Chapter 57

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Here are over 7,500 words as requested. Some readers said two updates, my goodness, that would be 14,000 words!

"Father, it really is you, Father! Waaah!" Luo Li shouted and rushed towards Melif like a little girl.

"Xiao Lili, we were so worried about you." In fact, Luo Li didn't need to say it; just the mental energy from a moment ago was enough for Luo Li to determine that this was her father. Luo Li almost couldn't believe it was true. Her father was so elegant and handsome, while the Melif in front of her looked like a beggar. However, Melif's eyes were already moist.

"Father, Father, where is Mother?" Luo Li suddenly remembered what Cook had said about Lady Aries and asked anxiously.

"Right over there!" Melif tightly held onto Luo Li, afraid she would disappear again, and pointed to the ground behind him.

Luo Li quickly broke free from her father's hand and rushed over, quickly unwrapping the blanket around Aries. With the help of the firelight, she immediately cried out, "Mother, Mother, Father, what's wrong with Mother?"

"She was given some kind of sleeping potion. She will wake up naturally when the time comes." Melif quickly explained and then picked up Aries.

"Cook! Cook, quick, cast a healing spell on Mother!" Luo Li, in a panic, shouted loudly at Cook.

"Yes, Miss Luo Li!" Cook quickly responded and began chanting a magic spell under Melif's surprised gaze.

"Healing Spell!" Three consecutive healing spells, two for Aries and one for the small wounds on Melif's body, all succeeded.

Melif watched Cook cast the spell, his mouth wide open in disbelief. He asked Luo Li, "Xiao Lili, is this the magic servant you recruited recently?"

"Yes, Father, aren't you surprised? But now he is my guardian knight." Luo Li answered proudly.

"Nonsense, a guardian knight requires the family's approval. What you did... Is this the magic servant with triple mental energy who awakened his martial spirit a month ago?" Melif's face darkened when he heard the words "guardian knight," and then he realized the answer Luo Li had given, still in disbelief.

"Yes, Father, Cook can cast two wood-element spells, one is the healing spell, and the other is the thorn spell." Luo Li nodded and confirmed.

"Wow, triple mental energy doesn't usually advance so quickly?" Melif, being a scholar, asked casually.

Cook then asked quietly, "Lord Melif, should we leave here first?"

"Yes, let's leave quickly. We were ambushed by the Black Riders of the Yalan Empire. Hurry, their main force is probably coming back soon." Melif, when asked by Cook, immediately gave instructions. In fact, Melif alone wouldn't be afraid, but with his wife and daughter, and after just being tortured, his condition wasn't good. So, Melif quickly said.

"But where are we? Which way should we go?" Cook said hesitantly.

"Hmm, based on the stars, this should be the southwestern part of the Yalan Empire. We should head southeast." Melif looked at the sky and said.

"Yes!" Cook quickly prepared. Big Gray became the mount for the three women, and there was also a cart with two oxen. However, they had to delay because there were still surviving women in the village. Cook handed over the loot from the Black Riders to Kangknie and had her distribute it to the remaining women, instructing them to flee.

"Cook, that was several thousand gold coins. Don't you regret it?" Kangknie, watching the women drive the cart away, asked Cook with a smile.

"Hmph, several thousand gold coins are nothing. I don't care about billions of gold coins." Cook snorted and glanced at the dragon egg. In fact, Cook felt sorry for these women. Most of them were only in their teens, unmarried girls. After this disaster, their families were dead, and if they had no money, their lives would be ruined. As for Cook not feeling sad, that was a lie.

During this time, Luo Li also quietly recounted their journey. At this moment, Melif looked at Cook with a very strange expression, and his trembling hands revealed his excitement.

"Father, this is the dragon egg, a thunder dragon's egg. It's strange, Cook's contract didn't succeed, but I did." Luo Li unwrapped the large rabbit fur around the dragon egg, revealing the purple-spotted giant dragon egg.

"Thunder dragon! Lili, your luck is indeed good. You didn't know, but you are a dual-element mage. Fire is obvious, but you also have a latent talent for lightning. However, activating the lightning talent is very dangerous, so we didn't activate it for you without full preparation." Melif, excited, touched the dragon egg and explained to Luo Li.

"Lightning talent, no wonder I succeeded in the contract. Also, did you see the dead branches on Cook's back? They are from the Tree of Life in the dragon's nest." Luo Li realized and then pointed to the dead branches tied to Cook's back.

