Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

Chapter 674: Free Action

This place originally should have been some perimeter treehouses, watchtowers, and simple defense barriers, but now most have turned to ruins.

Some wizards who arrived earlier, also tasked with assisting in the cleanup, are rummaging through the ruins, their actions swift and skilled.

Seeing Master Ted’s team, they only glance up warily, then continue working, maintaining a mutual, tacit distance of non-interference.

Duke silently observed, he saw a wizard carefully scrape off some shimmering, silver crystals resembling congealed tree sap from a partially collapsed treehouse beam.

Another wizard picked up a quiver with unique material, although damaged, and some arrows with tiny runes engraved on the arrowheads beside the body of an Elf archer.

Master Ted waved his hand, signaling the team members to disperse but not stray too far. Then he himself walked slowly toward the deeper part of the village, the direction of the Moon Well where the energy fluctuations were still evident, apparently wanting to observe the situation in the core area and possibly meet with the leader of the main attack team.

Duke headed towards the edge of the village, to a relatively intact large wooden house that seemed to have been collapsed by a powerful shockwave from inside rather than directly destroyed.

Situated in a more remote area, other scavengers hadn’t gotten to it yet.

The inside of the wooden house was in a state of disarray, broken beams, shattered pots, scattered tools, and the air was thick with dust and a faint scent reminiscent of sandalwood.

Duke’s spiritual power swept over like a gentle breeze, sensing for any abnormal energy points or hidden corners.

Behind a toppled giant wooden rack, he found a secret compartment half-hidden underneath the debris.

The compartment itself was already damaged, and its contents had scattered out.

Not gold or jewels, but scrolls made of some kind of resilient bark, and several sealed pottery jars engraved with natural runes.

Duke quickly examined them.

The scrolls were inscribed in Elven script, which he couldn’t read, but some had simple illustrations, seeming to be about forest plant characteristics, moon trajectory observation records, and the structure of some simple devices for guiding and storing lunar energy.

Though basic, they might have reference value.

The pottery jars, upon opening, emitted a rich aura of life and moonlight energy, containing a concentrate, paste form of the Moon Well Water Essence, or some kind of healing ointment concocted with well water.

To ordinary wizards, this counted as a minor gain.

He packed away the scrolls and pottery jars and continued his investigation.

In the corner of the wooden house, under a loose stone slab, he discovered a small cloth bundle containing several unpolished, milky-white stones imbued with pure lunar energy, and a small pouch of silver-glowing, dried, peculiar moss, possibly some type of Moonlight Moss, commonly used in enchantments or potions.

These gains were not stunning but were unique in type, all specialties from the Dark Elf Plane, valuable for research or sale.

More importantly, by browsing the scrolls, though unable to understand the text, the illustrations provided information.

Duke gained a more direct impression of the everyday methods and basic techniques of Dark Elves using Moon Well energy.

As he exited the wooden house, he saw Una carefully digging out several deep purple-colored tree hearts from beside a large, partially charred tree, its roots still emitting faint life pulses.

Harold, not far away, was dragging out some heavy wooden crates from a half-collapsed cellar, seemingly containing cured beast meat and stored nuts.

Elwin appeared somewhat at a loss, following behind Shadow Raven, who silently checked a few shadowy corners potentially used for hiding or escape, occasionally using a short dagger to pick up a small piece of blood-stained cloth or a broken accessory.

Master Ted returned from the core area’s direction, his face still stern but with a hint of contemplation in his eyes.

He glanced at each team member’s haul and nodded slightly, "That’s about it; the core area is still in the final skirmish. The Moon Well is tightly controlled, and we have no chance to execute tasks over there. Lord Vika has sent word that the battles in several other clans are also ending, consolidating victories and assessing losses. Our Thorn Cluster’s task ends here; you can return to Darkmoon Town to rest, await further orders, and loot distribution, or act freely."

His gaze swept over Duke and the others, "Keep your gains secured, you’ve earned them. Remember, don’t boast upon returning, handle them privately."

As Master Ted finished speaking, it was like a stone dropped into calm water, creating different ripples in the hearts of the team members.

The words ’act freely,’ in the current environment, meant something that all the wizards present understood deeply.

The main battle was over, but chaos and opportunity coexist.

The main force focused on consolidating the core area, especially controlling the Moon Well, unable to attend to every nook and cranny on the vast battlefield border.

And in those places, leftovers overlooked by the main force might linger, unpurged dangers might lurk, or paths to hidden places might exist.

Risk and opportunity were completely handed back to the individuals at this moment.

Una barely hesitated, carefully wrapped up the tree heart fragments she just harvested, nodded to Master Ted, "Master, I’d like to explore the fluorescent fern forest on the east side, which hasn’t been much affected, there might be some unique accompanying herbs."

Her familiarity with the forest, ingrained in her blood, made her dare to explore seemingly peaceful areas alone.

Harold licked his lips, a clever glint in his eyes, "I’ll follow Una, give her some support. Maybe check for stragglers from Stone Root Clan dispersed over there."

He clearly intended to continue playing the role of hunter and scavenger.

Elwin appeared somewhat anxious but after looking at his nearly empty haul and then at the others, gathered his courage and said to Master Ted, "Master, I... may I accompany you back to Darkmoon Town? I need to organize today’s magic insights."

He chose the most prudent path.

Shadow Raven, silent as ever, packed the broken elf earring with secret runes he’d just found, bowed slightly to Master Ted, then blended into the shadows behind a nearby broken wall, disappearing without a trace.

His choice was always solitary.

Master Ted was indifferent to everyone’s choices, only emphasizing again, "Remember, whatever happens, you’re responsible. You must return to Darkmoon Town to report before the war ends for the final task settlement and contribution evaluation."