Chapter 29: The Breakthrough Point

  The merchant caravan was placed on the outskirts of the Elf tribe's residential area, about 300 meters away in an open space. Of course, the guards who were nominally protecting but actually monitoring them were indispensable. The hidden sentries that would never be told to you also existed, however, they did not reach the point of prohibiting free movement.

  To a certain extent, the elegant and proud elves are indeed better traders. At least, they won't make any shady moves as long as they agree to trade. Compared to humans who will stop at nothing, this is undoubtedly a brilliant quality.

  The old leader came over and naturally really came to do business. This kind of thing about covering up, pretending to be real is the highest level.

  This time, the goods were all carefully selected from the Irwin Commercial Warehouse, plus the support of the Aslex family, practical bows and crossbows, some delicious specialty foods and fruits, as well as various alchemy potions, quickly attracted many elves to come and trade.

  For Mide and these "guards", it is only when they have nothing to do and can stroll around that the real business begins.

  "In short, try to build a good relationship first and avoid causing vigilance. Bring some candies, every spirit likes that, even if it's over 100 years old. When getting lost, it's best to ask those 'children of the forest', such as the people from the Swift Wind Squad." Mide carefully reminded them, although the four had received training from the old leader along the way, after all, it was a crash course, and saying a few more words, even if they were redundant, couldn't hurt.

  "What intelligence and details need special attention?" asked Sigmund, who was being cautious as usual.

  "There is only one thing that's most important about magic pulses," Midei replied bluntly. "Magic pulses."

  Found the magic pulse, found the witch.

  This was a classic summary from the mouth of Alice, the Fog Witch herself in her previous life, and Mide naturally took it as truth.

  Although saying clichés and developing informants has some effect, first of all, Fiona and the others are adventurers, not spies. After all, humans can't do anything in the elf tribe, every move is too eye-catching, so it's impossible to expect results.

  Besides, Medea understood Alice.

  As the fog witch who likes to hide behind the scenes and is annoyed by trivial matters, she would only try her best to avoid being known by outsiders rather than making a big show of it. Elves' reverence? Ruler's aura? To Aries, those were all trash.

  Although she was a substantial ruler, the only ones who truly knew her were probably the elders of the Spirit Tribe, and that level was obviously not something that this small caravan could reach.

  So although Midy's strategy was to follow the clues from the Elf tribe, what he wanted wasn't direct leads but indirect ones.

  In short, it is magic pulse.

  In the Dragon's Spine Array of Nibelungen, under the Kingdom of Verneville, lies a magical vein that stretches for over a thousand kilometers, known as the Dragon Vein. However, most of the time, most magical veins exist in the form of small points, short segments, or small areas, intersecting with mineral veins, underground rivers, and caves, forming reservoirs and lakes of accumulated magic.

  Although these veins are small, they have a huge impact on the entire regional ecosystem as a whole. Controlling them is equivalent to controlling the land, forests, beasts, mountains, and even the corresponding airspace.

  By setting up a diversion magic array on each of the magical veins, the magical power flowing through the veins can be directed in a specific direction. Thousands of tiny streams converge to form a long river, a vast lake surface, or even an ocean. And the person who can manipulate this converged magical power is indeed the true master of the land.

  For example, the Fog Witch, Alice Ottorosso.

  With just one incantation, a gesture, or even a thought, she could make this forest bloom in all seasons, with flowers everywhere; she could also make the mountains collapse and the earth split, turning it into a hell on earth; and she was able to guide the beasts that lived among them, leading to tribal conflicts and even war.

  This is the most efficient, powerful and perfect way to utilize magic in this area, a behavior that directly controls nature with unparalleled strength.

  In comparison, the nobility's actions of building castles, establishing armies to occupy land, setting up various extortionate taxation systems and then proclaiming themselves "lords" seem so primitive and lowly.

  It was also because the magic of the entire region had been transformed into a force by Alice that this forest withstood the disaster of the heavenly fire, and even in the large-scale invasion of the Delos Empire, it supported for a considerable period of time. At least, when the capital of the Bellmard Principality fell, the Witch's Mansion still existed.

  As a reborn with an uncommon insight, Midy now realizes that Alice, who kept silent most of the time and "either didn't speak or spoke to kill", can only be described as unfathomable.

  Of course, controlling the demonic pulse is not without its weaknesses.

  If starting from the periphery to invade this forest, find the location of the magic pulse one by one, and then destroy the flow control array, it is possible to pull down the "master of the forest" from the throne.

  However, the premise is naturally being able to withstand the counterattack of the Lord of the Forest.

  After all, no one will sit and wait for their magic to be cut away piece by piece.

  Midi was going to start from this characteristic and find out where Alice was.

  Of course, he didn't mean to destroy the flow control array, but it was entirely possible to detect the direction of the magic power in the demon pulse and reverse-engineer its endpoint until he found the location of the witch's mansion and the witch herself.

  But even this plan was met with severe setbacks in the first few days.

  As for the demon pulse, whether it's adults or children, men or women, young or old, the spirits all kept their mouths shut.

  It wasn't that they had noticed Meddy's extremely obscure euphemisms, but rather because this seemed to be a traditional trait of the Spirit Tribe, educated and indoctrinated from a young age to avoid discussing taboo topics.

