Days passed, and the Lidia family neither released their captives nor held trials. With no further actions from either the Policing Team or the Patrol Team, Mongna Ant Land Cottage sank into a bizarre calm.
Many understood that this tranquility was only temporary, much like the calm before a storm.
“Boom.”
That day, accompanied by a muffled sound, the Ant Being barrier vibrated noticeably, causing the vast campus to tremble slightly as well.
Hearing the disturbance, Ivan hurried to the Twin Towers, his eyes settling on the dome in the center of the campus. He saw sections of it falling off in large chunks, vanishing amidst the chaos of swirling energies.
“The defensive barrier might not drop to 22 runes bundles, it seems. Over the years, the Lidia family has indeed been negligent in maintaining the barrier, and now they have no excuses.”
He frowned, feeling as if the defensive barrier was triggering some sort of chain reaction, continuing to sustain damage unabated.
Without need for thought, he knew the Lidia family was fervently trying to stop it, but with no visible results. Instead, there appeared to be a trend of accelerating the damage to the defensive barrier.
He then recalled his mentor and Christian’s words—that the selection for the Enchantment Group Steward should indeed become a reality. With his expertise in Enchantment Skills, this was likely an unavoidable issue.
That very afternoon, the Deputy Dean and the chief steward held an urgent meeting.
The following day, two Enchanters held by the Lidia family were released, the declared reason being to enlist their aid in addressing the defensive barrier issues. Their detainment continued, with additional requests for others to join the support.
This rather absurd situation—whether others bought it or not—the Lidia family certainly did.
In truth, the real reason for releasing them was not difficult to guess; the Lidia family faced significant troubles and did not wish to further offend the Policing Team and the Patrol Team under these circumstances.
On the third day, Ivan received another invitation to the enchantment workshop, where he met Deputy Dean Teresa, Steward Madeline, and two other senior enchanters from the Enchantment Group who were also invited.
“Sorcerer Peller, Sorcerer Arian, Sorcerer Ivan, you are the elite of the Enchantment Group. Since we are all insiders here, I’ll speak frankly. The crisis in the Ant Being barrier has become an urgent matter. I hope you can lend your support to help the Enchantment Group overcome this difficulty.
Upon successful resolution, the greatest contributor will become the new steward for the Enchantment Group and may succeed me as chief steward upon my retirement.”
Meeting their gazes, Teresa spoke earnestly.
Upon hearing her words, the three men’s expressions did not change, but their looks were somewhat strange and mocking.
Teresa might have been better off not making such promises. Given the modus operandi of the Three Great Families, it clearly implied, “Fix the Ant Being barrier and you can be a steward for a while, but there’s no chance you’ll live long enough to become chief steward.”
“What is it? Are you unwilling to exert effort for the academy or for the Enchantment Group?” With the three remaining silent, Teresa asked sternly.
The trio exchanged glances, seeming to reach an unspoken understanding.
“There’s certainly no issue in exerting effort for the academy and the Enchantment Group. However, we are not very familiar with the defensive barrier, and I fear we may not be much help,” said Sorcerer Paitt, the oldest of the three.
“Indeed, we haven’t had much involvement with the defensive barrier before; we wish to help but are powerless to do so,” seconded Arian.
“The sorcerers are correct. This is exactly my concern as well. I fear failing to meet your expectations, Deputy Dean, and further delaying the barrier’s repair,” Ivan also voiced his concerns.
Their evasions were expected by Teresa. If it weren’t for the situation being too urgent to delay, and with no external help available, she wouldn’t have summoned them.
“That’s not a concern you need to worry about. The information on the defensive barrier has long been prepared. If you agree, the documents will be delivered into your hands,” she assured them.
“I am willing to give it my best effort,” Ivan declared.
Regardless of the intentions harbored by the Lidia family, having the opportunity to study the academy’s defensive barrier was undeniably more beneficial than harmful. Unanimously, the three agreed to the task.
After signing a stringent confidentiality contract, Madeline led the three to the depths of the workshop, into a secret vault filled with mechanisms, magic puppets, and protective documents. The vault contained eight bookshelves, which were stacked with various records and documents about the defensive barrier,
“The information here can only be read within the vault; if taken outside, the documents will self-destruct, even if stored in a Transfer Sealing Scroll,” she explained.
“Such an ingenious design, truly breathtaking,” they mused.
Upon entering the vault, they could smell a unique fragrance, likely the reason behind the documents’ inability to be removed, designed to prevent theft as much as possible.
“Gentlemen, you have only half a month to read through these; I hope you value this time,” Madeline emphasized.
“The time is too short; don’t blame me if we can’t come up with a repair solution,” Paitt stated unhappily, deeply resenting the Lidia family’s negligence in letting the defensive barrier falter and their over-protective attitude towards others.
Madeline ignored his complaint.
After that, including Madeline, only the four of them remained in the chamber, flipping through documents. Explore new worlds at empire
Soon, Ivan discovered that the information here was far more comprehensive and in-depth than what Christian had provided. With his existing knowledge as a foundation, reviewing these documents became much easier.
