The teleportation formations were of different types and difficulty depending on the desired outcome. The most difficult formation was from the category of those that led to Outland. It could bear anything, even mortals. The difficulty here lay in the protective barrier necessary for transportation, without it, living beings would hardly be able to survive teleportation.
Of course, I have not delved into this problem yet. I needed the simplest possible formation so that it could teleport my little rag doll. Given the size of the doll and its indestructibility, the formation was also created quite small and quite simple, no more than two palms, and placed in the construct. That way, if something unexpected happens, I will have a chance to be saved. Of course, in this case, my golem will go to the enemy. I simply cannot destroy it even with my artifact.
I left one teleportation point underground here, in the future I will add others.
In my hands was a small sphere of solar crystal, about 5 centimeters. Like Mengel's teleporter, it was covered in many runes. There were 8 runes in total, each containing a sonic blast spell. In fact, it was just a bomb.
The explosion of this thing dealt 15 sound damage and 50 physical damage, of course, such numbers were only at the epicenter of the explosion. Perhaps I can improve its destructive abilities in the future. Nevertheless, with each new rune, the cost of this toy kept growing, but the damage increased less and less.
The downside was that I couldn't fit the magic crystals in there, nor did I want to. Firstly, it is extremely expensive, and secondly, the crystals will be depleted simply to maintain the runes. It was also extremely expensive to constantly feed this thing with one's own mental energy. Therefore, this artifact was a one-time use and must be prepared by me in advance. Usually after three days, the sphere of destruction lost its properties.
Theoretically, I could create as many artifacts of different types and elements as I wanted. But firstly, I did not have spells of the 1st rank of other elements. Secondly, tier 1 damage spells would hardly be a useful addition for me, except to look for control or support spells.
Magic doesn't appear out of nowhere. The magician uses mental energy in a certain way to collect this or that element and form a spell. Even if using formations that essentially simulate a caster, these formations still need to be fed with mental energy in order for them to work. The runes in the formations essentially consist of mental energy, without replenishment they will disappear sooner or later.
There is no magical artifact or magical trap that can work forever on its own.
An exception may be ancient artifacts created by Mages of rank 4 or higher. Theoretically, they could, for example, combine an artifact with a full-fledged slave soul, which, among other things, generated mental energy for the artifact to work.
The technique of creating living golems was also invaluable in this regard, although such golems could not generate mental energy, but at the same time, due to the fusion of the soul with the body, they did not need magic crystals for banal movement. Just like I don't need mental energy to control a rag doll.
Or you need to use something like a power source just like in Mengel teleporters, although even they have to be constantly charged.
Thus, only someone extremely rich could afford to carry a bunch of artifacts with them. Unless you activate them just before the battle, at least this will reduce the costs to a minimum. However, you still have to regularly feed the artifact formations.
I have not yet heard of formations that could use the Mage World or natural elements to feed themselves.
In any case, I was more or less ready to move on. Given my current mobility, even Rank 2 Mages would have a hard time catching me, at least I hoped so. It didn't make much sense to keep hiding. I needed people, resources, knowledge.
Chibi said that his girlfriend Doki would get worried if he was missing for more than 5 years. I wasn't about to let him go and let him talk about myself to everyone around, at least for now. We agreed that I would pay a visit to the golem settlement of this anomalous zone in two years.
Although I thought that I was sufficiently prepared to meet the half-dead soul of a second rank Mage, I still did not see the point in rushing such a meeting.
Causing a sonic explosion below me, I took off into the sky like a rocket. Having reached the maximum height, wings appeared on the back of the golem and I began to fly back to Orion.
.
Reagan was beside himself with joy. Finally he is free!
He was originally a Great Knight, but was accused of rebellion and ended up, along with many other Knights, as a slave to a powerful Mage. He conducted various experiments on them and Reagan was one of the few who survived. True, it was difficult to call it life, he could still think, but because of the seal, he had no choice but to be an obedient instrument.
During the war, he was blown away by a shock wave and was buried underground. Although the seal finally weakened, symbolizing that the Magician who imposed it was finally dead, Reagan himself was in a hopeless situation and could not even move a muscle.
Days and months passed. The pressure on his body was gradually squeezing his flesh and bones, even considering that by that time he was already undead, if his brain had been flattened he would have died completely, fortunately the head was not under such strong pressure as the body. Due to the transformation into the undead, his life energy was infected and no longer obeyed him as in the old days. However, in his situation, he had no choice but to try again and again to control or ignite his life energy or its semblance. He simply had no other options in a similar situation.
Years passed one after another. His strength was not even enough to move a muscle. Such an existence drove him crazy, he could not even die of his own free will, all that was left was to try to distract from reality by any means. Gradually, he became more and more immersed in himself and entered a state of oblivion. He had dreams, or he just thought he was dreaming. In any case, in these dreams, he finally learned to control the energy in his body. He dreamed that he had succeeded and managed to free himself in one way or another. All these years in a state of oblivion, this was the only thing he could do, it became his dream and reality.
He had no idea how much time had passed. He did not realize the changes that were happening to his body. It became stronger, the bones grew together and hardened from year to year, the body was overgrown with powerful muscles and spikes that pushed the earth around. But despite all this, Reagan still could not break out and continued to wander in oblivion or focus on his own life energy, hoping that someday this would bring him the desired result.
And then one day he woke up from his oblivion. At first, he thought it was still a dream. He lay on the ground, but there was no more pressure. The whole earth around turned into a pile of dust and spread around in waves. In the middle of the waves of sand appeared a small man dressed in a white robe with bright soulful eyes.
For some time Reagan could not believe what was happening, but even if it was another dream, another scenario for his salvation, which he experienced over and over again, he still was not going to dismiss this dream. He was about to get out again!
