96 - 104

Chapter 96: Initiation (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

Angele did not care that the girl had heard his words. He just opened the window and looked at the heavy rain. It splashed onto the window, and some of the rain drops wetted the surface of his clothes.

Suddenly, Angele heard bird twittering and wings shaking by the door.

A human-sized large white bird dropped down by the door, shaking the rain off its feathers. The bird looked like a white eagle with a red beak and slowly walked into the windmill. Its translucent beak looked like a ruby, and its black eyes were human-like.

The bird looked at the humans in the room after entering the windmill.

"The rain is heavy, and I have to stay here for a while. I hope you don't mind, humans."

The bird spoke Anmag, his voice steady and deep, and he sounded like a middle-aged man.

"You can stay as long as you want, it's a public room, Handsome Eagle of Byrutium," the girl in red said after stepping forward and bowing. The middle-aged man and the old woman also bowed to the eagle.

The two coachmen stood up immediately and bowed as well; there was fear in their eyes.

The eagle nodded. It seemed like he was respected by the citizens. Then he turned his head and looked at Angele.

"My name is Conbass, you can call me Mr. Conbass. I'm going after an Ember Mouse found in Lennon City. Please report to me if you've seen it, and the King will honor you for your contribution."

Angele scrunched his eyebrows after hearing the eagle's words.

"You mean the mouse that has a fire burning around its body? The one that will leave a trail of ash behind itself as it moves?" he suddenly asked. "I didn't know creatures like that still existed."

"You know about it too?" Conbass asked Angele politely, looking surprised.

Although Conbass was one of the races that guarded the empire, it was still necessary for him to show respect to the ones that were stronger than him. Creatures from gifted races were usually born with knight-level power.

Ember Mouse was an ancient creature, and people who knew it either had a lot of knowledge or they were strong adventurers. Conbass thought people with wisdom and knowledge were respectable.

"Yes, I read about it in a book." Angele nodded. "Based on what I know, Ember Mouse's fecundity is extremely low, and they were hunted to extinction hundreds of years ago. Yet you said you're going after one...?"

Conbass nodded. "You are right. This Ember Mouse is very important for treating the plague, but I don't know the details. I'm just doing what I was told to do."

"The plague… Sorry, I didn't see it. The only thing I know is you should check the fireplaces in the city, Ember Mouse loves living in human houses."

Angele smiled.

"Really? That's some great information." Conbass looked at Angele. "Please tell me your name. If I can find it in any of the fireplaces, I'll pay you back one day."

"I'm Angele. Angele Rio."

He smiled.

The others had no idea what the two were talking about and were quietly listening to the conversation. Apparently, those people did not expect Angele to be so knowledgeable, and they were now staring at him respectfully.

Angele talked with Conbass for a while, then sat down to wait for the rain to stop.

Eagle of Byrutium was a guardian race in Ramsoda Empire. These eagles were given high ranks in the country by the royals since their intelligence level was very close to that of humans, and they all had strong bodies. They could easily hunt large beasts with their sharp claws.

These creatures shared the land with human beings, something Angele had never seen back in his hometown. Only humans lived in his father's territory, so he thought that other races with high intelligence had probably moved to other lands. He only encountered them in ancient book collections.

Eagle of Byrutium had low fecundity as well, but their situation had gotten much better in the recent years. People could see them flying around by the capital from time to time.

The rain started ceasing as time passed.

At 10:12 am., the rain stopped.

Angele wiped off the dust from his suit and walked out of the windmill. Conbass and the others followed behind him.

He opened the door and entered his carriage, asking Tom to start driving.

"Please wait for a second, Mr. Angele," Conbass's voice came from the side. He stood on top of the carriage.

"You need anything?" Angele asked.

Conbass pulled out a white feather with his beak and threw it down. Angele reached his hands out and caught it in the air.

"This is my feather. I may have some more questions for you later, so please accept it as a gift."

"Thanks."

Angele nodded. He held the feather in his hand, watching Conbass fly into the sky. He was fast and disappeared in the distance within seconds.

