Siegel stood in the cold dawn, looking at the makhabuta shrouded in gloomy clouds. He could see several corpses lying in the dirty snow on the side of the road, and the wolves that had broken free from their chains were feasting. A group of slaves who had just been escorted were huddled in cold iron cages, too frightened to move by the sight of wild beasts feeding. The wolf's teeth cut open its belly, and the cold intestines that had long been frozen condensed into a large lump, which only slowly softened under the steaming heat from the wolf's mouth. Many inhabitants of the city die every day, and the largest number of slaves cannot feed themselves. This is a city that only belongs to the young and prime, and there is only one way to die when aging, and this death definitely does not mean the end of life.

At the thought of death, the mage remembered the horror he had seen in Baten Town. The ground was littered with broken corpses, the walls and trees were covered with blood, and the whole city smelled of smoke and blood. The Knox Commons had destroyed the city in a riot, and on top of the bones, they had obtained a Flame Crystal.

The stone contained the energy of fire, but it was not a fire element, something Siegel could feel. The normal fire element represents temperature, the force of a raging fire, in which there are no fluctuations in emotions. But the Flame Crystal was filled with roaring souls and screams of pain, and above it was a burning red flame. After obtaining the gem, Siegel tried to study its use and use, and the idea was to use it as a spell casting material to increase the activity of the fire element, with the goal of destroying the shipyard. But with Siegel's continuous experiments, the power of fire was not at all at all channeled from the flame soul crystal, except for the resentful spirits.

He lit a fire, and his pipe burned with the finest tobacco leaves he had found from the Witch Priest in Boulder Village, and of course the pipe was taken from the same place. The tobacco leaves are of good quality and can burn slowly without smoking, so Siegel simply holds the pipe in his hand and holds it on his chest, letting the aromatic smoke help him think.

He recalls and calculates every step of the alchemist Eric's crafting potions. Since he had never divulged information that he was a mage, he was able to watch the alchemist's work in its entirety without suspicion: how he prepared the materials, how he proportioned, how he controlled the temperature, how he made medicines. Eric is equipped with a slow-acting magic effect inducer that can be activated after a period of rest, and is used to release energy from magic items and magic materials. This potion is often used when parsing ancient runes or magic arrays, which can make hidden magic manifest, and play a good catalytic and auxiliary role.

Use this potion to draw out the energy in the Flame Crystal, so as to trick the magic detection barrier into thinking that there is an unauthorized spell casting, so as to mobilize the city's guards and provide cover for real action. There are relatively few materials that can meet this condition, only some types of crystal and amber. But in Macabda, there are a lot of loot brought from the south, and there are also gem products looted by the orcs from the dwarven mines, and the materials that meet the conditions can always be found, so why do you have to use the Fire Soul Crystal?

And the most critical question is, what is the relationship between Eric and Knox, and where did he get the Flame Soul Crystal?

Siegel only felt that the road ahead was confusing, and he had no way to control it. He didn't have a friend he could trust to advise, let alone a companion who could trust his life. When there were Elint the dwarf, Leah the Elf, and Dio the Highlander, the experience of the adventure was completely different than it is now. Even though he mastered more magic, his strength and skill improved a lot compared to that time, but he was always restrained and looking ahead.

Count Maxim and the mage are not on the same path at all, and it is difficult for him to fight side by side; the female archer Manna is like an echo worm, the count does whatever he wants, and has no opinion; Tim's ability to get into trouble is much higher than his ability to do good deeds, and only the prestige of the count can completely subdue him, so that he can barely make a mistake when carrying out orders; after receiving the potion, the dwarf walks into the orc city without saying a word, disappearing into the chaotic streets and alleys, to hide the fragments of the fire soul crystal that disturb the vision in a hidden place.

As for Eric, the one that Siegel can't see through the most is the alchemist Eric. Judging from his alchemy techniques and the process of dispensing potions, Siegel must have been a spell caster, not a simple alchemist as he claimed. If you shave his head, paint him with a swirl, and stick a wand in his hand, he's a true co-ordinator.

There is a council of mages in Waterdeep, and it is impossible to involve the wizards of the Knox Guild in the operation, so is this Eric friend or foe? Judging from past experience, Siegel thinks that he should be counted as an enemy, because what the Knox Guild has done recently is more like simply creating killing and chaos than working for the victory of humanity.

Siegel would have thought about every member of the Guild he had met, the first time he was in the kobold camp, the wizard who tried to kill people and take horses, and later the wayfinder he met in Creek Town, looking for rubies everywhere - Siegel suddenly thought that the red gem that was given to Ding Bao at that time could also be the Flame Soul Crystal? Unfortunately, Siegel didn't know magic at that time, and he didn't have the knowledge to distinguish magic materials, so it was difficult to determine the kind of ruby, and he just hoped not to hurt the well-meaning dwarf.

