This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

After resting in the village for a night, Dick gathered a group of men early the next morning, led by Robert, a local, and headed towards the valley and woods east of the village.

It was a low-lying depression, but instead of forming a swamp or lake, it was covered with a pine forest.

Jasmine went to the woods on the morning of the day the first heavy snow fell in the area.

Despite her young age, the little girl is a skilled tree climber. She carries a basket up the tree to pick pine cones, and if she's lucky, she might even find bird eggs or squirrels' stockpiled food in the tree holes.

It was in this forest that the little girl saw something strange.

A "white frost tree" that stands out starkly in the deep green pine forest.

When the little girl saw the strange tree, she couldn't resist her curiosity and wanted to get closer to take a look. But before she could even touch it, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

She thought she had encountered some kind of ghost or monster, and was so frightened that she immediately ran back to the village.

As a result, heavy snow quietly fell that evening, and Jasmine felt colder and colder. No matter how much she tried to warm herself by the fire or how thick the blankets she covered herself with, it was all to no avail, and she soon fell into a coma.

If Dick hadn't sent liaisons to check on the situation in each village after the snowfall, and if Robert, the liaison sent to Kevin Village, hadn't happened to be Jasmine's older brother, Jasmine, who was in a coma, might have been burned to death by the irrational villagers, who saw her as a disaster.

This incident left Robert terrified, because if the villagers really burned his sister to death, his parents might clash with other villagers and could end up being beaten to death.

People in the same village help each other, but that only happens in good years when there is no illness or disaster!

Robert was very grateful to Dick for this, feeling that the governor had saved his whole family's lives.

"Sir, the pine forest is just ahead."

Following Robert's finger, Dick saw some dark green tips peeking out of the snow amidst the vast expanse of white. They were pine trees, the snow easily peeling off their tops to reveal their original color.

Dick looked into the distance but couldn't see the "strange white tree." However, as a magician, he could clearly sense that the surrounding magical elements were very active, and snowflakes would occasionally condense out of thin air instead of falling from the sky.

This is a special phenomenon that occurs when the ice element becomes overactive. Dick reached out and caught a perfectly regular snowflake. The snowflake landed in his palm, but it showed no signs of melting. It was as firm as a piece of plastic and exuded a chilling aura that ordinary snowflakes did not have.

"Sir, it might be dangerous if we go any further."

A local mage accompanying them cautiously offered a reminder, and Dick nodded.

He didn't reveal his true strength to his peers, but he did show them a little, demonstrating that he wasn't just at the "low-level" level shown on his certificate, which made them dare not underestimate him.

Logically speaking, these less skilled mages shouldn't be able to handle elemental vortexes, but Dick specifically called them in to work together. This is mainly because mages are naturally sensitive to magical elements. They might not be able to handle the problem, but at least they could effectively expand the search area during the net-like search phase.

To put it bluntly, they are being used as "humanoid detectors".

"Each group shall proceed according to plan. If any anti-aircraft missiles are spotted, signal to fire."

Including Dick himself, there were a total of five mages present, divided into five groups to carry out the search. Each group moved forward in parallel, using whistles to judge the distance between them and maintaining a distance that would allow for rapid support.

Dick's team was positioned in the center because he had the strongest mental power and the highest level of perception.

Upon entering the pine forest, he could clearly see that the concentration and activity of the ice element were increasing. An ordinary person who accidentally entered such an environment would easily contract a cold-related illness.

Magical elements, in some respects, are similar to radioactive substances.

Apart from the mages, all the ordinary soldiers in each search team wore fire elemental amulets, which effectively resisted the invasion of ice elemental energy.

Normally, magical amulets are very expensive, but Dick's operation this time was supported by the Marquis of Ulen. Hughie, in order to support his research paper for his professional title, took the initiative to become their patron and sponsored them with a total of fifty fire elemental amulets.

Of course! Hughie's father was still reluctant to be taken advantage of, so it was agreed that these amulets were only a loan, and would be returned in good condition as soon as possible next spring.

Walking at the front of the group, Robert lovingly touched the amulet hanging on his chest, thinking to himself how wonderful it was. Just wearing it made him feel warm all over, and the governor had even said that it could ward off the invasion of ice elements, ensuring that they wouldn't catch a cold.

