Castle, study.
Ed suddenly closed the experimental record in his hand and gently tapped the sapling in his eye socket:
" Little Green, do you have any strange feelings?"
A response quickly came to mind:
It seems like it is, but it also seems like it isn't.
"Is this pure nonsense?" Ed thought to himself, then elaborated:
"I suddenly feel a strange sense of fullness. Did you eat something you shouldn't have? I feel like my Psionic Energy has increased."
The voice in my head disappeared for a moment before I answered:
"Hmm, there was indeed a strange Psionic Energy appearing just now. I was a bit hungry while laying down my Root Network, so I absorbed it."
"Is that your Psionic Energy? And why did you absorb it? Besides, Psionic Energy is everywhere in this world, why did you only absorb that one burst?"
"That Psionic Energy feels more refined than usual."
"What, is this batch of goods purer than the previous ones?"
"That's true. After all, the world has collapsed to this state, and as you know, the first thing affected by the surge of Demonic Tide is the purity of Psionic Energy, so ordinary Psionic Energy is naturally toxic."
Little Green thought for a moment and then said:
"I figured even if this Psionic Energy were released, nobody would want it..."
What did you see in my memory this time?
Ed was about to say something more when a notification suddenly appeared in front of him: the [ Dark Archmage ], who had accepted a random quest, had arrived in the castle hall.
He put down his "extracurricular reading" and got up to leave the study and head to the hall.
With the help of the [ Dark Archmage's ] eyes, Ed had already seen the name of this shepherd shaman and some basic information about him.
So why would a lich become a shaman for human nomads?
Are the liches in this world directly bred or transformed from humans?
And does she understand Blood Corpse, and can she be of any help?
These are the problems Ed is currently facing, and he hopes that this lich can at least help him solve some of them.
Ed entered the castle hall from the staircase and saw the [ Dark Archmage ] dragging an unconscious humanoid creature. Upon closer inspection, Ed realized that it was the lich he had just been thinking about.
What's going on?
Ed looked at the innocent-looking Soul Returner:
"What's wrong with her?"
[ The Dark Archmage ] shook his head:
"I'm not entirely sure either. Ms. Willow just asked me some questions, then saw Seraphina, and finally looked up at the sky, and that's how it turned out."
Ed looked at the lich who had fallen into a deep sleep and whispered in his mind:
"I think I know where that Psionic Energy came from."
After saying it in his mind, Ed felt a kind of deliberate innocence, similar to whistling, and wondered where this tree had learned this sugar-fueled acting skill from.
"I was wondering if it's possible she overwhelmed her with too much Psionic Energy and passed out? Should we give the Psionic Energy back to her?"
The Little Green in my mind shook its head repeatedly:
"It's impossible. That's already our Psionic Energy. She's neither a plant you created nor a body you sculpted. There's no way we can perform that kind of manipulation."
Ed fell silent, but his hands didn't stop moving. The winding vines on the ground transformed into a simple folding bed, placing Willow beside him. Ed then inquired in detail about what had happened to the [ Dark Archmage ].
After some conversation, the quest completion screen finally appeared in front of the player. [ Dark Archmage ] left the castle satisfied and headed in another direction to begin a new reconnaissance mission.
As for the plot?
They'll find out eventually, whether from official encyclopedias or cyber historians.
" Willow Seretima."
Someone is calling my name.
Have you forgotten your mission?
Mission? What mission?
"If you can't do it, then die."
What? Why would I want to die?
"Please assume the role of shaman for now and escort the tribe to safety. I will reward you as much as possible."
Yes, hasn't the payment been made yet?
"About our lord..."
Oh right, I think I'm going to see a lord...
Lord... Castle... Aberration... Black Hole...
Willow suddenly opened her eyes, and the stone wall covered with cracks and vines came into view. Her fingers touched the regularly overlapping vines beneath her.
What place is this?
After a brief moment of shock, she immediately recalled the situation before she lost consciousness: a black hole, a Psionic Energy black hole.
If Psionic Energy is likened to flowing water, then that black hole is an absolute cliff.
All the Psionic Energy used to unleash the Detection Spell was swallowed up by the black hole, and the entity was even continuing to absorb the surrounding dissipated Psionic Energy.
Wide- Area Detection Spell differs from single-entity Detection Spell. The latter enhances perception and analyzes the Psionic Energy dissipated from objects, while the former actively fills an area with one's own Psionic Energy and analyzes the fluctuations caused by the transmission of one's Psionic Energy to matter.
Therefore, when an object capable of indiscriminately absorbing Psionic Energy appears, it will naturally appear as a black hole in the Psionic Energy field of vision, without any feedback.
As for the accumulation of Psionic Energy, with the current outbreak of the Demonic Tide, every bit of Psionic Energy is what sorcerers like her have saved up to store in their bodies. If they want to replenish it, they can only slowly purify the polluted Psionic Energy.
The Psionic Energy from the Area Detection Spell should theoretically be recycled, although the process is not entirely without loss, Willow is able to keep the loss rate below five percent.
As a result, the black hole had just devoured at least 30% of her Psionic Energy. The combined effects of the heartache, fear, and the loss of Psionic Energy on her body caused this Middle Tier adult lich to lose her composure and her vision to go black.
Faced with this unknown situation, the lich instinctively planned to cast another Detection Spell, but suddenly remembered his previous experience, and the Psionic Energy that had already begun to circulate subsided.
Let's observe with our eyes first...
"Hey, you're awake?"
"Huh?"
Just as Willow was about to pretend to be dead for a while, she suddenly heard a voice. It was a very standard language from the pre -Demonic Tide Kingdom, within the scope of her teacher's instruction.
"Uh, he's awake."
Willow sat up somewhat awkwardly from the vine-covered folding bed. The vines beneath her quickly began to transform, soon re-weaving into a chair that placed her in front of Ed.
The young lich looked at the human lord before her, a handsome young man who appeared to be only a teenager. The tender green sapling protruding from his left eye socket and his pure white hair complemented each other perfectly, giving the lich, whose aesthetic sense had been Aberration by seeing so many mutated demons, the feeling of having tasted something delicious.
Ed was also sitting in a wicker chair, with a small makeshift table between them.