novelThe Meaning of Fate is…
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Chapter 936: The Meaning of Fate is...
Among all the spell caster organizations on the Dragon Soul Continent, the Mage Tower was undoubtedly the strongest. The structure of their organization was rather similar to the churches. The Mage Tower's branches were set up in every corner of the continent, including the Country of Darkness, Country of Law, and Country of Light. They recruited candidates with talent and potential in magic, taught them magic, and gathered Mages to explore and master the essence of magic. The Mage Tower was the only place one could see liches and elves peacefully studying magic together. But what caught one between laughter and tears was that the slogan of this massive and powerful spell caster organization was only two words—'Safety First'.
It was due to this that the Mage Tower was widely known among players as an organization that was afraid of death. The Mage Tower's aim was to not be involved with any trouble and to never engage in battles unless absolutely necessary. Although it sounded extremely cowardly, there were in fact plenty of formidable spell casters in their organization. Most of them possessed powerful strength and as a result, they were often misidentified and hunted down. Although they could easily take down the attackers, most of them were loners who rarely joined groups. This was also the reason why they gladly joined this organization who was willing to accept them. As of today, the Mage Tower became the most popular academic institution in the Dragon Soul Continent and also the most powerful spell caster organization.
In the game, the Mage Tower was the second organization after the Country of Law that didn't borrow players' strength to open a new territory. This went to show that their slogan of 'Safety First' wasn't for fun...
In the past, Rhode received an invitation from them, hoping that they could establish a branch in the Void Territory. However he didn't respond immediately because there were too few spell casters in his territory and he would have none of them for himself if they were all recruited by the Mage Tower.
As a self-taught Mage, although Canary wasn't interested in the so-called Royal Magic Association, she was somewhat respectful toward the Mage Tower. After all, the Mage Tower was the only organization that was willing to teach players intermediate spells for free. Of course, players would need to spend time working to gain reputation before they could learn some of the forbidden spells...
But now, Canary wasn't kind toward the old man standing before her. The reason was simple. Rhode promised her that all spell casters in the Void Territory would eventually belong to her... It wasn't surprising that she held hostility toward her 'industry competitor'.
"Can't I kill him?"
Although Mini Bubble Gum recognized him, it was apparent from her excited manner that she was ready to compete with this rumored Mage who reached the 'pinnacle of human spells'. The old man revealed a bitter smile. In fact, he was surprised as he had sensed the strong, reckless murderous intent exuding from Mini Bubble Gum from the beginning. If that were all, it wouldn't have been enough to make an experienced Mage like him who had lived for a century afraid. Instead, what astonished him was Mini Bubble Gum's pure, crystal-clear murderous intent. She wanted to kill him and there was no hatred or insanity. Her intention was just that simple. This was the first time in his life that he faced someone like this.
No... He clearly saw that he wasn't a human in her eyes. Instead, he was just a luxurious treasure chest and she was innocently and naively guessing what was inside it like a child.
Well, this wasn't surprising to Mini Bubble Gum, since NPCs were meant to be killed for their treasures.
"No, Bubble."
"Tsk."
Mini Bubble Gum spit in disdain before heading to the blackened battlefield, and the dazzling aura around her instantly became calm and indistinct. The old man didn't reveal any change in his expression but was in fact bewildered. She has such a strong control over her aura!
As a bystander earlier on, there was no doubt that he watched the battle from start until the end. Frankly speaking, when Canary and Mini Bubble Gum showed their true strength, he was utterly baffled. Although he received intelligence of their strength, he was in disbelief after witnessing it personally. That was the source of the Inner Circle that all spell casters were chasing after for their whole lives and yet, those two young ladies had already achieved it. More importantly, he discovered that they weren't like the undead, elves, or angels with longevity, but were genuine humans! Just how did they reach that level?!
The old man couldn't understand and it seemed like he made the right choice with this trip.
"May I know is anything the matter for you to visit the Void Territory, Sir Bireno?"
Canary twitched her brow and asked once more. But this time, her expression seemed slightly more annoyed. After all, he peeped at their battle and even entered the Void Territory unannounced. If he weren't the chairman of the Mage Tower, she would have teamed up with Mini Bubble Gum to annihilate him and loot his equipment.