"Branches of the Tree of Life? Oh, Lili, are you sure?" Melif was even more excited. The branches of the Tree of Life are the dream material for all mages' wands. Because mages lack exercise, their bodies gradually become stiff, and over time, their bodies will deteriorate. The higher the level of the mage, the more likely they are to have some small health issues. The branches of the Tree of Life continuously nourish the body with their vast life force, making them the dream material for mages' wands.

Cook had also finished handling the situation, which was just collecting loot and sending the surviving women away. It took less than ten minutes. Cook came over and asked, "Lord, everything is handled. Can we leave now?"

"Let's go! We should take the same way you came. Carrying this thing makes me uneasy." Melif patted the dragon egg. As a High Mage, Melif knew very well what a mother dragon would do if she lost her egg. Also, this was Yalan Empire territory. Carrying the branches of the Tree of Life and a dragon egg, Melif didn't have the courage to act openly in enemy territory. If the news leaked, he would face endless and疯狂的追杀。所以梅立夫拍板决定。

“那好吧！”库克看了看四周，都没有意见，虽然库克已经很不想再走黑漆漆的地下暗河，但这里已经由梅立夫说了算。

“杂碎！”当梅立夫看到洞穴入口的尸体时，脸色阴沉地骂道，随后一个爆裂火球术彻底炸塌了这段洞穴。

“库克，刚才我看了看星象，发现最近几天可能有暴雨，所以我打算交给你一个重要的任务。”梅立夫在地下暗河里一边走一边对库克说道。

“暴雨！”库克知道暴雨对地下暗河意味着什么。

“对！我这里有一个木系恢复术的辅助魔法，主要是为他人恢复精力以及体力，所以只要你学会释放这个魔法，那么我们完全可以在三天内到达你们进入地下暗河的地方。”梅立夫笑眯眯地说道，不过在照明石的照耀下，有些吓人。

库克以为是什么为难的事情，没想到居然是让自己学习魔法。库克的头点得像小鸡啄米似的回答道：“好啊，好啊，即使学不会，我们可以在巨龙的巢穴下面那个洞穴里面过一阵子就是了。”

“呵呵，听好了。”随后一阵吟唱声从梅立夫的嘴里冒了出来，在库克听来这吟唱声也充满了节奏感，库克心里默默记着，努力记住每一个音节。

“记住了多少？”梅立夫其实不相信库克能在这么短时间内从一个泥腿子变成一个魔法学徒，而这个恢复术里面有一些精灵语，这才是最难的。

“能不能请您再念一遍。”库克请求道，其实不过十几个音节而已，库克已经记住了大半。

梅立夫再次吟唱了一遍，库克努力记忆着，然后在梅立夫惊奇的目光中，开始吟唱魔法咒语。第一次库克吟唱得磕磕绊绊，甚至还有几个音节不对，即使这样，梅立夫也很惊讶了。

不过库克听完自己吟唱之后的声音与梅立夫的吟唱后的声音做比较，也发现了不对，第二次吟唱就好多了，第三次库克吟唱出来的与梅立夫几乎是一模一样了。库克接连练习了十几次，总算是感觉熟练了不少。

“恢复术！”不出所料，第一次运用魔力释放魔法，都无一的失败了。库克没有在乎，而是继续第三次，第四次，第五次。

“莉莉，这家伙怎么这么多魔力，这都失败了二十次啊？”梅立夫惊讶地问道。

“呀，我还忘记了，库克还创造了一种全新的冥想方式，比传统的冥想方式要快好几倍呢，而且还能压缩提纯元素呢？”洛莉被梅立夫这么一问，才惊觉这个事情忘了告诉梅立夫了，于是就把库克用大网吸附魔法元素给说了一遍。

“天才，天才啊！”梅立夫闭上眼睛试验了一下，立马睁开眼睛赞叹道，看向库克的眼睛里面闪耀着莫名的光芒。

“恢复术！”随着库克一声吟唱声结束，一道翠绿色的光芒就命中了大灰灰，大灰灰先是一愣，随后眼神里面就充满了活力，步子也轻快了许多。

“靠！”梅立夫忍不住的爆了一句粗口，要知道这木系的恢复术虽然是魔法学徒的魔法，但这是学习难度高达S级的魔法，因为里面多了一些精灵音节在里面，导致了许多的魔法师根本发不准音节。

