MM Racing Page 160
Page 160
The next morning, as you watched Gan Gan and the dog happily resume their journey at the town gate, you sighed and said:
"After teaching her the complete Whirlwind Hammer technique, she gained some ability to protect herself. Add to that her incredible luck, and hopefully she's alright."
[Although there were some twists and turns along the way, your annual mission is now marked as completed. You glance back at Silverway Town, which has been largely rebuilt overnight, and guess that the results of the Magic Network missions are probably not entirely determined by AI; there is likely some element of human review involved. You just don't know whether this human review was outsourced to humans.]
"Even brief encounters must come to an end, but we will meet again under the guidance of the God of Light." Jennifer led the hawk-horse to your side and asked with a smile:
"Do I sound like a pope at all when I talk like this?"
You recalled the unmysterious appearance of the Pope of the Church of Light, your eye twitched slightly, and you said, "In terms of charlatanism, you've far surpassed the Pope..."
"That's because you haven't seen the Pope in his normal state," Jennifer shook her head and said, "He spends a lot of time alone with the statue of the God of Light. Sometimes he seems even more NEET than a homebody like me, acting all mysterious and furtive, not like he's acting."
"Don't treat idols like two-dimensional figurines, you guys! Even if the God of Light agrees, this is still incredibly blasphemous!" you complained, scratching your head. You glanced at Jennifer, who was instinctively holding her waist, and asked, "Speaking of which, are you alright?"
"Absolutely no problem!" Jennifer exclaimed, her eyes wide, then cried out in pain, gasped for breath, and gritted her teeth as she said:
"Damn it, damn it... Who goes through a whole night of fighting a boss right after starting out... and then lied to me and said the difficulty was lowered!"
"I let you complete the game three times, it just took a little longer to whittle down your health..." You guiltily looked away.
"Aaaaah!" Jennifer gripped your shoulder fiercely, her voice filled with hatred. "Let's forget about what happened before. In the final battle, I used my riding combo for five minutes and only managed to take off a sliver of your health. How am I supposed to win?!"
You chuckled dryly, just about to make up some reasons to encourage her, when suddenly you saw an unexpected figure at the town gate and froze.
"Hey, young man, you're in good spirits." Norrige, leaning on her cane, squinted at the desolate scenery outside town like any other middle-aged woman, and said:
"It's been so long since I've been out; I didn't expect it to be like this outside."
"Uh, Lord Norrige, are you planning to go out?" you asked curiously.
"I didn't bring any luggage. How could you possibly guess that I'm a fifties-old woman with mobility issues?" Norrige shook her head and said.
"It's just a surge of emotion. I haven't made up my mind yet. Firstly, the reconstruction of Silverpath Town will take some time, and as the town's only mage, I can't just leave like that. Secondly, seeing Tower Castle again brought my consciousness back to the present moment, and I realized that so many years have passed. I want to see the outside world, but I also feel a little... a little embarrassed."
You looked at Norrie, who was laughing self-deprecatingly at the end, scratched your head, and didn't know what to say. You just guessed that she probably had some unresolved issues of her own.
"Bye-bye." Norrige waved and began to stagger back, saying, "Take good care of Silvermoon...Miss Silvershur."
[Watching her retreating figure, you suddenly seemed to remember something and asked the guards around you. After receiving an affirmative answer, you muttered in a sarcastic tone, "So you've been the town's guardian mage and teacher of magic for twenty years, and you haven't taken a single penny? The salary Teacher Yin gave you in the end was way too heavy..."]
Shaking your head, you then notice a disheveled red-robed mage staggering towards the city gate, being held hostage by a burly mage.
"If I weren't so proud and couldn't find any teammates, do you think I would have come here to find you? And this is what you show me?" the burly mage grumbled.
"Why did you call a battle mage like me here for a material gathering task? I need to find suitable combat opponents for beginner and intermediate-level mages through the magic network's assessment, to hone my supreme combat skills, do you understand?!"
Musk, dressed in a red robe, said with a smile, "Oh, Jesston, look, this has directly helped you complete your annual mission. You can go into battle anytime you want, but let's focus on completing the annual mission first..."
