Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hill suddenly turned to look at Rommel.

He realized that he could no longer delay.

Yes, although he knew what he should do, Hill had been trying to escape reality.

The appearance of Lansendel and the inexplicable disappearance of Silvermoon actually gave him a glimmer of hope... Maybe he didn’t need to expose his existence at all.

But the situation with Aislin took him by surprise.

The best scenario Hill envisioned was an independent will to compete with Glaysia for sovereignty, ultimately fading away due to various reasons... The only contribution being the failure of the Lord of Hell’s plans.

When there was still no possibility of Bisozeya’s resurrection... and Asmodeus had not yet conquered Heavenly Mountain... the Lord of Hell would inevitably choose his daughter.

Even if Bisozeya could descend again, Asmodeus wouldn’t give up Glaysia until a more suitable heir emerged.

In fact, Hill somewhat felt... although Glaysia was very vigilant about the changes after the appearance of so-called siblings, Asmodeus had no intention of abandoning her.

Glaysia’s innate uniqueness likely had a deep significance.

The Lord of Hell was never that forgiving by nature, but he was indeed indulgent with this daughter.

Placing the concept of fatherly love on Asmodeus... It would be ludicrous, even more so than Celene and Shaer becoming inseparable sisters once again.

He must have his reasons.

Even if it’s just because of Glaysia’s bloodline, before confirming whether a resurrected Bisozeya would receive the recognition of the Will of Hell, Asmodeus wouldn’t easily abandon his only legitimate heir.

He would never allow himself to have only a single way out.

Therefore, Hill had to figure out exactly what Glaysia did to cause such a terrifying incident like Aislin.

Although Hill had some guesses, alchemy cannot tolerate even a tiny bit of wild imagination.

A slight error could lead to a huge mistake; even a spoonful of salt could turn a healing potion into poison.

Hill, while confident, was absolutely not arrogant... He certainly didn’t think that luck-based guesses could surpass Draculus, who had been immersed in alchemy for thousands of years.

Not to mention, before coming to this world, he must’ve been in a universe closely associated with devils for a period.

His arrival in this world, even if accidental, was an inevitability within chance.

Hill touched his storage ring... Inside, those metallic woven objects were still waiting in solitude.

As a fellow traveler from the same world, Hill felt somewhat sympathetic to the injured mage who fell into Aesces.

Therefore, although he could put these things into the Half-plane and Magic Tower, Hill left some words, which resonated with him, in the storage ring, as they were too poignant to his heart.

And this storage ring, primarily for placing daily sundries, was brought into this world by Hill due to its inconspicuous appearance.

This, just a woven silver ring inlaid with a Space Crystal; although the storage space is relatively large due to a single strand of Mithril Thread, its appearance is indistinguishable from a crystal silver ring.

The Space Crystals unique to Teraxil are particularly stable, and those unfamiliar cannot tell the difference between them and colorless crystals.

When Hill made this ring, he was still a naive novice, so he was especially worried about the Space Crystal embedded on it, just fixed with threads, accidentally falling off... Even though his alchemist sense told him it was impossible, the marks from his previous life, when still strong, led him to such overly mundane thoughts.

As Hill’s first High-level storage ring, it’s understandable he’d be somewhat overly concerned.

Yet, he could not drill a hole through the Space Crystal to thread it onto silver threads... Even Mithril Threads would be putting holes in an inherently stable space.

He hadn’t gone mad enough to make a ring so transient it flows with the wind from place to place.

Hence, the overly cautious Hill used silver threads to create a robust outer cover for this quite large and beautiful crystal.

The final result was only a gem the size of a rice grain was visible outwardly.

Even though Hill quickly corrected this mistake and all subsequent rings were completed as per normal creation of Strange Objects, he absolutely did not wish to replace this ring.

Not every time Hill looked at the ring would he recall the past, but when trapped in unnecessary emotions, this ring would remind him of many things.

Particularly when worn alongside the Crystal Flower Ring.

Also, because such feelings would slightly soften his heart, Hill would always place some everyday items that stirred his emotions in this ring.

As for the more important weapons and Strange Objects, including his Magic Book... they are basically stored in the pendant.

Though Hill hid the pendant very secretly, the pendant embedded with a branch of the World Tree’s Oak Spirit was nearly soul-connected with Hill.

