Chapter 847: The Light-Flame One Cannot Look Directly At, Mission Issued

Appearing alongside Badijiaer were three other Great Arcanists who were no strangers to the spellcasters present, yet when Xia Duo saw one of them, he immediately lowered his head, his eyes unable to hide his astonishment.

After his most recent bloodline awakening, Xia Duo had gained a brand-new Soul State; setting aside the miraculous nature of the soul itself, when reflected upon his physical body, it allowed him to observe the Cloud Qi on himself and others.

This Cloud Qi was ethereal and uncertain, existing yet seemingly non-existent, but it was real; at the very least, for Xia Duo, it was impossible to simply turn a blind eye to it!

In the past, he had observed the Cloud Qi on many people, including Niya, Beilaila, and other High Mages of extraordinary status, as well as ordinary people like the apprentices of the Tower of Time and even the residents of Daxia Territory.

Not long ago, he had even observed the Cloud Qi on the Great Arcanist Badijiaer.

But no matter who it was, the Cloud Qi on them had not made Xia Duo feel as incredibly astonished as the Princess; it could be said that it was no longer Cloud Qi, but rather something so dense it had formed an existence similar to a flame of light.

Looking at her from afar, an awe-inspiring, inviolable aura of majesty bore down upon Xia Duo's eyes, making him almost afraid to look directly at her again.

This feeling was true and real; Xia Duo rubbed his aching eyes, daring only to lift his head slightly to re-examine her with the corner of his vision.

And this time, although it was merely a glance from the corner of his eye, he saw more information than before.

The existence similar to a flame of light on the Princess was indeed not Cloud Qi, at least not the kind of Cloud Qi that ordinary people possessed.

Within that flame of light, the Princess's features were somewhat blurred; the Cloud Qi possessed by ordinary people did not have this effect.

Xia Duo was certain that what he saw was not an illusion, yet no one else showed the slightest abnormality, as if only he could see it; his heart stirred, and he temporarily closed his "Qi-Gazing" state.

With this, everything returned to normal; he could no longer see the Cloud Qi on others, nor could he see the light-flame on the Princess that one dared not look directly at.

Under this normal perspective of an ordinary person, the Princess was no different from the time Xia Duo had seen her before; she was still a tall woman wearing purple Mage Robes and holding a silver Scepter.

As for her appearance, such an existence was already difficult to judge by looks alone; that unique, heroic temperament was her most conspicuous mark.

Of course, from Xia Duo's perspective, the Princess's appearance was still up to par, but having come from Earth, he preferred the petite figure and soft features of someone like Niya.

……

Up ahead, the three Great Arcanists—the Princess, Huo En, and Hadelaien—had yet to speak; only Badijiaer was delivering a battle declaration.

Because Xia Duo had been fully focused on observing the Princess, Badijiaer's speech had only remained in his memory, and it was unknown how much of a Gumu effect he had truly felt.

However, the others, especially the High Mages, were no better off than him.

Badijiaer's battle declaration was merely a verbal encouragement and incitement, without the aid of mind spells; how could it so easily move High Mages, who could also be called superiors in the Main Plane?

It was actually a sentence from the Princess later on that stirred Xia Duo—

"Starting from today, Netheril will enter a brand-new era!"

Although he did not know if the new era the Princess spoke of was the same as the new era Xia Duo understood, one thing was very clear, and that was—

After experiencing this war, which in Xia Duo's view was not very proactive but was very proactive for Netheril, the attitude of all participants toward the Elf would change.

Even if they did not immediately become anti-Elf pioneers, at the very least, they would spread the news of the Elf's death to the Main Plane, telling everyone:

The Elf is also made of flesh and blood, can also be killed, and after death is just a silent corpse, with nothing miraculous about it!

Xia Duo was very pleased with such a transformation in Netheril, but he also worried that it would slide into another Abyss—those who love war will perish.

However, it was still a bit early to worry about these things; when the situation changed in the future, he would surely possess the power to change it himself!

……

Soon, the true pre-battle mobilization ended amidst a wave of superficial responses; the four Great Arcanists withdrew, and the Archmage Fusitemu stepped forward to announce:

"Captains of each team, come over to receive your missions; everyone else, consolidate your teams and stand by at the Nan Xun Lian Chang!"

After speaking, he chased after the four Great Arcanists, leaving the plaza and walking toward the simple building complex to the east.

"I'll go over first!"

In Xia Duo's team, he was the undisputed Captain.

During the final three days of integration, excluding the passive influence of the Mind Link, Xia Duo had also won everyone's respect and trust through his practical actions.

Over a hundred High Mages were paired up; theoretically, the Captain was half the number, but not all teams were like Xia Duo's team, where one person established authority.

On the way to receive the missions, Xia Duo saw many scenes of two High Mages from one team going together, which could be seen from the total number of people leaving.

Of course, he still did not see any discord; after all, no one was a fool, and if things really became unpleasant, the one who would be unlucky would be oneself.

……

Arriving at the row of stone buildings closest to the Mage Tower construction site in the simple building complex, at the door of the room Fusitemu had entered, everyone had already tacitly formed a line.

Whenever the Captain of a team, whether one or two people, entered the room, the line would automatically move forward a little, orderly and without the slightest chaos.

Every person who received a mission would exchange a few pleasantries with those waiting in line outside after coming out of the room, before hurrying away.

And the so-called mission details were no longer a secret at this time.

"Mage Xia Duo, what is your opinion on such a mission? Do you think those Elf will really be waiting for us there?"

Xia Duo glanced at the other person; it was Mage Xi Ge Si who spoke. When Xia Duo first attended the High Mage exchange meeting organized by Beilaila, Xi Ge Si was present, and Xia Duo had also gained a lot from him.

For this Green Field Plane war, among the Seven Towers, only the Gier, Gustav, Jilan, and Jiannike towers had issued mandatory conscriptions.

And Xi Ge Si came from the Morien Tower; he had been attracted by the mission rewards, only to realize after arriving at the Green Field Plane that this mission had some deviations from what he had imagined.

During the previous individual training for High Mages, Xia Duo had maintained contact with High Mages like Xi Ge Si with whom he had previous interactions, so as to flexibly coordinate during the mission.

There were not a few High Mages who had this idea like Xia Duo; basically, anyone who could establish some connection would keep in touch.

Just now, a High Mage whom Xi Ge Si knew had received a mission and mentioned the mission content before leaving, and this content was not spoken privately; everyone around who could hear, heard it.

There were only two clear mission objectives in total—

One was to destroy specific trees at a specific location, and the other was to bury a Magic Item at a specific location and guard it for a certain amount of time.

Of course, broader war principles like "try to kill as many Elf spellcasters as possible" and "do not kill if the other side surrenders" were not mentioned; everyone already knew this beforehand, and Fusitemu had even specifically mentioned it.