Angele observed the feather. Its size was much larger than of the average birds, and it was also very hard. The tip of the feather was sharp, and it actually looked like a piece of a huge leaf.

The feather's color was pure white, and it looked charming.

'I heard Eagles of Byrutium can find the location of the feathers they drop, but the effect only lasts for three days,' Angele recalled the information he had acquired from the books in the library.

'The main usage of the feather is to expel insects. Normal insects will naturally try to avoid it, so carrying it will prevent me from getting bitten by flies.'

Angele sniffed at the feather, it was minty.

"Let's go, Tom," he said, putting the feather in his pouch

Tom immediately pulled on the reins, turning away from where he was watching Conbass leaving.

"As you wish, Master."

The horses stomped on the ground and the carriage slowly left the windmill. They were moving toward the main road.

**************************

Tom and Angele traveled for more than ten days after leaving the windmill. They stopped at a town to buy supplies, then left for the northwest again after they got everything they wanted.

It was always raining on the way, and the temperature was getting lower and lower. Trees and grasses were no longer green, more and more white stones appeared on the roadside. They were not in the plains area anymore. The roads in the valleys were bumpy.

They met a lot of travelers, merchants, and carriages after just leaving the city, but there were barely any people around after traveling for several days.

15 days later…

Snow covered the mountains, and the valleys were misty. The black two-horse carriage was slowly advancing on a twisted road.

*BOOM*

One of the wheels hit a sharp stone, and the carriage started shaking. The horses neighed due to pain, scaring many birds who flew into the sky.

"What happened?" Angele asked, waking up and opening the door to stick his head out.

"Master. One of the wheels cracked, and I need to replace it with a backup one. We need to stop for a while," Tom answered in a shout.

Angele scrunched his eyebrows and jumped off the carriage.

There were only pine trees in the forest. They were all very tall, and their leaves were still green. The ground was covered by both small and large stones. Some grasses under the stones were still green, but the air in the valley was cold and dry.

Chilling wind blew over Angele's face, and his skin tightened up.

"How long do you need? We are at the Moss Mountain from where it'll take us five days to reach the closest town. It's not a good idea to stay here for too long."

Tom shrugged. "Master, I will need one hour at the most."

"Alright. It's great to have you with me. I will double your salary after we get back," Angele said. "I'll go for a walk. Just yell if anything happens. I'll be able to hear it, don't worry."

"Got it." Tom smiled, then walked to the back of the carriage and started taking down the backup wheel.

Angele felt a bit cold and put on a white coat. The collar covered his neck completely, and he felt much better. He equipped the dagger and the bow before leaving the carriage.

He spent a lot of time gathering data on the way, wanting to check the plants around here to maybe find some not yet recorded in the database.

Angele walked for a while before suddenly lowering his head. He laid his back against a black pine tree and started observing a black umbrella mushroom. There were several yellow flying ants moving around it.

Those ants left quickly after Angele crouched down; the feather from the eagle was very effective.

"Outsider, please leave my Black Point Mushroom alone," a young voice came from the top.

Angele raised his head and saw a brown squirrel standing on a branch. There was a hint of whiteness on the tip of its tail.

"You're growing it?" Angele asked. "But you're just a squirrel, a squirrel that can speak. That's a first time for me.

"Of course. This is Ramsoda Empire. Many intelligent races moved here a long time ago. Not all of us enjoy city life."

The squirrel shook its butt and jumped down from the tree.

*PA*

It successfully landed by the Black Point Mushroom.

Chapter 97: Initiation (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

"I'm just a Light Squirrel. Traveler, you're at Moss Mountain, and if you keep advancing, you'll reach the Moon Gin Manor. I assume that's your destination after seeing your gear."

Angele lowered his head and looked at the squirrel. "You're right, I'm heading to the Moon Gin Manor, can you offer me any help? I need as much intel as possible. I'll give you some white bread and salty peanuts in return."

"I already traded my intel for food with three groups of adventurers, however, none of them came back. It's not too late to go back," Light Squirrel responded.

