Chapter 318: Novelty

Altina stood frozen for a long while, her vision blurring as if she had been dazed by the weight of this sudden, joyous surprise.

As she gradually regained her senses, a wave of surging excitement filled her heart, but alongside it, a hint of subtle embarrassment surfaced as she faced Ansu...

She suddenly recalled the scene of their first meeting—he had been sitting in a noisy tavern, telling everyone with absolute certainty that magic could be saved and pleading for them to believe him.

And what about her? She had ruthlessly thrown cold water on him in front of so many people.

She had said: It’s hopeless.

She had even said: This is a mistaken world, a world destined for destruction...

Thinking back on it now, those words made her cheeks burn. She had so easily dismissed the efforts and persistence of others, denying hope itself...

“President... President Ansu.” A sheepish smile appeared on Altina’s face as she said apologetically, “I was quite rude back then. I never thought... that you weren't just speaking empty words. You truly could do it...”

Ansu naturally knew which incident she was referring to, but he simply waved it off. “It’s fine. I understand.”

Anyone who had seen the plot could understand why this elven lady was always so depressed and discouraged.

Given the centuries of torment Altina had endured, anyone else would have likely gone insane—twice over.

To be honest, the fact that she had endured until today through such a long and almost cruel stretch of time was already unbelievable. As an outsider, he was actually quite curious about what ‘reason’ had kept her going until now.

After chatting for a bit in the office, Ansu noticed the irrepressible urgency in Altina’s eyes. After a moment’s thought, he took out his magitech communicator and quickly left a line of text.

【I’ll wait for you in the underground lab.】

After sending the message to Celia, he turned to Altina and beckoned her over. “Come with me.”

Altina nodded vigorously, her voice carrying a faint, imperceptible tremble.

“Yes, okay!”

...

Returning to Lawrence Manor, Ansu led Altina and Vera through a long, narrow, and hidden secret passage to the secret laboratory beneath the estate.

The laboratory was vast, stretching beyond the immediate line of sight. Apprentices dressed in uniform, modified magic robes hurried between rows of alchemy workbenches. Eerie blue magical light flowed through various vessels, and the entire space was enveloped in an atmosphere of rigorous and busy scientific research.

It was Altina’s first time in such a place, and her emerald eyes darted around curiously.

She had never seen a magic laboratory on such a massive scale, nor had she seen such an orderly scene. She felt that Ansu’s magic organization was completely different from any she had visited in her hundreds of years of searching...

Vera, on the other hand, was quite familiar with the place. She had come here to play many times and had long since lost any sense of novelty.

Seeing Ansu approach, the busy researchers all took the initiative to greet him:

“Elder.”

“Lord Hermit!”

Hearing these voices rising one after another, Altina could feel the heartfelt respect everyone had for Ansu.

Ansu nodded and smiled in response, conducting a brief inspection as he walked.

The place was divided into more than a dozen research groups, all following a hierarchical division of labor: “Elder — low-tier mage — magic apprentice.” They were devoted to research in areas such as safe magic optimization and magic weapon design. The person coordinating all research affairs was none other than the rising star, the dwarven scholar Professor Duncan Adams.

Ansu passed through several research groups and went straight to Professor Duncan’s private laboratory.

This was a cleanroom, transparent and bright. At this moment, Professor Duncan was wearing special goggles, staring intently at a light blue, three-dimensional magic projection floating in the air. The projection clearly displayed every detail of a set of magic armor.

Seeing Ansu’s arrival, Professor Duncan immediately took off his goggles and spoke enthusiastically, “Ansu, you’ve come at the perfect time!”

“The team has completely processed all the data the battle mage regiment brought back from the Talin campaign. Come quickly and take a look; this is the brand-new magic armor we’re preparing for an iterative upgrade, and...”

Professor Duncan pointed to a piece of equipment on the table. “Following your ideas, I’ve developed the latest improvement: the ‘Magitech Power Warhammer!’”

Ansu’s eyes lit up with surprise, and he quickly stepped forward.

Altina also looked in the direction the dwarf was pointing, her eyes blinking in surprise.

