Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

The violent fluctuations of magic in the reception room kept Mamadou locked inside the stone wall. He could sense that the two old men outside were not easy to deal with, and if he showed himself while they were fighting, he probably wouldn't even be considered cannon fodder.

Adhering to his good professional ethics, he waited quietly for ten seconds. After seeing that there was not much magical fluctuation, he tried to let the rock envelop his body and walk out of the wall.

Two gruesome corpses lay on the ground at opposite ends of the room. One was wearing a green and white robe, but most of it was now stained red with blood, and a large pool of blood flowed beneath him, indicating that almost all of his blood had been drained. The other was strange; strictly speaking, they were two "half-humans," their bodies joined together, lying in a pool of yellow water. Their bodies had turned completely black, making it impossible to discern their faces.

"Good heavens, what kind of deep-seated hatred could lead to such a deadly attack right from the start?" Mamadou exclaimed. Such a gruesome death must be the work of extremely vicious magic. He was glad he hadn't risked coming out earlier.

But then he sensed something was wrong. The rock covering him was cracked and covered in stone dust, as if some unseen substance was corroding the rock. "No, I have to get out of here quickly, or I'll lose my life."

He quickly scanned his surroundings, confirming that the only ways to leave were through the main door and the window. "I wonder if the fluctuations in magic will be detected by other church members. I need to hurry before they arrive."

As he was saying this, he prepared to leave through the main gate, but as soon as he turned around, that indescribable sense of professionalism came over him again. "Since I'm already here, I can't go back empty-handed."

Thinking of this, Mamadou gritted his teeth and scanned the entire reception room once more.

Due to the battle between the two high-ranking mages, the entire reception room has suffered considerable damage. Many books and wooden boards have been corroded, and some of the walls have developed cracks. The large desk in the middle is now covered with a large amount of white mycelium, and clusters of red and black mushrooms are growing on it.

"Something doesn't feel right," Mamadou sensed the fluctuations in the room. His intuition told him that a faint magical energy seemed to be emanating from the corner of the desk, which had turned into a mushroom culture medium. "There seems to be something there?"

He carefully avoided the bloodstains and yellow liquid on the ground and walked over. The closer he got, the more he could feel a strange magical fluctuation.

Mamadou soon discovered that one of the drawers at the bottom of the desk seemed to be under a magical seal, presumably sealing something away.

"This is a bit tricky," Mamadou tilted his head and examined the desk. It was now covered with strange mushrooms, and those mushrooms looked dangerous. If he touched them rashly, he didn't know what would happen. He quickly considered his options, wondering whether to give up now. "But this bishop is obviously planning to use powerful magic to protect this thing before he dies. The things inside must be very valuable."

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard running sounds coming from the distance down the corridor, and someone shouting loudly, "Someone must have discovered us. No, we can't go through the main entrance."

Thinking of this, Mamadu glanced at his rocky outer skin. His earth elemental affinity of 93 allowed him to barely maintain his petrified armor, but the unseen substance was still eroding it wildly, and the petrified outer skin was almost completely turning into stone powder.

"This is the only way," Mamadou frowned, then loudly chanted a spell in Orcish. He still had the same habit as before: when he got anxious, he would unconsciously speak in Orcish.

As the incantation was recited, the front of the window collapsed inward with a loud "boom," revealing a large hole. Then, the rubble that had collapsed on the ground floated up and quickly condensed into a giant stone hand.

Mamadou manipulated the hand and shoved the mushroom-covered desk hard. "Hiss!" Wisps of gray smoke rose from the stone giant hand. "Fortunately, the stone hand is thick enough to withstand the corrosion for now."

Then, Mamadou let out a low shout and forcefully pushed the Stone Hand out, which, along with the mushroom-covered desk, fell through the large hole in the wall.

Then, Mamadou leaped out of the hole in the wall and fell down to the third floor.

As Mamadou lunged forward, a giant mushroom-shaped fruiting body rapidly grew from Bishop Luther's corpse. The mycelium of the fruiting body had completely covered the body, and the blood that had flowed out was slowly returning, as if it had been absorbed by the mycelium.

The white fruiting body gradually transformed into a human shape, quickly revealing facial features, and within seconds grew into the appearance of Bishop Luther.

With a loud bang, the office door was kicked open, and several priests from the Church of Earth and Life rushed in. "Your Excellency, what happened? Are you alright?"

Unfortunately, these people didn't have a chance to say a second word. They were horrified to find a series of yellow blisters growing on their bodies. Then the blisters burst, causing more blisters to grow on their skin.

"Don't come in, it's too dangerous. You all need to focus on treating the wounded first." Bishop Luther's voice rang out. He remained calm in the face of danger, directing the monks and druids to deal with this emergency. "The one who attacked me was Cunningham, a high-ranking dark mage wanted by the Sorcerer's Guild. He's already escaped."

"Should we give chase?" a few druids asked from the back, trying to stay as far away as possible to avoid being attacked by that strange spell.

"No, the other side is too dangerous." Bishop Luther shook his head. "You are no match for them. Even I was injured. If you rashly follow them, it will definitely cause unnecessary casualties."

"Let him escape. You all go and contact the Adventurers' Guild immediately and inform the Spellcasting Association what happened here." He waved his hand and ordered the priests, while picking up the curtain that Mamadou had knocked to the ground and wrapping it around his naked body.

"Who is that evocation mage? Is he also Cunningham's accomplice?" Bishop Luther frowned and whispered. He stared at the large hole in the wall, which had been almost entirely destroyed by Mamadou. "Although the Hand of Stone is just a simple evocation spell, the ability to manipulate so many rocks suggests a high degree of elemental coordination."

