The bomb exploded next to a bush, just over 30 meters from the outer wall of the college.

When the academy magicians arrived, the bush had been burned by the flames, and there was a small half-meter-deep pit next to the bush, which was still smoking, and a faint pungent smell filled the air.

This time the movement was really a bit big, and it appeared near the academy, so that the magicians in the academy were all alarmed. These magicians who rushed to the scene at the first time were all professors and tutors in the academy, and each of them was famous.

The most famous of these is Fleming, who is known as one of the Three Saints of Nilogaard. Ben was an alchemist, a pharmacist, a mathematician, and an outstanding architect, and the Nilogaard Bridge was the work of him.

Fleming. Ben was the first to come to the scene, and after he arrived, he looked up and sniffed the air: "Strange! Most of it is the smell of burning steel, and the smell of burning plants...... But how could these things cause such a big movement? ”

He lay down next to the pit and reached out to touch the soil in the pit: "The mud is still hot and powdery, indicating that this place has been crushed by a huge impact....... Wait, what is this? ”

Fleming felt a sharp object in the dirt, he pulled it out of the dirt and looked at it, only to gasp: "It's iron...... No, it's a piece of steel, the shape is twisted and deformed, and the temperature is a little hot. Oh my God, how powerful was the explosion, and what happened to this piece of steel? ”

He really couldn't figure it out, so he stood by the pit and activated the power of alchemy to probe the situation in the soil.

"Hmm~ This piece of steel is not the only one, there are a lot of them in the soil."

His mind froze suddenly, the tentacles of alchemy power stretched out, grabbed the steel pieces buried in the soil, and then lifted them violently, and the soil in the pit suddenly made a 'snort' sound, and the twisted steel pieces broke through the earth one by one like earthworms, flew half a meter in front of Fleming's body, and then levitated.

“1，2，3，4...... There were more than thirty pieces, all of which were distorted. ”

Just then, there was a stray stream of footsteps behind Fleming. After a while, a group of house magicians arrived at the scene, both old and young, and when they saw Fleming, they all saluted respectfully and called them masters.

Fleming also returned the salute one by one, especially to the famous magic professor among them, and he responded one by one.

"Master Adolf."

"Master Mir."

"Master Parkland"

Outside the Academy, these professors were not as well-known as Fleming, but they all had extraordinary achievements in their fields, and although these achievements were rarely understood by ordinary people, Fleming, who was also a magician, knew the weight of these achievements deeply.

In fact, if a magician can become a professor in the Academy, it means that they have reached extraordinary levels of power and possess awesome means.

Strictly speaking, Fleming is also a professor at the Academy. The relationship between professors is one of mutual respect and reverence, and there is no obvious difference in status.

Master Adolf stepped forward, glanced at the twisted steel suspended in front of Fleming, and frowned: "It's no wonder that the steel is twisted like this, no wonder there is such a big movement!" ”

Fleming nodded, "That's exactly what I feared, but I've also found more peculiar details, you see." ”

As he spoke, his mind froze, and the suspended steel sheets in the air automatically began to move, and under the action of an invisible force, those steel sheets seemed to turn into liquid, and began to twist, and after about a few seconds, the abnormal distortions on the steel sheets were roughly restored and flattened, and then, these steel sheets were fitted together again.

As the steel pieces continued to fit, a steel ball gradually appeared in the air, and this ball did not look very regular, and its original shape could not be seen from it, but the general appearance was very clear.

"Hiss~a steel ball?" A magician exclaimed softly.

Fleming nodded and said, "The power of the Thunder God of the Flame God Cult tells us that there is a strange potion in this world, as long as it is contained in a confined space and then ignited with fire, it can burst out with great power. This force was capable of pushing the iron ball thousands of kilometers away, and now it seemed that it was enough to blow the steel sphere to pieces. ”

Professor Adolf immediately said, "You suspect that this was done by the people of the Flame God Sect?" ”

Fleming shook his head: "No, there is no evidence that this matter is related to the Flame God Cult, but there is evidence that this matter has nothing to do with the Flame God Cult, at least not with the power of the Thunder God." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, another gray-haired magician walked up.

Like Fleming, he is also a well-known alchemist in the mainland, and two months ago, he was based in Berkeley, the free city, but because of the Flame God Cult, he had to take refuge in the Nilogaard Academy, and with his prestige, he naturally became a professor in the academy.

He sniffed the air lightly and said, "When using Thor's power, white smoke will appear in the air, and the smell is very pungent, but none of this is there. This is enough to show that the potion contained in this steel ball and the power of Thor are completely two different things. ”

Fleming nodded repeatedly, "You said what I wanted to say, Master Parkland. ”

As soon as he moved his hand, the steel ball in the air split into two parts, one fell in his hand, and the other flew towards Master Parkland: "Master Parkland, in fact, the steel sheet is also very special, it is unusually hard. Using magical power to twist it is far more strenuous than ordinary steel! ”

"Hmm~ I'll try."

