Game Transmigration: Saving the World Again 1000 Years Later

257 Emerald Protection

“But how is this possible…”

“Hush, don’t say a word.” William interrupted Ebony and touched the door made of tree roots. His fingers traced the pale green life runes engraved on it.

“This thing looks a little like a modified Emerald Protection barrier spell… Who set it up?” William asked softly, sensing the life magic surging at his fingertips.

“My clergymen worked together to set it up,” Ebony replied softly, looking anxious.

“The priests of Emerald Province actually know how to use modern magic under the Astral Laws system? I thought you would resist this,” William said in surprise.

Green Protection was a Lv. 6 Life spell. According to the Astral Laws, only Master-level magic chanters were allowed to wield such powerful barrier spells. The strength of this spell relied on the surrounding life force to build a shield for all living beings within its protective range. The more life force in the area, the stronger the shield would be.

To cast this spell at the root of the World Tree required tapping into the strongest life force on the entire Vic Continent. The barrier created by this Lv. 6 spell was likely stronger than some Lv. 8 or even Lv. 9 Legendary spells, reaching the threshold of Divine Realm magic.

“Floral relied on human magic to defeat us. We must give it a try, no matter the cost. The prototype of the Emerald Protection spell originated from the Forest Elves’ lost sacrificial ceremonial magic. We, as the legitimate heirs of this spell, must trace it back to its source. It was a human mage who plagiarized and destroyed our past inheritance. Furthermore, we have sworn to only use magic that originated from Ravenwood,” Ebony immediately replied.

“No wonder there are so many prayer runes and symbolic totems…” William said, his expression unreadable.

The modern magic system, even with its restrictions under the Astral Laws, was a product of the systematic, logical, and highly abstract integration of classical sorcery, ceremonial magic, and power. It was then coupled with the unique understanding of the individual magic chanter.

To put it simply, classical sorcery and ceremonial magic were like a huge difference engine. They were complicated and primitive, but one could see the exact process of every calculation step clearly. As for modern magic systems, they were like highly-integrated integrated circuits. Although they looked simple and clean, most of them were sealed in black boxes.

As for the spell engraving form of the Emerald Protection in front of him, how should he describe it?

William looked at the spell, knitting his brows into a tight furrow.

This spell was like using a difference machine controlled by an integrated circuit to do calculations or, using an example from the past world, it was like building a virtual machine with a Redstone circuit in Minecraft.

At the very least, this attitude was very praiseworthy.

The truth was, the power of magic hinged on the amount of mana that could be harnessed. And this strange spell before him was operating at peak efficiency thanks to the support of the World Tree.

Modern magic favored the individual, with conversion rates far surpassing those of classical magic. But it still relied on an individual’s mana, which often hit the limits of mortals when it came to scaling.

On the other hand, classical magic—which could directly influence the lower laws of Currere with the collective support of faith and myths—was inflexible and had little room for improvement, but the phenomena caused by large-scale rituals were often akin to natural disasters.

It was hard to say which direction magic should truly take.

After hearing William’s complaints, Ebony said seriously, “These are adjustments we made based on traditional rituals.”

He got it—it was like saying an AK47 was Satanic magic, but it wasn’t heretical if a priest engraved a cross on it.

William nodded in understanding. The expression on his face made Ebony feel like he was being despised.

William didn’t dwell on this topic, instead saying, “I get it… But let me remind you, based on your limited understanding of this spell, Emerald Protection has a very special effect.”

“What effect?”

“I’ll explain later. Let’s go in first.”

William raised his hand and, with a sudden crack of a spatial rift, pulled out a gleaming white jade staff.

The other party’s sudden suspense made Ebony feel uncomfortable. He hurriedly asked, “Huh? Aren’t you going to explain to me before entering?”

“It’s better to see it for yourself. Words can’t do it justice,” William replied.

Ebony had no choice but to say, “Fine. I’ll activate the spell. Stand back…”

Emerald Protection, which used the World Root as a source of strength, would cause quite a bit of mana dissipation impact on the surroundings when it was activated due to its huge scale of mana.

But before he could finish, William struck the door with the jade staff.

The emerald-green life magic that had been flowing over the door was instantly absorbed by the staff.

Ebony’s carefully crafted spell, which had taken his clerics so much time and effort to build, was now gone.

