"I don’t think there’s any issue with the Grand Mage guarding the New York Temple. It’s unlikely he’s involved in any wrongdoing." Primary Universe Batman shook his head and said, "It’s also unlikely to be Wanda. They are both relatively tolerant and gentle people, traits that are hard to fake. Sa goes for the Hippo Goddess. We haven’t t any other professors yet. Perhaps we’ll take a closer look tomorrow."
Arkham Batman nodded and continued, "Do you think it could be a student? If he really wanted to attack the New York Temple, it might be easier for him to gain the professors’ trust under the guise of a student."
"It’s possible, but I haven’t found any suspicious individuals so far. Anyway, there’s no rush. I doubt he will act right after the sester starts; we still have ti to investigate slowly."
"If we find out who’s behind it, what do you plan to do?" Arkham Batman’s face showed a hint of concern as he said, "If he turns out to be a very powerful Black Magician, we have no chance of subduing him with force. The professors and principal might not trust us either."
"First, the mages at the New York Temple aren’t to be underestimated. He may not succeed. Secondly, at least the Supre Magician and Doctor Shiller have so understanding of our wisdom. If we’re certain about sothing, they’ll surely beco more vigilant. We should be able to persuade them."
"I knew a peaceful campus life would never be ours." Arkham Batman sighed gently and said, "Let’s hope this Saphire isn’t too difficult to deal with."
Shiller was in the school hospital’s office reading the script. He was relatively late in receiving the script among the professors. His role is still significant in this installnt, with the entanglent between the Supre Magician and Saphire already beginning to unfold.
Moreover, the scenes in this installnt are not limited to the school hospital, nor even confined to the school grounds. There is an upcoming field trip this year to visit the New York Temple, featuring New York street scenes and the interior architecture of the New York Temple. Additionally, a forest map will be developed near the magic school as one of the key locations for the main antagonist Saphire.
As a magical school, a mysterious and ancient forest is an essential setting. But in reality, the forest near Ilvermorny is just an ordinary nature reserve. Although it covers a large area and the trees are lush, it certainly falls short of the concept of a "Magic Forest."
So recently, Strange and the professors have been busy over in the forest, setting up movie scenes under the guidance of the prop team. It’s quite an undertaking: besides adding more towering trees, expanding the original lake and streams, they also need to include a Wizard’s House, wharf and dungeon, various black magic materials and items, and create traces of Saphire’s activities.
The earlier work was manageable. The director and the prop team drew up designs, and the mages simply followed them. Magical plants and such are readily available, already cultivated, and look quite convincing when planted in the right spot.
The tricky part is creating black magic items and manufacturing signs of Saphire’s activity. The mages do possess black magic items, but most don’t appear visually to be black magic items—they look identical to ordinary magical items, not fitting the public perception of "evil artifacts." Also, these items are rather dangerous, so the mages aren’t in favor of allowing the young actors to interact with them, thus requiring fabrication.
However, the mages don’t actually know what "extrely evil" black magic items should look like in the eyes of ordinary people. So young mages have ideas, but they lack professionalism; their designs are varied and ununified, looking nothing like cohesive work, and the screenwriters can’t make them coherent.
Therefore, they had to seek soone more professional. When it cos to expertise in black magic items, the Hell Dinsion Lord phisto is unrivaled. Strictly speaking, he is the progenitor of "evil aesthetics" because he appreciates that style, and as a devil who seduces hearts, people associate "that style of items" with black magic.
It’s said that even a piece of wall from his palace could be a disaster generator. His aesthetics are quite unified; all created designs fit within a certain frawork, clearly indicating a single power system. So having him design is the best choice.
phisto was, of course, more than willing. He was overjoyed: after thousands of years, finally, humans appreciated his taste! Isn’t black and red beautiful? Aren’t the flow marks of magma gorgeous? Aren’t ashes and charred wood the best decorative items?
At the sa ti, Shiller was also summoned, because they needed to create traces of Saphire’s activities. In the setting, Shiller is Saphire, or rather, Saphire uses Shiller’s body, so naturally, the traces left are those of Shiller’s activities.
Thanks to the first movie’s great success, the budget for the second one was quite substantial, and the entire director team incredibly enthusiastic. The prop team and writers were even more ticulous, leaving no detail unchecked, striving to make every fra of filming perfect and capable of standing scrutiny.
For ordinary crews, achieving such perfection would require significant ti. But Chris’s crew luckily had mages helping. The details created by mages weren’t just for show; they were real.
