Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength

Ronald clearly heard dissatisfaction in Il's words.

However, he had no intention of repeating this fellow's mistakes by clashing with the great Mages within the city of Larchmont, which might result in the entire space resetting again.

So when faced with the guard's obstruction,

he simply raised his hand and muttered a few spell-like words, displaying a spell for manipulating objects.

"A spell?"

"If you've learned a new spell, remember to register it. I thought it was another fool coming over."

The guard raised an eyebrow at this scene but wasn't overly suspicious.

The ability to manipulate objects that Ronald displayed had similar effects to spells from many schools, and it was the least likely to arouse suspicion.

So he just gave a verbal reminder before turning back to his duties.

"..."

From behind, watching the guard leaving.

The two stood still for a few seconds before Il mockingly said with discontent:

"Ha, is this their defense?"

"Just show a spell and you can pass - with a city like this, no wonder it mysteriously vanished from history."

Seeing Il getting a bit worked up, Ronald smiled, patted her shoulder, and comforted her saying:

"Alright, don't mind these things."

"Larchmont, after all, is an island city with a mature magical defense system. With such level defenses, it's quite normal for inspections inside to be looser."

After saying a few words, Ronald continued forward.

Upon entering the Wizards' District of Larchmont, everything around started to truly showcase the city's past glory.

First off, the number of casters here was incredibly high.

Even compared to the current world's fastest-spreading city for spells, the scale of personnel here could not be matched.

Ronald quickly did a mental calculation of the ratio of people.

And immediately confirmed that the condition shown by this city should be historical, from before the Dark Age. Otherwise, this number of casters could probably drag the island into the "Infinite Negative Domain" in an instant.

Secondly, there was a strong research atmosphere among the Wizards.

Walking down the street, whether it was the residences of ordinary casters or the towers where the powerful lived and conducted spell experiments, at any moment, Ronald could sense extremely unstable magic fluctuations in every direction he chose.

Here, accidents were likely already a daily occurrence.

The guard not allowing ordinary people to casually enter the Wizards' District might really be a measure for those people's safety.

Even though Ronald tried to comfort her, Il's discontent didn't dissipate. After probably a few hundred meters more, she couldn't help herself anymore:

"Speaking of, boss, are we just going to loiter around here?"

"If I'm not mistaken, those people from [Nikos] outside are quite anxious about the situation here?"

"Should we try making a move again?"

"Maybe this time with you around, the outcome will be different from back then?"

"Making a move to probe is an option, but not right now." Seeing Il's reaction, Ronald had to explain his plan carefully, "Earlier outside, I noticed traces of the original text here."

"We at least need to see the situation there before making further plans."

"Moreover, the current stability is not guaranteed to last. It's necessary to collect as much information as possible while the environment is suitable."

"Tsk—" Il clicked her tongue in irritation.

She originally wanted to take advantage of Ronald's formidable combat power to get some revenge, but now, with the conversation reaching this point, it seems there's no hope for that.

Meanwhile, Ronald watched Il's reaction, somewhat surprised.

He could understand her desire for revenge.

But such a strong obsession... What exactly happened between Il and the city's casters in the previous two space resets to result in this?

Was it really just as Il said, that they had simply fought each other?

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Ronald stopped his steps.

Because he noticed that, not far ahead, divided by a fountain square, a very powerful spell barrier was enveloping the area behind it for protection.

As long as one had a bit of magic cultivation, they could sense this obvious 'warning.'

As a magic metropolis, Larchmont was indeed interesting.

Aside from the outermost layer dividing casters and ordinary people, even within this purely Wizards' District, territory was lavishly divided between the strong and the weak.

If one were to make a simple reference.

Entering the area within this barrier, at the very least, one would need to be an elite investigator from the bureau to have such a qualification.

"Boss, we're about to go up the mountain ahead." At this time, Il also appropriately voiced her opinion. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

While Ronald analyzed from a caster's perspective, Il identified based entirely on terrain and architecture.

In fact, just like Ronald observed previously from outside.

The castle built on the mountain in Larchmont was the center of the entire city, which is why it gathered the most powerful casters in the city and enjoyed the protection of this lavish barrier.

And Ronald's target, namely the original text that was unsuccessfully retrieved outside.

Is most likely here!

"..."

"Hmph—"

Ronald took a deep breath, his gaze turning more serious.

He was very aware that on the upcoming journey, luck might bring some trouble, but there was a greater chance of encountering danger.

—Ronald's goal was the original text within this city.

Just thinking about the attitude of those outside casters when faced with an original text, one can anticipate what they might encounter next.

"Il, put away all those carefree feelings."

"Let's get serious about the task ahead."

Ronald instructed Il with a serious tone, then stepped forward delicately channeling his magic to attempt an intrusion to the barrier ahead.

At this point, the impact of daily accumulation became evident.

Previously, Costate was particularly good at this kind of operation, and Ronald had observed and learned such techniques during his free time.

So now, despite not reaching the level of the maid herself,

he could slowly and stealthily infiltrate. Judging by the difficulty of Larchmont's barrier, he could achieve this goal within about five minutes.

And during Ronald's trial in breaking through,

Il, noting his serious attitude, rarely thought carefully and finally stepped forward saying:

"Boss, when I attacked the city before, I also encountered some holding original texts."

"The others of average skills were not worth mentioning; if they couldn't even beat me, they certainly wouldn't be a match for you. But one person among them, his spells could manipulate the surrounding environment and alter the properties of objects."

"I think even you should be prepared for him in advance."