"Just tell me everything you know. I'll make the decision myself."

Angele smiled.

"Fine."

The squirrel shrugged and sat down by the Black Point Mushroom.

"I don't know who built the Moon Gin Manor. I usually call it the Moon Gin Garden. During a specific time of year, I can smell a highly-concentrated flower based fragrance from it. Also, only humans tried to enter that place, the other species feared its mysterious aura. A Knight took his team into the garden not so long ago, and only one soldier survived. He escaped with a face covered in blood, and lost his mind later on."

"I heard there are Dragon Scale Flower inside?" Angele said.

"Not just Dragon Scale Flowers, there are also many other rare plants like Star Light Grass, Hardin Grass, and Single Eye Flower." Squirrel nodded. "Also…"

Angele had a general idea about the place based on the squirrel's description.

He furrowed his eyebrows a bit. 'It's either an undeveloped resource point or some Wizard's abandoned private resource point. The Wizard left the place and the barrier spell weakened, but he didn't disarm all the traps. Then Snake of the Sand Forest found it due to luck and somehow managed to snatch a Dragon Scale Flower from it.'

The squirrel finished explaining everything to Angele, and he started thinking. Only a formal Wizard could create a resource point like that since it seemed like this point was still hidden, and its barrier remained. People needed to wait for it to open if they wished to enter.

"So… The gap appears once a year? Do you know when it will open again?" Angele asked again.

The squirrel did some calculations on the ground. "You need to wait another month. Birds will fly out of the manor when the gap appears, and they will rotate around this area for about an hour. This is the amount of time the gap stays open, so you need to get out before it closes. Otherwise you'll be trapped inside the garden, forced to wait for the next time the gap appears."

"One more month, huh?" Angele thought for a while and stood up. "Please follow me to my carriage. I will give you the food that I promised you, and thanks."

"You're welcome… hehe."

The squirrel raised its claws, a weird smile on its face. It followed Angele, repeatedly shaking its tail.

Angele gave it a whole bag of snacks, and it happily went back into the forest. Angele watched Tom replace the wheel, but he was thinking about something else.

It took Tom a while to make sure everything was done correctly. He put the tools back and stood up.

"Master, it's done."

"Alright."

Angele nodded and jumped onto the carriage. They started advancing again.

Inside the carriage, Angele was not sleepy anymore. He looked out the window. The only things he could see were pine trees with no other travelers around. There were white stones lying on the grasses, and Angele saw strange creatures jumping between the bushes from time to time.

They traveled for about an hour until a fork appeared in the road ahead of them. There was a brown sign indicating the location names of the two places the different roads led to.

Angele asked Tom to stop and carefully checked the sign. Moon Gin Manor was on the left, and Moss Town was on the right.

He looked at the ground. There were prints of wheels, hooves, and footprints on the way to the right, but the way to the left was covered by weeds.

"Let's go to the Moss Town first. Stay there and wait for me, I have some things to deal with," Angele ordered.

"Got it."

Tom nodded. Before he started the trip, Angele had already paid him 200 gold coins, and it was just a bonus besides the monthly salary. Those gold coins had helped his family a lot for which he was grateful. But he knew the trip was dangerous, so he decided to follow Angele's instructions carefully.

****************

Moss town was in a remote area, and it was quiet. There was only one main street in the town, and about ten wooden houses built on both sides of the street. About 100 people lived in the town, and there was only one bar, one grocery store, and one hotel.

Angele had learned this before leaving for the trip.

People in the town usually poured the wastewater straight on the street, which made the gray road wet and dirty. The brown wooden houses were built close to one another on the street's sides.

There were barely any people on it, but Angele knew people in the houses were staring at him.

Near the end of the street, there was a three-storey building on the right side built from yellow bricks. A black horse was tied nearby and was eating grasses. A two-horse carriage was parked beside the horse. It was white with a black scale emblem engraved on its door.

Two workers were chatting beside the carriage. Angele was walking in the front and Tom following after him with the carriage. The noise made by the horses' hooves caught the workers' attention, and one of them ran into the building to report.

