But a powerful soul should be accompanied by powerful Psionic Energy, yet the human before him was clearly of a Low Tier Low Tier, with nothing unusual about him.
The feeling was like a craftsman creating an extremely ordinary item using three extremely rare materials, leaving the lich completely bewildered.
Split another branch, and ahead appeared what seemed to be a fairly flat open field.
[ The Dark Archmage ] pointed to the faintly visible spire of the ancient castle in the distance:
That's our destination.
Willow looked into the distance and couldn't help but sigh:
"With your abilities, you've managed to explore this far from the camp."
The Dark Archmage shook his head and pointed to a thick tree not far away:
"If it weren't for you, I would have been teleported back long ago."
"Teleport?"
Willow was immediately shocked:
"You can actually use teleportation?"
The Dark Archmage realized he had made a slip of the tongue.
Do I consider myself to know how to use teleportation?
If that doesn't count, then what about my usual travels between White Wax Town and the ancient castle?
If we count, there are at least a thousand Soul Returner in the camp who can use teleportation within their territory. What they have in common is that they can only teleport between certain special points, and they can only activate the teleportation when they are at a specific point.
After thinking for a while, she finally found a reason that aligned with her worldview:
"We don't teleport; our lord has simply established numerous anchor points within our territory for our use. However, these anchor points are only accessible to us, and you likely won't be able to activate them."
It turned out to be a fixed teleportation array...
Willow felt a sense of relief without even realizing it.
If even a Low Tier Low Tier can use teleportation freely, then what about someone like myself who only recently learned teleportation?
She smiled and looked at the [ Dark Archmage ]:
"So you can teleport to that castle quickly?"
"That's right."
"Then you send it first, and I'll send it to you using my own method. That will save a lot of time."
Now it was the [ Dark Archmage's ] turn to be surprised:
"You can teleport? Why didn't you use it before?"
Willow smiled and asked in return:
"Then why didn't you use it just now?"
[ The Dark Archmage ] immediately understood. Just as she had been unilaterally "taking care" of this shaman, this shaman must also give face to those ordinary humans when he was with those herdsmen. Otherwise, a shaman who teleports around all day to show off would be a bit too inhuman.
"Okay, so will you be able to find me?"
"If you agree to let me leave a temporary mark on your soul, then it's fine."
"No problem."
The Dark Archmage nodded, Willow's short staff touched her shoulder, instantly sending a chill through her.
"Okay, don't worry, the mark will disappear in five minutes."
The player shrugged, turned, and walked into the hollow tree not far away. Willow, on the other hand, focused her mind, activated her Psionic Energy vision, and looked into the distance, intending to see where this human would appear.
However, a shocking scene unfolded before her eyes: in Willow's Psionic Energy vision, a blurry soul, carrying its own Psionic Energy mark, began to race wildly toward the distant castle, driven by an unknown force.
She didn't know where that power came from, nor why a soul could leave a body, but she knew one thing—this was definitely not teleportation!
The soul carrying the mark eventually stopped in a faraway place. Willow sensed that her mark had stopped moving, so she waved her staff, a magic circle appeared beneath her feet, and disappeared in a flash.
After a series of incredibly realistic real-time animated sequences, the [ Dark Archmage ] appeared in a tree hollow closest to the castle.
She stepped out of the tree hollow and looked at the crowd of people coming and going, a sense of familiarity welling up in her heart.
She had just bought an insurance policy nearby a few hours ago, and now she was back here to turn in the quest. She even saw that straightforward young female Dragonborn woman selling insurance to her former employer...
Isn't this a bit too dedicated?
The next moment, a light flashed beside the Teleportation Tree, and Willow appeared out of thin air at a height of twenty or thirty centimeters above the ground, landing with a "thud".
This is because she still cannot accurately determine the coordinates of the teleportation destination, and can only leave herself some leeway.
But seeing that the [ Dark Archmage ] beside her showed no disdain but rather envy, Willow felt no joy at all.
Just by looking at this person's expression, one could roughly gauge the strength of this camp.
Low Tier Upper Grade, that's all.
It seems that the so-called Second Holy See and its promise of tolerance are just slogans for survival. A settlement without even Middle Tier combat power is no different in essence from the nomads they are escorting.
This is definitely not the end of her mission; she must continue forward until she finds a human force with whom she can entrust her teacher's research findings.
"Ms. Willow, this way."
[ The Dark Archmage ] pointed in the direction of the castle and led the way for Willow.
But Willow's gaze was already drawn to the people around her—
A half-dragon was carrying a heavy-looking log toward a construction site; a humanoid creature with four arms was simultaneously cutting two sets of logs; a half-vegetable human with vines extending from the side of its neck was fighting another half-vegetable human whose hands Alienation into cone shapes; and in the distance, a figure clad in lifeless metal armor was leisurely riding a horse...
A shaken Willow realized she had come to the wrong place.
There are no humans left here!
No, no... Humans must still exist. Willow dismissed the thought and quickly caught up with the [ Dark Archmage ], wielding her short staff and casting an Area Detection Spell.
A gentle surge of Psionic Energy swept across the entire castle camp, bringing Willow a wealth of information.
"Clatter."
When the Dark Archmage turned around to check if Willow had followed, he suddenly noticed that the woman was already kneeling on the ground, leaning forward and reaching for her fallen staff.
"Ms. Willow, are you alright?"
[ The Dark Archmage ] quickly stepped forward to support the strangely behaving NPC, only to feel that the hand she was holding was trembling uncontrollably, and the NPC was muttering incantations:
"Dragon dragon dragon dragon dragon..."
"Ah, you mean Miss Seraphina?"
[ The Dark Archmage ] pointed to the obsidian hut not far away:
"Unless something special happens, Seraphina is usually there."
Willow followed the finger to the obsidian cabin, her pale blue eyes brimming with Psionic Energy meeting a pair of golden eyes.
"Huh!"
Willow shuddered, instantly feeling a cold sweat break out on her back, and quickly looked away in another direction.
"Ms. Willow, the area ahead is the castle's ' Inverted Staircase.' The gravitational distortion is normal; you don't need to be alarmed."
"Okay, okay."
Willow agreed softly, looking up at the castle from the Shattered and chaotic staircase.
In the lingering psionic Psionic Energy, Willow saw a swirling mass of pure black.
"Oh, Ms. Willow? Ms. Willow, why did you faint?"