Parkland pinched the piece of steel with his fingers, his mind focused on it, and the alchemical power was wound up, and after about 3 seconds, the piece of steel became as soft as melted wax again, and then began to twist slowly, and it lasted like this for about five or six seconds, and Parkland withdrew his power.

He reached out and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, and nodded in agreement with Fleming: "Very hard indeed. What's even more peculiar is that the composition of this piece of steel is not significantly different from that of ordinary steel. The reason why this has been achieved is largely because of the peculiar steel structure...... Hmm~ This gave me a lot of inspiration, and I will go back and study it carefully. ”

Fleming turned his head to look at the various magicians again: "As far as I know, although the steel used by Thor's power is outstanding, it is far inferior to these steel plates. Therefore, with a high probability, it is inferred that this matter has little to do with the Flame God Cult. ”

"And who did that?"

"Why did he do that?"

The crowd asked questions, and several magicians stepped forward to take a closer look at the marks on the ground.

After a while, a magician suddenly said: "Judging from the traces left at the scene, this steel ball should have been thrown from the south, and the specific direction should be ...... Due south, the balls fall quite fast, faster than a typical trebuchet. ”

"Directly south? Just south is the Bishui River, and the river used to be a beach......"

Fleming immediately looked at Master Parkland: "Master, did you bring your telescope?" ”

"Of course!"

Master Parkland waved his hand behind him, and a young man stepped forward and handed Parkland a long metal cylinder, who took the cylinder and stood at the site of the explosion, looking towards the south bank of the Bishui River.

After looking at it for a moment, his brow furrowed.

Fleming asked, "How's it going?" Is there an anomaly over there? ”

Pakla's white eyebrows twitched, and after looking at it for a while, he handed the cylinder in his hand to Fleming: "The matter is really strange, I can't understand it for a while, you can see it yourself." ”

Fleming took the cylinder and looked towards the south bank, and after one look, he was stunned.

Directly south of the academy, on the bank of the Bishui River, is a flat tidal flat, with sparse vegetation on it, and the area within at least 3 kilometers is clearly visible, but there is not a single figure in this range.

Parkland felt a great headache, he covered his head, and said frantically, "Obviously, this steel ball was thrown by someone. If you want to throw the steel ball so far, you either need to use a special catapult or use the power of magic, and in either case, we arrived at the scene at the first time, and the other party should not have time to retreat, right? ”

"Master, could it be that someone on the opposite bank of the river is covering up with illusions?" A young magician asked.

Hearing this, Fleming looked at a female magician behind him: "Wei Ge, what do you think?" ”

Wei Ge, a disciple of the sage Nya, has an amazing talent for illusion. Although she is young, not yet 20 years old, her achievements in illusion are close to the level of a professor in the academy.

The young sorceress shook her head: "As soon as I came, I checked, not only did there be no trace of illusion on the other side of the river, but there was no fighting within the range of our vision. If anything, then this person's illusion achievements must be far above mine. ”

"I'm afraid that such a person does not exist yet, and even if he exists, it is impossible to be unknown, let alone do such a ridiculous thing." Fleming shook his head.

There was no illusion, and there was no one on the other side, so who would throw such an exploding steel ball over for no reason?

After throwing one, but there is no follow-up action, what is the guy doing this thing trying to do?

The more I think about it, the more strange it feels, and it even looks like someone is playing a prank.

All the magicians, you look at me, I look at you, they can't think of a reason, they can only look at each other.

After a while, a young magician said weakly, "Could it be that someone used space magic to throw the steel ball over?" ”

"No way. If there is really space magic, the magic power fluctuation will be very obvious, and it is impossible for the academy defense magic array not to call the police! His speculation was immediately dismissed.

"Could it be that someone used magical power to interfere with the flight of the steel ball, causing the steel ball to turn in the air....... Well, it can't be that either. Using magic at such a close distance, it was impossible for the Academy's magic array to be unresponsive. He himself dismissed that possibility.

Fleming waved his hand and made up his mind: "No need to guess, when the explosion occurred, I was checking the operation of the Academy's defensive magic array, and at that time, the magic array did not have any abnormal reaction, which is enough to show that there is no abnormal magic power within 500 meters around the academy." So, this thing can only be thrown at someone! ”

"But who threw this thing?" Master Parkland spread his hands.

"......," Fleming was silent.

After a long silence, he spoke, "No matter who threw it, this is a provocation to the Academy. Starting today, strengthen vigilance, and set up a guard circle on the periphery of the academy, and no one must be allowed to throw this dangerous thing into the academy! ”

"As for this matter, it will be kept secret for the time being, and it will be said that there was an accident in the academy when testing the potion, and we can investigate it secretly....... Also, when the dean returns, I will personally report to her on the day. I think her prophetic powers should help us find the killer. ”

Pakra sighed, "I have a sense of foreboding...... But that's all there is to it. ”