"Cough, cough. It's nothing much actually. In fact, this was what happened, young ladies. We heard about how powerful both of you are and would like to know if you're interested in researching magic with us at the Mage Tower?"
The old man smiled while retrieving two envelopes from his wide sleeve and handed them over. Canary didn't accept the envelopes immediately. Instead, she pondered for a while before shaking her head.
"My apologies, Sir Bireno. I'm only a self-taught Mage. I will gladly oblige if this is purely a battle of magic, but I'm not an expert in the field of magic studies. As for Bubble... She isn't interested in anything that doesn't involve violence. So please pardon our rudeness for refusing your invitation to the Mage Tower. Let's get to the serious matters now."
Although Mini Bubble Gum and Canary were formidable, it wasn't to the grand extent where it required a visit from the chairman of the Mage Tower himself. It would be more understandable if they were creator gods. Mini Bubble Gum might not understand this logic but Canary clearly knew about it.
"Haha..."
The old man graciously laughed. He flipped his wrist and the two envelopes vanished instantly, only to be replaced by an old, ancient sheepskin scroll.
"Since that's the case, I won't continue to pester you about it. Honestly speaking, even though my trip here does entail probing your strengths, after witnessing the battle earlier on... Cough, cough. I know that a sack of old, fragile bones like me can't stand against you two in a fight." The old man shifted his gaze to Mini Bubble Gum who had bent over and was searching for something on the ground with her protruded butt. Although she looked like a child who was boringly watching an army of ants, the murderous intent from before stayed fresh in his mind."I know that His Majesty the Void Dragon is here, so I represent the Mage Tower and came here personally. I hope to have a deal with the Void Territory."
The old man turned to Canary with a sincere look and told his request.
"The Mage Tower wants to build a Dimension Gate in the Void Territory?"
Rhode put away the sheepskin scroll and gazed with knitted brows at Canary, who stood in front of him.
"They must be sick in the head. No wonder that old fella came here himself. If it were someone else, I would've thought that he was just making a fool out of me."
The Dimension Gate was similar to a teleportation door to the Seven Fantasy Boundaries. The only difference was that the Dimension Gate was used to connect to the gate of the outside world.
The outside world wasn't neither referring to the Seven Fantasy Boundaries, four elemental planes of existence, hell, nor abysses. Instead, it was truly the 'outside' world. In the game, Rhode once led Starlight and found a working Dimension Gate in the ancient ruin. In the end...
His men only had swords, shields, and staffs when they faced an army of radish-looking robots with laser guns! Laser guns! Not only that, but all the monsters were also robots that self-destructed once destroyed! The explosions also released nuclear radiation! It was totally insane and absurd!
"Nope, I'm not interested in turning my territory into a nuclear experimental ground. No, it'll still be fine if it turned into a nuclear experimental ground. What's worse is when some unknown and disgustingly-shaped monsters show up and terrorize my people."
Although he didn't know why the Mage Tower would raise this request, he definitely wouldn't agree. He tossed the scroll to the table and turned to the enormous metal egg. After dealing with the group of idiots from the Country of Light, he had been researching this metal egg. But no matter how hard he tried, he didn't yield any results. He didn't remember ever seeing this thing. Canary and Mini Bubble Gum were also clueless about it. Even though Stefania said that she found it in this world, who knew what it was with the Dragon Soul Continent being so huge?
Rhode tried his spiritual summons and made Canary and Mini Bubble Gum cast their magical and spiritual spells, but this thing had no reaction at all. Although Angelina also used her blood spells, nothing changed either. What exactly was this thing?
Rhode had even summoned Shira to slash it open but it was tougher than he imagined. His all-out attack didn't even scratch its shell either. The fact that this mysterious metal survived the attack of a creator dragon soul piqued his curiosity. It seems like I've bought something worthy despite offering a nail-sized Illusion Crystal in exchange.
Suddenly, an array of vibrant colors flashed in midair and a teleportation door appeared before him. Marlene walked out of it.
"Rhode, the territorial matters are almost done. As for Highland City... I heard Sir Bireno from the Mage Tower asking for help?"
