The Star: “If that’s the case, then it’s definitely due to the excessively high mana concentration. After all, the most important part of a Constant Temperature Enchantment is using the mana flow on the clothes to maintain the temperature.”
High Priestess: “Then there’s no doubt about it. Barring any surprises, these matters should be directly related to mana concentration.”
Hierophant: “Regardless of the reason, as long as everyone is safe. This subject is quite interesting, though.”
Magician: “Indeed, it’s given me some inspiration. If we could create a zone around our bodies where the mana concentration is higher, would that mean we could move freely during extreme natural phenomena like mana tides and mana turbulence?”
Wheel of Fortune: “It wouldn't even need to be that large an area. I think just covering the body in a high-concentration zone, like a film or a layer of clothing, should work.”
Magician: “That makes sense.”
The Sun: “I’m going to try it.”
High Priestess: “I’ll try it too.”
Once the idea and inspiration took hold, no one cared about how the topic had started in the first place. One by one, the researchers logged off immediately.
Besides, with the mana tide outside, everyone was trapped in their shelters with nothing to do. Now that they had a lead, why wouldn't they hurry to use it to pass the time?
Only Empress, Justice, Hierophant, and The Emperor—those who weren't heavily involved in mana research—remained in the group chat to continue the conversation.
Even though she knew how they were, Lan Qingyou was still a bit speechless at being left behind like that.
But whatever. As Hierophant Nemo said, as long as she wasn't affected, it was fine.
Thinking this, Lan Qingyou continued flying toward the stone house.
Whoosh! Boom!
Just as Lan Qingyou reached the bottom of the stone-paved ramp, four massive objects suddenly fell from the sky, crashing straight down into the four corners surrounding the stone house.
One of them landed right in front of Lan Qingyou, and the rising dust nearly swallowed her whole.
Crystal pillars?
Lan Qingyou quickly pulled back while observing the objects, only to realize that crystals had fallen from the ceiling of the cave.
No, they didn't just fall.
Was it to prevent her from entering the stone house?
Lan Qingyou narrowed her eyes as she looked at the four massive crystal pillars of varying colors positioned near and far.
But as she looked closer, she realized something was wrong.
There seemed to be something inside these four crystal pillars.
Lan Qingyou squinted so hard her eyes were nearly slits, but due to the reflections and the crystal's facets, she couldn't see what was inside at all.
She didn't have to wait long to see clearly, though.
Crack— Crack—
Just as Lan Qingyou was feeling puzzled, the crystal in front of her began to fracture.
Startled, Lan Qingyou immediately maneuvered her Magic Broom and flew back about a hundred meters to get away from the crystals.
The cracks on the crystal spread from a single point to a spiderweb-like pattern in just two or three seconds.
As the crystal shattered, Lan Qingyou finally saw what was inside.
It was a giant tree, nearly a hundred meters tall.
A War Treant was like a child in front of it; there was simply no comparison.
【Ancient of War (?)】
【HP: ????】
【MP: ????】
【Skills: (????) (???) (??) (????) (???)】
【Description: ???】
Good heavens! After the treants, now come the ancients?
Was this a case of 'beat the small one, and the old one comes out'?
And what was with its HP and MP?
Based on her past experiences and her own status, did four question marks represent a four-digit number? With a base stat in the hundreds?
And it had so many skills.
From what Lan Qingyou had encountered and gathered from various sources, most monsters only had two skills, without exception.
This was even true for little Spoon; as an A-grade, it only had two.
Did that mean this Ancient of War was even higher than Spoon's A-grade?
S-grade? SS-grade, SSS-grade? Or SSR-grade?
Of course, the last three were just things Lan Qingyou made up based on game ranks; her current knowledge only went up to S-grade.
After all, she had seen one before.
Surely this Ancient of War couldn't be 'world-class,' right?
Thinking this, Lan Qingyou looked at the other three giant trees slowly moving toward her from the other areas.
【Ancient of Knowledge (?)】
【Ancient of Life (?)】
【Ancient of Wind (?)】
Great. It felt like the whole family had come to take her down together.
Lan Qingyou clicked her tongue inwardly at the names of these ancients.
But before she could do anything, the nearest Ancient of War made the first move.
Whoosh—
The sound of breaking wind rushed at her face. Lan Qingyou's expression changed, and she jerked her Magic Broom upward, narrowly dodging the Ancient of War's attack.
Boom!
The Ancient of War's branch slammed into the ground, smashing a crack directly into the stone floor. Lan Qingyou, hovering in the air, felt her mouth twitch.
Thank goodness her reflexes were fast. If she'd been hit by that, she'd be scattered in pieces.
Zip!
Just as Lan Qingyou breathed a sigh of relief, several sprouts actually grew out of her Magic Broom!
The moment these sprouts emerged, they grew instantly like vines, attempting to bind Lan Qingyou.
Lan Qingyou didn't have time to be shocked. She shifted to third gear while simultaneously cutting off her mana connection with the Magic Broom, flying into the air on her own.
Still shaken, she turned to look and found the Ancient of Knowledge pointing its short, thick branches at her. At the tip of the branch was something she had never seen before—a complex pattern of circles, triangles, and stars, similar to an alchemy circle.
“A magic circle!?”
Lan Qingyou was startled when she saw it.
The reason she recognized it was because it had been mentioned in Albert's alchemy journal.
An alchemy circle was a type of magic circle, and it was the type most commonly used by alchemists.
However, this was the first time she had seen such a 'physical' manifestation of one.
Compared to an alchemy circle, a magic circle was far more complex.
But now was not the time to be impressed.
Having lost her Magic Broom, Lan Qingyou had lost her primary source of propulsion. She could only hover in the air, watching the four ancients below slowly gather.
When she fought the War Treants, she wanted them to gather because it made them easier to deal with.
But for some reason, Lan Qingyou had a feeling—a conviction that she 'must not let these four ancients gather, or she would definitely die.'
It was likely her sixth sense.
Though she couldn't explain it, since she felt it so strongly, she absolutely could not let them assemble.
With that thought, Lan Qingyou stopped worrying about her lack of propulsion.
She pulled a card from her bag to take a quick photo, then threw a large bomb toward the ramp where the Ancient of War was located.
In reality, preventing these ancients from gathering was quite simple.
She only needed to set the ramp on fire to isolate the Ancient of War.
Boom!
Just as she expected, the large bomb exploded, and the powerful shockwave sent Lan Qingyou flying back through the air.
Rate on N.U.
