Chương 454: Nexus Predicament. Mariane's Genius.

Mariane's Genius.

"A beast tide?" The shocked words from Eryndis echoed in the large hall.

"How could there be a beast tide during this time of the year? We are far from any seasonal changes, and there have been no reports of large activities from beasts for over a year!" Eryndis' disbelief was shared among many of the high-ranking personnel gathered in the room. Evangeline frowned and commented.

"Even if there is a beast tide, how is it possible that there are no survivors?" Despite a Beast Tide's danger, there were not many times when entire groups disappeared or were annihilated. Eventually, someone from the group would find a place where they could hide alone, or at the very least, they might become much freer to act without the burden of being in a group. Therefore, not even one person returning from the event was not only weird but utterly unnatural.

This was especially true when the groups were special-ranked military personnel trained to traverse the dangerous forests.

"What are you implying then?" Thalric spoke with a confused tone.

"They were rather deep into the Wall Forest's territory, so any interference from a World Tree can be discarded. If any group ambushed them on their return, that's even more absurd. That group needed to know about the Beast Tide, avoid it, find the whereabouts of our survivors, and then ambush and leave no survivors or clues." Someone laughed.

"If the enemy had such capabilities, forget about this war. We might as well surrender and leave the Wild Continent. Even we would be endangered if such groups existed on the other side." Evangeline sighed and leaned back. Thalric saw that and cleared his throat, warning the other person.

"Alright, I understand the strangeness of this situation. Still, we shouldn't panic and change all our plans according to it. Instead, we should act cautiously under the assumption that any of our three secret items fell into their hands." Eryndis commented.

"What did they carry other than the <Corrupt Bermudagrass Seed>?" Thalric looked to the side, and a relatively short man with a stoic build stepped forward.

"Lady Eryndis, our group had <Runic Ring Of World Silence> and <World Pulse Stealth Runic Rods> with them."

"Ha?" Eryndis opened her eyes with a baffled look.

"Who approved of this mission? No, who approved of using our latest technology in a mission with as many dangers as trying to corrupt an ancient forest!?" Her surprised face became angrier and more ruthless the more she spoke.

"You idiots! Quickly step forward before I find you and rip your limbs apart like the petals of a flower!" With her shout, malevolent energy surged upward and engulfed the area with a cold current. The temperature remained unchanged, but everyone felt as if they'd fallen into an ice cellar. With their skin prickling up from the imminent danger, three people, two women and one man, stepped forward. Their fearful expressions were so clear even when they tried their best to hide them behind stern looks.

"Yes, Ma'am! We are the ones who planned and ordered this!" Eryndis glared at the three people and soon knew who they were working for. Naturally, her glare changed from them to the man who had previously laughed at Evangeline's words.

"No wonder you were laughing. Were you so satisfied losing part of our strongest interference artifacts that you got all bricked up!? You asinine APE!" BANG! The force behind the palm strike onto the table was so brutal that the high-level oak-wood table exploded into splinters. But even then, Eryndis' gaze didn't move an inch away from the man, as if she were about to swallow him like an angry beast. Evangeline sighed again, her head hurting.

'Really, the ancients were right. It is more dangerous to have an incompetent ally than a strong enemy. Well, at least we've managed to isolate the surroundings of Warlya's territory already. Attacking her city is still a while away, though. We need to allow the Corrupted World Trees around her to grow and then start gnawing at her. Once her defenses are weakened, we can deal with her. In the meantime…'

"Lady Eryndis," Evangeline spoke, interrupting the woman's flow. Eryndis looked annoyed at being interrupted, but she still answered with a rather calm tone.

"What's wrong, Evangeline?"

"I think it is time to start our next step. We've basically dealt with all powers on this side. The resistance that remains is nothing but a small bother that can be contained with our reserve troops." Once her words reached them, silence spread in the room while everyone turned to look at Eryndis. The woman's annoyed face gained a trace of a smile as she pondered.

"You make some sense, actually. Even if they get their hands on our tools, if we attack fast enough, they won't be able to decipher the technology. Rune Crafting is not a field where many excel." A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Meanwhile, a few weeks after the Nexus received the report, a certain mothkin exclaimed with a delighted tone.

"Oh! I know how they work!" Holding the ring with two of her four hands, Mariane buzzed her wings happily.

"Liu Shu, are you around? Although it took one and a half months since you gave it to me, quite a long time to be honest, I finally deciphered it! The [Temple Of Craft] is truly crazy good for these things." Liu Shu focused a bit of her consciousness on the location, enough to talk with Mariane.

"Congratulations! You beat me to it, haha. I am still trying to understand how those rods can block my gaze. Well, more than a block, it makes the special energy I use to see and digest the surroundings freeze. It's such a strange behavior…" Mariane's black eyes shone with interest.