“父亲，你似乎忘记了库克的天赋，禽言兽语啊，能与野兽说话，还在乎精灵语言么，要知道精灵毕竟是人类的一种，而野兽……。”洛莉偷笑的说道。

“呃！”梅立夫这才反应过来，看向库克的眼神更加的变了，要知道在魔法咒语里面，不但有精灵语言，还有巨龙语言，以及各种其他高阶生物的语言，那么库克这个禽言兽语的天赋对于他学习魔法咒语，就像是升级开了外挂一样，根本没有什么难度。

迈克也有幸被库克释放了一道恢复术，一下子感觉体力又回来了，脚也不酸了，腿也不痛了，迈克忍不住的喊道：“老大，再来一次！”

在库克恢复术的帮助下，一行人只用了两天就到达了库克们进入地下暗河的地方。这个时候，地下暗河里面的水已经比原来高些了，而头顶上还有一些水不断地渗透下来，显然外面在下雨。

“嗯，不是很严重的，你们都退后。”梅立夫看了看当时被洛莉震塌的地方，发现垮塌的地方被激烈的水流冲走了许多，不过有几个大石块支撑住了垮塌。梅立夫用精神力仔细地扫视了一下，才开口说道。

“小心点。”雅丽丝小声地叮嘱丈夫，雅丽丝在库克学会恢复术之后就醒过来了，不过浑身软绵绵的，只好被洛莉搀扶着骑在大灰灰上。康克妮与龙蛋则由库克负责，因为康克妮还中毒的，所以不敢轻易地使用恢复术，谁也不敢保证恢复术会不会让康克妮中毒更严重，只是苦了米琪，不过在库克的偏心下，米琪也没有觉得多雷。米琪手里还有一个睁大了黑色眼珠子的小灰灰，这小家伙睁开眼睛以后只认米琪一个人，其他人要来抱的话，这小家伙就又撕又咬的，虽然没有什么实质性的伤害，但认主米琪是一定的了。

“大火球术！”梅立夫并没有使用爆裂火球这样的大威力魔法，而是用大火球术，接连几个大火球术，梅立夫硬是从大石头的缝隙里面打通了一条道路来。随着一阵阵石头落水的声音，一行人逐渐看见了一丝亮光。

“等等，等等！大人，现在这样太危险了，您看看那些石头，只要一震动，估计就掉下来了，还是我先释放一些荆棘术，把那些浮石固定住。”库克看着梅立夫就要走上去，赶紧的说道。

“呵呵，放心吧，我可是魔导师，魔导师的精神力维持个通道的安全还是能行的。”梅立夫笑着摆手道。

“呵呵，我忘记了。”库克当然忘记了，因为库克自己是个魔法学徒，就能用精神力一动数公斤重的物体，那么梅立夫的精神力强大到何等的情况，库克根本不用计算就明白了。

当库克一行人走出地面，迎接他们的是倾盆大雨。而在雅兰帝国的都城伊斯布堡，则是满地的哀嚎的声音，天空之中一个长达数百米的巨大身影正悬浮在高空，用方圆数百里之内都能听到的声音吼道。

“卑鄙奸诈的人类，交出无耻的小偷，你们已经成功的激怒了伟大的拉米兰的怒火，一个上位雷龙的怒火！”拉米兰给了理查夫警告以后，就径直的来到了雅兰帝国的都城。在这里拉米兰敏锐的眼神发现了都城里面的卫队上面有些人的打扮与自己在领地里面消灭的那些人打扮是一模一样的，同样是魔狼，同样的徽章，同样的语言，以及同样的装备。拉米兰自认为找到了罪魁祸首，所以就忍不住怒火的先来了一次雷云风暴，一个八级龙语魔法，而在人类里面，这却是一个九级禁咒级别的魔法。伊斯布堡的数平方公里就成了废墟，不过好在伊斯布堡处于干旱地带，紧靠沙漠，所以雷系魔法的伤害降到了最低点。

“伟大的巨龙阁下，我是魔法师工会驻雅兰帝国的分会长司迪卡，请问阁下你为什么要攻击人类的聚居地。”一名中年人站在巨大的城墙上，大声的问道。

“可恶，该死的！”拉米兰刚刚想说，但随后意识到说了之后，这些人类必定会更加的疯狂，而魔法师工会这样庞大的组织，拉米兰还是有些忌惮。到时候要是魔法师工会黑吃黑，然后杀人灭口的话，自己的孩子恐怕更没有机会找回来了。拉米兰不由的大骂道。

