This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

Is this some kind of blatant attempt to poach talent?

To be honest, it would be a lie to say that Dick wasn't tempted at all when Behemoth offered to take him on as an apprentice, but being as cautious as he was, he wouldn't just agree on a whim.

Besides, now is not the time to become an apprentice, so Dick changed the subject.

"Uncle Master, what brings you to Laguge?"

"I'm here to investigate something, kid. Tell me the truth, is there a leaf that looks like scales in that tent over there?"

Seeing that Behemoth had hit the nail on the head, Dick immediately gave a concise and to-the-point explanation of the situation.

Dick tried his best not to hide anything from his senior master, who was also a powerful Saint-level mage, hoping to obtain some valuable information from him.

After listening to Dick's account of his experience during the first search, Behemoth nodded.

“Your response is correct. I have come here every winter for the past twelve years because these things appear whenever there is an extremely cold winter.”

"Master Uncle, you come every year? You must know what this is!"

"I wouldn't say I know everything, I just have some understanding. I call those monsters 'divine remains'. Take me to see that leaf first."

"Okay, please follow me."

Seeing that the governor had spoken, the soldiers dared not obstruct them any longer. Dick personally led Behemoth to the central tent to examine the scale-like leaf. When they opened the box, they were immediately startled. What had originally been a solitary leaf had grown into a small twig, and the twig also had scale-like patterns on it.

"Yesterday it was just a leaf!"

"Don't worry, this thing only grows in winter and on snowy days. Before it can grow into a tree, it will disintegrate and melt away in the spring. As long as ordinary people don't touch it, it won't pose a threat."

"If an ordinary person touches this, it will cause a cold-related illness, right?"

Behemoth nodded, and Dick suddenly slapped his forehead, because he realized that his old classmate Hughie's theory about elemental vortexes causing coldness was completely wrong.

Or to be more precise, the coldness syndrome that occurred in Laguge was not caused by the elemental vortex.

In a daze, Dick seemed to see Hughie screaming like a groundhog because his thesis was rejected.

That's so tragic!

Just then, Behemoth did something that surprised Dick.

He picked up the white, scale-like branch with his bare hands!

"Master Uncle!"

"It's alright, this thing can't hurt me, as long as my mental strength is strong enough."

Holding the twig close to his eyes, Behemoth squinted as he examined it. Based on this action, Dick deduced that Behemoth likely had severe nearsightedness, or perhaps was simply elderly and suffering from presbyopia.

After examining it for a moment, the other person suddenly handed the branch to Dick and said...

"Come on, you can experience it too."

"what?"

Out of caution, Dick hadn't touched a single leaf since collecting them yesterday. Now, Behemoth was demonstrating it himself, and then handing it to him.

Dick hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took it.

As soon as his fingertips touched the numbers, his brain felt as if it had been swept by a strong electric current, and many fragmented and incoherent images flooded in along with the excruciating pain.

At this moment, time seemed strangely displaced in his senses, as if thousands of years had passed in the blink of an eye!

When Dick regained consciousness, he was gasping for breath, as if he had just drowned. He looked at the branch in his hand, shakily placed it back into the box, and then closed the lid. These simple actions seemed to have exhausted all his strength.

At this moment, Rita rushed in from outside the tent. Seeing Dick leaning on the storage box, trembling as if he couldn't stand up at all, she immediately stepped forward to support her young master with one hand and summoned a scythe with the other, looking warily at the calm and collected old man in gray robes beside her.

The young master has only been in the tent for a short while and he suddenly turned into this state; it must be related to him.

Unfortunately, since being summoned to this world, Rita's strength has been reduced because there is no Honkai energy here. However, her Valkyrie armor can miraculously use the most common magic in this world, but the combat time will be greatly reduced. At full power, it can only last for three minutes at most, with combat power equivalent to a Saint. Overclocking further reduces it to thirty seconds, with strength exceeding that of a Saint, but slightly inferior to a Demigod.

Therefore, in the worst-case scenario, she was indeed not confident that she could protect Dick's safety while fighting against this mage who might be at the peak of the Saint rank.

Fortunately, Dick had recovered somewhat by then. He reached out to stop Rita, indicating that he was alright.

Then he looked at Behemoth, who was calm and collected, and even had a hint of admiration in his eyes, and asked.

"You did this on purpose?"

"You performed well, even beyond my expectations. How about becoming my apprentice?"

"...I would be very grateful!"

After catching his breath, Dick suddenly understood why his teacher often mentioned his senior, Behemoth, but never mentioned any of Behemoth's students.

It turns out this big shot simply doesn't know how to teach apprentices.

He deliberately handed me that branch so I could use it as a testing crystal to see what the limits of his aptitude were.

On Earth, this behavior would be like a martial arts master taking on a disciple and, to test the disciple's physical abilities, having him touch a high-voltage electric gate; if he wasn't electrocuted, he would be accepted as a disciple.