[Musk hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly noticed that Jeston had made eye contact with him. He chuckled twice and quickly said, "Jesston, this is the hero who was rumored to have saved this town, the one I was complaining about to you about earlier... I mean, the one I formally introduced to you earlier..."]
"Oh." Jeston interrupted Musk nonchalantly, glancing at your muscular chest and the third-year badge of the Green Ivy Academy pinned to your chest. He gave a cold laugh and, with a sudden burst of strength, performed a dramatic "clothes rip" right in front of you. Then, he provocatively flexed his biceps and said:
"I heard you're very strong? You're the protagonist of the 'Invincible at the Third Ring Level, Number One Mid-Rank Mage' story that was all the rage at school, right? Heh... I've always had a slight doubt about whether you're really stronger than me..."
Half a minute later, you looked at Jeston, who had collapsed to his knees after your three punches, with a bewildered expression, and muttered, "I gave you a chance, but you still couldn't do it!"
"Damn it..." Jeston collapsed to the ground with a thud, foaming at the mouth, and said, "Aren't you... a mage?..."
"You didn't call it a magic duel, did you?" You scratched your head, looking at the instantly unconscious Jeston, then glanced at Musk, who was smirking beside you, and said, "Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
"Take care!" Musk bowed and scraped, then dragged Jeston back into the city.
"The sadness of parting suddenly turned into a faint silence..." You snapped out of your reverie, looked at Jennifer waiting beside you, grinned, and together you mounted your horse and rode away.
On the road, you see in the distance the lush greenery atop the ancient trees bathed in morning light. Under the sunlight, it resembles a flowing tide composed of fine threads, appearing fuzzy and giving you a strangely pleasant, itchy feeling.
"Ah..." Jennifer subconsciously loosened the reins, letting the harpoon slow down. She breathed softly, as if the slightest exertion would shatter this illusion, and whispered:
"This is actually true..."
"Of course it's true!" you laugh, giving the horse's rump a hard slap. Amid her startled cry, you both spur your horses and gallop away towards the lush, ancient trees bathed in morning light.
The morning light spreading across the branches of flowers, like a warm greeting from the Forest Territory, entered the wilderness of the Mountain Wasteland from both the ground and the sky.
As evening fell, you successfully returned to Lundia via the teleportation array in Code Rock City. Having spent so much time in the Wilderness Territory, seeing this magnificent golden hall for the first time in a long while, you felt a bit like a country bumpkin in a city.
After parting ways with Jennifer, you walk out of the Golden Hall and look through the emanating magic clouds on the spire walls at the tallest mage tower in the outer city.
Beside the rose bushes that had climbed to the top of the tower, a magical floating lamp cast a soft glow on the book open in the half-elf's hands. She sipped her tea, then suddenly paused, as if sensing something, quickly placing her teacup on the vines guarding the plant, and stood up.
Your gazes met amidst the misty, magical clouds. Though you couldn't see each other clearly, you both smiled simultaneously.
"I'm back," you whispered, waving enthusiastically.
"You must be tired from your journey. Welcome home." Ateliers smiled and nodded, then gently patted her chest in a curtsy.
Late at night, you shared your travel experiences with the girls led by the mage, eliciting a burst of exclamations. Whether it was the Ancient Tree of Dawn, the Underworld, or the Dwarven Tower, everything astonished them. Even the well-traveled half-elf couldn't help but gaze at your face, listening intently with a soft laugh.
"...Then the dwarf king confidently declared that sooner or later young dwarves would come to revive his kingdom. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end, I couldn't shatter his illusions." Even late into the night, you still hadn't finished your enthusiastic narration. After recounting this long passage, you gulped down a glass of ale and sighed contentedly:
"When you get tired of Londia in the future, we can still travel together again. I want to handcraft a Jeep. Do you know what a Jeep is? It's..."
