233 Treasury (1/2)

Suyass was startled by this wail and the lapse in his concentration almost caused his casting to fail. After barely managing to finish his incantation, just before he released his spell, a loud rumble echoed our as the Alpha Thunderbird crashed into the ground.

For a few moments, not a sound could be heard in that entire world.

The battle was thus ended. Under the counterattack of the joint exploration team, the flock of Thunderbirds that had lost their alpha became headless chickens. The fighters constantly harried the birds with hit and run attacks while a few High Mages and Spirit Archers shot four Thunderbirds with a wave of fire. Immediately after, the joint exploration team kept consolidating their advantage and this battle also drew to a close. After a few minutes, of the hundred Thunderbirds, only one or two luckily escaped.

”Sir Suyass…” Lin Yun flew over and stopped right beside Suyass and told him, ”I talked to Leader Lys, it seems that the situation is a lot more complicated than we thought...”

”Eh? Eh?...” Suyass let out a few grunts of confusion before he dared to look Lin Yun in the eyes.

Because Suyass suddenly felt like the young Great Mage in front of him had become quite unfamiliar to him.

He finally understood why Karon had talked to him for such a long time that night and tried to dissuade him from looking for trouble.

At that time, Suyass had thought that Karon was worried he would injure Merlin and draw the ire of the Star Sage, and the resulting punishment from his teacher Nolan.

But now, Suyass understood clearly. Karon was worried about him. He wasn't worried about the aftermath of injuring Merlin, he was worried about him not even being able to harm Merlin...

An esteemed Archmage being unable to injure a 9th Rank Great Mage… Suyass would have never believed Karon if he had directly stated it, but now, Suyass was also convinced.

Because just now, he had seen that 9th Rank Great Mage shooting down the level 25 Alpha Thunderbird. The power he had burst with was simply shocking!

From this alone, Suyass could see that this young Great Mage's true strength far surpassed the bounds of his rank. He hadn't thought that it was to such an extent. In the joint exploration team, only Suyass clearly understood what just happened.

Thunderbirds were spirits of thunder and lightning, and each of their feathers was filled with that power. Especially after reaching level 25, the boundless electrical power within their bloodline would awaken and each feather would be able to turn into lightning. When several hundred such feathers were converted at once, even an Archmage like Suyass would have no choice but to avoid the attack.

But that young Great Mage actually welcomed the lightning as it struck out at him. At that time, Suyass had truly thought that this young Great Mage was finished. But he hadn't expected that in that split second, the young mage would be able to find a small gap within the boundless lightning before rushing through it. When he saw that, Suyass was stunned silly. How terrifying was his control? After all, that young Great Mage wasn't using Flight, he was using an imprecise Magic Tool for that function.

How could Suyass not know the difference between flight granted by a Magic Tool and the Flight spell?

One was a spell crafted from one's own mana and thus completely under the user's control, while the other was the power of a Magic Tool. They were on two different levels. It could be said that a mage that could decently control a Flight Magic Tool could reach the same degree of nimbleness as a flying magic beast when using the Flight spell.

Moreover, Lin Yun's control was far from being merely ”decent”...

Suyass had clearly seen him threading the needle and evading all the danger… Even if Suyass himself had been in such a position, he wouldn't have been able to grasp the opportunity to exploit that gap, yet Merlin did while using a Magic Tool.

What kind of concept was that?

This was a level of control Suyass had never imagined.

And then he saw the ball of flames...

If the precise control shown by the young mage had made Suyass feel shocked, then the flames he summoned made him feel dread.

The power of the flames was definitely comparable to that of an Archmage. It gently flowed into the body of the Alpha Thunderbird before exploding, entering from the belly and escaping from its back. In that split second only one thought appeared in Suyass' mind: 'True Spirit Magic Tool, that was definitely a True Spirit Magic Tool.'

Its power was too frightening...

After the fight ended, Suyass asked himself, 'If I were in that bird's position instead, could I survive that blow?'

The conclusion made Suyass dejected. 'I couldn't… I truly couldn't…'

He then thought about what had happened earlier in the camp. If not for Karon's sudden arrival...

Just thinking about it made Suyass feel cold and clammy.

Suyass felt quite dejected. He had thought that he was the strongest member of the entire expedition, so he had always acted as the leader. Even after the four of them got separated from the rest of the group, he kept directing the others around because he truly felt that it was the duty that came with power.

But thinking back on it, Suyass felt his face starting to burn up.

That huge gap made Suyass feel like he had been dancing like a clown. He believed himself to be unbeatable, but in the end, it had all been a joke.

”Sir Suyass!” At this time, the power of the Lava Dominator had been exhausted and Lin Yun had already landed and converged with Lys' group. After exchanging a few simple sentences, he noticed that Suyass was still in the same place, daydreaming, so he tried calling his name.

”Ah…” Lin Yun's shout woke Suyass. He subconsciously shook his head to put this chaotic train of thought to the back of his mind before slowly descending.

When Suyass landed, Lin Yun was already discussing with the others. Everyone had some understanding of the current situation and they were now sharing their ideas and opinions.

”What's going on, Great Mage Merlin…”

”It's like this Sir Suyass…” Lin Yun then repeated information that he had gleaned from Lys earlier.

At first, Suyass still seemed preoccupied with something else, but the more he heard, the more serious his expression became, especially when he heard that Lys' group had already been in this place for three months.

”This is a Time Cage!”

”Indeed…” Lin Yun nodded. He already knew of the Time Cage Suyass had mentioned. It was said that those who reached the peak of the Saint Alchemist realm could use arrays to alter space and time. These kinds of arrays were known as Time Cages.

But Time Cages were already legends. Even 30,000 years in the future, they were barely mentioned in a few books he had seen, so despite his great wealth of knowledge, Lin Yun didn't know the specifics of what a Time Cage truly was.

But everything Lys said was in accordance with the principles of a Time Cage. It was like everyone was locked in a crack in time. This was a gap in the river of time, where the passage of time was completely different from the outside. One year inside might be a day outside, but it was also possible for it to be the other way around.

It might be static, or it might change unpredictably...

In short, anything could happen in a Time Cage.

But why was there a Time Cage at all?

This was the question that Lin Yun truly cared about. After all, a Time Cage wasn't something a Saint Alchemist could casually set up. This was already touching upon the most basic Laws of this world. Without a suitable reason, who would spend a lot of time and resources to set up a Time Cage?

Moreover, Lin Yun knew...

Although the Time Cage had ”cage” in its name, it wasn't a true cage. 30,000 years later, Time Cages were also known as Time Barriers. The different time flow made it so that any force used against Time Barriers would dissipate within the river of time. This property made it impossible for external forces to break through from the outside.

Lin Yun clearly remembered that the Shelter Tower's defensive system used a Time Cage as its core.