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Actually, I don't think there's much difference. Whether it's mechanical or magical, you can just take it apart.

The Exterminator Prototype is safely stored in Mel's spatial ring. Come to think of it, these Machine Zealots are really too unbalanced. Reynold has a gleaming spatial ring (in the legendary era, this was part of a standard mage's set; in modern times, it's part of a wealthy mage's set), such an eye-catching high-level alchemical artifact—and they actually left it all to Reynold?

The body search only resulted in the taking of a wallet from his coat pocket... but tragically, Reynold doesn't seem to have the habit of carrying cash.

We were walking... I don't know how long we walked, but I was just following Reynold, who was scouting ahead. He kept thinking back and, with his sixth sense as the chairman, he figured out a way. After we passed through a tunnel, there was a small square hall ahead. Further ahead, there was another tunnel, gray and gloomy, with some inexplicable protrusions on the walls.

Because we found some traces of modern human activity, we guessed that we might have come to the right place.

Reynold was particularly serious; he rummaged through his spatial ring, pulled out a cloth bag, and tossed it forward—

"Cough cough cough..." Mel quickly teleported and pulled me to the back of the line. I reacted quickly and pressed down the Transformation Spell that he had already prepared.

Reynold's back stiffened inexplicably, but he still said seriously, "Laser! There's a laser generator on the wall. The high-temperature laser can slice a human body in an instant! Look—"

Indeed, after he sprinkled that handful of ash, the smoke and dust made the clear air murky, and thus streaks of red light appeared in the corridor.

"Follow me! Do as I say!" Reynold said, stretching his limbs before taking the lead and, with surprising chivalry, climbing into the laser beams.

I watched as his body twisted and turned with incredible flexibility, sometimes bending over, sometimes lying on the ground, and occasionally sticking his legs up and his buttocks out, swiftly passing through the dangerous laser beams, leaving me in awe.

The agile Reynold slipped through the line with incredible ease, got up from the ground, but a lot of the dust he had scattered was stuck in his hair, making him look twenty years older.

Then he turned around, stood up straight, and looked at us from the other side of the tunnel.

"Why didn't you guys keep up?!" Reynold stamped his foot in frustration.

I...

I couldn't help but sigh, not wanting to say anything, and waved my hand. Moli immediately understood.

The child wasn't very familiar with the spell; she needed to chant it and use hand gestures to locate it. However, the distance was very short, and I didn't think she had any chance of failing. Moli raised her right hand, pointed forward, and quickly muttered the spell—so fast I didn't even hear it—and then all we could see was Reynold's dusty back of his head.

"A... Group Teleportation?" Reynold blinked blankly, then turned around stiffly.

Moli nodded obediently.

"While your chanting is indeed fast, your casting speed still needs improvement. If you chant any longer, it'll just look like you've talked yourself hoarse before finally managing to move!" I criticized. "For other spells, like the Thousand Flames Burn the City, your speed is acceptable, but Teleportation emphasizes the word 'instantaneous.' Anything over a second isn't instantaneous anymore!"

Moli nodded earnestly. "Yes, I will continue to practice!"

"... This is an eighth-level spell, isn't it...?" Reynold said weakly.

Anna exclaimed, "Level 8? Wow, isn't that the essential support spell for climbing the stairs of the Mage Tower? If you can't teleport and rely solely on your legs, you're going to be a walking champion! Luckily, the Mage Tower only prohibits apprentices from flying around, not teleporting!"

Reynold... Reynold looked like he wanted to plunge back into the laser beams.

This made me feel a little bad, so I could only comfort him, "It's okay, this... well, how should I put it, it's not your fault. Because you're different from us, you haven't received any proper magical education, so... it's somewhat forgivable."

... Huh? Did I say something wrong? No, I didn't!

Reynold definitely didn't apprentice under a teacher! Didn't he just get his diploma from the academy? Why does he look like he's about to faint?

After a while, Reynold seemed to have recovered a bit. He threw the bag away, sighed, and said to us, "It's obvious that further ahead, this area has been converted into a base for Machine Zealots."

Then he said sincerely, "Next time we go through a tunnel, if you can teleport, please don't wait for me to finish climbing before you move, okay? Please take me with you."

"Oh..." I felt a little guilty. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you wanted to climb over there. After all, even a normal mage wouldn't climb over there!"

Reynold looked unsteady, but he still bravely waved his hand, gesturing for us to follow him.

We nodded and continued walking.

For convenience, Mel had Anna begin practicing group invisibility.

However, as we passed through an electronic door that was clearly from a new building, even though Anna's Invisibility Spell was flawless, the door suddenly slammed shut behind us, emitting a sharp, piercing alarm.

We all looked at Reynold, Reynold said expressionlessly, even numbly, "Oh, this is infrared detection; it looks at body temperature, not images."

I nodded, then asked, "Which one is the alarm?"

Reynold casually pointed to an unidentified protrusion next to the small red light. I trusted Reynold in the fields of mechanics and Magitech, so I threw a freeze spell at it, and sure enough, the sound stopped.

I sensed that Reynold was clearly maintaining a nonchalant attitude as he said, "Let's go. This alarm should be connected to their local network, so even if there's no sound, it will still show up on the terminal."

"A local area network?" Mel asked. "They can access the internet? Then why can't our phones?"

"The local area network is wired, and the mobile phone is wireless." Reynold's words were concise and to the point.

Mel nodded to Reynold, and it seemed his opinion of Reynold was also starting to improve.

The moment he nodded, I subconsciously glanced at Mel's profile. Mel's nose was high, definitely higher than mine, and very beautifully shaped. Sometimes he would kiss me a little too eagerly, and if I wasn't positioned correctly, our noses would bump together, making my nose sting. And I could see Mel's eyes were practically drooling...

Mel's eyes reflected my face, which reminded me of my first teacher's girlfriend. My first teacher fell in love with a witch, a... well, a witch who liked to act mysterious with a crystal ball. Her real Magic Power was frost, so her crystal ball was purely decorative. I had seen my own reflection in that Magic Power, magicless crystal ball.

I took a half step back to make sure there was nothing around me.

The next second, before I could cast a soul protection spell on myself, I saw a light, a dazzling golden light. But as the caster, I resisted the conditioned reflex of closing my eyes and suppressed my instinctive attack—because I sensed the sacred aura within that light.

I didn't move. The light was instantly magnified countless times, transforming from a sliver of light into a world-destroying power. The entire sky was brilliant and blazing, the rich gold seeming to ignite the sky and earth, evaporating rivers and mountains. But I still suppressed the howls of my fellow disciples in my mind, held down my restless teacher, and at the last moment, twisted the spellcasting hand gesture I was reflexively making into a heart shape.

A magnificent flash of gold streaked past, as if it were an illusion...

That might have been my hallucination. Suddenly, I saw a golden flame in front of me. Although it was intense and brilliant, it was definitely not enough to burn the whole world. The underground ruins were still intact, and I was even standing in the same spot. The holy flame was dancing in front of me. It was a small ball, about the size of a fist, burning silently in Goliath's palm.

The Paladin Commander now looks like a relief on the Temple wall has come to life—I mean, he now perfectly embodies the standard image of a paladin from legendary tales, or to put it more simply, he looks like he's traveled through time. He's serious and handsome, with pursed lips and a stern face, radiant and majestic, with a straight back and a slender figure, probably even more upright than his spear!