Chapter 571 - Reasons
Chapter 571 Reasons
Many players liked adventures. The more thrilling, the better. Actually, Roland liked them too. But that was only on the premise that he and other players could be resurrected. He would rather not get Marilyn involved in any danger. So, he asked the catgirl to go first. Marilyn might be bad at many things, but escaping was definitely her strong suit. She wandered on the street for a while and then suddenly vanished from the crowd. Her stalkers were human beings who couldn’t track her down by smell. Also, there were intense, assorted smells on this populated street full of restaurants and spice stores. Even a vulpera couldn’t have detected her there. After Marilyn disappeared, the two followers both returned to the hotel and met the other three people who were keeping an eye on Roland.
They didn’t look very anxious, so it was obvious that their main target was Roland, not the catgirl. Through the magic spider, Roland saw their appearances and learned where they were. Next, Roland had to get himself out of here. First, Roland lit up the candles in the room and projected his shadow to the window. A moment later, he squatted, and a magic puppet rose where he stood just now, casting a new shadow to the window. Roland, on the other hand, secretly opened the door and slipped away to the top of the hotel. Those people were only watching over him from outside of the hotel. They wouldn’t follow him as long as he didn’t leave the hotel.
There was nobody on the rooftop. Roland cast Slow Landing on himself to reduce his weight as much as possible. Then, he slightly exerted his strength and jumped across the rooftops as if he were a Rogue. Of course, he wasn’t as fast as a real Rogue when he moved on the uneven rooftops, and his footsteps could be quite noisy.
Perhaps because his watchers’ vision was limited and the magic puppet’s shadow deceived them, Roland didn’t run into any of them on his way to the city gate via the rooftops. After he was half a kilometer from the hotel, Roland finally jumped to a dark street from the rooftop. He then changed his clothes and slowly walked to the city gate. The city gate wasn’t closed yet. In fact, it would’ve been faster for him if he used flash or teleportation. However, this was the Spatial Magic Tower, which had multiple Legendary Mages who were adept at spatial magic. They might detect the waves if he recklessly used spatial magic, so Roland would rather not use that.
After paying one bronze coin as the toll, Roland left the city.
Before he left, the guards kindly warned him that he would likely be frozen in the desert in the middle of the night if he wasn’t prepared. Roland thanked the guards. He strolled to the north outside of the city for a while, and Marilyn, who had waited for a long time, emerged from behind a hill. She was rather delighted to see Roland. She hopped around him and asked, “Master, are we going home with that swoosh spell?” She was referring to multiple teleportation.
Roland shook his head and looked at the city behind him. He said, “We’re still in the territory of the Spatial Magic Tower. The magic array for multiple teleportation will be too noisy. The Legendary Mages can reach us in no more than one second after they detect it. So, we have to walk away on foot first.”
Marilyn felt slightly cold. As the night got deeper, the temperature in the desert would drop. Holding her arms, she asked, “How much farther must we walk?” “By my personal estimation, at least thirty kilometers.” Roland heaved a sigh. “I really shouldn’t have been greedy about the four spell models.” Marilyn stared at Roland in silence.
Although catgirls all longed for freedom, she had learned that she’d better listen to Roland in the case of emergencies. She wasn’t very strong or knowledgeable, and if she was too self-willed, she might get herself and other people killed. She felt rather guilty over getting her friends killed last time.
Sometimes, she woke up in tears at night. After Roland heaved a sigh, he confirmed the direction and led the catgirl on foot. It was truly cold at night in the desert, but Roland didn’t feel much as a professional who had a strong body.
The catgirl, on the other hand, wasn’t strong because of her low level, and she trembled with cold after walking for a while. Roland took a robe out of the system Backpack and put it on her, and she finally felt much better.
A journey in the desert without camels was even harder than they thought.
Roland had thought that they could walk thirty kilometers in two to three hours, but they failed to walk that far after five.
It was almost dawn.
The catgirl kept yawning. She also meowed now and then.
