Ferde Wilderness.
"Celine, how come you're here?" Link welcomed her happily.
To be honest, it had been a bit dangerous. If he hadn't sensed Nana's aura, Link would have drunk the medicine from the Red Dragon Queen.
Holding the pistol, Celine walked over. She glanced at Aymons, whom Nana had turned into a flesh stick, and then at Alloa. One second later, she looked down at Alloa's chest and back at her own. Her expression immediately grew unfriendly. "Who is she?"
Link didn't feel this change. "She's Alloa," he explained. "She had just escaped from the Dark Elves in the North."
Alloa nodded. "I came to the South just to find Link. I appreciate his accomplishments in spatial magic."
"Oh." Celine nodded coolly and tossed over a cloak. "Put this on."
"Thanks." Alloa knew that she looked pathetic right now. She caught the cloak and covered her body.
On the other hand, Link walked over to Aymons and asked softly, "You're Aymons, right? I didn't expect that you would voluntarily run from the North to my territory."
Aymons clenched his jaw. "Stop wasting your breath and just kill me."
"It's not that simple. You're a core member of the Silver Moon Mage Council and the owner of Horton. You can't die so easily. You must go out with a boom." With that, Link turned and told Nana, "Take him back to Scorched Ridge but be gentle. Don't let him die."
"Understood!"
Nana walked up and circled Aymons. She couldn't find any way to hold him, so she decided to swing him over her shoulder.
Then Link walked to Alloa's side. He cast Levitation on her and used the Magician's Hand to pull her down the road. Celine stayed beside Link. She would constantly eye Alloa and then look at herself. Her pretty brows were furrowed as if she was troubled.
Link still didn't notice anything was amiss. He was busy thinking about the Dark Serpent Divine Gear. He kept asking Alloa as they walked.
"How are your injuries?" Link asked.
"It's no problem. They'll be mostly recovered after ten minutes." Alloa smiled politely. She was much more sensitive than Link and could feel Celine's annoyance at her. Therefore, she purposely distanced herself from Link.
"Shouldn't I try to help you fix the bone?" Link eyed Alloa's calf. He noticed it was less twisted now.
"No need. My undying body comes from the power of the laws. It'll recover completely after some time."
"I see. That's so interesting." Link studied her calf and grew more excited about the information Alloa would provide about the Dark Serpent.
Seeing him like this, Celine was even more upset.
At the side, Aymons had recovered a bit. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Alloa, it wasn't enough to betray our tribe and now you want to become a blasphemous woman too? You will have a tragic ending."
Alloa glanced at the Dark Elf stick and turned towards Link. "He's completely overtaken by his anger and keeps spouting nonsense. Can you make him shut up?"
So Link looked at Nana. "Knock him out."
As soon as he said that, there was a thud. Nana had smacked Aymons' temples, and the Dark Elf lost consciousness. "Master, he will be out for 15 hours."
"Okay, that's enough." Link was very satisfied with Nana's efficiency at handling orders. Then he turned toward Alloa. "There's no one being loud anymore. Can you tell me the specific data now?"
Alloa nodded but then asked Celine, "Do you have a dagger?"
"Huh? Dagger? Why do you want it?" Celine snapped out of her thoughts. She found it strange, but she still handed over her self-defense dagger.
Alloa took it and, without another word, stabbed her abdomen. She made another horizontal slit and blood came flowing out. Alloa just wrinkled her brows as if she felt no pain. She reached in, felt around, and pulled out a bloody Magic Crystal.
Both Link and Celine were shocked by this self-mutilating action.
Alloa nonchalantly wiped away the blood on the Magic Crystal and gave it to Link. "This contains the records of the Divine Gear's fusion process," she explained at the same time. "The first thing I received after finishing the research was endless vitality. Look, my wound has already healed."
The two glanced at Alloa's abdomen. Indeed, the gaping wound had already disappeared without a trace. Even the blood had disappeared, and all that remained was a smooth abdomen. Alloa's calf had mostly healed as well. It was only slightly swollen now but the swelling was decreasing at a visible rate.
"Wow, this is too miraculous." Even Celine was impressed.
Alloa covered herself with the cloak again and sighed. There was no joy in her expression. "An undying body is good for the average person, but it's a drawback for me. I've lost all magic power. This Magic Crystal is the only thing I took from the North."
Link had already started looking through the contents. After a few glances, he couldn't help but praise, "This is a priceless gem…Oh my god, this is incredible, unbelievable!"
The first half was said to Alloa; he'd already started murmuring to himself in the second half.
