Chapter 484: Act 232 – The City of Trees (Part 3)
“I’m sorry for my rudeness…” The silver elf girl took a breath to calm herself and explained, “The ranking of territories is a term from before the Age of the Saints, used to distinguish the strength of a territory. What we refer to as a primary territory often means primitive regions like Duke Toniger that have not yet undergone magical development.”
The girl gently pressed her hand to her chest: “In such regions, the scattered magical energy is in a chaotic state, distributed throughout the wilderness. Only within a substantial range does the magical energy naturally gather to form a magical convergence point, also known as a magical pool—or a nest of magic.”
She glanced at the others, mainly Romaine and Xi: “In fact, you’ve all seen such places; areas of magical convergence, influenced by chaos, become the nests of magical beasts.”
“So that’s how magical beast nests are formed!” Romaine tapped her lips with her index finger, curiously asking, “But how does the presence of magical beast nests relate to the strength of a territory? Isn’t it strange if more nests mean stronger territories?”
Medisa shook her head and couldn’t help but smile: “Of course not, but civilized worlds—human and elven armies often seize such locations and build biological nests to serve civilization itself or construct mage towers and crystal pools.”
“Mage towers, crystal pools, and biological nests can significantly enhance a lord’s power. Thus, generally speaking, the more magical pools a territory has, the more mature and powerful it is. Only territories with at least ten magical pools qualify to be called magical territories.”
“The concept of magical territories far exceeds human definitions of lords. In the entire multiverse, the lords of magical territories are respected.” At this point, Medisa smiled again: “Nobles like Grudin remain within the concept of your human realm, but outside your society, even just leaving Erluin, he becomes worthless.”
“But possessing even a single magical pool signifies that the lord has at least some reputation in the wider world.” She looked at Brendel, implying that this young lord, though not yet famous in Erluin, held a status far exceeding Grudin in a world that reveres power.
“How large must an area be to have a natural magical convergence point?” Merchant Miss asked again, always curious about these eccentric pieces of knowledge.
“Approximately…” The silver elf girl thought for a moment: “According to Erluin’s system, such an area would be about the size of a baronial territory.”
Xi, listening nearby, became entranced; she had never encountered such advanced knowledge before—on the borders of Rendener and Golan-Elsen, let alone mercenaries, even typical nobles might not have heard of this—she couldn’t help but utter, “So, does that mean there are places like this in our Cold Fir Territory too?”
“Ah, I see!” Romaine suddenly exhibited a flash of understanding. Merchant Miss usually responded quickly to non-serious matters: “Charles has been acting mysteriously lately; I heard those mercenaries say he often roams near Schafflund, claiming he’s going to build something, looks like he’s searching for magical convergence points, right?”
“You really catch on quickly.” Brendel finally couldn’t help but interject with a hint of annoyance.
“I’ve always been impressive; you’re just too slow to notice—oh!” Merchant Miss immediately covered her head.
Before her little fox tail could fully raise, she received a hit on her forehead from Brendel. He had no idea how this self-proclaimed ‘elegant and refined business lady’ always used her limited ‘intelligence’ on such nonsensical matters.
“Indeed, Tam and Antinna calculated that there should be one magical convergence point near Schafflund,” Brendel replied.
“I didn’t expect Miss Antinna to have a gift for astrology,” Medisa sincerely praised.
Brendel wasn’t expecting this either; however, Antinna had already calculated before entering the Black Forest, though at that time, they didn’t even have sufficient magic crystals to craft the White Lion Armor, let alone to construct a mage tower.
“But are mage towers the pointed towers mentioned in stories? What are they used for? Is it a wizard’s home, Brendel? Is it where Charles lives?” Romaine asked while shielding her forehead, trying to avoid further questions.
Most people might not be able to answer this, and even Medisa might not fully understand the mystical details between wizards. However, among those present was the elder sister of the wild elves—Flour. Flour slightly bowed and flatly stated, as if reciting:
“Mage towers are not just homes for wizards, Miss Romaine. The tops of mage towers are equipped with a massive resonance crystal, which is entirely carved from magic crystals. It can amplify most area spells’ power and range—extending even thousands of meters away. Wizards use this crystal to transform the mage tower into an impregnable defense, striking enemies from beyond sight.”
“Additionally, the crystal ball set within the tower has the function of monitoring the territory. A basic mage tower is sufficient to observe all areas surrounding Firburh; it is one of the most important defensive facilities within a territory.”
“At the same time, the mage tower also includes an alchemical laboratory and a public magical pool.”
“A public magical pool?”
“Training wizard apprentices requires considerable spellcasting training, but low-level casters often need long rest periods after casting just a few spells. Public magical pools greatly reduce resting time, effectively shortening the training duration for wizard apprentices, Miss Romaine.”
“Don’t call me that so formally, Sister Flour; it’s quite scary,” Romaine said, patting her chest and feeling somewhat unsettled. “Anyway, I understand now; mage towers are very important places, right?”
Flour nodded seriously.
Brendel nodded too; Flour was absolutely correct. In a game setting, it typically took three weeks to train a farmer into a qualified infantryman, but it could take nearly a year to cultivate a qualified wizard apprentice. With a mage tower, this time can be reduced tenfold; a mage tower could train a qualified wizard apprentice every month.
After leveling up, wizard apprentices could evolve into First-Order Elementalists or Wizards while also being able to cast three first-ring spells, with Magic Arrow and Magic Shield among the most practical spells, capable of great collective power.
