Book 3: Chapter 272: Struggle and Cooperation

September arrived, and the brief, warm summer winds faded away. The forests along the border began to show autumn yellow in their leaves, with a few scattered ones drifting down.

A leather boot stepped through dry, fallen leaves, producing a crisp crunching sound. A young mage in a brown trench coat then appeared on the hillside.

He opened his coat, revealing a row of potion vials hanging from his waist, along with lenses stored in the inner pockets. He took out one and fitted it into the frame on the bridge of his nose, surveying his surroundings through the single lens.

Lenses crafted by the Appraisal School could detect faint traces of Aspect energy, making them especially useful for reconnaissance. The witches of the Hidden Grove had cunning methods, but their various secret arts always left behind residual traces of unnatural Aspect energy. Traps and curses that would normally be difficult to guard against became clearly visible under the light of this lens, and no longer a cause for fear.

"That group of black witches hasn't been here yet." A hint of delight colored his voice. He set down his backpack, pulled out a small tripod, and secured it on the hillside. He then mounted a compact steam drill onto the tripod and activated it. The drill bit spun downward, burrowing a deep, hidden hole into the earth.

Afterward, he took out a glass vial from his waist, its contents swaying with clear liquid.

He buried the vial underground, covered it back up, and the young mage stood and walked away.

For mages, combat wasn't just about hurling spells and abilities at each other on the battlefield. They would try every possible method and means to increase their odds of victory and take down their opponents.

The potion vial buried this time might never be activated. But if enemies happened to be encountered nearby, allied mages could easily sense the buried vial. With the element of surprise, they could use this pre-prepared measure to launch a sudden attack on their foes, weakening and defeating them.

Moreover, unlike the witches' primitive, ancient traps and curses, this potion's aura wouldn't leak before activation thanks to the glass vial's seal. Buried deep underground, even Transcendents would find it difficult to detect.

After two months of conflict, both the Mist Spirit School and Black Finger had accumulated considerable experience in fighting each other, learning their opponent's common methods and combat styles. At this point, the mages began to gain the upper hand.

They could always find targeted countermeasures and solutions, continuously adjusting their spells and equipment based on their opponents. Even though only Mist Spirit School members participated in the fighting, backed by the vast Mage Alliance system, they could borrow reconnaissance lenses crafted by the Appraisal School, purchase enhancement potions from the Four Salts School, and obtain elite hand cannons forged by the Fire Essence School. With the assistance of all these targeted tools and methods, the advantages the witches had built up in the early stages were quickly erased.

At this time, the Hidden Grove Alliance's loose structure, along with its weaknesses in fighting independently, poor information flow, and inefficient equipment distribution, began to show.

In November, the Mist Spirit School's fight against Black Finger began to dominate completely. The Black Finger Witches who had come to reinforce were defeated and killed in large numbers.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the Black Finger witch faction began to contract their lines and gradually retreat.

In December, heavy snow sealed the mountains. The Black Finger Witches launched their largest mobilization yet, attempting to kill the Mist Spirit School's team leader. But the results were far from ideal. The planned attack was exposed before they even got close to their target, and the witches were forced into battle at an inopportune moment, having to face a combined assault from Mist Spirit School members and knights of the Kingdom of Aixus.

In the end, the battle concluded with Black Finger losing four Fourth Tier witches and seventeen Third Tier practitioners. After this disastrous defeat, the Black Finger witch faction withdrew all witches supporting the Duchy of Mid. Left isolated and without support, the Duchy of Mid was crushed by the main forces of Aixus, and its entire territory was eventually annexed into the Kingdom of Aixus.

Though this small-scale conflict affected only a limited area, it sent considerable shockwaves through both major alliances.

The Mage Alliance gained great confidence, but also realized that the Hidden Grove Alliance had numerous factions. If they truly had to fight it out, they would likely need to prepare for massive losses in personnel and combat power just to close the information gap and secure final superiority and victory.

The Hidden Grove Alliance, on the other hand, confirmed once again that the Mage Alliance was an opponent of extremely low threat. Their decision to integrate various major nations and powers was absolutely correct—it was just that their actions had come somewhat late, and the extent wasn't enough.