Alloa didn't find this strange. To be honest, she had been just like this when she saw the fusion process for the first time. Seeing Link so immersed in it, she turned toward Celine. "I'm only interested in his brain," she said softly. "I'm not interested in him as a person, so don't worry."
"What do you mean…Don't worry? I'm not worried." But Celine felt caught, and she blushed.
"A Dark Elf's average life expectancy is 150 years. I may look young, but I'm already 40 years old so you can't lie to me… Alright, I'll stop now. I only care about the world's mysteries. Everything else is a burden." Alloa chuckled lightly.
She didn't betray the Dark Elves just because they were crazy. The main reason was because they couldn't accept her research of Divine Gear and no one could understand her.
Thankfully, there was someone like that in the South. Therefore, she quickly abandoned the Dark Elves.
On the other hand, Link was completely immersed in the Magic Crystal's records. There was only a tiny portion that he could completely understand. He was confused about the other 99.9%, but that was why he was even more excited.
After coming to this world, he had read countless magic books. None of them had been difficult to him; there was no challenge. Now, he had run into true trouble. If he could solve this, it would definitely be a huge achievement for him!
After reading for around 20 minutes, Link suddenly wrote a line of succinct runes in the air with his wand. "Is this the core law that you found?" he asked Alloa.
Glancing at it, Alloa's eyes focused and became extremely serious. After around one minute, she nodded. "Pretty much. Your Rune Formation is more succinct than mine, but there can be errors if you describe it like that. Look, the conclusion I got is like this…Do you have pen and paper?"
She couldn't use magic like Link, so she needed to handwrite it. Link passed her pen and paper. Alloa wrote as she walked, and she gave the sheepskin back to Link after five minutes.
"This is my conclusion."
Link studied it and praised it. "Amazing, I didn't think about a lot of this. However, I think you can still revise it here… Like this, look."
Link gave the scroll back. Alloa sank into deep thought after she read it, but she started scribbling again after a few minutes. Then, she handed it to Link. After reading it, Link frowned as well and started revising again.
Along the way, the two barely spoke and just passed the scroll back and forth. The sheepskin was not that big, and it was soon filled with Rune Formations, Mana equations, hypotheses, guesses, and more. It was so messy that no one else could understand it.
Celine peered at it, but she gave up. To her, the runes looked like a child's doodles. She couldn't understand either of them.
When the two reached Scorched Ridge, they were completely submerged in the world of the laws of Divine Gear.
Link was dazed. If Celine wasn't there to guide him, he probably would have walked straight into the sea. Alloa was in a similar state; her eyes were unfocused, and she moved stiffly as if her mind was gone. No one knew what she was thinking.
Celine was so bored she could only talk to Nana. "Nana, look. They've gone mad."
Nana looked from Link to Nana with her big clear eyes. "With Master like that, I can fight 100 of him by himself," she said sweetly.
"Okay, all you know is fighting." Celine pouted.
The gate of Scorched Ridge was right ahead. There was a luxurious carriage parked in the square behind the gate. It was marked with the emblem of the East Cove Magic Academy. Some big figures had come.
Celine was forced to interrupt Link. "Link, wake up. I think we have guests."
"Ah…Oh, oh, got it," Link patronized.
At this time, Celine could already see the guests. She reached out and pinched Link's waist with all her power. "Oh, it's the dean of the East Cove Magic Academy!"
Link finally woke up. He smiled apologetically at Celine and returned the Magic Crystal to Alloa. "Go rest, and I'll come find you as soon as I'm free." Then, he said to Celine, "Dear, help me arrange a place for Alloa to stay."
Whenever Link called her dear before, Celine would have a comeback ready. Today, she didn't say anything and just pulled Alloa away with a smile.
"Nana, you can go too. You don't have to follow me around the camp. Oh, right, take Aymons to Gildern to take care of. Tell him not to let this guy die."
"Yes, Master."
Link walked over to Dean Anthony. "Master Anthony, how come you're here?"
Anthony looked older than before. The wrinkles on his face seemed to be carved in, and he was more stooped too. He found the pathetic-looking Aymons odd, but he knew Link would explain, so he didn't ask.
Instead, he sighed. "I was coming to discuss about the North with you and relax a bit. However, on my way here, I received Grenci's letter…Now, the South is more important."
The threat of the North's Divine Gear was still present. Now, there was also the undead army in the South. The Norton Kingdom was truly in trouble.
The undead army was especially chilling. Anthony understood clearly that if the army was allowed to grow, it would become a calamity that would sweep through the mainland within half a year.
Link grew serious. "You came just in time. I have something to discuss with you too. It's about what just happened in the Girvent Forest, but it should be good news."