Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hill watched with an inscrutable expression as Agleya gleefully took the novels away.

In a way, these knight novels were indeed a provocative topic for Hill.

He carefully selected biographies of some of the world's powerful ladies and goddesses and had Marsha deliver them to Agleya, casually mentioning some of the past Hill did not wish to bring up again.

Next door, the divine site returned to its everyday winter routine after the rangers had worshipped it for half a month.

Although the clearing still bore lush green grass, the beautiful flowers had already fallen from their branches.

Lynn still had not visited Hill, and even his maze had completely lost its test subjects.

After quietly reading for so long, Hill's heart gradually calmed down.

Creating a divine artifact was never easy, not even a half-finished one.

The birth of every divine artifact was an all-around test for the maker.

If Hill did not prefer supportive magic and he had used the more offensive types in the first two chapters, he might now be on a point of no return.

Even so, he felt distraught, not knowing how to design the third chapter.

Whenever he fell into anxiety due to the ever-lengthening intervals, Hill did not know whether he would lose his true self and place the creation of the divine artifact above his own strength.

It was just about entering an array that could accelerate the flow of time, something countless methods in Ferun could achieve.

At first, he might have just wanted to save a year or a few years of effort, but as the artifact grew more powerful, Hill felt he might also lose control over the desire to finish the artifact sooner.

Apart from the first nine chapters, Hill could control his emotions and take his time, but by the later 102 chapters, wanting to finish immediately, even Hill, with a lifespan of over one hundred thousand years, could probably only bury himself with his artifact.

Any array that accelerated the passage of time had to be overseen by someone.

Of course, Hill could control others to do it, but doing so, how different would he be from a demon? His great strength was inseparable from the stance he held firmly.

If he fell into evil, everything would depart from him, including the very artifact that led to his downfall.

Hill caressed the beautiful cover of the magic book, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Upon realizing that each chapter might require twice the time, he truly had the thought, how nice it would be if time could be a bit shorter.

The artifact in his hands was so powerful! If he could create over 100 chapters, Hill felt he might even sweep across the universe.

But what about the cost?

No matter which world, such a powerful divine artifact could never be held by one person alone.

And the day that artifact was successfully created might be the only time its power was showcased, as the all gods would not let Hill go even if it meant their downfall.

Hadn't he read many stories about the Tablets of Fate?

Hill revealed a bitter smile; he certainly did not want to become just a background figure in legendary stories!

He would rather have a simple magic book than a legendary artifact that could only exist divided into individual chapters.

Hill quietly took out the Tri-Elemental Spells he was never satisfied with and began to revise them slowly with a pen.

What he needed was never spells with high destructive power; when he was making the second chapter, Hill thought about how to survive!

What he should have created were spells that could work in combination with the first two chapters. As for the killing power of the maze, he had initially thought of relying on Elemental Spirits, so why all of a sudden did he consider acting on his own?

Hill touched the magic book lying next to him again; creating a divine artifact indeed required a strong will!

He gradually leveled his mindset, maintaining a normal routine daily.

He ate breakfast with the sunrise, had dinner watching the sunset, read novels at night, immersed himself in fascinating Ferun legends, and then slept soundly.

Most of the daytime was spent reading magic books and immersing in magic practice, while he devoted a smaller portion to playing with Agleya.

Although Hill thought that Agleya probably would not indulge in the pleasures of love—she, like Hill, valued her own power greatly—

both Agleya's biological mother and Hill's own mother, Melanie, made Hill very cautious about such matters.

Although Melanie was not the type to prioritize love above all else, one had left too deep an impression on Hill, and the other represented the decadent court life, which was also a theme in knight novels.

Hill did not intend to prevent Agleya from reading novels; he had gone through his younger years as well and knew that when curiosity struck, nobody's words made a difference,

and the more something was forbidden, the more one wanted to see it. Once allowed to read at will, interest would quickly wane.

Still, he tried to instill in his younger daughter the idea that 'you are the most precious' as much as possible when accompanying her.

Hill did not mind if his little girl went out to bully others, as long as she did not consider love the entirety of life and did not live a decadent lifestyle. If others were unlucky, Hill could entirely pretend not to see.

As days passed by, once again came the moment to log spells into the magic book.

Hill's heart had become very tranquil, and he sat in front of his desk, gently opening the magic book before him.

