Arcane Journey

Chapter 238 Crisis Comes
Brian, who returned to the wizard's tower, locked himself in the study directly.

Recalling what was about to happen next, he immediately called up his attribute bar, preparing to squander the experience points he had accumulated for nearly four months.

Four months seems to be a long time, but for Brian, it even feels that the time has passed too fast. There are still many things that have not been done at the moment, so they pass away silently.

His original plan was to raise himself to the experience points of the legendary realm and accumulate them first.

In this way, as long as one comprehends the legendary profound meaning, one can raise one's arcanist level to the legendary realm at any time.

However, after two days of trying, he suddenly realized that it was not as easy as he imagined to collect millions of experience points as quickly as possible.

First of all, although there are many monsters in the material world that can be used to gain experience, he himself knows many places, but even with the assistance of teleportation spells, most of his time will be wasted on the road.

Of course, this is not the best choice right now.

Then there are the vast four elemental planes and the etheric plane, where he doesn't have to worry about finding monsters at all, as long as you have a good appetite, you can open your brush.

However, many things are difficult only after trying.

He originally used wind mephits on a floating mountain range in the elemental plane of wind. Who would have thought that with the death of a large number of mephits, he only had less than 10 experience, which would arouse the anger of many legendary creatures on the elemental plane? Pay attention, let him have to choose to escape as soon as possible.

After all, the elemental plane is no better than the material plane. Some powerful beings can kill him instantly with just one thought, and he must not take this risk.

So he directly gave up the plan of the elemental plane.

As for things like the Bottomless Abyss and Bator Hell, he didn't even dare to think about it. Just a group of demon lords offended in the Bottomless Abyss could make him die instantly without a burial.

If he went to Bator Hell with less than legendary strength, and wanted to quickly accumulate experience, it meant that he had to kill a lot of devil creatures.

Undoubtedly, in the highly hierarchical Baator Hell, anyone who saw a large number of soldiers under his command would pay attention and investigate to the end.

After considering these problems, Brian secretly made up his mind that if his strength was not in the legendary realm, he would never go to other lower or inner planes to gain a lot of experience.

In the past four months, he could only carefully slaughter some spirit beetles, spirit predators and other creatures around the demiplane without attracting attention, and search for experience points.

After all, his demiplane is an extremely special world, and if some existence on the ether plane notices it, the consequences will be difficult to estimate.

Moreover, in this case, one's own strength can also be gradually improved in a circular manner.

Hellist once reminded him that if he claimed that his strength improved too quickly, he might be stuck on the threshold of the legendary realm for a long time.

This is like although he has a large appetite and can eat a lot of things, but in the process of digestion, it is very likely that he will have a bad stomach due to indigestion.

Therefore, he finally chose to digest the knowledge he had mastered first, and he must not act too hastily because of this, causing him to be stuck on the threshold of the legendary realm.

He didn't think about it anymore, and immediately started to improve his professional level.

"Upgrade the Arcanist level!"

"Consume 364000 experience points."

"The Arcanist level has been raised to level 5!"

"Gain arcane energy: 42 points!"

"Acquire the professional feature of the Arcanist: Arcane Sequence!"

"The level of the arcane fire has been raised to level 8, and it has obtained the authority to cast spells with the 8th ring off-network."

"Acquires arcane trait: arcane surge."

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"Increase Psion level!"

"Consume 182000 experience points."

"Psion level increased to level 14!"

"Acquired power points: 23 points, extra power points: 4 points."

"Obtain the professional characteristic of the soul creation department: astral master!"

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Seeing that he had obtained the occupational characteristics he wanted, Brian immediately checked the attribute column:

[Arcane Sequence (occupational characteristic): Arcanists' understanding of spells has surpassed that of mortals. They understand the mysteries of spells better than other spellcasters. This understanding allows them to manipulate spells more skillfully in essence. .

Effect: The arcanist can choose 1 to 5 other spells of 1st to 5th level. The number of spells is determined by the arcanist himself. Although it cannot exceed the maximum amount, the spells can be of the same level or even the same, for example: 5 fireballs, the number of uses of this feature is equal to the arcanist's own intelligence adjustment value.Remarks: Legendary Arcane Sequence Pre-Abilities. 】

…………

Seeing this ability, Brian couldn't sit still.

