Chapter 709: Act 69 – The Wizard Tower
After the group entered the forest, the blue light barrier slowly closed behind them as if it possessed life. They quickly realized that the inside and outside of the barrier were two completely different worlds; outside it was still the afternoon, but within the barrier, dusk had already fallen, and the sky seemed to hang with a blue curtain, with a few stars twinkling in the distance, resembling a scene after sunset.
A hundred steps away, the woods appeared shadowy and dim.
The stark contrast made everyone instinctively alert. Nemeses and Freya gently drew their swords and surveyed the surroundings. It felt as if something unsettling lurked in the air, sending chills down their spines.
Brendel looked at the shadowy woods; they were in a valley, with the overlapping hills in the distance submerged in night. To the north, the sky was a deep purple, akin to a quiet night. This hill was referred to as ‘The Dusk Hill’ in “Amber Sword,” and in his memory, it should lie in the southwest corner of Milos’s Breath.
At the entrance of this area, there should be a den of Dusk Hounds, an ancient subspecies of canine terror. Though extinct in Vaunte, a small number still existed in some black forests.
“Lord Earl, just as you mentioned, which way should we go now?” Laurena interrupted his thoughts and asked.
“The guide mentioned that there should be a path leading to the ‘Courtyard’ from here,” Brendel recalled the words from the guide in his mind: ‘The Dusk Hill is the best entry point toward Milos; the den guarding it is of the terror breed, the Dusk Hound. The passage through the den extends northward to the ‘Courtyard,’ with a treasure location at points A and B, discovered by the Bloodwing Brigade and the Crystal Apple Guild in the years 385 and 387 respectively.’ If this dungeon was explored for the first time, then the treasure locations mentioned in the guide might still exist. His gaze searched the forest and suddenly realized that the continuous valley was indeed a passage. Brendel’s vision extended forward; the stretching dark green hills wound northward, which also matched the description in the guide.
After confirming this, Brendel formulated a plan: “We will proceed along this valley, be cautious of the wandering spirits, try not to use magic, and do not activate magical items. Use open flames for lighting, and the use of light crystals is strictly forbidden.”
Though the wandering spirits weren’t particularly difficult foes, a battle would scatter their magical power and attract more monsters. Some players had mentioned that the spirits were the alarms within the dungeon of Milos’s Breath, a statement that was not entirely baseless.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Everyone nodded in agreement.
Brendel felt somewhat satisfied; although his understanding of this dungeon was limited to the guide, he knew that in an unknown environment, people tended to trust those who seemed composed. As the most experienced member of the team, he naturally took on this responsibility.
He continued to command, “Xi, Medisa, you two lead the way. Ms. Laurena, please bring up the rear.”
“Alright, Lord.” Medisa nodded in Xi’s place.
“No problem.” Laurena also raised her sheathed sword to her chest, which was a gesture of readiness among the knights of Cruz.
With no objections from anyone, the team quickly divided roles. Xi and Medisa, as the eyes of the group, walked at the front, both holding long spears as they traversed through the dense coniferous forest. Soon they noticed that as the group advanced further, the sky visible between the layers of branches grew darker.
What began as a light red of early evening transformed into pale blue, then deep blue, gradually filled with stars, turning into a tranquil night scene. It seemed that after merely walking for a few minutes in the woods, day had turned into deep night.
In fact, this was the characteristic of the Dusk Hill; it was the transitional area of the Eternal Night Forest. Only by delving deeper into this area could one truly enter the heart of the forest. Surroundings gradually darkened into pitch black, but Xi lit a torch, and the firelight extended in all directions, casting long shadows of the densely spaced fir trunks on the ground, though in the areas not illuminated, the darkness only appeared to deepen.
The group advanced for about half an hour when Medisa suddenly noticed faint points of light beginning to appear in the dark depths, immediately recognizing them as the wandering spirits floating through the forest.
She quickly grabbed Xi and made a ‘caution’ gesture with her finger.
“What is that?” Xi also noticed the lights and whispered.
“Probably the wandering spirits.”
“There are so many!” Xi exclaimed in shock. To her, the numbers were indeed quite overwhelming, as she counted at least a hundred. She felt a bit nervous while looking at the floating spirits.
“Don’t worry,” Medisa spoke softly, “though the wandering spirits are frightening, they are notoriously blind. As long as we don’t use magic, they can’t see the light. If we remain cautious, we should be fine.”
