The Strategy to Become Good at Magic Chapter 83

Chapter 83 – Plan

When Sue changed a new batch of Combat Bandages on her wounds, she earnestly reflected on her mistakes.

It was not wrong to save someone, but the problem was to see exactly what situation was suitable for her to lend a hand. She still felt a little afraid when she thought about the previous night when she nearly died, and that sort of situation was definitely too dangerous.

This continent was not a virtual reality that she played in the past. There was only one life for everyone. It seemed like there still might be hope in going back to her world, but because of her kindness she nearly died in a foreign land. The fact that she was about to contribute to the growth of some plants, made her feel like she was never going to rest in peace if she died here.

[Therefore if there’s any need to rescue someone, I better beat that rescuee till they are half-dead, and for insurance I better hit as hard as I can till they can’t move…… I can’t hope for them to help out or anything, but at least the situation like today wouldn’t repeat itself. Come to think of it, the Tree of Life is recovering quite well with leaves and new branches, yet I don’t see any s.p.a.ce-time continuum changes or anything….. There doesn’t even seem to be any G.o.dly artifacts that sprout out….. It would not end with just an old tree bearing fruits after a long time to be randomly used as snacks and stop there right?!!!]

Sue’s feelings were like a gambler waiting on that moment of outcome. The antic.i.p.ation for that final answer was of hope and anxiety. Even though there seemed to be a glimmer of hope to get a royal flush, what would happen if she got cards of no value……

After going through an extraordinary amount of thinking, she had regained her composure by a great amount. She finished her bandaging, popped two health tablets into her mouth and started to tidy up the potions around her. When she left the treehouse, she saw the four stooges running back and forth like they were excited over something.

“What are you playing at?!” Sue’s temper was much better and she asked in curiosity.

“Hey! Little girl!” One of them raised his head, discovered Sue stopping beside him, and grabbed her hand with delight: “Look! Courage has triumphed over the fear in our hearts. We can freely enter this region!”

[This region?! Where?!]

Sue landed to the ground in a daze, chucked her broom back into her dimensional bracelet, looked at the people around her and the ground…… Her eyes glinted brightly. d.a.m.n! That circle of rocks that she had placed was in front of them.

“You can go near the Tree of Life?!” Sue suddenly realized the meaning in his words, grabbed him and roared loudly.

“Pants, you’re grabbing my pants!” The guy quickly held on to his belt in a panic: “I can’t blame you for your small stature but it’s wrong of you to randomly grab a man’s pants!”

Her strength was too high…… It would really hurt his pride as a top a.s.sa.s.sin if his pants were forcefully pulled down!

“Holy S$#^! A virgin like you actually don’t feel embarra.s.sed for saying these words?!” Sue looked down on him without batting an eyelid: “Spit it out! How did you come in?!”

It was impossible. The only other person who could come in was the chibi. The other races, including the humans were not able to come in.

Even when she brought them back yesterday, they still did not possess the body to enter the safety zone freely…… Could it mean that the Tree of Life was the problem?!

[D-does this mean that the cards are about to reveal themselves?!] Sue was a little excited.

The remaining three men quickly said: “That’s because we broke our limits and gained a major improvement!”

“………….” Their level of being shameless had certainly increased. The corner of Sue’s lips jerked once as she realized what the biggest problem was — There was never any hope in getting an answer from the fools……

“Xiao Bai, get Blackie-bro here!” Sue instructed the tiger and felt that the beasts were more reliable than humans at this point.

“Meow~” The little white tiger meowed and scooted off with a ‘zooooom’ sound, stunning everyone with its speed.

“There’s someone else living here?!” That name sounded like a mature person and should not be their target…… But come to to think of it, the little prince seemed to be older than her. If she called him ‘bro’ that would not be too off the mark as well……

The team leader turned into his thinking mode.

“No one else is living here.” Sue answered

“…… Then why did you let that little white cat go off to find that Blackie-bro?!”

Sue was puzzled: “Did you not see him yesterday?!”

[We saw him yesterday?! We did indeed see that little prince but how did she know?! Why did she lie to us there’s no one here……] The team leader persisted in his wrong thinking.

