Chapter 208 The Old Man and the City of Sand

"The mystery of the elemental plane? I don't know, you might as well go to those mages for information. Why are you so surprised? I, Ayer, don't know everything. I seem to know a lot, just because I live so long That's all. The history of the four elemental planes is even longer than the main plane. The creation goddess Ashe used them as the basis to build the entire plane. I was not born at the time, so how could I know."

When I asked Ayer about the mysteries from ancient times, I got such an answer. When it came to the goddess of creation, the indifferent god of death in black was full of nostalgia and reluctance.

"As for the gods of the four elements, they just shouted loudly. They are actually just warehouse managers appointed by the goddess of creation. Under the authorization of Ashe, they did master some of the rules of the plane, but they definitely did not rule That plane. Hehe, no one can rule that plane, otherwise, he would be ruling a quarter of the world and life."

However, the information I checked from other places (Margaret’s dedication) also proves the authenticity of Ayer’s words. The most obvious proof is that when the god of the four elements is sealed, the elemental plane still exists. If the God of Elements falls, within a few hundred years, a new God of Elements will pop up again.

Theoretically, Chaos Goddess Cynthia inherited this part of power from her mother Ashe. She can control the world indirectly by controlling the God of the Four Elements. Cynthia's will is still affecting these planes, so this plane also Bias towards chaos.

Unlike most people's consciousness, this is not a world with nothing but earth elements and wind and sand. On the contrary, as the oldest plane, its materials and products are extremely rich, and various ancient species Grow and multiply here. It is not uncommon for other planes to regard diamonds and rare minerals as rare treasures. What is buried under the ancient hills are rare treasures that other planes can never find.

And the most residents here are naturally elemental creatures such as earth elementals. But it is different from those humanoid elements on the main plane. The elemental creatures here are not used to human form, they are oddly shaped. There are all kinds of strange things, some of which look like giant dragons, some of which are common stone giants, and some of which are insect-shaped like giant crabs. Most of them choose to imitate the powerful existence they have witnessed.

Although the shape and variety are almost huge, there is one thing that is the same. At least part of their bodies are elemental, and they can devour each other and evolve into stronger existences.

It is said that the Umdi Loken back then also evolved from a weak rock giant, and due to the high concentration of elemental power, the body parts of the elemental creatures here. It is also a very good magic material.

Where there are benefits, there will naturally be intelligent creatures, and where there are huge benefits, there will naturally be gold diggers who are not afraid of life and death. When the "administrators" of the elemental gods are sealed, these elemental planes are like warehouses with their doors open, which can be invaded in countless ways, and many forces have established their own bases on each elemental plane.

And in an area called the Carol Hills,

It was Ain Rodan, the country of mages, who sent them to the base of the earth elemental plane. Hundreds of mage towers and magic devices built a defensive force field. The torture in "Luo Town" has also made this the largest settlement of foreign residents thousands of miles away.

Walking on the streets of Carol, you can see various races everywhere. Although most of them are still common races on the main plane, such as humans, elves, and orcs, there are also many demons on the lower plane. Mimetic people, of course, are also indispensable to goblin merchants everywhere, but one of them is the rarest, and it is an elemental race that is hard to see on the main plane.

The reasons for their production are very complicated, some are the descendants of a certain high-level elemental creature and ordinary life, and some are the elementalization of ordinary creatures on this plane, but their most obvious feature is manifested in their appearance, that is, their skin color is often quite strange There are bumpy brown skin and burnt red skin, and many of them are inlaid with various crystals on the forehead, which looks a little scary.

However, due to the elementalization of part of their bodies, they are also born elemental mages with excellent element perception ability. After a little training, they can become excellent elemental mages, not to worry about the danger of being backlashed by elemental magic, and grow extremely fast .

For the kingdom of mages, apart from the various specialties of this plane, these local sons of elements are very good seedlings, and for those masters of earth magic, this plane of earth element with extremely high element concentration is also the best. How could one give up a good place of practice, plus all kinds of rare monsters?

But recently, there have been some troubles here.

The god of the earth element has returned, and these uninvited residents are finally going to face the returning house owner.

Obviously, as the titular master of this world, it is impossible for Umdi Loken to have a group of uninvited guests living in his home. More and more local residents suddenly changed their attitudes towards Carol City. come more often.

The rise of the elemental tide and the return of the Lord of Earth Elements also made the wind and sand more violent. The energy consumption of Carlo's shield has reached more than 150% of the same period last year.

"It's not an option to go on like this."

The space shackles of the earth elemental plane are becoming more and more stable, the magic energy required to cross the plane is increasing, and the investment required here is increasing. As a native-born elemental ethnic archmage, Ettadia is also very is trouble.

