Above the mage!

Chapter 602 Pale Water Bloom
This dark, icy current was over ten feet in diameter, resembling a thick, black python.

It meandered through the seawater, moving several times faster than the usual cold currents.

Wherever it passed, the surrounding seawater was tinged with a faint black color, and the temperature plummeted, causing even swimming fish to avoid it.

What's even more alarming is that this unusual cold current contains countless tiny black ice crystals.

These ice crystals are not ordinary ice blocks, but are formed from pure, cold energy, shimmering with a cold luster in the seawater.

Its chilling aura is more than ten times stronger than that of ordinary cold air.

It ignored the scattered light elements in the seawater and spread rapidly towards the nearshore reef area.

As if it had its own consciousness, it precisely avoided the scattered light elements and rushed towards the area where the light elements were most concentrated.

"Something's not right!" Gao De's heart tightened.

In Mandora's Eye of Magic, this black, python-like stream of cold air appeared unusually solid, like a moving piece of black crystal, clearly extraordinary.

Almost the instant the thought arose in his mind, this special, dark, and cold current reached the near-shore reef area and collided with the highest concentration of light elements in the seawater!
Normally, even a slightly stronger dark cold current would be quickly purified when it comes into contact with such a dense concentration of light elements.

But this time, it was completely different.

Under the gaze of Mandora's demonic eye, God witnessed an unbelievable scene:
The black ice crystals in this dark, icy current did not disintegrate upon contact with the light element, unlike ordinary cold currents.

Instead, as if it had encountered a catalyst, the surface began to melt rapidly, releasing a large amount of thick black energy.

These energies were no longer the misty, dark currents of ordinary nature, but rather resembled black viscous liquid, rapidly spreading through the seawater.

The originally gentle golden light element, upon contact with the black slime, failed to purify it; instead, it was firmly drawn to the black slime.

Just like iron filings attracted by a magnet, they began to rotate around the black slime, forming twisted bands of light.

Golden ribbons of light entwined with black slime, like a necklace woven from black and gold, slowly swirled in the seawater, emanating an eerie aura that was neither warm nor cold.

Even more bizarrely, these distorted bands of light and the black slime began to permeate each other as they rotated.

The pure energy of the golden light element was gradually contaminated by the black slime, losing its original healing and purifying properties.

The black slime, under the influence of light, becomes more stable in its energy and no longer dissipates as easily as ordinary cold currents.

Like a symbiotic organism, the two continuously merged in the seawater, forming a completely new and unsettling energy form.

Gao De's heart sank.

The appearance of this peculiar, dark, and cold current is not an isolated case.

As the first dark, chilling current appeared, more of these strange dark, chilling currents began to emerge.

Before long, this mutated energy spread rapidly in the seawater, extending towards the surrounding light element regions.

An unprecedented crisis is quietly looming over this sea area.

Meanwhile, the people singing and dancing on the coast were completely unaware of this, fully immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the festival.

Just as Gaode frowned, pondering the specifics of the situation...

The lighthouses standing along the coastline, especially the towering Morning Light Tower in the county town, suddenly shone brightly with the huge crystal at the top!
It is no longer the gentle guiding light of ordinary days, but has turned into a rapid and bright warning light.

Dang——dang——dang——

The deep, penetrating chimes, accompanied by the rhythmic beams of the lighthouse, instantly pierced the festive clamor.

This is an unusual alert for the waters off Etherland, indicating that an unpredictable and potentially extremely dangerous danger is approaching.

On the shore, upon hearing the bells, the celebrating crowd instinctively fell silent.

Then, squads of city guards dressed in light blue uniforms with white trim appeared from various places.

"Everyone, emergency! Danger is approaching in the sea. Please follow instructions, do not linger on the beach, and evacuate to the city in an orderly manner!"

Their voices were steady and powerful, and they held short canes or lanterns that emitted a soft glow, quickly clearing evacuation routes through the crowd.

The brief confusion was quickly suppressed and replaced by an orderly evacuation.

Children were picked up, the elderly were helped up, and although the tourists from outside appeared flustered, the evacuation was carried out at an astonishing speed under the guidance of local residents and the efficient command of the city guards.

The beach, once bustling with singing and dancing, was nearly deserted within minutes, leaving only the sound of hurried footsteps and the increasingly urgent magical alarm in the distance.

While the population was being evacuated, Etherland County's true response capabilities were already in operation, functioning like a sophisticated machine.

Looking into the distance, Gaode could see dozens of figures flying out of the magnificent Morning Light Tower and hurtling towards the coast.

