Chapter 530 Final Preparations 2: Magical Materials

Archmage Elric had already suspected as much.

And sure enough, the moment he mentioned departing tonight, the three of them nodded almost simultaneously, confirming his guess without hesitation.

Seeing their reaction, the old archmage let out a quiet sigh before turning around.

“Very well,” he murmured.

He began issuing instructions, quickly deciding which of his mages would accompany Zion and Maxwell as field support, and which ones would remain behind with him to construct the teleportation portal. A few others were tasked with assisting the preparations and maintaining communication with the Royal Capital’s communication center, ensuring that everything would be ready the moment the portal was activated.

Zion, Maxwell, and the rest of their team didn’t take long to finish their preparations. Archmage Elric quickly selected five mages to accompany them as field support before turning his attention back to coordinating with the communication center.

Not long after, Zion and Maxwell departed the camp while Levi remained behind to guard the temporary base, and more importantly, to ensure Addison’s safety.

Their destination this time was the deeper mountain range roughly twenty kilometers away from the camp. Under normal circumstances, with their group of warriors moving at full speed and without interruptions, the distance could have been covered in about forty-five minutes. That was assuming they maintained their fastest pace and encountered no monsters or territorial wild animals along the way.

However, the situation wasn’t that simple. Several warriors had to carry the five mages with them, which significantly slowed the group’s overall speed. Because of that, the journey was expected to take around two and a half to three hours.

According to Archmage Elric’s calculations and experience, the final missing material they needed, the Luminous Night Daisy, was most likely to grow in mountainous areas that were exposed to moonlight. The flower only bloomed at night and preferred open clearings at higher elevations where the moon’s light could reach it directly.

Based on those conditions, the most likely location would be somewhere within the eastern mountain range.

In fact, Zion remembered encountering one before. When he had first scouted the area to establish the temporary camp, he had climbed partway up one of the nearby mountains to get a clearer view of the plains below. By coincidence, he had spotted a single Luminous Night Daisy growing in a clearing near the summit.

Unfortunately, that location was no longer an option.

Since then, the area had been taken over by a group of ogres. Facing dozens of ogres with only their current number of warriors would be far too risky.

Because of that, their best option now was to search for another patch of the flower in the mountain range Archmage Elric had identified.

The Luminous Night Daisy was not just any herb, it was one of the most critical components required to construct the teleportation portal. The flower’s extract served as the special ink used by the mages to inscribe the runes of the arcane circle. Once infused into the runic lines, it helped capture and stabilize the surrounding mana needed to power the teleportation portal.

Another unique property of the flower made it even more valuable.

The more mana the Luminous Night Daisy absorbed, the brighter it glowed. This allowed the mages to immediately detect whether their runic inscriptions were correct or flawed while constructing the circle.

If the glow remained steady and stable, it meant the runes were properly aligned. If not, it would reveal imperfections before the portal was activated, preventing potentially catastrophic errors.

Since they already had a general direction to follow, the group decided to search for the remaining materials while making their way toward the mountain range. This way, they wouldn’t waste time making separate trips.

The five accompanying mages spread out their mana senses to assist the werewolves in locating the ingredients they needed. Every magical herb, mineral, or ingredient carried traces of mana, and as long as the mages passed within roughly a one-kilometer radius, they could detect the subtle fluctuations of mana in the air.

In this sense, the mages acted like living compasses.

While the werewolves focused on maintaining their speed and keeping watch for monsters or territorial wild animals, the mages concentrated entirely on sensing the surrounding mana signatures.

Whenever one of them felt a disturbance in the mana flow, they would first communicate silently among themselves through agreed-upon signals before informing Zion or Maxwell.

One mage would then temporarily withdraw his broader mana sensing and concentrate on that specific location. By narrowing his focus, he could analyze the mana’s characteristics, its attributes, density, and overall pattern, to determine what type of material might be nearby.

This step was crucial.

Although all magical materials contained mana, each one had its own unique composition. Some might share similar attributes or elemental properties, but their mana structures, almost like a magical “genetic pattern”, would differ. Those differences determined their uses and value in magical applications.

Because the group was moving at high speed, the mages couldn’t perform overly detailed analysis. Instead, they focused on identifying the general attributes and rough properties of the mana signatures they encountered. Once they moved closer, they could verify whether the material matched what they were searching for.

If it wasn’t the correct material, they would still collect it when possible, many magical ingredients could be useful for other purposes later.

However, they couldn’t afford to stop for every minor detection along the way. If they did, their travel time would stretch far beyond what they have expected.

So the entire operation relied on efficiency: the mages filtering the signals, the werewolves maintaining speed, and the team only slowing down when the probability of finding the right material was high.

Besides, handling magical materials required great care and precision. Many magical herbs were extremely delicate, and improper handling could easily damage their mana properties. Because of that, there were times when the mages had to spend several minutes carefully digging out a single magical herb to preserve its property and attributes.

Once the team finalized their strategy, everyone moved with a silent understanding of their roles.

Not long after they began advancing toward the mountain range, one of the mages suddenly detected a mana signature that resembled one of the materials they needed.

The werewolf carrying that mage gradually adjusted his direction, closing the distance toward Zion, who was running at the front of the formation. When they were close enough, the mage leaned forward over the wolf’s back and shouted despite the roaring wind blasting against his face and ears.

“Alpha Zion! We’ve detected a mana signature nearby that resembles one of the materials we need. Can we stop briefly to check it?”

Although the strong wind nearly swallowed his words, Zion, and even Maxwell, heard him loud and clear. The mage had shouted with all his strength to ensure his voice carried through the rushing air.

At the moment, Zion and the others were moving in their wolf forms. However, none of them were communicating through pack mindlinks.

This was intentional.

The warriors accompanying them came from several different packs. The lack of a shared pack bond meant no one could communicate through telepathic mindlinks.

This arrangement had been deliberately planned by Zion and Maxwell.