Arcane Journey

Chapter 311 The Abnormal Magic Empire
When the last ray of sunlight sank in the western sky and the dark day turned into night, Bryan, who had returned from the Underdark region, set off towards Tifington together with Myrcella without stopping.

As the distance shortens, the mottled ancient city walls of the border cities gradually enlarge in the field of vision.

The city wall was washed by the wind and sand, and there were still traces of the war on the surface. There were arrow holes pierced by strong bows, and there were also ravines cut by giant axes and swords.

In the Kingdom of Cormyr, Tivanton's geographical location is very important. Three large-scale commercial routes meet here, and they can pass through Mokou Town to the west and step into the vast Ennook Desert.

To the east, it diverges into two commercial roads, one is the Moon Sea Highway, the other passes through the Shadow Valley, and finally reach the coast of the Moon Sea.

Historically, Cormyr and Sembia have used force repeatedly for Tifington, and this territory has changed hands several times.

However, with the civil strife in the kingdom ten years ago and the strong appearance of Myrcella, the Duchess of Arabe, Tifington has been completely recovered and stabilized, and has become the border town of Cormyr.

"My lord, you should notify me in advance."

Kutaige, the consul of Tiffantun, led the way on a war horse, "In this way, we can send people to escort. The safety of the mountain roads is not as good as before. No matter how powerful we are, we can clean up this group of mischievous wild monsters." , would be a pain in the ass.”

"We just want to understand the surrounding area of ​​the city in more detail." Brian replied.

The main reason why he and Myrcella rushed to Tivanton City immediately without passing the teleportation spell was because they wanted to learn more about the peculiarities of this town located at the node of the magic net.

However, as he thought, nothing came of it.

On the contrary, it is annoying to be harassed by wild monsters, goblins, and kobolds around.

There are more humanoid creatures than wild dogs on the roadside. Based on the calculation method of quantitative analysis of strength, as long as there are more than three of them, they will bark and rush forward with full confidence.

Just when Brian was about to go directly to Tivanton through the teleportation spell, the defenders of the town appeared.

"Since you issued the order of martial law throughout the city, the wild monsters and humanoid creatures from the Spider Nest Forest have become more and more aggressive." The consul of Tiffanton said helplessly, pulling the rein.

He is a middle-aged man who looks to be about 40 years old. He is a tiger man among the kind-hearted lycanthropes.

In the Arabian counterattack ten years ago, under the leadership of the female lord Myrcella, it was the old patriarch of the tiger race who led the lycanthropy army mainly tigers and bears to help him, so that the few The elite division defeated the invaders and won the victory that shocked the entire kingdom.

Kutaige can be regarded as a Mesozoic general of the tiger family, with the strength of the fourth-level model level. He led an army of his own to guard the city of Tivanton when he was just 40 years old.

In the not long ago defense of Susal, this tiger man also fought with Brian. When he turned into a ferocious beast, and then turned on the berserk skill, even the adult green dragon saw it and had to avoid the edge temporarily.

However, what left the deepest impression on Brian was the cruelty in battle and his fondness for killing orcs.

"In normal times, I...uh... I would have brought a hundred elite soldiers into the Spider Nest forest, driven these guys out of their nests, and let them understand what it means to keep their own place. But sir, don't say it. All the troops are staying here to guard the city of Tivanton..." the tiger man consul said, "but no one knows who to guard against. Five years ago, the Sembia army approached the city, and they never fell into such a serious moment. , some people have already started to say that this is chasing rumors."

"I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to offend." He glanced at Brian, as if suddenly remembering his identity, "I hope I didn't say anything wrong, I just want to find out the reason."

"Your Excellency the Consul, to be honest, how could you offend me?" Brian had no intention of entering the city when he was about to reach the city. Instead, he got off his horse, thought for a moment, and said:

"You have to know that there are some things that they don't understand even if you tell them, just like no one ever thought that the temple of the Lost Lady would be hidden in the sewer. In short, you only need to do as I tell them, and you tell them, at most If you persist for another three days or so, martial law will be lifted."