Angele walked closer to the building and read the sign that was hanging on the fence. It said 'Hotel' but the word was poorly written in Anmag.

Two young men walked out of the building. One of them was wearing gray linen clothes, had short brown hair, and was smiling. It looked like he was the owner of the place. The other guy wore a dark red robe and had no expression on his face, but for some reason, Angele could barely sense his presence. It was a strange feeling, and Angele stared at him but still did not feel like the man was in his sight.

"Welcome, travelers. My name is Steven, and I'm the owner of the hotel. Are you looking for a place to stay?" Steven asked in a loud voice after stepping forward.

"Yea, we are. What's the price?"

Tom jumped off the carriage and started to negotiate the price with Steven.

"15 silver coins per night for one person."

"How about 14? That's more reasonable."

"I'm sorry, but I never give discounts, and the price is always 15 silver coins."

"14 silver coins per night, and we will pay upfront."

"But…"

Tom kept trying to get a better price, and Angele kept looking at the man in the red robe. He saw a red flame sigil on the man's collar.

"Greetings."

The man stepped forward.

Angele smiled. "Santiago?" he asked in a lowered his voice.

The man shook his head. "I don't think we should talk about it here."

"You're right."

Angele nodded.

The man stepped to the side. "There are three of us. I don't care where you're from, but I believe we share the same goal. Let's get in first."

Angele did not hesitate and entered the first floor of the hotel.

There were three round red wooden tables, and two groups of people were sitting beside two different tables.

A person covered by a black cloak was on the left. Angele was not sure about his gender due to the mask on his face. An old man with a young girl in hunting suit was sitting next to the other table.

The old man and the girl narrowed their eyes when they saw Angele entering the room. It seemed like they did not want people like Angele showing up here.

Angele walked toward the empty table and sat down. The atmosphere here was a bit awkward and heavy. The man in the red robe sat down by the man in the black cloak and closed his eyes. He was probably meditating.

It looked like people in the room were following a certain rule, and no one wanted to talk.

Angele sensed traces of energy particles from the others, which meant they were at least rank 2 apprentices. They probably already knew how dangerous the Moon Gin Manor was but still came.

It took Tom a while to get the price he wanted. He walked into the room, talked to Angele for several seconds, and then went to take care of the carriage again. Tom wanted to make sure no one touched the items in it.

During the lunchtime, a woman in gray apron walked into the room with several dishes and put down food on the tables.

There was some black meat jerky, several pieces of wheat cake, and a bowl of hot mushroom soup in front of Angele. He grabbed a piece of the wheat cake and was surprised by its texture. It was crispy like a soda cracker and salty.

The meat jerky was barely edible. Angele spent five minutes chewing it before ending up just swallowing everything down. The soup was good compared to the other dishes. He threw everything into the soup and finished it all.

The owner waited quietly by the side, wanting to talk after Angele finished his food. They went up to the second floor once he was full.

Angele's room was on the right side by the end of the hallway. Inside, there was only a bed and a desk and a smell of dust everywhere. He couldn't see it, however, so the room must have been just cleaned.

Angele and Tom rented two rooms for two months and paid right away. After receiving the payment, the owner walked out of the room, counting the coins in his hands.

Chapter 98: Initiation (3)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

Angele rested for a while in the room and started meditating.

There were many ways for apprentices to meditate, and the meditation methods differed from one organization to another, but they all had similar effects.

Besides the rank and talent requirements, apprentices needed knowledge and resources to help them break the limit and ultimately become Wizards. Angele still needed Water of Asu and a suitable defensive spell. The meditation method he used was learned from Ramsoda School, and he found that its results were very close to the method's he had learned from the Wizard book that Adolf had given him.

Nothing special happened during Angele's stay in the hotel.

He barely communicated with others, and he did not even know their names. Most of the people in the hotel had the same purpose as Angele and spent their time checking the environment around the Moon Gin Manor every day. They weren't interested in others, so no one tried to have a conversation with Angele. So besides meditating, he spent most of his time investigating the area, wanting to make sure he was relatively well prepared for entering the manor.

