Farming in a Parallel World and Becoming a God
Chapter 458 - 396 Initial Exploration of Mesnoel_1

Chapter 458: Chapter 396 Initial Exploration of Mesnoel_1

He bore witness to how a misguided invention could destroy an empire.

The recent lesson was that Nesserel’s Divine Ascension Spells led to the death of a generation’s Magic Goddess, the brief collapse of the Magic Network, and the thorough downfall of the Nesserel Empire.

After that event, the King of Knowledge greatly assisted the second Magic Goddess in remaking the Magic Network - its capability for knowledge inheritance did not fall under the purview of the Magic Goddess’ divine role, but rather belonged to the powers of the deity before him.

The spread of high-level magic knowledge was not easy, and it was also tacitly permitted by him.

On one hand, widespread access to high-level magic knowledge could pose a severe threat to the stability of the entire world.

On the other, knowledge that was too easily obtained would not be cherished.

If all professionals could acquire all the abilities they need from the Magic Network, the world would lose countless seekers of knowledge, and Oghma would lose innumerable opportunities for glory.

"I understand," Gaven said respectfully, fully aware of what the God of Knowledge was implying - earthly firearms.

In this area, he had always been extremely cautious.

Otherwise, black gunpowder and firearms would have been invented by him long ago, as those were not particularly tall orders.

Even a single Gnome Bombard had been suppressed for over a century, and to this day had not been widely disseminated.

Do you think this was simply the will of the native powers, or the will of the gods?

As for Gond, the God of Forging and Craftsmanship, another deity under the God of Knowledge, one must comply with his venerable will in this area.

That’s a significant reason why Gaven would rather extensively improve existing Gnoll technology than tread the innovator’s path too rashly.

At least their existence had been permitted by the gods.

"You know best," Oghma hinted, "acting according to the rules before you’re qualified to change them is the best protection for you. Even the gods have to follow the rules."

"Thank you for the guidance, sir," Gaven said respectfully.

This was an unstated promise.

As long as Gaven himself did not intentionally overstep the boundaries, Oghma would provide him with protection.

But if he did cross the line, then there was nothing to be done.

For instance, the grudge between him and the Goddess of Undead Vengeance would have to be dealt with by himself; Oghma could not possibly eliminate the Goddess of Undead Vengeance for him.

The gods are the rule makers, as well as the staunchest supporters and adherents.

If they recklessly broke the rules, they would perish from their divinity before the world was destroyed by them.

"I look forward to your phantom books, the door to knowledge is forever open for you." Having said this, Oghma’s figure began to fade away.

What had just appeared before them was not even an incarnation, at most it was a projection of a thought.

As for the God of Singing and the Joy Goddess, they too bestowed friendly smiles upon Gaven before slowly disappearing.

They needed to digest what they had learned today.

Oghma’s intervention escalated the entire affair.

This was a novel entitlement by the God of Knowledge, signifying that a new epoch of flourishing developments was set to begin.

They were about to prompt growth that served their benefits.

The other deities would likely take action soon as well.

Phantoms could be used for entertainment, and even more so for preaching and proselytizing.

Once the three divine presences had vanished, a flurry of hurried breaths immediately filled the area.

Aside from Gaven, even Zalanda, the Chosen of the Goddess of Strategy, hardly dared to breathe deeply.

Not to mention Half-Moon Colt Luna and Bipedal Dragon Shanoba.

Especially the latter, who, before following Gaven, was a notorious highwayman in High Road, seldom abstaining from looting and plundering, for fear that those Benevolent Gods might wipe her out on a whim.

In her eyes, Gaven’s stature grew immensely tall, truly worthy of being the man she followed.

The incarnations of deities, effortlessly summoning three, each more powerful than the last.

His manner of composure made onlookers’ hearts surge with excitement just from watching.

Should she perhaps find some private time to report her recent thoughts to him and purify her soul and body?

Unsure whether those three deities had truly left or were merely feigning departure, Gaven and Zalanda exchanged looks briefly and returned to the surface, each attending to their own tasks. There was still a mound of wrap-up work to be completed.

...

As expected.

The following day, the streets and alleys of Darama were abuzz with only two topics.

One was naturally the memory movies.

Scenes alike could be seen everywhere.

A person, spitting and gesticulating, animatedly recounted the sights and experiences of the previous night, while a crowd of listeners gasped unbelievingly, spurring the storyteller to greater excitement and eloquence.

The other topic was the migration to the Battle Valley in the Three Rivers Region.

The public opinion had shifted, and more and more people began to support the migration.

Not everyone chose to migrate, as most had no such intentions.

But that did not stop families that were not planning to move from sending their younger sons or loyal servants to join the migrants.

It was an excellent opportunity for these families and clans to prepare a fallback plan.

Should trouble arise in Darama, they could then relocate their entire household or clan to the Valley.

Even if the settlement attempts failed, they would still have their roots in Darama.

Therefore, the registration scene was extraordinarily bustling.

Perhaps the figures promised by Zalanda to Gaven were a little conservative after all.

Of course, Gaven couldn’t possibly stay behind to act as the projector operator.

After the premiere concluded, the Spirit Crystal Sphere was handed over to Zalanda by Gaven, who left her responsible for subsequent screenings.

Gaven had already set off for Mir Forest to begin resolving its issues, removing a potential worry for Zalanda.

Mir Forest was shaped like a numeral 7.

