Capítulo 725: Chapter 367: Trial of the Stone of Destiny, Theft
Ronan made a rough observation.
In this five-member team from the Astronomical Society, the leader Aiwen and another Level 4 Middle Stage Wizard named Fuge were the strongest, mainly responsible for clearing wandering monsters along the way.
The Astrologer Anand served as the team’s “navigation”, another Level 4 Wizard handled reconnaissance, and there was a female wizard acting as “logistics”.
This relatively well-equipped five-member Dawn Wizard team had fairly good synergy, but aside from Aiwen, the other four seriously lacked real combat experience. Under normal circumstances, this might be fine, but any slight “headwind” might immediately disrupt their thin formation.
At that point, the most flustered would undoubtedly be Aiwen, the leader, a man whose strong sense of responsibility and ambition were evident from his appearance, which explained why he would choose to “cooperate” with them without hesitation. Presumably, he had served as the team’s “caretaker” to the best of his abilities but was unwilling to give up.
Ronan gave Heather a look, and Heather obediently took the lead, running to the front of the team.
Ronan muttered an incantation under his breath. The void around him rippled like water, and one by one, Elemental Life forms emerged from the ripples.
Primarily Water Elemental Life, supplemented by Fire Element, each emitting a powerful energy fluctuation equivalent to a Level 4 Middle Stage Wizard.
The control of the Water Elements was shared with Heather, while Ronan himself controlled the Fire Elements, spreading them around the team to dispel the dampness and darkness in the waterway while also serving as a warning system.
Ronan had earlier thrown all the monster corpses Heather had “accumulated” into the Element Pool, allowing it to slightly advance, now capable of easily producing Level 4 Middle Stage Elemental Life.
The upper limit of Elemental Life creation by the Deep Knowledge Crown was linked to the number of Ancient Spirit Texts the user mastered. Theoretically, Ronan could create an Elemental Life force numbered in the tens of thousands!
But the prerequisite was that the Element Pool’s reserve energy must be that abundant, and his spiritual cultivation must be high enough to command that many Elemental Lives simultaneously.
Ronan estimated that, with his current Element Pool energy, he could summon between two to three hundred Fourth-tier Elemental Life forms.
This power was enough to form an overwhelming force, allowing him to bulldoze through the Ancient Waterway Ruins, but at the cost of exhausting all the painstakingly accumulated energy in the Element Pool in one go.
This was certainly not what Ronan wanted.
So Ronan only summoned twenty Fourth-tier Water Elements and ten Fire Elemental Life forms.
With the effect of the Deep Knowledge Crown, a total of thirty Elemental Life forms were under Ronan’s control, maneuvering as seamlessly as an arm or reading a palm.
His spiritual power ebbed and flowed like the tides at night, showing no signs of depletion even if maintained for an extended period, and even seemed to slightly increase.
His character panel showed that the Proficiency level for the Tide Meditation Method, which he didn’t pay much attention to, automatically increased a little over time.
Ronan’s Elemental Guard and Heather’s strong involvement significantly eased the physical and mental pressure on the Astronomical Society team.
It was clear that, including Aiwen, everyone “breathed a sigh of relief” and even seemed a bit elated, gradually warming up to Ronan and Heather from the initial coldness and distance.
For a group of “novices in training,” nothing could better win their favor than relieving the pressure on them, allowing them to return to their “comfort zone” and perform better.
Even Aiwen cast a “grateful” look toward Ronan.
Leading such a “headache-inducing” team for the trial, it’s likely he too was “mentally exhausted.”
With the presence of the Elemental Guard and Heather, clearing monsters along the way no longer required much effort from Aiwen and the others. Aiwen deliberately slowed his pace, falling back beside Ronan to initiate a conversation.
“Is this the effect of the Deep Knowledge Crown?”
Aiwen attributed the ability to consecutively summon thirty Elemental Life forms entirely to the Crystal Crown atop Ronan’s head, expressing a soft admiration, “I once read about this legendary magic tool in an ancient book. It’s said to be the painstaking creation of the Spirit Lake Deep Sea Faction wizards, always holding the top spot among the three legacy magic tools of the Spirit Lake…”
“You’re more knowledgeable than I anticipated…”
Ronan showed a surprised expression and took the opportunity to ask, “How much do you know about this selection? Can you tell me in detail?
To be honest, I still don’t know what exactly I should do, feeling like a duck on a shelf…”
Ronan gave a helpless smile, as if it contained many untold stories. What he said was not entirely false, as he had taken Misha’s place. Apart from a Rune Stone with basic procedures, the leading Deep Sea Wizard hadn’t divulged any additional content about this selection to him.
“Are you referring to the Trial of the Stone of Destiny?”
Trial of the Stone of Destiny.
Ronan’s eyes flickered slightly. Well, he just now learned the actual name of this trial.
“Actually, I don’t know much either…”
Aiwen thought for a moment before speaking, “Finding the entrance to Quivada Oasis and heading to Quivada Oasis is the first stage objective of the trial.
Truth be told, this stage is already challenging enough.