Seeing that she was really exhausted, Roland thought for a moment and built a small rock building under the sand. In case anyone noticed something wrong, he covered it with the sand. Hiding deep inside the sand, and with Roland next to her, the catgirl felt a strong sense of safety. She had some food and water and laid a blanket on the floor, falling asleep very soon. Roland, on the other hand, suppressed his magic waves to the minimum and then browsed the forum. In Tebesia twenty kilometers away, Maromatha got up early and came to visit Roland and Marilyn. But nobody answered the door after a long time. At first, she thought that Roland and Marilyn overdid it the previous night and they were still too tired to get up. Then she realized that this wasn’t right. After opening the door forcefully, she found neither Roland nor Marilyn in the room but only a weird magic puppet that was sitting on the bed motionlessly. “What happened here?” Maromatha found it weird. She spoke to the receptionist, only to learn that Marilyn never returned after she left the previous night, and that the male Mage never left the hotel at all. “They’re gone?” Maromatha was rather confused. “The Spatial Magic Tower was so friendly to him. Why did he leave so secretively?” She decided to ask the elder who was responsible for their reception the previous day and see if anything happened. Seeing that Maromatha came out with a weird look on her face, the few human beings who had been monitoring Roland knew that something was wrong. They hurriedly checked the room upstairs, only to see nothing but a magic puppet in the room. So, the shadow that they had been watching for a whole night was actually left by this puppet. They had a feeling that they would be gravely punished for their mistake. On the other hand, Maromatha went to the elder from yesterday and said, “Roland has left. Elder, did anything happen between you two?”
“Roland has left?” The elder’s hand that was holding the book trembled. He moved his eyes from the book to Maromatha. “That’s not right. We had a nice conversation yesterday. Maromatha, you go back now. I have work to do… Right, go look for Roland if you have time. Maybe he’s just playing hide and seek with
us.”
Maromatha had the feeling that the elder was hiding something and didn’t tell her the whole truth.
However, from her perspective, it was beyond unthinkable that the Spatial Magic Tower would plot against Roland. After Maromatha left, this elder convened a meeting of the elders. Hearing that Roland had left, those people instantly burst into fury. “That boy is an ungrateful wolf. We gave him so many valuable things, and he simply ran off?”
“What do we do? Should we bring him back?” “Of course we have to bring him back. How else can we read the coordinates of the alternate dimension he’s from?”
At this moment, an elder who looked slightly younger asked, “I have a question. How did Roland know that there was a conspiracy against him?” Everybody looked at the elder who was in touch with Roland the previous day. This elder gently tapped the table and said, “I was very gentle with him during our conversation. I don’t think it was my doing.” “Then whose doing was it?” someone asked. “Did he spot the people we sent out to monitor him?”
“It’s possible.”
“Now that Roland has been alerted, we no longer need to focus on him. We can totally lure in another Golden Son.” “But based on my investigation, Roland is the strongest of the Golden Sons at this moment, and he knows our spatial magic. If we want to learn about an alternate world, we have to count on him.” “I agree that Roland is a necessary tool for us,” said an old man with a goatee. “I’ve investigated it. According to them, the Golden Sons don’t have magic in the dimension they’re from, but only something called technology. However, it has many restrictions and is not easy to use.” “In any case, it will be as easy as pie for us to conquer an alternate world that is a magic desert, won’t it? The world of the Golden Sons is wonderful. To figure out its coordinates, Roland will be the key. He understands spatial magic. Even if he’s too stubborn to confess the coordinates, we can still infer them by the spatial aura that he carries.” “Everybody will go out and look for Roland. I don’t think he dares to teleport himself away with spatial magic yet. He’s too smart to overlook the possibility that we can detect him, so he can’t be far away.”
“I’ll ask the white dragon to join the search later,” said the Great Elder of the Monochrome Magic Tower who was sitting in the most honorable seat. “I had planned to catch Roland with the white dragon as a cover-up. Then, the Monochrome Magic Tower wouldn’t be to blame for his disappearance, and there wouldn’t be conflicts between us and the Red Magic Tower. I didn’t expect that Roland would run off on his own.” “You have so many people with you, yet you can’t even keep track of a single individual. Are you not ashamed?”
An old man shouted angrily. All the elders put on a bitter smile. “It’s not time to assign blame yet,” said the Great Elder again. “Roland must be captured. Whoever catches him will be generously rewarded with a special spell model, if you know what I mean.”
The Legendary Spatial Mages all stood up. Even Legendary Mages didn’t know all the spell models in existence. Many unique spell models, as well as special models of other schools, were kept in the Spatial Magic Tower. They could only be learned with “contributions.”