Xi nodded, albeit with some uncertainty. In truth, Brendel had made Medisa the eyes of the team specifically to leverage her extensive combat experience and an elf’s natural sensitivity, while pairing Xi as her partner aimed to protect the former; after Brendel’s promotion to proper journey mage, Medisa’s level along with Charles had been reset to level one. Though they could now gain experience and level up, after just under a month’s training, her strength had only recently returned to the beginner Silver level.
Because journey mage biota possessed the flaw of irreversibility, Brendel had to proceed carefully.
Xi glanced back in that direction, returning with a hint of confusion in her eyes, as if asking, “What now, Medisa?”
The Silver Elf Princess caught on to the implication and quietly advised, “Xi, see if you can maneuver around either side.”
Xi froze for a moment, regarding her with doubt. Theoretically, while Medisa’s strength was a notch below hers, it shouldn’t mean she couldn’t see far enough. But sensing the mountain girl’s hesitation, Medisa quickly explained, “This area seems to have certain restrictions on us spirits—”
She flushed slightly as she spoke; if it weren’t so difficult to explain her ‘level’ being reset, she wasn’t one to lie easily. But honestly, she still hadn’t fully understood why this level was so deeply tied to her strength.
Fortunately, under the torchlight, Xi didn’t notice her blush. She nodded and turned back but scanned the entire valley and saw that the spirits seemed to be blocking all paths ahead.
She took a closer look and slightly shook her head.
“Is it impossible?” Medisa pondered for a moment and quickly established a mental link to transmit a message to Brendel.
Before long, the bushes behind the two girls parted with a rustle, and Brendel and the others walked out from there.
“Medisa, Xi.”
Brendel had roughly guessed what was occurring after receiving the message from Medisa. As he stepped out from the bushes in the rear, he lifted his head and indeed saw the myriad lights in the dark.
The Eternal Night Forest was a vast area, with monsters distributed quite randomly, but players had, through exploration, discovered many of the patterns within. Previously, the path he had guided Medisa and Xi on was indeed a very secluded route; according to the guide, it could avoid most unnecessary battles.
Due to previous delays in the Anlasser Forest, Brendel had no choice but to choose this path. Yet, this route wasn’t completely worry-free, as it contained two unavoidable monster nodes. One was called The Pond of Spirits, and the other lay at the last gateway leading to the Courtyard, where they would have to confront both the Dusk Hounds and the Hecatomb.
Brendel glanced at the astonishing number of spirits in the forest, roughly determining their location—they were at the Pond of Spirits. Though not the hounds’ nest, in some respects, it was even more akin to one.
In “Amber Sword,” the spirits were authentic Gold-tier monsters. Normally, to take down so many of them, two full groups of players would need to consider their options. However, Brendel happened to know an unconventional method to deal with them; in this dungeon, which players had thoroughly deciphered in the late game, quirky strategies were not uncommon.
But he looked over there again, then withdrew his gaze. Before passing through this area, he still had two things to do.
Brendel assessed the direction and observed a particular spot in the dark, where he indeed saw a giant fir tree that two or three people could embrace.
“Medisa, how tall are you?” he said quietly.
The Silver Elf Princess was taken aback, not expecting her lord to ask such a strange question. After hesitating a moment, she blushingly revealed her height through the mental link.
Even so, she still heard Charles stifling laughter beside her. Brendel shot him an irritated glare before saying, “That should do, come stand next to me.”
“Hmm?” Medisa, somewhat puzzled, complied. Everyone else was completely bewildered by Brendel’s actions, watching curiously as the Silver Elf Princess approached him. “Lord, is there anything you need?”
“Right now, you’re facing me,” Brendel said as he stared at the fir tree.
“Brendel, what are you doing?” Freya questioned with curiosity. In fact, everyone felt similarly puzzled. Had she not asked, the eager Phillas would have already wanted to inquire.
“You’ll know in a moment,” Brendel replied.
Medisa hesitated for a second, then took a step closer. Now she was almost face-to-face with Brendel, feeling his faint breath against her. She blushed red; since being summoned by Brendel, she had never been this close to her lord in such an intimate manner.
But Brendel wasn’t satisfied yet; he firmly placed a hand on her shoulder, adjusting her direction. Medisa was startled, nearly bumping her nose into Brendel’s chest a few times.
