Super Magician: The Magic Network Collapsed Again at the Start

Chapter 12 Church of Final Hope

“I’m sorry,” Rand sighed, “it’s too chaotic for us to manage. The body is buried in the backyard; you can go back and check on it when things calm down.”

Too many people died, and burying the bodies on the spot was not out of humanitarianism, but rather out of concern that the hot weather would cause an epidemic.

Anser shook his head slightly and murmured, "It's none of your business. They're stubborn and never listen to advice..."

At this point, vague memories keep resurfacing in my mind.

The original owner's parents had bad tempers, but they valued the original owner more than their own lives, so it's not surprising that they didn't want to leave after the accident.

"Do you know who did it?" Anser asked in a deep voice.

“I don’t know. The villains are roaming around committing crimes. Maybe I killed them, or maybe they escaped…” Rand didn’t hide anything. “Now there’s basically no one left in the Sow’s Hoof District. Those who didn’t escape will probably become slaves of the Grey Dwarves.”

The grey dwarves possess psychic powers and are adept at enslaving other races.

Blatt couldn't help but ask, "What about the Flame Fist Legion? Are they just going to let these subterranean creatures run rampant?"

“Yeah, why haven’t we seen any Flame Fist members along the way?” Anser frowned, a sense of dissatisfaction and hatred towards Flame Fist rising in his heart for no reason.

Flame Fist Fortress is right on Flying Dragon Bridge, only a kilometer or two away, yet it has done absolutely nothing.

Rand sighed: "Yesterday, Flame Fist was ordered to support the collapsed area. Almost all of them were mobilized, but in the end... they suffered a crushing defeat. The losses are incalculable. The remaining people have retreated into the upper city."

Flame Fist Fortress was no longer able to fight; their new orders were to seek reinforcements and hold the Flying Dragon Bridge…

"I see." Anser was secretly shocked. The Flame Fist had more than three thousand men, yet they were defeated so quickly.

He pondered for a moment: "Is it due to the influence of the magic network? The gray dwarves possess psionic energy, which is why they are behaving so strongly?"

“That’s right, something big has happened on the Magic Network, and that’s the source of the chaos!” Rand nodded, looking at Anser with curiosity. “You don’t seem to have been affected much?”

“I am a magic caster,” Anser replied.

“No wonder,” Rand said suddenly. “Warlocks are born with a natural talent for primal magic, but your ability to master magic casting so quickly shows your exceptional talent.”

"I see you can also unleash the Holy Slash. Does the disruption of the magic network have a significant impact on paladins?" Anser asked.

“I can only cast divine spells below the second level now. Not only is casting difficult, but it’s also easy to fail…” Rand’s face was full of bitterness.

Besides affecting spellcasting, the magic network is also an important channel for priests or believers to communicate with the gods. When the magic network is disrupted, the priest's connection with the gods is almost completely severed, which is fatal.

He dared not tell ordinary people, because that would cause even greater panic.

At this moment, Zahir walked over quickly: "We should go. Let's send the wounded back first, and then we can consider how to build a defensive line."

"You go, I'll stay here and guard this place." Rand waved his hand, signaling him to take the wounded and leave first.

He patted Anser's arm and comforted him, "Anser, you should go back to the church with the group. It's safe there."

“Okay.” Anser did not refuse.

Having lost both his parents, he has no burdens whatsoever and now suffers from a severe lack of security. He just wants to level up quickly, and following Rand is a good way to gain experience.

The two retrieved the package and backpack and silently followed behind the crowd. Blatt grimaced in pain but was reluctant to drink a drop of the healing potion.

Anser was speechless; he hadn't expected his teammate to be such a miser.

"Wait a minute."

He called out to Blatt, planted his staff on the ground, and mentally connected with the staff to activate the Divine Berry spell.

The gray-green staff suddenly turned green, and the patterns on the staff curled and spread, quickly growing ten small branches, which then... withered one after another!

"What's wrong?" Blatt asked, puzzled.

"Uh, there might have been a little mishap," Anser said with a dry laugh.

He checked his staff and found that it was indeed missing one charge. He guessed that the casting and charging of the Divine Berry spell both depended on the magic net, which caused the spell to fail.

He tried again, and finally succeeded on the third attempt.