Ansu reached out and picked up the Magitech Power Warhammer, weighing it a few times. It felt steady and heavy in his hand, and he could clearly feel the massive amount of mana stored within the weapon.

“Hmm, not bad.” He nodded with satisfaction. “This hammer has good weight. It’ll pack a punch when swung!”

Professor Duncan nodded in agreement. “With this, the combat power of every one of our mages will reach a new level.”

Altina couldn't help but ask softly, “Wait! Why would a mage... use a hammer?”

Ansu turned to her and explained with a straight face,

“You must understand that a mage’s mana will eventually run out. Once the mana is exhausted, a mage is almost no different from an ordinary person. In the rapidly changing environment of a battlefield, this is undoubtedly a fatal weakness.”

“In my view, a mage who can continue to fight on the battlefield is the real deal. Therefore! A mage who can fight in melee is a truly good mage!”

“Ah? Oh...” Altina understood his reasoning, but she still felt...

A mage wielding a massive warhammer in battle... that image was truly a bit bizarre.

While she was pondering, Professor Duncan had already called over a battle mage to demonstrate the power of the Magitech Power Warhammer on the spot.

The mage held the long-handled warhammer, and the magic crystal on the shaft instantly lit up. Suddenly, the warhammer carried a whistling gale as it slammed violently into a target dressed in a full set of metal plate armor.

“CRACK—!”

With a piercing, sharp sound, the thick metal plate armor instantly buckled and deformed. The entire target collapsed like a piece of crumpled paper, its destructive power shocking to behold.

“This...” Altina was stunned. In her hundreds of years of life, she had never seen such a subversive way for a mage to fight.

She couldn't help but look at Ansu again, her eyes full of scrutiny and curiosity.

A secret underground base, a massive research team, top-tier results that could overcome magic pollution, and such well-equipped battle mages...

What kind of secrets did this young and mysterious man hold? What exactly was he trying to achieve by setting all of this up?

Ansu was then about to take Altina to the neighboring ‘Magic Pollution Research Group’ to show her his results.

Suddenly, a strong surge of mana appeared. The lighting in the entire room flickered, and many researchers stopped their work, looking toward the direction the vibration came from.

On the open floor of the laboratory hall, the runes of a teleportation circle lit up. Amidst the flowing light, Celia’s figure slowly appeared.

Ansu immediately saw that she was carrying a bloody, mangled head in her hand.

Celia let out a cold sneer and casually tossed the head onto the polished floor. The smell of blood instantly spread through the air.

Ansu looked closely; it was the bearded mage from the City of a Thousand Stars.

“Solved?” he asked softly, his gaze landing on Celia as he checked her condition.

“Don't worry, I’m not hurt.” Celia raised her hand to wipe away a speck of blood that had splashed onto her cheek. Her dress was stained with quite a bit of blood, but she had no wounds on her body, though the mana fluctuations around her were somewhat turbulent.

“I activated the magic trap pre-arranged in your office and forcibly transferred those two to the northern part of the Black Forest. When they realized they had stepped into my pre-set battlefield, they tried to flee by force, so I hunted them down all the way.”

She paused, a hint of regret flashing in her eyes, quickly replaced by gloom.

“But I have to say, the mages of the City of a Thousand Stars do have some foundation. They even forced me to use Beyond 9th Circle magic. I killed this bearded one, but unfortunately, that bald one escaped...”

Failing to eliminate both of them in one go ultimately left Celia feeling a bit annoyed. “However, he’s been heavily wounded by me. I doubt he’ll dare to come looking for trouble for a long time.”

Ansu shook his head slightly. “The opponent was a Saint Tier powerhouse, after all.”

One could tell from dealing with Gulzan before just how difficult a Saint Tier was to handle.

Celia nodded slightly. Then, her gaze inadvertently swept past Vera and landed on the young woman wearing a hood, with only a small portion of her fair face visible.

“Ansu...?”

She approached Ansu unobtrusively, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Don't you plan on introducing me? This guest... why have I never seen her before?”

...