Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength-Chapter 1079 - 1073: The Elderly Mage
Fisher walked slowly up the stairs in her armor.
During this time, Ronald and Ilder remained on either side of the girl to ensure that the attempt would not be disturbed by other factors.
But to be fair.
The girl, originally agile, moved somewhat comically after putting on such a heavy suit of armor.
So after only a few steps, Ronald turned his head and saw a trace of a smile appearing on Il's face—she could hardly hold it in.
"Hmph!"
Realizing this, Ronald quickly gave Il a look.
Upon seeing Ronald's serious expression, Il shivered and immediately dispelled her trace of amusement, starting to earnestly focus on staying by Fisher's side.
Clink—clink—
Suit-clad Fisher ascended step by step. Along with the girl's footsteps came the crisp sound of metal plates rubbing against each other. With Ronald's exceptional hearing, he could even hear Fisher's slightly rapid breathing through the seams of the visor.
This experience of moving forward in armor was evidently a rather 'unique' one for the girl.
Step by step, the three of them reached the place that had repeatedly sent them back to the starting point, and Fisher continued upward.
Clink—
With the rhythmic clinking of armor.
Under Ronald and Il's watchful eyes, Fisher, clad in the armor, actually set foot on the staircase they had previously been unable to traverse.
In this way, they could reach a higher position!
"..."
"Ronald, Il, have I reached the spot?"
At the same time, armored Fisher asked.
As the experiment's subject, being trapped inside the full-body armor, Fisher was attending to her position; yet it was easy to feel uncertain in such circumstances.
Ronald heard Fisher's inquiry, calmed his somewhat excited mood, and was about to answer when, in that brief hesitation, Il eagerly spoke:
"That's right, we've reached the spot!"
"And Fisher, look at your feet! You've just managed to surpass this height, we can now continue…"
Swish—
In her excitement, eager to embrace Fisher, Il leaned forward.
This forward-leaning action immediately triggered the spell's mechanism. In an instant, Il, with unfinished words, was teleported to the bottom of the stairwell, back to the starting point.
"..."
Il blinked in place, then promptly sought to remedy her embarrassing situation:
"You see—I was just teleported back, but you weren't!"
"..."
"Hahaha!"
Seeing Il this way, Fisher, though encased in armor, burst into laughter. The girl then reached up, pulling open the visor of her helmet and said to Ronald:
"In that case, Ronald, you and Il should go find two sets of armor too. I'll wait for you here."
Ronald naturally nodded in response:
"Then please wait, we'll be back shortly."
With those words, Ronald turned and began to make his way down the stairs, preparing to find armor that suited both him and Il.
But after just two steps, Ronald's pace slowed.
The reason was simple—
His acute hearing detected a faint sound from above in the castle.
Creek—creek—
That was the unique sound of flat shoes stepping on old, worn wooden floors.
Ronald stopped in place, slowly lifting his head to look upwards.
Standing in their respective places, Fisher and Il, realizing Ronald's actions, also became aware of what was happening and directed their gazes upward.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
At this moment, an elderly cough echoed from the end of their line of sight.
Shortly afterward, a gray-haired old man, wearing a deep blue robe, slowly emerged from the corner above. His gaze was neither startled nor delighted; only when he turned his head to look down at Ronald and the other two did he speak with a slightly regretful tone:
"Young ones, why put in so much effort?"
"Laquimont is already on the brink of abandonment. It's not worth you laboring so much. You should hurry back."
"..."
Downstairs.
The moment the old man appeared.
Ronald found that his reconnaissance spell had no effect on him.
Moreover, by observing the vibrations of the planks above, the light falling on the figure, and the color in his eyes, Ronald discerned that this was undeniably a real old man standing there, rather than some illusion technique deceiving him.
—This was an exceptionally stunning scene.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time Ronald had been face-to-face concealed from someone within reconnaissance magic. The elder's power was evident without needing words.
But more than this, there was something even more astonishing to Ronald.
He recognized the elderly man's identity!
Despite the wrinkled skin and slightly shortened aged frame, differing from when previously seen.
Ronald remembered clearly—
This elder's features belonged to the great mage Majie'er he had encountered in historical fragments!
Initially, Ronald believed there would be numerous troubles in this segment of historical fragments.
Unexpectedly, just resolving the steps they could not ascend, the great mage appeared proactively to speak with them.
For a moment, Ronald's emotions were a bit stirred.
However, this emotional stir did not disrupt his thoughts; realizing the great mage's personal appearance, Ronald's mind accelerated analyzing the situation.
One detail especially noteworthy.
At this moment, neither Ronald nor Il were armored, showing their true selves.
Yet this Majie'er, upon seeing them, clearly did not display any alternative emotions.
Signifying now, this great mage Majie'er.
Was not the one Ronald and Il together experienced and gifted something original to; nor was it the one that Il met in the city after launching an attack when stuck in historical fragments.
So for Ronald and Il, they were dealing with the great mage as new identities.
While Ronald was contemplating how to proceed, unlike him, Fisher, worried about her sister, clearly could not remain composed.
So when the great mage appeared.
Failing to recognize his identity, Fisher immediately stepped forward with a sincere and pleading tone:
"Honorable Mage, I'm sorry for intruding in Laquimont without notice."
"But there are matters I must know and seek assistance from the great mage Majie'er. It concerns my family's safety!"
