Chapter 710: Departure, Purple Sky

Three days later, inside the Spell Laboratory at Xia Duo's residence in the Tower of Time.

Xia Duo snatched up the Spellbook hovering before him, opened it and flipped through it casually, but soon closed it again, shrinking it to hang at his waist.

Practice is, after all, just practice; no matter how many scenarios are simulated, there is still a gap compared to a real encounter, especially regarding one's mindset.

Continuing to practice further wouldn't yield much better results; after all, the marginal utility is diminishing!

Returning to the outer room, Xia Duo collected the few books scattered on the desk into his Personal Space, then summoned the Tower Spirit to send him outside the Tower of Time.

After returning to Linshui Village for a quick trip, he returned to the Tower of Time and notified Niya of the news that he was about to set off.

Almost without the slightest interval, a familiar figure appeared in the Teleportation Room: short black hair, soft features, petite stature—it was Niya herself.

As soon as she arrived, she blocked Xia Duo's path, and in her voice, which she tried hard to keep calm, that trace of nervousness was particularly obvious: "Why are you leaving so soon? Isn't there still more than ten days until the end of the month? Prepare for a few more days, what if you end up needing them!"

"Uh—"

A strange feeling sprouted in Xia Duo's heart, but he also seemed to find it quite gratifying: "Niya, this is just a normal trip; you being like this is making me nervous instead."

"Ah?"

Niya was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted, realizing she had lost her composure and let her emotions take the upper hand. However, this feeling wasn't bad, but being pointed out by Xia Duo to her face made her feel her face heating up, so she hurriedly changed the subject:

"How are you planning to get there? Are you teleporting directly to Rodney Territory?"

"No, I plan to go to Seventon first, then teleport to a territory near Rodney Territory, and then slowly fly over."

Even though he knew it was unlikely there would be danger this time, Xia Duo still did not want to put himself in a perilous situation; for a territory that had just resolved a hostile state, a Mage Tower was the last place he wanted to go.

If he were outside, even if a Great Arcanist arrived in person, he would at least have a chance to run away, but if he were inside a Mage Tower, the path would be blocked directly.

This was what he had to absolutely avoid.

Hearing Xia Duo's plan, Niya also felt that doing so was more prudent, and she didn't offer any other suggestions, instead silently stepping aside.

……

Although it was not his first time using a Teleportation Array, Xia Duo still couldn't help but marvel at it; from Nan Jing to Seventon, traveling by boat with favorable wind and water would take at least a month.

But through the Teleportation Array, it took only an instant to travel from south to north, crossing a long distance—it was simply too efficient!

If it were Xia Duo teleporting himself, although it would be faster than taking a boat, it would require multiple teleports, and Positioning is critical; unless one is bold enough not to care about Fuzzy Teleportation, taking a fixed Teleportation Array is the most prudent and convenient way.

Having not been to Seventon for several months, Xia Duo didn't just treat this place as a transit station; he intended to inquire about the situation here first.

Purple Sky Tavern.

An establishment under the name of Archmage Greta; it was not Xia Duo's first time coming here, and he liked the environment here very much—it had food, drink, and was quiet.

Of course, in the eyes of other Mages, these could only be considered secondary attributes; the real purpose of this place was the ability to camp out Archmage Greta, and if one could build a connection, that would be far more important than food, drink, or quiet.

Once inside, as Xia Duo expected, it was about half full. He skillfully went to the bar, ordered a cup of 【Elf's Dream】, which was more famous than its taste, and then sat down quietly.

Although Xia Duo had a slight reputation in Seventon and even all of Netheril, not many had actually seen him or knew what he looked like.

Therefore, even though he didn't cover himself at all, and even with occasional eye contact, the people in the tavern playing chess did not realize that the creator of 【Arcane Maze】 was right here.

This actually suited Xia Duo's wishes; fame to the point of being known by everyone was not a good thing, as controversy would follow. In this world of Reality and Magic, controversy was not just a matter of words, and real-life PK was not uncommon.

Soon, the 【Elf's Dream】 was prepared and sent to Xia Duo. Looking at the liquor in the glass constantly changing colors, Xia Duo smiled lightly in his heart and took a small sip.

It was indeed somewhat overrated.

It was not even as good as ordinary Elf Fruit Wine; perhaps it was stronger in certain effects, but in terms of taste, it had already lost by more than a little.

However, Xia Duo's real purpose for coming here was not to drink, but to gather information. He put down the glass and said to the bartender across the bar:

"I just arrived from outside; can you tell me about the recent events in Seventon?"

"Which aspect are you asking about, guest? If it's about Magic, I might not know as much as you do!" the bartender said pointedly.

Xia Duo was startled, then immediately realized that this bartender was also a Spellcaster; he had just neglected it because he hadn't been here for a long time.

"Then just say whatever! Big events, or interesting stories, anything is fine."

"Since the guest wants to hear, then I will speak. The biggest event recently should be the new communication Spell Patent announced by the Arcane Union at the end of last month!"

"Oh? Tell me in detail!" Upon hearing that it was related to Magic Net Background Communication, Xia Duo immediately became interested.

Although he could obtain some information through Niya from Giles Tower, he also wanted to see how ordinary Mages viewed Magic Net Background Communication.

"This new type of communication Spell is called 【Magic Net Background Communication】; it has almost no distance limitation. I heard that someone has already successfully contacted a Dwarf friend in Asikeer. It's just that this Spell is as high as 5th-circle, and the threshold for use is very high, but I also heard that a simplified version has already come out. If the guest—."

Before the bartender could finish speaking, a guest at the table next to Xia Duo immediately interrupted him: "Alright, Beike, stop promoting your simplified communication Spell. Does this Arcanist lord need to buy a Spell from you?"

After saying this, he looked at Xia Duo with some apology and whispered: "Lord Xia Duo, Beike is just fulfilling a sales task for Giles Tower; he means no harm."

Being recognized suddenly, Xia Duo was indeed a bit surprised. He didn't care about the sales pitch. He glanced at the bartender, whose expression was gradually becoming nervous, and said to the strange Mage at the next table, "No need to worry, he explained it very well! May I ask how to address you, sir?"

"Lord Xia Duo is too polite; just call me Ai Si. White-Eye Ai Si, External Affairs Mage of Giles Tower."

White-Eye?

Xia Duo noticed Ai Si's eyes; indeed, the left eye was completely white, which was very strange. However, this was someone else's privacy, and although Xia Duo found it a bit strange, he did not continue to mention it.

However, although he did not mention it, the act of noticing it fell into Ai Si's eyes. Ai Si was quite open about it: "An experimental error turned this eye into this. Fortunately, it only changed in appearance and does not affect normal vision."

Of course, what Ai Si didn't say was that besides normal vision, this white eye also gained Darkvision, which was why he used White-Eye as his moniker.

Having gained an unexpected benefit from a mistake, he was still quite proud of it.