Fourteen days before the conflict began, the Silver Bell Festival celebration that year proceeded as usual. Representatives from the Hidden Grove Alliance and the Mage Alliance, who had come to observe the ceremony, engaged in negotiations lasting a full week. The final results of the talks were as follows.

The Hidden Grove Alliance expressed willingness to provide gardeners and food supplies to help the Mage Alliance through the difficult Sinking Fog season. However, in exchange, the Mage Alliance would have to provide corresponding resources and goods at fifty times the market price.

This price was somewhat lower than the previous sixty times, and after learning about the famine crisis and its dangers, dissenting voices within the Mage Alliance diminished considerably.

However, the latter half of the agreement also added new content.

Among the list of goods the Hidden Grove Alliance required from the Mage Alliance in exchange for food, the majority consisted of metal, gemstones, mechanical creations, scrolls, and spiritual medicines. Among these, mechanical creations were the key focus of procurement. This was to assist the Hidden Grove Alliance in developing mining resources across various regions and constructing workshops for production. But these mechanical creations required skilled hands for daily maintenance, and some high-tier machinery needed mages with the Gold Steam Aspect to operate and calibrate.

This meant the Mage Alliance had to provide considerable personnel for maintenance. On this point, the Mage Alliance also made their demands—the Hidden Grove Alliance must offer generous compensation and benefits to these supporting technical personnel and mages.

Though the Hidden Grove side was reluctant about the Mage Alliance's demand for personnel subsidies, they understood that if they didn't pay a single coin, these maintenance personnel would hardly work with dedication. They might even send only novice apprentices, wasting the advanced mechanical creations they had exchanged for.

But giving in so easily didn't sit well with the Hidden Grove Alliance either. They demanded that the Mage Alliance must send sufficiently outstanding personnel to the Hidden Grove Alliance for guidance and training. That way, the Hidden Grove Alliance could also have some mages of their own, enabling them to eventually maintain, operate, and even manufacture various mechanical creations independently.

As for what counted as sufficiently outstanding talent that met the Hidden Grove Alliance's requirements, they also provided a list, selecting renowned figures from various fields within the Mage Alliance. And coincidentally, one of the names on it was Hedra.

Regarding the names on this list, the two sides conducted several more rounds of negotiations and consultations. Many names were added and removed, but every discussion about Hedra ended in deadlock.

The Mage Alliance stated repeatedly that Hedra was the core of the Alliance's new generation and could never be exchanged to the Hidden Grove Alliance. But the Hidden Grove Alliance countered with various arguments, questioning the Mage Alliance's sincerity.

"It's just an exchange—sending one Fourth Tier mage to the Hidden Grove Alliance for guidance and training. Why is the Mage Alliance reacting so strongly? Does this mean the Mage Alliance has no genuine intention of cooperation, and that the other personnel are just pawns to be cast aside at will?"

Faced with such accusations, the Mage Alliance naturally wouldn't admit to them. But they couldn't openly say that Hedra was the future successor of the Mage Alliance either—that would attract scrutiny from all factions and trigger all sorts of problems. This was far from the right time to reveal her identity.

In the end, this discussion was concluded by a decree from a Named One. The Mage Alliance agreed to let Hedra go to the Hidden Grove Alliance for guidance and training, managing and coordinating the other mages sent to support the Hidden Grove. However, since Hedra was about to advance, the departure would be delayed for one year—they would wait for the young woman to complete her advancement before she could set out.

Additionally, as part of the exchange, the Hidden Grove Alliance was also required to send outstanding gardeners to the Mage Alliance for guidance and training. Through years of intelligence gathering, the Mage Alliance had already learned why the Hidden Grove could cultivate fertile land in the Shadow World. It was because a few years ago, a brilliant young gardener had emerged. The Bright Flame Cornflower she cultivated could purify soil corrupted by Distortion erosion, allowing fertile land to expand across the Shadow World's terrain.

On this point, the Mage Alliance stated that when Hedra went to the Hidden Grove Alliance, the Hidden Grove Alliance would need to send the secluded gardener Xilu to the Mage Alliance as part of the exchange.