The sound of the wooden wine glass falling to the ground suddenly brought you back to your senses. You paused, then looked around. There, you saw a drunken Yashutia slumped on the table; the wine glass had fallen from her hand. The robin, thanks to its excellent biological clock, had long since fallen asleep, lying on its side in the rocking chair, gently swaying with its knees drawn up to its chest. Frico, driven by the health-conscious nature of a corporate slave, had already gone back to its room to rest. Only a quiet half-elf remained, cradling its cheek and watching you.
You and she looked at each other for a few seconds, then you suddenly smiled and said, "I missed you."
Ateliers paused slightly, then smiled and said, "I missed you too."
Your fingers are a little numb. Terms like psychological effects, adrenaline, and bioelectricity silently flash through your mind, but you can't recall a single one. So, following your body's instinct, you scratch your head and ask:
"Ate, how have you been lately?"
"The item shop has started generating revenue, and I've received many requests to design vegetation for other mage towers, but I wanted to get your approval, so I've put those on hold for now." The half-elf picked up the robin from the recliner, and seeing you also carrying Yashutia, she smiled and said softly as she went upstairs:
“Miss Kurosawa has sold some of her alchemical products, but most of them were kept because their effects were too abstract. Principal Fisherman occasionally comes to buy some alchemical products, and we wanted to let you know first, so we asked him to wait a while…”
"The little bird's project is progressing well, but she hasn't recruited any assistants yet, so there are many things that require magic that she can't do. However, thanks to Lord Silvershurst, who comes to tutor her every day for free, her understanding of magic is becoming clearer and clearer... That dragon knight named Tina has visited a few times, and seemed a little disappointed after learning that you weren't here. Lord Lovestone sends letters every now and then describing the progress of his experiments, but I don't know much about it, so I haven't replied yet..."
After you escorted the robin and Yashutia back to the house, you went to the observation deck on the fourth floor and sat down by the dragon egg.
"I mean... what about you? I know things are definitely getting better under your leadership, Arte, but how about you?" you asked, stroking the half-elf's head.
"Eh, me?" The half-elf seemed not to have considered this question carefully. After thinking for a moment, she said:
"My bloodline concentration has increased, as have my affinity with plants and magic elements, but I'm not quite used to this state yet. Sometimes I feel a little disoriented by the forest atmosphere. I'm only a hair's breadth away from the sixth ring of my mage rank. In the high-concentration magic environment of Lundia, it might only take a few days... Ah!"
She felt your sudden bite on her pointed ear, and her whole body trembled. She was about to ask what was wrong when you began to lick her, and she gradually understood.
"It's great, even by my standards, everything is great..." She instinctively leaned into your arms, listening to your heartbeat, her ears drooping slightly as she spoke:
"But without you, everything doesn't seem so good... Or rather, because I've gotten used to the good things when you're around, even if everything is getting better, I feel it could be even better without you..."
Listening to her incoherent reply, you buried your head in her neck and sniffed deeply, then said in a muffled voice:
"Sometimes I feel that Ate is very strong on the outside, but I almost overlook the softness in your heart. Don't worry, Ate, there's nothing we can't do together. If anything happens, you must tell me. Life will definitely get better and better..."
Ateliers blinked her lake-blue eyes, hugged your waist tighter, and nodded vigorously, saying, "Mmm!"
After lingering for a while, you lay back on the observation deck, looking at the night sky, which was blurred by the magic mist, and said:
"Oh, where were we? The Dwarf King, um..."
"The dwarves I remember were indeed quite eccentric!" The half-elf chuckled as he listened to your story. "Although I was young then, I passed through many dwarven fortresses. Their customs were vastly different from ours, but I never expected the two races to have such a good relationship..."
"Indeed..." You shifted your arm to make the half-elf more comfortable, then reached out and, in a very dramatic, almost childish way, clenched your fist, saying:
"Speaking of which, dwarves seem to know absolutely no magic, but their various martial arts are quite diverse and fascinating."
"Yes, dwarves, like us elves, don't really come into contact with the magic network, they..."
The half-elf's voice echoed in your ears, yet a sudden tremor ran through you. Neither dwarves nor elves touched the magic network? You immediately thought of the near-extinction of these two races and were filled with dread.