More than ten years ago, he joined the kingdom of mages as a mage apprentice, and now he has become a golden-rank mage. Ettadia is already familiar with this city, but recently, he feels more and more uncomfortable. It seems that the beautiful city where the magic civilization gathers is a kind of restriction, but in the depths of the wilderness, there is a will calling him to go.

It wasn't just him himself. In the past three months or so, more than a dozen young apprentices had disappeared into the wind and sand, leaving only their mage robes and staffs.

"Ermdilloken? What trouble."

As a gold-rank mage, Ettadia is definitely not an ignorant rookie. The only one who can have such a big impact on the entire earth elemental plane is the legendary God of Elements.

With good strength, he can resist the call from the soul, but it is difficult for those rookie apprentices, every elemental race is precious. Such a wasteful loss is very heartbreaking, and this is not the most troublesome thing. Two days ago, a bewitched apprentice rushed into the magic hub like crazy. Going to turn off the barrier launcher. It was shocking.

"Has there been no response from the country yet? At least send us a few ** divisions to control the situation."

"No, the kingdom of mages is also in trouble. The Bayer Empire suddenly had a small-scale conflict with us, and most of the combat power was involved on the sidelines. I learned from my private channels that the water elemental plane and the wind elemental plane are also in trouble. Encountered similar troubles... and the transmission of the elemental plane has become more and more difficult... I am afraid that our assistance will not only not increase, but will also decrease."

"If there is a problem with the existing plane transmission, can't we use the goblin's transmission system? Their space tearing device should still be usable."

"The fixed failure rate of 20% is too terrible. It's okay to transfer materials, but it's too dangerous to transfer creatures. Moreover, those guys have recently changed the rules. They actually want us to buy 'insurance', or they won't transport us. Once If you lose it, you will not be compensated.”

"Insurance? What's that?"

"It's something recently popular among goblins. It seems to have come from the goblins in the underground world. You pay him a deposit first, and if there is an accident that causes losses, he will compensate you."

"Isn't this a good thing? Then buy it. Didn't we admit all the losses in the transmission before?"

"The problem is that I didn't pay for it after buying it. Edwin, the archmage in charge of the teleportation work, was very angry."

"Why? Don't goblins talk about sincerity in transactions?"

"He said that we stored special magnetic energy items in the cargo, which affected the transmission. This was a failure caused by our human error, and he also asked us to compensate for the loss."

"It's unreasonable. If the special item can't be teleported, why don't you say it earlier? If you fail, then say it. Then next time? Master Edwin probably won't talk to the other party anymore."

"The luck was even worse the second time. I encountered a space storm and half of the supplies were lost."

"It's time to pay this time."

"No, there is a supplementary clause in his insurance contract 'no compensation for losses caused by force majeure', and the transmission error caused by natural disasters such as space storms is counted as force majeure. "

"Then why do we buy that insurance! Isn't this a scam? Isn't it just for the loss of transmission?"

"...Yeah, we didn't realize until we suffered a loss that we had to buy a special 'transmission loss insurance' to pay for the transmission loss. As a result, Master Edwin simply signed all the additional terms for the third time. .”

"Don't tell me I was tricked again? Could it be that the goblin would tear up the business contract?"

"......The space tearing device actually exploded this time, and we only know that in this case, we have to buy the 'accidental explosion insurance', otherwise we won't pay."

"Buy, buy, buy, you can't buy anything."

"But the problem is that the 'explosion insurance' is more expensive than all other insurances combined, but everyone knows about goblin things, not having that explosion insurance coverage is equivalent to having no insurance. Master Edwin had a stroke on the spot... .”

Opening his mouth, Ettadia didn't say anything, but the matter was not over, the mage apprentice said with a face full of tears and laughter.

"Those goblin merchants in our city have also learned this method, and all kinds of insurance are selling very quickly, and haven't many elemental people disappeared recently? Those guys have also taken out personal accidental disappearance insurance, and they are looking for young apprentices to sign. Announcing the disappearance in a big way will make people panic."

"...Did they lose money? No need to answer, I already guessed it, they definitely didn't lose money!"

"Your wisdom can light up the sky. Yes, this group of goddamn profiteers, they didn't even have a copper coin to accompany them! They actually need the policyholder to apply for compensation by themselves! This person is missing, how can I ask them to pay for it?"

Suddenly, a sharp voice sounded from behind.

"Hi, I'm the goblin Amway Life Insurance, do you know Amway?"

Ettadia turned around, and it was a well-dressed little goblin with a handbag in his small hand and a smile on his face.