Even the Great Elder himself hadn’t learned all the models yet.
Those models had all been specifically modified. They represented the essence of this Magic Tower. Very soon, an enormous white dragon hovered above the city and then flew away.
Many people found it odd and wondered why the white dragon had flown off without hunting anyone. Then, several Mages took off and flew to various corners of the city.
Besides the Legendary Mages, many mentors and apprentices were mobilized too.
Roland’s image had even been delivered to all of them.
At this moment, Roland and the catgirl were still resting below the sand. Not long before, several Mages had flown overhead.
However, none of those flying Mages knew that the targets they sought were right in the sand below them.
Seeing so many Mages taking to the sky, Maromatha couldn’t help but ask her mentor what happened. But her mentor simply told her, “Roland stole a unique spell model of the Spatial Magic Tower and fled. All the Mages are obliged to capture him.” Maromatha was frightened to hear that. It was almost as if thunder just rumbled next to her ears.
She didn’t even think that was possible! She knew a thing or two about Roland, who seemed approachable on the surface but was actually very proud. Could such a person have stolen someone else’s spell model? Unlikely. But in any case, it was an undeniable fact that Roland was wanted by the Spatial Magic Tower.
What should she do?
Should she help Roland, or should she try to catch him along with her teachers and classmates?
Thinking for a moment, Maromatha decided that it would be best if she simply stayed out of this.
Whoever she sided with, she would feel sorry for the other. She sighed gloomily, closed the door, and took a rest.
Roland sensed it when Mages flew high above.
The magic waves caused by flying spells were very powerful. But it wasn’t really beyond his expectation, or he wouldn’t have been hiding in the sand. Very soon, Marilyn woke up. She ate some food and asked, “Master, how much longer will we stay here?”
“Until midnight.”
Mages were generally not nocturnal, so it was less likely for them to discover Roland if he acted at night. Besides, a lot of things could be veiled by darkness.
It was already late afternoon, and it wouldn’t be hard to wait until night.
Roland could browse on the forum. It was very easy to kill time just chatting with the hilarious netizens and watching them bicker.
The catgirl was even more skilled at killing time. For catgirls, it was rather enjoyable just to play with their own tails if they really had nothing to do, as long as there was enough food in their stomachs.
Just like that, Roland and the catgirl patiently waited for nightfall beneath the sand and simply let the Mages overhead fly back and forth.
When night fell, the searching Mages, who were exhausted after a day of flying, mostly chose to take a break. At this moment, Roland and Marilyn got out of the sand and continued their nighttime trek. After walking for another three hours, Roland felt that he was far away enough from the Spatial Magic Tower, so he painted a multiple teleportation array with magic materials. Marilyn, on the other hand, squatted and looked around, on high alert. Although she was too weak to really spot any danger, it at least showed her attitude, which was much more important than one’s capabilities.
After drawing the teleportation array, Roland gestured for Marilyn to come over. When both of them were standing in the magic array, Roland activated the teleportation without hesitation.
Multiple teleportation was much more complicated than single teleportation, so it would take a few seconds to activate it.
It was also the reason why Roland didn’t start the teleportation until after walking for three hours. Knowing a lot about spatial magic, he was quite aware of what the Spatial Mages were capable of. The one-time magic array on the ground emanated blue light which grew brighter and brighter until the two of them were consumed. We’ve successfully escaped. Roland heaved a sigh of relief. However, the moment the array was fully activated, a brownish hand extended out of the void and laid on Roland’s shoulder. Also, strange spatial waves spread and collided with Roland’s multiple teleportation, resulting in what appeared to be spatial fractures. Such fractures could even be seen by the naked eye. Dense ripples appeared on Roland and Marilyn… almost as if they were reflections in a lake distorted by a gentle breeze. Fortunately, it was only a “phenomenon” caused by the twisting of space, and they weren’t really greatly hurt. Of course, it was inevitable that they were nauseated.
Disrupted by the waves, Roland’s multiple teleportation teetered on falling apart.
At the same time, another hand extended out of the void toward Marilyn’s shoulder.
“Gotcha!”
