Chapter 49: The Course of Events
Chapter 49: Chapter 49: The Course of Events
"How did you manage to get past the defenses of those six Black Wizards and poison them to death?"
Farrete reined in his thoughts, looking at Andre inquisitively. He was extremely curious about this.
If word of this got out, it would be record-breaking in the Witch World—a single Wizard poisoning six Black Wizards to death.
"It’s simple. It’s winter in the Black and White Forest, so there’s a thick layer of permafrost. Most people would have a hard time moving beneath it, so those six Black Wizards had virtually no underground defenses."
"Once I realized that, all I had to do was use Earth and Stone Manipulation to travel through the permafrost to their residence. Then I sprinkled the Potion on their bedding and waited for them to come back and get under the covers."
"Once they were under the covers, they would be dead within half an hour."
Andre explained exactly how he had killed the six Black Wizards.
"What ruthless methods!" Farrete was shocked all over again. He knew that the topsoil in the Black and White Forest was only one to two meters deep at most.
Beneath that is the permafrost, and advancing through it would require an immense amount of Power.
Farrete made a quick mental calculation. If he were to kill the six Black Wizards using Andre’s method, he would need to consume over ten thousand Magic Stones.
If he had been given this mission, he never would have attempted it like that.
’The reward isn’t worth the risk. It’s far too dangerous!’
Putting aside the power of the six Black Wizards, just considering the permafrost itself... if you didn’t have enough supplies and couldn’t get out quickly, you’d likely die in there from resource depletion.
The history of the Wizard World was littered with a few such unlucky souls.
Yet Andre had passed through so casually and even poisoned six Black Wizards. The corner of Farrete’s mouth twitched, and a new question surfaced in his mind.
"The Earth and Stone Manipulation Witchcraft alone shouldn’t be enough to get through the permafrost, right? How did you do it?"
Farrete looked at Andre, his expression curious.
Although he hadn’t expected Andre to use Earth and Stone Manipulation to travel underground, that Witchcraft alone couldn’t possibly be enough to pass through permafrost that had been frozen for millennia.
"After the fusion of my Magic Heart was complete, I obtained a few Talent Witchcrafts. One of them, called Earth Armor, helps me travel underground."
"Earth Armor? You mean the legendary Earth Armor that supposedly makes one invincible as long as they stand on the ground?"
Farrete blinked repeatedly. He felt like his mind couldn’t keep up with Andre’s story.
Farrete knew the Earth Armor Witchcraft as well, but his was different from Andre’s. When Farrete cast Earth Armor, it simply condensed the Earth Element on his body to form a defensive suit of armor.
Andre’s Earth Armor, however, was a Talent Witchcraft from a fused Earth Elemental Bear, so its effects were different from Farrete’s.
As long as Andre was standing on the ground and an attack didn’t exceed the Earth Armor’s Defense Power, no matter how severe the damage to the armor was, he could draw from the earth to restore it.
It was precisely because of this Witchcraft that the Earth Elemental Bear possessed the power to contend with Giant Dragons and Giants.
The Earth Elemental Bear was already a favored child of the earth; casting this Witchcraft was like adding wings to a tiger.
Although Andre wasn’t a favored child of the earth, when he combined Earth Armor with Earth and Stone Manipulation—the most fundamental of all Earth Element Witchcrafts—the result was greater than the sum of its parts.
This was also why Andre had been able to swat away the Ice Bombs from the Silver Frost Wolf King and the Wolf Queen with his bare hands.
At that time, the Wolf King and Wolf Queen were low on Magic Power. Even if they could still form Ice Bombs to attack him, they wouldn’t have been able to break through his Earth Armor’s defense.
When Andre first obtained this Talent Witchcraft, he had even mentioned it to Radak.
Radak had just stared at Andre for a long moment before simply shooing him away, apparently deciding that what he didn’t see couldn’t bother him.
’No wonder Teacher entrusted him with the heavy burden of the expedition,’ Farrete thought, consoling himself for a moment before the resentment in his heart surged once more. ’A guy this lucky is sure to survive it.’
He had also constructed a Magic Heart and obtained a Talent Witchcraft, but unlike Andre, he hadn’t received one that was so ridiculously powerful.
This was the most valuable Talent Witchcraft from the Earth Elemental Bear. For many Wizards who had fused with an Earth Elemental Bear’s heart, failing to acquire it was the greatest regret of their lives.
Farrete took two deep breaths, trying to calm himself and quell his jealousy of Andre. He blinked, then looked at Andre and asked another question.
"Doesn’t the Thousand Extremes Potion have a very strong smell? Weren’t you afraid someone would notice after you sprinkled it on the bedding?"
"Originally, I wasn’t planning to put the Potion in their bedding. I was going to put it in their food and water supply."
"But from what I observed, those guys usually hunted their own food. They’d put their kills in their own storage items and never bought provisions from anyone else."
"So, I had to abandon the plan to poison their food and water."
"After ruling out their food and water, the next most effective method was their bedding."
"Because it’s winter, not even an Official Wizard’s body is tough enough to sleep through the biting winter winds."
"So, each of them had prepared several thick quilts in their quarters, which played right into my hands."
"They all left their quarters during the day, so I took that opportunity to sprinkle the Potion evenly inside the bedding. That way, even if they felt a slight chill, they wouldn’t think anything of it."
"As for the smell, I used two herbs to mask it: Mist Grass and Spirit Flower Grass."
"So they wouldn’t smell a thing. Even if they slept fully clothed, the Potion could still seep into their bodies through the exposed skin on their hands and necks."
"To ensure they wouldn’t notice anything, I also added roots from Paralyzing Grass. It would keep them from waking up. And just like that, problem solved!"
To avoid Farrete’s constant questioning, Andre laid out the entire sequence of events.