Chapter 32: Netheril

"Troublesome things."

Garon gazed at the sun sculpture, shifting his gaze to avoid being enchanted and falling into contemplation.

Relying solely on physical means seemed to have no effect on the sun sculpture.

"Can't destroy it, just throw it into some remote corner?"

Garon shook his head, feeling it was a pity to simply discard it.

After all, it was an item related to the gods, and he vaguely felt that although the sun sculpture was bizarre, if used well, it might bring unexpected effects.

Moments later, Garon withdrew his gaze, his dragon claws stroking his chin, he mused, "The pressing matter now is to figure out which creatures the sun sculpture specifically affects."

According to the current information, both he and the two-headed ogre were affected by its enchantment.

Ordinary ogres, however, were not affected at all by the sun sculpture; to them, it seemed no different than a common wood carving.

"Ugga, carry the sun sculpture over there."

Garon pointed to a vast open area.

After Ugga moved the sun sculpture there, he looked at Garon as if wanting to say something, but in his field of view, Garon's dragon wings fluttered, stirring up a howling wind and he soared into the night sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Garon flew at high speed, returning to the glacial territory.

The white dragon grabbed an ordinary polar ice spirit, took it high into the sky without a word.

In the air, the polar ice spirit looked up at Garon and asked respectfully, "Master, is there something you need me to do?"

Garon glanced down at it, its androgynous, neutrally beautiful icy face full of awe.

"A small experiment, if successful, I will reward you."

Garon didn't mention what would happen if it failed, but the intelligent polar ice spirit could vaguely guess the consequences of failure, yet its face showed no dissatisfaction or fear, instead a proud expression of being able to serve Garon.

This was the power of dragon vein transformation.

It had a certain brainwashing effect.

As for using followers for dangerous experiments, that seemed normal to Garon.

Followers under his dragon wings enjoyed his protection, and when necessary, they naturally had to sacrifice their lives for him.

They were merely servants serving his needs, Garon didn't care what they really thought of him, whether they saw him as a compassionate and kind master or a brutal tyrant, it made no difference to Garon.

Because it was high-speed flight, Garon soon returned to the ogre basin, where the ogres had resumed their usual state, gathered around a large iron pot, discussing something. Ugga Breakbone stood tall, carrying a black spiked mace, patrolling the basin, enjoying the status and power of an ogre chieftain.

Boom!

Garon landed, his dragon wings folded at his sides, the polar ice spirit now standing beside the sun sculpture.

"Master?"

The polar ice spirit looked at Garon, puzzled, not understanding what he needed to do.

Garon said sternly, "Look at the sun sculpture to your right."

He suspected that the sun sculpture only enchanted creatures of higher intelligence, which is why almost all the ogres were immune to its effect. Ugga Breakbone's intelligence was high among ordinary ogres, but it was nothing compared to the polar ice spirit.

Elemental creatures generally had much higher intelligence than adult humans, even though the polar ice spirit was a failed creation, this failure was in terms of combat ability, not intelligence.

Following Garon's direction, the polar ice spirit turned its head to look at the sun sculpture.

Garon unlocked the frost crystal, revealing its core, the embedded eyeballs on the sphere, the pitch-black sun-like appearance, and the surrounding dense tentacles all filled with a bizarre and chilling sensation.

With a tentative gaze, the polar ice spirit looked at the sun sculpture, guessing that this was probably the "small experiment" Garon had mentioned.

However, it wondered, how could a sculpture that looked a bit eerie be dangerous?

Garon silently observed the changes in the polar ice spirit as sparse snowflakes fell, adding a heavy atmosphere to the surroundings.

For the first three to four seconds, the polar ice spirit seemed normal, as if unaffected.

But when it stared at the sun sculpture for more than five seconds, something changed.

A mix of male and female features on its face, the ice crystal eyes suddenly looked lost, as if everything else had vanished from its view, leaving only the sun sculpture.

"He was born from the black mist, He is the creator of the black mist."

"."

"He is the creator of everything, He is the supreme sun."

Incomprehensible whispers echoed around, like the devil's tempting voice penetrating the soul, making the polar ice spirit involuntarily show a look of devotion.