It was because of the Magician that he found himself in such a situation, so that when he saw the Magician, he did not feel a drop of gratitude or joy, only suspicion and dislike. Answering the questions of the Magician, he still could not get to a conclusion all of this was dream or not, but every now and then he looked at the path leading out.
As soon as he heard that this Magician was not going to hold him back, he rushed to the exit without hesitation. Reagan struggled to his feet and had no idea if he could get out at all, but all he thought about was the sky and the stars, to look at them just one more time!
He broke through the tunnels with all his might, clinging to the passages and jumping again and again. In some kind of oblivion, he finally broke free and ran. He ran with all his might, feeling the wind on his face and looking up at the sky. His body crashed into trees and rocks, losing balance and falling to the ground, but he got up and ran. On his face was a wild delight smile and tears. What a great dream.
At first, he was very afraid that he would wake up and be locked up underground again, but time passed, and the dream did not end. Hours and days passed. With every moment, Reagan became more and more aware that this time everything was for real. He is really free. He swam in the swamp, climbed trees, studied the local flora and fauna.
Only a month later, he finally completely calmed down and accepted everything that had happened as well as his new appearance. Reagan realized that he somehow absurdly overcame the barrier of the Great Knight and went through evolution. He did not need air, but even there underground he learned to breathe, but he inhaled not air, but something else. Now, closing his eyes, he felt how with each breath the energy filled every cell of his body. He couldn't use any of the Knight's secret techniques, but his body was incredibly durable and contained unimaginable strength.
Reagan hardly realized how he managed to achieve such a result in the first place. Anyway if he really spent two thousand years in captivity to make such a breakthrough, then this method could not be called viable for anyone else.
In any case, now he wanted to go back to human society. Although he was a little afraid of the Mages, but he can’t live forever in the mountains and forests right? He then realized that he had not thought to ask about anything at that moment and now he had no idea where he was at all.
After some time, he decided to return to the only intelligent creature he met in these places, the Magician who dug him up and find out at least something. Assessing his strength, he realized that now he would no longer be as helpless as before, at least he could just run away. In addition, judging by how much time had passed, this Magician really did not pursue him. He began to follow his own footsteps.
On the way, Reagan met an elemental, namely Infernal. This carcass was two dozen meters tall. His humanoid body was composed of bizarre rock formations and was covered in green flames. The Infernal roared when he saw him and rushed to the attack. It is obvious that this Infernal did not have a full-fledged mind.
He had already seen similar creatures during the war, even a True Magician could not cope with this. However, Reagan wanted to test his current capabilities in a real fight, so he didn't immediately run away.
Dodging the giant's huge claw, he jumped towards Infernal's head and stabbed the side of his skull with his fist. Although Reagan's physical strength was prohibitive, he had not yet learned to control his own body properly. From the force of the blow, Infernal did not receive much damage, but Reagan was blown away in the opposite direction to the force of the blow. Despite all the strength of his body, the fist smoked and deformed. It became clear that the forces are unequal.
He no longer tempted fate and began to run. Although Infernal pursued him for some time, he soon completely lost sight of him and fell behind.
Returning to Tarrister territory and wandering around, Reagan soon realized that there was no one there. There were only traces of destruction around, indicating that someone was here. Having hesitantly entered the underground cave from which he once got out, he reached the first hall. There was a pedestal in the center of the hall.
As soon as he entered, the pedestal in the middle of the hall lit up and a vague figure of Sam appeared, projecting a voice message.
- There are no more sentient beings for a hundred kilometers around so I assume that you are Reagan. You did not ask questions, and I did not detain you because of your strange condition. Nearby lies a rough sketch of a map. This anomalous zone has not been explored by me, so I have noted only one location. Although with this map you can get out into the human world, but if I were you, I would not be in a hurry with this. All local creatures are either golems or undead or something similar, but as far as I know, anyone who tried to get out of the fog of this anomalous zone soon lost his mind. Your case is unique so I have no idea what will happen in your case. Do as you please, good luck.
.
Meanwhile, Steel has arrived at Tarrister Settlement.
It was already night. Sellinger put his son to bed and finished going through the paperwork in his office. The city and its environs developed at a tremendous speed, so there was enough paperwork.
Suddenly, an anomaly appeared in the wall behind Sellinger. The liquid silhouette of a metallic color silently flowed into the room and took on the appearance of Steel. The old man straightened his clothes and calmly looked around. In the next moment, he extended his palm and many thin steel needles materialized from it, which hit the sitting Sellinger. True Knight's entire body was instantly paralyzed.
- Where is Tarrister? - asked Steel.
Sellinger quickly realized that he was unable to move a single muscle, only to speak. Either way, he had nothing to hide regarding this question.
- Lord Tarrister left three years ago and has not been seen since. - having stopped for a moment, he asked - Since you are here, then, as expected, the lord is still alive?
Steel ignored the question.
- Where can he be?
- I have no idea. - Sellinger replied.
In the next moment, the needles pierced Sellinger's entire body, he suddenly became like a steel hedgehog. Despite his powerful body, he died almost instantly.
Steel turned to the small vase by the window.
- What about you?
The flower in the vase suddenly came to life and transformed into a humanoid form. He bowed to Steel.
- I'm sorry, Lord Steel. I am Creston head of the Leicester family. Tarrister killed Stephanie Leicester, so we took control of his settlement and conducted surveillance to find out his whereabouts, but to no avail. After the Melrose experiment, there were witnesses of the golden knight flying across the sky towards the anomalous zones three years ago, since then no information related to it has been received.
All the needles went back to Steel. Sellinger's corpse lay on the floor by the table. Steel examined the papers on the table, but found nothing of interest. Turning his attention back to the flower, he asked.
- Where is the nearest teleport to the empire of Taros?