His purpose of doing this was only to prevent Tivanton from falling into the same fate as the capital of Sembia, but they would not understand some things when they were told, and it would even cause panic, so that the enemies hiding in the dark could find out who could be. Take advantage of this opportunity.

Just three days, he thought.

As soon as tomorrow, he plans to go to Guangze to find a hidden crack leading to the shadow plane. If he succeeds, he will be able to eliminate the hidden danger once and for all.

"Don't relax, this is a matter of life or death for a city."

Myrcella walked over, her graceful figure was covered by a dark purple cloak, her bright eyes flickered slightly in the shadow of the hood, she said in a rather dignified tone, "After all, you don't want to see your city step into Following in the footsteps of the capital of Sembia."

When he learned the truth, a hint of shock and fear floated on the slightly ferocious face of Consul Tifington, and he quickly shut up and stopped talking.

Brian made a few simple confessions, and then he and Myrcella came to the cliff overlooking the entire city of Tivanton.

The cold night wind blew past, and the bleak moonlight quietly hid in the clouds, casting a deep shadow on Brian's already dignified face.

"You still can't feel it?" Myrcella walked up to him, slipped her warm slender hand into his palm, put the other hand on his shoulder, and asked softly.

"That's right." Brian stood with his hands behind his back. He sighed, looked up into the dark night, and said, "Maybe I'm really worrying too much."

Sacrificing the city of Tivanton is the most important part of the Lost Lady's plan, but until now, the wizard tower in charge of comprehensive monitoring, and the battle mages on high alert in the city have not found any information about the activities of the dark church. Traces, they seem to have evaporated out of thin air.

As the saying goes, there must be a demon if something goes wrong, so Brian would not think that the high priest of the Church of the Lost Ladies, 'Black Veil' Elyrael, has given up.

The Lost Lady Shar, as the goddess who masters secrets, there are very few secrets in this world that she does not know.

This also means that the reason why the people of the Church of Shar remain indifferent is that they may have found other ways to sacrifice Tifington, in order to brew a bigger conspiracy.

"No, your worry is very necessary." Myrcella brushed the hair on her forehead that blocked her view behind her ears, and cast her eyes in the direction of the Mokou Mountains. She seemed to have thought of something, and turned to look at Brian, in an uncertain tone, said to him:
"You said... Could it be because of our strict protection that the Church of the Lost Lady couldn't find a chance to make a move, and then tried to find a way to unite with other forces... For example: the dark region."

Talking about her guess, her silver-gray eyes gradually became brighter, and she seemed to think that her guess was getting more and more correct, and then seriously analyzed:

"Bryan, didn't you tell me before about the current situation and future turmoil in the Underdark region? Does this mean that the church of the Lost Lady may unite with the power of the underground world? After all, her priesthood also includes "Darkness." Region", and the ground at this moment absolutely hides the incarnations of the demon lords who came in advance. "

After listening to the detailed analysis of the female lord, Brian suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.

He has been thinking about how the Church of Shar should sacrifice the city of Tivanton, but he has ignored the forces in the dark region, and the demon lords who were surged by the energy of the earth's veins and came to the underground world through the gap.

You know, the demon lord Grazt, who claims to be the most devil-like, now wants to crush him to ashes.

If it is really united with the Church of Shar, it will not surprise anyone at all.

"I was negligent." Brian shook the female lord's smooth and soft hand and smiled at her.

As the night wind blew past, Myrcella's bright silver-gray eyes seemed to contain a wealth of experience and wisdom, as well as an eternal youthful vitality.

With a beautiful face, shimmering brown-red long hair, a refreshing cloak and a high-quality white shirt, the figure of the female lord is like a goddess under the night.

Brian came back to his senses, and immediately contacted Ms. Polaris in the Wizard Tower through a spiritual link, and asked her to send the only tiefling wizard in Mokou Town here.

As a lord, he naturally has a detailed understanding of his subordinates.

This tiefling wizard who signed a contract with demons has a strong perception of shadow creatures and undead hiding in dark corners, even abyssal demons.

At this time, it is the most suitable choice for him to be responsible for this kind of task.

