Water Mage in the Flame Realm

Busy times always pass quickly.

As night approached, the wind started to change. It became erratic, sometimes blowing from the east and sometimes from the west.

Andrew understood in his heart: this was a harbinger of the impending "Desolate Beast Sand Tide."

So he seized the time, and before the night fell, he first asked Barbara about the list, and then came again under the "Shai" tree to infuse water from the "Gate of Enlightenment" into the trunk.

At the moment the storage space inside the trunk was refilled, another fire-protection value was realized. However, Andrew did not pay much attention to it for now.

With a flick of the hand, he took out the water tower tree seed, which had regained its vitality.

When he first came under the "Shai" tree, the seed began to pulse faintly.

Now Andrew tried placing the seed at the root of Shai's trunk.

The seed spontaneously transformed into a streak of light and merged with Shai!

Shai had been injured and was still in recovery. Now, the wound caused by Wildfire Town's attack healed visibly and completely! The whole tree emitted a slightly different aura from before and other water tower trees.

There was a faint presence as if it were becoming the guardian spirit of this entire Inner Sea Desert!

Thus, Shai turned calamity into fortune and completely transformed.

Andrew smiled slightly, patting the trunk of Shai.

He simply sat down beneath the tree.

In his sight, under the joint efforts of Barbara, Ivan, An Ya, and Alpha, Wildfire Town began to exude vitality, like a slow-moving machine or a huge life form coming back to life.

The afterglow of the sunset spilled down.

Andrew quietly watched this picture, reaching out to stroke Little Ha's big head, softly saying, "If there were no Magic Guild, everyone living peacefully, cultivating themselves, transforming nature, working together to improve life—wouldn't that be nice."

Little Ha seemed to understand, or perhaps not quite. It lay down beside Andrew, resting its head on his crossed legs.

In essence, it was a dog that had awakened as a Desert Hunter, instinctively close to Andrew, a fellow Water Magic Lord.

Andrew chuckled, continuing to knead Little Ha's ears, saying no more, calmly enjoying this moment.

Though the wind became increasingly chaotic,

at this moment, Wildfire Town had a taste of serene immovability and the passing of time.

"From now on, this is my domain."

Andrew felt a sense of finally having roots, a home, warmth, and responsibility in this Flame Realm.

When the last glow of sunset vanished over the horizon,

Andrew moved his heart, activating the "Gate of Enlightenment," transforming his magic from the "Enlightenment Normal State" to the "twofold state."

Previously entering the "twofold state," the increase in magic was nearly double, but always lacked a bit.

Now, it finally reached a full twofold increase.

This doubled magic now silently surged within him, invisibly overflowing.

In the quiet of this moment, he touched the threshold of "Tier Two," and then... effortlessly and naturally stepped over it.

Successfully broke through to become a Tier Two Water Magic Lord.

"Awoo?"

Little Ha seemed to sense something, looking up at Andrew. At this close proximity, Little Ha's intuition toward Andrew surpassed even that of Ivan, Andrew's Soul Guard.

He saw a flicker of joy pass across Andrew's face, quickly replaced by the same smile as before.

In the first instant after the breakthrough, Andrew immediately returned from the "twofold state" to the "Enlightenment Normal State," dispersing his magic again to the people of his territory, leaving not a trace within himself.

It seemed as if the breakthrough, a monumental event for anyone, became only natural to him, almost insignificant.

Of course, the breakthrough in tier was still significant.

Andrew simply enjoyed it too much—

quietly watching his territory, as if starting to function properly.

...

That night, Andrew did not return to the temporary camp to sleep.

Instead, he slept under the water tower tree.

Little Ha curled itself into a perfect mattress, and Andrew, unceremoniously, lay directly on it.

He casually pulled Little Ha's ear over to use as a blanket, warm beyond words.

Little Ha was somewhat reluctant, but after a thought, endured. Andrew had an aura that made it feel close.

Thus, the night passed without a word.

When the east lit up again with dawn, Andrew, in his dream, suddenly opened his eyes.

He flipped Little Ha's ear with a start, sitting up.

His gaze was stern.

Just now, the Cicada Wing Array issued a warning: someone crossed this essential invisible array, the moat of Wildfire Town.

And this time, it wasn't just a desert lizard scouting the path!

"Has Desert Whisperer Ross started taking action this quickly?"

Andrew thought, this was sooner than Barbara and he had anticipated.

The onset of the Desolate Beast Sand Tide and its peak still required some brewing time in between.

According to prior judgment, Desert Whisperer Ross should be starting in a week.

However, Andrew knew his judgment was correct.

Because merely three seconds later, from the direction of Wildfire Town, the central magic laboratory suddenly sounded a sharp alarm.

Over there, Barbara also detected the intruder through the lab's "fortress" function!

"What's going on?"

"Alarm? Is this the alarm for detecting Desolate Beast invasions?"

"Is this year's Desolate Beast Sand Tide coming?!"

The townspeople awoke in shock.

Earning such an alarm early in the morning inevitably caused some panic.

Fortunately, soon after, Barbara's voice transmitted through the magic amplifier, filling the entire town: "Don't worry, everyone, carry on with your day!" Before the words finished, an orange-red magic shield silently emerged, covering all of Wildfire Town.

People's hearts promptly calmed down. That was precisely the significance of Barbara spending time to restore the lab's "fortress" function!

During Humboldt's rule over Wildfire Town, alarms might sound, but there was never a magic shield. Sometimes there were not even alarms.

Humboldt only thought about prolonging his life and did not care for the town people's lives.

In any case, no matter how fierce the Desolate Beast Sand Tide was, it wouldn't pose any threat or impact to a magic laboratory overseen by an Earth Fire Mage.

In the east, the sun's first arc finally rose.

The entire Wildfire Town seemed like a living being, startled awake but not panicked, responding methodically. An Ya, Alpha, Little Sophie, Aunt Sofia were also awake by this time, but after a slight panic, they quickly calmed themselves, holding their positions.

Meanwhile, Andrew moved quietly, heading toward the northwest direction of the little town.

At the same time, he communicated with Ivan, "Northwest direction, Desolate Beast invasion."

Ivan: "Alright, I'll be right there."

This was not a communication-type magic. Instead, after the breakthrough to a Tier Two Magic Lord last night, naturally a "soul whisper channel" was established between Andrew and Ivan.

Communication magic is typically a forte of Warm Fire Magic, with Water Magic having no advantage in this area.

However, this "soul whisper channel" is not ordinary water magic, but a communication link existing between a Water Magic Lord and his designated Soul Guard.

As for why it was so certain to be the "northwest direction," first, the breached location of the Cicada Wing Array was precisely in that direction.

Secondly, as "Water Spirit Sensing" grew with the increase in magic tier, its range suddenly expanded more than twice, now not only covering Wildfire Town but almost every corner within the Cicada Wing Array!

Andrew no longer spent any fire-protection value to unlock large-scale perceiving water magic.

Because "Water Spirit Sensing" was already the best existing water-detection magic.