Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Of course, Hill didn’t go into seclusion.

But he did need a little time.

After all, the adjustment and changes of spells from levels 0 to 3 were almost no difficulty for him, even those of the destructive type.

Even for spells like casting a big fire, Hill actually just has to use incantations, and he can’t cast it instantaneously; it also requires a bit more mana input, though it’s not that he can’t use them.

You could say there’s not much difference from ordinary mages; it’s just not as effortless as his talented spells.

For spells above the Fourth Ring, Hill had no problem using them himself, but changing them according to this world’s laws, especially those involving destructive laws, was a bit more troublesome.

Mainly because, after reaching the intermediate level, the magical energy of this world inherently carries some darkness... It’s not just because most of the world’s laws are controlled by the Lord of Hell, but also because of the despair within the world itself.

Hill was not too willing to overly immerse himself in this world.

This world is indeed sorrowful, and its encounters are sympathetic, but excessive empathy might risk dragging Hill himself down.

Hill is someone with a single-minded desire to return home and doesn’t want unexpected events to hold him up, even if these events might bring some real benefits.

During this isolated time, Hill thought about many things... It seemed he was quite welcome in various worlds.

Including Toril.

Those endless divine artifacts were definitely not tossed into his bag by AO; it could only be the World Will of Toril leaning towards enticing Hill to stay with various benefits.

The Natural Consciousness surrounding Hill indeed brought him good luck but never burdened him: those divine artifacts, even the little fairies coming to Hill for various reasons, even the deities, were not something Hill sought after entering Toril.

Nature only provided him with things he truly wanted... Like when Hill wanted more knowledge, even a glance at Nyscroll’s idea was fulfilled.

Before Candlekeep collapsed, he even copied down every useless little booklet.

Of course, Aesces also wanted to keep him... in the name of friendship.

But although Hill values emotions a lot, he is still a child from a world accustomed to farewells.

Even though he had many friends and joys in his life, Hill always headed home to find his most beloved family shortly after a joyful journey concluded.

Friends are the most beautiful scenery during his travels, unforgettable memories, and constant nostalgia, but they at most slow his pace a bit; they absolutely cannot stop him.

So instead, Aesces became the easiest world for him to leave.

In this new world invaded by Hell, his renown for kindness, good deeds, and reputation for not letting evil easily ferment wherever he goes were what held onto him.

However, the actual Hill was always compassionate within limits.

He would lament the disasters he witnessed, and even fall into mild sorrow, but Hill always reached out to those trying to rescue themselves; he wouldn’t sacrifice his future to save those who had fallen into so-called suffering and hardship in Hell.

Of course, in this fantastic Multiverse, it’s probably not seen as a sacrifice to make Hill the savior of a certain world.

It’s not about forcing Hill to stay in this world... Just like those powerful divine powers residing in Toril’s Divine Kingdom, don’t they control many worlds located in other universes alike!

Still, the premise of all this was to make Hill a deity.

Moreover, he would be the kind of powerful deity with the least restrictions and unlikely to fall easily... After leaving his names in many worlds, even if he perishes due to various reasons in the Main World, he could be resurrected in another small world.

Even though upon resurrection, he might experience some deviation in divinity due to the small world’s beings’ perception of him, he would not completely perish; floating at the Stellar Realm’s bottom was already something many deities dreamed of achieving.

These worlds retained Hill with gentle methods; he just hadn’t thought in that direction, only realizing this now.

Hill found it a bit helpless.

He knew clearly that this situation arose indeed because of himself.

The soul shard of the Goddess of the Earth, the natural aura surrounding him, and even the principles he adhered to in human affairs... compared to traditional mages, Hill indeed leaned more towards a deity.

Thus, perhaps in the eyes of these worlds, Hill is an explorer searching for his path to godhood, and every world would hope that a Nature System deity like Hill remains there; even if not, leaving some imprint and merging a bit with their laws is a beautiful outcome.

Unfortunately, even though Hill embodied a deity’s aura, his mind was solely focused on being a free and unrestrained mage, completely missing the implications of these worlds’ actions.

Hill sighed softly... As expected, his luck and intuition always found the best solution in the most complex times.

Like in this world, without the appearance of the Red Dragon, Hill would be involved a bit more than now... At least, when dealing with Sia Tower, he might have gotten entangled in more complicated affairs.

But now, the Red Dragon is the main force; the remaining matters should belong to Russell... and potentially Gilbert and his new Main God, the little female dragon, who might have already awakened in the Styx.

Therefore, Hill only needed to focus on mentoring Russell well.

A variety of things always seemed to revolve around this child.

Even though he had no proactive awareness towards the Tower of Dark Enigma and Sia Tower sides and Russell actually held very little presence in these matters... but he would always be connected in some small manner.

Just like with Felis this time, if Russell hadn’t woken up in time and kept focusing on this matter, he probably wouldn’t have been able to help but intervene directly sooner or later.

As long as one focuses on something for too long, even though they might initially be just a bystander, over-invested emotions could lead to impulsive actions... Otherwise, how could those he knew back in the day have suddenly fallen gravely ill while watching football matches?

If powerless, Russell might just smash a few things at home to vent... But if some people were really around, who could resist giving them a hefty slap?

Hill observed for a bit more and found that Russell indeed settled down and began his magical studies, ignoring the upheavals outside and using his spare time to press Carpenter to study, which greatly satisfied him.

This child was indeed increasingly gratifying to him.

A very standard mage seedling.

Though his talent was still somewhat lacking, if it’s just an ordinary student, Hill thought it was still acceptable.

Even Fran would be willing to accept Russell into his Magic Tower... It’s not about inheriting, just passing on spells, right?

Hill glanced at the pile of books stacked into a small mountain beside him, collected by Gilbert himself from this world, and slightly pouted: while it was troublesome and bothersome, it wasn’t entirely without benefits for him.

After this period of spell adjustments, Hill felt he gained a deeper understanding of the truth of spells... Although it seemed his travels were always about trivial matters, the levels he encountered were rather high, having even spent considerable time with various representative deities of the laws.

Therefore, even if it seemed he had only advanced a couple of levels on the mage path, Hill understood more about the real meaning behind magic runes.

When he now revised these magic incantations, he ironically needed to pay attention... for it’s impossible for others to simply draw a curve and release a spell.

Hill pondered a little; perhaps Adrian could slightly grasp the meanings behind such seemingly ordinary yet meaningful curves?