Angele found one strange thing about it - there were no animals that could be seen around it, not even insects. The grasses, trees, and any other plants also were non-existent. It looked like the whole area was 'dead'. The only objects beside the manor's cracked walls were black stones.

He investigated around the wall several times but gave up on the idea of going deeper after sensing the strange aura. He asked Zero to check the area, but sadly, nothing could be detected by the chip.

The chip was just a support tool and could not do everything for Angele. It buffed his five senses, but he still found no valuable information about the manor, which meant the mysterious power protecting the place was beyond his understanding. After several investigations, he decided to stay in the hotel and wait for the day to come.

Time flew, and the gap finally appeared on the date the squirrel mentioned.

****************************

The gray completely carpeted the sky, not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate the heavy clouds.

Angele got out of bed and eyed the sky through the window. He saw nothing but the dark and dense clouds. The forest was quiet and birds were not twittering like usual.

"Finally."

He inhaled once and put on his hunting suit, then quickly equipped himself with the bow and the dagger.

Angele opened the door quietly and saw a person standing in the hallway. The man was still wearing the black cloak and robe. He was wiping the dust off his clothes. It seemed like he had just woken up as well.

The man saw Angele and nodded. Angele still had not seen the man's face since he never left his room without a mask and the oversized cloak.

The hallway was dark, and Angele's brow furrowed but nodded in reply. He locked his door and walked down the stairs.

The man in the red robe and the old man and the young girl were already in the lounge. They were drinking hot milk the servers had brought them.

Angele sat down by an empty table, grabbed several biscuits, and drank some milk.

"Since everyone is here, I guess I'll start talking," the old man said in a deep voice after standing up.

He looked around, making sure he had everyone's attention and cleared his throat. "I don't care how you guys fond out about this place, but we need to work together in the garden if we want to take the treasures out of it. There is only five of us, so it will be hard for sure."

"True. I think everyone here knows what's coming, and you are all well prepared for it," the man in the red robe said. "Messi, are you sure you want to take your granddaughter there?" He looked at the girl in a brown hunting suit.

"This is my last try, and you know my situation can't be any worse." The old man named Messi shrugged. "Moon Gin Garden is an ancient resource point, and it's full of traps. I wouldn't take her there if the situation allowed it, but it's probably better for us both to die inside the garden at this point."

Messi looked at his granddaughter, his eyes filled with sadness.

"Whatever, old man, I don't care. We know the place is extremely dangerous already. Just tell us the plan!" the man in the black cloak interrupted.

"The plan is easy. We move together and get in through the gap and make sure no one triggers unnecessary traps," Messi said turning to face him.

"Cool." The man in the black cloak nodded. His voice was hoarse, but Angele could not tell if he was male or female.

The man in the red robe nodded as well. "I agree."

Angele listened to their conversation quietly. It seemed like they were quite familiar with the garden, whereas he barely knew anything about it. So he decided to collect some information first, and he had nothing against the plan.

"I'm fine with it too," Angele said in a light tone.

"Alright, let's move then. We need to enter it before 10 a.m. Let's face the challenges together and reach the true garden. Take whatever resource you want, as long as you are capable of doing it by yourself," Messi added.

"For sure." The man in the black cloak nodded.

Messi's granddaughter looked nervous. She held his hand tight as they walked out through the door together.

Angele double-checked everything he needed was inside the pouch and followed after the others.

It was deadly silent outside, no one was on the street, and no birds or insects could be seen.

"What's going on? It's way too quiet." The man in the red robe scrunched his eyebrows.

"I poured some Sleep Dust into the main well yesterday. I don't want anyone to bother us; they'll be sleeping for the whole day," the man in the black cloak explained.

"That's… helpful." The red robe looked at the black cloak and did not finish his words.

The five of them slowly walked down the street.

Angele noticed his horses were sleeping as well when he walked out of the hotel. It seemed like the man in the black cloak had drugged everything in the town. Sleep Dust was extremely effective on normal people, but it would only make the ones with high Stamina points sleepy.