The Divine Berry Staff was covered with ten plump, glowing small berries, each about the size of a thumb, and they were probably some kind of raspberry.

Anser plucked them off one by one, and then all the branches withered and disappeared, and the staff returned to its original state.

"Here, have a taste." He held three raspberries in his palm and offered them to Blatt. Blatt took them, his face full of surprise: "Sweet berries, the Druid's Berry Magic?"

“You know quite a lot,” Anser laughed. It was also his first time seeing this kind of magic, and he found it quite novel.

A single magic berry restores 1 point of health and can meet a day's nutritional needs, making it very valuable.

Blatt picked one up, put it in his mouth, chewed it twice, swallowed it in one gulp, smacked his lips, and savored the taste: "Refreshing, sweet and sour, rich in fruity aroma, delicious."

As he spoke, he swallowed the remaining two pills in one gulp. His minor injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. A few minutes later, all the small wounds had scabbed over, and the wound on his neck had completely healed, leaving only a faint red line.

Seeing that he was alright, Anser ate one himself, and it tasted really good.

He put the remaining six berries into his backpack for future use, but these berries cannot be stored and will disappear if not eaten within a day.

“It’s great to be a spellcaster; you can have anything you want,” Blatt remarked.

"Hehe, those mages don't think that way now," Anser teased.

The two of them walked and talked.

Near the church, a tall figure stood by the roadside carrying a bow and arrows, his gaze fixed on Anser.

Anser recognized him; he was the archer who had been supporting him from the hillside.

"Hello, thank you for waiting for me earlier?" he greeted.

If it weren't for this archer, he might have wasted a shield spell; the goblin commander's javelin was not easy to dodge.

“Yes, my name is Finn, a beast tamer. I have something to ask you.” Finn grinned, his expression looking a little stiff.

“My name is Anser, and his name is Blatt. What do you want?” Anser asked, subtly sizing him up.

Finn, a half-elf, level 3 ranger (beastmaster)

Finn was a head taller than Anser, estimated to be 1.9 meters tall. He was tall and thin, with a long face and eyebrows and beard that looked like they had just been through a typhoon. He was very distinctively ugly, which was somewhat of an insult to the elven bloodline.

"Hmm... Are you a mage? Why isn't your spellcasting affected?" Finn's voice was dry, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.

“I am a warlock.” Anser touched his face; wasn’t that a pretty obvious feature? “I gave up the magic network and spell slots, casting spells with my innate magic power. There will definitely be some effects, but it’s not a big problem.”

“Oh,” Finn sighed, his tone somewhat disappointed.

Warlocks rely on talent and instinct to cast spells; even if they wanted to teach others, they couldn't learn it.

"Why don't you specialize in archery and put magic aside for now?" Anser advised.

Most Ranger subclasses do not rely on spells, and Hunter's Mark does not depend on spell slots, making them much luckier than spellcasters.

"Hmm." Finn nodded and didn't say anything more.

Anser sighed helplessly; this wandering knight was too introverted, and the conversation died down after just a few words.

Since they had nothing to say, the group simply went into the church together.

Zahir was very busy. Anser and his group were received by an elderly priest with gray hair and beard named Berg, who explained the current situation to Anser.

The Church of Ultimate Hope, dedicated to Tyr, the god of justice, had many believers and occupied a large area. However, it has now become a refugee camp, with the courtyard, interior and exterior, and hall crammed with residents seeking refuge, numbering at least several hundred.

Most of these people were elderly and infirm with limited mobility; the young people were mostly persuaded by the priests to leave and become self-reliant.

The Twin Song District was mostly empty, but since there were no Grey Dwarves, at least a thousand people hadn't moved out, forcing Rand to stay at the crossroads where he had just been.

Actually, it would be more appropriate to place the defensive line at Dragon Bridge, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and has the support of Flame Fist and Livington District.

Unfortunately, many people won't learn their lesson until they see the coffin, and they simply won't listen to orders.

Most church clergy are ordinary people; professionals like them are rare everywhere. Their unwavering dedication to this cause demonstrates unquestionable faith and moral character.

Anser secretly rejoiced that he was lucky he hadn't chosen the Paladin class. Otherwise, if he had encountered such a disaster, even if he wanted to run away, his professional oath wouldn't have allowed it.

Breaking an oath can be very troublesome.

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(End of this chapter)