Versatile Mage

“Are you guys teasing me just because I didn’t study much? How does a mirage pose any threat to the city?” Mo Fan’s eyes widened, looking at the group with grim looks on their faces.

Wasn’t a mirage just a normal phenomenon in a desert? According to science, it was an optical phenomenon in which light rays bent due to refraction, producing a displaced image of distant objects. The easiest way to explain it was through the scenario when someone was trying to catch a fish in a clear stream. If the person tried to grab at the fish, they would realize that their hands were always some distance away from reaching the fish. It was due to the refraction of light occurring at the surface of the water.

The same principles applied to a mirage. Mo Fan admitted that he was not that knowledgeable in the World of Magic, but he still a science-side student!

{TL Note: In certain countries, high-school students are split into two streams, the science-side or the art-side. Students in the science-side have to study biology, chemistry, physics, while students in the art-side will study business, accounting, etc.}

A mirage was basically an illusion. Even if it really existed, it was definitely not where it appeared to be. How could a giant displaced image like one from a projector pose such a great threat to the city that it had to request assistance from the world?

There were so many injured in Puccini City, and Mages of different organizations were crowding the streets. It looked like a city at war, and was somewhat similar to Japan’s East Maritime Fortress. The problem was… why was the whole city so afraid of a natural optical phenomenon?

“Can someone please explain it to this guy who kept leaving the team on his own? We need to discuss other matters instead,” Guan Yu said impatiently.

While Mo Fan was keeping Xinxia company, the team had learned about the details, thus they were familiar with what kind of a situation the city was in.

Mo Fan did hear Xinxia mention the mirage, but what exactly was it?

“Mo Fan, do you know how the undead are related to the pyramids?” Jiang Yu said.

Mo Fan immediately shook his head. As a matter of fact, he was quite interested in Egypt’s Kingdom of Undead, but he could never get the hang of it.

Jiang Yu slapped his forehead. Why did he have to involve himself in such a troublesome work? Didn’t that mean he had to explain it to Mo Fan from the very start?

“Basically, the undead in Egypt and the undead in our Ancient Capital are slightly different, mainly in terms of their activity range. The undead of our Ancient Capital only appear at night, and they usually gather at places with a stronger presence of death. On the other hand, the undead here in Egypt are only active around the pyramids. These pyramids are the tombs of ancient Egypt’s Pharaohs. Most of them were the authoritative master of slaves back in the days, a ruler with the power to decide everyone’s death. These Pharaohs were incredibly powerful, and even after their deaths, they still wanted countless people to protect their remains. As such, they place a curse in the area around the pyramids, to resurrect the dead that were buried together with the Pharaohs and those that were buried nearby to rise from the ashes and protect the pyramids forever,” Jiang Yu explained to Mo Fan, starting with the history.

Mo Fan listened to the explanation seriously. He could not help but compare the undead of the two countries.

The undead of the Ancient Capital had woken up and evolved due to the presence of death. It was tightly related to the Emperor’s attempt to find a way to live eternally, and the way he had discovered was to live in eternal darkness and stay away from the sunlight!

Meanwhile, the undead in Egypt seemed to have originated from a Curse Spell. The curse was a spell that the Egyptian Pharaohs had invented, Summoning undead with the Curse Element. It worked just as well as Qin Emperor Ying Zheng’s method to stay alive forever.

It was impossible to clap with one hand. The Undead Element was only accepted by the world because of the magic invented by the ancient civilizations in Egypt and China. Otherwise, it would most likely be considered a forbidden magic!

“So you’re saying that the undead here in Egypt can only remain active within a certain distance of the pyramids? Doesn’t that make things a lot easier? You just need to build cities away from the pyramids, and the undead won’t bother invading human territories!” Mo Fan said.

“Yeah, and that’s exactly what Egypt has been doing, especially in modern times. Almost every city is built outside the activity range of the undead. Normally, the Egyptians do not have to worry about being invaded by the undead. However, some ancient families and old Hunters will occasionally trespass into the territories of the pyramids to search for treasure left by the ancient civilization. They believe there are mountains of treasure inside the pyramids, and even a piece or two is worth tons of money. After all, if the ancient Pharaohs invented the Curse Element and Undead Element… there must be lots of incredible treasure among their possessions!” Jiang Yu’s eyes glittered. He seemed very interested in the treasure.

“So what does that have anything to do with the mirage?” Mo Fan went back to the main topic.

“The pyramids are the territories of the dead, while the humans reside in the cities. As long as the humans stay out of the territories of the undead, there won’t be any problem. Unfortunately, nature doesn’t allow eternal peace to exist between the pyramids and the cities. Isn’t a mirage able to project something to a different place?” Jiang Yu prodded him.