In a moment, a tiefling wizard in a dark red robe appeared in front of Brian and Myrcella.

After simply saying hello, Brian stopped wasting time and immediately ordered him to use his ability to perceive the specific situation of Tivanton City.

The tiefling warlock neatly took out his wraith staff emitting fiery fire, and pointed it condescendingly at the city of Tifington.

Strong purgatory breaths, like trembling sonic rings, continuously pulsate from the top of the ghost staff.

After about 10 minutes or so.

The tiefling magician opened his cold eyes, a look of surprise floated on his dark red face, and then he said to Brian, "My lord, as you expected, there are indeed traces of demons hidden in the city."

"That's right." Brian and Myrcella looked at each other. The corner of the latter's lips curled up slightly, and he winked at him with complacency. He continued, "Is there any way to get them all out?"

"No problem." The warlock showed a sinister smile, rubbing his ghost staff with sharp clawed fingers, looking eager to try.

"Then I will leave this matter to you." Brian said to him solemnly:
"I don't want any traces of demons to appear in the city of Tiffindun. Given the difficulty of the task, the consul and wizard tower of Tiffindun will fully assist you and find out all the demon believers hiding in the city. Is there a problem?"

"My lord trusts me so much, naturally there is no problem." The magician bowed slightly and said sincerely, his pale and empty pupils fluttered slightly, and he said with a little hesitation, "It's just... I have a A small request."

"What request?" Brian asked.

Although he has always maintained a suspicious and vigilant attitude towards this legendary wizard who took the initiative to take refuge under his command, he never took the initiative to inquire about any of his secrets.

And he also made the best use of everything, and took the initiative to hand over the soul spar that imprisoned the demons in the deep prison to the other party for disposal.

As a magician who signed a contract with the demon, there is probably no other profession that knows how to extract all the value of the demon better than them.

For example, Brian didn't know how to extract the list of all the rebel nobles in the south from the purgatory of the deep prison that imprisoned the soul, and for the magician, it can be said to be familiar with it.

After all, countless demons in the lower planes like to make contracts with magicians in the main material world, and the number is large enough for the magicians to form another abyss or hell in the main material world.

These demons include the great devil of the Nine Hells and his strongest duke, and the demon lords of the Abyss.

But in this magical world, there is neither love nor hatred for no reason. If you want to gain powerful power, you have to pay a corresponding price.

When warlocks sign a contract with a demon from a lower plane, then while they gain mysterious power, these demons with evil intentions will also use their own influence and guidance to make the magicians Gradually get along with himself and become an evil person who mainly pursues the degeneration and destruction of all things in the world.

This is the main reason why Brian is so afraid of warlocks.

Even well-meaning warlocks are treated with a certain degree of suspicion and caution anywhere on the Material Plane.

Some wizards will think that the existence of warlocks tarnishes the noble image of the arcane arts, and even cause ordinary people to criticize all practitioners of magic.

A wizard is like working in a formal company, and there are only a few who break the law. Warlocks are like working in a gang of evil forces. If you are not sentenced, you are considered to have accumulated virtue in your ancestors.

"My lord, do you know about our tiefling race?" the wizard asked.

Brian was taken aback when he heard the words, then smiled and said, "Of course I understand."

Humans with the blood of demons, the tieflings of Toril have a common bond due to the machinations of Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells a century ago.

During the Arcane Calamity, Asmodeus absorbed the divinity of Azuth, the god of mages, and was promoted to godhead.

Afterwards, Asmodeus and a conjurer assembly, the 'Toril 13' performed a ritual to gain ownership of all tieflings in the world and make them suffer the curse 'Asmodeus' Blood of Sri Lanka'.

This move marks all tieflings as 'descendants' of the Lord of the Nine Hells, and regardless of their true lineage, they become creatures similar to their ancestors.

The mainland people were already uneasy about these people of devil blood, and now they are even more suspicious and occasionally hostile towards them.

Of course, while many believe that all tieflings worship Asmodeus and the other Lords of the Nine, the truth is that only a small minority do.

The tieflings, descendants of Hell, do not have any ethnic territory on the mainland, though some regions and kingdoms are more accepting of their presence than others.