“That Lightning Panther lying on the tree which you met for the first time?! Have you forgotten about it?!”

“……” The team leader swallowed a small mouthful of blood: “We did saw it…..”

[F@%$! Who would call a magical beast a bro……..]

The black panther arrived quickly. It was not really the little white tiger’s effective search, but the black panther had summoned the beasts and went towards Sue’s area. The two of them coincidentally met and moved to the Tree of Life.

“Roar—” The black panther appeared irritated and not as relaxed as before. The other beasts also rushed to the Tree of Life and circled around it with guarded growling……

“L-Lawrence, there’s something wrong.” The four a.s.sa.s.sins finally realized something was wrong. The team leader stared blankly at the amount of beasts in front of them, swallowed and spoke with a perturbed voice.

Sue was smiling wryly. It was strange, indeed.

The beasts actually ignored her. That was still a small problem if it was just that. However, the druids had said that the Tree of Life should give out a peaceful energy that could vanquish evil and expel darkness…… In any case it possessed something of a positive impact, and should not be a sight where the beasts looked like they were encountering a great enemy.

“Blackie-bro, what’s going on?!” Sue asked the black panther.

“Groarrr, growl growl…..”

Sue’s tears spilled freely when she realized she forgot she could not communicate: “Let’s change a different way to communicate. I’ll ask questions, then you can shake or nod your head?!”

“……” The black panther was silent for a moment, then nodded his head.

[Very good. We have reached a temporary consensus. But I don’t know anything about the situation, where should I start asking……]

Sue thought for a while before her tears flowed freely again: “How about another method, can you do an interpretative dance about the current situation?!”

How was he going to show what was happening when the situation was so complicated! The black panther stared at Sue with one eye and flicked his tail before running off to ignore her. Sue continued to scratch her head.

The magical beasts continued to pour in. They either sat or laid down within ten miles of the Tree of Life, with the higher level ones moving closer to the tree while the lower ones were further away.

Putting aside the four terrified men who were sitting on the ground with trembling legs, even Sue was a little troubled. If the black panther was not beside her, she would have taken her broom out and flew off somewhere else to avoid trouble.

“W-what’s going on?” The four a.s.sa.s.sins asked after seeing the beasts continuing to pour in.

“I have no idea.” Sue really missed her quest system in the game. No matter what kind of abnormality a map would have, the system would have notified her, or at least a NPC nearby would explain….. The black panther seemed to know what was going on, but the problem of communication was too big.

“C-calm down!” The team leader soothed his men: “I-I will communicate with the people at home, and a-ask about the situation. Ha, ha, ha, d-don’t worry, I b-brought the magic mirror……. Found it!”

“d.a.m.n it, It’s the Pink Sleepless Night that I got in the Capital.” The team leader took out something from his dimensional s.p.a.ce ring and he teared up as he realized it was the wrong item.

“What! You bought this restricted book!” The money-minded a.s.sa.s.sin was furious: “No wonder my dad said you had a strange item on your accounting ledger this month. The figure wasn’t big but the source was ambiguous……”

How many people actually charged their p.o.r.nography usage to their companies?

The team leader’s face turned red and he tried to defend himself. “It’s because my dad deducted my pocket money last month and I was forced……”

Sue sighed and looked at the two men who were arguing. Their temperaments were too good. She tossed the items around inside her bracelet: “How about eating some food to calm down?! Do you want roasted meat or bread?!”

“…… I’ll have bread.” Lawrence blinked furiously, wiped off the cold sweat off his head, carefully thanked Sue and chewed on the bread quietly.

“I want roasted……” Lawrence glared at the other a.s.sa.s.sin who wanted to eat meat. The latter suddenly realized there was a great number of carnivores around them. If he did accidentally triggered a reaction to make the beasts attack them…… He changed his reply when he thought of that: “I also want bread.”

It was scientifically proven that eating was a way of relaxing and relieved stress too. Regardless of eating or for other reasons, the two of them looked better than they did earlier…… If they think about it, they were already surrounded by the beasts, what could they do even if they did not relax?!