"Let them take the book. That way, my brother probably won't come looking for me again," he sighed softly, muttering somewhat resentfully. "It's just that the impact this has had is too great. If we don't remedy it quickly, other bishops will definitely bring it up."

"It's time to speed up the process of sacrificing Sophia."

…………

"Didn't you say it wasn't a big deal? How come you poked a huge hole in the wall?" Little John walked quickly, trying to keep his balance so that he wouldn't stand out and get noticed by those around him.

"It's really nothing serious, just a hole. Back when I was in Derossa, I was known for making holes with every cut." Mamadou wrapped his robe tighter around himself and led Little John into an empty alley. He held one arm tightly, as if afraid that something under his arm would fall to the ground.

The desk that Stone Hand had just pushed away crashed to the ground with a loud bang, startling John, who was leaning against the wall and whistling casually, so much that he jumped up.

Mamadou, who landed shortly after, also found the strange book among the wood chips and fragments. It was unclear whether the previous magical barrier had been corroded by the mushrooms or whether the drawer's shape had been damaged after falling from the third floor, causing the barrier to fail. In any case, he managed to obtain the book that Bishop Luther had deliberately hidden.

The loud noise attracted the attention of those around him, and he didn't have time to check his "spoils of war," so he had to pull John away from the scene immediately.

"Tell me, what exactly happened in the office earlier? Did you get kicked out by Bishop Luther?" Little John asked, leaning against the wall and catching his breath after seeing that no one was around.

"You have no idea what I saw," Mamadou patted his arm. "Bishop Luther was killed on the spot."

"Kill him?" Little John was stunned. "He's a regional bishop of a church, but compared to..."

He was thinking that the other person must be a much more powerful character than Sophia, yet she was killed so easily.

"That's right, right in front of me," Mamadou nodded confidently. "Two incredibly powerful magicians were battling it out. Without any formalities, they started with extremely vicious spells, and that's how they both perished."

"How did you get out of there, and why did you make such a commotion?"

"Do you think I wanted this? I don't know which archmage's magic it was, but even after a person dies, his magic is still in effect. There's some unknown substance in the air that can directly corrode people. If I hadn't pulled you away immediately, you might be lying in a puddle of yellow water right now."

"That terrifying?" Little John exclaimed in astonishment.

"Bishop Luther's investigation is now complete, you can rest assured and report back to your boss." Mamadou waved his hand, then picked up the book from under his arm, preparing to see what kind of book it was that was being protected so carefully.

"What's this?" Little John frowned and leaned closer. "How to Attract Sows to Mating? You risked your life to get this one book?"

"This?" Mamadou frowned as he looked at the title on the book cover. The title was indeed beyond his comprehension. "I didn't expect the bishop of the Church of Earth and Life to like studying this kind of thing. As for why he took it, well, a thief can't leave empty-handed."

"Heh," John sneered, "that's something the priests of the Church of Life are studying."

Just as the two were blaming each other, a crisp sound came from the alley behind them, "You actually hid here. I thought you would run far away."

The sound startled Mamadou and the other man, who quickly turned around, while John drew his longsword from his waist with a "whoosh".

"He's someone who knows how to use a sword," the newcomer said with a hint of mockery, before slowly walking towards the two of them.

John cautiously sized her up, noting that she was just a young girl about 1.5 meters tall with a high ponytail. However, her clothes were of very good quality: a slightly tight-fitting white robe with gold patterns paired with matching trousers, along with simple silver breastplates and arm guards.

The only slightly surprising thing was that the girl was carrying a long sword on her back, and there were also two long swords hanging on her left waist.

"Three longswords?" Little John muttered. Since becoming an adventurer, he had met many characters who used swords, but most of them used only two swords. He had never seen anyone carry three longswords.

Not to mention that the newcomer was a woman of rather short stature; whether she could wield those longswords effectively was another matter entirely.

"Luckily, I've been tracking you all the way from the Sacred Oak Cathedral. You almost escaped." The girl with the high ponytail tilted her head and looked at the two people opposite her. "You two are probably the most audacious thieves I've ever met. You actually dared to steal from a cathedral in broad daylight."

"No, you're wrong," Mamadou lowered his hat brim and corrected, "It's about stealing from a bishop of a cathedral."

"Shut up," Little John immediately snapped at the mage apprentice beside him. "No one will know if you don't speak."

“But I did steal something from a bishop,” Mamadou shook his head, emphasizing, “a bishop, he was a bishop.”

"You stole things from the Church of Earth and Life, Bishop Luther?" The girl with the high ponytail chuckled. "That's really crazy. I don't think anyone in Torch City, no, I should say the Kingdom of Fran, would be bolder than you."

"Yes, there is," Mamadou pointed to Little John beside him, "his boss."

"I don't think you'll reveal who your boss is." The girl slowly drew her longsword from her waist. It was clear that because she was only 1.5 meters tall, she stumbled a bit when drawing the two swords from her waist. "But it's alright. After I beat you all down and take you back to the Sacred Oak Church, you should confess on your own."

"Wait, are you from the Church of Earth and Life?" Little John asked, waving his hand. "If not, we can talk."

He didn't really want to fight her, but unfortunately, the girl wielding two longswords shook her head and said, "No, I am not a member of the Church of Life. Standing before you is Diana, the commander-in-chief of the Holy Crusade of the Church of Battle and Glory."

"The Church of the God of War? The leader? Then why are you attacking us?" Little John, sword in hand, pulled Mamadou back slowly. He could feel that the girl opposite him had changed her entire demeanor since she picked up the longsword. She had become more aggressive, just like a sharp blade.

"Oh, the official reason is to catch thieves. After all, the Church of Life is one of the four major churches, and they won't let you off so easily," Diana smiled. "The real reason is that I'm itching to get my hands dirty."

After saying that, she charged straight at him with her sword.

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