Chapter 306: Gaseous Transformation and a Murder Case

Waking up, Xia Duo reached for the bedsheets beneath him at the first moment; his previous few Bloodline Awakenings had left him with psychological trauma, as he had soaked the bed every single time.

It was just like wetting the bed!

But this time, he didn't seem to feel any dampness, though the texture he touched didn't feel like normal bedsheets either; instead—

"Hell!"

Xia Duo was just about to get up to check, but unexpectedly, with just a thought, his entire body flew up, heading straight for the ceiling. Fortunately, the speed wasn't fast, and with another thought, Xia Duo stopped his momentum, hovering right there in mid-air.

By this time, Xia Duo had already realized what had happened.

Flying in mid-air, he had already seen that the bed was soaked in a large patch, but the problem wasn't there; it was with himself—

He had actually turned into a vague, unstable gaseous state!

Just now, he had wanted to reach out and touch the bedsheets, and he had indeed touched them, but the feel was wrong—it wasn't that there was a problem with the bedsheets, but that there was a problem with himself.

"Could this be the effect of 【Wind Control】? Does it just turn people into a gaseous state?"

Thinking about it, that didn't seem very likely; perhaps this Bloodline Awakening had just "awakened" an additional ability. Xia Duo recalled the process of becoming familiar with the 【Water Control】 ability, and slowly, his perception spread out beyond his own body.

This room was filled with gas, and all of it belonged to the category of wind elements.

Gradually, Xia Duo's consciousness filled the entire room, and combining it with his experiences in the dream, he simply moved his mind to create a small tornado, sweeping back and forth across the floor.

Next, he sensed a certain throbbing brought about by his bloodline, just as if he wanted to reach out his hand, and his hand reached out—it was that natural.

It was just as naturally that he transformed from the gaseous state back into his original state.

With a "clatter," Xia Duo landed steadily on the ground, but the next moment, his figure blurred, and he turned into the gaseous form again, shuttling back and forth within the room.

After getting familiar with it, Xia Duo particularly liked this form; he could even shrink himself into a ball and hide inside a water cup, and he didn't even feel that it was cramped.

Of course, this might be because the water cup didn't have a lid; if it had a lid, it would be a different matter.

After the novelty wore off, Xia Duo returned to his original state, dealt with the water on the bed, didn't even eat breakfast, and headed straight for the elevator.

He suddenly thought, since 【Wind Control】 could allow him to turn into gas, why couldn't 【Water Control】 allow him to transform into a flow of water?

In the dream, Xia Duo didn't have a physical body, but he was most familiar with the feeling of transforming into a flow of water; he had a feeling that if he were in a water environment, he really could transform into a flow of water.

This way, when controlling water, he wouldn't need to deliberately keep an eye on his physical body, but could instead turn his body into a flow of water and hide within the water he was controlling.

Perhaps this was what they called Water Escape!

Go to the river and try it out! And while at it, go see how his territory residents were doing!

……

Public Level, Teleportation Room.

In the Mage Tower nowadays, one could run into people almost everywhere one went, and everyone he met recognized him. The Apprentices were one thing—ignoring them didn't matter—but he had to respond to the greetings of Official Mages.

Xia Duo felt a bit helpless, but beneath that helplessness, there was also a little bit of secret joy; in the past, he had just been a nobody, and all these changes had started with the Arcane Competition at the Tower of Time.

It was just that back then, he hadn't been as much in the spotlight as he was now.

Passing through the Portal to the old site of the Tower of Time, this place had already been set up as a small camp, and the patrolling soldiers came in wave after wave, never ceasing.

Seeing Xia Duo emerge from the Portal, two fully armed soldiers immediately came up to him and saluted respectfully:

"Lord Xia Duo!"

"Hmm."

Just as he was about to leave, the soldier said again: "My Lord, a vicious murder case occurred in town the day before yesterday. The murderer hasn't been caught yet, but the Bishop at the Temple has concluded that the murderer is still hiding in town. Please be extra careful, My Lord; the murderer possesses the means to break through magical defenses and is extremely dangerous."

Xia Duo stopped in his tracks. Wasn't the day before yesterday the day of the Midsummer Festival? A vicious incident happened right after the Mage Tower left? And the victim even had magical defenses?

He asked a few curious questions: "When exactly? Who was killed? Can the murderer's identity be confirmed? Why did they kill?"

"After the festival ended the day before yesterday, two people from the Eagle Chamber of Commerce died: one was a Mage guard, and the other was the president, Asaer."

Speaking of this, a hint of satisfaction actually appeared in the soldier's eyes, but he immediately realized that the person in front of him was a Mage, and also the husband of the lord. He quickly reined in his emotions and continued:

"The murderer is said to be a guard under President Asaer. For some unknown reason, he suddenly attacked that Mage guard, and then assassinated Asaer himself. Although he was blocked by a Protection Amulet, the amulet didn't play much of a role. After killing the two, the murderer quickly fled."

And they let him get away? What about the other guards? Were they watching a show, or were they too slow to react, or were they bought off beforehand?

These thoughts circled in Xia Duo's mind before he cast them all aside. Looking at the endless stream of patrolling soldiers outside, it turned out these people weren't here to guard the Portal!

However, these matters didn't have much to do with him; with the 【Crimson Shelter Robe】 on his body, even without other Protective Spells, he was quite safe.

But for the sake of insurance, Xia Duo still cast a 2nd-ring 【Mage Armor】 on himself, just for peace of mind.

Arriving at the west gate of Savile Town, a group that looked like farmers, small merchants, and hunters was queuing up, waiting to be inspected.

Xia Duo noticed that today's inspection was much stricter than in the past; besides asking for names, addresses, and occupations, they also had to search all accompanying supplies, and everything was recorded.

Most importantly, there were actually people from the Temple assisting with the inspection today.

And Xia Duo also discovered something different from usual: the wooden fence that served as the wall for Savile Town had now become a Magic Alarm.

Furthermore, compared to the spell Xia Duo had mastered, the alarm here was more complex; for a moment, he couldn't figure out exactly what functions it had.

It seemed that the Territory was taking this murder case very seriously!

Of course, it could also be because the Tower of Time had left.

To pass through the town gate, Xia Duo didn't need to wait, nor did he need to be inspected, but as he got a little closer, a guard stepped forward to salute:

"Lord Xia Duo!"

"Heh, aren't you afraid that I might be someone else in disguise?"

The guard immediately looked nervously behind him at the Cleric from the Temple, and said with a fawning smile: "My Lord, you joke. In the Savile Territory, who would dare to impersonate you!"

"Fine."

Xia Duo didn't want to make things difficult for the guard; he could see that it was the Cleric who had made the judgment, and as he passed by that Cleric, the other party also saluted him respectfully, though he didn't speak.

Arriving outside the town, the Wolfburg River was not far away. As soon as he saw the river, Xia Duo felt joy in his heart, eager to immediately try transforming into a flow of water and shuttling about at will.