"Your Excellency, it would be wonderful if every person in Laguge could have one of these amulets!"

Hearing Robert's remark, Dick simply smiled and remained silent.

He didn't tell the young man that the single-element resistance amulet around his neck was worth fifteen years' worth of his military pay. In terms of price alone, it was already high enough to qualify as a luxury item.

Besides leveraging the geographical advantage of their territory to engage in trade, the Uren family's main business is magical artifacts, which they have developed into a brand, earning them the title of "jewelers of the magical world."

But Hughie once told Dick that it wasn't impossible to mass-produce magical artifacts. If aesthetics weren't a concern, the "base" could be made by casting or stamping, and the runes could be engraved for greater precision and accuracy.

Early on, some summoned Earthlings did this, even referencing Earth's assembly line production method. In a crucial step, a magician would inject a tiny amount of spiritual power into the magic stone to activate the enchanted runes, and a usable magical item would be complete.

However, none of the merchants and workshops in the empire that manufactured magical artifacts followed this path. Instead, they all opted for the "luxury goods" route, and even poisoned the unfortunate Earthling who had initially suggested mass production. They continued to add all sorts of flashy, useless decorations to their magical artifacts, simply because it allowed them to sell them at high prices!

This empire, rotten to the core, is like this in many places; it's not that it can't do it, but that it's incapable of doing it.

After silently marveling at the exorbitant profits of the magical item industry, Dick refocused his attention on the current mission. His senses were growing stronger; they were on the right track and getting closer to something.

However, at that moment, the team to the right of Dick's squad suddenly blew a sharp whistle, and then an orange magic bullet shot into the air.

A long whistle and a magic flare—this is an emergency distress signal indicating the team is under attack.

Based on the location of the magic missile, Dick deduced that the team that had encountered trouble on the right was only about a hundred meters away from them, and they could hear shouts of battle coming from there, but their view was blocked by trees.

Upon seeing this, Dick immediately prepared to lead his team to the rescue, but before they could even set off, there were also long whistles and magic missiles soaring into the air on the left, and it was a distress signal sent out by two teams at the same time.

In less than a minute, all three teams were attacked. Dick was slightly taken aback, but his expression quickly changed. He could clearly sense that the "thing" he was looking for had suddenly moved and was hurtling towards them at an incredible speed...

The author says:

Author's Note: I recommend Lao Kang (Combrona)'s "Anime Crossover: The Crystal Palace Starting with Tifa". The title succinctly expresses the tone and theme of the entire book.

But I have to complain about this guy, this old comrade! (sighs) He's so cunning! (earnestly) He's the one who tricked me into joining Teen Dream, he's also the editor, telling me to be more restrained in my opening, not to rush into anything erotic, to maintain a certain tone, and to proceed gradually. And I actually believed him (shamelessly shifting blame), so while I was writing cautiously (nonsense), he wrote whatever he wanted (that's the truth). You all need to criticize him!

Chapter 023: Actually, Governor, I'm also quite a fighter.

The vibrations spread from far to near.

From among the treetops, a gigantic shadow, at least seven or eight meters tall, could be vaguely seen rushing toward them. The pine trees, as thick as bowls, appeared as fragile as dry stalks before it, as if a gentle touch would shatter them into a shower of wood chips.

Upon seeing this, the accompanying soldiers drew their longswords and stood in front of Dick, preparing to fight off the invading enemy. However, their trembling bodies clearly showed that they were afraid, but they did not abandon their commander and run away.

Ayane, who was traveling with him, was also somewhat nervous. She gripped her katana tightly in one hand and loosely held the other, ready to pick up Dick and run away at any moment. This thing was already beyond her ability limit, and she really wasn't confident she could win.

Dick, observing the soldiers' reactions, nodded silently, satisfied with their performance. He thought to himself that he couldn't let his loyal subordinates be sent to their deaths as cannon fodder!

"Step back and gather around me."

As Dick spoke, he pulled a staff from his spatial bracelet. This staff was different in shape from the flintlock pistol-shaped staff from before; it looked more like a short cane, which Dick shoved directly into the ground.