The five quickly left the town and arrived at the fork in the road.

The sign was shaking in the air due to the wind. It was still dark and cloudy.

Messi looked at the sign and walked to the path to the garden with his granddaughter. Angele was the last in the team. He looked at the sign and saw something strange.

The word 'Moon Gin Manor' was no longer on the sign. It was replaced with 'Death'. The word was red and written with blood. It was fresh, and the blood was still dripping down the wooden board.

Angele hesitated for a second, then hastened his pace. The team was advancing slowly and carefully. They were walking upon the dried grass. No one tried to start a conversation, and Angele could hear people breathing heavily.

After a while, he realized that the gray sky was turning red.

"Prepare yourselves," Messi suddenly yelled. "We're almost there."

Everyone else's expression changed after hearing the words, but they did not say anything.

Angele grabbed his metal bow and slowly pulled a black arrow out of the quiver. He thought he had checked all the routes around the manor during his investigations, but nothing looked familiar here. He slowed down and stayed alert.

Time kept passing. The team did not stop for a single second and kept advancing. The road was straight, and there was no grass on the ground anymore.

The sky was already bloody red, and it made everything under it look horrifying. The atmosphere was getting heavier and heavier.

Angele sniffed the air, and a fishy smell was left in his nose.

"We're here," the man in the red robe said.

"We traveled for about 15 minutes and passed through the gap already. Stay alert, everyone," Messi advised.

The entrance to the garden appeared in front of them. The garden itself was surrounded by a black metal fence, and the gate was half open. It was the end of the road, and Angele could see the tall trees and plants inside behind the fence.

The color in the sky started changing again. It was not red anymore, but turned back to gray after they reached the gate.

Messi stood in front of the gate and pointed his finger in the air.

*Ding*

The air rippled, and a red cross, which started glowing, appeared on the tip of his finger. The cross solidified in the air, and it had the same height and width as the gate.

Messi used some incantation and snapped his fingers. A white flame appeared on his palm and burned quietly. The old man waited several seconds, then pushed the flame forward.

It was pushed into the middle of the cross.

*Crack*

Everything disappeared after the flame contacted the cross, and the gate returned to normal.

"Good, I checked the gap, it will last for about one hour and a half this time. We can go in now," Messi muttered, looking tired.

"Heh," the man in the black cloak sneered and walked in.

The man in the red robe looked at Angele for a second, then entered through the gate as well, but he did not say anything.

Angele knew that he had to stay alert all the time, but he didn't show any emotion on his face. He just followed after the two.

Messi and his granddaughter went in after him.

Chapter 99: Initiation (4)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

The size of the plants inside the garden was humongous.

Angele could see tree leaves that were the size of a washbasin and huge sunflowers about the size of an adult.

Angele stepped forward and carefully observed one of the sunflowers. He saw a human face right in the middle of the flower; its eyes were closed, and it wasn't breathing. Neither eyebrows nor mustaches could be seen. Angele looked around and saw the same faces on all the sunflowers. It was almost as if the face was the flower itself, with petals growing around it.

The path was surrounded by huge sunflowers. He didn't know when these faces would open their eyes. Just by looking at them, Angele could already feel a chill creeping upon him.

The others didn't seem concerned about it; only the girl was slightly scared. It was probably that they already knew of the existence of those flowers.

It was a short path, so they went across it quickly. Before leaving, Angele decided to take several flowers with him for research purposes.

They entered the iron gate by the end of the flower path. There, they saw another path lying between the bushes. Gray stone chairs sat on both sides of the path; even the ground had been constructed with gray bricks. Again, a gate laid by the end of this path, yet this time, the gate was made from stone.

As the five of them stepped on these bricks, the ground began shaking.

*Clank*

The bricks stood up one by one, with feet suddenly appearing on their bodies.

"Ah!"

Those bricks screamed at the top of their lungs, doing so while running away quickly. All the bricks disappeared from their sights within a single minute, almost like they were running for their lives.

The five stood there as they watched the bricks leave until nothing was left on the ground. They were all speechless.

