Chapter 89: Silver Light

"Why doesn't he go up there to attack those damned warriors?" a newly arrived mage rasped, his voice hoarse, voicing his dissatisfaction, which also roused the anger of other nearby mages who were unaware of the situation.

Shao Ke ignored these new mages. He truly couldn't understand why these mages wouldn't properly study the battlefield survival scroll given by the Elder Mage. With a glance of admiration at the mage's retreating figure, Shao Ke was the first to climb onto the carriage.

The other mages gradually climbed up as well, but they continued to angrily grumble about that mage not appearing on the battlefield, complaining incessantly along the way. After being interrupted several times while trying to rest quietly, Shao Ke grew annoyed and glared at the mages in the carriage. "You should go back and carefully read that battlefield survival scroll. It clearly explains why this is the case. If you become a Third Tier Mage, you'll enjoy this privilege as well." After saying this, Shao Ke leaned against the carriage wall to relax his mind and ease his headache.

"But... even if a Third Tier Mage appears on the battlefield, the enemy wouldn't know unless he casts a Third-level Spell," a somewhat timid mage asked uncertainly, carefully wiping the bloodstains from his face with a handkerchief.

Shao Ke rubbed his head. He didn't know either why these Third Tier Mages didn't do so. "When you reach the Third Rank, if you could avoid going to the battlefield, would you still voluntarily go up there, risking being crushed by boulders, just to kill a few warriors?" With a weak wave of his hand, he decided not to engage with them no matter what they said. He didn't get why these mages, after nearly a day of fighting, still had so much energy to ask questions about everything.

After the mages returned to their quarters, Shao Ke quickly removed his robe and cloak, which had gradually been cleansed of stains by magic. Although they appeared clean under the magic's effect, Shao Ke still decided to wash them tomorrow.

After adding a few logs, the chilly room warmed up. While the medicine was still in effect, he promptly began Meditation to recover from the various drains incurred during Spellcasting.

Once he had recovered his energy, Shao Ke began carefully inspecting his meditation space. After repeated and detailed examinations, he once again noticed a problem with the diamond array within his mental space. The array floating in the air had grown slightly larger than before, but the silver light dancing across it had dimmed significantly. Moreover, a thread of silver light pierced through the space, directly connecting to the diamond array in the meditation space. Initially, Shao Ke thought this silver light could convert mental energy into magical power, but after a brief experiment, he realized his assumption was wrong. Both mental energy and magical power could only drift slowly along this silver light; they couldn't pass through the space for conversion.

Although somewhat disappointed, Shao Ke wasn't too upset. Just as he was about to continue with some minor experiments, he noticed his energy was draining rapidly. This depletion wasn't caused by observing the meditation space. It was the silver light continuously absorbing his abundant mental energy.

In just a short while, Shao Ke found that the mental energy he had just recovered was already more than half gone, and the rate of depletion was accelerating. Too drained to continue examining the meditation space, he had to take medicine and strive to recover his energy. Although the recovery rate couldn't keep up with the absorption rate of the light, just as he was about to run dry, the silver light autonomously stopped and began releasing specks of silver light to nourish the meditation space in return. At this moment, Shao Ke felt his energy recovery speed had almost doubled, making him almost think he was using a top-tier meditation method for recovery.

After several repetitions, the silver light seemed full and no longer absorbed energy. Only then did Shao Ke have time to examine the silver light entwined around the diamond array again, noticing it had thickened slightly and regained its former brightness.

After confirming no other changes, Shao Ke finally focused on recovering his mental and magical energy. However, once immersed in recovery, he suddenly noticed the silver light was again releasing specks of light into both spaces, significantly speeding up his recovery. Shao Ke didn't have time to celebrate, as he sensed the light would soon absorb mental energy again to replenish this expenditure. This was almost equivalent to consuming excessive energy to accelerate recovery, making him regret not purchasing the meditation method that increased energy.

As expected, after stopping meditation, the light absorbed nearly half of his remaining energy. Not being great with numbers, he calculated several times but still couldn't determine if this was worthwhile. After pondering for a while, he gave up, as he needed food to fill his already rumbling stomach.

Pressing the magic button in the room, a soldier soon delivered dinner. Just after finishing his meal and having the soldier clear the dishes, Mage Roland knocked on his door again.

