Chapter 527 – Etherlance

Chapter 527 – Etherlance

“What about you two?” Mo Lan looked toward Vasida and Sylph.

“I want to go to the Dragon islands. My devouring magic provides the greatest boost to physical abilities, and dragons are the best at fighting with their bodies. I want to study the dragons’ combat methods. Plus, the Dragons have lots of delicious food — I’ve heard there are even magical delicacies from other worlds. I want to see if magical cuisine has any special effect on the Devouring Stomach.” Vasida said.

“I want to go to the Elven Woods first,” Sylph said. “I know the Elven Woods are in the middle of a war right now, but that place has the most magical plants in all of Valen.

Although Witches from various regions have already uploaded plenty of magical plant seed materials, some magical plant materials unique to the Elves still aren’t in the Book of Cards — like the Tree of Life.

I want to take advantage of the current chaos in the Elven Woods to personally collect seeds from these magical plants, then find a place in Emerald Creek Plains to cultivate them.

As long as I’ve mastered the cultivation method for a plant, the corresponding mutant plant seeds will appear in the Box of Ten Thousand Seeds. Who knows — maybe some plant beneficial to Witches will turn up!

I also want to try using magical plants to create a new ‘protective barrier’ for the Witch’s Wilds. The Elves are deeply versed in this art, and I’d like to learn from them…”

They had all independently chosen paths of advancement focused on developing their own Sorceress Magic.

Seeing how nervous they looked, Mo Lan keenly felt that her influence on her companions really had become a bit too great.

This wasn’t a good thing.

A Witch’s pursuit of independence and freedom was eternal.

Neither family nor lovers could bind a Witch, and friends naturally couldn’t either.

She had her own path to walk, and Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph each had their own paths as well.

These were paths they had chosen themselves. Though it was hard to part, Mo Lan shouldn’t stop them, nor did she have any reason to.

They had clearly been thinking about this for a long time — otherwise they wouldn’t have such clear goals.

She smiled and said, “Of course! But remember to keep in touch using your Communication Cards!”

Lilith, Sylph, and Vasida breathed a sigh of relief. “Of course! It’s not like we’re short on a little disposable Mana!”

“When are you leaving?” Mo Lan asked.

“After dark,” Lilith said.

It was already nearing evening.

“At least eat dinner before you go!” Mo Lan pulled out several cards: “Food Card — Classic Mandarin Duck Hot Pot, Food Card — Roasted Red-Eyed Bird Wings…”

The carriage continued rolling along. The small table inside the cabin was swapped for a large one, covered with food — all favorites of the four of them.

Just like every meal they had shared before.

But this time, Mo Lan ate until she was exceptionally stuffed. So stuffed that by the time Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph pulled out their broomsticks and prepared to leave under invisibility, she couldn’t even sit up straight. She could only lie there and cast Teleportation for them, sending them out of the carriage.

The “Apprentices” went their separate ways. Mo Lan still had to continue playing her role as a wild mage and infiltrate the Imperial Magic Academy.

But now only Zhizhi, a single monkey, was driving the carriage, with no one to take shifts.

The magic carriage, which had previously traveled day and night without stopping, had no choice but to park on the grass beside the trade road and wait until the next morning to set off again.

Fortunately, they had been traveling at a brisk pace, and Etherlance was no longer far away.

The Imperial Magic Academy’s enrollment period was still three months away, so even traveling only during the day, there was more than enough time.

Even though she was alone, as long as she wore her advanced mage badge, any passing merchant caravans would treat her with nothing but respect.

If she encountered magical beasts, she’d just consider it a bonus meal. The areas near the main trade road were regularly swept clean, and magical beasts rarely appeared. On the rare occasion one did, its level wasn’t high.

Traveling in fits and starts like this, when there was just one week left before the Imperial Magic Academy began enrollment, Mo Lan finally caught a distant glimpse of Etherlance’s majestic forest of towers.

She could have arrived sooner, but the closer she got to Etherlance, the more congested the southwestern trade road became. She wasn’t the only one heading to the Imperial Magic Academy’s enrollment.

Etherlance was both the Imperial Capital and an Academy city.

Although the Mage Empire bore the name “Empire,” it wasn’t like the Yala Empire, which had a single imperial dynasty reigning above all nobles.

Here, Peak level mages who received the title of Duke could establish duchies, and Beyond Peak level mages who received the title of Royal Duke could establish kingdoms.

But there was no pathway to obtain an emperor’s title or establish an empire.

The true rulers of the Mage Empire had never been any single individual, but rather two organizations — the Imperial Mage Council and the Imperial Magic Academy.

The Imperial Magic Academy was responsible for training mages, while the Imperial Mage Council was responsible for enfeoffing nobles and governing the nation.

Their combined authority was equivalent to that of the Yala Empire’s imperial household.

The tower forest magic circle, composed of over a thousand Mage Towers garrisoned by Peak level and Beyond Peak level mages, was where the Imperial Magic Academy was located. It was also humanity’s sole weapon of war capable of rivaling the three supreme races: Angels, Demons, and Dragons.

From the time it was built until now, the only time it had failed to hold was when the Fireworks Witch, Lady Anita, came knocking at its door.

Beyond the tower forest’s perimeter lay the Imperial Mage Council and Etherlance’s streets and residential districts.

So calling Etherlance an Academy city was entirely accurate. The Mage Towers of the tower forest served as both research facilities for the powerful mages and teaching grounds for the Imperial Magic Academy.

By the time Mo Lan finished reviewing what she knew about Etherlance in her mind, the carriage had already entered the city.

Etherlance had no city walls and no guards.

Because the tower forest magic circle was already sufficient to protect the entire city.

In Green City, Horne City, and Oran City, one could still see plainly dressed commoners. In Etherlance, ordinary people appeared to be quite well off.

The ones who actually looked ragged or dusty were either warriors and guards, or mage apprentices.

Among them, the mage apprentices were genuinely poor. The warriors and guards were either just back from the wilds or simply unkempt.

Mo Lan’s carriage circled the tower forest once, traveling from dawn until dark, before finally finding an inn with a vacant room — and even that room had only been specially freed up by the innkeeper because he saw she was an advanced mage.

Apparently mages all liked staying up late, because Etherlance remained brilliantly lit at night. Magical lamps were installed along every street and alley.

Mo Lan went out for a stroll that evening, and then caught a familiar scent.

Following the aroma, she found a restaurant.

“Ultra-Spicy Hot Pot?”

She looked at the sign next door: “Dawn Gourmet Street?”

If not for the clothing of the passersby being wrong, she would have thought she was back on Earth.

At that moment, Mo Lan desperately wanted to pull out a camera, snap a photo, and send it to her friends.