“他们偷走了我的财宝，那可是我最心爱的宝贝，中途被我发现了，就是那些骑着魔狼的家伙，我杀死了数十人，在清理财宝的时候却发现最珍贵的一个不见了，于是我四处寻找，终于找道了，就在这里，如果你们不打算归还我的财宝的话，那么我不介意召集一些巨龙来进行报复。”拉米兰大声的吼道。

“会长，雅兰帝国魔狼骑士团这段时间的确不在帝都，已经消失了近两个月了，留在帝都的不过是一些预备役人员。”在这名会长的旁边，一个执事小声的说道。

“哼！找死，巨龙的财宝是那么好拿的，你去问问看，他们雅兰帝国究竟准备怎么办？一头九级雷龙，他们也敢招惹？”会长冷哼一声吩咐道。

“巨龙阁下，我以魔法师工会的名义担保，我只是试图了解一下情况而已，所以请你耐心的等会儿，我已经派人去了解情况了，相信要不了多久就会有消息传来的。”魔法师工会雅兰分会的会长司迪卡朗声的说道。

“哼，要是你们不认账该怎么办？”拉米兰听到这里，心里却是一紧，其实拉米兰已经绝望了，根本不抱有任何找回来自己孩子的希望了，但拉米兰不想就这么放弃。

“呵呵，我们已经查明了雅兰帝国的魔狼骑士团的确不在帝都，根据情报显示，已经离开帝都近两个月了。”司迪卡听到拉米兰这么说，知道必须要取信于拉米兰，不然一头九级巨龙的怒火自己也承受不了啊。

“会长，会长，皇帝吓老儿不敢出来，而魔狼骑士团据说出去训练了，根本没有人回来过，那老儿把事情推得一干二净的。”刚才那名执事飞快的从坐骑上跳下来，然后对司迪卡说道。

“该死的，不知道，不知道，他们怎么会不知道呢？”司迪卡愤怒了，要是这样，那么这次自己出头岂不是两头不讨好，一面要面对暴怒的雷龙，一面又要面对老皇帝的无赖回答。

“该死的，奸诈的，卑微的，蝼蚁般的人类，去死！雷云风暴！”但是司迪卡忽视了巨龙的强大的精神力，当拉米兰听到老皇帝居然推诿的时候，怒火一下子就冲了起来，先是高亢的声音咒骂道，随后喷出了一口龙息，直接导致了两条街区化为了灰烬，地面更是一片焦黑。

“啊！！”司迪卡看见这种情况，惊呼了一声，手忙脚乱的掏出了一张金色的卷轴，瞬间司迪卡就被一层浓郁的金光包裹住了，而司迪卡更不敢耽误时间，狂奔着跑向了魔法师工会，因为魔法师工会哪里有强大的魔法阵。

“雷云风暴！”拉米兰短暂的吟唱声已经结束了，只见天空一暗，无数乌黑的云层凭空出现，这些乌云里面还有一道道粗大的紫色光芒在不停地闪现。

“霹雳，咔嚓！轰，隆隆，嘭！”随后是一阵震天的惊雷声，然后无数道粗大的闪电就这样落在了雅兰帝国的帝都里面，一幢幢精美的建筑，一个个美丽的街区，还有一个个活生生的生命在这样的情况下，都变成了漆黑的一片。

而在雅兰帝国皇帝的寝宫下面，老皇帝听到巨大的惊雷声，手不断地哆嗦着，而陪伴皇帝陛下的是一干臣子，这些臣子有好多已经瘫软在地上了，只有一些将军满脸的悲愤之色，手里紧握着，指甲都把皮肤划破了。

“罪人，我是罪人，给我查，彻底的查，魔狼骑士团究竟为什么要招惹巨龙，把他们所有的亲属给我关押起来，一条线索也不要放过。”十分钟过去了，惊雷声还在继续，老皇帝嚎啕大哭的嘶吼道。

而司迪卡则满脸的死灰，因为魔法师工会引以为傲的防御魔法阵，只是坚持不到一分钟就被粗大的雷电给击碎了。要不是魔法师工会有应急机制，所有的人员早就撤往了安全的地下密室里面，这次魔法师工会算是完了。不过即使是这样，魔法师工会里面的材料、商品，还有一些资料估计也被毁掉了。司迪卡能够想象得到总部的怒火是怎么样的庞大