Chapter 548: Devouring Insect Tribe
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the boundless Void Zone, an extremely fast flying ship was flying at a steady pace. On the flying ship was a black-robed young Wizard currently looking at a map while slightly frowning.
"Wizard Saitu's Dimension is slightly nearer. The Ecuador Dimension is too far. With the speed of the Aurora Ship, it'll only be able to reach after flying for years…"
The Wizard on the flying ship was Merlin, who had just left Arcane City. The map in his hands seemed to cover more than half of the dimensions of the Spell Caster civilization. It could be considered to be an extremely comprehensive map.
However, in the vast Void Zone, the dimensions the Spell Caster civilization controlled was just a drop in the ocean, so there were many places and dimensions that were not indicated on the map.
Merlin's current destination was not Wizard Saitu's Dimension but the Shkedu's Dimension on the way to Wizard Saitu's Dimension.
The Shkedu Dimension, although its name sounded a little awkward, was based on how the Shkedu people in this dimension used to pronounce it. In the Molta language, "Shkedu" meant "center".
The Shkedu Dimension was the center dimension. Just by looking at the name, one would know the importance of the Shkedu Dimension.
This time, Merlin's trip to the Shkedu Dimension was to prepare for Wizard Saitu's Dimension. His Mind Heart had most likely already reached Eighth-level Mind Heart, so his Mind Power should be enough to construct all Seventh-level spells.
However, if Merlin wanted his strength to have a quantitative upgrade after reaching the Seventh-level, he had to cultivate every spell's fused Pandora Demon Ability to their highest stage.
Some fused Pandora Demon Abilities would be able to naturally upgrade their power as long as the spell met the requirements but most fused Pandora Demon Abilities needed certain rare items to cultivate.
In Arcane City, although there were various cultivation facilities, and could be considered as unrivaled, there were no exchanging of rare items. At most, it would be some things like casting tools or robes.
As for rare items, they were usually bought from large-sized dimensions, and the Shkedu Dimension was one of the nearer large-sized dimensions among Wizard Saitu's Dimensions.
Merlin's idea was to buy the rare items first, find a safe place to construct Seventh-level spells, increase the spell's power by fusing a Pandora Demon Ability, and used the qualitative upgrade in the spell's power to finally wander into Wizard Saitu's Dimension and the Ecuador Dimension to see if they were still in good condition or if anything new happened.
"My fused Pandora Demon Abilities are still a little weak!"
Merlin murmured in a low voice. His fused Pandora Demon Abilities were all obtained in the Glorious Land. They were either two or three staged, and some were even forcefully fused into spells, so their quality and power were unevenly matched.
This was an obvious shortcoming of Merlin's spells. If he was like Saturn, and had a grand Honored Legend with four Maxims as his teacher since he was young, then his fused Pandora Demon Abilities would definitely be the best. Adding that to his Perfect-grade spells, his spells' power would be at least thirty percent stronger than it was now.
However, on a Spell Caster's path, not everything went according to one's wishes. Merlin's fused Pandora Demon Abilities were indeed quite far behind when compared to a genius with a good background like Saturn, but he had the Matrix to derive Perfect-grade spells for him, which also made up for it quite a bit.
Thus, if he could purchase the required rare items needed to fuse Pandora Demon Abilities, and raised them to the highest stage, then the spell's power should have a massive increase when Merlin became a Seventh-level Spell Caster.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Merlin had been on the Aurora Ship for half a year. From Arcane City to the Shkedu Dimension, even if the Aurora Ship flew at full speed, it would take at least half a year to reach.
According to the mark on the dimension map, Merlin was not far away from the Shkedu Dimension. He would be able to reach the Shkedu Dimension after three days at most.
"Phew… This is so tiring!"
Merlin let out a long sigh. In this half year on the Aurora Ship, Merlin had been comprehending the "illusory" ability of Mind Power. If he wanted to make an illusion become real using Mind Power, he first had to make great progress in the "illusion" ability.
Previously, the Blackfire King was able to pass off the false as reality, and Merlin did not even have any suspicion. That was naturally because the Blackfire King's Mind Power was strong, but it also showed that the Blackfire King was very accomplished in "illusions".
Merlin already had some ideas about how to change illusion to reality using Mind Power. First, his Mind Power must be extremely strong. Only a strong enough Mind Power would be able to support the illusion into becoming reality.
Next, one needed to comprehend the essence of Mind Power. By understanding the entire process, it would be equivalent to succeeding half already.
What Merlin was doing now was to understand and comprehend "illusion". Only after he had thoroughly comprehended "illusion" would he be able to change it into reality. This was a very long and difficult process, and even Merlin did not know exactly how much time it would take. Would it be a few years or a few thousand years? Merlin was unsure whether he could even succeed.
He was now a pioneer. Every step forward was an uncharted land which he had opened up, and was of great significance. However, this road was doomed to be solitary, and could only be slowly explored by himself.
Over the past six months, Merlin had not been doing useless work. He had indeed made great progress in "illusion". It was not the illusion that Darkness-type spells brought forward, but an illusion directly woven by Merlin's Mind Power. It was extremely realistic, and even ordinary Spell Casters would not be able to discover it.