This made him suddenly realize that he was going further and further on the path of the fort mage.

Although this professional characteristic can only store five-ring spells at most, as long as he can prepare them in advance, he can cast them instantly, which is more convenient than the magic wand used by spellcasters to store spells.

Moreover, the magic wands of the casters are disposable items, and the price of making them is extremely expensive, and the number of uses of the "Arcane Sequence" is based on the intelligence adjustment value. With his intelligence attribute of 25 points, he can use at least 7 magic wands every day. Second-rate.

That is to say, if he has enough arcane energy, combined with the three abilities of "magic rapid fire", "arcane twin" and "arcane weaving", he can instantly pour out his spells at the most terrifying speed .

This kind of terrifying attack, as long as it doesn't encounter absolute immunity or the protective barrier of divine energy, even the legendary caster will probably feel overwhelmed if they are caught off guard.

Bryan then looked at the characteristics obtained after the promotion of Austrian fire.

Arcane Surge: After this ability is activated, at the cost of consuming an additional 30% of arcane energy each time a spell is released, an additional 50% of the cast speed of the spell is increased.

Undoubtedly, for Brian, this is another skill of a fort mage, which reminds him of the calm fireball technique.

Fireball is a third-ring spell, and with his current casting speed, after turning on "Arcane Surge", he can do instant fireball.

This is undoubtedly a pretty good promotion for him.

In the past four months of research and thinking, Brian has long formulated a set of combat plans that best suit him based on his own professional characteristics and abilities.

His main tactic is to bombard and kill the enemy with the most violent and gorgeous attack methods with sufficient arcane energy and burst.

And his psion ability acts as an auxiliary means of increasing arcane damage and controlling enemies.

After all, no matter how gorgeous a spell is, it needs damage to determine the outcome. He might as well just bombard him with violence.

Then, he looked at the professional characteristics obtained after the level of psion was raised.

[Astral Master (professional characteristics): As a psion in the field of creation, you understand the function and mystery of astral energy better than any other field of psion. You can obtain astral energy at a faster speed in the astral world, and use it in countless ways.

Effect: This ability can increase the effect of any creation-type abilities released by psions who are proficient in the field of creation by 20%, and the overall defense and recovery speed of astral constructs and psicrystals will increase by 30%. 】

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Seeing this ability, Brian nodded in satisfaction. With the improvement of the level of Psion, he finally obtained a more practical skill for him.

This ability is very good whether it is the improvement of the creation system ability or the astral construct, and he is proficient in the creation system ability such as crystal thorns, mass ectoplasmic cocoon and crystallization, etc. It's all about controlling the enemy.

After leveling up, Brian leaned back in his chair and began to adapt to the changes brought about by the improvement of various abilities.

In four months, although his strength has not been greatly improved, the development of the wizard tower has become almost perfect with the help of Ms. Polaris.

Not only does he have a magic network control system controlled by two tower spirits at the same time, he makes reasonable arrangements for the wizards and protection of the entire wizard tower, and even the long-awaited magic pulse gun has been produced.

At this moment, with the legendary bio-energy nuclear fusion golem and the magic pulse cannon, these two big killers, as long as the internal system of the wizard tower is not breached, he has the confidence to face any invading enemy.

Then, without wasting any time, he took out a blank scroll and began to think about the enemies he was likely to face next and how to deal with them.

In this way, time passed unknowingly in Brian's frowning and frowning writing.

After a while, there was a buzzing sound, and the light of the teleportation circle emerged.

Brian raised his head and saw Myrcella, the female lord of Araby City, wearing a simple mage robe, walking gracefully out of the gradually dissipating magic circle.

"How's the situation on the demiplane?" He rubbed his sore and stiff neck and asked.

Since the successful fusion of the demiplanes, he transferred the authority to Myrcella, asking her to assist the water fairy Sylvari in her development.

