Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 60 - 57: Guess Why There’s a Hole Here

The sky grew dark.

The Sub-plane, which originally had no night, now seemed to be approaching dusk. A pink canopy could be seen gradually descending, and the streams of light in the sky visibly accelerated.

Yina confirmed the message and activated her handheld device. "Notify everyone to assemble at once. Head for the team leader’s location with all speed. Don’t carry any heavy items."

"Bring food," François added. An Apprentice immediately went to gather the others and carry out the instructions.

Rorschach thought for a moment. "Let’s follow the guidance He gave me in the dream. If we can’t reach the cave He mentioned, we’ll need a backup plan."

"Two hours..." Yina stared at the translated message, then glanced at the sky, which looked as if it were on the verge of collapse. "Alright. Give it a try. François and I will monitor your condition."

François nodded as well. Rorschach took a deep breath and began to chant in the Jabber Language, "Deryats, Deryats..."

Yina and François nervously monitored the fluctuations in the Ether around Rorschach. Based on their experience on the Main Plane, a Divine Spirit would stir the surrounding Ether to manifest its will during a ritual.

"Nothing’s happening... Should you try Ancient Jabber Language?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"I don’t know how to speak..." Rorschach suddenly felt something catch in his throat, and his stomach churned violently.

"GACK... UGH..." Rorschach instinctively bent over and retched. He watched as he coughed up a pebble—it was the amber from his dream. A moment later, a warmth rose in his throat, and he spewed a mouthful of foul blood.

"Rorschach!" Yina started forward to support him and cast a healing spell, but Rorschach waved her off, still retching.

François noticed something strange about the pool of blood. "Quick, look!" On the ground, the liquid Rorschach had coughed up began to squirm on its own, forming an intricate pattern.

"I’m fine..." Once he finished, Rorschach felt much better. There was no pain, making him wonder if it had even been his own blood. The boy picked up the piece of amber, identical to the one in his dream, and wiped away the filth to reveal a beetle with intricate patterns on its shell. The patterns glittered in the light.

"Quick, record this pattern!" Rorschach shouted, noticing that the "bloodstain" was evaporating. Yina and François immediately started sketching it.

As the pattern evaporated and thinned, the Ether within a ten-meter radius seemed to grow calm. It felt as if the air within the area had grown damp, and all three of them could smell the scent of plants and trees. Specks of moss even began to sprout on the reddish-orange soil, blanketing it in a faint green.

’A Barrier from the Forest God?’ It wasn’t a simple barrier Magic; it was more like a Domain brimming with life had been created. The contrast with the desolate landscape of the Sub-plane made it all the more striking.

At that moment, a grayed-out Divine Art appeared on Rorschach’s panel: [Deryats Forest] "Magic Control (Orange)," "?," "?," "Mapping (Blue)," "Blood (Material)," "?"

Including the Casting Materials, there were a total of six requirements. ’This Divine Art is completely unusable,’ Rorschach thought for a moment. ’So how did I just cast it? Maybe it was possible because of the Blood Array, or maybe it’s a special property of this Sub-plane.’

The amber couldn’t be put into his Storage Ring, so after a few tries, Rorschach simply stuffed it into his pocket.

"Reporting! Everyone has assembled."

"Let’s go." François climbed onto a high point and yelled to the crowd, "Quiet, quiet! Everyone, listen up! We’ve detected an emergency: corrosive acid rain is about to fall! Team Leader Nemo has found a shelter, so please move as fast as you can. We’ll be safe once we get there!"

Acid rain. The term was more visceral and easier to grasp than "crystal storm," though some of the Apprentices and workers were still confused. "Didn’t they say it doesn’t rain in a Sub-plane? And the first time it does, it’s corrosive acid rain?"

Regardless, they set out. The people remaining at the camp split into four groups of about ten and departed.