At the same time, the

 polar ice spirit began moving closer to the sun sculpture step by step.

Seeing this, Garon's expression became serious, and he commanded sternly, "Stop!"

His majestic dragon's presence swept out, passing over the polar ice spirit.

Affected by the dragon's presence, the polar ice spirit's body shuddered, a flicker of clarity appearing on its face as it looked at the sun sculpture, but that moment of clarity quickly sank back into the whispers, continuing to move step by step toward the sun sculpture.

Garon raised his dragon claw, uttering a spell, channeling the surrounding elemental energy, readying the dragon's hand.

But after a moment's thought, Garon lowered his claw, interrupting the spell, silently watching as the polar ice spirit fell deeper under the sun sculpture's eerie influence.

He wanted to see exactly how this thing affected creatures, how it conferred that black mist power.

As for the fate of the affected polar ice spirit, it was already sealed.

Then, when the polar ice spirit came within one meter of the sun sculpture, it gently closed its eyes, kneeling down before the sun sculpture with a look of holy devotion, head bowed, face covered by shadows.

Strange sounds came from the polar ice spirit's mouth, not in any known language of the Noah continent.

Garon listened intently, recognizing the low whispers he heard while enchanted.

He memorized every syllable transition, and due to his excellent linguistic talent, he began to understand this evil god's language.

A few seconds later, something that made Garon's face change happened.

Threads of black mist, like fine filaments or tiny tentacles, extended from the core of the sun sculpture, gently touching the polar ice spirit's body, then burrowing into its skin and disappearing.

The body of the polar ice spirit was made entirely of ice crystals, an elemental life form.

Its body appeared semi-transparent and solid, making any foreign objects within it blatantly obvious.

But the black mist that entered its body merged completely, disappearing as if it were all an illusion.

Whether it was an illusion, Garon knew the truth.

His eyes sharp, he felt the fluctuations of energy in the air, noticing many elements being drawn into the polar ice spirit's body by the black mist, gradually enhancing its presence.

This rate of strengthening was even faster than when the polar ice spirit became a dragon-vein creature.

"What exactly is this black mist? Negative energy? Energy from hell or the abyss?"

"Or, divine power?"

"No, if it were true divine power, even a trace would be enough to kill me instantly, the two-headed ogre used black mist power in our fight."

Divine power could almost ignore all magical resistances and physical resistances, only a god, or someone wielding a power not inferior to divine power, could resist; even legendary spellcasters, or ancient red dragons, faced the possibility of instant defeat against divine power attacks.

Garon did not interfere with the polar ice spirit's praying process, his brow furrowed, pondering the nature of the black mist energy.

Time trickled by, and the night on the ice plains remained as deep as ever.

After a few minutes, the polar ice spirit's absorption of black mist power seemed saturated, it opened its eyes, slowly stood up, and turned to face Garon.

Garon stopped his contemplation, looking back at the polar ice spirit, assessing the creature that had accepted the evil god's power.

Its appearance was unchanged.

Its presence was as weak as before, subdued as a reptile.

Especially, the expression it showed in front of Garon was the same respect and awe, as if Garon was still the only master in its eyes.

"Great master, do you have any other orders?"

Under Garon's scrutinizing gaze, the polar ice spirit respectfully bowed its head, timidly asking in a low voice.

Garon pondered for a moment, his face expressionless, "Yes."

The polar ice spirit looked slightly startled, asking subconsciously, "What?"

Garon narrowed his eyes, commanding in an unquestionable tone, "My loyal follower, I command you to commit suicide immediately."

The polar ice spirit's expression froze, puzzled, "Master."

Seeing its expression, hearing its tone, it seemed completely unaware of why Garon would suddenly issue such an order.

Before the polar ice spirit could finish pleading, Garon moved his dragon claw, chanting a spell, and the surrounding elemental forces immediately came to life.

Third-level spell, Dragon's Hand!

A lifelike, translucent fierce dragon claw appeared above the polar ice spirit's head, mercilessly slamming down.

The polar ice spirit looked up in horror, ice-blue body suddenly showing faint black lines resembling veins, attempting to resist Garon's attack.