They wore white and gold-trimmed blue uniforms, the uniforms of the Lightforged, the military mages of Etherland.

The leader was a middle-aged female mage with a calm face and sharp eyes like a hawk. Through the medals pinned to her uniform collar, Gao De could tell that she was a general!

As Gaode followed the crowd toward Chenguang City, he occasionally looked back at the sea.

The changes in the seawater are becoming increasingly apparent.

The changes in seawater have reached a new stage.

Those distorted black-gold energy bands, in their spread and mutual devouring, formed a macroscopic phenomenon visible to the naked eye.

Patches of pale, turbid, and strange substances resembling inferior grease were released from the seawater, floated to the surface, and began to spread across the sea.

They resembled lumps of solidified, low-quality grease, or mud mixed with ash, spreading rapidly across the sea.

Wherever it passed, the golden halo instantly dimmed, the floating petals quickly withered and turned black, and even the waves seemed to be stuck, becoming slow and heavy.

Beneath the surface, all was deathly silent; the glow of plankton could no longer be seen, and the sounds of any marine life could not be heard.

Although Gaode didn't know the specific reason for the anomaly during the Clean Sea Festival, he could infer the seriousness of the situation from the subsequent lockdown.

Because by dawn the next day, the coastline outside Dawn City was still blocked, prohibiting anyone from approaching.

For at least a third of the residents of Etherland, their livelihoods revolve around the ocean.

The closure of the coastline has had a huge impact on their lives.

Not to mention the people from other counties who come here for recuperation; they came specifically for the Coast of Light.

Unless absolutely necessary, the authorities generally will not make such a decision.

Gao De wasn't there for recuperation, nor was he a local who relied on the ocean for a living. Logically speaking, this anomaly shouldn't have had much impact on him.

But the reality is quite the opposite, and the impact is quite significant:
The Etherland Museum, which was already closed on the day of the Sea Cleansing Festival, remained closed the following day due to this incident.

The reason is that all the Lightforged mages rushed to the coastline to deal with the matter.

While guarding the museum is important, the anomalies in the ocean are of great importance, affecting the lives of millions of people and impacting their daily routines.

Therefore, closing the Etherland Art Museum in the face of such an emergency is reasonable and permissible. This puts Gaode in a dilemma:
His purpose in this trip was to challenge the various gyms. Now that the Etherland Gym is closed, he either has to take an airship to other counties to challenge the gyms there first, and then return after things are resolved here, but that would take up a lot of time.

Or just wait in Morning Light City.

But he had no idea how long it would take the Lightforged mages to resolve this anomaly.

It could be a day, a week, or even longer.

After hesitating for half an hour, Gaode finally decided to wait a day or two in Chenguang City and observe the situation.

Anyway, according to his habit, after each challenge of the art museum, he would spend half a day to a day searching around the local magic plant market to buy rare tree species and saplings.

Now that it's being done ahead of schedule, it's not like we're just waiting around.

By evening, he had practically scoured every single magical plant shop and tree seed shop in the city, making a massive purchase.

However, when Gaode returned to the hotel with the saplings and tree seeds he had purchased, he still hadn't received any news about the coastline being reopened.

Instead, a plea for help was issued to all mages, broadcast throughout the city via the bell tower's loudspeaker and the city guards' announcements:
"Urgent notice! Urgent notice! Urgent notice!"

"The pale algal blooms in the nearshore waters continue to spread, eroding the marine ecosystem. The situation is not optimistic. We are now seeking all mages of the fourth ring or above in the city, or mages whose mage level is below the fourth ring but who have the cold resistance specialty, to come to the aid of the coastline."

"Those who participate in the support will be rewarded with generous resources based on their contributions!"

Pale Water Bloom—is this the official name given to this anomaly? Gao De, who received the distress call, fell into deep thought for a moment.

It's clear from this news that this anomaly will likely not be resolved within a day or two.

Given this situation, he should now choose to temporarily leave Etherland County by airship and travel to other counties to challenge the magic halls, so as not to waste time.

But now, some other thoughts have arisen in his mind.

The reason is the requirement in this plea for help—a mage of the fourth ring or higher, indicating that this anomaly is extremely serious, and only mages of that level can help.

However, there is an additional requirement: a mage whose mage level is not yet reached, but who possesses the cold resistance specialty.

He perfectly fits this requirement. How can the [Intermediate Ice-Blessed Body] not be considered a cold resistance specialty?
So, should we volunteer for the mission and go to the rescue?
Once the thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed.

The generous resource rewards for participating in the support are one thing, and so is the curiosity about the origins of this anomaly.

