Chapter 206: The Underrated Teleportation Summoning Spellbook
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 206: The Underrated Teleportation Summoning Spellbook
"That Xiao Han sure moves fast."
Tan Han and the other three remained where they were, watching her figure disappear.
Some people could just walk away because they had the strength to back it up. Others had to stay and plan further to ensure they could provide actual value to their team in this Exchange Competition.
Besides, Minian was here. She had only just arrived, missing the Witch Tea Party, and had no idea what had just transpired.
Some things required communication to be understood; otherwise, constant second-guessing would only deepen misunderstandings. This was exactly why the communication-type Wizard Tools from the Wizard Academy were so highly coveted.
"Um... since we're splitting into groups, how should the four of us divide?" The three girls besides Tan Han were feeling quite conflicted. Naturally, each of them wanted to be paired with Tan Han. Having a powerful companion meant they wouldn't have to worry about their safety.
"I'll be taking that designated qualification to scout the area around the Wizard Tower," Tan Han said, sensing their hesitation. "I expect to run into many people from other academies there, so following me won't necessarily be safe."
Hearing this, the three of them began to weigh their options.
"Xiao Tan, the task you're handling is more important," Hettie spoke up first. "I still don't know how to ride a broom yet, so I won't tag along and be a burden."
"Then I'll stay with Hettie," Su Ningmu added. "I haven't gotten my license either. I can walk with her and practice flying along the way."
"But Su Ningmu, your injuries..."
"I'll help treat her injuries before we head out," Tan Han interrupted. "Minian, you come with me. You're new to the situation; I'll fill you in on the way."
"Well... alright then. I guess I'll just have to reluctantly go with Tan Han," Minian said with a smile. However, this didn't mean she was relaxing; rather, she was choosing to face greater danger.
"Okay. Xiao Tan, since Sister Xiao Han went that way and you're heading to the Wizard Tower, what about us?" Hettie asked, moving to Su Ningmu's side.
"You two head toward the Wizard Tower as well. You can take it slow. Keep an eye out for any resource supplies on the map. If the situation allows, you can provide us with support later."
"Eh? Like that? But what about Sister Xiao Han? And if we need to hold another ritual..."
"She's very strong. Besides, we won't be able to hold another ritual anytime soon. Even if we could, with Xiao Han's speed, she'd be able to rush back in no time."
"Uh... Xiao Tan, you really... have a lot of trust in Sister Xiao Han."
"Trust? Heh, let's just say her strength puts my mind at ease. Now, Su Ningmu, we need to deal with your injuries quickly. If possible, try to avoid combat for a while."
"Understood. I don't want to be a drag on the team either."
* * *
I was currently heading toward the Beast Academy's territory. It was a vast, dense jungle that bordered the Elven territory, marked by that incredibly conspicuous World Tree.
In truth, there weren't many places where the Witch Academy could hold a ritual. According to the rules, there were only a few obvious locations. What I didn't understand was how the additional qualifications worked—how one could bestow value upon an ordinary location.
For instance, if our Witch Academy was besieged by all the other academies on a certain mountaintop, could we hold a Tea Party there?
Perhaps.
But that would be a suicide mission, wouldn't it? What would be the point?
Human effort has its limits. Blindly relying on raw combat power wouldn't solve everything. The feeling of helplessness I felt while guarding the Tea Party earlier had served as a stark warning.
I still had many tricks I hadn't developed yet. Or rather... was it possible I had been too narrow-minded? Could the spellbooks I hadn't "modded" still be useful?
I had been deliberately avoiding one thing: I didn't like relying on spellbooks I hadn't fully understood. It was only when I felt a genuine lack of options that I finally began to take this seriously.
I wasn't fighting alone. I had summoning spells. I had the Spirit Cat Summoning Spell, which cost ten mana and was the first one I got; the Falcon Summoning Spell I acquired later; and even the high-consumption Shadow Legion Summoning Spell.
I even had a "Teleportation Summoning Spell." This spell worked by pre-marking a physical object and then teleporting it across a long distance to summon it before me. It was an outlier among summoning spells.
However, this spell didn't summon a magical effect; it summoned the actual object. In many situations, that could be incredibly useful.
Even at its most basic application, if I spent time marking a giant boulder, I could use it as a "Meteor Summoning Spell."
Suddenly, I was captivated by the idea. I seemed to have overlooked a very important spellbook.
The Teleportation Summoning Spell.
What was the upper limit of what it could teleport?
Could it teleport a marked living person?
Could it mark multiple targets at once?