"Do you want my help? It sounds quite interesting."

"Of course!" Liu Shu didn't hesitate to agree. The mothkin was the strongest Rune Crafter in the entire country. Moreover, she managed to achieve that rank with her own effort after following Liu Shu for a while. Her talent was truly spectacular.

"Before that, explain a bit about the rings." The excited mothkin paused and giggled.

"Look at me, I almost forgot to report. So, you are on the right path. These artifacts manipulate Ternary Essences, but not in the way we usually do. For us, Ternary Essences are like threads that can be weaved with our will, mind, and inner essence to create many effects, right? So, these rings channel sound through a special encryption on the magical waves that only others wearing the ring can decipher; otherwise, your brain will consider the sound as background noise.

That's what creates the effect of being unable to be heard. You are just subconsciously ignoring the sound." Liu Shu was surprised.

"That's so ingenious. I am surprised they could come up with something like that." When she heard those words, Mariane smiled mysteriously.

"That's the point. I've never seen this type of technology being developed. Not even in books. So, it is a completely new section in Rune Crafting… Or, at least, it should've been." Mariane brought the ring below an amplifying glass and looked at it.

"Look here, Liu Shu. Can you see these connections among the runes? That's not something that one does on their first or second attempt. This is not a developing technology but a completely researched one! That makes no sense! Why not issue everyone such a ring? Hard to be created? Wrong, these are E Ranked accessories. Moreover, they are created through blacksmithing and rune carving." The World Tree muttered.

"So, the only hard thing is to find the metal?"

"Hard?" Mariane scoffed.

"It is a simple alloy of [Black Iron] and [Crystal Coal]. These two are so abundant that you can lift a pebble from a mountain and find them right under it. The runes are also extremely simple. I can easily replicate them as long as I have the time. I would also do it in less than ten minutes the first time." Looking at the ring, she snorted.

"Once I become proficient, Rune Carving one of these takes no longer than thirty seconds." Confusion seeped into the World Tree's mind, and she brought more of her computing power to this conscience. As she used more and more of her powerful mind to think about it, an increasingly large number of ideas popped up. But, as much as she wanted them to be correct, none seemed to really have a logical explanation.

"What do you think it is? Do you think that the technology looks finished because it has no potential? Or did they finish it before releasing it to their people so that others didn't take advantage of it? Besides those, I can't really think of a reason that doesn't make the other party look like side grass without a brain." Mariane crossed her four arms after placing the ring down on her table.

"If I need to be completely honest…" Liu Shu repeated, curious.

"If you need to be extremely honest…?"

"I have no idea." The World Tree summoned a root in the room and slapped the back of her head. BANG! The poor mothkin was slammed deep into the wall of her laboratory. Thankfully, the World Tree considered all the fragile materials and aimed for a place where it wouldn't break anything other than the wall… and perhaps Mariane. With twitching wings, the mothkin slowly peeled herself off the wall.

"T-That hurt…" Mariane rubbed her beautiful face.

"Well, it's not like I didn't deserve it. Liu Shu?" After calling her and not receiving an answer, the mothkin was startled.

"What if she has gone to research those interesting rods that everyone is trying to decipher!? I also want to see the thick rods!" And so, with words that almost forced the World Tree to smash her against a wall again, the mothkin flew to Liu Shu's personal research room. In the entire country, very few people were allowed here. If Liu Shu gave you access to this specific part, it would mean complete and utter trust from the gorgeous being that stretched for hundreds of kilometers.

The room was near the base of her trunk, and to enter, one needed to go underground. As Mariane flew to this place, she couldn't help but ask.

"Speaking of which… Liu Shu, since your research room is below your main body, wouldn't you be able to move the avatar here?"

"It might not seem like it, but I created this room with that in mind." The World Tree chuckled when she saw surprise flashing in Mariane's eyes.

"It's not like I don't want to meet with you with my Avatar. Still, now I am using my Avatar to take care of my children. Dewna, Eluan, and Sylvia need lots of attention, and I am missing one feeding source, so I need to juggle them around." The mothkin imagined the World Tree literally juggling the babies around as the babies tried their best to reach out to their "milk sources". As a result, she almost faceplanted against the ground.

'What a strange thing to imagine…' Once she arrived, the mothkin opened the door and looked around. The gorgeous room was different from usual. Instead of having tables, chairs, and shelves, everything was entangled in roots here and there. Those roots would move like an interwoven set of neurons, passing the rod around while trying to decipher its secrets. Mariane adored the ethereal and inhuman dance of roots and runes.

"Ah… I don't think I'll ever get tired of this gorgeous way of manipulating Ternary Essence for Rune Crafting."