More importantly, since it is specifically stated that mages with cold resistance expertise are required, it means that extremely cold environments will be encountered.

This might actually help advance his long-stagnant progress in developing cold resistance.

Moreover, if he could help expedite the resolution of this anomaly, the Etherland Academy could open sooner, saving him the trouble of detouring to other counties and thus saving even more time.

The weighing of pros and cons was instantaneous, and a resolute glint flashed in Gao De's eyes.

Along the long coastline outside Dawn City, the excitement of the Sea Cleansing Festival has faded, leaving only dozens of lighthouses standing like silent guardians.

A medium-sized lighthouse near the reef area is still shining.

However, the ring-shaped light pattern on the tower no longer flashes warning signals, but instead emits a soft white light.

On the open ground below the tower, a few official mages dressed in Lightforged uniforms stood sparsely.

They either leaned against the lighthouse base with their eyes closed to rest, or talked in hushed tones, their brows furrowed with exhaustion.

Clearly, dealing with the continuous mutations has taken a heavy toll on them.

This place has been temporarily requisitioned, serving as both a rest stop and a gathering point for recruiting monks to come to the rescue.

At the entrance at the base of the lighthouse, a simple registration desk was set up, covered with a white linen tablecloth.

A young woman dressed in a Lightforged uniform was standing in front of the registration desk, her back to the coastline, looking down as she sorted through the registration books.

She stood tall and straight, her long, light golden hair neatly tied into a ponytail, and the collar of her uniform was fastened tightly.

The silver warrant officer badge was pinned to his left breast, and his brows and eyes held the resolute determination unique to a military magistrate, though a hint of anxiety lurked in his eyes.

Because the requirements for seeking help were extremely high, very few monks responded to the call.

When Gaode arrived, he saw only the female mage standing at the registration desk under the lighthouse.

The official sorcerers were just resting nearby; the entire assembly point was so quiet that you could hear the waves crashing against the rocks.

Hearing Gao De's footsteps, the female mage raised her head, her gaze falling on him. She quickly scanned his face before finally settling on his extremely young face. Her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and she spoke with the crispness characteristic of a soldier: "The coastline is blocked off. Unauthorized personnel are strictly prohibited from approaching. Leave immediately."

"I am a mage who answered the call to come and provide assistance," Gao De explained.

"Support?" Elphs raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in her voice. She looked Gao De up and down, her eyes scrutinizing him. "Judging by your age, your mage level shouldn't be at least fourth rank, right?"

Gao De nodded frankly, without hiding anything: "But I have a specialty in resisting the cold."

Elphs paused slightly, remained silent for a second, and then asked, "So what is your mage level?"

Gao De frankly replied, "The Second Ring Road."

"Second Ring." Elphs's brows furrowed instantly, and her tone became serious:
"Your mage level is too low. Even with the Cold Resistance feat, you need to be at least a third-ring mage to barely participate in the support."

"The danger of pale algal blooms is far more terrifying than you can imagine."

She raised her hand and pointed to the distant coastline. Even from miles away, she could see a gray, hazy area shrouding the nearshore waters, with a faint, chilly atmosphere permeating the air.

"Do you see that gray fog? That's the area where the pale algae is spreading."

Elphs's voice lowered, tinged with seriousness, "The temperature on the surface of the sea there has already dropped to minus thirty degrees Celsius, and that's just the surface; the temperature inside the seawater is even lower."

"Only a fourth-ring mage can barely withstand this extreme cold by casting the [Environmental Endurance] spell through ascending ring. You are a second-ring mage. Even if you have the Cold Resistance feat, you probably won't be able to withstand this low temperature."

"You look so young, you shouldn't do something so risky."

Elphs softened her voice deliberately, “At a time like this, you are willing to respond to the call to support us, and I think you are also willing to do your part for Etherland County, but this is not the time to show off.”

"Several third-ring mages, unaware of the specific situation, ventured into the sea yesterday and were eroded by the pale water foliage. They are still receiving treatment."

"You should go back."

In Elphs's view, the young second-circle mage in front of her might have been attracted by the reward for the appeal for help, or perhaps he was eager to make a name for himself, but he underestimated the danger of this anomaly.

She didn't want to see any more monks get hurt in vain, so she patiently persuaded them to leave.

Looking at the other person's serious expression, Gao De understood that she meant well.

But his willingness to support her did not waver because of her "intimidation"; on the contrary, it became even stronger.

Extreme cold that even the Three Rings Master couldn't withstand?
That would be exactly what I wanted!

(End of this chapter)