CHAPTER 68

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CHAPTER 68

It's been eight days since I came to The Wall. During this time, I tried to decipher the runes inside the Wall, but I couldn't make any sense. The only word I knew the meaning of was "death." After a few days, I gave up on deciphering and changed my focus on how the Wall was built, but I couldn't make huge strides in that regard either. The Wall is such a high-level ritual that I can't even sense what elements it is made of right now. I can only sense how the arcane power moves in its interior and where it came from.

It sends mana to every part of the Wall, like blood flowing through the veins in the body, and this mana flow happens in beats just like a heart pumps blood to the body. A wave of mana spreads throughout the Wall every few seconds in something I can only call mana veins. Thanks to this mana heartbeat, the Wall managed to stand tall for eight thousand years. The strange thing is that although the Wall is obviously made of ice, I can't sense the ice element inside.

So, I have no knowledge of what and how this Wall is made of. It's like knowing that there is a blood circulation system inside a body but having no understanding of the bone, muscle, and skin structure of this body.

I can't say that this research is useless. Observing the movements of mana in such a colossal structure allowed me to increase my control over my own mana. As a result, my max mana increased by 25, and now I have 175 mana. Another plus is that each of my buffs either got stronger or had an increased duration.

I also clearly understood where The Wall's energy came from. Ley lines or mana lines, whatever you want to call them. The Wall has cut off the southward passage of these ley lines, so The Wall must be destroyed before the magic can truly return to Westeros. The entire main ley line, which should span all of Westeros, feeds the Wall. If the connections between the weirwood trees are thin veins, this ley line is like the carotid artery of Westeros. Seeing this, I think this is one of the major reasons why magic died on this continent, and I think one of the other big reasons must be the death of dragons.

Another thing I got was the improvement of Authenticate. Now I can know the physical stats of entities without fighting with them or observing their movements. All I have to do is send mana waves toward the being I want to Authenticate, which works like a sonar. When the mana wave returns to me, I will clearly know how much strength and speed the being has. They no longer have a chance to hide their power from me. Of course, this doesn't work for beings that are warded or with mana equal to or higher than mine.

Tomorrow I'll head west to get to the other side of the Wall. I think I have enough soul space to bond with another beast. I want to get a shadowcat, wolf, or bear cub as my next familiar. If I can find a dire wolf cub would be the best thing, but they are rarer than diamonds.

The doors on the waypoints on the Wall only open when the men of Night's Watch go to ranging. It's the same in the east, and it's almost impossible to cross the point where the Wall ends in the east because the bay of seals isn't cold enough, so the sea doesn't freeze; it's almost impossible to get around the Wall from the east watch.

My current campsite is between the Icemark and Hoarfrost Hill castles. This is closer to the bridge of skulls, which is the westernmost crossing point; from this point, I can turn into a dog and easily cross to the other side of the Wall.

I continue to train Poe on the use of magic every evening, but the other familiars have yet to show any magical abilities. I don't think especially Erebus and Berus can cast spells. First of all, they are both muscle-headed, and second, they don't have a mana heart in their bodies, but they are both much stronger than they were a month ago. Berus, in particular, almost has the strength of an adult human. as for Imu, because he developed a mana heart, I expect him to develop magical abilities too.

Since I will start my journey again tomorrow, I decided to sleep for 8 hours without training today. I set off early the following day, and my buffs getting stronger have been really great. I used to be able to use the Inanis motu (traceless movement) only in the forest, and this magic was useless outside the forest.

Now I can use it everywhere. The only difference is that it is not as effective as in the forest. If I step on snow and mud in the forest, I can move forward without leaving any traces, and even if I walk on 50 cm of snow, I will not sink into this snow, but outside the forest, this buff can only show one-third of its effect. Currently, there is an average of 30 cm of snow depth, and I am sinking only 10 cm. This is also true when I buff my horse, too. So, the weight has no effect. This buff will make this journey so much easier and faster. I always say this, but I have to say it again. I love magic.

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After passing the Bridge of Skulls, I continued to head north while spreading the murders of Poe and Erebus in all directions. I told them to find big gray cats, giant wolves, and bears, but they haven't found any yet. They found many wolves, but none of them were dire wolfs, just ordinary wolves.

I followed the stream for about 5 hours, and at the same time, I was searching for dire wolves, shadowcats, and bears using Promodynes ( locate animals ) as it came out of cooldown.

I thought the north of the Wall was full of wildlings, but even though I've been north of the Wall for 9 hours, I haven't encountered a single wildling. It was getting late, and I was starting to get tired. After hunting for something to eat, I created an earthen hut and went into the training space to rest.

The north of the Wall had two differences from the south of it. After coming here and spending a day, I realized that the winter south of the Wall is not real winter. At the south of the Wall, it was about minus 5 or 10 degrees, but here, it was at least minus 20 degrees or perhaps colder. For the first time in my life, the snot flowing down from my nose froze into an icicle. How the hell is it possible for humans to live here all their lives?