Chapter 126 Prelude and Arrival

After that mission was temporarily canceled, Shaoke spent most of his time in the tent, with the only addition to his daily routine being the study of the new cloak's functions. The rest of his time was mostly spent reading books and practicing spells. As for going to the tavern to relax, after informing Mage Roman, he rarely went there anymore.

One day, while Shaoke was reading some books on spell array fusion that Mage Roman had brought him from her uncle, a rapid knocking at the door interrupted him. Clearly, the peaceful life of the past few days was once again disturbed by an unexpected guest.

When Shaoke suppressed his displeasure and invited the guest in, that bit of dissatisfaction was swept away by the surprise the guest brought. "Mage Roland?" Shaoke excitedly called out the guest's name, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Mage Roland, equally excited, performed a greeting ritual and said, "Mage Xueye, I never thought I'd see you again." His voice carried a hint of a sob. "I thought I'd never see you again. Fortunately, I was lucky—at least it seems that way so far."

After pouring wine for his familiar guest, Shaoke began to inquire in detail about what had happened to him on the battlefield and why it had taken so long for him to return.

Mage Roland shrugged. Under the careful attention of his friend and his somewhat eager gaze, he calmed his excited emotions and slowly recounted the specific events that had occurred on the battlefield.

It turned out that the team Mage Roland was with had encountered an attack several days after leaving the fortress. That attack had cost them nearly half of their mages. Fortunately, the Third-tier Mage leading the team had timely defeated the attack from the enemy's Third-tier Mage; otherwise, they might have all been wiped out.

Afterward, that mysterious Third-tier Mage, despite the ineffective persuasion of another Third-tier Mage, left alone. The team, having lost more than half its members, retreated further back under the leadership of that Third-tier Mage. They rested for a night at a temporary large frontline camp there, hoping to replenish their numbers with sufficient mages to resume combat.

However, just after their team had gathered enough scattered mages at that temporary large camp, they were attacked that very night by a large number of Third-tier Mages from the Desasi Empire. This resulted in heavy casualties. Mage Roland said with a tone of lingering fear, "At that time, there happened to be a deep pit behind the tent I was in. A few companions and I hid inside, covering ourselves with a few corpses. That's how we managed to escape safely."

"Didn't the mages stationed at that large temporary camp detect the enemy's attack? Couldn't they put up any resistance?" Shaoke frowned as he asked. He already knew that the mysterious Third-tier Mage who had suddenly left had gathered with others of his kind to attack the enemy country's temporary mage camp.

"Detect the enemy's attack? Mage Xueye, that was simply impossible." Mage Roland slowly fell into recollection. "At the time, we had set up dense Alert Wards within nearly a kilometer around the camp. But after the attack, a Third-tier Mage told us that, based on the spell fluctuations, he estimated the spellcasters were casting spells from over a kilometer away." Mage Roland took another sip of wine here, hoping to suppress the fear in his heart.

"Those spellcasters were definitely Fourth-tier Mages. No Third-tier Mage could release a spell from a kilometer away. That's right. No third-tier or lower-tier spell has such a long casting range." Mage Roland repeatedly affirmed his speculation. He simply couldn't accept the idea that a Third-tier Mage could accurately hit a target from over a kilometer away, as he had never heard of it, nor was it recorded in any books that a third-tier spell had such a long range.

"There wasn't a single mysterious Third-tier Mage in that large temporary camp, was there?" Shaoke again gestured for his companion to drink some wine to calm his agitated emotions. He felt that the mysterious mages on their side had also attacked the Desasi Empire's temporary mage camp that night.

"Yes, most said these mages left not long after departing the fortress. After reporting to the military department, the military department only replied that there was no need to worry, with no other explanation." Mage Roland angrily criticized the military department for this irresponsible behavior, then weakly lowered his arm, which he had been waving for a while, and sat there muttering softly, "Countless spells fell from the sky—flames, ice spears, hurricanes, giant stones... In less than half a magic hour, there were almost no survivors left in the entire camp."

Shaoke comforted him further. Finally, after receiving the letter and box Shaoke handed him, Mage Roland bid farewell. "I need to rest for a while. Will you accompany me to the tavern tonight? Will that interfere with your plans?"

