for myself whether the dwarves’ past glory still leaves a trace in this world.”
Latis was stunned. He looked at Lingling's expectant eyes, pondered for a moment, and then nodded.
"Great! Maybe we'll even meet some unusual dwarves like you on our journey!"
"A dwarf like me, who grew up in a human city?" Lingling shook her head helplessly. "That's hardly unusual. I've heard that most dwarves have already been assimilated by human society..."
"Who knows!" Latis laughed, hoisted his greatsword, and strode towards the Golden Hall, shouting:
"Let's go! My knight teammates have probably been waiting at the teleportation portal for a long time!"
Chapter 204 Go with the wind, but also watch your back.
"Oh, so this is Mayan City!"
Lingling stepped out of the teleportation array made of rock and wood, and subconsciously ran a few steps forward. Her gaze passed over the sparse, swaying bushes and fell to the desolate mountain range known as "The End of the Forest." Her eyes flickered, and with a smile, she turned and called out: