Witch Troupe and the Undead

Chopping wood, feeding horses, no world travel: No updates.

New Year's Day dinner and rest day

Chapter 166 The Pit Digged by Predecessors

“The magic dust… has expired~” After carefully inspecting the magic dust stored on the iron rack, Livia’s little face showed a puzzled look. “The quality is so bad…” Then she took out a glass bottle from her small bag. Inside was the “magic dust” she had refined and made. The emerald-colored, transparent crystals matched the color of her eyes.

Magic dust is a material created by mages using arcane instruments. Its appearance and properties are closely related to the style and magical characteristics of the maker. However, for the Ether Furnace, these differences in properties have little impact on the effectiveness of the magic dust.

Following the instructions in the manual he found, Roach removed the magic dust box, cleaned it, and inserted it into the groove between the bottom furnace and the middle furnace. He then emptied the bottom furnace and placed the prepared phlogiston condensate blocks onto a support that divided the bottom furnace into upper and lower layers. The lower layer was the ignition source, and the upper layer was a mesh support for holding the phlogiston condensate.

There was a small door on the side of the central furnace for adding magic dust. The little witch carefully shook the bottled magic dust into the filling port of the central furnace, then checked the state of the water essence in the iron ball of the top furnace. After adding a new batch of water essence, she asked Old Ma to shut down the top furnace.

"Sizzle~" A lit match was thrown into the furnace, and the flames spread rapidly among the charcoal. The flames burned through the upper layer of phlogiston condensate, turning into a more intense blue-green flame that was transmitted through the suddenly narrowed furnace core to the top furnace. As the magic dust was filled in, the ancient secret source ether furnace emitted a rumbling noise.

"Is it enough to just fill this with fuel?" The fuel is a dried magical plant called Swordgrass, used to make Swordgrass suspension. Basically, most alchemical potions and magical drinks require this suspension to settle unwanted impurities. Therefore, although this plant is magical, it is everywhere and easy to cultivate.

Leslie poured the dried sword grass into the filler inlet. Under the catalysis of the magic dust, the chimney spewed out smoke with green sparks. However, more fuel dust had been injected into the pipes. Finally, through the essence of water, it turned into a dense fog composed of "enchanted particles" and was transported to various areas of the tower through the fog pipes.

Magic itself has no material form, so the sorcerers of that time used this method to create extremely small particles that could absorb magic. When the density was high, it resembled a thick fog and was also called "magic fog".

This medium can fix intangible magic power, just like intangible heat power, in a way similar to water vapor, thus creating a real magic steam engine. Of course, its function does not depend on the pressure of the steam itself. Although the higher the air pressure and temperature of the magic mist, the more active and easier it is to absorb magic power, it also reduces the difficulty of mechanical processing.

The role of the grass is to produce grass ash particles, the role of magic dust is to provide initial magic catalysis, the flames, after passing through the phlogiston, will form fire element magic, which will adhere to the particles under the action of magic dust, and then the particles themselves will be washed away by the essence of water, and the waste particles will be discharged through the chimney.

These particles still contain a faint magical power, which is why they emit a pale green fluorescence. The remaining magical power is transferred through the essence of water to a specially made "spiritual water" medium, which eventually evaporates into magical mist under high temperature.

At the same time, the original fire elemental magic and the water elemental magic of the spirit water neutralized and became a neutral etheric magic.

"It can only be converted into the four elemental forces or directly used as etheric force, but cannot be converted into other secret source magic power. No wonder it's named the fifth element." After following the procedure in the manual, Roach roughly understood the working principle of this thing.

The Annihilation Furnace refers to the annihilation of opposing water and fire elements into etheric magic, not the annihilation of matter and antimatter. It is simply to eliminate the inherent properties of elemental magic and convert it into etheric magic with universal properties for better transportation and use.

However, understanding the principle and replicating it are two different things. For example, how does the structure of this furnace core make the magic of the phlogiston flame flow almost unidirectionally? Under normal circumstances, this thing should explode directly in the bottom furnace.

Then, what material is the furnace core made of that can withstand the burning of a flame with at least four pieces of phlogiston added? At this temperature, the flame is already blue-green. Because of the magic, according to the data from the magic flame spectrum table that Roach knows, this flame is at least 6500 degrees Celsius or higher, which is the same temperature as the surface of the sun.

He suspected that this furnace core material was so good it could be used as the core of a nuclear reactor on Earth. Oh, so this is the magical nuclear reactor? Well, it doesn't matter. Although it looks like a steam boiler, it is actually a super-high temperature magic ball in the furnace, no different from the plasma ball of a reactor.

“If the dust particles in this pressure relief vent turn blue, it means the furnace temperature has seriously exceeded the safety mark. Hmm, according to the manual, it should be turned down to the low setting and the pressure relief vent should be fully opened.” Roach glanced at the bottom furnace. It seemed that the pressure in the middle furnace was no longer enough to allow magic to pass through the furnace core in one direction, so… the phlogiston-enhanced magical flames at 6500 degrees would blow the bottom furnace and the stokers burning around it to ashes.

"During maintenance, if grass particles are thrown into the upper platform, the magic orbs in the central furnace will be quickly depleted, making it unable to maintain a certain runic structure. As a result, the remaining magic orbs will flow backward..."

"What will happen then?"

"I don't know, how about you find an underground lava waterfall to take a shower and experience it? Or go and sleep inside the molten iron ladle in the blacksmith's workshop?"

"No!" Leslie refused decisively.

"Yes, all the mechanisms above are open." Livia glanced at the ceiling. The strange device in the hall seemed to be activated, and all the equipment in the mage tower that required magic mist was also turned on. However, there was a technical problem: the long time had caused many leaks in the pipes, and a large amount of magic mist was leaking out from all directions of the tower and then being contaminated by the power of the Great Sin magic.

"The Great Sin Ritual Arena is getting lively." A Gluttony slowly took shape in the air, but compared to the creatures raised by adventurers to be three or four stories tall, this newborn Gluttony was only waist-high and not nearly as bulky. Roach's assessment was: It looks like a Nurgle.

The flames in the bottom furnace had formed a spiraling blue-green whirlwind, without affecting the charcoal below. Several instrument panels on the side also slowly began to rotate. Roach monitored it for a while, and only after confirming that the ancient equipment was indeed operating stably did he nod in satisfaction.

"After that, we'll dismantle it when we're done using it, transport it back, renovate the basement, and dig a new one so we can lay magic mist pipes underground and inside the house."

"So? You already have a new idea? Master Roach!?"

“Of course~” Roach certainly had new ideas. Although he didn’t know much about the performance and specific design details of this ether furnace, it would be easy to design some energy-consuming devices based on this readily available power source.

The simplest way to use it is to consume no magic power at all, and let the high-temperature mist of this thing pass through the heat exchange pipes to install heating for the whole house, just in time for winter to come.

Then it remains to be seen how the little witch plans to use this magical mist to modify this mobile house. Perhaps she can enhance the rock platform below or something? Mage Tower Hall.

Alessina swept away the broken debris in the center with her greatsword, revealing a statue carved in the shape of twin angels. Everyone stood on the disc formed by the sun and moon surrounded by angels.

"Click!" The mechanism pressed down, and blue-green smoke sprayed out from the crack in the broken pipe, but the remaining part was enough to illuminate the decorative crystals carved into the shape of a sun and a laurel. On the laurel leaves were ancient Luster runes, representing numbers.

"Click~" Before anyone knew what to do, Luo Qi skillfully pressed down a laurel leaf, and the entire platform trembled slightly and rose upwards.

"Oh~~~~" Leslie exclaimed sharply, and then saw the ceiling above her, which was carved as a whole into layers of clouds, open up to both sides to reveal a circular opening.

"Second floor, we've arrived~" The second floor is the office area of ​​the mage tower, which is divided into four arc-shaped rooms by a cross-shaped corridor. One corridor leads to two terraces at the front and back. There are decaying tea tables and lounge chairs on the terraces, which are obviously places for mages to communicate in public. One of the terraces has completely collapsed.

One corridor leads to two staircases, indicating that in addition to the elevator, this mage tower also has staircases for maintenance or when there is a power outage. Each of the four rooms has a sign indicating its affiliation to one of four main departments: the "Registration Department," which manages trainee apprentices and mages; the "Ceremony Department," responsible for organizing various activities and ceremonies; the "Finance Department," managing supplies and salary payments; and the "Deacon Department," handling daily administrative tasks.

Besides the densely packed, decaying office supplies and ancient account books, the most valuable items here are a stone inscription listing the names of ancient sorcerers and an ancient sorcerer's badge that appears to have just been finished.

“Made of mithril…hmm~” Livia curiously picked up a badge. It was shaped like a crescent moon and made of mithril. Mysterious runes were engraved on the moon. A golden laurel flower made of gold foil was wrapped around the moon in a three-dimensional relief. The leaves were inlaid with tiny jade. The small badge was divided into three or four layers, which was enough to show the exquisite craftsmanship and artistic taste of the artisans of the past.

"This thing would be considered half a treasure in a museum." Even on Earth, ancient handmade jewelry of this level would cost at least tens of millions of dollars. In a typical museum, it would be considered half a treasure—not to mention that it is made of precious metals, so its value would not be low.

"Hmm~!" Livia happily pinned the badge to the collar of her black cloak, then spun around in place. As she moved, the gold foil-carved laurel petals seemed to tremble slightly, just like real flowers.

"Very beautiful~" "Mmm~" The blonde girl squinted her eyes and gave a soft smile. The third floor was the laboratory, which was in a state of chaos. The floor was covered with scraps of paper and rotting garbage, and all kinds of objects on the long table were completely damaged. After searching it, nothing special was found. The mages at the time had taken everything they could.

"They actually remembered to turn off the fire and shut down the furnace? Well-trained!" Roach looked at the magic-powered furnace in the corner, which was used to heat and melt metal. Although the pipes were cracked, the valves were closed, which prevented them from finding that the upper three floors had been blown up as soon as they arrived.

The fourth floor is the library, and the fifth floor is the bedroom and office of the master of the mage tower. The library does not have a large collection of books, after all, the Royal Library is just across the street. The books here are mainly rare books and experimental records and achievement records of the mage tower itself.

"..." Livia opened a book, read two pages, and threw it on the ground. Then came the second book. There were more than a dozen circular bookshelves in total. In the end, the witch was satisfied with less than thirty magic books. These books were all put into a special box for storing books.

The fifth search result is that Livia has acquired a new cloak, the former Archmage's cloak, a very beautiful black cloak with silver trim, a runic moon ring embroidered in silver thread on the back, decorated with tiny golden laurel petals on the edge, and white fur around the hood, looking very warm and expensive.

The only problem was that the cloak was too big for the little witch. The hem dragged on the ground for about 30 centimeters. From this, Roach judged that the "grand mage" here was at least 1.8 meters tall, or even 1.9 meters tall. As a mage, he was indeed exceptionally tall and robust.

The witch took out her staff and gently tapped it on the cloak. The cloak quickly shortened to fit her body. It was a simple transformation spell, something from the witchcraft system. No one knew when she had learned it.

Besides these, there are some magical ornaments that have long lost their effectiveness and can only be sold as antiques. There are also research on spell structures that are hundreds of years out of date. Not to mention Livia, even Roach thinks that the effects of these magical ornaments are worse than those sold in any major city now. They are only better made of better materials. After all, apart from those lost techniques, the rest of the technology is constantly evolving.

After searching the mage tower, the group happily went to the basement to extinguish the fire and shut down the ether furnace. They planned to disassemble it completely when they left, as Roach still needed to study the maintenance manual he found in the tower to determine the general structure of the device.

However, while they remembered to turn off the fire and shut down the furnace, they forgot to close the other valves inside the mage tower as well. So, when another group of adventurers discovered the mage tower, which seemed to have been activated and was emitting a faint magical aura...

"Hoo~ hoo~" The blonde witch was curled up in her new cloak, sound asleep. "Boom!" A loud noise startled her small body, and she opened her sleepy eyes in confusion. The only light in the room was the warm glow of the fireplace, and Alessina, who was on night watch, was there. The fox girl was whittling a long wooden stick in her hand and nodded to the witch to indicate that there was no danger.

"Ha~" Livia yawned, rubbed her eyes, and curled herself up again in her warm cloak, her long golden hair casually gathered inside the hood.

"Boom!" At least one thick iron fist slammed into the floor, dust falling in a flurry. "Damn it, when did this puppet appear?!" The 4-meter-tall iron puppet, encased in high-strength alloy, strode toward the uninvited guests. Clearly, the puppet's defenses were activated when the mages retreated, but they had exhausted their energy over the long period of time.

Because Roach restarted the Ether Furnace, their charging action caused the puppets to revive. Although the Ether Furnace was later shut down, the magical mist in the pipes did not leak out completely. When the adventurers entered the tower, the puppets regained their basic mobility.

"Warning: Intruders, leave!" The wolf-head-shaped head swept over the several adventurers dressed as intruders in front of it. The puppet suddenly clenched its fists, and several grooves popped out on its back, as if it was about to launch something. "Warning, insufficient energy, missile launch mode off." Nothing happened, and the grooves closed up again.

"Using low-power mode, searching for available weapons."

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" "What the hell is that noise?!" Amidst the noise of gears and winches, a massive sword, even larger than the Greatsword in the fox girl's hand, was lowered by chains. The runes on the blade emitted a faint bluish-green light, indicating that the weapon had also completed its charging process.

"Begin the expulsion!"

"Holy crap! This thing uses an enchanted weapon!" The adventurer vanguard quickly jumped back, and the moment the blade swung, a scratch at least a foot thick appeared on the ground. Then the golem charged towards them.

"Everyone out! Big guys, weak gates, block them... Holy crap!" Before he could finish speaking, the gate of the mage tower was smashed by the giant sword. When the adventurers escaped to the outer square, their expressions were practically indistinguishable from those of the dead.

Then came another round of explosions, fierce battles, and the noise of clashing swords, which continued until late into the night before finally subsiding. Under the relentless onslaught of adventurers, the iron golem gradually ceased functioning. However, when they entered the mage tower... unfortunately, they gained nothing, as all the seemingly valuable items had been taken away.

"..." What's harder to handle than an incredibly difficult boss? It's having zero loot.

Chapter 167 Exploiting Loopholes

The moon hung high in the night sky, its cool, silvery-blue light shining through layers of glass and converging in the center of the library, like a spotlight on a stage. A goddess draped in moonlight let out a long sigh: "Ah~~~ How boring~~~~" Her black hair unconsciously wrapped around the wooden bookshelves, cutting into the decaying wood, almost crushing all the wooden furniture.

"I've never been this bored before~" The perception of time, especially that of immortal beings and gods, is completely different from that of humans. Even so, this time the boredom seemed to last a little too long.

In the emptiness and desolation, the silvery moonlight was once again replaced by golden sunlight. The sun and moon passed over the dome in turn. Time, which was meaningless to the gods, passed by bit by bit and turned into an unbearable boredom in their hearts.

"Squeak~~~" The dry hinges turned, making a harsh grinding sound, and the huge library door was slowly pushed open. "If you have something to wish for, make a wish; if not, get out." The goddess waved her right hand boredly, having no intention of paying any attention to the visitor.

"It's us again! Surprise!"

"..." The chair in the center turned around again. "You guys are really persistent, aren't you? Where did you come from? Do you have some obsession with the human world that I don't understand?" Although the words were harsh, almost instantly, the previously lifeless face regained some radiance.

"Of course not, we're here to take care of elderly people living alone," Luo Qi said with a grin, sitting a certain distance from the throne.

"Alone, widowed, or an elderly person living alone? Who's an elderly person living alone? You bastard!"

"Who here has no friends, no visitors, no family, and just sits alone in a chair, watching the time pass by in boredom every day?" Roach shrugged and looked at the little witch beside him. "It's definitely not me!"

The black hair on the ground suddenly wriggled a few times like a snake, the smooth black hair flowing along the ground and the bookshelf, the reflected light like countless stars twinkling in the night sky.

"Are you guys really not afraid of divine punishment?!"

"Hmm~" Livia looked at her companions, bravely stepped forward, and nodded vigorously, which left the goddess of the night in awe.

After staring at each other for several minutes, the goddess finally let out a clear laugh and leaned back in her chair. "This is the first time I've ever seen people like you. Don't you have even the slightest bit of reverence for the gods?"

“If the gods have never protected me, if all my misfortunes are my own fault, then why should I revere the gods?” Roach countered.

It is indeed problematic to say this from the very beginning in a world where there is a true God, especially given the existence of powers like grace. Therefore, he has always maintained an attitude of inquiry and respectful distance towards religion and deities.

He neither denied nor believed in it, but having intentionally or unintentionally obtained a lot of information about divine power from the goddess, he could now say those words directly.

For gods, even those who are not cornerstone gods, they do not care whether humans revere them. The meaning of faith is whether you agree with the actions and ideas of the gods. If you agree, even if you do not believe in the god at all, you are still his believer.

Similarly, whether your behavior follows God's path, if your behavior does so, then you are even more of a believer in this God. In other words, the God of this world does not need believers' superficial piety at all. Whether you are pious or not is not measured by whether you go to church, whether you worship on time, or whether you keep God's name on your lips.

“That makes sense. It’s been a long time since anyone has spoken like that. I hope that when I awaken again, there will still be people in this world who would question a god in this way.” The goddess was silent for a few seconds, then revealed a mischievous smile: “But don’t say that in front of those guys in the Temple of Order. After all, not all gods are as easy to talk to as I am.”

As one of the core tenets of her divine role is "tolerance," the goddess is indeed not as easily provoked as she appears on the surface. The anger and dissatisfaction she displays are, well, what Roach calls "the awkwardness of an old child" rather than true rage.

If her anger was truly genuine, even within this confined and restricted divine realm, she could ensure that, apart from Livia, no one else would survive a single second.

"However, those people from the Temple of Order only said that because you were very impolite and disregarded etiquette and rules. Speaking of which, does the Temple of Order even still exist?"

“I’ve never heard of it.” Roach shook his head.

“The Temple of Order? I’ve heard sailors mention it when I was at sea before. They say there are still some of their priests in certain places, but I’ve never actually seen them,” Alessina and Leslie both said that they had heard about it to some extent during their travels, but had never actually seen it. “So, the gods don’t care at all about the extinction of their sect?” Vivi asked seriously.

"To be precise, it's not as important as most people imagine. The existence of the Church allows us to better understand the current situation and manage our own power. Otherwise, you should know that the acquisition of divine power is not subject to our will." Even if the gods dislike you, as long as your behavior and spirit conform to certain laws, you can use the power that the gods release into the world to obtain holy marks and divine grace.

"All things are subject to change, but the power bestowed will not disappear into thin air. If we do not manage it in some way, it will eventually cause great chaos, and such consequences will be somewhat troublesome for us." The goddess explained that the significance of the church and faith to God is to manage and restrain those who have obtained divine power in a timely manner. Ninety percent of those precepts and doctrines are actually used for this purpose.

"So, even now, there are people outside who have unknowingly received your protection or favor?"

"Yes," the goddess said nonchalantly, "However, I don't recommend you contact them, because without the church, these people will either be absorbed by other similar churches or become cultists. There's a saying among mortals that's very true: power has no good or evil, no matter how it's obtained."

"Perhaps someone has great ambitions, resonates with the power of the gods, and upholds the glory of the gods' favorites. Then, when he grows old and becomes mediocre, he may become an ordinary tyrant, no different from any other tyrant in any country in the world, except that he possesses power."

From God's perspective, all of this is the same. Therefore, even if this power comes from the true God, it does not mean that the person using this power is not a cultist. Perhaps he was not when he obtained the power, but it is hard to say now.

"But that doesn't mean they're all evil, right?" "Of course, you can try it. Some are just defined as cults by other churches." The goddess indicated that you could definitely give it a try, but she made no guarantees about its safety whatsoever.

"Regarding the person born in the Kingdom of Luster, is it acceptable to ask from any era?" If so, one could obtain this wish from any farmer outside Tallinn.

“Yes, but I’m not willing to give my wish to an ordinary person so easily,” the goddess sighed. “How many times have I seen mortals become unrecognizable after gaining power? What is a lifetime of change for a mortal is just a moment for me.”

"Is this how God tests people?"

"Hmm~" The goddess opened her arms, her black hair climbing up the building walls like shadows. "Look around..." Countless soul essences shimmered within the area shrouded by her black hair.

"This ritual was originally a test. In order to prevent mortals from squandering the favor of the gods, this contract requires countless sacrifices. The original intention was that only when countless people voluntarily give their lives at the critical moment of life and death can they obtain this glory."

“But if there is voluntary participation, there is also forced participation.” Luo Qi saw it very clearly. This matter is the same as gambling, prostitution, and drugs. As long as you dare to open a “legal” door, then regardless of whether it is legal or not, it will become “legal.”

Similarly, what was originally a ritual that required people to be willing to sacrifice for their tribe for some noble belief and purpose has become an extremely cruel ritual of human sacrifice. As for the so-called "voluntary", there are ways to make the sacrificed people "voluntary". Otherwise, where do those cults find their sacrifices?

"It seems you are well aware of this matter. Would you like to become my proxy?" The goddess extended an invitation with a smile. Then, a small head with golden hair appeared in front of Roach. Livia held her staff in both hands, blocking the view, and looked at her angrily.

"Ah, I forgot~" The goddess patted her head. As for whether she really forgot or was just teasing people, it was hard to say. Anyway, apart from Livia, everyone else tended to think the latter. It would be more believable if a proper goddess said she forgot something than if she had lived too long and developed dementia.

"So, you only allow wishes to those who have passed numerous tests from the outside world?"

“That wasn’t the initial idea. I thought anyone could make a wish.” The goddess rested her chin on her hand, holding a tangible ray of light in her palm. “Of course, if someone makes a difficult wish, I didn’t say there would be no divine punishment after they made the wish.”

"Making a wish is a right granted to the Luster people by the contract, while destruction is the punishment for their desecration over the past thousand years. I will not ignore their rights, but I will not take back the punishment they deserve."

"What I mean is, is there any way to bypass this authentication?"

“…There really is one~” The goddess looked at Roach and his companions scrutinizingly. “You have quite a few women around you. How about this, you find a house outside and settle down, then have one or more children with one or more of them. When they can speak, bring them over to make a wish. That’s one way.”

"..." Vivi smiled and took a step away from Roach. Alessina didn't show any particular reaction, but she looked Roach up and down, raised her eyebrows slightly, and revealed a meaningful expression. The last mermaid thought for a few seconds and was about to say that she could turn into a man immediately when Vivi grabbed her hand.

“…Hmm…” Livia also swept her scrutinizing gaze over the others and Roach, then revealed a somewhat conflicted yet expectant expression. This made the goddess, who was waiting to see a joke, pause for a few seconds, and then her expression towards Roach changed almost imperceptibly, before she hesitated to speak.

"Sigh~" Livia looked at Roach, shook her head with a regretful expression, then patted his arm reassuringly, her face conveying a "Don't worry, I'll find you someone better" attitude. This made Roach feel as if he were seeing the expression on his mother's face after a failed blind date.

It's that feeling of, "I think it's pretty good, so why is nobody interested? Should we do another round of screening?"

"So, only the Luster people can make wishes? Or people who have some connection to this land?"

"Yes." "Then how do we connect with this land?"