But it’s said… the truly brutal selection comes afterward…”
Aiwen’s eyes carried a hint of gravity, seemingly not holding much hope for the future.
Ronan asked, “How much do you know about the Forgotten Land?”
“Forgotten Land?”
Aiwen shook his head and said, “Back when Keldim’s downfall erupted, amid the prolonged war, a significant portion of the vast Keldim Empire sank into the ground, shattering into numerous secret space layers.
It’s said that the Forgotten Land is far more than just one layer. The waterway area we are in now, and the Quivada Oasis we want to go to, are relatively stable and safe places within the Forgotten Land…”
“I see.”
Ronan was thoughtful, suspecting that the Goblin Treasure Vault he explored with Jason, and the gray wilderness space where they encountered the Tangista Empire wizards, could be a “layer” of the Forgotten Land.
He wanted to ask Aiwen more, but the sounds of battle echoed from the front of the group, along with the astonished cries of several Astronomical Society wizards, and Heather’s disdainful, contemptuous voice… Driven by a natural sense of responsibility, Aiwen’s expression turned stern, and without a word, he quickly rushed over.
Ronan could only give up.
This temporarily assembled small group started to stop and rest on the second day of the hourglass timer.
It wasn’t due to obstacles ahead or battle fatigue, but…. Astrologer Anand needed to stop for a while to deduce the upcoming path.
“Want a taste?”
Beside the lit bonfire, Aiwen handed Ronan a small black cloth bundle, while everyone was resting, drinking, eating, or meditating. The gray-haired young Anand secluded himself far away, engrossed under the protection of five Elemental Life forms, studying the star map with great concentration.
“Thank you.”
Ronan accepted the cloth bag Aiwen handed over and opened it, finding some blackish things that looked like jerky inside.
“Wind Snake Jerky.”
Aiwen specifically explained, “It tastes good, very helpful for restoring strength, and has some effect on meditation. If it’s too tough, you can use a Wind Magic spell to ‘blow’ it a bit for better texture.”
Ronan nodded, casually took out a strip of Wind Snake Jerky, and slightly activated the “Storm Bloodline” within him, gathering some stray Wind Energy Particles to gently brush over the jerky.
Just as Aiwen had said, Wind Element “soaked” Wind Snake Jerky changed from being tough enough to be used as a weapon to being as soft as noodles.
Ronan gently tore off a piece, put it in his mouth, and chewed. The taste was exceptionally fragrant and indeed a rare delicacy.
He suddenly remembered during his apprenticeship when he relied on consuming the blood and flesh of magic beasts to assist in Body Forging, a time when he knew very little about spells and magic beasts, a period that now brought a fond and nostalgic smile to his face.
“Heather’s personally baked pies, want to try some?”
After tasting the Wind Snake Jerky Aiwen gave, Ronan naturally “generously” took out the pies Heather had baked a few days ago and shared them with the Astronomical Society people.
Aiwen’s eyes noticeably brightened upon seeing the pies, and he instinctively glanced at Heather a short distance away before softly saying, “Then I won’t be polite,” and eagerly took the pies back to share with the others.
Ronan was truly expecting their reactions later when they bit into living frogs and bats inside the pies, oh, several days had passed, so the creatures that were alive might have suffocated by now…
As everyone enjoyed the “delicacies,” Ronan’s eyes flashed slightly. He took some food and slowly walked toward Anand, who was far away from the crowd.
During this, Aiwen’s gaze lingered on him for a moment but quickly retracted it without saying a word to stop him.
“Star track… tide phenomenon… Qi Festival cycle… Bolma Coefficient thirteen…”
Approaching Anand from behind, Ronan heard him muttering words that were completely incomprehensible to the average person.
Anand was half-squatting on the ground in an rather inelegant posture, in front of him was a star map projected by crystal, and a mercury blackboard. By the bright light naturally emitted by the Fire Elemental Life, one could clearly see the mercury blackboard and the ground beneath his feet covered with densely written calculation formulas.
Anand’s hair was messy like a bird’s nest, his brows furrowed, looking extremely anxious and irritable.
Ronan intentionally made a small noise, and Anand jerked his head around. Seeing Ronan, he instinctively tried to hide the calculation formulas beneath him with his body.
“What do you want?”
“Eat something first.”
Ronan casually tossed him some food he had in hand, responding nonchalantly, “Deducing star maps is an incredibly exhausting task.
You can’t do it on an empty stomach.”
Anand was startled upon hearing this, instinctively glancing in the direction of the Astronomical Society to find that his companions were chatting and eating happily, with no one currently paying attention to him.
He pursed his lips, then looked at Ronan with eyes that were no longer as wary.
“Thank you.”
Anand quickly and quietly thanked Ronan before lowering his head to hastily tear into the pie and jerky in his hand, devouring them ravenously, clearly hungry.
With ease, Ronan squatted down beside him, casually glancing over the calculation formulas under Anand’s feet. His eyes flickered, and the chaotic characters and symbols on the ground seemed to come alive, swiftly flowing through his eyes and surging into his mind…