Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hill raised his hand and glanced at his Ring of Winter, realizing that even in Ferun, this Divine Artifact was potent and alluring.

But what did Valkin want with the ring?

As a friend to commerce, some things were impossible to do overtly, especially war.

Once a merchant chose war as a means of profit, they either died without a burial place or became new nobles.

Though it might not sound the same, so-called councilors were in fact no longer merchants; they no longer took commercial approaches in their dealings, which were too cumbersome.

Such merchants would only become more distant from her Church of Wealth.

Unless she could really make the whole of Ferun use only her wealth Gold Coins for transactions.

Hill looked southward, truly perplexed as to what Valkin was plotting—was it greed that had clouded his judgment, or was he simply unable to get off the thief's cart once aboard?

Had she not considered attracting the attention of the Chromatic Dragon Queen when she first allied with the Evil Dragon? Or had the Evil Dragon not informed her of his true intentions at the outset?

Otherwise, why would she dare to collaborate with the Evil Dragon, unafraid that the Chromatic Dragon Queen would covet her vast wealth in Ferun?

The Chromatic Dragon Queen's greed was notoriously shocking; even her own followers dared not live near her altar, as she was a terrifying being who claimed, "What I see is mine," not letting go even of a copper coin.

Hill had already noticed that the first batch of visitors from Ferun were all under the powerful Divine Power and their Subordinate Deities, with no appearance of the lesser ones yet.

He glanced at a few of the Undead Tribe lingering beside him and observed, "Why haven't you gone back? Didn't you say someone interesting had arrived?"

"Hehe~ Hill," a leader of the group sheepishly scratched his head, "We'd love to go take a look, too, but we've taken on a task to track your movements."

A task? Hill was momentarily stunned before he realized they were part of that live forum.

They probably were like the professional Recorders in games, but this group did not possess the same autonomy as the original 'Recorders'; they were paid to complete a job.

On Hill's side, the Undead Tribe was probably quite concerned about how he would deal with Merkel, guessing they had not yet grasped why Monster Nation had suddenly experienced such an event.

Therefore, they focused on the more dramatic aspect—the father-in-law bashing the worthless son-in-law—and specifically left someone to watch Hill's every move.

Hill shook his head helplessly, "When newcomers arrive, let me see who their leaders are."

He had to watch all of them, as he couldn't simply say he wanted to know if a certain kind of scantily clad Deity's Priests would come.

Those under her command generally dressed like Dancers, a bit different from Lady Fiery Hair's followers.

And because of the Main God's preferences, they appreciated feminine beauty even more, and while they were stunningly beautiful, they didn't treat men well.

Ordinary Priests might not notice, but those who could represent a Deity in this world would certainly be able to distinguish themselves from Fiery Hair's people at a glance.

If she came, at the very least, he could confirm one thing—Valkin had been played again.

Otherwise, with Lyril, the Goddess of Joy's temperament, she would certainly not participate in a war against Valkin.

Even if she was enraged, she would not.

At least in this world, there was no Dancer who was the transformed Goddess of Joy, suggesting Valkin initially did have some say.

It was only when the Chromatic Dragon Queen appeared that whether Valkin, representing wealth, would be tricked to death became another matter altogether.

Hill looked up southward; now that the deities of Ferun had acted, he no longer needed to worry about the direction of the war. William remained sober, not believing himself capable of confronting such a formidable being.

What concerned him was that the Evil Dragon might come for the ring before fleeing.

He also needed to be wary of the invisible and colorless powers; who knew if the Chromatic Dragon Queen would come in person, considering she had even descended to lay eggs before.

Hill racked his brains designing the Array.

He couldn't affect the camp's overall alarm system; otherwise, even wrapped in the Winter Snow Cloak of the Ring of Winter and his Mage Robe of the Crystal Flower Suit, he might still be struck down carelessly by a thief.

Even if he didn't die from the thickness of his skin, it would still be quite painful!

Hill definitely did not want to suffer that, so he was exceedingly cautious as he modified the Array bit by bit.

Though he appeared busy and pitiable, squatting in the camp, Alice, who was lounging next to the curtained window and saw Hill working without so much as lifting his head, let out a relaxed sigh.

Even if List had told her that only she could receive such meticulous care from Hill, Alice felt it was becoming too much to bear.

And it wasn't because Agleya could survive a predicament through her ability to learn anything on the first try, but rather because she was an Innate Deity!

Agleya had almost completely mastered Teraxil's Water Law, which was why Hill did not bother with her.

Alice thought she could also take this path; she was almost a Demigod herself and really did not need to work so hard!

