Chapter 309 Obtaining the Fallen Horn

"This is not an ordinary magic item." The mage who had just received the golden horn exclaimed in surprise, revealing her answer with a small, open mouth. "The Fallen Horn! If I am not mistaken, this horn belongs to a branch of the Fallen Horn." Having said that, Female Mage Roman abruptly turned her head to look at the White-robed Cleric beside her, worried that she might inadvertently reveal what she had just blurted out.

The Cleric quickly understood why Mage Roman was looking at her, and hastily went up to Female Mage Roman, explaining in a low voice. After that, Roman’s expression improved slightly. However, she did not continue the conversation. Instead, she signaled Shaoke to leave first, promising to give him a detailed explanation after he returned.

Female Mage Roman’s suggestion met with Shaoke’s agreement. Finally, Shaoke instructed the mages in the manor to keep an eye on the surroundings before heading toward the small manor where the gathering was taking place. The roads were in terrible shape—some cracks were over a meter deep, many buildings had collapsed, and ordinary residents were sorting through their belongings or gathering broken materials in preparation for reconstruction.

After instructing the patrolling mages to step up their vigilance, Shaoke activated his support spells and quickly made his way toward the small manor.

Due to the poor road conditions, it took Shaoke nearly one and a half magic hours to reach the meeting point. By then, he was the only one who had arrived early. However, the Eighth Tier Female Mage was already seated in the hall, resting with her eyes closed. Shaoke greeted her with a bow, then found a seat and began to reflect on the high-level spell fluctuations he had just sensed.

After an unknown period of time, a peculiar magical fluctuation jolted Shaoke out of his contemplation. This fluctuation emanated from the Eighth Tier Female Mage nearby. Seeing that he had awakened, she gave a slight nod, then stood up and gestured for everyone to listen.

"I want you all to gather enough professionals by tomorrow morning and assemble outside the city. There are tasks that need to be done there." She then took out a map, pointing to a specific location—the border between the Fallen Capital and the Desasi Empire.

The mage then explained the main objectives of the mission, along with other tasks related to restoring control within the city.

Finally, after discussing some matters concerning the Fallen Capital, she dismissed them. However, after the others left, she kept Shaoke behind to thank him. Thanks to the White-robed Cleric from Shaoke’s organization, who had greatly helped her, she had recovered much faster.

"Honorable Mage, this is what I should do," Shaoke said respectfully, bowing to the Eighth Tier Female Mage. From Roman's spellcasting, he knew that at least Tenth Tier beings had been involved in the recent battle, and the fact that the mage survived such a fight made him deeply admire her. From what he had read, the gap between Eighth Tier and higher-tier beings was enormous. A powerful Ninth Tier being could relatively easily hunt down four or five Eighth Tier beings, let alone facing what might be a Tenth Tier being.

"May I ask about the details of that battle?" Shaoke touched his staff, then bowed again to the Eighth Tier Female Mage, waiting quietly for her answer.

"It was just a few people fighting over an ancient relic site," the Blue-robed Female Mage hesitated for a moment before telling Shaoke the specific reason for the battle. She then added, "They also hunted down an avatar of a god." As she said this, the mage's lips curled slightly, clearly proud of her participation in that battle.

"An avatar of a god?" Shaoke stared at the Blue-robed Female Mage in surprise. From his readings and his past life's conjectures, he had always believed that gods were extremely powerful. The fact that a group of Eighth Tier beings could hunt down an avatar in such a short time was astonishing.

"We didn't kill it ourselves; we just participated," the mage hesitated, stroking her new staff. "As soon as that god appeared, even higher-tier beings came to slay it. More than a dozen Twelfth Tier existences!" As she spoke, a look of envy appeared on her face. The appearance of such powerful beings excited her, giving her more motivation to advance. Only by becoming a higher-tier being could she hope to fully join in the hunting of gods. Of course, she did not explain this to Shaoke.

After that, Shaoke asked the mage a few more questions of his own and then left. He could tell that the mage was growing impatient. If not for the help that the White-robed Cleric had given her, the mage would have long since returned to rest. After such a high-level battle, there were still many insights that needed careful review.

Leaving the manor, Shaoke noticed that the streets had improved significantly. Large numbers of low-level professionals had organized ordinary residents to clear debris from the roads and fill in the cracks. Everything was orderly, and there was no looting or robbery. Of course, if this had happened seven or eight years earlier, chaos would have been immeasurably worse.

The streets around Shaoke's manor had already been repaired. Carts loaded with waste were heading out of town, and some merchants had begun setting up their stalls, though business was slow. Still, Shaoke could sense the merchants' relief.

Only a few mages remained in the manor—mainly Sixth Tier Mages. The others had been sent out on patrol by Shaoke's orders. At the stone tower used for trading, a few people had come to exchange goods. Most of them were merchants who had suffered losses for various reasons and had to bring out their treasured magic materials to exchange for coins from Shaoke, since his was the only place that accepted such materials without restriction.

After a brief inspection of the manor's condition, Shaoke went directly to Roman's room. Roman was studying the golden horn and had not gone with the other mages to study the energy structure of that large laboratory.

"It must be the Fallen Horn," Roman said once she had greeted Shaoke, eagerly repeating her answer. "I remember there is a record of this horn in my family's books." At Shaoke's request, she explained the horn's origin and function in detail. This was based on what the Roman Family had learned, though it was not comprehensive.

According to the Roman family records, the horn was made from the horn of a beast even older than the Primeval Age. By using certain arcane secrets, the holder could draw an unlimited amount of energy from it, provided the holder stored the energy into it beforehand. Otherwise, it had no effect. The horn also had other functions, but the Roman family's books offered no further details. Even so, what Roman knew already excited Shaoke.

"What you need to do now is drive out the aura energy on this horn and then infuse it with your spirit and magic power. I think that will make you much safer," Roman said softly, stroking the golden horn before handing it to Shaoke.

"I think you should study it for a while first," Shaoke refused, shaking his head as he pointed to the horn's patterns and strange script. "I believe your family's books must have some records of these things, right?" He waited for Roman's response.

"No," Roman shook her head without hesitation, rubbing her slightly puffy eyes. "It is said that no one can read these words. According to the scholars of my family, these words were the common language of all kinds of magical beasts and humans in that era." She frowned. "Strangely, these words grew naturally on the horn. Others have no way to replicate them." She then forced the horn into Shaoke's hands.

Faced with Roman's insistence, Shaoke had no choice but to accept it. In truth, he was also eager to study the horn, as Roman had said that possessing it would greatly increase his chances of survival in battle. However, Roman also warned him not to use it too freely, as many high-tier beings had fought over such horns in the past. In her own family, they had once mobilized a large force to attack a major house just to obtain a similar horn.

Taking her warning to heart, Shaoke did not immediately try to cleanse the horn. Instead, he returned to his room and carefully recorded the answers he had obtained from the Eighth Tier Female Mage. This work lasted until dawn.

After breakfast, Shaoke led all the Sixth Tier Mages to the meeting point designated by the Eighth Tier Female Mage. The Fifth Tier Mages could not endure the lingering magical fluctuations there, as the mage had informed them the previous day.