Beginning with the earliest magic, Hill flipped through page after page to reacquaint himself with it.

Opening to the first blank page, the first thought in Hill's mind was Water mist.

This supportive Water Element spell, often used in combination with the Forest Array, was indeed suitable for Hill's original concept.

His initial idea for the Maze Forest Array was to design it for the purpose of establishing a territory by the seaside.

Hill began to write out the magic model of Water mist with a smile, even though he had once been confused by great power, his awakened heart was still clear on what mattered the most.

His power was not weak; he could directly face any enemy. Instead of augmenting his already considerable abilities, his priority now was to ensure that future territory could be safe.

He didn't need to worry about powerful enemies, but he did have to prevent harassment tactics from the enemy. It was impossible to have him or Agleya deal with every rank of foe that came along.

What Hill needed was a combat system that would automatically form even if neither he nor Agleya took action, and the maze was just a means to divide the enemy, not to mention that it was only a defense on the land.

They still had to contend with the ocean.

On the second page, he chose a Water Element blood-boosting detoxification spell which he once named Tide Dance Moon Welcoming, of course, Hill now knew that it was one of the Water System Divine Arts he had inherited from the Crystal Flower.

Next was the Water of tranquility.

This set of Water Element healing spells could be completely applied inside a camp surrounded by a maze, suitable for prolonged battles.

Hill hesitated for a few minutes before writing the Torrential Rain Spell on the fourth page.

On the fifth page, he wrote down a control magic: manipulating the water level to raise and lower the water surface.

It seemed simple, but the most important thing was that it could create whirlpools of various sizes.

This would be very useful for the future seaside territory, easily stopping some of the enemies from the sea.

Then, Hill had to consider the long winters of The North.

So on the sixth page, he placed the spell for winter, a Ferun Spell he had learned later on.

Perhaps because he had possessed the Ring of Winter for an extended period, Hill had easily mastered this spell, which originally turned a 1,000-square-meter area into winter weather. In this cold environment, it could turn the water in the air into snow, creating continuous snowfall and cold winds that would naturally form a blizzard after a while.

With Hill's current abilities, he could control the weather within at least ten square kilometers at a minimum.

Since becoming a Legendary figure, Hill had easily learned spells related to the Laws he controlled, only they couldn't be cast instantaneously.

The winter spell's more important task was to create a frigid environment. Indeed, winters in The North were cold, but there were only over a month's days so cold that people wouldn't venture out.

At other times, even though also chilly, it couldn't stop those looking for trouble.

Hill couldn't always use the Ring of Winter; it was best saved for critical moments. Hill now had no backup and had to leave himself some leeway.

Then, he wrote down Ice Shield.

In Hill's mind, the best outcome would be to have all Elemental Spirits covered with this spell.

In a cold environment, an additional layer of Ice Shield was actually a warming method, unless Hill intended to summon only Water Series Element spirits.

But even if it were just the Water Element, the Ice Shield would still be useful. Coupled with their innate Water Element Shield, it would be enough for them to unleash their full combat potential.

Hill hesitated a moment but, after the winter spell, still added the pure Blizzard spell.

This was a spell inscribed in his Mental Sea, much more powerful than the blizzard summoned by the winter spell.

Moreover, it wasn't confined to the area controlled by winter; as many as he wanted, could be summoned.

On the last page, Hill inscribed Ice Blade Domain. This spell was a typical example of "it's raining knives from the sky," except these were ice blades.

Hill had debated for a long time between this spell and the Deep Freeze Spell as well as a more powerful Tsunami Spell.

In the end, he chose the Ice Blade Domain.

The Tsunami Spell, powerful as it was, would damage his own continent, and he didn't want to get wet.

However, he had thought about the Deep Freeze for a long time before dismissing it. Although it was cool to use, it didn't fit into his plan.

Hill had to remember that his target was low-level creatures; powerful beings should be left to Agleya.

He meant for Agleya to make a name for herself, not to be fully protected under his wings.

Sometimes, Hill had to control his tendency to take care of everything himself.

Around the Magic Book, mist slowly rose, and Hill felt a surge in spirit as the spiritual power expended in writing the spells fully recovered.

Then the air around him grew colder, reaching some of the lowest temperatures even in the polar regions.

Snowflakes began to drift in the room.