The Ant Being barrier originated from a camp left by the Tidal Flats Ant Beings, which was transformed into the defensive barrier as we know it today based on the camp’s foundation.
The Ant People camp itself was a complex nest, and the transformation was not thorough, leaving many minor issues. Under normal circumstances, these would not affect the operation of the Ant King Barrier Array.
However, under abnormal conditions, these hidden issues would be exposed, causing the defensive array to be unable to undergo normal repairs.
“The predicament of the Lidia family is that they cannot suppress these hidden issues, nor can they resolve them, after all, these are risks left behind at the very beginning of constructing the defense array,”
“Indeed, it’s not a simple matter.”
Just as Ivan had anticipated, the Ant Being barrier held many secrets yet to be unearthed, including the Ant Beings Sacred Altar sought by Christian, and the Ant Beings’ secret vault he was searching for himself.
With his relentless efforts day and night, he managed to review all the materials in half a month, timing it just right.
Once the half-month period passed, Teresa did not ask about the progress of their studies and directly took them to the core control area of the defensive barrier—Black Tower.
“You have one week to familiarize yourself with the defensive barrier.”
After Teresa stated this, she stood beside Black Tower with Madeline and Ove, urging the three to quickly acquaint themselves with the defensive barrier.
The three did not have time to speculate whether Teresa had any ulterior motives; they activated the three runes obelisks surrounding the giant half-body statue of an Ant Being, and their minds were immersed in the defensive barrier.
Compared to last time, their perception could now cover the entire defensive array; the only issue was that the time was too short.
Ivan even doubted whether the Lidia family genuinely intended for them to succeed in the repairs, giving them a chance, but merely to silence critics and to show that it wasn’t the inability of the Lidia family at fault, but rather that the problems were too severe and beyond human control.
“Regardless, I can take this opportunity to look for the Ant Beings’ secret vault, or even the Ant Beings Sacred Altar.” He pondered for a moment and then made a decision, ready to use the Light of Wisdom and the Light of Great Wisdom if necessary.
He glanced at his Academic Prodigy panel, after studying the Ant King Barrier Array for so long, his [Enchantment Skill] and [Runes Skill] Level 7 Experience Points were already over two-thirds, and reaching Level 8 was just a matter of time.
While the three were busy exploring the Ant Being barrier, Teresa, outwardly supportive, became significantly more stern once back on Lidia family’s grounds.
“We agreed the Three Great Families would advance and retreat together, yet you disregard such courtesy; this, my Lidia family will remember.”
Teresa has always treated the Enchantment Group as her own domain and similarly treated the maintenance of the Ant Being barrier, naturally unwilling to allow others to interfere.
However, when the other five senior members of the academy reached a consensus, Teresa had no choice but to compromise, agreeing to let other enchanters participate in the repairs of the defensive barrier.
After she argued her case, the five also agreed to some of her minor requests, such as that the candidates could only come from the Enchantment Group, and the specific process had to follow her arrangements.
Thus, recommended by the other chief stewards, three well-known members from the Enchantment Group were selected, namely Ivan and his group.
“Madeline, do you think they could come up with a concrete repair plan?”
“Mother, the chances are slim, you can rest assured.” It was the first time Madeline saw her mother showing such a weary demeanor; her expression grew complex as she didn’t wholly agree with her mother’s approach.
She had always believed that the immediate priority should be fixing the defensive barrier; the longer it’s delayed, the more extensive the issues would grow, ultimately still damaging the prestige of the Lidia family, but unfortunately, Teresa did not see it that way.
“I hope so,” Teresa said coldly. “I also hope that those three are not spies specially arranged by others; otherwise, this matter isn’t over.”
Seeing her mother’s stubbornness, Madeline felt somewhat helpless, wondering when her mother would truly realize that repairing the defensive barrier was the most crucial matter at present.
…
At Black Tower, Ivan and the others were still exploring the defensive barrier.
It was the fifth day, and since the three of them were selected due to their excellent enchantment skills, they had already become adept at maneuvering the powers of the defensive barrier, gaining a reasonable understanding of it.
“Only two and a half days left, it’s time to proceed to the next step.”
With a glint in his eyes, Ivan used a Level 5 Light of Wisdom, instantly becoming more perceptive, their insight into the problems within the Ant Being barrier also sharpened.
Before he even started searching, he suddenly discovered that someone was muddying the waters, detecting a familiar aura within it—the power of the ‘Ant King’s Key’ he had created.
“Impressive hidden tactics, I hadn’t noticed them at all before.”
Ivan knew that the reason he hadn’t noticed was not just due to sensory factors but also because the Ant Being barrier was so vast; Teresa had not fully handed over the barrier’s control to them, and some oversights were normal.
As for Christian going off on his own, he didn’t mind much; ultimately, he had only joined the other’s plan halfway through, and trust between them needed to be strengthened.
“As allies, Christian shouldn’t mind me watching.” Ivan chuckled inwardly, since he had discovered it, he definitely had to observe assertively, all the while covering for the other party.