abnabooks Chapter 138 The Scorpion Lion Without a Mother
Chapter 138 The Scorpion Lion Without a Mother
Chapter 138 The Scorpion Lion Without a Mother
"Gebu! Long time no see! I know you're very happy to see you again, I can see it in the smile on your face."
The goblin's face was scrunched up, his expression like that of someone constipated.
"—I can see your joy." The strange uncle scratched his head, smiled somewhat awkwardly, and then picked up the Book of Sand and casually flipped through a couple of pages.
"That book is mine, give it back to me right now!" Geb said unhappily.
This place is related to the Traveler, so it's not so surprising that the elf uncle appeared. However, Gebu didn't expect him to appear in his meditation world.
The Meditation World is part of the Aetheric Dimension, so is the image of this strange uncle also a projection? Gebu wondered. The physical form of the Book of Sand is not in this dimension, but in the Material Dimension, so the strange uncle shouldn't be able to steal it.
But it's not that absolute; who can say for sure about magic?
"Tsk tsk tsk, who would have thought that the supreme treasure in the [Hoarder's] vault would end up in the hands of a goblin?" the elf said with a hint of sarcasm, raising one eyebrow at the book. "Don't worry, I won't fight you for it. The Lord of Chaos doesn't care about illusory knowledge, much less worldly treasures."
"The Hoarder?" Geb asked suspiciously. "Isn't this book a sacred object of the Church of Obak?"
"Obak? Hah, spare me." The eccentric uncle chuckled contemptuously. "This book is far older than him. All the sacred objects and divine arts of the Obak Holy Church are inherited from what they call the evil god." Even the shape of the holy emblem isn't original—of course, it must be said that these priests' ability to distort narratives is no less than that of the followers of the "Mockery." After more than a thousand years, they themselves have been convinced by their own fabricated lies. What's that saying again? A lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth."
"—You talk about these evil gods as if you know them very well. I thought you only served the 'Traveler'?"
"I know a lot more than you could ever want to know. You'd never finish listening to it all in your lifetime," the elf said, shrugging.
Geb used his wizard's hand to snatch the Book of Sand back from the strange uncle. He did not resist and let the goblin take the book away.
"So, what are you doing here?" Geb asked, putting down his book. "Every time you show up, you always have something to do—but I don't have time right now. Speak quickly if you have something to say, or goodbye."
"Hey, is this how you treat your number one fan?" the creepy uncle laughed. "It's nothing. I just wanted to see your progress. Looks like you'll be a 2nd-ring wizard soon? It's only been less than a month. Impressive progress! At this rate, you'll be a 10th-ring archmage in less than a year."
"Are you kidding me?" Geb retorted. According to the records in "The Method of Meditation," there have only been a handful of 9th-ring wizards in human history, and all of them existed before the Kingdom Calendar, when the Arken Orphan Empire still existed.
In the old Arken Empire's magical system, a 1st-ring wizard was a full-fledged wizard, a 3rd-ring wizard was an advanced wizard, and a 5th-ring wizard...
A ring represents a court wizard, and a 7th ring is equivalent to a senior professor at a magic academy, who can build magic towers.
The 8th ring represents a great sorcerer who establishes a new school of thought, while the 9th ring represents a legendary figure who can change the world's landscape and leave a lasting mark on history—the 10th ring.
Ring 10 is enough to become a god!
This is the old system. Perhaps because a great deal of arcane knowledge was lost in the War of Destruction, a thousand years later, in the new magic academy established in the Golden Sun Red Earth Empire, the ranks of wizards have been drastically compressed. A first-circle formal wizard can serve as a magic officer in a local area, a third-circle wizard can go to the battlefield as a battle mage and receive the treatment of a centurion, and a fifth-circle wizard can be on par with royalty and nobility. Wizards above the fifth circle are extremely rare. They are few and far between in the entire academy.
That Yimingte, I think it's the 7th ring.
"I'm not kidding. The progress you, a goblin, have made in a month is something many humans couldn't achieve in a lifetime."
"Stop flattering me, what's the matter?" Although Geb was stubborn, he was secretly pleased to hear the strange uncle say that. Yeah, I'm no ordinary goblin.
The strange uncle did not answer Gebu directly, but instead looked up at the golden continent on the other side of the curtain in the sky.
Gebu looked up with the elf. The embers of the Kingdom Forest left an amber-colored spot of light on the continent.
"The fire you started is finally going out," the elf murmured. "But the aftermath of this event has only just begun."
"What do you mean? Don't try to pin this on me. Old Vulture is far more responsible than I am."
"Do you know where that manticore came from?" The elf turned his head and looked at the goblin with great interest.
"Uh...could it be that the fire came from inside the mountain?"
"That's right, but that's not what I'm asking."
Huh? What else could it be? — Gebu thought for a moment, "The manticore was born from its mother — Stop keeping me in suspense and tell me quickly."
"You're joking, but that's not right." The strange uncle suddenly said seriously, "The manticore isn't actually born from a manticore mother. Manticores, chimeras, petrifying lizards—these monsters are magical creations."
"Huh??" Geb was completely confused. A magical creation? Shouldn't magical creations look like golems?
"The shorter version is: On this land, humans once pursued the mysteries of magic with such fervor. The wizards of the Arken Orphan Empire conducted many bizarre experiments—including immersing wild beasts in the extremely chaotic and powerful ethereal springs of magical energy, modifying and hybridizing them—the manticore was born at that time. Initially, they were pets for the wizards' curiosity, and later they were used as war beasts in the war against Oubak."
"Unlike wild beasts in nature, such as owl-like creatures, magical monsters cannot reproduce. In other words, every manticore that exists in the world is the last of its kind. Killing one means one less. The vast majority of manticores were killed as remnants of arcane magic during the War of the Spell Extinction and the subsequent witch hunts, leaving only a small number hiding in the deep forests and high mountains."
"It's not as far-fetched as you make it out to be—I've heard stories about manticores too. They are terrifying, but far less formidable than dragons. A team of experienced hunters is more than enough to take down a manticore."
"A magical monster, once it's away from magic, is like a fish out of water. How much strength can it possibly have to struggle?" The strange uncle revealed a sly smile.
Gebu suddenly realized that the manticore had come into contact with the spring in the ruins and was like a fish in water, which was why it had unleashed the full power of the magical monster and was so difficult to deal with!
But how did this beast find this place? Did it just happen to bump into it while wandering around aimlessly?
No, no, no, there's no such thing as a coincidence in this world—there must be something fishy going on.
"Why didn't you say so earlier? Now we're trapped here, what are we going to do?" Gebu asked the elf uncle.
"You found a resonant crystal in these ruins. That thing can neutralize the magic on the manticore and turn it back into a normal beast," the strange uncle said. "However, I think you've investigated enough on your own. You need to charge it with a second-circle spell, so you need to advance your circle—I can help you."
"There's no such thing as a free lunch. By the way, are you going to tell me again that the traveler doesn't ask for anything in return, he just wants chaos or something like that?"
"Long live Chaos! Looks like you're getting the hang of it, Geb. I admire you—"
Before the strange uncle could finish speaking, Gebu stretched out a hand and interrupted him.
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