Nighttime Assault

Number Nine Floating City, Oinrich's Workshop.

With a splitting headache, ' Lai ' slowly spoke to Oinrich.

"Your Excellency Oinrich, please continue, I can still hold on."

"Tell me more about that [Time-Ascending Stance] spell; I don't remember it yet," she added.

Oinrich didn't answer immediately. He stared at ' Lai ' in silence for a long time before finally uttering a sentence.

"You still react this strongly?"

' Lai ' nodded emphatically in response.

Oinrich sighed deeply and said with a hint of doubt:

"This is the hundredth time I've said it, but you still haven't remembered."

"My memory is somewhat worse than other mages', I'm really troubling Oinrich," ' Lai ' said, feigning embarrassment.

"No, it's not that you don't remember, but rather that your brain is trying to understand this knowledge, which is why you're experiencing such intense pain."

These words startled ' Lai ', and then Oinrich continued:

"A normal Third Order Mage would struggle with this kind of knowledge for a long time, but after I explain it two or three times, the effect will not worsen."

"This is because their brains have given up on understanding this knowledge and instead memorized it deeply, storing it deep within their minds."

"This is normal. When they advance to the Fourth Order, their brains will experience a brief period of intense processing, causing a slight headache, as they begin to understand this knowledge."

"But you're different. I don't know what's so special about you, but your brain is still constantly trying."

"That's enough for now. I'm taking those books and materials with me to prevent you from looking at them."

"I will allow you to continue after your pain subsides and I observe you for a while."

"If your pain persists, just tell me and I'll prescribe some medication for you."

Oinrich spoke with a very serious expression, as if he took ' Lai's' unusual reaction very seriously.

This was a reaction he had never seen before, and ' Lai ''s' behavior after the headache was also abnormal.

A normal mage would feel fear when faced with the pain that knowledge brings, but would also have the courage to overcome it. However, ' Lai ' showed an overwhelming thirst for knowledge.

She endured the pain and asked him to explain again and again. Each time he explained, she seemed to hear celestial music, her expression blank. After the explanation, her pain would slightly intensify.

Oinrich was worried that this might have some negative consequences for ' Lai ', so he stopped.

This overshadowed another kind of curiosity in his heart: Could she really learn it?

Although ' Lai ' was still a little reluctant, she had no choice but to give up given what Oinrich had said.

She looked at her Panel, where the four Arts that had changed as Oinrich had described them had undergone new transformations.

Aside from two Arts that remain in a state of uncertainty, the name of one more Arts has been revealed.

[Arts: Time-Ascending Stance (Unskilled) (Proficiency: 7/10): The user will ascend to a higher point in the time dimension. Everything you do will be reflected in the time dimension, but the user body will still be damaged by the current time dimension.]

Time Overflow (Beginner) (Proficiency: 1/10):????

The former ' Lai ' probably already understands what the effect is, while the latter ' Lai ' doesn't quite understand yet.

Although the former is described in its introduction as ascending to a higher point in the time dimension, in reality, only the user's behavior will ascend to a higher point.

To put it simply, if ' Lai ' were participating in a 100-meter race, and someone with a great ability to compress space could stand on the finish line at the start of the race, he would still only be able to finish second.

Then ' Lai ' can use this spell to advance all her actions; in the time dimension, she can even reach the destination in '-X' seconds.

In actual combat, it would be like ' Lai ' casting a spell, which would normally be released three seconds later, after one casting cycle, to cause an impact.

This spell allows the spell to be cast immediately at the very beginning of the channeling process.

Her body would still be vulnerable to damage from enemies in this state.

This is roughly how the spell is used. If ' Lai ' plays it well later, he might be able to cancel it when it's cast, without having to go through the casting process again, and become a spell machine gun, unleashing all his spells.

Of course, ' Lai ' is far from reaching that level, and even after she has been tinkering with the Fourth Order for a while, she still may not reach that level.

On another note, although ' Lai ' didn't make the other Arts in the Arts bar show their specific names, ' Lai ' was still able to deduce that [Time-Ascending Stance] should have a reverse version.

This reverse version is not used for attacking or acting on others, but rather as an extremely powerful protective spell.

"If I could keep rewinding my body to three seconds in the past, wouldn't no harm be able to hurt me?"

' Lai ' estimated that Oinrich should have similar spells, but this should obviously belong to one of the two Arts whose names she still doesn't know.

Drawn by these powerful spells, Lai endured his headache and had Oinrich explain them again and again.

To be honest, because of the severe headache, she couldn't even remember that this was the hundredth time she had given the lecture.