Some tieflings who worship a deity other than Asmodeus seek refuge by worshiping deities of other good alignments.

In the view of the tieflings, these signs of worshiping the gods show that the gods do not value people's appearance and blood, but pay more attention to people's inner heart and soul.

"As the heir of the devil's bloodline." Brian guessed what tiefling wanted to express, he pretended to frown and hesitated for a moment, and then he invited with gentle words:

"I can feel your homelessness and loneliness and loyalty, but I always believe that the pollution of the blood does not mean that the soul will follow suit. If you don't mind, Mokou Town welcomes you to join the tiefling race. Be your final destination."

Hearing this sentence, the warlock tiefling, who was a little nervous in his heart, had a strange look in his pale and empty eyes. He didn't say anything, but just clenched the ghost staff in his hand and bowed towards Brian. nod.

Seeing this, Brian couldn't help showing a smile.

He originally thought that this magician was an undercover agent sent by his 'demon pet' Bayer to monitor his every move, but now it seems that it is not as simple as it seems on the surface.

It is very likely that this is really a homeless tiefling wanderer, in order to find a home for his few people.

Then, in a rather happy mood, he explained some specific details to the magician in detail, and then took Myrcella back to the study room of the wizard tower through the teleportation circle.

"Isn't that a bit too abrupt?" Myrcella took off the cloak she was wearing, hung it on the hanger, sat on the chair in front of Brian's desk, and couldn't help asking.

The female lord with only a thin shirt on her upper body was comfortably half-reclining in a slightly tilted chair, revealing her proud figure, and Brian even saw a pair of plump casual clothes inside the collar with two buttons. Breathing up and down, trembling slightly.

This made him chuckle secretly, since he expressed his feelings for Myrcella, this duchess who was once unattainable and extremely noble in his mind has become more casual in front of him.

He just wondered if the Duchess, who was a few years older than himself, would be so casual in other places, he couldn't help guessing maliciously.

"Actually, I think so too." Brian came back to his senses, sat on the chair behind the desk, played with a pen, met her puzzled eyes, and said truthfully: "For the magician who suddenly revealed My own thoughts really surprised me."

"Yes, after all, as a legendary magician, with his strength, it is not difficult to find a place to stay. Why did he find you?" .

"It may be due to my personal charm, or he has a good vision." Brian smiled narcissistically. He had his own plans for this magician and didn't want to discuss this issue too much.

"Did you know? The gains from this trip to the Underdark are more abundant than I imagined." He pondered for a while, and changed a topic that interested Myrcella, "Not only did I get a complete Mysser Energy core, and also obtained detailed knowledge about the Miser energy core.”

After hearing this sentence, the female lord paused slightly with her fingers around her hair, then straightened up, leaned forward slightly, and stared at Brian with a pair of beautiful eyes full of smiles.

Brian took out two thick magic books and pushed them in front of Myrcella, "I will leave this knowledge to you for safekeeping. With them, you can improve the magic engine and elemental furnace according to my ideas. .”

In Bryan's improvement plan, he wants Myrcella to research the ultra-small Mither energy core, and then combine it with the magic energy engine and the elemental furnace.

In this case, it means that these power sources can not only provide power by burning gems, but also can absorb energy from the demiplane at any time, greatly improving their efficiency.

This is like adding a battery that can automatically generate electricity anytime, anywhere, whether it is windy or rainy, to improve its own battery life and power.

As for how to proceed, Myrcella will definitely need to conduct complex and complicated experiments to prove whether this method is feasible.

Now, the Miser energy core that supports the power of the floating city has been completed, and he only needs to wait for Fairy Mizusawa to wake up before he can start preparing to find a suitable mountain and start construction.

Myrcella suppressed the urge to flip through the books, put them away, and said with a smile, "I'm afraid there are more than these things."

"That's right." Brian nodded slightly, and without keeping her waiting, he took out four golden scrolls that surprised the female lord slightly, "You read that right, these are Nether scrolls, two "secret discourses" that record the manufacture of artifacts And two "Plane Mechanisms" that record the research of the boundary. "

The "secret discourse" that records the manufacture of artifacts is of no use to Brian at the moment, because this is the most difficult set of scrolls to understand.