Of course, if he wanted to reach the Blackfire King's level where even Merlin's Mind Power could not discover it, he still needed to put in a lot of effort.
"I should reach the Shkedu Dimension in a few days. Then.."
Merlin was planning how he would buy rare items in the Shkedu Dimension step by step when his Aurora Ship lightly trembled. No matter how slight the tremor was, Merlin keenly felt it.
"There's movement up ahead? That was an Elemental fluctuation. Is it a Spell Caster using spells?"
Merlin's eyes narrowed, and he immediately stood up in alert. In the boundless Void Zone, the chances of encountering a Spell Caster was extremely small, even if this area was controlled by Spell Casters.
It was like a vast universe. No matter how large a spaceship was, how low would the probability of encountering someone else?
Thus, in the past six months Merlin was in the Void Zone, this was his first time encountering an Elemental fluctuation. Driven by curiosity, Merlin steered the Aurora Ship and flew rapidly toward the direction of the Elemental fluctuation.
…
"Squeak squeak squeak."
A large group of black beetles, almost hundreds of thousands of them, blanketed the scene as if forming a big net, and were whistling toward a source of white light in front.
"It's really those pesky bugs. Why am I unlucky as to encounter the Devouring Insect Tribe?"
In the white light, a figure flew forward while staggering, but the insects were extremely quick, and formed a large net to block the figure in the white light.
Wizard Luce had already somewhat lost hope. To come across the Devouring Insect Tribe in the vast Void Zone was truly "superb" luck.
The Devouring Insect Tribe was also called the Dimension Plague. They were born to live from dimension to dimension. The Tribe's hive mind could live and grow parasitically in a dimension, and finally create countless Devouring Insects that would slowly gnaw at the entire dimension until nothing was left.
Thus, the Devouring Insect Tribe was called the Plague of the Dimensions!
The Devouring Insect Tribe was extremely terrifying but fortunately, their numbers were small. That was because the lifespan of those insects was very short, only a hundred years long. They relied on dimensions to live, so if there were none, they could even starve to death.
The distance between many dimensions was very far, and with the insects' flying speed, it might take hundreds of years to reach a faraway dimension. By then, they would have long starved to death.
It was also precisely because of this that the Devouring Insect Tribe numbers were small. Encountering them in the vast Void Zone really was extremely unlikely.
However, Wizard Luce was precisely that unlucky. He had almost reached the Shkedu Dimension but he ended up encountering the Devouring Insect Tribe. Fortunately, this group was not extremely strong. The hive mind seemed to have just reached the Ninth-level, so the insects would all generally be the Seventh or Eighth-level.
However, under a hive mind's guidance, a large group of insects could exhibit terrifying power. Even some strong Ninth-level Spell Casters would be trapped and surrounded, and finally be devoured.
Wizard Luce had sacrificed a good amount of casting tools as well as some powerful defensive Runic Magic Circles to get to where he was and finally stumbled close to the Shkedu Dimension.
Once in the Shkedu Dimension, those Devouring Insects that seemed to still be in their infancy stage would pose little threat, and be easily destroyed by some Great Wizards.
However, it was a pity that Wizard Luce seemed to have run out of resources, and could no longer break free from the Devouring Insect Tribe.
"Damn it, what do I do? What do I do? Those loathsome bugs will eat me until nothing remains…"
Wizard Luce's expression was full of anxiety.
Suddenly, a golden light in front flew over at breakneck speed.
"Whoosh."
The golden light suddenly stopped, and a black-robed Wizard flew out from the flying ship. Wizard Luce immediately rejoiced. It was as if he found an oasis in the desert.
However, he became disappointed just as quickly. He looked carefully, and discovered that this black-robed Wizard was weak to the point of being pitiful. He was only a Sixth-level Spell Caster.
Luce was slightly disappointed but he quickly adjusted his attitude. He still had an idea, so he shouted toward the black-robed Wizard, "The Wizard over there, I'm Wizard Luce from the Shkedu Dimension. I happened to encounter this hateful Devouring Insect Tribe, but they're currently at their weakest infancy stage! Your flying ship is very fast, and these insects won't be able to keep up. I implore you to hurry into the Shkedu Dimension, and call for a Great Wizard. I'm willing to give you a million elemental crystal stones as a reward!"
A million elemental crystal stones were almost two-thirds of Wizard Luce's wealth that he had accumulated for several hundred years. However, in order to survive, he could only suffer financial losses.
However, after Wizard Luce had finished speaking, he noticed that the black-robed Wizard was indifferent, and showed no signs of leaving. Wizard Luce became worried, and said through gritted teeth, "The Wizard over there, if you're willing to go to the Shkedu Dimension and call for help, I'll give you an additional two hundred thousand elemental crystal stones!"
Wizard Luce gnashed his teeth. In order to live, he was prepared to spend money in large amounts. He had already taken out most of his wealth.
However, the black-robed Wizard still showed no sign of leaving, and instead approached forward.
"If you give me a million and two hundred thousand elemental crystal stones, then I won't have to go to the Shkedu Dimension anymore."
The black-robed Wizard looked at the stupefied Wizard Luce, and revealed a calm smile.