Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 593 - 546: Manu’s Desperate Situation (Torment of Igdaros 3/60)

"This place looks like it has been ravaged by a tornado," Lyle exclaimed, looking around in astonishment.

Originally, this should have been a redwood forest, where these towering plants could grow to dozens of meters high. The dense needles and the moisture they contained were enough to block out the sunlight, as though giants had taken root in the earth. Lyle sized up the diameter of a nearby redwood stump—dozens of people would be needed to encircle it. These ’giants’ must have been truly magnificent before they fell.

Although their remains were still quite spectacular.

All of these great trees had been broken, leaving only about ten meters of their form above ground. The shattered gray bark mixed indistinctly with the soil, crossing the path and making the originally simple landscape complicated like a maze. Moss and fungi made homes on the corpses of giants, but in some places not covered by green, Lyle could still make out traces left by wild beasts or something else. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"That’s the paw print of the Brol Black Bear, a belligerent brute that would satisfy its destructive urges even without prey. Its survival is truly a mercy of nature," Mr. Zhiyan expressed a genuine interest in these obvious undulations. To him, it was like solving a puzzle, "Over here are the marks of either a Monsoon Rhinoceros Bird or an Iron Beak Woodpecker. The former likes to dig holes in tree trunks to nest, while the latter just plays around. Oh, and there are Rotten Ghost Umbrella spores in the crevice, indicating that whichever it was, it’s dead."

Lyle and Mr. Zhiyan shared a similar situation. The grandeur of the fallen redwood maze didn’t cause much amazement in their eyes. Coming to a new environment, their past as explorers made them habitually observe their surroundings and search for traces. Unlike the loquacious Zhiyan, Mr. Kolosis stopped in front of a section of broken giant wood.

It was a huge break, with the wood chips on the edges looking as if they had exploded outwards from pressure. The jagged traces virtually eliminated the possibility of being knocked down by strong winds. The annual rings on the reddish-brown cross-section were indistinct, with black spots penetrating from both sides to the center, like rotting mold.

Lyle couldn’t imagine any massive animal leaving such a mark, but considering the purpose of their journey, he ventured a bold hypothesis.

"Could it be a dragon bite mark?" Such speculation wasn’t unreasonable, after all, Ashpurin was once home to dragons.

"It’s new, Lyle. This mark wouldn’t have appeared more than five days ago..."

"I’m starting to think my guess is very bad news."

"There’s worse news. Did you notice those black spots? That’s the Corrosion Spell, the precursor to Cursing Technique... removed from the Spirit Summoning Studies curriculum because it was too slow to take effect."

Lyle stared at Mr. Kolosis’s face, but unfortunately, he saw no sign of joking.

The scholar called everyone over with his reminder.

"I think I’ve found the person who blew the Dragon Calling Flute." The scholar extended one hand, and the space before him began to ripple and blur. Soon, this trembling transferred to the redwood that blocked the path. It was like it had been activated by resonance, with regular lines appearing in one complete part of the lumber.

The scholar stopped casting, and the redwood that blocked the path was dissected into countless wooden cubes with edges three centimeters long, which tumbled down to reveal the path behind them, where a distorted figure lay on the ground.

The slender instrument with a slight curve lay not far from him, its lower half still covered in dust.

"He is crystallizing." The scholar immediately began to rescue the Manu person, while Lyle started to observe this requester for help.

The body was about one and a half meters long, with dark black skin resembling stone. Although the scholar had emphasized the Manu People’s slender grace, Lyle could only describe him as thin as a rail. Either the scholar’s memory was faulty, or this Manu person was malnourished. The sight of him curled up on the ground, not much better off than a famine refugee, stirred some unpleasant feelings in Lyle.

"His gemstone is damaged," the scholar said, holding a stone that was only slightly more appealing than a common pebble in his hand. It had lost its luster, and to refer to it as a gemstone was an insult to real gemstones. The crystallization of the Manu person continued; his legs had begun to degenerate, and a rough, slate-like mineral pattern was forming on his surface. He was dying.

"We need this guide." A glittering sapphire was pressed by the scholar against the deformed slot, trying several times. "Dragon, I need your assistance." The scholar handed the sapphire and the Manu person to the dragon.

"How do we do this? Just force it in?"

"It’s the only way now. This wretched gemstone has already caused deformities in his body. Don’t worry, the magic power of the sapphire is powerful enough to heal his wounds."

A grating sound that set one’s teeth on edge accompanied the dragon’s turning arm, followed by a crack, and at last, before the Manu person’s complete crystallization, the sapphire was set in place, although Lyle clearly saw a broken edge fly off.

The scene that followed halted Lyle’s worries.

With the sapphire, the Manu person’s body began to grow; bathed in the light radiated by the sapphire, his growth soon exceeded his original form and ultimately reached a lean figure of one meter ninety. His body turned a deep blue, and his two arms glittered like tiny diamonds, reflecting the sunlight.

The Manu person opened his eyes, stood up from the ground, and bowed humbly to the scholar.

"Thank you for your help, Lord Morocoy. I am Marcelo Anshi, a Manu from Ashpurin."

"Have we met before?"

"No, but I have received your sapphire, and what it has given me is not only strength and vitality; the gemstone also possesses its own memory." Marcelo’s words were logical and eloquently put, a stark contrast to his former refugee demeanor. Lyle now profoundly understood the saying that the quality of the gemstone determines the stature of the Manu person.

"Lord Morocoy, on behalf of the Manu race, cherished by the Dragon clans, I request the Dragon Priest’s assistance. Please save my people."

"It seems that the Manu have also experienced drastic changes. I remember that your original gemstone reserves should not have led to the current predicament. Where are your gemstones?"

"They have been taken away. Furthermore, even the crystallized gemstones formed from the death and transformation of our companions have been stolen. Our race is on the verge of extinction. We have fought back, but to no avail. Now, even blowing the Dragon Calling Flute could cost me my life."

"You knew that blowing the Dragon Calling Flute would kill you, and if I had been a bit slower, you would have died."

"At least I have brought hope to my people, and I am still alive."

"What about your army? Once, your strength was comparable to that of the Arcanists. Who is the enemy? One that left you powerless to resist."

Marcelo closed his eyes, his voice full of sorrow.

"It was our already mad leader, Dragon Priest Kolosis, and his dragon."