What they had going for them was that the beasts did not have any thoughts of treating like a meal, yet. Also, there was the girl who could communicate with the beasts…… Lawrence dusted off the bread crumbs on his hands and quietly dug out his magic mirror and turned it on. Soon after the figure of an thin middle-aged man appeared in it: “Lawrence?! Is the mission done? Why did you contact me so soon?!”

The vice-guild leader was surprised. He did not think that the mission was hard, but he did not think his son and the other three sons of the highly ranked members within the guild could finish their tasks so quickly. (TL: In the original raws the term used is slightly negative.)

“That’s not the case dad, our situation currently is a little……” Lawrence was still figuring out to explain the situation, but Sue was impatient enough to grab his wrist and flip it to reflect the gathered beasts near the Tree of Life.

“……” Sue did not know if there was a sudden rampage of Mana running wild, she thought she saw the mirror jerked twice in Lawrence’s hand, and his voice turned into an urgent tone: “I understand! Lawrence, turn the mirror back to you, quickly!”

“The situation is bad……” The thin middle-aged man looked at his son who was still alive and looked relieved: “No! It’s really bad, but fortunately you’re safe!”

“Perhaps I won’t be fine soon.” Lawrence’s smile was melancholic. “Dad, this is the Lost Forest.”

There was the sound of pages being flipped: “Listen, even though I don’t know why the beasts haven’t attack you yet, the only thing that they fear in this forest is the Tree of Life. There are two scenarios as to what this situation means. One, it’s decaying. Two, it’s about to revive.”

“How sharp of you!” Sue praised him for getting to the heart of the matter. His dad was certainly more reliable compared to the son. It was the first time she had praised anyone. “And?!”

The mirror jerked again, and the man sounded like he was about to scream in a higher pitch voice: “Who’s that beside you?! Lawrence, are you being held as a prisoner?!”

[You’re overthinking things, old man……] Sue mused gloomily for a moment.

She beckoned with her finger, and Lawrence pa.s.sed the mirror to her after a moment of hesitation. He certainly did not know as much as Sue, so she was indeed more suited to explain the current situation.

“Your son isn’t taken prisoner. I’m a citizen of this forest.” Sue gave a friendly smile, then gave a condescending look at the middle-aged man who was staring blankly at her: “If you want to go into a stunned mode you can do it later. How about giving us some information about what’s happening now?!”

“Huh? Hmmm……” The middle-aged man was indeed surprised but his response was quick. After a moment of humming he replied: “Very well. Since Lawrence trusts you…… I believe you know that the Tree of Life is the Elves’ holy tree?!”

“I have heard of it.”

“The Elves’ personalities are relatively cold, and there are very few amongst them who actually marry. The reproduction for this race is mostly reliant on the Tree of Life…… Every century, the Tree of Life would bear fruits, and within these fruits are elves.” The middle-aged man took a pause: “About a thousand years ago, the Tree of Life suddenly stopped bearing fruits, which effectively ended the next generation of elves. In order to continue their lineage, the Elves could only dig out the Seed of Life from the tree and find another place where the Tree of Life could thrive.” (TL: Tigers are born from eggs and Elves are born from fruits. This is amazing.)

“And what does all these things have to do with the current situation?!” Sue waved her hand in irritation.

“The beasts could be seen as the guardians of the Elves’ territory. In order words, they respect and worship the Tree of Life. If it really is withering, the beasts would go on a rampage, and I can only mourn for Lawrence and you…….”

Sue gave a sarcastic smile: “Old man, you really do know how to make a joke, stop joking with your own son alright?!”

“What else do you think I can do?!” He sighed and looked like he aged ten years in an instant: “I thought this would be a simple mission. To think that this……”

Lawrence also felt a lump in his throat and pounced over to the mirror “Dad……—”

But before he finished speaking, Sue slapped him away: “Stop causing trouble. I’m discussing a serious matter with your dad. Kids should go to the sidelines and play instead!”

“……”

The other three a.s.sa.s.sins also felt the seriousness of the situation and huddled around Lawrence and quietly sat there. They continued to listen to the talk.

“Blackie-bro, are you a Guardian Beast?!” Sue secretly whispered to the black panther beside her, and he nodded.

