Stronghold

"You said your family had books on magical plants. Do you have experience cultivating Moonlight Flowers?" Dago asked her expectantly.

"Yes. Moonlight Flowers were the most commonly grown flowers at our family's wizard estate. When I was little, I used to pull them up and play with them every day."

Only when magical plants were mentioned did Selena's eyes glimmer with a faint light.

"Oh, is that so? Then how about we make a deal?"

Dago's eyes lit up as he looked at Selena like a greedy demon.

Selena's face turned pale with fright, and all sorts of tragic endings from wizard plays flashed through her mind.

"I'll provide you with Mental Potions, and you'll help me cultivate Moonlight Flowers. How does that sound?"

Dago said with amusement as he watched her reaction.

"Ah, ah, can I really do it? I've only read about the process of planting Moonlight Flowers in books. I've never tried it myself."

Selena was initially incredulous, then said uncertainly.

"It's fine. As long as you're willing to try, there'll always be a day when you grow one," Dago said indifferently.

"All right, then. I can try cultivating Moonlight Flowers for Lord Dago."

"Not for me—for yourself. This is paid work. I'm giving you Mental Potions."

Dago was amused and exasperated again. She was the kind of person who would help count the money after being sold.

As he spoke, he pulled a silver-white Mental Potion from his cloth bag and handed it to her.

"If you don't trust me, take it and try advancing to a Second-Level Apprentice Wizard first. Consider it my angel investment."

"But, but..." Selena began stammering again, rendered speechless.

Dago shoved it directly into her hand. "No more buts. Hurry up and get stronger. You don't want to see my investment fail either, do you?"

Selena could only accept it, clutching it tightly as she thought, His description of it as an angel investment really is vivid.

Dago's expression gradually turned solemn. "You may not understand what kind of enemies our Forest Patrol is facing."

"Only after truly fighting them would you understand. They're a pack of inhuman beasts who delight in torture and killing."

Deep down, Dago did not think the academy could hold out for long under the Duskblood Council's encirclement.

A pack of wolves had entered the sheepfold. Unless Ornn stepped in personally, how could they possibly win?

Most Black-Robed Wizards excelled at combat. In terms of actual battle experience, they far surpassed greenhouse flowers like these academy-trained wizards.

By Dago's estimate, it should take him two hours to complete an entire forest patrol route at his pace.

They would need to patrol three times a day—morning, noon, and night—to ensure the forest was not infiltrated by enemies. That would severely compress his cultivation time.

"There's no helping it. Everything is for the sake of protecting my own life. Only by staying alive can I keep progressing."

Dago shook his head and sighed inwardly.

Patrolling was a matter of luck to begin with. No one knew where an incident might suddenly occur, so Dago still felt that more patrols were better.

If he moved quickly enough, he should still be able to squeeze out some extra time for cultivation.

And so, the entire patrol route passed without incident.

The other two groups also gathered with Dago. After he explained his patrol arrangements, everyone said they had no objections.

Just as everyone was preparing to disperse, Dago made another suggestion. "If we live separately, accidents could easily happen. So I suggest we find a fixed stronghold and live together."

Everyone pondered and discussed the proposal. In the end, it was approved by everyone except Vissel.

Vissel's attitude was extremely firm. With no other choice, they settled on letting him abstain from the nighttime patrols.

"Helping sewer rats like you is already the greatest mercy. Asking me to live with you would practically be murder."

Vissel left those words behind and strode away.

Everyone's expressions changed, and their attitudes toward him grew much colder.

To accommodate old Mariko, everyone eventually decided to use Mariko's treehouse as the stronghold.

With Dago's Ice Crystal Technique, they did not have to worry about water. As for bathing, they only needed to build two washrooms beside the treehouse.

The housing issue was even easier to solve. Some pitched tents, while others built treehouses like Mariko's.

With the productivity of wizardry, an afternoon was enough to solve their housing problem.

Dago returned to the shelter. Looking at the little home that had accompanied him for half a year, he felt quite reluctant to leave it.

It might only be a temporary move, but who could say how long he would be gone?

After packing several sets of clothes, daily necessities, and his Potion Brewing equipment, he discovered an undeniable fact: he was truly frugal, and his home had bare walls.

Before long, everyone returned to Mariko's treehouse and enthusiastically began building their temporary homes.

Dago, Selena, and Evan and his wife chose to build wooden houses in the trees, while Ian and Gavin simply set up two tents.

It had to be said that after an afternoon of hard work, the stronghold really looked the part. They even put up a three-meter-high wooden fence and a watchtower.

The main reason was that Dago, the destroyer, was there. To everyone's astonishment, one Air Bullet felled one tree, saving them a great deal of time chopping wood.

Happy times always passed quickly. Amid everyone's laughter and chatter, the sun disappeared.

That night, Evan and his wife took charge of cooking. After eating their food, Dago wondered what kind of miserable life he had been living before!

They lit a bonfire and sat around it, chatting away—wizard gossip from the nearby forest regions, whose wizard's rooster had turned into a hen, and so on.

As they chatted, the topic eventually turned to Dago.

Ian asked Dago curiously, "Dago, how can you use your Meditation Technique again after such a short interval?"

Dago looked at him in confusion. "What interval? I don't understand what you mean."

"I mean, doesn't the Mental Mist in your Mental Space need replenishing from the Spirit World?"

Everyone looked at him like curious children.

Dago asked in return, "Mental Mist needs replenishing? Can't it just be continuously drawn in and refined?"

Ian immediately asked, "How large is the Mental Space opened by your Meditation Technique?"

Seeing this, Mariko quickly interjected, "It's bigger than yours anyway, right, Dago?"

Dago understood Mariko's meaning. It seemed that each wizard's Mental Space differed in size as well.

"Yes, yes."

Seeing Dago brush it off, Ian did not press further.

Night patrols were relatively more dangerous, and Vissel was absent, so they could only patrol in two groups covering each other's flanks.

Mariko's group remained unchanged, while Ian and Gavin, Vissel's little followers, were added to Dago's group.

Inside the cabin, Dago checked the supplies he needed to bring, then put on his Third-Level Apprentice robe and set out with the three of them.

Dago climbed down from the treehouse along the vines. Noticing the movement, Selena hurried toward him.

Now he had little followers too, with Ian and Gavin close behind him.

"Then let's begin." Dago waved his hand, and the Forest Patrol raised their torches and set off into the night.