Chapter 835: Night Talk, Ideological Mobilization

Niya subconsciously leaned her body toward Xia Duo, rested her head on his shoulder, and asked softly with a hint of confusion:

"What form do you think the mission will take? Are we really going to play hide-and-seek with Elves in the forest?"

After a long day of training, they had only learned some information about the Elves, and the rest was related to Joint Casting; as for the specific details of the mission, Fusitemu had not revealed a single thing.

With her mind filled with training during the day, it was only at night that Niya suddenly realized this problem: Elves are known as "Child of Nature" or "Child of the Forest"—can humans really defeat Elves in the forest?

The Druid from the day had left a deep impression on her. Although she believed the higher-ups must have countermeasures, facing such elusive enemies who were practically suicidal warriors, Niya still felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Niya's question was also Xia Duo's question. However, compared to Niya's confusion, Xia Duo appeared much more composed. He pulled one of Niya's palms over, palm to palm, using his real body heat to dispel her confusion.

He gently patted the back of Niya's hand and said calmly, "Although I don't know what the specific mission will be like, Her Highness the Princess has summoned all the Pioneers. These Pioneers are not all High Mages. If even we have no way to survive, wouldn't everyone else just be here to throw their lives away?"

Hearing the words "throw their lives away," Niya couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. Throwing their lives away was, of course, impossible; she knew the Pioneers were related to a very important plan of her teacher's.

Although she didn't know what it was specifically, judging from some past performances, the Pioneers were clearly not cannon fodder to be sacrificed at will.

However, while a momentary joke could dilute the confusion and fear in Niya's heart, some things ultimately needed to be prepared for in advance. She gripped Xia Duo's hand back and asked again earnestly:

"Are we really going to play hide-and-seek with Elves in the forest?"

"I don't know, but I guess the higher-ups will definitely facilitate some level of direct confrontation. Otherwise, if we were really going to play hide-and-seek, there would be no need for us to come here, and there would be no need to train for Joint Casting!"

Xia Duo believed Niya could understand this point too, but facing an enemy like the Elves, anyone would be nervous. Even in his own mind, images of himself being killed by Elves popped up from time to time.

This was normal, but a true Warrior could suppress these negative emotions, let positive emotions take the lead, and thereby correctly respond to external forces.

Was Niya a true Warrior?

Xia Duo believed she was. At the very least, she possessed the resolve for battle and the capability for it; it was just that her specific psychological state for impending battle might still be slightly lacking.

Xia Duo was the same, but he was fortunate; his recent trip to the Projection Plane had allowed him to instantly acquire the combat experience of a Drow warrior spanning hundreds of years.

This experience was not just about specific combat techniques; more importantly, it was the tempering of his killing mindset and fighting will.

After all, even if Drow warrior combat techniques were highly sophisticated, to a High Mage or Arcanist, they only served as icing on the cake. Whether there would be an opportunity to use them was another matter entirely!

Unlike Orcs, which, although brutal and bloody, were at least within the scope of a Mage's ability to handle, the Elves' long-standing image of power had long since lurked in the depths of the Netherese people's hearts.

The more one knew, the greater the fear of the Elves.

Therefore, setting aside the value of the Green Field Plane itself, Xia Duo guessed that besides the intention of having the Pioneers take a side, this joint operation might be more about breaking the Seven Towers Mages' fear of the Elves.

For a long time, the Netherese and the Elves, especially the Cormanthor Elf, although they had occasional conflicts, had never escalated to the level of war; at the very least, death incidents were extremely rare.

The most frequent and serious conflict among them was probably the annual driving of Orcs into Netherese territory by the Cormanthor Elf. Under normal circumstances, such conflicts always resulted in the Netherese's forbearance.

But this time, Archmage Fusitemu explicitly mentioned that once an Elf Mage was encountered, killing or wounding them must be the top priority. This was clearly an act of war.

Going deeper, perhaps before long, Netheril and Cormanthor would have a larger conflict, or rather, a real war.

And this joint operation was nothing more than a pre-war ideological mobilization!

Xia Duo told Niya his guesses. This line of reasoning startled Niya so much that she sat up from the bed. In the darkness, she stared blankly at Xia Duo and asked:

"Are you saying that a real war will appear before long?"

"A guess, this is just my guess. Don't go asking around randomly; if it spreads, wouldn't it turn into spreading panic?"

Of course, more seriously, it could also disrupt the arrangements of the big shots above, but Xia Duo did not say that out loud.

However, Niya had already understood Xia Duo's meaning, but this instead made her agree even more with his previous guess. "No, after you put it that way, I have this feeling too. Perhaps a real war is not far off!"

"Don't, you absolutely must not think that way. I would rather there be no war!"

At present, Netheril has gradually broken the conservative atmosphere of the past hundred years triggered by the theft of the Nether Scroll, and everything is moving in a good direction; it is in need of a stable development environment.

Once a war breaks out, the final situation will very likely veer toward an unpredictable direction.

If Iolum were to kick the bucket in the war, that would be a rather big joke!

The real world of Magic is certainly not something that can be fully described by those one-sided game materials from Earth. At the very least, up to now, Xia Duo has already seen too many things that do not match the game materials from before he transmigrated.

Not to mention anything else, at the very least, the Projection Plane was not reflected in those game materials on Earth, and other things like Arcane Fire, Spell Slots, and even the descriptions of gods all have discrepancies.

Therefore, Xia Duo only knows that it is possible for Iolum to invent the Mythallar, not that it is absolutely certain, but—

If even Iolum were to kick the bucket, then even that possibility would be gone!

Knowledge is not someone's exclusive property; others might also be able to invent similar devices, but compared to a relatively certain future like Iolum, the unpredictable factors of others are simply too many!

Of course, thinking about it another way, perhaps it is the war before long that will facilitate Iolum's completion of the final design of the Mythallar; that is not impossible.

But compared to the serious consequences that war might lead to, Xia Duo would rather have peaceful development. After all, as long as one stays low-key and survives, one will have everything.

The husband-and-wife night talk lasted until late at night. It is unknown who stopped talking first, and the two of them just embraced like that and slept until dawn.