“The tree of Life is dying?!” …… He shakes his head.

Sue thought for a while and turned back to the mirror: “That was one other possibility that you mentioned. What about the revival of the Tree of Life?!”

“…… If it revives, then new Elves are going to appear again, and it is possible that the Elves are going to be extremely powerful. As I said before, these beasts are born to guard the Elven race……” The middle-aged man thought for a while before he thought of a simpler explanation: “Have you seen a magical beast giving birth?!”

“Nope!” Sue’s answer was straightforward: “I’m too young to know about this!” F@#$! She was not from this world, why would she know or even look at these things happening…….

“……” The middle-aged man’s words choked in his throat, and skipped over that question: “The young beasts have no abilities when they are given birth to, so the beasts giving birth would be extremely watchful of their surroundings. If you raise a cat, it might want you to fawn over it and show you its vulnerable stomach to allow you to pet it, but if it’s about to give birth, it might scratch your hand if you move near it……”

“I roughly understand what you’re trying to say.” Sue looked like she understood and asked the black panther. “The new Elves are about to be born, right?!”

“Probably……” The old man nodded, while the black panther also nodded.

“So the magical beasts gathered here in order to protect the Tree of Life?!” She continued to ask the black panther.

“Maybe……” The middle-aged man seemed like he was hesitating, while the black panther nodded firmly again.

Her thoughts were becoming clear, and there was something important that she needed to ask. She asked urgently: “Then if the Elves are going to be born, will there be any abnormality in the time-s.p.a.ce continuum here?!”

“Huh?!” The middle-aged man was confused. What was what?! “No one has really investigated in this aspect but it shouldn’t be……” If giving birth to an Elf means the s.p.a.ce was going to be distorted, then the Elves that were given birth a thousand years ago would turn this place into a sieve instead…..

Sue did not say anything else and looked at the black panther to wait for him to nod…… or shake his head.”

“Little girl?! Child?! h.e.l.lo…… is the communication working fine?! Is the Mana Signal bad over there?! Can you hear me……” The middle-aged man started shouting and Lawrence s.n.a.t.c.hed over the mirror with an embarra.s.sed face: “Dad, she’s not talking to you from just now, stop it……”

Perhaps the black panther knew that the question was important to Sue, he hesitated for a long time on whether to answer the question. But he finally and slowly shook his head…… Even though he did not know what she was hoping for, but regretfully there was not going to be something like this happening again.

“……” Sue blinked as she felt the tip of her nose to be a little red. She did not know whether to be relieved or disappointed. She finally let her hope die. It was not something that she did not expect, but she did not want to give on this sliver of hope…… She took a few deep breaths forcefully and barely broke a smile: “Forget it.”

It was fine if she could not go back, it was not like she was the only child, and she could just treat it like she was going to get married in another world…….

[F#$%! Who is crazy enough to marry off in a backwards world!] After thinking it through, Sue’s tears still flowed down on her face. What sort of karma did she have to be thrown into such a savage era and society! The most aggravating thing was how she could only thrive in this primitive forest. (TL: What karma indeed lol……)

[That’s right! There’s something else I need to ask.] Sue moved on from her sadness back to reality. She looked at the mirror in Lawrence’s hands, then at the black panther, remembered the lines she heard just now, and asked after a moment: “He said that you needed to protect the Elves….. Does it mean after the Elves are born I will need to leave this place?!”

The black panther looked like it was earnestly conflicted and thought for a moment, first shaking his head at Sue, then nodded at the four a.s.sa.s.sins, and bared his fangs.

The four a.s.sa.s.sins clutched the mirror with tears, why did they get hated on……

Sue was satisfied and stroked the black panther’s fur. She finally confirmed a riddle that she never really knew the answer to — It looked like she was still the same as before in the game, an Elf!

Even though she could continue to stay there in the forest, she started to consider her position in this continent. Continuing to live in this forest was impossible. She had refused the good intentions of the many people who wanted to bring her away from this forest, simply because she wanted to return home. Now that the possibility was gone, she should start to plan early.

For example, whether she should get the prince’s rescue fee from the Tobias kingdom, or whether she should go to whichever race and asked to be taken care of……