Extended knowledge of all other color-resistant scrolls is required before its power can be unlocked.

The "planar mechanism" of boundary research has become the knowledge that Brian needs most now.

The content of these two records is the knowledge of the space portal, and after breaking through to the legendary field, Brian initially grasped part of the information of the law of space.

He believed that as long as he mastered these two scrolls, breaking through to a medium legend would only be a matter of experience for him.

"Are you surprised?" Seeing Myrcella looking at the four Nether scrolls fondly, Brian asked with a smile.

"What a surprise." Realizing her gaffe, the female lord immediately recovered her composure, "I just feel a little surprised."

"Is it just an accident?" Brian took out a dark blue cover with a blank book on it, and pushed it in front of Myrcella, "Look at this book, the content recorded here is enough to refresh your three views and horizons."

Myrcella was stunned, and curiously saw the thin book that Brian handed over took it in her hand and opened it.

In the quiet study room, the magic halo flickered slightly, and as time passed, Brian even vaguely heard Myrcella's slightly rapid breathing.

"Is the content recorded here true?" After a while, the female lord raised her head in shock, and her plump softness swayed behind the shirt.

She put the books on the table and murmured in disbelief: "Magic Empire Alphatia, is there really such a powerful empire?"

"I'm not too sure." Brian said in an indifferent tone: "Even if there is, it must be in a country so far away and unknowable. I just let you know it casually, so don't take it to heart. , and thus affect your state of mind.”

"No." Myrcella put her right hand flat on the blank cover of the book, brushed the tip of her hair gracefully, and showed a mature smile, "I have passed the age of impulsiveness long ago, this powerful magic empire will only let My horizons have broadened, and I understand what awe is."

"I'm relieved." Brian nodded slightly, smiled, and carefully put away the books.

What is described here is a powerful magic empire: Alphatia, which is a piece of fragmented history obtained by Iolum from an ancient mastermind. own knowledge.

To say how powerful this magical empire is, a simple Versailles famous quote can draw conclusions:
There are 1000 seats in the parliament of the Alphatia Empire, and only mages whose strength reaches level 36 or above are eligible to join, but because there are too few seats, many mages who are high enough and meet all the conditions complain that they have no Opportunity to join.

Based on Brian's level of cognition and education, their magical achievements can only be described in two words: Abnormal!
As we all know, Netheril's greatest achievement is to blow himself up.

On the Toril world, one of the most famous cases of large-scale destructive magic is the elves of Arivandar. The huge ceremony held by hundreds of high elf mages shattered the entire continent.

And Alphatia has done the following things:
[-]. Give yourself the home plane - the Alphatia plane. The origin of the Alphatia Empire is on a different plane the size of a star cluster. The original vacuum environment of the universe is filled with breathable air.

[-]. During the civil war, the core star system of this plane was crushed.

[-]. So the dead survivors who won the civil war decided to open the door directly and transfer all the population of the victorious side to a new planet in another plane.

This knowledge about the magic empire can be said to have greatly increased Brian's knowledge, because he once thought that the end of arcane art, after seeing the brief introduction of this empire, has completely subverted his imagination. In the dark void of the universe, an unreachable light was relit.

"Bryan." Looking at Myrcella in a daze, he softly called out his name, and said, "Don't you realize that your power is constantly expanding?"

"Of course I know." Brian looked at her suspiciously, but didn't continue. He knew that the female lord must have something to say.

"Since you are going to conquer the Ennook Desert and build a prosperous Arcane Empire." The Duchess said to him seriously:

"You must first lay a good foundation. After reading the introduction about Alphatia, I think that with our current power, we can completely form an Austrian law council organization with this goal as the main goal, and give them a detailed division of labor, with a clear Goals and division of labor, as well as a unified thinking, both our work efficiency and cohesion will be raised to a new height."

After listening to the female lord's narration, Brian nodded thoughtfully. The other party was worthy of being the duchess of Arabe, and she realized the looseness of her power so quickly.