Could the decline of these two races be related to the magic network?
Chapter 173 As expected, dwarves don't have normal names.
Unfortunately, Ateliers also knew very little about this. She told you that having left the floating islands at a young age and wandered the world, she had never encountered such in-depth knowledge, or rather, she had never witnessed the power struggles behind the scenes among the high-ranking officials of various races.
After chatting for most of the night, you learned that although most elves were old-school mages who used spellbooks, during the heyday of Herod City and when elven culture was prevalent throughout the world, there were also some open-minded young elves who used magic networks.
However, elves are by nature indifferent to worldly affairs, especially as they grow older and their bloodline concentration increases. The younger elves showed little interest in the chaotic magical network environment, and their clan strictly forbade them from uploading any racial spells.
Unable to derive enjoyment from the magic network or utilize its convenience for casting spells, the young elves quickly abandoned their study of this mysterious thing and returned to honing their own racial magic.
[You're starting to wonder about the dwarves' attitude towards the Magic Network. After all, from Ate's words, you haven't yet sensed any reason why the Magic Network would persecute them. It's just a pity you won't be able to see the Dwarf King again anytime soon... Wait, you suddenly remember leaving a bottle of royal wine at the dwarf inn. Truly, you're something else; was this part of your plan?]
After you lulled the half-elf to sleep, you returned to your room, took out a bottle of wine from the dimensional rift, and a small wine glass, intending to... enjoy a little pleasure.
This wine is extremely precious. You carefully pour a small glass, sip it, and let the sweetness and slight astringency of the wine permeate your tongue before swallowing it in one gulp.
Deep within the vast, dark underground palace, the Dwarf King was listlessly dozing when your image suddenly appeared below. Seeing his lethargic state, you were furious. "You're not sleeping, so why should he?" you thought. So you gathered your strength and shouted:
"get up!……"】
Before he could finish speaking, the effect of his royal wine had already ended, and he vanished instantly, leaving behind a dwarf king who had fallen from his throne, feeling as if he had seen a ghost.
Half a minute later, just as he thought it was truly his imagination and was about to return to his dream, you reappeared in the hall, shouting loudly, "Stop living the life of a young master!"
This time, the Dwarf King finally recognized your shape. He was instantly enraged. Recalling how you had interrupted his erotic dream, an urge to curse made the veins on his forehead bulge. But then you disappeared after saying just one sentence, leaving him with nowhere to vent his anger. He could only mutter, "Damn it!"
Suddenly, he noticed that images were beginning to coalesce below the hall, so he quickly steadied himself and began to gather his strength.
"I have a question!..." "I curse your ancestors for eight generations!"
"Dwarves against the magic network..." "If you're so troublesome, why don't you go dig up your ancestral graves!"
"You know about this..." "Are you out of your mind?"
After a brief exchange, you, who were pouring wine, and the dwarf king, who was pondering his next insult, both suddenly paused, their brows furrowing as they thought intently:
"Wait, was he just saying 'I love you'?..."
After calming down for a moment, you shook your head and thought humorously, "Maybe it's just because this is a children's channel that the emulator has a censored version. He might have been saying 'saonima'..."
That's what you said, and you realized that this kind of communication was impossible, so you finally sighed, shook the bottle, muttered "Bottoms up!" and gulped it down in one go.
After a moment of disorientation, you open your eyes, look at the cautious-looking Dwarf King, and laugh, saying, "I'm back again, Dwarf King!"
"Uh, what do you want?" the Dwarf King said warily. "Listen up, you Titans, I will never betray my secrets!"
"?" You looked at him, puzzled. A chill ran through you, and you involuntarily took two steps back. You took a deep breath, casting aside any illusions, and asked:
"Magic Net, Magic Net! That's what I'm asking you, Dwarf King. I raised a tower a couple of days ago, and it's almost devoid of magic energy and magic netting. I'm curious why. Can you tell me?"
"The magic network..." The dwarf king's expression instantly calmed. He paced back and forth a few times with his hands behind his back, then sat down dejectedly on the steps below his throne and sighed.