Later, the Dragon Lion Cliff encountered the three wizards of the Guild, and for the first time learned that they possessed spells to modify memories, spells to create golems, and skeleton circles suspended in the air. That circle and the resentful clouds that rose from the sky above Bacon Town were the same, differing only in the scale of the gathering and the way they erupted.

It's true that the Knox Guild is also killing orcs, but Siegel and them are not all the way after all. Perhaps Eric's method will work as intended, completely destroying all the dockyards, but Siegel can't pin all his hopes on him.

Originally, Siegel was about to give up his operation in Macabda, but it was only by stumbling upon Fezzak's true identity that he was allowed to stay again, but it put him in even greater trouble. Siegel feels like a ship in a whirlpool, unable to overcome the attraction and break free, even if he tries hard. 'Something is not normal happening around me. Siegel's gaze flickered behind the smoke, and he began to connect the events that had happened since he had gone north, and it seemed as if there was a force that was constantly stopping him from going south, and he must be allowed to come to Makabuda.

Even the fact that he appeared in the volcano prison was weird. Siegel prides himself on being physically and magically gifted, but crossing the entire walled mountain range through the Dark River without dying is beyond the reach of ordinary people. His cellmate in the same cell happens to have a strong ability to survive in the wild, allowing him to survive in the snow, and his village happens to be run by humans, so he will not be sold into slavery again, and when he encounters danger in Bacontown, he will be guided by the "Shadow of the Dead" to guide him through the crisis, and he will also open up the new ability of the dice, relying on the new ability to enter Makabuda, and then fall into his current situation.

Siegel aspires to be a hero, and his favorite thing to do in Creekwood is to listen to the stories of those heroes. The stories of Ilmin, the prince of the magic sword, Fidan, the dragon knight, and the legendary warrior monk Rygula, are full of struggle, sacrifice, and never-say-die spirit, and of course, luck that is hard for ordinary people to achieve. Whether in the New World or the Old World, it is believed that there is a god of destiny who is responsible for writing the path of each person's life, revealing the secrets of the future with the trajectory of the stars, and the heroes of the mortal world are his favorites. Once upon a time, Siegel was always envious of the heroes who could play an important role in the ever-changing saga, but never thought about how many trials and tribulations he had to go through on the road to becoming a hero. He also wants his name to be celebrated and remembered by future generations, such as the legendary mage Siegel or the heroic knight Siegel.

But it will never be the marionette Siegel.

What is the purpose of the god of fate who has put him in danger again and again, and brought him to the current stage with miracles again and again? Can he bear the burden of fate, and can he break free from the preset script?

Siegel looked up at the horizon as the sun finally rose from behind the dark clouds and shone brightly. Even the evil and fallen orc city of Macabuda has a bright and spectacular sunrise. He could hear the wake up from downstairs, the "alchemist" was playing with his bottles and cans again, Manna and Tim were exercising, and the one-eyed Fezak was bringing breakfast to the Count. According to their plan, after nightfall, the potion will be fully effective, and the entire city will be thrown into chaos, at which point the alchemist will be able to "catalyze the hyphae of Purgatory and let the fire elemental descend on the shipyard". Siegel didn't believe him at all, and he only had one day to find out the truth and respond.

Fezak knocked on the door to Siegel's room, but the mage ignored it. He snuffed out his pipe, jumped from the second-floor ledge, and walked with a light step into the alleys of the city. The pet, which had not flapped its wings for a long time, followed, and after circling in the air three times, it stopped on its master's shoulder and rubbed its head affectionately. Siegel made it quiet because he needed to think quietly. The first thing for a mage is to figure out what the effect of the Flame Soul Crystal, catalyzed by the Magic Activator, will be.

Siegel walked in the unnoticed corner, recalling all the ingredients and how to make the potion. He had withheld some of the materials when he was giving them to the alchemist, and now he needed to find a secluded place to reconfigure the potion, but it would be a quick-acting version. He had been thinking about where he could make the appearance of magic fluctuations less conspicuous, and the witch priest might not pay much attention to the energy fluctuations that appeared there in the auction hall at times, but the auction hall was always bustling and could not find a secluded place.

It occurred to him that he had a place that might be safe. There was an arena in which the orcs would have their slaves perform gladiatorial battles, or fight each other, or fight wild beasts. Sometimes they would have their slaves drink rampaging potions to enhance the spectacle of battle, and these potions would emit magical fluctuations that could shield Siegel from casting magic.

The gladiator's rest area was secluded enough, and the slave owners were hostile to each other, so they would take precautions, and no one would easily enter the preparation area of the others, which was exactly what Siegel needed.