When Harbos explained the Energy-Forging Method, he didn't take this long either. Was it because Oinrich's knowledge was far more advanced?

' Lai ' guessed, and then a sharp, stabbing headache struck the top of her head.

"Don't think so much. What you need most right now is rest." Oinrich glanced at ' Lai ', and ' Lai ' obediently agreed, closing his eyes and trying not to think about anything.

Oinrich's eyes conveyed concern as he looked at ' Lai ', worried that ' Lai ' would stay there in his current condition.

So, as soon as ' Lai ' caught his breath and the pain in his head subsided, he immediately spoke up.

"' Lai,' I'm going to the Lohan Archipelago next, and you'll have to come with me in your current condition."

"The Lohan Archipelago, isn't that the front line?" The thought flashed through ' Lai's' mind; one of her bodies was still on the Lohan Archipelago.

She then realized that this was also an opportunity.

"I can go with you."

Oinrich nodded in satisfaction and said slowly:

"Then you should rest first. I need to inform Valerie that I have some matters to attend to here, which will take at least five days."

' Lai ' nodded as well.

On the second night after Fran's first landing on Sea Blue Island, many temporary tin-roofed bungalows had already been erected on the scorched earth.

Fran was bored and kept picking at her fingers at her desk. She had no work to do at the moment, but according to the rules, she was required to sit at her desk.

Surrounded by other mages, Fran couldn't easily begin practicing her Arts or crafting Alchemy Device here, so she could only pick at her fingers.

She glanced sideways at the table on the other side. Monica wasn't at her seat. The minister was quite busy, though still a bit more relaxed than the new members who were entrusted with important tasks.

The next table was Talia's work desk, where she was leaning over it, constantly checking the contents of the reports.

The other party was Monica's deputy, so their work ability was undoubtedly excellent; otherwise, Monica would have replaced them with a younger mage long ago.

Fran glanced at Talia from time to time, and finally, just as Talia put down what she was holding, Fran stepped forward and slowly spoke.

"Venerable Talia, could you explain the principles behind this application?"

Talia glanced at her sideways with some displeasure; she disliked being disturbed the most.

But when she saw that it was Fran who had disturbed her, all her dissatisfaction vanished, not for any other reason than the package full of gold bricks that Fran had given her last time.

Although she only received three gold bricks in the end, it doesn't mean that Fran only had ten gold bricks.

Earning such a position with ten gold bricks is really like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

What do you want to ask?

"I want to ask about the qualified work order form. It says that if the application is for a difficult problem, it needs to be evaluated according to the process and the urgency level. How can I get it approved quickly?"

Talia's gaze towards Fran turned somewhat unpleasant. This was a work-related matter, but a little thought revealed that Fran might be trying to abuse her power for personal gain.

But in the end, the three gold bricks Fran gave her last time were really too much.

Monica and Talia managed to watch Fran cause five or six major incidents and then help her cover them up. It wouldn't be a bad idea to explain to Fran how these work orders work.

"Actually, you don't need to pay any attention to that process evaluation. Almost all work orders that come to us are approved by higher-ups; we simply can't refuse them."

"There are also emergencies, and that's where things get interesting. Actually, most mages don't describe the emergency situation. But if there are certain keywords, then the work order will be ranked at the top of the department."

"There are also seals from other departments. If you have these, you can use the information on the seal to allocate resources to those departments. Even if those departments are unwilling, they can't refuse because the seal is on the document."

Talia taught Fran many skills about work processes, and Fran learned a lot from them, writing them all down.

Just as Talia paused to catch her breath, an alarm suddenly went off outside.

"Attention all departments! Enemy attack! The Floating City was on a mission twenty minutes ago, but it has been cancelled and they are now en route here. All mages, please raise your shields and do not stray from the main force."

Our reinforcements will arrive soon.

"Were we attacked?" Fran looked at Talia, Talia was at a loss, completely unprepared for the situation.

However, she had thoroughly studied the specific rules and regulations and knew what the right thing to do was in this situation.

"Everyone, gather together, keep in formation, we're heading towards the dormitory."

The more isolated a mage is, the more dangerous it becomes. Since it's nighttime now, the dormitories are where the most mages are, so going there will likely allow you to avoid danger.

Talia's idea was good, but the enemy wouldn't wait that long out of consideration for her.

A ferocious dragon roar came from the corridor, and a large hole was torn in the sheet metal, from which several dragon heads emerged.

A Fran had never seen before, but who had many connections with her, stepped out. Nolan's face was very gloomy. He didn't want to attack these mages, but he had no choice.

"Alright, a few mages, step forward. If you cooperate, I don't want to hurt you."