The Verdant Festival celebration was indeed exceptionally lively. The festivities were mainly held in Konola City's central square, and every major road along the way was packed with people. Even nobles riding carriages toward the front of the square, ordering their servants to loudly berate the commoners, could not dampen the crowd's enthusiasm. Everyone wore green clothing, squeezing about in the streets like a heap of vegetables, making for a rather comical sight.
Punk realized that there was no hope of seeing the performances from the back. Even the magically amplified music was drowned out by the deafening clamor of the crowd. Since he was in a good mood, Punk decided to head toward the front for a look.
Although the people were excited, they had not grown so excited that they had lost their senses. When they saw a mysterious and powerful-looking mage walking toward the square, they still anxiously made room and kept their distance from Punk. Thanks to that, Punk easily made his way to the square without suffering another terrifying crush like people scrambling for discounted goods on Earth.
In the square, a huge horn inscribed with a magic array played light, lively music. Eight or nine beautiful, slender young women in rather revealing emerald-green dresses danced happily to the rhythm. Whenever they leaped, their short green skirts, which barely covered half their thighs, fluttered upward and revealed their fair legs, prompting waves of howls from the men below! Though the people farther away did not know why anyone was excitedly "howling," they joined in out of herd mentality. The result was the grand spectacle of the entire city cheering.
Since nobles and professionals were relatively scarce, even though they had all gathered near the stage, they remained inconspicuous amid the tightly packed mass of ordinary people.
However, Punk possessed the keen eyesight of a level-two ranger. At a glance, he spotted Kane among the crowd, howling along with a large group of commoners. Watching that fellow whistle and gesture continuously at the girls onstage, Punk felt that greeting him would be far too embarrassing, so he simply pretended not to see him.
Still, he had actually advanced to the Journeyman Level too. It seemed he hadn't stopped moving forward during this time. Punk sharply noticed that Kane's level of strength was no weaker than his own. He increasingly felt that this guy was not as frivolous as he appeared.
The performance continued. Though it could not compare to the endless variety of dances on Earth, it possessed a unique natural grace and lightness. Even a composed mage like Punk, who had been exposed to countless stars on Earth, had to admit that the laughing girls onstage were truly lovely in their nimble movements. Watching their elegant yet lively dance, Punk felt the taut string in his heart, which had remained tense ever since coming to the Faerun plane, relax considerably.
Sudden incidents were called sudden incidents because they always arrived without warning—
Just as the entire celebration reached its peak, a figure dressed entirely in deep ink-green stepped out of a suddenly appearing gate of light. He stood atop the towering city wall. Though he was high up, far away, and as inconspicuous as could be, no one in the square could ignore him. When that terrifying pressure descended, the air throughout the square seemed to freeze. Every sound and every voice, whether singing or shouting, came to an abrupt halt. Only the man-sized horn continued playing music that no one appreciated anymore. People farther away, who had not felt the pressure, quickly noticed that something was wrong and gradually stopped their chatter and noise. In less than a minute, the once-boisterous festival had turned into a strange and silent "solo horn concert."
Feeling the chillingly powerful pressure, Punk looked at the green-robed powerhouse on the city wall with confusion and apprehension—a Formal Mage. It was his first time experiencing the crushing suppression brought by a Formal Mage's overwhelming Soul Level. Yet Punk had no time to speculate over just how unfathomably powerful a Formal Mage was. What puzzled him even more was why a Formal Mage had appeared here and deliberately released such terrifying pressure, interrupting the joyous celebration at its height. Punk did not believe this was some carefully planned surprise performance. There was only one Formal Mage in all of Konola City: Mainesi, the Mage Guild branch president, whom the old mage respectfully called "my lord"! His conspicuous appearance with such fanfare could only mean that something major had happened!
"The celebration is over. This year's Verdant Festival celebration ends here. All city guards currently on leave are to have their leave canceled and report back to the army immediately!" Mainesi announced this staggering news in an unquestionable tone. Then he opened another gate of light, stepped inside, and vanished.
As the Formal Mage departed, the terrifying pressure disappeared as well. After a brief moment of stunned silence, scattered murmurs began to rise among the crowd. As time passed, the localized noise quickly turned into widespread commotion. The people's joy swiftly faded, and an atmosphere of panic rapidly spread. Ordinary people might not have much knowledge, but they were certainly not fools. Formal Mage Mainesi's order undoubtedly meant that something bad was happening!
"Everyone disperse immediately! I repeat, disperse immediately! Otherwise, you will be punished for causing disorder!" Soldiers soon began loudly driving away the commoners. Out of fear of the soldiers, people hurried away. Those returning to their shops locked their doors, while those returning home shut themselves inside. Very quickly, amid the soldiers' harsh shouts and opportunistic extortion, the streets that had been bustling with the Verdant Festival celebration became filled with the stillness of an approaching storm. Only the grass wreaths abandoned by panicked people on the streets proved that just minutes ago, this had still been a joyous festival scene.
Punk also returned to his laboratory. However, for a Journeyman Mage, gathering information did not necessarily require leaving home. A Journeyman Level Divination Spell—Mage Eye—could gather a great deal of outside intelligence without him ever stepping out the door.
An invisible little energy eye, giving off only the faintest magical fluctuations, emerged from Punk's fingertip. Punk suddenly felt as if he had gained another field of vision, one provided by the magical eyeball. He could control this magical eyeball, which could remain active for half an hour, and let it roam freely, clearly seeing things no differently from what his own eyes could see. Of course, he had to be careful not to let the fragile eyeball crash into anything. This detection spell had no defensive capabilities whatsoever!
Controlling the magical eyeball, Punk sent it slowly into the air. The Divination Spell showed that something was happening near the city gate, so the magical eyeball headed there first...
Through the airborne eyeball's perspective, Punk saw groups of soldiers entering through the city gate. Not a single commoner could be seen nearby. On the Faerun plane, the army was, to most commoners, synonymous with brutality, greed, and lawlessness—the cold blade nobles used to oppress the people, a terrifying presence to be avoided at all costs. However, for the soldiers entering the gate, having no spectators was actually a good thing. Their armor was covered in dust and had lost all its shine. Several wounded soldiers had bandages stained red by seeping blood. They all looked utterly listless. Though they tried hard to maintain heroic postures, Punk could still sense the deep exhaustion they could not conceal!
This was a defeated army in retreat! Punk reached that conclusion with certainty!
War was about to begin. Where were the votes and bookmarks?
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