Moreover, wizard apprentices serve as the foundation for many units, such as anti-magic swordsmen and shadow cavalry, requiring training on top of their wizard apprentice background.
Constructing a mage tower requires magical pools, so magical pools are crucial for every high-level territory. Not only are mage towers dependent on them, but also artifactual crystal pools that can convert scattered magic into magic crystals, along with breeding fantastical creatures’ nests. As a territory becomes sufficiently magical, it can establish some advanced encampments.
For example, the Pegasus Knights encampment of tree elves requires a Pegasus Nest and the Gate of Star and Moon.
The silver elf girl continued, “Thus, generally speaking, a natural primary territory typically has only one such natural magical pool. The fact that Valhalla has three on its right side… is incredible; it’s practically like the legendary magical plains.”
“Magical plains?” Brendel turned to Medisa, who happened to hear this term as well.
“In the civilized world of magical territories, only those developed to have at least ten magical pools can be called magical territories. However, some natural wilderness possesses such power— though they may not necessarily have ten magical pools, we acknowledge such land as natural magical territories,” Medisa continued, “Magical plains are one form of these.”
“I’ve also heard of magical plains, known as the Fields of Four-Leaf Clover; such land has highly concentrated magic, where magical plants grow at almost several times the speed of ordinary protected lands,” Brendel said.
“Martha’s guarded land is actually also a type of magical land, although it’s somewhat special. The Black Forest too, as well as the Fire Plains and the Holy Grounds of War, though I’ve only heard of them,” the silver elf girl answered.
She raised her head: “But the World Tree planted by the Lord possesses more magic than any natural magic land I have seen; three magical pools— even in the Silver Valley, the former homeland of us silver elves, there is no such strong innate magic.”
“Legend has it that fortresses said to be sacred land were the last bastions that the ancestors used to defend against the Duskgazer Dragon, possessing powers similar to relics of the saints. The Silver Valley is also such a fortress.” She continued, “But it pales in comparison to the residual power of Valhalla. I don’t know why this fortress is so unique, but it surely has its significance.”
“If I had to name the magical land where Valhalla resides, I would call it the Holy Land,” Medisa concluded.
“The Holy Land—a nice name,” Romaine approved.
Xi nodded too, thinking that the Lord’s possessions should rightfully hold such a name. Of course, if Brendel found out about this thought, he would likely blush.
The silver elf princess looked at this young man, her ‘master’— the Sword of the Earth, the Golden Apple, Valhalla, with legendary items appearing one after another beside him. If she could have thought of this as coincidence before, suddenly, Medisa wondered if this was fate calling her.
Just as fate called her back then.
For some reason, she suddenly felt a bit excited about the future.
However, no matter what, the fact that Valhalla has three magical pools is like a pie falling from the sky. Typical players face a tough choice when constructing territories— three necessary magical buildings for a primary territory:
Mage tower, crystal pool, and magical workshop, one must choose one to keep.
But Brendel had no such worries; Duke Toniger already had a magical convergence point to generate a magical pool. The rest he could arrange himself. Initially, he planned to reserve Valhalla’s magical pool for the Hydra’s nest, but now it seems there could be some excess.
Yet soon Brendel had a new discovery.
He originally intended to convert the lower magical pool into the Hydra’s nest, but he quickly discovered that the lower magical pool was not vacant but had generated a structure called ‘Light Whirlpool.’
When he summoned the detailed information from the holographic map, he found that this was a biological nest that could generate a creature called Light Spirit, which sounded akin to a spirit or a light-element creature.
To find a natural nest within his territory was absolutely a pleasant surprise. Such nests are never common anywhere in the Amber Sword at any time—except for nests like the Black Wolf or Wyvern— but Brendel believed the nest within Valhalla couldn’t possibly fall into that category, and typically, nest creatures are quite powerful. He was eager to find out what this Light Spirit truly was.
He proposed a suggestion to check it out, which the few ladies naturally had no objections to. Only Flour remained; her reason was that Brendel was nurturing Valhalla’s core here. The outside messenger could bring news from Firburh at any time, and if those mercenaries saw a tree suddenly appear here, they would likely be terrified. She stayed outside to avoid complications.
Brendel could only admire the attentiveness of this wild elf sister; among his subordinates, only Flour and Antinna could keep such close watch. However, Antinna was currently swamped with territory affairs, and only this eternally poker-faced wild elf sister could help him with these trivial matters.
Although she always appeared unwilling, her quality of work was consistently top-notch.
The others found the entrance leading down to the lower hollow area of Valhalla behind the hall and then entered the room where the Light Whirlpool resided.
The lower area of Valhalla resembled a giant tree hollow, with floors and walls entirely made of wood. Though appearing polished, the ceiling and four walls still had roots and vines hanging down, exuding a hint of natural atmosphere.
Among the large clusters emitting blue fluorescence, two massive vines intertwined to form an archway. In the center of the archway—a golden whirlpool about three meters high was slowly swirling, as if connecting two worlds, with a beam of golden light shooting down, resembling a bridge suspended in mid-air.
In one corner of the room, some peculiar aquatic plants were growing. Under the illumination of various lights, these strange plants reflected colorful hues, creating an illusionary scene.
“So beautiful, Brendel!” Romaine couldn’t help but praise as soon as she entered the nest.
“This looks like a teleportation portal; this nest must be a passage type,” Medisa inquired.
Brendel nodded. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendations and monthly votes; your encouragement is my greatest motivation.)
