Mage Manual
Chapter 671 - 530: Twisting Green

Chapter 671: Chapter 530: Twisting Green

"What’s out there in the darkness?"

Borrowing the light that sneaked through the window, Ash and the others could roughly make out that this place must be a junkyard. Though it was referred to as junk, the value contained within was not meager—the peculiar components of Dawn Powder, the dark gleaming plates, and even the mundane dust couldn’t conceal the otherworldliness of the Snowfield white engines... Without a doubt, this warehouse harbored the fragmented, sweet souls of a bygone era. They were the crystallization of wisdom, the details of civilization, greatness in the minute.

But now they could only be piled up in this dim earth room crudely fashioned from Earth Magic, serving as seats for Ash and his companions, quietly awaiting the corrosion of time.

Facing Igula’s question, Black Crow didn’t immediately respond but instead posed a question of his own, "In your countries, can people freely walk into the darkness of the night?"

"Not only in our country, but in most countries the darkness of night is just a normal change in light, the darkness itself isn’t something to be feared."

"How do you know about the other countries?"

"Because I’ve read quite a few Mage’s Handbooks," Igula stated firmly. "Although I haven’t read much, if darkness were prevalent, it’s likely the Mage’s Handbooks would mention this. But I’ve never seen a single one that does."

Ash felt puzzled. Igula’s words suddenly seemed to make sense, but in reality, they were utterly nonsensical—he himself had read quite a few Mage’s Handbooks, but had never come across anything like the Bloodline Prohibitions during the Blood Moon or the Gospel List of the Gospel. To the inhabitants of each country, the things they took for granted simply weren’t worth recording in a Mage’s Handbook, just as no one would boast about sunlight, peace, air, and food security. They’ve never lost them, so naturally, they wouldn’t treasure them.

However, he glanced at Igula leaning forward toward Black Crow and immediately understood that the Swindler was now in working mode—he remembered Igula saying that knowledge was the Swindler’s best Protective Color, and confidence was the Swindler’s sharpest dagger.

People subconsciously follow authority, and most lack the ability to think independently. While there may be more intelligent individuals among Mages, laziness is human nature. When they encounter a learned person who seems far more intelligent than themselves (even if it is an illusion), they become dependent and turn into the little children in kindergarten waiting to be picked up.

Ash and Harvey were perfect examples; most of the plans now were made by Igula. If Igula wanted to trap them, it wouldn’t be much harder than cooking a plate of pasta.

But Harvey wasn’t following Igula; he was like a withered leaf that had fallen to the ground, blown about by the wind generated from Ash and Igula’s actions, waiting for the moment he would land once more—that would be his end. As for Ash, he had simply handed over both his brain and back to the Swindler.

This Black Crow seemed to mainly be a close-combat Mage, most likely a Weak Mage. Although there was no big data analysis, it was commonly believed that a Body Technique Master reading a Mage’s Handbook was harder than it was for a scholarly Mage—

Body Technique referred to swordsmanship, Fist Claw, the Weak, and other Magic related to the body. Body Technique Masters were not lacking in wisdom, but since they needed to spend a long time honing their skills, their reading was less frequent, and their worldview often more straightforward, seeing things in terms of black and white without room for flaws. For example, Sword Masters often sought immediate revenge for wrongs;

While scholarly referred to Magic that required the reading of a large amount of literary material. Scholarly Mages read a lot and thus had more complex worldviews, with more flexible moral baselines, therefore theoretically having a broader range of reading than Body Technique Masters.

Of course, this was just a general impression. In this world, there were Witches who could split personalities to read books, and other Mages might also have ways to temporarily change their inclinations.

"Mage’s Handbook?" Black Crow was slightly taken aback, nodding thoughtfully, "Ah, right, you could obtain knowledge of other countries in the Void Realm..."

He actually fell for it, it looks like this was indeed a Weak Mage who hadn’t read much.

Black Crow paused before saying, "Perhaps there really is nothing in the darkness of your country’s night, but within the darkness of this land lie colors that can turn people into monsters—Crushing Green."

The three of them were slightly startled, "Turn people into monsters?"

Black Crow nodded, "Ordinary people mostly turn into all sorts of bizarre green monsters, extremely aggressive, and they gain rapid regenerative abilities when exposed to sunlight. But for Mages, they aren’t difficult to deal with. The real trouble is those monsters that were Mages—Crushing Green creatures of the Void Realm, like the Fish-Slicing Dragon, Fox Lamp Dragon, Violent Slash Dragon, and so on."

"Void Realm creatures aren’t that hard to deal with, right?" Ash yawned and said, "It’s not like it’s the Void Realm; here you can form teams."

"Do creatures from the Void Realm not form teams?" Black Crow asked calmly.

Igula’s pupils contracted sharply, "Are you saying—"

"Crushing Green creatures will gather and attack human settlements. Some small factions have even been wiped out because of this," Black Crow explained. "However, once there’s a sign of Crushing Green gatherings, it will attract major faction eradication efforts, otherwise, these Crushing Green creatures might even establish a civilization. Gathered Crushing Green creatures are known as ’Green Disasters’; there are quite a few Green Disasters roaming the wilderness of the Land of Senluo, beyond the reach of factions."

"Can’t the mental or Dominion Faction control the Crushing Green creatures?" Ash wondered. "Aren’t they ready-made research materials? You might even be able to cure them."

"I’ve heard of people who’ve tried," said Black Crow lightheartedly. "What happened was that the Mage himself turned into a Crushing Green creature. It’s said that the Crushing Green creatures have been contaminated, and any attempt by a Mage to establish a connection with them would only cause the contamination to spread."

"So, one must never venture into the lightless night, as the Crushing Green will turn anyone into a monster."

Just turn the whole country into the City of Eternal Night with lamps every ten steps... Just as Ash was about to voice this thought, Igula firmly stated, "Light can’t dispel the darkness of night, right? Something else must be protecting this encampment from the night."

"Yes," said Black Crow, "ideals, faith, the future, hope... It has many names but protects the world in the same form—Great Skill."

"Great Skill can protect the world from the darkness, and those who follow Great Skill will find shelter. Thus, losing Great Skill means not just losing hope but also life, everything."

Ash suddenly thought of those Believers of the Tribulation Fire Technique who had lost their will to fight upon seeing it taken away that afternoon.

"But the Gods of Four Pillars aren’t Great Skill, are they? They can’t even be discussed in the same context as reason and hope." Harvey rubbed his eyes and leaned on Alice, finding a loophole, "Why can the Gods of Four Pillars protect the encampment then?"

Before Black Crow could answer, Igula came up with the answer, "Desire?"