Crash!

Dragon's Hand struck, crushing the polar ice spirit's body into chunks of pale ice crystals.

Strangely, these ice crystals were connected by black lines, wriggling slightly, attempting to regenerate.

Garon h

uffed, controlling the Dragon's Hand to repeatedly crush, turning the polar ice spirit's body into lifeless ice dust.

The recently empowered polar ice spirit, though slightly stronger, was still as frail as an infant in front of Garon.

After killing the polar ice spirit with one move, Garon called over Ugga Breakbone.

Ugga Breakbone, unaware of what had happened here, glanced at Garon's expression and ignored the crushed polar ice spirit, quietly waiting for Garon's command.

"Ugga, go back, bring a few ogres, and throw it into a secluded ice valley rift."

Garon exhaled a frosty dragon breath, re-encasing the sun sculpture in ice, in the extreme northern ice plains, if no creature deliberately destroys it, these frost crystals could last for decades.

As Ugga Breakbone returned to summon other ogres, Garon planted a time marker on the sun sculpture.

The power of the time marker penetrated the frost crystals, directly branding the sun sculpture's core.

The effect of the power of time pleased the dragon.

This was the advantage of being a spellcaster; spells could achieve many whimsical things and had various ingenious uses.

Ugga Breakbone returned with four ogres, together they lifted the heavy ice crystal, following Garon's order, they left the ogre basin, moving toward a deep ice valley forty kilometers away from the ogre basin.

Garon had passed by that deep ice valley before; its depth was at least a kilometer, with wind sharp as knives and steep rugged valley walls, devoid of any sign of life at the bottom.

Throwing the sun sculpture there, it would be difficult for other creatures to come into contact with it.

When needed, he could retrieve it through the connection of the time marker.

Garon thought, this sculpture that could corrupt spellcasters' minds might be useful at the right time.

For example, if a kingdom or church discovered Garon's tracks, foolishly wanting to slay a dragon, he could throw this thing near their headquarters, letting them taste the might of the evil god sculpture.

Not to mention, the followers of this evil god's enchantment possessed high intelligence and were skilled at disguising themselves.

Having temporarily dealt with the sun sculpture issue, Garon returned to the two-headed ogre's stone house in the ogre basin, searching inside and out for other valuable items.

"If there were other schools of spellbooks, that would be great."

Just curse and transmutation schools were far from satisfying Garon.

He was most interested in the protective school.

Not because he was afraid of dying, but simply because he found protective spells interesting.

Cough, as a time dragon with no lifespan limit, getting stronger the longer he lived, of course, the first thing he wanted to learn was protective spells.

After flipping through the Windrider Paladin and glancing at its illustrations again, Garon set the book down, closed his eyes slightly, and cast a cantrip, Detect Magic.

Items carrying elemental power have a certain glow, invisible to the naked eye but detectable through Detect Magic, known as elemental glow, magic glow, or arcane glow.

Powerful spells, or strong magic items, are surrounded by dazzling glows.

If a low-level mage cast Detect Magic to see a legendary spell, being instantly blinded by the dazzling glow was quite possible.

As for arcane, it was an ancient term for spells.

Nowadays, some still call spells arcane, but they are few.

Compared to the richly developed spells of various schools today, ancient arcane spells were mostly high-cost, but correspondingly, their power and effects were also much stronger than ordinary spells.

Mentioned in Windrider Paladin, there was once a great arcanist from another world who crossed the crystal barrier on a magic ship, came to the world of Noah, and became friends with the protagonist. That great arcanist came from a civilization called Netheril, extremely brilliant and splendid, a magic golden age, which made Garon aspire.

Great arcanist, equivalent to a legendary mage.

But back to the point, after casting Detect Magic, Garon opened his eyes and scanned every part of the stone house.

His gaze moved slowly, pausing when he saw the two-headed ogre's large bed, Garon slightly startled, then his face lit up with excitement and joy.

Beneath its hidden bedding, a glow emerged.

Judging by its outline, it was the round, gem-like shape Garon adored.

Garon quickly approached, smashed the two-headed ogre's bed with a swipe of his claw, revealing the hidden compartment below.