The horizontal part lay within the bounds of Thacel, while the vertical section was in Karinshan, where it was known as Moe Forest.

The forest was intertwined with the Marching Mountains, inseparable from it, impossible to distinguish where one ended and the other began.

Especially in this part of Thacel, it’s undeniably a hilly forest with exceedingly complex terrain.

Fortunately for Gaven, he was traveling by air. Had he entered on foot, he would have likely got lost in these dense hills nine times out of ten.

Finding the indigenous people in this vast forest was no easy task.

To meet them, the simplest method was to make them come to him.

There was one foolproof method.

That was to either massively cut down trees, or just set fire to the forest.

Within half a day, a large number of forest races would arrive.

However, this also meant that both sides would become sworn enemies with little chance of reconciliation.

Only an idiot would use this method.

Of course, Gaven was no idiot, so naturally, he wouldn’t do something so detrimental to himself and others.

After evaluating all the information he had, his target was ultimately locked onto Mesnoel.

In Elvish, "Mes" means Mystlock Lock.

Any Elven city with "Mes" in its name is one that possesses a formidable city Mystlock Lock.

A Mystlock Lock capable of enveloping an entire city is at least a ninth-ring spell.

Given that Elves are the creators of Mystlock Locks, and combined with their unique supreme elven magic, their city Mystlock Locks are usually more powerful than their actual level, often having special effects.

Mesnoel was such a case.

Whenever mentioning this Elven city’s Mystlock Lock, one word would repeatedly come up—Necrosis.

As the name suggests, approaching the barrier too closely would incur the effects of necrosis.

Normally, a Mystlock Barrier is an inanimate object.

Stationary in its place, no matter how powerful, as long as it’s not approached, it won’t cause harm.

The Necrotic Mystlock Lock of Mesnoel was clearly not functioning normally.

It was expanding unstoppably, and everything within its range was entering a state of necrosis.

This included not only animals but plants as well, affecting a vast area.

Therefore, even without a native guide,

it didn’t take much effort for Gaven to find Mesnoel.

Even with his extensive experience, Gaven couldn’t help but gasp in shock at the state of the area surrounding Mesnoel.

Like most Elven cities, Mesnoel was also built in harmony with nature.

The slight difference was that it was situated atop a hilly mountain range.

From a distance, one could see the Elven architecture that blended seamlessly with nature, sparkling and crystalline as if made of crystal.

But the condition of the surroundings stood in stark contrast to it.

The plants were withering and rotting, and the bodies of birds and beasts were in states of necrosis.

The entire mountaintop, the entire forest, was like this, sending shivers down one’s spine.

Cackle!!

Gaven and his company didn’t get the chance to approach, as a multitude of grotesque shrieks came from the decaying and putrefying forest.

Like startled birds, countless shapes of all sizes took to the sky.

Unlike ordinary birds, however, these creatures didn’t flee from Gaven but instead swooped down on him with menacing ferocity.

Even as close to nature as Gaven was, he wasn’t so narcissistic to believe that these birds were coming to greet him like the birds from the Three Rivers Region.

Especially since the appearance of these birds was quite horrifying, with varying degrees of necrosis evident on their bodies.

A milder case was merely hair loss, just like a chicken molting, patchy here and there, with exposed skin covered in a multitude of pustules, creating the illusion of them bursting open and squirting juices at the slightest poke.

More severe cases not only had more extensive feather loss, but their exposed skin had begun to necrotize and blacken. Even from dozens of meters away, the smell of rot was distinctly noticeable.

Quickly, these necrotic birds formed two squadrons.

Those with milder necrosis were at the forefront.

The ones with more severe necrosis clumsily followed behind, their heavy feather loss severely affecting their flight. If this continued, they would soon become incapable of flying altogether.

"Keep your distance, don’t let them get within ten meters!" Gaven urgently instructed.

The condition of their bodies was a telltale sign of disease, likely a magical one.

Although Gaven was now graced with the God of Justice, Tyr’s divine health, and could like a Holy Warrior, be immune to most plagues and magic plagues,

the problem was, there are always exceptions.

Who knew what the real cause of the present plague was?

The simplest method was to not give the disease any chance to contact and infect him.

"Understood." Even if Gaven hadn’t said it, the Half-Moon Colt would have done the same; she didn’t have the divine health of a Holy Warrior and couldn’t be immune to plague diseases.

Luna didn’t open up her full speed, just tossed the necrotic birds away and fled.

They weren’t there just to look around but had come on a mission.

That was to capture a creature affected by the Necrotic Plague and bring it back for professionals to study, especially the cause of the Necrotic Plague.

To counter it, one must at the very least know what they are up against.

As the necrotic birds got close enough, Gaven pointed with his firearm, Death Roar, and activated his most formidable group special ability.

Crystal Cluster.

A cascade of star material shards plummeted into the thick swarm of necrotic birds.

The effect was as effective as ever, immediately resulting in a large number of necrotic birds having their heads blown open or wings broken off, tumbling down like dumplings.

"Not undead power?" Gaven’s brow furrowed involuntarily.

Most of the necrotic birds were ordinary birds; their necrotic appearance merely made them look quite terrifying but didn’t grant them any special abilities. At least for now, they were still living creatures, not Undead Creatures.

In recent times, following Daphne, he had brushed up quite a bit on his knowledge about Undead—only by understanding one’s enemy can they be better defeated.