“Brendel!” Freya glared at him, and if the enemy weren’t nearby, she would have already lunged at him with her sword.
Yet Brendel remained oblivious, reliving a moment as if he had returned to the days of gaming, exploring dungeons with trusted companions. He stared at that giant fir tree and quietly said to Medisa:
“Now step ten paces back from me and tell me what you feel.”
His voice sounded somewhat enigmatic, but Medisa’s trust had reached a level where she would act without needing to question the reasoning. She hesitated slightly, nodded, and gradually stepped back.
Everyone watched her take ten steps back and stop.
“Tell me, do you feel anything underfoot?” Brendel asked.
Medisa’s eyes brightened, appearing curious: “… I feel a faint magical power, as if it’s a magical mark. How did you know there was something here, Lord?”
But Brendel seemed uninclined to answer her question at the moment. He took the torch from Xi’s hand and directed it toward Medisa. The firelight instantly cast the shadow of the Silver Elf Princess onto the ground. As others followed Brendel’s gaze, they were left astonished.
For they saw that behind Medisa, the shadow clearly possessed a pair of seemingly translucent wings.
“This is…?” Phillas couldn’t help but stare, awestruck.
But Brendel quietly thought to himself ‘Just as I expected.’ Among everyone, only Laurena keenly noticed the change in his expression and immediately asked, “Sir Earl, do you know something?”
Brendel sighed in relief, then nodded and said, “The spirits don’t gather without reason; the origin of this place is connected to Karasu’s Black Tower Wizard.”
“Black Tower Wizard?” Even Charles was slightly stunned, as he himself had once been part of the Black Tower Wizards.
Brendel smiled slightly; this time he was not lying, merely stating a coincidence. The background of this place in the game indeed did derive from the Black Tower Wizard. “The Black Tower Wizard is the largest mage organization within Erluin, and like many other places, they possess an unparalleled curiosity about secrets and knowledge. Like the Bud Wizards, in a quest to explore lost secrets, the Black Tower Wizards have traversed every ruin in this kingdom. This mysterious forest is no exception.”
“Lord, are you saying that the Black Tower Wizards once sent an expedition into this forest, and this place…” Laurena began to connect the dots.
“Close to what you guessed, but slightly different.” Brendel recalled the guide’s notes on this location as he responded, “The Black Tower Wizards had entered this forest multiple times over hundreds of years; except for the center’s dangerous area, they had long since become familiar with this territory.”
He looked at Laurena, adding, “You wouldn’t think that Anlek would recklessly charge into this forest, would you? Surely he has someone familiar with it by his side, perhaps that fellow is also a Black Tower Wizard.”
“But the Black Tower Wizards and Highland Knights aren’t allies, Brendel, you…” Freya asked with confusion.
“The forest is vast; various characters reside within it, and not every Black Tower Wizard adheres strictly to the Tower Protocol,” Charles quickly clarified.
“Exactly,” Brendel continued, “but that’s not our main topic of discussion. The Black Tower Wizards likely came here to destroy a powerful demonic item, hoping to utilize a certain magical array in this place to obliterate the demonic artifact from Jotungrund—”
He paused, “But at that time, a traitor appeared among their ranks; some wizards were tempted by the demon’s power, ultimately sabotaging the entire mission. It is said that during the explosion of the demonic item at the array, nearly a hundred Black Tower Wizards and their apprentices were exploded to ashes, and the souls of these people were eroded in the dark magic, gradually forming the wandering spirits that now linger here.”
“A hundred wizards?” Laurena gasped in disbelief, capable of imagining how devastating that scene must have been.
The others also wore grave expressions.
Brendel only smiled; the entire incident wasn’t as horrifying as they imagined. If the Black Tower Wizards had indeed lost nearly a hundred formal wizards at once, the organization would likely be on the verge of collapse. Among those present that day, including the traitor, there were only twelve formal wizards; most were apprentices.
However, the existence of the spirits was indeed a fact. He continued, “Of course, that demonic artifact was said to have disintegrated in the explosion, yet the Black Tower Wizards, just to be safe, established a lookout here. This outpost reportedly functioned for nearly a hundred years until it was abandoned just in the last century.”
“Lookout?” Phillas stood in surprise, glancing around, “Why don’t I see it? Has it been dismantled?”