The orange-yellow crystal at one end of the staff immediately emitted a dazzling golden light, forming a cylindrical high-level defensive barrier with a radius of three meters centered on the staff. The barrier's elemental composition was earth-attribute, and its defense level reached VI, making its defensive effect as solid as a rock!

At that moment, the giant shadow rushed up to them, and only then did everyone see the monster's appearance clearly. They all showed expressions of utter horror, because this thing looked absolutely terrifying!

The monster was roughly humanoid in shape, but its body was pieced together from various animals, and the parts were very strange. Its left arm was forcibly made from the body of an unknown animal and the head of a wild boar, while its right arm was a huge horse leg. Its body and head were also a chaotic mess.

It's like a clueless, mischievous child taking some clay animals, disassembling them, and haphazardly piecing them back together in a capricious way. The hands aren't hands, and the feet aren't feet; there's an indescribable twist and eeriness to it.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

"Never seen one before! But... but it looks a bit like the mountain demon from the old folklore!"

"Troll monster?"

As the only local from Lagug present, Robert grew up listening to the older generation tell all sorts of ghost stories.

In places like this, with its harsh climate and dense forests, local legends are often a mix of truth and fiction. While there are some true stories, they are constantly distorted and altered in the process of being passed down, gradually deviating from their original form.

Dick genuinely didn't know what a "troll" was, but the monster before him was clearly not a naturally occurring creature. The fact that other teams nearby had sent out distress signals suggested they had also encountered similar monsters, indicating that there was more than one.

Moving its massive body, the mountain demon swung its right arm, which resembled a horse's leg, against the barrier. The resulting tremor caused everyone inside the barrier to lose their footing, but fortunately, the barrier was sturdy.

Dick, on the other hand, leisurely observed the monster's body, then continuously took out one magic wand after another from his spatial bracelet, soon planting a bunch of them in the ground in front of him.

Looking at the pile of "sticks" made of various materials, Ayane was somewhat bewildered.

She hadn't been in this world for very long and didn't know her master well enough. She only knew that the child was a magician, and that she had heard from several seniors that his skill level was quite high.

Faced with the terrifying mountain demon, Ayane felt as if she were facing a formidable enemy. However, she saw that her master only frowned but showed no fear whatsoever. This courage alone made her look at him with new respect. Now, seeing him leisurely fiddling with something there, she was also intrigued.

The mountain demons outside were still attacking the barrier like madmen, while Dick, following his usual fighting style, had planted seven more staffs in front of him, making a total of eight, including the one used to release the barrier.

The soldiers were also astonished, because in their simple, traditional understanding, a magician should generally only have one staff, or at most one spare. But their governor was using eight!

Is this intended to be used as a spear, thrown out as a disposable projectile?

Dick didn't bother explaining to them at this critical juncture that this was one of several combat modes he had created based on his own conditions—positional warfare.

Because of his extraordinary mental strength and his being an Earthling whose soul had transmigrated here, Dick inevitably used some Earthly thinking to interpret the magical knowledge of this world when learning magic. This combination gave him some very unique insights into magic.

This can be considered his second "golden finger." The summoned Earthlings who transmigrated in their physical bodies lacked the talent to learn magic, while the otherworldly beings, though talented in magic, followed traditional patterns. Without Earth's knowledge and way of thinking to provide them with alternative ideas, they could only follow the rules and ordinary magicians couldn't pull off any impressive feats.

So when Dick discovered that magic could actually be understood as programming in disguise, that is, using magical elements to write a piece of code that could run on the spot, many things suddenly became simple for him, a senior programmer who probably died suddenly at his job in his previous life.

So, relying on his extraordinary mental strength, which is equivalent to having a large memory, Dick figured out a secret technique that allows him to run multiple magic spells at the same time.

It's like someone else has a single core and a single thread, but he can run multiple threads simultaneously.

When Dick's mentor, Grandor, learned that his beloved student had mastered such a divine skill, he specifically sought out Dick and earnestly reminded him of something. Theoretically speaking, with this self-created ability, Dick would be invincible among his peers in a fair one-on-one duel.

But reality is different from magical duels. Dick might encounter shameless sneak attacks, being surrounded by a large number of enemies, or even his opponent pulling out a divine artifact-level magical item and instantly killing him.

The master specifically told him this so that Dick would avoid arrogance and impetuosity, and not cause trouble everywhere just because he had a great skill, because real combat is never about fairness or justice.