Jiang Yu led Mo Fan to higher ground as he spoke.

At the end of the white tents, there was a tall observation tower on the City South Mountain. Jiang Yu was leading Mo Fan to the tower.

“Go up there and take a look to the north,” Jiang Yu told him, pointing at the top of the tower.

Mo Fan was slightly confused. He turned into a Shadow Bird and went up the tower along the walls swiftly.

-You aren’t seriously thinking that a Mage like me would be taking the stairs slowly?-

—

Up on the observation tower, the Egyptian guard on duty was stunned when he saw Mo Fan walking out from the shadow.

Mo Fan briefly explained his identity and glanced in the direction that Jiang Yu mentioned.

The tower provided him with a clear view of Puccini City. As he glanced into the distance covered in the vast land of yellow soil and over the sand dunes, Mo Fan was shocked to discover a golden structure glowing under the sunlight!

The sunlight sprinkling over the city was warm and comfortable, but for some reason, it felt icy and eerie when it entered the territory of the pyramids, as if its color had changed because of them!

“Wait… didn’t they say the closest pyramid is around two hundred kilometers away? How is this two hundred kilometers?” Mo Fan’s heart was rolling as he stared at the pyramid and its frightening aura.

The pyramid was magnificent. Although it was only a stacked-stone structure over fifty meters tall, Mo Fan was somehow felt the same pressure as seeing a huge army charging in his direction. Puccini City suddenly felt tiny and fragile when compared to the pyramid!

Gold usually represented sacredness, nobility, and royalty, but in Mo Fan’s eyes, the golden pyramid felt intimidating and spooky, yet he was unable to tell the exact reason behind what he was feeling…

The guard did not answer Mo Fan’s boring question. He proceeded to chase Mo Fan down the tower.

Mo Fan jumped down from the observation tower and landed in front of Jiang Yu. His mind was still preoccupied with the sight of the pyramid.

“Saw it? That’s the mirage!” Jiang Yu said.

“But it’s not the real pyramid!” Mo Fan said.

“The undead don’t seem to agree with you.”

“…” Mo Fan was suddenly at a loss for words.

In other words, the war between the undead and humans only happened because the undead were having trouble distinguishing between a real and a fake pyramid!

Mo Fan immediately thought of a famous saying when he learned the reason behind the war: It was truly terrifying to be uncivilized.

If the undead actually had brains, they would not have mistaken the mirage for a real pyramid!

“Normally, the area within a hundred kilometers of a pyramid is seen as the undead’s territory, which means that we are trespassers in the eyes of the undead. To make things worse, we’ve actually constructed a city on their territory. They won’t give up until they raze the city to the ground and kill all the people!” Jiang Yu declared.

Everything was possible in this world. It was exactly what Jiang Yu had mentioned. The Heavens would never let the dead and living coexist peacefully on the same land. The mirage had served as a blasting fuse. The dead were infuriated when they learned the humans were bold enough to trespass into their territory, while the living were furious that the dead dared to stir up chaos in their city!

“As soon as the mirage appeared, it basically meant that war between the dead and the living had erupted, and usually, a mirage would last for quite a long time. It’s fine if there’s only a pyramid being projected, but if there are a few pyramids being projected at the same time, and they are quite close to one another, the human city nearby will cease to exist within a few days. Throughout history, many cities in Egypt have disappeared from the surface of the Earth due to a mirage.

“It also depends on what level the pyramids are. A troop of Battlemages with some assistance from other countries is usually enough to handle an ordinary pyramid, but if it’s the bigger pyramids… the number of the undead is comparable to a horde of demon creatures, and that’s going to be a big problem!” Jiang Yu said.

“Even pyramids have different levels?” Mo Fan asked.

“Absolutely, there are around ninety-three pyramids in Egypt, each of a different size. The biggest among them is the Great Pyramid of Giza,” Jiang Yu said.

“So is it possible for the Great Pyramid of Giza to be projected as a mirage, too?” Mo Fan asked indifferently.

“Asshole, what did you say!?” the guard that was on duty at the tower snapped.

The guard happened to be done with his shift, so he was coming down from the tower. He immediately lost his temper when he heard what Mo Fan said.

Mo Fan was left speechless. The team normally conversed in English just so they could become better at the language, but it ended up bringing him trouble?

“Mo Fan, don’t you say something like that, it’s a taboo here!” Jiang Yu lowered his voice and continued, “If a mirage of the Great Pyramid of Giza appears, half of Egypt is going to fall, it’s no joke!”