Chapter 103: Test

Rod just smiled without saying a word.

He was a man of propriety; he couldn't bring himself to say anything arrogant in front of outsiders.

"Master, what is that?"

Seeing a sand tornado for the first time, the banshee couldn't help but ask.

"A terrifying ritual, created by a mage who hated spirits. Its purpose is to suck low-level little creatures like you in, then toss you into the hell below."

Rod made up a line on the spot, taking the chance to scare her a little.

"I'm already fifth-tier, that's not low-level."

Chris was a banshee from the countryside, with limited experience, and she actually believed his nonsense.

She quietly drifted behind her master's back, indicating she wanted to stay far away from the desert.

Tally had now transformed into a cat-girl, with cat ears and a cat tail, all fluffy and very cute.

She said with a smile, "Not only that, to lure spirits there, this evil ritual will also cloud their minds at night, making them walk into the desert of their own accord, unable to stop themselves."

"Really? I don't believe it."

Chris said stubbornly.

But one could already clearly see the frightened expression on her face.

"Mr. Rod, you really do have quite broad interests."

Sharon's gaze was strange, and she finally couldn't hold back.

She had come to the Wind Wall Forest several times, and had seen tree spirits, centaurs, elves, orcs, ghouls, and half-deer folk.

Now add a cat-girl and a banshee to the list.

Hmm. Is this ranger, taking advantage of being so far from the capital, trying to build a harem in Lin Zi?

Though she had heard that quite a few humans had exotic-species fetishes.

However, one should know that in Aethelund's laws, certain races are forbidden from bonding with humans due to intelligence issues.

With that thought.

Sharon quietly jotted a few lines in her notebook.

Rod laughed heartily, quite unconcerned.

He followed her on an inspection of the willow district.

He discovered that only beside the willows infused with 【Growth Spirit】 did the concentration of the so-called 'malignant factor' drop significantly.

"Looking at it this way, the improved willows developed by Lady Daphne and the others really do have the effect of suppressing the ritual's further spread."

Thirty minutes later.

The inspection ended.

Rod refused Sharon's request to clip some branches.

After all, this was the research result belonging to Lady Kali and the witch Daphne.

Although he wasn't a mage, he also knew that magical research required privacy; even though this was a sample that had only succeeded with his help.

Later, if they were willing, of course they could hand over the samples and data to the Magic Control Union together.

Rod didn't use 【Tree Walker】, but rode with her on horseback to the farm outside the forest.

Inside there was a small stone hut used for storing farming tools.

Given that the farm hadn't been used for a long time, the wooden door covering it was now coated in a thick layer of white dust.

Sharon took a disc with colored knobs out of her document case.

With a snap, she stuck it onto the wooden door.

Then she turned the knob, fixing the color on a vivid red.

Meeting Rod's puzzled gaze, Sharon smiled:

"The 【Dark Vortex Rift Barrier】 in the Death Desert has been classified as a Class-A magical disaster. With approval, a temporary teleportation point can be established nearby."

A teleportation point, huh.

He'd heard about it long ago—the Magic Control Union's bread and butter, an incredibly powerful teleportation treasure.

He hadn't expected it could be used like this.

Click—

After a brief flash of spiritual light, Sharon turned the door handle and opened the door.

Inside was no longer the cramped space filled with farming tools, but had become the interior of an elevator of about three square meters, enclosed by brass-colored metal walls.

"An elevator?"

"What?"

"Uh, never mind."

This time, neither Chris nor Tally had come along.

Rod said goodbye to the reluctant succubus just before the door closed.

"Please be aware, Mr. Rod, the teleportation will cause a brief moment of discomfort; please bear with it for a while."

"No problem."

Sharon nodded, tapped the Pang De Fa beside her, and officially activated the teleportation elevator.

According to her, it was called a lift shaft.

After a brief spell of dizziness, Rod saw the brass metal doors of the lift shaft open automatically.

What greeted his eyes was an office hall with a transparent glazed-glass ceiling.

Through the glazed ceiling, he could see a massive magical barrier enveloping the building.

And in the hall, many office workers dressed in the same attire as Sharon moved about in succession.

It looked exactly like a scene from Earth in his previous life.

"This way, please."

Sharon led Rod forward, passing through the administrative hall until they arrived at a massive crystal chamber.

This was the testing area of the Mage Control Union.

In the center of the room stood an alchemical machine, seemingly constructed from countless tiny crystals and miniature magic arrays, emitting a soft blue light.

"Please wait a moment."

Having said that, she walked outside.

Rod could see her exchange a few words with a young mage.

"Sharon! Why are you bringing someone over again during shift change!"

"Sorry, sorry, Levin, please do me a favor."

Sharon pleaded with a smile.

She continued: "This A-rank matter is very important to me, it concerns my promotion. I have to do everything by the book and make it look good. You know how it is, the higher-ups can always find fault."

The young mage shot her a look of disdain.

In the end, he still agreed.

"Don't make a habit of it, but next time you have to come to my daughter's birthday banquet."

"Definitely! Thank you, Levin. Do the mental control and mental resistance tests."

Having said that.

Through a sound-transmission spell, she notified Rod to stand in the appropriate position.

Mage Levin buried his head in operating the magic array.

After a brief flash of magical light, Rod inside the crystal chamber showed no reaction whatsoever.

"Mental control, none. Next is mental resistance."

The machine inside the crystal chamber continued to emit blue light.

"A normal human's mental resistance value is 10, no problem. Increasing to 20, 25, 30—oh wow, for a Spiritual Warrior, his mental resistance is really quite impressive."

Sharon was also surprised.

She had reviewed the other party's physical examination records, though they were from a year ago.

She clearly remembered the other party's mental resistance was only around 15-18.

As the values Levin adjusted gradually rose.

30, 35, 40, 45, 50—70!

The expressions on both their faces gradually changed.

From surprise to astonishment.

It wasn't that this Rod's mental resistance value was seventy, but that this machine's testing upper limit was only seventy!

"My heavens, Sharon, what kind of monster did you bring back?"

"Seventy. Have you ever seen such a high value?"

"I saw it once before on an eighth-rank Spiritual Warrior who specialized in dealing with Jing Shen Xi Fa mages."

Worry appeared on Sharon's face.

"He's just a Forest Warden. Recording such high data here with us, won't it harm him?"

She knew perfectly well what kind of people mages were.

Even within the Mage Control Union, there was no shortage of fallen mages who couldn't resist the temptation of knowledge.

"Actually, it's fine. Resistance has never really been the focus of mage research; we lean more toward the study of spells. That eighth-rank Spiritual Warrior I mentioned earlier, he stayed in the deep sea prison the whole time, and there weren't even many applications to study him."

As a mage, Levin offered his own view.

"However, with such outrageous data appearing, he'll inevitably be invited by the Mage Control Union. After all, there are currently a large number of Jing Shen Xi Fa matters still in an unsolvable state."

"I remember mages have spells that can increase mental resistance."

"Sharon, how many mages have you seen who are willing to go on field assignments?"

"... Seems like there really aren't many."

(End of this chapter)