Chapter 533 Unexpected Changes
The next morning, Roland led the witches to the area north of the outer city wall, near the Misty Forest.
Besides Hefeng, Yifei, and Youyu, Nightingale, Wendy, Carter, Iron Axe, and others accompanied him. The First Army sealed off the nearby grassland area, while Leaf was responsible for guarding the forest side.
Youyu was the first to be tested.
She had long, reddish-brown hair with bangs that just covered her eyebrows. She was about the same height as Honey, maybe one meter thirty or forty centimeters tall. She wasn't very old, just over sixteen, but she had been awakened for four years, which was very early among the witches. Because she had undergone four magic backlashings, her magic power was higher than most underage witches, almost half of Anna's before she came of age.
This allowed Youyu to release her abilities with ease, and her control over the adhesion effect was very precise—she could either turn an entire object into a highly viscous colloid, or she could affect a single side or point. The ability consumed very little magic power, and Nightingale could hardly detect any magic fluctuations during the test.
"Have you ever tried how long the adhesion can last?" Roland asked.
"If it's just sticking two stones together, using all my magic power should last for decades," she shrugged. "But I haven't actually tested it; this is just my guess based on magic power consumption."
"What's the biggest thing you've stuck together?"
"The sea-blocking wall," a hint of pride finally appeared on Youyu's nonchalant face. "During one high tide, a section of the wall that rose from Sleeping Island had a crack as thick as an arm, but Lian happened to be off the island at the time. I turned the entire gap into an adhesive, and then stuffed it with linen and stone chips to block the incoming seawater, otherwise that section of the wall wouldn't have lasted until the next high tide."
For some reason, when she said this, Roland always felt like she wanted to be praised.
"Not bad," he nodded.
After receiving confirmation, Youyu returned to her previous indifferent expression. Judging from her words and actions, she didn't seem like an underage child at all, as if some experience made it difficult for her to express her emotions without reservation... This made Roland feel a little sad. Before going to Sleeping Island, what kind of life did the witches of Bloodfang live?
The next tester was Hefeng.
She bowed gracefully, "I didn't have the chance to stay last time I came to the Western Region, and I regretted it for a long time. This time I can finally stay in your territory for a while. Please feel free to order me around if you need my abilities."
Roland smiled and replied, "Then you must enjoy life in Neverwinter City and make up for your regrets last time. Don't be polite, you can tell Wendy what you want."
Hefeng was slightly older than Nightingale, about twenty-five years old, and gave people the feeling of a spring breeze, just like her name. Nevertheless, she was still a full-fledged combat witch. Her ability was to control the field; anyone who entered within five meters of her would involuntarily follow her will.
This ability was not effective against long-range attacks and was not useful against gongnu and javelins, but it was almost invincible against enemies who could only fight in close combat.
As a summoning-type ability, it was also affected by God's Stone of Retaliation; magic power consumption was moderate, enough to cast more than ten times a day, and Hefeng could act normally during the duration. In addition, the field could not be seen with the naked eye, making it difficult to defend against surprise attacks. As long as she found a chance to rush into the five-meter area, she could control the opponent's life and death.
Obviously, this was an excellent ability to observe demons up close.
The last witch to be tested was Yifei.
She looked no more than twenty years old, wearing a close-fitting black leather jacket and knee-high boots, which made her look very slender. Her chestnut hair reached her waist, and flowed with golden light in the sun.
Yifei's ability was also the core of capturing demons—although she herself did not know Tilly's purpose in choosing her to come to the Western Region. The magic cage could instantly trap approaching enemies, and could also inflict lethal damage by shrinking the cage.
In addition, for her, the prey in the cage had no weight. In other words, even if she captured an elephant, she could easily drag it back to Neverwinter City.
"How big a target can you capture?" Because the characteristics of the "Magic Cage" were related to the success or failure of the plan, Roland asked very carefully.
"It depends on magic power," she shrugged. "But even whales at sea can't escape my grasp."
"How many can you hold at the same time?"
"Two," she held out her hands. "I only have two hands, Your Majesty."
"Can't they break free?"
"No... As long as I don't let go, Ashes can't get out of the cage."
"Hmm..." Just as Roland was thinking about what else he needed to ask, Yifei took the initiative to say, "Why don't you find someone to try it out? I think Maisie is very suitable. I heard that her ability has been evolved, and the monster she transformed into yesterday looked quite strong. If even she can't break free, you don't have to worry about this point, right?"
That's a good idea, he thought. After all, Maisie's transformed beast prototype was the mount of a demon, and if they really wanted to capture demons, they might encounter the same enemy. After considering for a moment, he nodded to Nightingale, "Tell Leaf to call Maisie over."
If they didn't have patrol missions, Maisie and Lightning always flew along the Misty Forest, almost inseparable. Now with Leaf, the forest has become the two's back garden. Sweet bird kiss mushrooms are everywhere, and there are specially built nests for them to pick bird eggs, resulting in Maisie's transformed pigeons being as big as bald eagles—of course, after the transformation, her body is still the little girl buried in long white hair.
Before long, the two figures appeared on the horizon.
"Maisie is here, coo!" She landed on the prince's head as usual. "What's the matter?"
Roland roughly explained the testing plan, "You transform into the flesh-winged giant bird form and see if you can break free from the shackles of the magic cage."
"Understood, coo!"
Maisie soared into the air, and in the blink of an eye, a huge monster appeared in front of everyone, and the shadow covered the sunlight. Roland always felt that compared to her initial evolution, the current behemoth was more than a circle larger.
"Let's start," he said to Yifei.
The latter chuckled, a hint of sarcasm flashing in her eyes. She stretched out her right hand, her fingers spread out, and dozens of purple-glowing silk threads suddenly appeared above Maisie's head, and closed into a spherical shape in an instant, covering her whole body.
The "cage bars" did not seem thick, but neither biting nor scratching could deform it in the slightest, and Yifei's movements also seemed very relaxed, as if maintaining the cage did not require much effort from her. Even if another demon was added on board, it should be able to be captured together.
Just as Roland was about to have her interrupt the ability, Yifei suddenly clenched her right hand into a fist.
The cage suddenly contracted inward, and the magic-formed railing embedded itself in the behemoth's body, and Maisie let out a painful roar—