Could they be summoned simultaneously?
There were too many questions that needed testing. But it all came back to the same issue: spellbooks weren't conceptual skills. You couldn't develop their use based solely on the name; you had to understand the underlying principles to know their potential.
Since I lacked the theoretical foundation right now, I could only summarize the rules through constant experimentation to deduce its effects.
As for using Spirit Vision to perform deep-level "modding" right away... that wasn't necessary. I hadn't even figured out the original function of this spellbook yet; I shouldn't go messing with its internal structure.
I'd make a note of it and look up the corresponding data to study it slowly once I got back.
Wasn't this Exchange Competition also a trial for me to find and fix the gaps in my own knowledge?
However, even if I wanted to experiment now, I couldn't just pick anything. Each use of this spell cost at least ten mana. Excessive testing would just be a pointless waste.
"So this is the Beast Academy's turf? I really envy their starting point."
I flew through the air, weaving through the canopy.
I hadn't tried jungle warfare yet, but there was plenty of cover here. A hunter could be hiding behind every massive tree.
As soon as I entered the area, I cast a protection spell on myself and activated Perception Enhancement. I could sense almost any disturbance in the surroundings.
Just as I thought I was safe, an arrow suddenly shot out from the woods below. A swirl of emerald green natural power surrounded the shaft, silencing the sound of it cutting through the air. It pierced through my warning shield at incredible speed!
The arrow's impact on the energy shield forced an immediate reaction from me. The blessing on the shield bought me just enough time to dodge, ensuring the strike did no damage.
"An arrow? An Elf?"
I immediately locked onto the position and hopped off my broom. The opponent was fast—I didn't even get a full look at them—but they were definitely an Elf.
Whether they were from Afuhemi Academy or another school, I couldn't tell.
However, based on that emerald natural power, I could rule out several academies, such as the Dark Fallen Elves, Elemental Elves, or even Half-Elves.
I didn't give up. I couldn't outrun them in the forest, but they couldn't match the speed of a broom. Unless they hid, but simply hiding behind cover or in blind spots was useless against me.
I immediately cast Spirit Cat Summoning Spell and Falcon Summoning Spell to flush them out.
The reason I was going to such lengths for a single Elf was because I was unfamiliar with this area. This wasn't a primary activity zone for Elves; if they were here, they must know something.
Besides, I needed a test subject to see if a living person could be marked by the Teleportation Summoning Spell and if any side effects occurred.
"Found you!"
To my target, my voice must have sounded like a nightmare. He probably hadn't expected that a single sneak attack on someone flying by would lead to being hunted like this.
If he had known this would be the result, he definitely wouldn't have let that arrow fly.
"Witch... my skills were inferior. Just kill me."
After I used a binding spell to restrain him, he immediately asked for a quick death.
"Tsk... let's see. Afuhemi Subsidiary Forest Elf Academy. That's quite a long name. What, are you just another dog at the beck and call of Afuhemi Academy?" I asked with a smile. Since this Elf seemed tight-lipped and unafraid of death, I didn't mind using some venomous words to get him to talk.
"A dog? How dare you insult me! Your whole family are dogs! Our noble Elven race doesn't have the kind of relationship you think with them!"
"Heh, touched a nerve? An Elf running around out here... you probably got kicked out because you were useless, didn't you? Isn't this supposed to be the Beast Academy's territory?" As I spoke, I attempted to place a Teleportation Summoning Spell mark on him.
While the teleportation itself cost about ten mana, the marking was a separate, additional cost.
As I marked him, I found it was successful. The so-called "marking" was essentially a process of establishing a connection with the spell. Under Spirit Vision, the mechanics were clear as day.
The opponent, however, felt nothing. Did he not notice, or was he just letting me do as I pleased?
Furthermore, the mark seemed reusable, provided it wasn't destroyed. It also seemed fairly easy to break; since it was essentially a spell effect, there were many ways to remove it once discovered—be it through brute force, dispelling, or purification.
But the mark was very well-hidden. That opened up a lot of tactical possibilities.
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
"Fine then."
I picked up his weapon—a bow that seemed to have a special effect similar to alchemy. However, it didn't feel like a pure alchemy item; it felt like the work of a Blacksmith.
After a simple test of the string, I could feel that it could utilize transcendent energy. However, my mana couldn't be channeled into it with my current level of mental power. I couldn't use my mana to enhance the bow's effects.
Unlike a spellbook, it couldn't draw mana from a mana source on my behalf. No wonder the Witch Academy didn't favor forged weapons, preferring alchemy items instead. Ultimately, the threshold for using mana was just too high.