"Not at all. I'll wait for you here. We should celebrate your luck, shouldn't we? So many mages died, but you returned completely unharmed." Shaoke handed Mage Roland some auxiliary drugs and reiterated, "You are very lucky. For your safe return, we must celebrate."

That night, after celebrating Mage Roland's safe return with the female mage, Shaoke's life returned to normal. After several days of research, he also figured out some of the cloak's functions.

So far, he could only recognize and activate one second-tier defensive spell, one first-tier 'Blessing Spell,' and another first-tier spell similar to the zero-level spell 'Mist's Attachment' called 'Shadow Shelter.' However, the concealment formed by this spell was black, and when stationary at night, it was easily overlooked by the naked eye. Moreover, the concentration-enhancing effect attached to this spell was three to five times better than that of 'Mist's Attachment.' Of course, the most practical spell, 'Spellcasting Concentration,' was also embedded in the cloak by its creator.

Although he still didn't understand what the remaining few spell arrays represented, the already activated spells excited Shaoke. Based on the complex spell array structures on the cloak, he estimated that the remaining arrays likely belonged to third-tier spells. It was just that his knowledge and strength hadn't reached the required level to activate them yet.

One day, just after Shaoke had replied to Francis Wodun's letter, a mage delivered a message: "Mage Xueye, this is a new order from the military department. Please be sure to follow the instructions on it." Saying this, he took one from the many vertically placed scrolls in his pouch and handed it to him, then bid farewell to deliver messages to other mages.

Untying the black velvet cord, Shaoke slowly unrolled the scroll and spread it on the writing desk, carefully reading its contents. Just as Shaoke had initially thought, he was about to enter the battlefield again. However, this time the military department had issued the new order to the mages in written form, without gathering them in the large hall.

Through the tracing of a Gesture, mana slowly flowed into the Spell Structure formed by mental power. Finally, when the gesture and incantation ended simultaneously, the structure floating in the air quickly transformed into a seal the size of a fist. Then, guided by Shaoke's mental power, the seal-shaped spell slowly merged into the scroll sent by the military department. After emitting a soft white glow, a seal distinctly appeared on the paper. Its shape was almost identical to the spell seal Shaoke had released. Looking at the lines and special characters floating on the seal, Shaoke confirmed that this message was indeed issued by the military department.

Finding out that the departure was scheduled for the next day, Shaoke decided to go to the tavern that night to find Mage Roman. He believed she would definitely be there drinking! Afterward, he still used the black velvet cord to wrap the scroll, found a spacious wooden box to store it in, and kept it for potential future use.

When going to the tavern with Mage Roland that evening, Shaoke asked if he had received the notification. Mage Roland replied, "No, Mage Xueye. Perhaps it's because I just returned from the front lines. This time, I didn't receive any notification from the military department, but I feel the day I return to the battlefield is approaching."

Shaoke nodded, agreeing with his companion's view. So the two conversed as they slowly made their way to the tavern. There, they both had someone waiting for them.

Watching Mage Roland leave with a female mage, Shaoke smiled at Mage Roman across from him and said, "That female mage is quite good, huh? At least she seems that way."

Mage Roman gently kicked Shaoke's calf and whispered, "What? Do you like her too?" Then she kicked him again more forcefully, as if warning him.

Shaoke awkwardly laughed and explained, "No, I just think that female mage and Mage Roland are a good match, that's why I said that. Right now, I only want to advance to the third tier as soon as possible." After saying this, he noticed the female mage's expression became somewhat unnatural, but she quickly regained her earlier smile.

To escape the awkwardness, he quickly shifted the topic to the main purpose of his visit. As Shaoke spoke, he observed the expression on the female mage's face. Seeing her look of understanding, he knew she had already received the news this time and understood that this mission was quite normal.

"Don't worry, Mage Xueye. This battle doesn't involve those special Third-tier Mages. For us, it should be relatively easy—at least the casualties won't be as high, and we won't have to worry about being wiped out by a single spell from the enemy." Mage Roman gently peeled a fruit, placed it in her small mouth, and chewed it carefully.

"Can those mysterious Third-tier Mages defeat you with a single spell?" Shaoke looked at the female mage with some surprise. Although he felt those mages were very strong, he never imagined they could easily defeat someone of the same tier with just one spell.