The behavior itself is very abstract; what stands out is its absurdity!

The key point is that this is just an introductory test. Who knows what other bizarre training methods this old man with a quirky thought process might have waiting for him if he really becomes his apprentice?

In comparison, Grandor was simply a great sage and a saintly teacher!

However, being tricked by this old geezer led to some unexpected discoveries for Dick. Although his head was still buzzing, the images that had suddenly flooded his mind gave him a lot of useful clues.

After drinking some hot cocoa that Rita had brought in a thermos, Dick sat down to recover. Behemoth then sat down opposite him and began to talk about his connection with the land of Lagug.

It turns out that Behemoth was also born in Lagug. He changed his name after leaving Lagug, and the person who named him was an Earthling.

Fifty years ago, Behemoth was promoted from a high-level mage to a saint, but he did not want his strength to stop there, so he left the National Magic Academy and traveled all over the world.

Twelve years ago, he returned to his hometown of Laguge, which he had left many years ago, just in time for another exceptionally cold winter. In order to understand the true meaning of power from the extreme weather, he braved the blizzard and entered the deep mountains, where he encountered for the first time the monster he called "the Divine Remains".

The combat strength of this monster was not strong for a Saint-level peak Archmage like him, but while studying the monster's corpse, he discovered "scales" and sensed a trace of extremely faint yet chaotic... divinity from them!

Chapter 025: Walking with God

In this world, gods are real and exist.

Or, to be more precise, there is a group of higher-dimensional beings who are considered "gods".

Some people believed in these beings and, through piety, received power from them as a gift, thus forming a religion, and those who received divine gifts became priests.

However, the gods of this world are said to reside in the divine realm above the mortal world. Because they are too powerful, their presence in the mortal world would cause chaos in the world's laws. Therefore, they do not interfere with the mortal world or disturb mortals.

To use an analogy that is easier for Earthlings to understand, the mortal world is like a server, and the gods are responsible for maintaining and operating this server. As long as the server is still working normally, try not to touch it!

So when Behemoth discovered that some twisted monsters possessed divinity within their bodies, he was quite astonished. Furthermore, through contact with those scales, he gained access to many ancient memories. These memories were fragmented and incomplete, imbued with intense emotional fluctuations; if absorbed by an ordinary person, they would almost instantly drive them insane.

But magicians are born with extraordinary mental strength, so Behemoth was able to withstand it and conduct his investigation in this dangerous way.

Because Behemoth's wish has always been to become stronger. Breaking through to the Saint rank and becoming a demigod is not his ultimate goal. He also wants to become the first person in history, the first mortal to become a god!

However, during the super winter twelve years ago, although Behemoth encountered the remains of a god, the winter that year was still not cold enough. After consulting various historical records, he discovered that super winters actually occur on average every ten to twelve years. However, super winters are not the extreme cold of Lagug, because every hundred years or so, there will be an even more severe "doomsday winter".

If nothing unexpected happens, this year's event will be it!

When the topic of the apocalyptic winter came up, Behemoth's face lit up with excitement, but Dick found it hard to be happy.

Is there any way I can live like this anymore?

"Master Uncle, do you... have any way to prevent this apocalyptic winter from happening?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm not a god! But..."

"Can you stop talking so fast? Tens of thousands of people are waiting to be saved! If it's really like what you just said, this bullshit apocalyptic winter, with temperatures dropping to minus 100 degrees Celsius, then I need to hurry up and organize the people to move south of the mountain!"

Dick was really getting anxious. Temperatures below -100 degrees Celsius were not a disaster that ordinary people could escape by hiding at home, warming themselves by the fire, or covering themselves with blankets. If it really got to that point, almost all living things on this land would die!

However, Behemoth told Dick not to worry too much, because the arrival of the apocalyptic winter usually occurs further north of Lagug, while human activity is mainly concentrated in the southern part of Lagug, near the central mountain range. Therefore, the occurrence of the apocalyptic winter will affect human settlements, but it is not as serious as the complete annihilation.

Otherwise, the empire had ruled Lagug for two hundred years, and there had already been two apocalyptic winters before, yet many people still survived, and things were far from that serious.

"According to the information I found, the areas where the apocalyptic winter is about to begin will have signs in advance. One is the appearance of dead trees, and the other is the appearance of a large number of divine remains. Locals call these monsters mountain demons."

"Wait a minute, isn't that withered tree of the end a large, pure white tree with branches and leaves that look a lot like this small twig with scale-like patterns?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

"Finished calf..."

According to Behemoth, in the past, when apocalyptic winters occurred, they did not cause serious casualties because the core area was far from human settlements. However, this time the "White Tree" appeared very close to human settlements, almost in the core area.

