Chapter 304: Teasing, the Ether Plane

"It seems this is a place even the Lord of Radiance cannot shine upon!"

Gazing at the vast white "sky" overhead, Xia Duo shook his head; with the Magic Net Riot Zone blocking the way, continuing to expand the Territory would require taking a detour elsewhere.

Fortunately, the Teleportation Room on the Public Level of the Tower of Time had already opened a Portal that could reach the Tower of Time's original site in Savile Town directly.

Now that he had seen the situation outside the tower, he should try it out personally; Xia Duo took out the new Badge Niya had given him earlier, held it in his hand, and called out softly—

"Tower Spirit?"

"I am listening."

Very good, it could respond!

But this was within the boundary line; Xia Duo proceeded to add the upgraded 3rd Circle Mage Armor to himself, as well as Resist Energy and Absorb Energy, which he hadn't had time to upgrade yet.

And the moment he took the first step outside the boundary line, he felt the duration of all his Protective Spells drop sharply!

The essence of Netheril Arcane Magic is the Spellcaster's will distorting the Magic Net, and the Magic Net also has a near-instinctive tendency to recover.

The decrease in spell duration meant that casting spells here required paying a higher price than in a normal environment! Even—

Xia Duo attempted to cast Light, but the next moment, a powerful burst of light erupted at his fingertips, and the intense Positive Energy impacted him, making his spirit soar.

The fatigue from struggling all night with Flight was instantly relieved quite a bit!

However, if he had cast Fireball just now, he might have been injured by now.

Uncontrollable!

This was Xia Duo's first impression; if the Magic Net in a normal environment was full of a sense of order, then the Magic Net here was like a madman.

Although he could still cast spells, no one knew what the cast spells would turn into!

Perhaps they would succeed, but it was more likely they would fail, and they would also severely spiral out of control!

Xia Duo did not want to try casting spells again and turned to contact the Tower Spirit—

"Tower Spirit?"

"I am listening."

"Tower Spirit?"

"Please speak..."

"Tower Spirit?"

"Processing..."

Just as Xia Duo thought the Tower Spirit was malfunctioning in the Mythallar Ruins, Niya's indignant voice suddenly came through—

"Xia Duo, do you know that contacting the Tower Spirit outside consumes the Tower of Time's energy reserves, especially in a Magic Net Riot Zone! That Badge is for emergencies, not for you to waste! Come back immediately!"

It seemed this chaotic Magic Net was also echoing Niya's words, as a streak of extremely thin lightning lunged straight at Xia Duo from the ground not far away.

This terrified him; he had just been startled by Niya's sudden transmission, and then a small bolt of lightning shot out—Xia Duo couldn't dodge in time and was hit directly!

Several layers of Protective Spells were shattered instantly, and the protective effect of the Crimson Shelter Robe on his body was immediately triggered; at the critical moment, an invisible shield blocked the lightning.

Retreating back inside the boundary line between the orderly and chaotic Magic Net, Xia Duo's heart couldn't help but pound; this was likely the most terrified he had been since he transmigrated.

Truly, if you don't court death, you won't die!

Soon, the temporary shield triggered by the robe faded away as the subsequent attacks vanished, turning into a relatively weak continuous protection.

After checking, Xia Duo discovered that emergency protection of this intensity had almost no drain on the Crimson Shelter Robe; while he let out a sigh of relief, his gaze toward the robe became even more fervent.

"Good stuff!"

And once he discovered that his own defensive capabilities were still very reliable, Xia Duo still wanted to enter the Magic Net Riot Zone to personally test the new Badge's teleportation function.

Otherwise, if he encountered an emergency, he might be in trouble if he were flustered.

Of course, it was also to test the capabilities of the Crimson Shelter Robe along the way.

Because he had been researching and practicing Flight all night, Xia Duo could no longer cast 3rd Circle Spells by now, at most only two 1st Circle Spells.

However, he had long since stored multiple Protective Spells in the Magic Net, which he had basically never used, and now was the time to use them!

—3rd Circle Mage Armor

—1st Circle Resist Energy

—1st Circle Absorb Energy

The three spells were cast in one go, without the slightest pause.

Indeed, once a Mage enjoys the pleasure of instant casting, they really cannot stop!

And the total number of circles he could currently store in the Magic Net had reached 3 (highest spell circle) * 6 (Spellcasting Level) = 18!

That is to say, if Xia Duo were willing, he could store six 3rd Circle Fireballs in the Magic Net and then throw them all out at once—simply violent!

It's just that a person with normal thinking wouldn't do this, and Xia Duo considered himself quite normal.

"What a pity!"

After buffing himself with Protective Spells, Xia Duo walked into the chaotic Magic Net area again; with the Crimson Shelter Robe as a foundation, he became much bolder.

He rushed a long way in just a few steps!

This time, no spells hit him, but before Xia Duo could lament his luck, the next step he took, he felt the surrounding environment change abruptly—

A layer of hazy Mist surged in from all directions, but strangely, this did not affect Xia Duo's normal vision, as if this layer of Mist did not exist at all.

But even so, his field of vision was extremely limited, and it was changing rapidly.

One second he could see a scene of ruins, the next second it changed to another scene, and the next second, some humanoid creatures even appeared.

But no matter the scene, it was as if separated by a layer of frosted glass, hazy and unclear; occasionally he could see clearly for an instant, but it was like some old oil painting, appearing very eerie.

Having studied Plane Theory, Xia Duo immediately realized that he seemed to have entered the Ether Plane; he subconsciously gripped the Time Tower Badge in his hand.

If he had come to the Ether Plane under normal circumstances, Xia Duo would have looked around, but in this situation, he only wanted to leave as soon as possible.

He first took a few steps back, but he was still in the Ether Plane, only the surrounding scene had changed a few more times.

Xia Duo took a deep breath, but it seemed he had inhaled nothing; he held his breath again, and it seemed there was no feeling of suffocation; without further delay, he immediately called the Tower Spirit:

"Tower Spirit, teleport!"

"Teleportation Guidance initiated—"

Thank goodness!

It seemed that what Niya said about being able to teleport him back even from within the Mythallar Ruins was true, though the fact that he actually dared to attempt it in the Mythallar Ruins was likely due to his subconscious trust in Niya!

A flash of white light streaked by!

The next moment, Xia Duo returned to the Tower of Time, inside his living quarters.

Before he could even savor his brief journey through the Ether Plane, another flash of white light streaked by, and Niya appeared in his room, her pale face flushed with a sickly crimson, her eyes filled with fury—

"Xia Duo!"

Xia Duo felt something was amiss the moment he heard her voice, but he didn't know where to run even if he wanted to; the entire Mage Tower was under her control.

He could only put on an innocent expression, blinking his eyes as he looked at Niya.

Niya was truly furious; she had just given the Badge to Xia Duo, and he immediately went outside to tease the Tower Spirit, then abused the teleportation.

"Do you have any idea that you just used up an entire day's energy reserve of the Tower of Time!"

The actual situation was, of course, not that exaggerated, but it was true that a large amount of energy had been used up during a time when energy was extremely tight!

"It's not that exaggerated, is it! I only teleported once; didn't you say it could be used once a day?"

Hearing Niya say that he had used up a day's reserve, Xia Duo now truly looked innocent.