Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 92 (Part 2)
Three days later.
Rodin, donning his robe after a long time, prepared to leave. He packed a simple meal, made by Margaret, in his backpack.
“Big Brother Rodin! When will you be back?”
“Well, I’m not sure. But I’ll try to come back as soon as possible.”
Rodin had already paid the salaries of Margaret and Matthew. He also provided enough money for the children’s meals for a month and gave extra funds to Bianca and Larry just in case.
“Don’t take too long. Come back soon, Big Brother Rodin.”
“Alright. I’m off.”
Even in the Richmond Marquisate, like the port cities of Lanse and Harson, there was a stagecoach service.
Rodin boarded a stagecoach near his house, taking it to the area near the city gates. From there, he continued on foot until he left the gates.
“Let’s run.”
Rodin started to run as a form of exercise. When he reached his physical limit, he used the Fly spell to soar through the sky, and when his stamina recovered, he returned to the ground to run again.
He didn’t stop even at night. By alternating between running and flying, he eventually reached his destination.
By then, the sun was slowly rising.
“Moord Wastelands. What a strange place.”
Rodin had researched the Moord Wastelands over the past few days. With a library in the Richmond Marquisate, gathering information had been easy.
“It’s as barren as they say.”
The Moord Wastelands had been a land where not a single blade of grass had grown since ancient times. Even if trees were planted, they would wither and die after a short time.
Moreover, whenever people tried to settle here, they would fall ill and collapse. Even knights faced the same fate.
Matthew’s condition was different.
While Matthew had suffered from classic symptoms of mana poisoning, others in the wastelands experienced exhaustion and high fever, their strength draining away until it was depleted.
With such strange phenomena occurring, it was only natural that the Magic Tower took an interest.
For centuries, the Magic Tower had dispatched magicians to study this place. The most recent investigation took place around three years ago, coinciding with when Matthew had collapsed; before that, the last investigation was about twenty years ago.
But even the dispatched magicians suffered from exhaustion and high fever. Some even developed seizures, which were not seen in ordinary people.
Only high-circle magicians were spared from these symptoms.
As a result, the Magic Tower withdrew lower-ranking magicians, leaving only the high-circle ones to continue the research.
“And yet they discovered nothing.”
Despite many years of study, no one had uncovered anything. Even the Four Great Towers concluded with the embarrassing result of “cause unknown” before withdrawing.
“Hmm, it seems ordinary.”
Contrary to expectations, the mana concentration in the Moord Wastelands wasn’t high. It was almost the same as in neighboring regions.
“But there’s a trace left behind.”
Rodin could sense that mana had been drawn out and then returned suddenly. It was as if children had rushed outside to play, only to run back inside at their mother’s call.
In this process, the original mana in the area left a distinct trace.
“It returned to… that direction.”
Rodin focused his senses and approached slowly. He worried that someone might be around, but fortunately, there was no one nearby.
“It’s over here.”
He noticed a slanted trace leading into the ground. Scattered around were abandoned carts and old smelting tools.
“This is a bit nerve-wracking.”
Before him lay a large hole—the entrance to a mine shaft dug by the miners. A creepy atmosphere wafted from the dark pit.
“It looks like an entrance to the underworld. Light.”
He created a glowing sphere and stepped into the mine shaft. The sphere of light pushed back the darkness bit by bit.
“Hoo.”
The air wasn’t great. He pulled out a towel from his bag to cover his mouth, but the stale air still seeped into his nose.
‘I should research a spell to purify the air.’
But research could wait. For now, he continued deeper into the mine.
The mana concentration inside was no different from the outside. It was all too ordinary.
‘From here, to the right.’
Following the mana traces, Rodin reached the end of the miners’ tunnel after several hours.
‘Hmm.’
The path was blocked. The mana had flowed beyond the blockage, but there was no passage for a person to enter.
‘I’ll have to break through. Tsk.’
Rodin retraced his steps, clearing out the debris from the tunnel. Using a Magic Hand, he lifted abandoned carts and pushed lighter items aside, tossing them out of the entrance.
After repeating this three times, the tunnel was finally cleared.
“I might need to make a quick escape, after all.”
He removed anything that could obstruct his escape route. It had been a hassle, but knowing he had a clear path gave him peace of mind.
“Hoo.”
Rodin returned to the blocked section. The wall in front of him made his chest feel tight.
“Let’s break through. Ice Barrier, Wind Storm, Fire Storm.”
First, he created an ice barrier in front of himself. It was a safety measure to protect himself from the explosion.
Then, he cast the fifth-circle spells, Wind Storm and Fire Storm, and held them ready in each hand.
“Here we go.”
He sent the two spells forward simultaneously. As they collided with the wall, an explosion followed.
BOOOOM!
With a loud roar, a large hole formed in the ground. Debris flew toward Rodin.
“Ice Barrier! Magic Shield!”
His initial barrier wasn’t enough, so he quickly cast two additional protection spells. The last Magic Shield caught the incoming debris before it fell to the ground.
“Hoo.”
The two ice barriers had shattered after taking the brunt of the debris. Had he been any slower with the Magic Shield, the shards would have pierced his body.
“How deep did I dig?”
Rodin moved closer to check. Around 20 meters had been hollowed out, centering on where the wall had been.
“Let’s do it again. Ice Barrier, Ice Barrier, Magic Shield. Fire Storm, Wind Storm!”
This time, he prepared three defensive spells from the start. Then, he sent the Fire Storm and Wind Storm forward, ensuring they would meet at the precise point.