Alice had never imagined that one day, she would envy Agleya for not receiving a certain kind of attention from Hill!

"Miss Alice," Marsha gently floated beside her, "You haven't finished your transcriptions for today."

"I think I've already written very well," Alice earnestly looked at Marsha, her eyes filled with pleading, "Can we rest now? There's no need to practice anymore, right?"

She patted the description book on the desk from the past few days, "Such neat handwriting, why should I still practice? Look, every character is written so clearly."

"Miss Alice, you should know that it's meaningless for me to say that your homework is done," Marsha replied just as sincerely, "Not to mention whether Mr. Hill will check it or not, do you really plan to start copying the magic models?"

"Mr. Hill has been waiting for a long time," she added.

Alice suddenly sat up, "What more is there to copy? Just let me do it!"

List appeared, floating a book over to them, "An introduction to all the professions in this world, if Miss Alice's daily routine is fine, it would be best to transcribe this book."

"Why?" Alice asked defiantly, "Why should I care about this kind of thing?"

"Because, if Miss Alice finds a profession she likes among these, then you won't need to learn spells," List said earnestly, "Mr. Hill is just currently short on time, and he also feels you need some space to adapt to the changes after becoming a human.

But the end of this world will be visible very soon.

What do you plan to do then, Miss Alice?"

Alice twisted her own braids that nearly reached her ankles, winding them around her neck over and over, then unwinding them again in the opposite direction.

After being preoccupied for a while, she spoke listlessly, "I'll write, and I will think it over carefully, I will definitely come up with a solution before Hill's Dad comes back to see me.

What on earth is a magic model? It's too difficult!

Hill's Dad learned quickly, he can't expect me to do the same!"

"Mr. Hill has an odd idea," List said indifferently, "He believes that what he can learn in an hour, others, even if they learn more slowly, should also be able to learn if they study it seriously, within a day.

He doesn't expect Miss Alice to reach his level, but he thinks that if you study slowly and diligently, you will eventually learn."

"But I just can't!" Alice cried out miserably, being careful to keep her voice low, fearing that Hill would hear her, knowing all too well how keen Hill's Dad's ears were.

"So, Miss Alice, it's best to find your own direction early.

You know, as part of a magic-based profession, as long as you work hard at studying, you will always learn some magic.

Mr. Hill truly believes that.

Miss Alice, do you remember Boen? I once had a conversation with him. After Mr. Hill found out he didn't have enough talent, he made him recite the basic spellbook every day, copy it once, and use all the level 0 spells he knew 100 times a day, making sure to exhaust all mana before going to bed, only lying down to a good sleep when he was completely worn out.

Otherwise, how could Boen have become a mage so quickly after being placed in a suitable environment? It's not his talent that surpasses other apprentices but his robust foundation.

If Miss Alice can't make a choice, then Mr. Hill will surely use the same method on you.

He genuinely thinks that hard study and practice are good things."

Alice drew in a sharp breath and quickly opened the book List gave her, picking up the pen to begin transcribing seriously, not daring to miss a single character.

List glanced at Alice's study, which, compared to Hill's own room filled with a more scholarly aura, was filled with a refreshing simplicity.

It wasn't like what he had imagined, all pink and green.

He nodded at Marsha with satisfaction, "The arrangement is quite nice.

You've worked hard. I was shocked when Mr. Hill told me about setting a female consciousness for the puppets.

I would have preferred Mr. Hill to merely determine the gender of a puppet."

Marsha's expression turned weird as she said, "It took a lot of effort to get those two puppets to stop decorating this place into a pinkish-white heaven and piling up massive amounts of jewelry.

Why does Mr. Hill think that all women like the glittery and shimmering look?

Alice grew up by his side, seeing the most top-notch treasures, naturally favoring rare items! Ordinary ones are worthless for display.

The only relief is that Mr. Hill hasn't yet decided that tender pink is more suitable for girls."

List smiled faintly and did not respond; he knew why Hill was okay with this.

After all, Hill was someone who liked browsing the internet, a typical guy who enjoyed watching comedic variety shows and playing video games when he had nothing else to do.

He had seen countless posts on forums criticizing those men who chose Barbie pink for their girlfriends, labeling them as the classic representation of 'straight men.'

'Straight men of wood' are the least willing to admit they are 'straight men,' and these two terms combined typically represent single dogs.

So even though Hill thought tender pink was suitable for young girls, he generally wouldn't voluntarily select that color for someone else.

The reason it didn't give him away when making clothes and decorations for Agleya is that Hill only knew to make things related to blue."