Facts have proved that it is a very wise choice to entrust this task to the legendary super magician.

In today's demiplane, the number of magic hubs that spellcasters can connect to has doubled from the original 5 to 10.

The reason for this is mainly because Myrcella made three paragons reach the fourth-order strength, and her most trusted subordinates of the battle mage established a link with the demiplane.

It was only then that Brian realized that the stronger the spellcaster linked to the half-plane, the faster the growth of the half-plane would be accelerated.

This is the same as the roots of plants. The stronger the roots, the faster they can absorb nutrients.

Even his two apprentices were successfully connected, and under the guidance of Myrcella, they mastered the construction and storage of spell models.

"Everything is normal." Myrcella flicked the long hair hanging down her cheeks, showing a gentle smile, "I have already arranged the hidden magic circle of the demiplane, as long as it is not a true god or a godlike one, there will be absolutely no existence that can Find out where it is."

"In that case, I'm relieved for the time being." Brian breathed a sigh of relief, and pushed the books in front of him aside.

"Of course, if we have the knowledge of the mystic that works on the demiplane." The female lord said: "We can even avoid any existence that tries to detect the location."

"Mystic knowledge?" Brian frowned and said, "Leave it to me. If there is a chance, I will go to Silvermoon City myself."

The so-called opportunity in his mouth is to wait for Hellist.

However, according to the information he found out, since Helisite separated from him half a year ago, there has been no news about her. Even in the Northern Alliance, it seems that the world has evaporated.

Recalling what the other party had confessed to him, he could only choose to wait patiently.

"Bryan, if you have nothing to do now, can you take me around?" Myrcella thought for a while, interrupted Bryan's thoughts, and said with a smile:
"I can feel the order and harmony of Mokou Town. It can be seen that it has completely become a qualified town. Until now, I haven't visited it carefully."

"No problem." Brian was startled, then stood up and picked up a coat from the hanger.

He really did not expect that the female lord of Araby City would make such a request.

The exhaustion brought about by long thinking made him also feel that it was necessary for him to go out for some exercise and relax.

So the two walked down the long, winding staircase down the tower.

The weather outside was surprisingly clear and bright, and the guards saluted Brian, who nodded to them and a lieutenant on horseback, while the female lord watched all this with interest.

"Over there is the fortress of Mokou Town, the former rock bunker." Brian said.

On the right side of their direction of travel, there is a training area, where some soldiers from Mokou Town are 'fighting' against the training dummies, and the sound of 'bang bang' intersecting swords and wood is repeated one after another.

On their left, the young recruits were fighting with their swords, the sound of metal clashing mixed with the command of the commander.

The invited priests and apprentices from the Temple of Knowledge watched carefully, ready to replace or treat the wounded with divine magic.

"It looks... quite martial." The female lord observed everything with great interest.

"There is no way. On one side of us are the perilous open sea swamp and the Horn of Storm Mountains, while on the other side is the endless desert." Brian continued to walk forward as he said, getting farther and farther away from the soldiers just now.

"There are many dangers that we need to face."

"That's true." Myrcella agreed, "In addition to facing the militarized City of Shadows, more dangers come from the wilderness and the orcs."

"Stop!" At this moment, a voice shouted sharply.

A few guards came over with swords and tomahawks. The female lord stopped and stood aside, looking at Brian curiously.

Bryan looked at the running guards, who immediately recognized him, put away their weapons, and bowed in salute, while one of the gray-haired, unshaven men stood at attention more seriously.

"I'm very sorry, my lord." He said, "I was not informed that you and your guests will pass by here. Do you need me to arrange a guard?"

"No need." Brian greeted with a smile, "Thank you, Captain Moen, thank you for your kindness. In our own territory, I'm afraid no one can hurt me yet."

The serious captain saluted respectfully again, and then led the soldiers away.

When they left, the thoughtful female lord suddenly said in a completely serious tone: "Brian, I suddenly felt that although I am stronger than you, among the two of us, I am the most powerful." The one in danger."

"If that's the case, then I'll come and save you," Brian joked.

"Save? Yes..."

