Chapter 690: First Encounter, Annihilation - 1

"Leon, fly a little lower and slow down. Let's see the surroundings carefully in case we spot any useful plants or natural treasure," Leo instructed when Kaelion was about to direct the Skyreaver high up into the sky.

But Kaelion objected.

"What if we are suddenly attacked? It might cause us huge damage."

"Don't worry."

Snap!

Leo snapped his fingers as 4 layers of [Mountain Aura Dome] covered the whole of Skyreaver's frame.

Though it wasn't actually a dome, Leo encased the whole Skyreaver in a spherical turtle shell barrier, defending the spirit beast from all angles as it flew at a lower altitude.

Another snap, and 4 layers of the same spherical turtle-shell barrier appeared around Uraan's Falcon, which was flying with Uraan, who was riding it.

"Thanks, Lily!" Uraan said in the communication channel and flew a bit farther away to check for more areas as they flew.

Uraan thanked Lily, thinking she was using the skill, not realising that Leo had done it.

"Don't go more than 5 kilometres away from us!" Leo replied, and Uraan nodded.

However, no matter how much he wanted to distract the others, they had already caught on to this.

"What... is happening?" Ronan and Aaron asked.

Kaelion simply shook his head.

"Don't bother with their absurdities. I get to see new things every other day, even when I live right beside him."

Lyra suddenly realised something.

"Wait! Isn't the black lightning also Lily's skill? How are you both using the same skills?" she asked.

Lyra was thoroughly ignored by Leo and Lily as they continued their work.

Hmm, with Howl's trait boost to stamina, it's actually quite easy for me to maintain this barrier perpetually. Leo thought as he saw Uraan fly into the distance to act as a scout.

Leo had told him to remain within a 5-kilometre distance because he could easily contact them through Aeila's spirit link, and in case Uraan was ambushed, it would even take them only a few seconds to back him up.

Kaelion suddenly had an idea and reached up to Fruder in the back, who seemed to be trying his best to take in the surroundings and capture every detail possible to gather information about the topography.

Kaelion simply raised his palm up to his face, which startled the poor man. But the next second, a vision enhancement magic circle flared over his face, making it easy to look at and focus on distant objects.

He cast the same spell on Veronica and the other 2 destructive type alchemists to help them look at the surroundings and spot useful materials they would need.

Leo also instructed Uraan to keep an eye on the group in case they stopped, then kept flying.

He took the moment to ask about the weird spell that Kaelion had been using many times since they met. It actually formed intricate magic circles in front of their faces that rotated.

Leo wasn't capable of doing anything like that; he simply used raw force. The same was true for Lily and Miho.

Though he had seen Zharrissa do the same as Kaelion for her magic, hers seemed crude compared to Kaelion's refined one.

Another instance he had seen this was when Tarun summoned that huge ice sword to kill the Wind Amphithere.

"It's a different branch in magic studies," Kaelion explained.

"When a person's soul holds a rank, meaning they have mana in their bodies, even if they don't have any elemental affinities, they should be capable of wielding mana since they have it, right?"

Leo nodded, and he continued.

"This is where this branch of magic comes in. A person can learn to use non-elemental magic, such as the vision-enhancement magic I used, with the help of this study.

"And even though a person with an elemental affinity can use magic, these intricate magic circles help lower the mana cost and increase the skill's efficiency as well as proficiency due to the deep knowledge that is required."

Seeing that Leo wasn't getting things clearly, Kaelion simplified things.

"Think of it as using a formula. Instead of simply forcing mana into a skill, you use the magic circle as a structure to guide it. The more complex and precise the formula, the less mana is wasted and the better the spell performs.

"And for people with no affinity, these magic circles act like skills that they store in their brains and bodies instead of their souls."

Leo nodded.

"Then doesn't that mean I am being way too inefficient right now with my skill usage?" Leo asked.

"Kind of, but remember, these studies have only come into proper usage in the last century. Before that, everybody used to do the same as you are. Though you don't need to worry about that. Except when someone from an elite noble background is present, everybody else will be the same as you—people directly forcing their mana into skills to do things."

Did he not realise he just exposed himself as being from an elite noble background? Leo wryly thought and shook the thought off.

He would eventually learn about things in the academy. It hadn't even been a proper 6 months, and he needed to stay for a total of 20 years.

For now, they were currently travelling at a snail's pace—well, at least when compared to the norm.

At only 100 Km/h.

And even the altitude had dropped from the usual 3000 to 5000 meters down to just 300 meters. 300 meters felt so low that there were occasional trees that reached and crossed that height. And as they got closer to the centre, the height of the trees only grew.

And Leo had never expected that they would stop so much. Apparently, Veronica and the other 2 alchemists kept spotting useful plants, herbs, and treasures ranging from white to green, with the occasional blue.

Titanstem — Physical power-based.

Veloflora — Speed-based.

Quickshade Moss — Reflex-based.

Silvervein Herb — Mana regeneration based.

Boomthorn Fruit — Violent explosion based.

Fireseed — Rapid combustion based.

Embernut — Heat burst based.

Flux Moss — Ignition enhancer.

Ashroot — Smoke explosion based.

Sulphoricosa — Corrosion based.

Acidvine — Acid based.

Venom Moss — Flesh corrosion based.

Rotroot — Organic decay based.

...

..

.

And tons of others. It was getting so tiring to bring big beasts like the Skyreaver down again and again that Leo summoned Agnivar to have the 5 of them—3 alchemists and Fruder—alongside Leo gather all the things.

Agnivar was also covered in the same 4-layered turtle-shell.

But one thing was clear: the alchemists would have no shortage of materials anytime soon, and they could start to work the moment the place of the stronghold was decided.

Occasionally, some plants were defended by beasts, but Leo killed them in an instant to save time and stored their bodies away in case they were needed.

Things were going smoothly, and 5 hours had already passed.

But due to all the stops and detours, they had covered a net distance of just 100 Kilometers for their destination at the 1000th kilometre mark.

At that time, Uraan's voice echoed in everybody's ears.

"Elves! Careful!"