After they sat down, Mage Roland noticed Shao Ke wasn't wearing his robe and cloak—a first—and smiled slightly. "Did you finally realize how tiring and oppressive it is to wear those all day?"

Shao Ke shook his head. "No, I just plan to wash them. They feel a bit dirty." He pointed to the clothes hanging on the rack. "Too much blood got on them today."

Mage Roland shook his head, gestured toward the wine barrel on the table, and asked, "Care for a drink?" After receiving Shao Ke's nod of agreement, he poured a full cup and handed it to him. "Actually, the cleaning magic on them is quite effective—better than washing."

But seeing Shao Ke still shaking his head, he took a small sip of wine and changed the subject. "Mage Xueye, we haven't even been here three months yet. I think you must make a new choice." He then stared directly at Shao Ke's weary face. "Your body doesn't seem to have worsened, which is a good sign. It should gradually recover over time."

Shao Ke licked his lips. "Mage Roland, how many mages died today?"

Mage Roland replied with some embarrassment and helplessness, "I don't know for sure. Among the newly arrived mages specializing in single-target attacks, about ten died. Weren't there a few deaths in your group? I heard a few mages connected to nobles died too. I really don't understand why they'd choose single-target positions." He shook his head in confusion.

"What about the others?" Although curious, Shao Ke didn't really want to know these details, as they had nothing to do with him.

"Mages who've been here over a year—I heard only one was unlucky. He was in a stone tower with two new mages, and when a boulder fell, he couldn't escape in time. Alas!" Mage Roland sighed. "I heard many mages who lost the protection of stone towers were injured, but there shouldn't be any more deaths."

After hearing Mage Roland's news, Shao Ke rubbed his sore calves. "How about your group? Are you all right?"

Mage Roland's expression suddenly turned peculiar. He muttered quietly for a moment before saying, "While moving along the wall, a splintered boulder rolled through the mages." He then lowered his head and fell silent, slowly swirling the wine cup in his hand.

The atmosphere between the mages grew even heavier. Shao Ke looked up at the white-painted ceiling and said sorrowfully, "Why are we doing this? Are mages only meant to be crushed by boulders, shot by arrows, or pierced by spears on the battlefield? Why aren't they better protected once on the front lines?"

Mage Roland refilled Shao Ke's cup, shrugged, and said, "Who knows? These aren't things small figures like us can consider. Sometimes I really want to return to my hometown, live peacefully as a respected mage there, instead of being a disposable pawn here." Mage Roland touched his wrist, then imitated Shao Ke's earlier gesture and downed a cup of red wine in one go.

"Then why did you come to the battlefield?" Shao Ke was somewhat puzzled by the other's choice. He still didn't know why other mages chose to become military mages, and he didn't believe they were all deceived by the military.

"For money and status," Mage Roland stated without hesitation. "I originally wanted to join the Mage Guild, but I found mages from our academy weren't doing well there—no lucrative positions, no status whatsoever. So..."

Shao Ke smiled silently. Mage Roland asked him, "Why did you choose to become a Military Mage back then? I don't believe you had the same reasons as me."

"Where there's profit, anyone will take risks." Shao Ke couldn't help but think of his previous life. He shook his head and continued, "I originally just wanted to become a Battle Mage, and the army's subsidies were even slightly higher than the Mage Guild's. So that's why I made this choice."

"Heh." The two mages couldn't help but laugh after hearing each other's reasons.

"I think once we reach the Third Tier, we'll learn about some special matters," Shao Ke suddenly said seriously, wanting to remind this companion he was somewhat familiar with.

Mage Roland frowned and asked quietly, "Mage Xueye, how do you know such things exist?"

Shao Ke didn't hide what happened during his journey. "Didn't that Third Tier Mage invite you to join the Blizzard Legion?"

"No. Although I noticed some anomalies among the mages, that mage didn't approach me, and I didn't inquire further at the time." Mage Roland frowned, pondering the information Shao Ke had just shared, and finally asked, "Do they really distribute various auxiliary drugs for Third Tier Mages?"

"I don't know if other mages who accepted this contract are treated the same as me. I could ask for you if you'd like. What do you think?" Shao Ke looked at the mage before him, unsure now what mindset he had when he first brought this up to Mage Roland.