Dick's understanding of this also emphasizes focusing on the key points.

My master warned me to be careful of "Old Six," so why don't I just become Old Six myself!

Therefore, Dick devised different combat modes for some common combat scenarios. Positional warfare is just one of his more "stable" tactics among his many fancy moves.

The core idea of ​​this tactic is to transform into a fixed turret. As an essential medium for magicians to cast spells, the number of staves needed depends on how many spells can be cast simultaneously. Moreover, some specially made staves have significant bonus effects on different elemental spells.

The pile in front of Dick consisted of staffs that provided bonuses to different elemental types.

Incidentally, in this world, mages' talents are not limited to a specific element type; they can choose for themselves to specialize in one or two elemental magic types.

Of course! These staffs are incredibly valuable. As an unloved illegitimate son of a duke, Dick might not be able to afford even one of them even if he saved up his meager allowance for three years.

Fortunately, the magic school Dick attended, the Imperial Capital Magic School, was a prestigious aristocratic school that gathered wealthy children from all over the country. In order to stimulate students' enthusiasm for learning and to settle personal grudges, the school allowed magic duels, and the winner could take the loser's staff.

It's hard to judge the skill level of the children from wealthy families, but the wands they were given were all top-of-the-line, custom-made items. So Dick, who was invincible in duels among his peers, started treating his classmates like wand wholesalers, going to them to "buy" their wands.

Looking at the pile of staffs that symbolized Dick's glorious achievements, he couldn't help but recall their original owners' "gloomy and howling faces" as they fell on the dueling platform.

With the position set up, it was time for him to begin his "performance".

"Let me see what can restrain you."

When the troll tried to ram the barrier again with its unrecognizable head, Dick lightly touched a purple staff in front of him, and a chain of lightning appeared out of thin air, striking the troll hard and creating sparks and arcs of electricity, knocking it back on the spot.

But Dick could tell at a glance that the troll had not suffered any obvious damage and quickly regained its footing and charged forward again.

So Dick started dancing with his hands, like a musician playing the piano, his fingertips moving back and forth between the various wands. He single-handedly displayed the aura of a magic squad, unleashing all sorts of mid-to-high-level spells on the opponent without restraint, and actually made the mountain demon retreat step by step.

The soldiers were stunned and speechless. They had never expected the governor to be so fierce. Ayane also had her first direct understanding of why her colleagues called their lord a "magical artillery platform".

Under Dick's continued magical bombardment, the troll's body began to show signs of collapse.

Dick found the monster strange; no type of magic could significantly damage it, and its body seemed to absorb magical damage. However, because Dick used a variety of spells, almost using mid-level spells from every elemental school, an unexpected chemical reaction occurred.

The guy's body suddenly swelled up and then exploded on the spot.

Seeing that the governor had single-handedly blasted the monster to death with magic, the soldiers immediately transformed into enthusiastic cheerleaders and began to cheer.

After delivering another round of blows to confirm that the thing was indeed immobile, Dick withdrew all his staffs, then took out a bottle of mental energy recovery potion that tasted almost exactly like a bull's, and drank it while approaching the mountain demon's corpse to observe it.

Dick wasn't overjoyed at killing a troll, because that thing might just be an ordinary grunt, and who knew how many more of these creatures were lurking in the woods ahead.

At this moment, Bai Qiangdai rode over. She was from the outermost part of the left wing. Her squad had not been attacked, so she quickly supported the squad that was near Xia. After quickly dealing with the monsters, she came to check on the situation of Dick's squad in the center. She then discovered that they had also been attacked, but Dick did not call for help. Instead, he dealt with the enemy himself.

"Master! Are you alright?"

"It's not a big problem. How about your end? What kind of enemy did you run into?"

"It's hard to describe what that thing looks like..."

Soon, the other teams also gathered. After the monster attack, they dared not continue the net search. Fortunately, the monsters that appeared were all dealt with. Black and White Gunslinger Artoria and Rita were capable of handling them, while Kasumi and Ayane, as ninjas specializing in assassination, were not very good at dealing with these thick-skinned, large creatures.

After a brief moment of thought, Dick decided to stop the search and have everyone withdraw from the eerie pine forest.