“Of course not; a wizard’s lookout will not resemble those fortress watchtowers you see commonly.” Suddenly, Nemeses, who had been silent, spoke up: “Brendel, were you searching for the location of that lookout?”
Brendel nodded.
“That magic marker is a guiding point. According to the wizards’ writings, the lookout should be next to that fir tree, in the direction indicated by the shadow of the wings behind Medisa.”
“But I don’t see anything,” Phillas looked over there, “Could it be in the sky?”
Brendel gave the fellow a baffled glance and began to believe that this person’s luck was rather unusual. Surprised by his casual remark, it actually turned out to be true.
He raised his head and replied, “That’s right; the true tower is indeed in the sky. We need to find a way to summon it down.”
“Summon it down?” Laurena furrowed her brow, “I understand now; it can help us deal with these spirits, right? Since the wizards built such a tower, its primary purpose is to guard against these spirits.”
“Exactly,” Brendel expressed mild approval. Although he understood that this knightess from Cruz wasn’t entirely correct, as in “Amber Sword,” there are often multiple ways to engage with narrative areas. He still had other means to sneak past the valley without attracting those spirits’ attention—yet Brendel did not wish to forego such a significant amount of experience. Moreover, if the guide’s records were accurate, the tower should contain one of the treasure locations within this dungeon.
This task was essentially an extra reward.
However, he couldn’t articulate all of this. He turned back and said, “Charles, you should know the incantation for summoning the Wizard Tower given your Black Tower background, right?”
Charles immediately nodded, responding in a mental link, “I’ve forgotten a lot post-job switch, but I can recall at least one or two. After all, the Black Tower Wizards were originally part of the Bud people.”
“Good,” Brendel glanced at the spirits in the distance and began issuing commands: “Summoning the lookout requires some time; however, once we start the incantation, the spirits over there will notice us. Therefore, while Charles and I summon the lookout, everyone else’s task is to protect him while he completes his task.”
As soon as Brendel’s voice fell, akin to a signal for battle, Nemeses, Freya, Laurena, and the bodyguards immediately drew their swords, while Xi and Medisa readied their spears. The group instinctively formed a half-circle around the Silver Elf Princess.
Brendel revealed a satisfied expression and drew the Amber Sword, reminding them, “The spirits’ attack patterns are simple; they rarely engage in physical combat, but be wary— their attacks can penetrate physical armor. Additionally, be cautious of their spells. Medisa and Xi, you stay and protect the caster along with Haruz, while the rest move swiftly towards them.”
“Understood.”
“Charles, you may begin.”
The young mage attendant nodded and positioned himself behind Medisa, sensing the location of the magical mark, then raised his staff and began to chant the incantation for summoning the Wizard Tower. This not-so-spirited incantation seemed to serve as a prominent signal in the darkness, suddenly causing everyone to notice the sparkling points within the forest momentarily halt.
Then they soared into the air as if searching for the source of the incantation, circling over the forest before turning back toward them.
“The documents state that although most spirits were once outstanding wizards, they have long forgotten those profound teachings. The spells they are apt at performing merely involve the manipulation of pure dark magical power. This chaotic mana will not maintain distance, typically launching their first wave of magical attacks from one hundred feet away,” Medisa remarked while observing the glowing orbs, being the first to warn.
The floating spirits in the darkness approached swiftly and swiftly revealed their forms; these glowing orbs appeared to be the upper halves of human or elven figures, still retaining some semblance of their former appearances, except their faces and chests were covered in patterns of dark magical corruption, their eye sockets mere voids.
This terrifying sight left a deep impression on everyone, particularly the young prince, who let out a small whimper.
“Specifically, it’s one hundred and forty-one feet,” Brendel fixed his gaze in that direction, raising his sword, “Estimate the distance yourselves.”
The spirits had paused at the forest’s edge, the distance aligning precisely with Brendel’s memory; it also corresponded to their furthest range for casting spells. These contorted beings raised their arms, which had become grotesquely elongated and sharp from the distortion of magical power, and suddenly, jet-black flames surged forth from their slender fingertips.
These tentacle-like black flames intertwined, creating a seemingly pitch-black net cascading from the sky, prepared to engulf everyone within it.
……
(PS: I have a family meal tomorrow and will return to write later, depending on the situation.) (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation or monthly votes; your support is my greatest motivation.)