Myrcella sighed and said calmly, "I didn't know until now that you have been doing this since you asked Hesaiah to deliver the first letter to me."

"I'm helping you." Brian looked at her, recalling the things in the game, frowned slightly, and changed his words in the same serious tone, "I'm not saving you."

"I am a super-magician who is proficient in the School of Prophecy." She said with a little dignity:

"I can feel that, in a sense, you are saving me, the kingdom of Cormyr. Yes, in fact, I am the same as you, and I really want to protect this kingdom and give stability to its people. "

"Is it the same as when you protected Araby City?" Brian suddenly realized something and asked.

"Yes." Myrcella looked sad, "Unfortunately, although I rebuilt the city of Araby, I didn't protect it well. I hid in the mage tower and saw my home with my own eyes. People were dying one after another, and there was nothing I could do about it."

"As far as I know, the situation at that time was beyond your control." Brian tentatively comforted him. He didn't know why the female lord suddenly mentioned these things.

"You are at the juncture of stepping into the legendary realm. The incarnation of Bane, the god of tyranny, just arrived. In fact, I really admire your reason at the time, and when you successfully advanced, you rushed out immediately."

"But I couldn't do anything." She sighed. "I couldn't prevent the disaster from happening."

"No, in my opinion, you've accomplished a lot." Bryan narrowed the distance between the two.

"You joined forces with the priests of the Temple of Timora to expel Bane's incarnation. It is precisely because of this turning point that the remaining army can regain their courage and drive away the enemies who ravaged the city of Araby. It is really hard for me to imagine that you How to accept this fate at that time, and sustain it until now.”

"Because everyone has their own destiny, it seems that the destiny of the priestess who guards the temple of Timora is to sacrifice her divine power in exchange for victory against the god of tyranny."

She showed a bit of a bitter smile, "I know, it happened and it shouldn't have been mentioned, but every time I think about it, it's still... so uncomfortable, watching the people of Araby City look hopefully at the Mage Tower My heart fell to the bottom, and..."

"Did it mean that even your own hopes were almost shattered at that time?" Brian asked calmly.

"You...you are not as old as me." Myrcella glanced at him in surprise, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Why can you see it so clearly."

"You can think so." The two walked side by side until they came to a cobblestone path, "because I have stumbled on the same thing."

"Then why did you appear here, Brian?" Myrcella suddenly asked bluntly, and raised her beautiful slender eyebrows in doubt.

"Even I have to admit that you are really a gifted arcanist. Why didn't you stay in Harua, but stayed here alone, between the desert and the swamp? Between the Kingdom of Mir?"

"Because someone has to stand here." Brian gave an ambiguous answer.

When he said these words, he couldn't help recalling the scene of Grand Arcanist Opus's departure, and the last words of another Elder Nether that he had seen in the small world where he was born. .

"Really?" The female lord frowned and stopped, looking at him as if I didn't believe it.

"Of course." Brian replied calmly, "Just like you once swore to never set foot in the city of Suzal."

The words were like knives, causing Myrcella's silver-gray eyes to show a hurt look.

Realizing that I said something wrong, I quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant."

"Is this what Hesaiah told you, or... Forget it, it doesn't matter anymore." Myrcella asked sincerely, "Then, what exactly do you want to express?"

Brian looked at her wordlessly, unable to make out a single thread in his mind, and then for some reason, the words suddenly popped out by themselves.

"I am a remnant of the Netheril Empire, just like you are a Cormyr. Each of us has a different mission. Your mission is to protect the Kingdom of Cormyr, and my mission is to reproduce the Arcane Empire. brilliance, that's all."

The hurt look dissipated from the female lord's friendly face. She raised a hand, stroked her long brown hair, and sighed:

"Yeah, my mission is to protect the Kingdom of Cormyr, but they don't listen. At the beginning, no one wanted to listen to my thoughts. My father was like this, so was my king, and my uncle was even more like this. I feel that I It was like standing on the edge of a cliff, and every word I said was blown away by the howling wind. Whatever I did, whatever I said, ended up being meaningless. Everything I did was meaningless. My existence...is also meaningless."

