Chapter 60 The Spells of the Banshees

As she watched her kinsfolk bustling about, moving things in and out, Ash could not help but smile.

When she fled from the Abyss of Misfortune, her heart was filled with utter despair. Though the Banshees had finally found a way to lift the curse, they were still unable to survive in the deep sea, forced to sustain flesh magic continuously for the rest of their lives.

She had imagined the future of her people many times, but not even in her sweetest dreams had she envisioned the scene before her eyes today.

Her people no longer feared pollution, nor did they need to maintain flesh magic in the shallow waters; they could even leave the sea entirely and step onto dry land.

On the night the battle ended, many of her kin had looked up at the starlit sky in the sea breeze, completely dumbfounded and unable to speak.

For reasons unknown, the Banshees who lived at the bottom of the Seven Seas harbored such a deep yearning for the stars in the heavens.

Ash could not help smiling again.

"Sister Ash, our construction is basically finished."

Nini approached her with a slightly strange expression. Lately, Ash had been smiling for no apparent reason, and Nini was beginning to wonder if she had been afflicted by pollution once more.

Ash quickly straightened her face, swished her tail, and slithered all the way into the cave.

This was originally a natural karst cave. While the passage was just the right size for Shus, it felt far too narrow for the Banshees. After consulting with one another, the Banshees had decided to expand the cavern.

Within just a few days, the space here had expanded manifold, transforming from a small room into a spacious plaza.

Other Banshees were still continuing the construction. They placed their hands against the rock walls, and the hard stone quickly softened, flowing down like liquid.

Spell: Flesh to Stone—or rather, the reverse, turning rock to mud.

Seeing this, Ash suddenly remembered something. She fished a small notebook out of the pouch at her waist, used four of her hands to steady the four corners of the book, and used a fifth hand to pull out a pen and begin writing.

"Sister Ash, what are you doing?" Nini leaned over with a curious look.

"Recording the spells we can use," Ash said earnestly. "Lord Shus told us to write down all our spells to see what uses they might have."

"Then he might as well just send us out to do things directly. Our spells can't be taught to others anyway, so what's the use of the Lord knowing about them?"

"It's not like that." Ash smiled gently, took a small vial out of a nearby cabinet, and said, "For example, this is an alchemical item made by our Lord. It's called nitroglycerin. It can detonate violently, but it's too dangerous; throwing it directly might detonate it prematurely."

"But..."

Ash raised her hand, a flash of magical light blooming in her eyes, and a sea snake abruptly appeared in mid-air, dropping onto the ground with a soft slap.

Ash poured a single drop of nitroglycerin into its mouth, and the sea snake closed its mouth and rapidly crawled away into the distance.

Before long, a muffled explosion echoed from deep within the cave.

"Did you see that? The combination of magic and science yields effects beyond imagination. And this is just the simplest application."

Nini widened her eyes. She couldn't help but recall the battle on that night—the short girl from the Silent Sanctuary who was dressed like a walking iron barrel. Nini knew she would have a hard time coming out on top in a direct confrontation.

Yet if a snake like that were to crawl into the gaps of her armor...

Not only that, but she could summon many sea snakes at once, feeding each one many drops of that what-was-it oil...

"Do you understand?"

Nini nodded excitedly; she couldn't wait to spar with Nora now.

*'My kin, please come to me!'* Ash called out in her heart.

Ever since all the Banshees had signed symbiotic contracts with Shus, they could all use the short-range telepathy attached to the contract. Although the Banshees possessed a clan-wide telepathic link, this telepathic communication was much more convenient.

Moreover, this telepathic link had an even better feature: it could establish private connections with specific individuals.

For instance, the current link had been established by Shus, encompassing all the Banshees. Shus had named it the "Castel Banshee Work Group," alongside others like "Banshee Family Love" and the "Boom-Boom Squad."

For some reason, Ash always felt that Shus's expression had been rather strange when he explained the names of these links.

It was within the work group that Ash had sent her telepathic message.

Shus: *'Received'*

Ash: *'.......'*

Ash: *'No, Lord Shus, you don't need to come over. I am summoning the other Banshees.'*

Shus: *'It's fine, I just suddenly felt like replying like that, don't mind me ^_^'*

Ash sighed. Lately, her Lord seemed utterly obsessed with this telepathic link, and he had even figured out how to use certain special characters to compose emoticon-like expressions within the link.

The Banshees gathered around, and Ash led them to several huge chests.

"These are all weapons sent by Lord Shus. Everyone can pick out some they like and use them."

The lids of the chests were lifted, revealing mostly polearms—spears and poleaxes alike.

As for why there were no swords...

Nini picked up a poleaxe. Set against her tall figure, the poleaxe looked somewhat dainty.

"Too light."

"Can't be helped. These are made for humans, and you know how petite they are."

"These are already their largest weapons. Smaller swords and blades... I saw Sister Ash try them, and she had to pinch them between her fingertips."
"What about Monica? These should fit her just right, shouldn't they?"

The Banshees giggled and gestured with the weapons.

"Who dares summon my name!"

A low roar echoed through the cave.

The Banshees turned their heads to look.

Monica emerged from the corner. She was encased in a full three layers of heavy armor, her six hands fully loaded with weapons, pointing straight at the Banshees.

"As expected, she looks just right wearing those."

"So petite, truly adorable."

"Monica, hold that longsword higher, and look a bit more contemptuous. Yes, just like that."

Being pointed at and discussed, Monica's face slowly turned red. She raised her weapons and charged forward: "Waaaaah, I'll fight you to the death!"

She charged from above, and burdened with full body armor, she foolishly believed she could still scatter them.

Then, with a single sliding tackle, Nini grabbed her armor and hoisted her up into the air, where she could only thrash around in impotent fury.

The Banshees burst into laughter and resumed their playful scuffle.

Ash smiled, shook her head, opened the telepathic link, and started a private chat with Shus.

*'How is it?'*

*'Not too well. These weapons provide very limited improvement for us.'*

*'It's fine, make do with them for now. I'll have someone specially forge a batch of weapons and armor for you later.'*

*'Understood.'*

*'My workshop has produced the first batch of soap. I'll send two crates over later. Also, your spell list—send it over quickly, I've got a few more good ideas.'*

*'Understood.'*

*'.......'*

The other side fell silent for a moment, but did not cut off the telepathic link. Ash quietly waited for her Lord to ask.

Sure enough, a message came through after a long pause.

*'Ash, is there any spell that can resurrect the dead?'*