Chapter 67: Reporting and Teleportation

"My lord, this necklace is an Elf's Friendship; wouldn't it be inappropriate to give it to you?"

Unexpectedly, upon hearing it was an "Elf's Friendship," the middle-aged Mage's eyes lit up, and he smiled with some complacency, "It really is elven craftsmanship. If I hadn't specifically studied elven magical arts, I might have missed it!"

Lao Neil felt a sense of foreboding and said sheepishly, "My lord—"

"Hand it over! You are not worthy of possessing an elven secret treasure!"

These words carried an irresistible will. Lao Neil believed that even within the protective range of the Territory's Mage Tower, if the middle-aged Mage before him wanted to kill him, it would be no more difficult than killing an ant!

Lao Neil felt resentment and reluctance in his heart, yet he had no choice but to helplessly pull the necklace from under his clothes, take it off, and respectfully hand it over. Since the necklace was bound to be lost, he had to make the most of it.

Thus, Lao Neil mentioned Xia Duo again, "My lord, this is the necklace, but that brat—"

But unfortunately, at this moment, the middle-aged Mage's gaze was already captivated by this elven-style necklace. He snatched the necklace, a white light flashed over his hand, and the necklace, which still carried Lao Neil's "body scent," instantly regained its original luster.

It was a silvery-white necklace, but from its appearance, it actually emitted a hazy, visible shimmer; even someone with the lowest discernment would know this was no ordinary item.

The pendant of the necklace was a statue of a female Elf with a graceful posture, a solemn expression, and hands held to her chest, which also emitted a hazy, visible shimmer.

Yet, compared to the necklace, this elven statue pendant had an indescribable quality that made one feel an immediate sense of affinity upon seeing it.

"Good! You didn't lie; it truly is elven craftsmanship!"

The middle-aged Mage carefully performed an Identify, then satisfied, he put the necklace around his own neck before looking at Lao Neil, "By the way, what were you saying just now?"

Lao Neil hurriedly brought up the request for the Mage to continue taking action. The middle-aged Mage snorted coldly, "If you want me to take action, then bring out the reward. This necklace cannot be considered a reward; this is compensation for your intelligence failure!"

"My lord, this—" Lao Neil stammered, but he dared not voice his dissatisfaction.

"No money? If you have no money, then get out! I want to rest. Don't forget the things I entrusted to you! Otherwise—"

The middle-aged Mage issued an order to leave. Lao Neil's mind was in a mess, and he left the room subconsciously.

As soon as he came out, stung by the cold wind, Lao Neil was filled with regret. He didn't know why he had been so obsessed with using this outsider Mage to deal with Xia Duo when he first met him.

Unexpectedly, in the end, his precious necklace was lost, Xia Duo hadn't been dealt with, and this Mage seemed to be clinging to him. He wanted to break free but was powerless to do so.

He could only sigh silently, "My Friendship Necklace!"

At this moment, Lao Neil's heart was bleeding incessantly. Thinking of the tasks the Mage had once entrusted to him, and the fact that he was already unable to extricate himself, Lao Neil gritted his teeth and could only remain on the pirate ship.

……

Just as Lao Neil decided to follow this path to the end, Xia Duo's group finally returned to the Military Camp. Sami and the others sent the wounded for treatment, while Xia Duo went alone to report to Mage Huosite.

The matter of the Orcs had to be reported in time, and of course, there was the news of the appearance of an Undead. If he could make the Mage Tower and that unknown Mage clash, he might be much safer.

"Mage Huosite, that is the situation; those four Orcs were all killed by us."

Xia Duo gave a rough account of what happened, neither belittling anyone's role nor exaggerating anyone's contribution, narrating it from a completely objective and neutral perspective.

"Well done!" Mage Huosite seemed very satisfied and offered a word of praise.

He added, "Your military merits will be recorded and rewarded together after the war. Additionally, I will tell you in advance: do not leave the camp in the next few days."

"Yes."

"Go out." Mage Huosite waved his hand and prepared to deal with the Document on the table. He was the only one here today, and there was a huge pile waiting to be processed.

However, Xia Duo had no intention of leaving at all and continued, "Mage Huosite, there is one more thing I would like to report. On our way back, we encountered an attack by an Undead."

Patter—

Mage Huosite placed the exquisite writing pen in his hand onto the table, looked up, and asked, "What did you just say?!"

"I said, we encountered an attack by an Undead on the way back." Xia Duo repeated.

Huosite asked again, his expression serious, "Are you sure it was an Undead?"

"Yes, I am sure. After it died, it dissipated a kind of rotten, decaying aura that could even erode the human body."

Having received confirmation again, Mage Huosite finally believed that this was not a means for an Apprentice to seek attention, but that they had very likely truly encountered an Undead.

This had to be taken seriously.

So, under Xia Duo's gaze, Mage Huosite's mouth moved as if he were speaking silently. Xia Duo did not understand lip-reading and did not know the content.

But after Huosite terminated the Sending, a white light flashed in a corner of the room—

A person whom Xia Duo had a deep impression of appeared: Mage Aiboke, who had boosted the morale of everyone when the Apprentices left the Mage Tower.

Upon arriving, he stared at Xia Duo with a majestic gaze, "Apprentice, where is the Undead you spoke of?"

Being stared at by such an existence who could easily kill him, Xia Duo felt truly uneasy and hurriedly stated the place where they had encountered the Undead.

Afterward, Mage Aiboke asked about some details repeatedly, and Xia Duo answered them one by one.

"Apprentice, stand still and do not resist! Otherwise, if the Teleportation fails, I won't be able to save you."

Teleportation failure? Xia Duo felt a chill in his heart and dared not move at all.

Seeing this, Aiboke placed one hand on Xia Duo's shoulder and took out a Spellbook from the Dimensional Bag at his waist with the other.

At this moment, the Spellbook turned without wind, cycling through four or five specific pages, while he began to chant a spell.

Although Xia Duo dared not act rashly, seeing Aiboke's manner of Spellcasting made him feel very curious; this was different from his own Spellcasting steps.

It added two auxiliary Spellcasting means: a Spellbook and incantations, and perhaps even other unknown things, but what he cared about most was, "Not an instant Spell."

This left him greatly disappointed. With his profound understanding and proficiency in Ring Spells at his current stage, instant Spellcasting was already on his schedule.

He even had ambitions for the instant casting of future Advanced Magic; what kind of Mage is a Mage who cannot cast Magic instantly?

But seeing Mage Aiboke's thick Spellbook and the skillfully chanted incantations, he suddenly realized that the instant casting of Advanced Magic was probably not as easy as he had imagined.

However, before Xia Duo could think carefully, a white light flashed, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed, and he arrived at that Netherese House again.

Baa—

A weak, listless bleat of a sheep caught Xia Duo's attention. Of the two sheep that had been very lively not long ago, one was now dead, and the other was lying in the hay, half-dead.

The appearance of Xia Duo and Mage Aiboke caused it to let out one last mournful cry, after which it fell to the ground silently.