“It’s too much trouble to unlock the spell. Let’s leave it at that for now.”

William turned to Ebony, who was staring at him in shock.

Looking at the spell on the door again and confirming that it was no longer in effect, Ebony stammered and asked, “Y-You… you dispelled it?”

But William just waved the jade staff, which now emitted a faint green light. The door made of tree roots retreated, revealing the scene behind it.

Ebony stared in shock as the Emerald Protection barrier, which was strong enough to withstand a Legendary spell’s bombardment, crumbled under the other party’s gentle strike. This scene challenged everything he knew about magic.

“Don’t worry,” William reassured him, “I only used Spell Snatcher to graft the mana source of the spell. I didn’t destroy the main body of your barrier. It’ll still come in handy in the future.”

As he spoke, William stabbed the magical medium known as Spell Snatcher into the ground.

Ebony then noticed that the flow of Life magic that had been transmitted from various roots to the door’s barrier spells had been grafted to the white jade magical medium. As the magic power converged, the faint green light emitted by the magical medium began to deepen at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.

Without waiting for Ebony’s reaction, William walked in.

Ebony glared at the magical medium that William had inserted at the door before gritting his teeth and following him.

The underground space formed by tree roots was bathed in a warm orange light, thanks to the floating lamps that hovered in the air. These lamps weren’t powered by candles or magic crystals, but by insects with tails that emitted a cold azure light. In Ravenwood, where fire was forbidden, these glowing insects were the main source of light for the Forest Elves at night or indoors.

“You just said that there are 43 undead inside. Won’t we be attacked by them if we walk in just like that?”

As Ebony and William entered the hall, Ebony turned to William with concern.

The Forest Elves had a bone-deep hatred and fear for undead that brought decay.

But William had a baffling response.

“Have the people you saved attacked you for no reason in the past?”

“Of course not. They’re Resistance warriors. I saved them. How could they attack me?” Ebony subconsciously replied.

“Then it won’t happen now either.” William replied calmly and added, “At least not before they discover their essence.”

“What… do you mean?”

Ebony was confused by this statement, but before he could ask for clarification, a loud voice interrupted him.

“Master Ebony! You’re finally back! Did you bring any supplies this time? We’re almost out of dried venison and the blue berries used to feed the Light Bugs are almost gone. If you had returned a few days later, I’m afraid we would have to live our days in the dark.”

...

A young Forest Elf ran out of a sentry made of tree roots and rushed toward Ebony excitedly.

But as he got closer, he stopped in his tracks when he saw Ebony and William behind him.

“Master Ebony, who’s the human beside you? Is he the person you saved from the duke?” the young Forest Elf looked at William warily and asked.

“Ah…”

Ebony first glanced at the youth before turning to look at William. He explained in a panic, “Ah… He’s…”

“I’m someone Ebony saved from Floral. She sentenced me to death because I support the Forest Elves’ independence.”

William replied calmly. Then, he turned to look at Ebony and said, “Is that so?”

Ebony came back to his senses and went along with William.

“Yes, yes, that’s it.”

“The duke is now targeting humans? This is too terrifying… However, as a human, it’s really impressive to support the independence of the Forest Elves. Sir, we will be like-minded comrades in the future! Don’t worry, I won’t treat you differently because of your human identity!” the enthusiastic youth said in surprise. As he spoke, he patted his chest as if he was making a promise.

But then the youth’s expression sank.

...

“Brother Solo definitely won’t welcome humans to participate in our cause. He doesn’t trust any human. You have to be careful when the time comes. Please don’t be mad. He’s actually a very good person.”

“I’ll talk to Solo,” Ebony said. As the youth was excited, he turned to William and whispered, “Is this what you were talking about? 43 undead inside, but they look normal. Did you make a mistake?”

Ebony, a listener of Matriarch’s teachings with a level of acumen, couldn’t sense any decay unique to the undead from the youth in front of him.

But William didn’t respond with words. Instead, he simply smiled and spoke directly into Ebony’s mind with his soul voice, Do you remember me mentioning the other special effect of Emerald Protection?

The sudden voice in his mind startled Ebony.

In the past, only Matriarch’s teachings had ever echoed in his mind like this.

But as he realized it was William speaking, Ebony nodded gently to show he remembered.

Another effect of Emerald Protection is that it greatly slows down the decay of all corpses within the barrier.