The black sun hangs high

Chapter 77 The Magical Trick
"Uh……"

Seeing the dark green mage's hand floating beside Hugh, Vera couldn't help but shrink back.

Hugh was focused on manipulating his magic trick, and under his will, the obviously strange mage's hand slowly floated toward the wine bottle on the table, then awkwardly picked it up.

It floated up shakily, then trembled as it poured a small half-glass of wine into the glass in front of Veraine.

The whole process was extremely difficult, but they managed to complete it all by sheer difficulty.

However, when he got to the last step, Hugh was already struggling.

He had unconsciously stopped cutting the meat in the dish. It was the first time he had used magic outside the Sanctuary system, and the difficulty of controlling a mage's hand was far greater than he had imagined.

"Boom!"

The dark green mage's hand lost its balance slightly, and the wine bottle it was holding slammed heavily onto the table.

"Miss Vera, please."

Hugh breathed a sigh of relief, but just as he was about to make a gesture with his mage hand, just like Verin had done before, he was surprised to find that most of the paper label on the wine bottle had been corroded, and the corrosion marks clearly matched his mage hand.

Veraine had already reached for her wine glass, but after seeing this, she silently put it back on the table.

She carefully examined the wine bottle, which had been invisibly corroded, and then said, "Eat quickly. After lunch, please have Mr. Hugh memorize all the remaining simple magic runes as soon as possible. After that, I will guide you to practice all the simple tricks... I want to know if, apart from the Mage's Hand, other magic will show any new changes on you, Mr. Hugh."

Hugh nodded, then gave the command to dispel the spell on his obviously malfunctioning mage hand.

As a result, the dark green palm immediately transformed into a cloud of magical mist that looked rather strange in mid-air.

Just as the thick fog was about to spread near the dining table, a gentle breeze created by magic blew from the opposite side of the table, directing the fog towards the wall.

The remaining dark green hue touched the hotel room walls, immediately producing a series of soft, muffled sounds.

Hughes noticed that the crystals embedded in the walls, used to monitor the magical state of the room, emitted a slight flash, but then returned to normal.

“It seems that Mr. Hugh should be more careful when practicing magic from now on... After all, not every place is like the Adlon Hotel, where protective rituals can be directly imprinted into the walls of the rooms.”

Vera picked up her cutlery again: "If it were an ordinary room wall, it would probably have been damaged just now."

Hugh looked at the magical crystals on the wall that seemed to be decorations and nodded in agreement.

He himself never expected that the strange situation in his mental world would have a corresponding impact on magic outside the sanctuary system, and that this impact seemed to exist not only in the use of magic power, but also directly through the magic itself.

Veraine's suggestion was certainly necessary.

Hugh didn't want anything to go wrong when he practiced those protective rituals. If a similar situation were to occur with the magic used to protect himself or provide assistance, it could very likely cause serious side effects.

Because of this incident, the two fell silent again during lunch. Soon after the meal was over and the waiter was called to clear the table, Hugh immediately resumed his studies.

After spending nearly an hour, Hugh finally memorized and recited all the simple magic runes. After being "tested" by Virin, he immediately began practicing a series of basic magic tricks.

At this moment, the scenarios that Hugh had considered at the dinner table were fully validated.

Among the many protective rituals prepared by Virin, Hugh performed one after another these tricks, which were classified according to their different effects and schools of thought.

Without exception, these simple spells, which were originally only meant to provide convenience and some assistance to mages, underwent strange changes due to Hugh's peculiar magical power.

The first type is magic tricks, which involve using magic to temporarily construct special items for temporary use. "Magic water" and "magic bows and arrows" are typical examples.

Perhaps because they have a tangible medium, the corrosive magic has a very distinct effect in this type of magic.

Hugh's "magical water-making" trick produced a glass of murky, dark-colored water.

Although it didn't seem to have any strange smell, no one would want to drink such a cup. After verification, Hugh discovered that the water did indeed have some corrosive properties. It was actually more like a weak acid. However, as time went by and the magic dissipated, its corrosiveness would gradually decrease. After about twenty minutes, the green light and shadow in the water completely disappeared, and the water itself returned to its clear state.

The "magical bow and arrow" trick brought Hugh some surprises.

Initially, this magic was mastered by apprentices and guards with certain magical talents. They were able to combine magically created arrows with bows and crossbows. However, after firearms such as crystal guns became more common, the nature of this magic changed, and the bullets used by these firearms were also included in the category of "magically created arrows".

Therefore, this is a magic trick that all accompanying military mages must master.

After Hughes constructed several bullets based on his memories, he discovered that these bullets seemed to have inherited that strange and deadly poison. At least one bullet wrapped in a ghostly green light always brought greater pressure to the person.

Secondly, those that were affected were the damaging spells that magic apprentices regarded as a means of self-defense, such as "Frosty Glimmer" and "Forked Electric Shock". On the magic targets created by Vilin, these damaging spells not only caused basic damage, but also inflicted more collateral damage. This performance surprised Vilin, because she had never seen electric light that could corrode the surface of an object.

Those magic spells that provide convenience and auxiliary effects were largely unaffected.