"Yes, they want to build a Dimension Gate in my territory, but I don't agree."
Rhode continued to scan the metal egg in front of him and answered without turning around. It was also due to this reason that he didn't notice the glint in Marlene's eyes as soon as she heard 'Dimension Gate'. However, Canary witnessed everything.
"Is anything the matter, Miss Marlene?"
"Ah, Miss Canary, I..."
Marlene appeared flustered. Although she could easily defeat Canary now after awakening the powers and wisdom of the Deity Warden, for some unknown reasons, she felt instinctively uncomfortable. According to Mini Bubble Gum...
It looked as though Marlene was a concubine who felt inferior to Canary, the primary wife.
Fortunately Marlene couldn't understand what she meant.
"... Rhode, I think that you should agree to build the Dimension Gate. After all, it has an irreplaceable role against Chaos."
"Oh?"
Rhode turned around curiously. Although players were mostly familiar with the Dimension Gate, this was the first time that he heard that it was useful against Chaos. Could it be that he could summon an army of radish-looking robots and make them self-destruct at the Chaos Creatures?
"If I recall correctly, the Dimension Gate is a channel to the outside world but we won't know which outside world it will be connected to. Don't you think that there are too many strange creatures in our territory? It won't be good news if the Dimension Gate summons some troublesome monsters."
The effect that alien species had on the erosion of native food chains could be seen from the rabbits in Australia.
Marlene gave a surprising answer.
"That's not the case, Rhode. The Dimension Gate isn't used to teleport alien species to our world. Instead, it is used to send ourselves to the outside world."
"Why must we do that though?"
Not only Rhode was astonished, but Canary also looked at Marlene curiously. The purpose of the Dimension Gate was still too strange for him. Marlene smiled and cleared his doubt.
"The Dimension Gate is a one-way channel that won't crumple to the attacks by Chaos. It is due to this reason that a long, long time ago, it served as an escape route that was only used as a last resort because Chaos would disrupt the entire world's Order as soon it descends. All teleportation spells would become unstable due to the influence and erosion of Chaos. So when one finds oneself trapped by Chaos and can't escape, one can open the Dimension Gate and flee to the new world with one's remaining family members. As the Dimension Gate uses a unique strength of Order that is unlike ours, the Chaos Creatures can't give chase and in turn, the ones who escape can't return to our world..."
I see. I didn't know that the Dimension Gate has such a purpose.
But... Why does the Mage Tower want to build it? Do they have the intention to use it for that purpose?
"Alright, I'll speak to that old fella and see what he plans to do exactly. I will need your strength if we are to build the Dimension Gate, Marlene."
"No problem, Rhode."
Marlene revealed a confident smile before shifting her gaze dubiously to the metal egg beside him.
"By the way, I wanted to ask you about that rescue cabin, Rhode. Where did you get it from?"
"Rescue cabin?"
Rhode and Canary widened their eyes in shock at this advanced technological term. Marlene explained, albeit with some doubts.
"Yes, if I recall correctly, this is a life-saving device created by the first nobles. Whenever they faced a disaster, they jumped into it and sealed themselves inside until the disaster was over. As this rescue cabin uses a high density star-iron and is enhanced with the protection of an Order barrier, it won't be damaged by anything."
"In other words, there are residents from the first age in this rescue cabin now?"
Rhode's and Canary's eyes glinted with curiosity. The official website of the game merely walked through the background of this game without too much detail. If there were residents from that era inside that thing, it would be a huge discovery! At this moment, they felt like archaeologists who unintentionally discovered a hibernating dinosaur from the Cretaceous period!
"Can you open it?"
"Erm... I can..."
Marlene was slightly startled by Rhode's anxiousness.
"But..."
"But?"
"... It gets its source of power from the core of the tinder but it seems to have been removed from the core a few centuries ago... In other words, it is already spoiled and even if there are people inside, they would have been..."
"..."
Rhode and Canary went into silence. Then, Canary gazed at his hands.
"Leader, please stay away from equipment with your 'unlucky looting hand'... I'm pretty sure I've told you this more than once."
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