"Did you know? A group of kidnappers recently appeared, causing the disappearance of elemental people to skyrocket, but we, Amway Life Insurance, especially... don't know what kind of insurance you need. If you are not satisfied, "

"roll!"

Ettadia, who has always been known for his approachability, let out a roar through his teeth. But the goblin salesman has no intention of giving up.

"Rolling injury insurance? We also have it! Although I don't know why the demand for this strange insurance has skyrocketed recently, but the customer is God! You roll, I pay the bill!"

-------------

In the Council of Archmages in Carol City, Epic Archmage Kaid was also full of worry. As the highest-ranking sorcerer here. He knows far more than his men.

As a real top mage, the intelligence system of the truth controller will not forget to give him a special report. Of course, the situation on his mainland is undergoing drastic changes recently, especially the conflict between his country and the Bayer Empire. It must not be described as a small conflict, if one is not handled well. It is a new war.

The country's support can no longer be relied on, and the worse environment is showing the threat of the legendary Umdi Loken, and there is actually something wrong with the interior in front of him.

"Teacher, those damned goblins are getting more and more over the top, spreading rumors everywhere to sway the hearts of the people. Recently, they have started to drive up prices again, making a fortune for the country. Otherwise, we will drive them away!"

It can make Ettadia, who is usually quite calm, angry to such an extent. It seems that the goblin has gone too far this time.

"Then we can starve to death. Seventy percent of our business system here is in the hands of goblins. Perhaps, you can teach us how to make bread with magic."

Another disciple, Sorrento, remained as calm as before, but the sarcasm in his words made Ettadia very upset.

"You think goblins are difficult to deal with, just because you are too simple-minded."

"Hmph, then our Sorrento wit can handle those greedy misers. Alright, then I'll send you to talk to them about the recent food price hike."

"...I can't do it either, but it doesn't mean no one can do it. I recommend a person who can actually gain an advantage in the goblin negotiation. The goblin contract has more than fifty articles and seven or eight pages. That guy Although there are more than 800 articles in the book, he can make the goblins stunned. Recently, he makes money by negotiating with goblins. Now whenever he appears, the group of misers will surrender directly. Out of the bottom line."

Sorrento's words surprised the other two archmages. It is completely unimaginable for such a person to win a business negotiation against a cunning goblin.

"Is it a big businessman from there?"

"No, it looks like a ranger who came to hunt. Negotiations are just a sideline job when he returns to the city by chance. He spends most of his time hunting outside. His strength is not very good, but his luck is very good."

"How?"

"He is obviously only a silver-ranked fighter. When he entered the city for the first time, he actually carried the poisonous needle of an emperor demon scorpion. That is a formidable opponent that even a gold-ranked warrior would not dare to face alone."

"Perhaps, he is hiding his strength. It is not surprising if he is out alone."

"At the beginning, everyone thought the same way, but Master Alu of the Prophecy Department met him. He was indeed a silver rank, but what surprised people was what happened afterwards."

"Um?"

"When he came back for the second time, he brought a crystal nucleus of an earth element warlord, which was definitely not something a gold-ranked fighter could handle. After that, the prey he brought back became stronger and stronger each time, and the time between them became shorter and shorter. It's getting shorter, and..."

Speaking of coming here, Sorrento paused deliberately, as if trying to whet his appetite, seeing his master and senior brothers looking at him, he said proudly.

"The last time he returned to the city, he brought back a second-evolved Demonized Mountain Giant Heart!"

"Demonizing mountain giants requires gold-level fighters to deal with them. If they evolve a second time, even the top legendary ones may not be enough! How is that possible! That's a qualitative change. In this environment, facing the infinitely powerful mountain giants, even me be careful."

This time, it was shocking when it came to Kaid.

"Does he have a team support?"

"How is it possible that he came in to eat meat and sleep, and let the whole team eat sand outside? Moreover, the detection magic showed that he ran directly to the high-risk area as soon as he went out, and most of his prey only had frostbite and cutting damage. He should be Ice magic swordsman."

"Frostbite? Frostbite to earth elemental creatures in this place where the water element is almost zero and the power of ice magic has plummeted?"

This is even more common sense, but Grand Master Kaid has some interest in this legendary person.

"Arrange a meeting for me, I'm a little curious. By the way, what's his name?"

"Roland, but his nickname seems to be Blackhand, 'Blackhand' Roland."

Hearing this, Kaid stood up all of a sudden, his face full of surprise and disbelief, but after more than ten seconds, he shook his head.

"If it is him, anything can happen. Arrange for me to meet him as soon as possible. Forget it, I will go to see him in person, and you all go with me. Maybe he is your uncle!" " ()