They did not show any obvious changes in Hugh's hands. Although the light and shadow created by tricks like "summoning light" would be darker, they would not affect the surrounding environment.

Learning so many tricks in such a short time was extremely difficult for a beginner like Shug, and by the time the final round of "checking" the tricks was over, it was already close to evening.

At this moment, a magic study notebook compiled by "Teacher" Weilin was placed in front of Hugh. "In my personal experience, the study of magic is actually the best way to demonstrate a spellcaster's sensitivity to magic and understanding of magic itself. In this respect, Mr. Hugh, you are outstanding. I now have serious doubts about how you managed to be expelled from the academy as an apprentice."

Vera tapped the paper on the table lightly with her magic ink pen: "However, given your unique magical abilities, I think you should prioritize practicing support-type spells. After all, I remember that the spells you were 'forced to inscribe,' Mr. Hugh, seem to be primarily designed to cause damage."

She said meaningfully, "A sharp sword cannot only have a blade; the other parts are equally important."

"It sounds like Miss Vera is worried about my mana reserves?"

Hugh asked in confusion, "Then, if my energy and magic power are both guaranteed, can I practice other types of magic more often on a daily basis?"

I don't recommend you do that.

Veraine became serious: "Mr. Hugh, your magic is exhibiting too strong a characteristic in these kinds of tricks. It is not appropriate to practice too much before you understand why it is like this."

"When a type of behavior is repeated many times, it is extremely easy to form a habit. Once this obviously abnormal and mysterious magic intervenes too deeply in your daily use of magic, it may trigger new changes. And only you can bear the risks involved."

Upon hearing what Vera said, Hugh nodded seriously.

As a "professional," Verine's judgment was indeed reasonable. Hugh knew very well that among the powers he had "exchanged" from the sanctuary, the one that had always maintained an air of mystery was that dark green crystal.

Although it has not had any negative effects on Hugh so far, since the events in Seren City, Hugh has become increasingly vigilant and wary of such unknown and uncontrollable factors. Based on his cautious attitude towards this power, Hugh decided to follow the advice given by Verin.

"However, in reality, unless I completely abandon the sanctuary and all the benefits that the metal disc brings, and start from scratch as a spellcaster using only the most basic magic... I will never be able to get rid of its influence."

Hughes thought to himself, and casually reached for the detailed notes on the table.

According to Veraine, this was her first time teaching someone, but in fact she put in a lot of effort. Her attitude was evident from the dense notes on the paper and her comments on the magic tricks that Hugh had performed.

"Thank you very much, Miss Weilin."

"I believe that one should always be sincere when treating a friend."

While saying these words, Vera didn't look at Hugh. She simply raised a finger and dismantled the humanoid magic target standing in the living room, then tidied up the books on the table: "Moreover, before we became friends, we had a cooperative relationship as a foundation... Don't forget our current situation. Before we achieve the next stage goal, this relationship probably can't be easily ended."

Hughes nodded slightly.

He calmed himself down a bit and helped his teacher put away the textbooks that were lying to the side. It was then that he noticed a brand new newspaper on the cabinet next to him.

"This is?"

"It was delivered this morning, but I don't have the habit of reading newspapers."

So Hugh stepped forward and took the newspaper.

Since arriving in Vain, Hugh has maintained this habit of reading newspapers. In his view, this is the most accessible channel for obtaining information at this stage. Although the authenticity of information can be manipulated and distorted in any world and any era, it is still essential to understand the latest situation and conduct analysis.

The newspaper came from the largest and most prestigious publishing house in Borden.

"Bolden Royal Publishing House"

The name is very simple and straightforward, without any superfluous adjectives. The names of the investors and partners are not printed below the title. After all, for the Kingdom of Walter, this publishing house and its books and newspapers are synonymous with the voice of the royal family.

On the front page of today's "Bolton Daily," Hughes saw a truly stunning picture.

After packing up her things, Wei Lin, still a little curious, peeked over to take a look.

She was also stunned.

It was a magical photograph taken from the ground into the air.

In the sky, a row of black dots is rapidly advancing from the right side of the image to the left, leaving distinct trails in the firmament as they head straight for their target.

The next magical photo reveals the true nature of these black dots and their destination.

That's the city of Seren.

To be precise, it was the city of Seren that was under shelling.

Those streaks that cut through the sky, leaving straight lines, were projectiles fired from some kind of giant crystal cannon.

The footage of the bombardment of Seren was captured in just a few seconds. In the photo, Hughes could only see flames swirling and black smoke rising from the city that had once been known as a place of peace.

“雪临月10日清晨5点23分，因德兰王国及塞伦城独立政府对我方最后通牒的消极态度……由第四炮兵团对塞伦城进行警告性炮击，共8门穆奇3型蒸汽结晶炮对塞伦城进行了3轮炮击。”

"In response to the large-scale mobilization underway within the Kingdom of Delan, the mobilization efforts of the Kingdom of Hein and the Kingdom of Saint Steel have also been fully launched..."

"Princess Sofia Augustine, representing the Kingdom of Walter's military and a candidate for Crown Prince, will hold several meetings and important press conferences with Xue Linyue at the Borden Adlon Hotel on the afternoon of the 10th and the morning of the 11th..."

(End of this chapter)