A devilish whisper echoed. Marilyn’s pupils were quickly shrinking in fear. She wanted to run, but she was stuck in the spatial bubble of multiple teleportation and couldn’t move at all. Catgirls were a curious yet timid group of creatures. Marilyn almost cried when a hand from the void reached for her shoulder. Her body was even trembling fearfully. Right when the hand was about to touch her, Roland took action. He seized the hand that was reaching for Marilyn with his right hand, and grabbed the hand that was on his own shoulder with his left, before he tried to push them back. Then, he fully spread out his mental power and established a huge energy wall that blocked most of the enemy’s spatial waves. The multiple teleportation that was soon to be ended was running again. Then, Marilyn disappeared, but Roland stayed where he was. He had already tried his best to teleport Marilyn away safely during the collision of spatial bubbles.
Of course, Roland had paid a price for that. Two streams of blood flowed out of his nostrils half a second later.
He felt that his head was spinning, but it didn’t matter. The worst he could expect was a level drop after death. Anything was fine if Marilyn was teleported back safely. He couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief at the thought of that. At this moment, the person who was holding Roland’s shoulder fully teleported here. He was an old man wearing yellow pajamas. Although Roland was clutching both of his hands, he was still smiling creepily. “Young man, you should be sleeping instead of messing things up. This is no good!” Narrowing his eyes, Roland unleashed his magic power. White frost and snow spread out quickly with him as the center.
The sand within a fifty-meter radius was covered by a thin layer of ice. The temperature plummeted, and crystallized water formed two seconds later, floating in the air. The cold, caused entirely by magic power, had changed the environment instantly. If there was a thermometer here, it would show that the air temperature around Roland was about minus eighty degrees. Yet, the old man in the yellow pajama was completely unaffected. He even smiled. “Lad, you’re not weak, but this can’t really pose a problem to me. You should be a good boy and come back with me. You’re more valuable if you’re alive than if you’re dead.”
Hearing that, Roland smiled too. Then, his body quickly transformed into one of ice in no more than a second.
He had turned into water elements!
Water was liquid at regular temperature. Roland had made the environment extremely cold exactly because he wanted to become a man of ice. Before the transformation, the yellow-pajamaed old man wasn’t bothered even though Roland was holding his hands. However, now that Roland turned into ice, the skin Roland was touching turned burningly
hot.
Under normal circumstances, coldness and high temperatures felt different. However, if one touched something that was extremely dry and cold, one might have the same feeling as when they were burned. One would feel as if a boiling object were stuck to them, and the skin which was touched would develop blisters similar to those caused by burns. It was exactly how the yellow-pajamaed old man felt. He was slightly infuriated when his arms burned in Roland’s hands. Then, transparent spatial membranes appeared on his arms and minced Roland’s hands.
The old man took the chance to step back, and Roland was forced to retreat too.
After regaining balance, Roland chuckled at the fractures on his arms. Then, two new hands of ice generated in the next second.
That was exactly the benefit of elementization. He could infinitely regenerate body parts as long as he had enough magic power. Meantime, as Roland turned into ice, the air got more and more freezing. The coldness further nourished Roland’s elementized body and condensed it, forming a cycle. Of course, such a cycle wasn’t really unlimited but was capped mostly by the elementized person’s mental power.
For a Master Mage who had full intelligence growth and high mental strength, the best he could do was transform the area within a five-kilometer radius into an arctic environment.
Of course, the transformation couldn’t be completed very quickly. It might take months if not a whole year. It was also the reason why the places that high-level Elemental Lords frequented usually had regional environmental anomalies.
Looking at Roland, the old man seemed rather cautious. “Impressive. As expected of an elite from the Red Magic Tower. You can do elementization, which even Alfred isn’t capable of. But don’t be thrilled just yet. My partners will be here any moment…”
Roland snapped his fingers, and the area within a hundred-meter radius was covered by Dimensional Anchors.
Transparent chains stabbed out of the void.
“How can an elemental creature use spells from other schools?” There was fright in the old man’s eyes. “That’s impossible!” “It’s true that elemental creatures cannot use spells of other attributes. I cannot use fire, wind, thunder, natural magic, or light and dark theurgy.” Roland’s icy face could barely show any expression, but his voice was as lighthearted as before. “But space has no attributes. Space is everywhere. We’re standing in a ‘space’ right now. As a Mage who specializes in spatial magic, you don’t understand that?”