If the impact of the apocalyptic winter can reach a radius of more than 150 kilometers, it can destroy all of Lagug's current villages, including his castle and towns.

So Dick is in a complete panic right now!

On his first winter as governor, he encountered this kind of trouble. Who could he complain to?

Dick called out to Behemoth, who was still excited, and told him not to get too caught up in his joy. He then told Behemoth directly that the End Tree he had mentioned earlier had not appeared in the deep mountains and forests this time, but had appeared in a place very close to the human village, only a dozen miles away.

If Behemoth has a way to destroy or seal the white tree and prevent the apocalyptic winter from coming, then they should hurry up and start taking action.

If there is no other way, then he must order an evacuation now.

Relocating hundreds of scattered villages and tens of thousands of residents in a short period of time is an almost impossible task, especially since some of these villages are "bandit villages" that refuse to obey management.

Dick wasn't being a saint; he wasn't prepared to save even these "real troublemakers," mainly because he was afraid they would cause trouble for him while he was moving to other villages.

Behemoth hesitated for a moment, but did not give Dick a definite answer, because he was not sure if he could do it and needed to see the tree first to confirm.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's set off now!"

Dick made a quick decision and was about to begin the second search operation.

The first operation failed, mainly due to insufficient intelligence. Because the forest area was large, the team organized a net search, but they did not know that they would encounter monsters such as mountain demons. The ordinary soldiers traveling with them were unable to deal with them, and there were also considerable casualties.

Therefore, for the second operation, Dick planned to concentrate only his elite forces. With Behemoth, a peak Saint-level Grand Mage, in charge, they could overpower all opponents and launch a direct assault.

With preparations underway on both fronts, his elite team advanced while surrounding villages began organizing the orderly evacuation of their residents.

He had already come up with a reason: that there were dangerous gregarious monsters in the forest, and that his private army would escort the villagers from several villages around the pine forest to the castle.

Although this reason is not the truth, it is more easily accepted by the villagers than apocalyptic winter.

As expected! Dick called over the village chief of Kevin Village, briefly explained the situation, and the chief immediately agreed.

In small villages living in remote areas, no one is immune to monsters. Sometimes, an overabundance of goblins can lead to a massacre of the village. Not to mention the "mountain trolls" that the governor mentioned, which even a mid-level mage cannot deal with alone.

The fact that the governor was willing to let them take refuge in the castle was something that would have been unthinkable in the past.

In the past, how could the powerful officials care about the lives of ordinary people under their command?

After entrusting the transfer mission to Knight John, Dick led his elite squad toward the pine forest once again.

Behemoth, who was traveling with Dick, glanced at the group of beautiful and capable girls around him and said something with a hint of meaning.

"You're something else, kid!"

Upon arriving at the pine forest again, Dick could clearly sense that the atmosphere was different from yesterday. The biting cold was even stronger, and the activity of the ice elements was almost visible to the naked eye.

At this moment, Kasumi and Ayane jumped down from the tree. Both of them were wearing fire elemental amulets, but their complexions were still not very good. It was evident that they had physical qualities equivalent to high-level warriors, but their resistance to elements was not as good as that of professional mages.

Dick patted them on the shoulder, praising them for doing a good job of holding their posts, but the situation here was beyond their control, so they should return to Kevin Village immediately and evacuate with the team.

"My lord, what about you?"

"Try again."

Without saying much, Dick, Behemoth, Black and White Gunner, and Rita quickly headed deeper into the forest.

Kasumi and Ayane exchanged a glance, wanting to give chase, but feeling their bodies growing increasingly stiff, they knew that if they followed now, they would only become a burden to their master, so they could only grit their teeth and retreat.

After the five of them entered the forest, they soon encountered three mountain demons.

This time, before Dick could even make a move, Behemoth acted first.

With a gentle wave of his hand, the peak Saint-level mage summoned several magic bullets of various colors that formed around his body. They circled him twice, their speed increasing by dozens of times in the naked eye, before shooting out like bullets, accurately hitting the mountain demons in the chest, penetrating their bodies, and wreaking havoc inside before exploding.

It's clear that Behemoth has extensive combat experience and understands the weaknesses of these monsters.

"They are elemental constructs formed from the condensation of a single element. You can cause elemental disorder by injecting other types of elements into their bodies. They are actually quite easy to deal with."

Dick had actually discovered this during yesterday's battle. But while it's easier said than done, injecting enough magic to cause elemental disorder requires a massive amount, which Dick couldn't do as effortlessly as Behemoth.

It can only be said that a peak Saint-level expert is no ordinary person; the old senior's skills are not fake.

The group's progress was slow, mainly due to the sheer number of monsters. Compared to their first visit yesterday, the number had increased significantly, to the point where they encountered one almost every few steps. Later, they were even surrounded, with monsters constantly popping out from behind them.