As long as he has a thought, the pendant will directly appear on his neck.

So, Hill never worries that when he really encounters a life-or-death situation, not having a powerful divine artifact by his side would be too dangerous.

It was after he understood the relationship between himself and the Goddess of the Earth, Teraxil, that he finally realized why the Oak Spirit was so willing to enter into a soul contract with him.

For the Oak, it feels like coming home.

In any case, Hill always had an attitude of not thinking about or mentioning this matter... As long as the oak pendant is useful, there’s no need to figure out why it’s so useful.

It was also because of this nonchalant attitude that when Hill entered this world, he only brought this storage ring with him... It indeed seemed like the simplest ring he had.

Of course, he did casually make a few more.

But he wouldn’t really make things difficult for himself... Pretending to be a little underling was fine before, but could he always be a small fry?

There will always be a day when he turns his fate around.

So he still wore it on his hand, and was very pleased that he could readily use it soon.

He is a sentimental person; not having anything related to himself always leaves him a bit uneasy.

But now, on Hill’s hand, the most noticeable piece is naturally that Sapphire Ring... Even if Hill places the Crystal Ring before the Sapphire Ring, anyone who looks at him will only have their eyes slide to that Sapphire Ring representing a lot of wealth.

The generosity of the Sia Tower is the reason why these mages at the Tower of Dark Enigma silently endure even if they feel neglected.

Even for low-rank mages, the resources in the storage ring they received are comparable to the average wealth of mid-level magicians.

Not to mention the apprentices, each of whom received enough resources to stabilize themselves for years after advancing to a mage, quickly transitioning to the three-ring stage.

A first-ring mage is not really powerful, only by reaching the third ring can they barely contend in a battle.

Although they won’t use magic spells as the Sorcerer Toril does, even the mana itself is limiting.

Not to mention, though there are many first-ring spells, they are fragmented, mostly foundational types.

If not learned, there will be restrictions later on.

But if learned thoroughly, many mages reaching the third ring still haven’t mastered all the first-ring spells!

Few are like Hill, who had Russell start familiarizing himself with first-ring spells and even memorizing all the magic incantations and magic models while still an apprentice.

Of course, this is also the reason why Russell advanced to the three-ring mage stage immediately after becoming an official mage.

Hill certainly understood the reason for the generous policies of the Sia Tower... Compared to mid-high tier mages already marked with the Tower of Dark Enigma imprint, low-rank mages and apprentices hold more value for being recruited.

Although mortals prefer mature, immediately usable power, for mages and devils with relatively longer lives, having a stable future is better.

To make the resources acquired by low-rank mages and apprentices less conspicuous, they even provide benefits astonishing to high-level mages.

Having reaped such significant benefits and situated in a new place like Sia Tower with too many eyes around, even the most stringent and stingy mages would not easily ask their students to hand over their own rings.

Especially when the first arrivals at Sia Tower were mages from Ruth’s side, who were originally quite nice to their students.

When several high-level mages on Ruth’s side even allocated some good things to their students, even the greediest mages on Nicholson’s side dared not act foolishly.

Hill guessed this is even more so for the Kamente Tower... They came last, with the underlying structure already established, leaving them only to follow.

Therefore, even if low-rank mages and apprentices of the Tower of Dark Enigma are filled with gratitude towards Sia Tower, and even long for it, defectors won’t appear so soon.

But there are bound to be many who have clandestine interactions with them.

Mages, even apprentices, are pragmatic beings; without some insider knowledge, they naturally choose the path leading upwards.

Hill cast a glance at the mages beginning to leave aimlessly, preparing to return to their Magic Towers, and then looked at Aislin, who had a face of changing moods: ”Should we not go and greet Rommel, ah, Archmage Karmante?”

”Oliva has already gone over following her teacher.”

Aislin, realizing her expectations could be met once again, immediately focused when she heard the name Oliva... Previous compromises do not mean she will continue to yield in the future.

What was given cannot be reclaimed, but the portions now in the hands of Koyl and Rojas were insignificant to begin with.

Aislin would definitely allow Oliva to take on more important matters than herself... by no more than three items!

She moved forward with high spirits, completely unaware of the exquisite amulet woven with colorful metal threads now adorning Gilbert, who followed behind her.