Positive little sun, magical girl, I am awesome

Chapter 424 Shadow Core

At the last moment before the sun set over the mountain, the Rainbow Wall was finally built. Listening to the unwilling howls of the Razor Owls coming from outside the wall, the tense hearts of the guardians finally calmed down. It was so good that they didn't have to look up at the sky anymore. Their necks were about to break from looking up!

"call--"

Lilith packed up her tent, walked outside to the campfire, sat down next to Leila, stretched, and listened to people discussing whether the night owl meat was edible.

“You can eat it!”

Lyriel held a few razor owl tail feathers in his hand and carefully wiped the dust off them while saying that these feathers were excellent materials for making arrows. After asking for everyone's consent, he put them all into his pocket.

“It tastes good, but it’s a little thin and easy to get stuck in your teeth.” He added, “It would be good if made into jerky!”

"You really should have brought your textbooks with you on this trip." Lilith smiled as she took out a set of cups and poured hot red date milk tea for everyone. "I'm so curious about what you're going to learn. It must be very interesting!"

Lilith discovered that although Lariel was not very smart, he knew a lot, which made her even more curious about the elves.

"Oh, you should have told me last time that I would burn them all as firewood before leaving." Lariel looked regretful when he heard this.

"Wow, you are really... not good at studying? I feel so lucky to be a student for so long!" Lulu held her face, her round eyes full of envy, "I just want to stay in Goletia College for the rest of my life, and have potatoes for every meal..."

Lariel looked horrified again and moved his butt slightly to try to get away from the little magician who made such shocking statements. Lucas couldn't help but laugh when he saw this.

"I understand, brother. You don't like reading as much as I do." Lucas patted his shoulder in understanding.

"Who, who said that! It's not true!" Lariel was a little embarrassed but still struggled to explain, "My grades are pretty good..."

"Haha, I believe it, I believe it! But everyone has different aspirations, right? You yearn for the vast world, want to be a free ranger, and make the world your home! Like a sailor on land." Lucas lazily lay on the floor, crossing his legs.

"...Ranger?" Lariel's eyes became brighter and brighter as he spoke unintentionally.

--broken.

Lilith saw him like this and immediately had a bad feeling. "Don't click on the weird career tree, my friend! Didn't you want to be a forest ranger before? Hey! !

"Lariel, do you know a lot about Razor Owl?" Catherine suddenly came over, picked up a cup of hot milk tea and joined the conversation.

"Well, it's just what's in the books..." Lariel was suddenly tested, but she recalled it honestly. The topic was immediately diverted away from the ranger. Lilith looked at her and couldn't help laughing.

"They are among the most ferocious flying beasts. Of course, they can't beat griffins. They have too strong a sense of territory and are used to fighting alone. They don't have a sense of tribe like griffins..." said Lariel as he looked at the giant birds that were being disassembled bit by bit by the guardians beside the fire.

"But they are also very pitiful--" Lariel sighed after a piece of disassembled large bird leg was placed on the bonfire.

"Pathetic?" Lucas interrupted him, disagreeing, "They just tried to open our skulls, my friend! More than once!"

"And I didn't see any hesitation when you dealt with them..." Even Leila couldn't stand his inexplicable pity and muttered softly beside her.

"It's true..." Lyrael continued, "They weren't always this ferocious. I thought you all knew that."

The magicians on the opposite side looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing this, and then looked at him again—

"Huh?" Several girls said in unison.

"Hiss..." Lariel scratched his head in confusion. "This, you didn't learn this either? It seems that too little time at school is really not a good thing. Could it be that the elves' approach is correct...? Aren't you here to find the Shadow Core?"

"We only know that the Shadow Core is guarded by these Razor Owls, but the specific reason... is not stated in the textbook." Lilith said frankly.

"The Shadow Core is a rare magic crystal, even rarer than the Philosopher's Stone! It is impossible to obtain it artificially. Only in this place -" Lariel pointed to the sleeping Un'Goro volcano in the sky, "can some be brought out after the volcano erupts."

"The Shadow Core can absorb the vitality of surrounding creatures and transform it into the holder's magic or vitality. The Razor Owl is attracted by the dark energy emitted by the Shadow Core and forms a symbiotic relationship with it, making it their natural guardian."

"Symbiosis?" Jaina held the cup with curiosity in her eyes.

"Yeah, you can see that the environment here is actually very harsh, right?" There are hard rocks everywhere and the ground is covered with black volcanic ash. Not to mention the Elf Forest with beautiful water and lush grass, even most of Gaia's inland areas are much more fertile than here.

"It is extremely difficult for razor owls to reproduce, but if female owls lay eggs near the Shadow Core, they can use its energy to speed up the hatching and strengthen the young birds. Without the Shadow Core, they can hardly give birth to offspring. Therefore, they will protect the Shadow Core from being taken away by outsiders at all costs. Unfortunately..."

Lariel suddenly sighed, "They are just birds after all, and their intelligence is not enough to foresee risks... Although the power of the Shadow Core is strong, excessive use will cause the holder to be eroded by dark energy and gradually lose themselves. This is why the longer they live, the more brutal and bloodthirsty they become. The erosion of the dark element will keep them in a state of painful rage."

Lilith understood clearly that without using the Shadow Core, these beasts would hardly be able to give birth to offspring. However, using the Shadow Core, they would be influenced by the power of darkness from the moment they were born, and gradually become monsters driven by instinct. This was tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst, which was indeed a bit miserable.

"Only death can bring them back to the arms of the Mother Goddess." Lariel looked at the roasted bird legs and placed his hand on his heart and said devoutly. He would have to eat more later.

"So, you must be careful when using it, a magician with affinity to dark elements." Everyone was still thinking, but saw the elf swallowing his saliva and fixing his eyes precisely on Hannah, who had been listening to the story quietly in the crowd, which made her look surprised.

"...How do you know?" Lilith was also surprised. It seemed that they never talked about the issue of magical affinity during this journey, even though they were looking for the Shadow Core for Hannah. It was said that the thing could summon or control shadow creatures, such as shadow wolves, ghosts, etc., and could even store some vengeful spirits.

"I've seen it." Lyriel blinked innocently. "Some small elven magic, not difficult. I just don't like to use it, but it doesn't mean I don't know how to use it."

Then he sighed again, "You humans are so amazing. In the world of elves, we almost only have affinity for the same element, but you can have all kinds of..."

His fingers glowed green and brushed past the corners of his eyes. The world in front of him suddenly became colorful. The black of the dark element, the red of the fire element, the indigo of the water element, the silver of the wind element, and the one next to him that could not be ignored -

"Oh, Lilith—" Lyrael's voice was dazed.