"Then do you have any good suggestions?" He looked at the dignified and beautiful face of the female lord and asked.

"How about this, wait a moment, you notify your subordinates, and I will be responsible for notifying the relevant personnel in Susar." The female lord pondered for a moment, her beautiful eyes flashed, and she said: "Let them gather together tomorrow and report your recent The planning and future goals are clearly stated, and then an organization similar to the 'Original Law Council' is formed."

"As for the details of the future organization, I will help you plan it." Myrcella rested her cheeks on her hands, looked at Brian with a smile in her eyes, and looked forward to it.

"I understand." Brian looked at Myrcella, held her left hand that was lying flat on the table, nodded and said: "Then the time is set for tomorrow, and I will set off for Guangze immediately after everything is planned."

Through Guangze's adventure to the shadow plane, he didn't know how much time would be delayed, so he decided to ask Myrcella to help him plan everything before leaving.

After all, the current him, whether it is the profound magical knowledge, land and wealth, or the population of the entire Kingdom of Cormyr behind him, he owns everything, and it is time to start laying the foundation of the towering building first.

Seeing the female lord nodding, Brian would smile, then get up and walk to the large French windows, thinking seriously about his recent plans and goals.

He couldn't help looking up at the starry sky, the night sky was full of stars, and the boundless starry sky seemed to be showing splendor and brilliance towards him.

As time passed, the gorgeous and vast scene outside the window gradually strengthened his ideal.

A familiar fragrance hit, Brian didn't turn around, but couldn't help taking a deep breath, and asked as if talking to himself: "Myrcella, I'm curious, what is your goal in life?"

"My goal in life? My original goal was to protect the Kingdom of Cormyr." The dignified and elegant female lord, with loose long hair and faint brilliance, walked up to Brian slowly, holding his cheek gently with both hands, Kissing her lower lip lightly, she then leaned her graceful body into his arms naturally and generously, and said with a gentle smile, "But with your appearance, I have found a new target."

"What is it?" Brian wrapped his arms around the soft and slender waist, hugged the noble duchess tightly, feeling the breath so close, he lowered his head and kissed her forehead, and asked softly.

"I want to be the greatest Sorcerer of all time."

Myrcella leaned against Brian's chest with a smile on her face. She thought for a while, a blush quietly floated on her delicate face, and she said in a soft voice, "I still want to wait until everything is settled down...to have a baby with you again." A child, let the blood of our Raul family continue."

"Really?" Brian was taken aback for a moment, but he didn't expect such words to actually come out of the other party's mouth, so that his heart jumped unconsciously, and the silky hair slid across his fingertips , he stroked her cat-like soft back, and joked with a smile: "Then you have to work hard in the future."

At this moment, he understands the implication in the duchess' words, but Brian has more important things to do now, so he can only turn a blind eye to the slightly resentful look in his eyes.

After the chat was over, and after seeing Myrcella off, he returned to his seat and pulled out the system bar with a solemn expression.

In this transaction with Iolum, since what I gave him was a complete set of psionic knowledge inherited from the world of Atas, in order to make this transaction appear fair, the other party seemed extremely generous.

Because when Iolum proposed to let Bryan restore Netheril, he realized that the other party definitely wanted to use the method of transferring 'cause and effect' to make himself break through the high legend and become an existence like a 'beyond everything'.

In this transaction, in order not to leave any gaps in his state of mind, Iolum must make the transaction fair and just, and even tilt to Brian's side, so that he cannot suffer.

It is also for this reason that Brian not only obtained the spiritual power inheritance of the mind flayer civilization, but also obtained the most precious spiritual power perception.

The most important thing is that this kind of inheritance is not pure knowledge, which requires a lot of time to learn by oneself, but through the crystallization of the mind flayer civilization improved by Iolum, a device called 'Master Brain Extraction Device' Obtained by black technology.

The main function of this black technology is to squeeze out all the huge knowledge and understanding of psionic energy stored in the mind flayer master's brain for successors to inherit.

Then, without wasting any time, Brian immediately called up experience points, preparing to upgrade his long-stalled psion level to the legendary realm.

(End of this chapter)