Chapter 208: Framing

Chapter 208 Framing

The last orc servant vanished from everyone's sight.

The army handed over the altar completely to the Tower of Mages for guarding.

They established a defensive line on the periphery.

The line could only intercept ordinary people; if an extraordinary being intentionally infiltrated, ordinary soldiers could not stop them.

The key lay with the mages standing guard.

Comas arranged for everyone to release the Tower's magical constructs first.

Patrol duties naturally did not require mages to step forward.

The first line of defense was the magical constructs.

Then, they released a vast number of surveillance magic eyes to monitor every corner of the entire altar.

This was the second line of defense.

The third line of defense was the mages themselves.

Li Wei walked upon the rock altar, glanced down, and felt the stone possessed some peculiarity.

El saw Li Wei, walked over, and said, "This is Holy Light Stone. The purity is not high, but obtaining so much Holy Light Stone is not easy."

"It seems the City Lord wishes to pray for the blessing of a Light-aligned deity."

Hearing this, Li Wei nodded, lost in thought.

He only knew that founding a nation required holding a ritual to worship gods.

He did not know there were so many intricacies to the god-worshipping ritual.

He had assumed the deities prayed for in the ritual were random.

He never expected choices could be made.

"Does building an altar with Holy Light Stone guarantee summoning a Light-aligned deity?"

Li Wei asked with some curiosity.

El shook his head and said, "Naturally impossible. How could deities be summoned so easily?"

"Even using Holy Light Stone merely increases the probability slightly; which deity is finally summoned still depends on luck."

"It is like someone liking gems; an altar built with Holy Light Stone is simply a somewhat more beautiful gem in the eyes of a Light-aligned deity."

Li Wei understood.

He looked around, feeling sending so many people to guard a single altar was a waste of talent.

Although the kilometer-wide altar was large, at most a dozen people would suffice.

Li Wei said, "This seems excessive. Is it necessary to have so many people?"

El smiled and said, "The real reason we were called is not to guard the altar, but to help activate the magic arrays."

Li Wei showed surprise; Martin had not mentioned this to them.

El looked at the entire altar and said, "If we relied solely on array mages to inscribe such a massive range of magic arrays, who knows how long it would take."

"We cannot afford delays, and the City Lord certainly cannot afford delays."

"He hiring our Tower of Mages is not free; money burns every day."

"Therefore, after the array mages inscribe the magic arrays, they will not activate them."

"They save the time of activating the arrays to inscribe new ones, while we are responsible for activating them one by one."

"To put it plainly, we are here to charge the magic arrays."

Li Wei was somewhat puzzled and asked, "Why cannot we use magic stones or magic crystals?"

"The cost is too high!"

El explained, "Anyway, so many mages staying inside the Tower have nothing to do, so let them come out and make themselves useful."

"Save some costs."

Li Wei was speechless.

The reason was so simple.

El said, "You need not worry too much; all magic arrays can be completed within three days at most."

"Hmm, thank you, Mage El, for clarifying." Li Wei bowed in gratitude.

El laughed, "Li Wei, you are truly too polite."

"Alright, look around nearby yourself; I must go assign tasks to others."

El was the squad leader, responsible for assigning tasks to team members.

In a short while, everyone began working.

The mage charging the magic array saw Li Wei wandering idly nearby and showed displeasure.

Feeling somewhat at a disadvantage.

"Why does he not need to work?"

"Don't you know him?"

"What? Must I know him? Who is he?" "The Tower Master's disciple! The only disciple so far."

"Also the number one genius of Maple City, becoming a formal mage at only sixteen years old."

"Damn! That impressive?"

...

In a corner, several mages gathered together and quietly glanced at the wandering Li Wei.

"Maple City's genius mage Li Wei, absolutely cannot let him grow up, otherwise he will pose a huge threat to the Marquell Kingdom in the future."

"Previously there was no chance to deal with him; he never stepped half a pace out of the Tower, finding no opportunity. Today is a good opportunity."

"But there are too many people here; if we act, we cannot escape either."

"Hah, for shame, you call yourselves mages? Cannot you use your wits? All you know is brute force."

"If you can, you do it."

"I'll do it then."

El looked around; there were no others nearby.

He found Li Wei, "There is a magic array over there needing activation; go activate it, it is very simple."

El taught Li Wei a few times.

Actually, while wandering, Li Wei had already learned by watching others' operations.

"Hmm, I understand."

He walked towards the place where the magic array was located.

Standing upon the node of the magic array, he poured mana into the formation beneath his feet.

For Li Wei, who held command over mana, this was child's play.

He could even divide his attention between two tasks.

"Greetings, might I ask if you are Mage Li Wei?"

A man walked over, asking with a face beaming with a foolish grin.

Li Wei raised his gaze to look at him, "Mm, what is it?"

"Your fame precedes you, though meeting you surpasses all rumors; Mage Li Wei, you are truly my idol!"

Li Wei felt somewhat speechless.

"Um, if there is no matter, we can speak later; I am still working."

The man hastened to say, "Mage Li Wei, you carry on; I shall stand aside and watch, observing Mage Li Wei's maneuvers to learn some techniques."

"If Mage Li Wei does not mind, could you share some cultivation insights?"

"How did you ascend to become an official mage so swiftly?"

"Talent," Li Wei stated.

The man faltered, unsure how to proceed.

He offered an embarrassed smile, "Mage Li Wei's talent is indeed astounding."

"Since Mage Li Wei is occupied, I shall not disturb you."

With that said, the man turned and departed.

Li Wei watched his retreating figure, his eyes serene.

There was certainly something wrong with this person.

Otherwise, why approach him suddenly with such a clumsy pretext?

Upon finishing the mana infusion, Li Wei triggered the magic array.

"This is bad."

Halfway through activation, a plume of black smoke billowed forth.

Bang!

The magic array detonated, and the Holy Light Stones engraved with the array shattered as well.

Li Wei's expression grew somewhat grim.

The disturbance from the explosion quickly drew others near.

El gazed at the exploded magic array in astonishment, "How could it explode?"

Li Wei replied, "The magic array has a flaw; when I activated it, the mana suddenly became chaotic and erupted."

"Nonsense, the magic array I engraved cannot possibly be flawed; clearly, the issue lies with yourself."

Hearing Li Wei's words, the Arrayist immediately shouted a rebuttal.

Pointing at the other already activated magic arrays, he asked, "Why can their arrays activate normally, yet only yours fails?"

"Clearly it is your own fault, trying to pin the blame on me."

(End of Chapter)