"Now, I'll give you a chance. I'll use your own weapon to fire one shot..." I pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back and snapped my fingers, releasing the binding spell.
"Run as hard as you can. If you get away, I'll consider it your lucky day. If you don't, I'll kill you. How's that?"
He looked at me in disbelief, unable to fathom why I was letting him go.
But since there was a chance, he didn't waste time talking. He just ran. His weapon was gone, but if he didn't run, his life would be next!
The powerful physical constitution of an Elf, combined with maxed-out agility and flexibility, allowed him to vanish into the foliage in just a few seconds.
I immediately activated the Teleportation Summoning Spell.
A teleportation array formed by the spellbook appeared before me. The Elf, who thought he had escaped, appeared right in front of me, still in a mid-sprint posture.
"Surprise, surprise!" I held his bow right against his face and released the arrow.
Pfft!
As the arrow sank into his body, I silently raised a shield to block the blood splatter.
"Point-blank range is the correct way to use a bow. Consider your one resurrection chance as the tuition fee for this lesson," I said airily, tossing the bow onto his collapsing corpse.
When he respawned, the corpse would disappear. However, it seemed the bow I had snatched didn't go back with him, even though I'd thrown it on the body.
Poor guy. Without his weapon, he was going to have a rough time ahead.
But that had nothing to do with me.
I had now figured out the function of the Teleportation Summoning Spell. It wore the skin of a medium-consumption spellbook, but its utility was immense—it could even summon people!
However, once the corpse vanished and he respawned, I could no longer summon him. It seemed resurrection didn't preserve the mark. If it did, wouldn't I have a way to repeatedly kill someone until they were eliminated from the competition?
What a shame...
Next, I'd test the limits of this spell's teleportation range and size.
If there was a size limit, its utility might be weaker than expected, but I was hoping for a miracle.
If I remembered correctly, this spellbook was given to me by the academy as compensation. If the results didn't meet my expectations, I'd have to try some theory-less, brute-force modding, just like I did with the Sensory Weakening spellbook.
Lately, I felt like the Goddess of Luck was on my side. What if I succeeded again?
In high spirits, I continued through the jungle. Having learned my lesson, I no longer flew high above the canopy. Instead, I wove through the trees. However, it was much harder to run into contestants from other academies this way. Once my speed dropped, the sheer scale of this jungle became apparent—it was much larger than I had imagined.
It was hard to imagine how difficult it would be to find anyone toward the end of the Exchange Competition. Though, in the later stages, the Ancient Battlefield would swallow the land, and the surrounding seas would flood the continents...
Wait, wouldn't that make the Sea Clan the ultimate winners?
What was the Sea Clan doing right now?
I hadn't paid much attention to whether they were holding rituals. Their rituals were difficult to pull off. I recalled the Royal Sea Clan Academy's ritual was the Sea's Wonder Crown Ceremony—to be crowned and rule the tides.
Based on the description, I suspected that the completion of that ritual might cause horrific destruction.
But that would be too much of a cheat. Ruling the tides... if they could create tsunamis, they could devastate the coastal regions.
Are we even playing the same game?
I shook my head, trying not to overthink it. Along the way, I discovered several treasure chests that I would have missed if I hadn't been paying attention. I hadn't cared before, thinking the rewards were minor, but now I realized there were quite a lot of them.
However, the items inside were all for use within the Exchange Competition, such as recovery potions or various alchemy items.
None of it could be taken out.
I had been flying too fast on my broom before, circling the same areas. Now that I had lowered my altitude, I realized there were good things everywhere.
What I valued most were the "recovery potions." To accommodate all academies, they weren't labeled with specific types, but they restored transcendent energy upon use.
There were also potions for stamina, healing, and detoxification.
And some defensive alchemy items that could be used immediately.
It seemed the truly valuable rewards that could be taken away—including my prize for being in the top ten of the confrontation match—wouldn't be in places like this.
They would either be guarded by NPC monsters or arrive in a grand, conspicuous fashion. Like the qualification Tan Han and the others got to designate a resource drop location—once the resources arrived, they would attract everyone in the vicinity to fight for them.
Speaking of which, the competition had been going on for a while now, hadn't it? Why hadn't I seen any resource drops yet? Not even a trace of one. I at least wanted to know they actually existed.
Just as I was sighing, a pillar of light rose not far from me.
"Oh? An academy is preparing a ritual right under my nose? I'll have to see exactly which academy this is."