For instance, if they needed sothing to look very old, the mages could speed up local ti flow, aging decades within seconds. The aging signs weren’t post-production gimmicks; they were real. Even the most discerning viewers couldn’t detect any flaws because it was truly authentic.
On the third morning of the sester, Shiller woke up early. When dawn was just breaking, he had already downed a cup of coffee. Pushing open the slightly old-fashioned window, the morning fog carried a moist scent with a subtle, pleasant sll of wood and moss.
The weather today was quite good—not particularly sunny but rather cloudy with a northern breeze. But this was good weather for Shiller as he might spend the whole day in the forest. Cloudy and breezy weather is certainly better than a hot sunny day.
It’s too early; most students haven’t gotten up yet. Shiller went to the dining hall to have breakfast and then walked towards the forest with phisto. Just as they left through the side door of the castle, the Primary Universe Batman, who had just gotten up, looked through the dormitory window and saw the two of them.
He stood by the window, squinting his eyes, and stared intently at their backs, then looked in the direction they were heading. When he saw those towering trees disappearing into the fog, Batman pressed his lips tightly together.
Shiller and phisto reached the forest as quickly as possible. As soon as they got close to the forest, Shiller looked at the towering trees in shock: Wait, where did these co from? Is this still North Arica? How did it feel like waking up in the Amazon?
Shiller opened his mouth, unable to resist comnting to Strange, who had just flown over to greet them, "Isn’t this a bit too exaggerated?"
Originally, this forest had a good number of beech trees, North Arican pines, walnut trees, raspberries, and such, and it was quite dense. But now, the forest is basically dominated by thousand-year-old redwoods, a vast amount of ferns, and the ground is covered with the primitive ancestor of plants, lichen... Anyone who didn’t know might think they had traveled back to the Jurassic period. Shiller wouldn’t even be surprised if a group of dinosaurs charged out of there.
"This was the director and prop team’s idea," Strange said. "We’re not experts in this area, so let’s not make a ss of things."
"Could it be that Chris scolded you?"
Strange’s expression was a bit unnatural. Shiller chuckled but didn’t press further. They trudged into the forest, one step deep and the other shallow. There was a small path that had been tread by others, making it sowhat less cumberso to walk.
phisto seed quite intrigued by the scenery here. Shiller turned to ask him, "Does this give you a sense of returning to the past?"
"My past isn’t that far back. I’ve never seen dinosaurs," phisto said. "But it’s really well done; I can feel a strong magical aura. The elental affinity of many plants here is very high."
"That’s because they were cultivated magical plants," Strange said. "We initially wanted to use so ordinary plants to pass off as the real thing, but the prop team rejected that. Kamar-Taj spent a considerable effort cultivating these magical plants."
"These mushrooms are also quite special," phisto remarked, looking at the mushrooms growing on so fallen, decayed trees. "I can sense an ancient aura."
Shiller’s expression turned a bit odd. He asked, "Do you know Chi You?"
phisto genuinely tried to recall, saying, "Wasn’t that during the tribal period? I wasn’t very familiar with him personally, but his mount was pretty cute."
Quickly, they passed through the dense and tall forest. Beyond the trees lay another scene entirely: a calm and unruffled deep pool appeared before them. The boardwalk built along one side of the pool wasn’t finished yet, winding and twisting its way into the depths of another dense forest.
The magical aura here was even more intense. Magic power was almost visible to the naked eye, with countless elental light specks dancing on the lake surface. The air beca colder, and there seed to be turbulence in the wind.
Taking the boardwalk around, they arrived at the other side of the forest, where they could see the previous filming camp. After walking over, they started changing costus—actually, only Shiller needed to change, because he needed to disguise himself as Saphire. That way, the traces left behind would be more authentic.
To avoid being recognized, Saphire wore a black robe while moving through the forest. Shiller donned the robe, pulled on the hood, and picked up a long magic wand. phisto followed him.
It wasn’t really phisto’s requirent; it was mainly because Saphire used phisto’s power, so whatever he did, it left ash traces. Shiller couldn’t produce those trace effects, so phisto had to do it himself.
"I have a question," phisto said, trailing behind Shiller and turning to speak to the row of prop team mbers behind them, "Since I look exactly like him and can use Hell Power, why even bother calling him over? Couldn’t I just perform alone?"
"No way!!!" Chris’s roar ca from the back, "Your actions are too exaggerated; you completely lack that aura! Stand further away, and co up when you’re called!"
phisto was almost choked to death—it was the first ti anyone had spoken to him in such a tone. But he had no choice and could only fling his sleeves in frustration and angrily retreat to the back of the crowd.
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