Brian glanced at the female lord next to him with a wry smile, and suddenly realized that the female lord who had always given him an incomparable sense of self-confidence had actually taken himself as the object of his grievances.

Sure enough, everyone has an unknown side.

"Then, we are really sympathetic, Miss Myrcella Lauer." Brian gave her a look of approval, "Actually, I am also afraid of being useless, afraid of becoming isolated and helpless, and afraid that everything I do will be useless." significance."

"But one thing is very clear to me: everything has a rhythm, a cycle, and nothing remains the same, not even the near-immortal and great gods. And how much will we mortals change in the face of time? Once, you were a student of Sandra Cotter, the chief mage of the royal family. You were a super-spellcaster who was eager to read a lot and hone your magic skills. Then the world changed and drove you out of your comfort zone, and you changed because of it Yes. You survived, and even excelled in the field of diplomacy. You faced many challenges, you had many confusions, but this is your responsibility. This world..."

He shook his head emotionally, then looked to the sky.

"The world isn't what it used to be. Everything and everyone isn't what it used to be. Come, let me show you something."

He raised his hands, let his slender and nimble fingers swing, the light of arcane energy appeared at his fingertips, and then slowly condensed into a small spinning ball, suspended in front of the two of them.

"Watch," he said.

Myrcella stared intently at the ball of arcane magic.

When Bryan touched it, the sphere shattered, only to reassemble in a second, only looking slightly different.

"This... has a pattern on it!" Myrcella said in amazement.

"Keep reading," Brian said.

Then he touched the ball again, followed by a third.

With each touch, the pattern of the sphere becomes more distinct.

For a moment, the joyful and confused Myrcella even suspected that what she was looking at was a blueprint rather than a sphere of arcane energy.

Symbols, signs and numbers are mixed together in a whirl, and then arranged and formed according to certain rules.

"This is... so beautiful," she murmured.

Brian spread his fingers and reached through the ball.

The small balls shattered like mist being blown away, but immediately reassembled in another arrangement.

It is like a Kit Kat magic kaleidoscope, with infinite changes but precise patterns and rules.

"Do you understand now?" he asked.

Myrcella, on the other hand, stared at those exquisite patterns as if she had been hypnotized, watching them form, shatter, and reassemble again and again.

"This...is not just a spell," Myrcella said.

He nodded. "This is the essence of arcane magic."

For a while, she couldn't follow his train of thought.

Spells have complex incantations, gestures, and sometimes require casting materials... Then suddenly, she had an epiphany like enlightenment, and she was so shocked that she even staggered her steps.

"It's... mathematics!"

"Equations, theorems, and rules." Brian happily shared his new research results combined with the knowledge of Nether Scrolls:
"When they are arranged in a certain way, they are one thing, but in another arrangement, they become something else entirely. It is like our life, which is destined but full of changes. Everything Everything is changing, whether it is due to internal or external factors. Sometimes a very small change can affect the final result."

"And our existence...is also a kind of magic." Myrcella whispered.

Reluctantly, she withdrew her gaze from this wonderful rotating sphere made of mathematical beauty, and a new question was brewing in her mind.

"Lord Lord!"

The shout startled them both, and they turned around to see Captain Moen galloping on a chestnut horse.

He jerked the rein, and the steed neighed, clenching its bit, and then stood up in the air, then stopped.

"My lord, our scouts have brought back the latest news."

Although the distance was short, they came at a fast pace. The captain continued panting, "An ancient red dragon... flew from the direction of the Sunset Mountains, and the target is Mokou Town!"

"The visitor is not kind." Brian frowned slightly, glanced at the wizard tower where he was waiting in full force, and calmly said to the female lord beside him:

"The orcs from the Horn of the Storm and the people from the City of Shadows may also be waiting for the opportunity. You go back to Araby City first, and I will deal with it here."

"Damn! At this time..."

Myrcella took a deep breath, one moment she was still encouraged by the wonderful knowledge shared by Brian, and the next moment she was heartbroken by the news.

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(End of this chapter)