  They were unaware of the existence of the Fog Witch and did not understand the significance of the magic pulse to Alice, yet they naturally avoided related topics, in a way that was no longer concealment but a habit cultivated by everyone.

  In this case, it's hard to get information about the Mo pulse. If you force your way in and ask questions, you'll only end up revealing your intentions and might even be driven out of the village. In the worst-case scenario, you could become an enemy.

  Facing this seemingly impenetrable cultural iron wall, gathering intelligence has almost come to a standstill.

  Precious time is slipping away second by second, day by day. However, Miti still maintains a calm mindset, believing that even with tradition and habit, there are opportunities to intervene.

  In this way, the three days passed in the blink of an eye. Before long, the empty space where the merchant group was located became a favorite haunt of the spirits. Although Midee and his companions' stroll did not gather any effective intelligence, at least they had become familiar faces. Now when the spirits saw the black-haired boy and the red-haired girl, although some still chose to keep their distance, at least no one showed that obvious wary expression anymore.

  The proud fruit sugar of the Kingdom of Bellmard is one of the greatest, and another reason is Fina's appearance and temperament that makes even the beautiful elves feel inferior, as well as her signature red hair.

  Everyone loves beauty, fairies love beauty even more, and a human girl who is even more beautiful than the fairies will undoubtedly be the most talked about. Fortunately, the fairies do not understand nobility, class, or titles, otherwise, the surname Hamilton would probably cause another stir.

  On the fourth day of arriving at the Spirit Tribe, Mide decided to change his strategy, not searching in the village, but going into the forest to take a stroll and see if he could find some direct traces of the magic pulse.

  Just as Mide was about to drag Feena out the door, a commotion and shouting came from outside the old leader's shop.

  "Is someone causing trouble?" This was Mide and Fina's first reaction, the boy and girl exchanged a glance with each other, and instead of rushing over, they tacitly split up, one to the left and one to the right, spreading out in a pincer movement, completely adopting a standard combat formation.

  However, after a closer look, Mi Di discovered that this was not a dispute between humans and spirits, but an internal quarrel among the spirits.

  On one side was the captain of the Galeforce Squad, that arrogant elf gunslinger, Berriel. On the other side was an elf who looked very young, with a head of almost platinum blonde short hair. The two seemed to be arguing about something, while the old squad leader was stuck in between them, holding a long sword with a slight curve and a blood-red blade.

  "That's... Kireaji, the Slit-Creation Heart Blade?" Middy vaguely remembered it as a top-grade long sword suitable for general swordsmen and ghost swordsmen.

  After all, for Mide who had already experienced the second awakening, even if he was reborn, a low-level weapon would still not be in his eyes. The powerful ghost and perfect transfer, team coordination and military command, these made Mide decide to put his main energy on improving his own strength and accumulating knowledge rather than relying on equipment.

  But apparently others don't think so, and there are many people who want to rely on equipment, like these two in front of me.

  "Dilin, you're just an ordinary patrol member, giving this Heartsplitter to you would be a waste." The leader of the Whirlwind Squad said with a mocking tone.

  That young spirit puffed out his chest and said calmly, "Captain Beryl, even if it's just a regular patrol team, we're also working hard in our own way to pursue greater power. It's not the exclusive privilege of elites."

  "I can understand that, but don't you know how to consider the overall situation?" Beryl shrugged her shoulders, and several members of the Whirlwind Squad who were following behind her couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  "But you're not even a swordsman, you're a wandering archer, what do you need a sword for?" Dillin retorted.

  "My best swordsman, and the best in all the clans, needs a weapon that fits his hand. After all, we're patrolling the most dangerous areas, facing the most dangerous monsters and enemies." Beryl emphasized several "most"s, leaving Dillin momentarily speechless.

  But he was also unwilling to give up this weapon, after all, it was a good sword that could not be forged within the Elf tribe, and only in the mines of human territory could such rare metals be extracted and forged. For an elf swordsman, it was something that could be encountered but not sought.

  Moreover, the price of this Soul Splitting Blade had already been negotiated with a human merchant, but due to its exorbitant cost, Dillin had no choice but to rush back to the village and gather all the rare materials he and his friends had accumulated over two years as exchange.

  But unexpectedly, when bringing materials over, Beryl suddenly intervened.

  How can he bear it? How can he let it go?

  The two of them thus fell into a dispute.

  Midi looked for a while, and suddenly his eyes lit up - isn't this exactly the "opportunity" he had been searching for with all his heart?

  If there is no opportunity, then create one, this is the right way, what's the use of just waiting?

  At this moment, the dispute between these two elves made Middy see a huge loophole hidden in the so-called unanimous elf tribe. In an instant, relying on the experience of various conflicts seen as an adventurer in his previous life, Middi had already conceived a brilliant plan.

  "There's no need to argue about this anymore, I think this sword suits Mr. Dillin quite well."

  In the midst of the commotion, Mide's calm voice rang out, and in an instant, the two parties involved and the surrounding elves all focused their attention on the black-haired youth.

  "This is a matter for our fairy tribe, what right do you have to intervene?" Beryl narrowed her eyes and asked coldly.