François continued to shout at the top of his lungs on the road. From the middle of the formation, he led a chant, ordering the workers and Apprentices to shout along with him. More than that, Rorschach could feel him mobilizing the Ether. Spurred on by the chant, the group moved much faster than normal.

"It’s an effect caused by the resonance of multiple people’s Endogenous Ether. How to induce it is a technique of the Nobility." Yina, walking beside Rorschach, explained when she saw him watching François. "François’s family was once part of the military Nobility, but they were stripped of their fiefdom and title."

Rorschach already knew about resonance; he had even experienced it firsthand during Antorrela’s Harvest Festival Dance. "Thanks for the explanation," he said. ’That explains the Granor Clan’s obsession with establishing a fief on this plane. It’s only natural to want to reclaim what you’ve lost.’

The Ether concentration reached a peak. Rorschach could feel that the plane was like a powder keg; any Magic from the Shaping Power Energy System could be cast faster and with greater force. If he wanted, creating tons upon tons of water or even summoning a waterfall was not out of the question.

"[Swift Retreat]." It was a Magic from the Transformation System that used Ether to stimulate the Caster’s leg muscles for a burst of speed. Yina’s and Rorschach’s control over their Endogenous Magic Power was not influenced by François, which meant they didn’t receive the group acceleration buff. Yina cast the spell not only on herself but on Rorschach as well.

"Thanks."

Yina walked ahead of Rorschach without looking back. "I knew you wouldn’t know how. Rorschach Mage seems to have a preference for powerful Magic."

’A pity the panel didn’t react...’ Rorschach ignored Yina’s criticism, his mind solely focused on whether he could use the panel to fleece... er, *acquire*... a few more spells for free.

By now, the sky had not only grown dim, but a thick fog had also begun to rise. Rorschach and the others were walking at the bottom of a ravine where visibility was low. Fortunately, they could navigate using their handheld devices, which were linked to Nemo’s Secret Magic Mark.

An Apprentice couldn’t help but curse, "Must be ghosts! How can there be fog in a place as dry as a desert?"

Rorschach’s theory of Ether-to-Elemental Transformation was already taking shape. "The concentration of Ether in the environment is incredibly high," he explained. "It has surpassed this space’s carrying capacity and is spontaneously transforming into water."

DRIP. DROP. It wasn’t just fog anymore; rain began to fall.

"Stay calm! Stay calm! This rain isn’t corrosive yet! Everyone, keep moving, we’re almost there!" The downpour caused unrest and commotion, forcing François to stop the marching chant and use his already hoarse voice to calm everyone and maintain order.

Finally, having traveled twice as fast as the two-hour journey Nemo had estimated, they reached their destination in just one hour. The wall of the rift before them was a hundred meters tall. An entrance, dozens of meters high and wide enough for two carriages to pass abreast, gaped open as if to welcome the arriving group.

"Let’s head inside."

Illuminated by a [Light Technique], the group entered the cave. The passage grew narrower the deeper they went, but after a short while, it suddenly opened up into a wide, if not particularly tall, cavern. Team Leader Nemo and his scouting party were resting inside.

"Quick, tell me what’s going on." After getting a brief summary of Rorschach’s dream, Nemo began to think aloud. "The cataclysm from Rorschach Mage’s dream is already showing signs of starting. The question is, is it truly as the Forest God said? Must we destroy the Divine Corpse to stop this disaster? He emphasized that only Rorschach Mage can defeat it. I’m worried there’s some hidden catch."

Suddenly, the amber in Rorschach’s pocket floated out. The beetle inside seemed to come to life, its wings beating as it flew. The amber substance surrounding it expanded and grew translucent, like a bubble with the beetle trapped inside.

The beetle flew a short distance deeper into the cave before returning to Rorschach’s side, repeating the motion over and over.

"Does it want you to go over there?"

RUMBLE— The cave shook once.

’The guidance from the Deer-headed God’s beetle... a god’s corpse...’ Rorschach swallowed hard. "Hey, you guys... why do you think this cave exists?"