Suddenly, the white stone gate by the end of the path dissipated in the air, breaking down just like soap bubbles.

"Wait! Those are Screaming Bricks. They'll lead us to the next destination. Without them, we won't be able to proceed. We need to get them back!" the black-robed man shouted.

"How? Those bricks are fast, we have no way of tracking them down." The red-robed man had his brows scrunched up.

"They love Earth element energy particles. Anyone? Please," Messi slowly spoke.

"I'll do it." The red-robed man stepped forward. He closed his eyes and raised his palm.

He began invoking incantations. As he did so, groups of brown spots of light quickly gathered onto his palm. Those spots of light were of dense and heavy property.

The spots of light looked like sesame seeds. Slowly, it formed an egg-sized, black ball on the man's palm and started glowing.

Right after the man opened his eyes and stopped the incantation, he threw the ball down in a careful manner.

The black ball dropped down and sank into the mud.

*CHI*

The ball liquefied and turned into black-brown oil, which covered the entirety of the area the bricks formerly had been, and a black path appeared in front of them.

*Kata-kata*

Angele heard intense footsteps coming from all angles. It sounded like a group of people running at full speed.

All the bricks that had escaped returned to their original position within minutes and an amusing scene took form. They were licking the liquefied Earth element energy particles; they even started talking. It was as though they were praising the taste of the particles. Angele couldn't understand a single word they spoke, but he could easily identify their genders; the place became noisier and noisier.

As the bricks returned to their position, the white gate by the end of the path revealed itself slowly.

"Move! Don't waste any time," Messi advised.

They quickly stepped on the bricks and rushed toward the white gate.

"Oh!" Angele stepped onto a brick, causing it to moan in pleasure. Angele felt uncomfortable upon hearing such strange sounds, so he increased his pace.

Every brick that had been stepped on began moaning, nearly sounding as though they were having orgasms.

Messi stepped onto the last piece of brick. It moaned several times before it ceased moving.

Messi became flustered and had goosebumps all over his body. His granddaughter was laughing from the side after seeing what just transpired.

"Damn bricks!" He swore, and the others started laughing as well.

"Who the hell creates a spell like this! Some of the Ancient Wizards were really sick." The black-robed man chuckled.

"Humph!" Messi looked ashamed, and he entered the gate first.

The others followed him from behind, then arrived at an empty patio. Nothing was around besides the dried leaves on the ground. The place was deadly silent.

Within the confines of the gray walls was a pool in the middle of the patio. The exit was located right beside it. By the exit, Angele could see various plants and flowers flourish.

"That's it." Messi's granddaughter looked at the exit and shouted in excitement, "I see the Byro Flower! Grandpa, we finally found it and…"

*ROAR*

The violent cry from the lions broke the fleeting peace, interrupting Messi's granddaughter from finishing her words.

Two golden lions jumped off the wall and landed in front of the five. They were standing upright on their hind legs. Silver sabers and black chain hammers being held in their hands.

These lions were bare naked and their body extremely strong. They looked like two bullnecked beefy men. Their dense mane waved in the air, following their own movements.

"The Guardians!" The black-robed man placed his hand into his pouch and stepped back.

The five started preparing for battle right away. The red-robed man rubbed the silver ring on his left middle finger and mumbled incantations.

Messi took out a short, white wand with a sapphire embedded on its end. The sapphire started glowing with light as he slightly swung it in the air. At the same time, his granddaughter lowered her head and began casting a spell. A lump of steaming green slime slowly formed in front of her.

Angele recognized the spell; it was Acid Strike. Angele raised his bow and quickly retreated to the back, aiming at the lion man on the left with the arrow.

*ROAR*

The lion man roared again and charged toward the red-robed man.

"Explosion!" The red-robed man shouted right before the lion's saber could strike him.

A red dot of light appeared in front of him and exploded. An orange flame about the size of a human head smashed against it as it moved through the air.

The attack caused the lion man to force itself back, even causing it to become stunned. The red-robed man turned pale as he withdrew; the explosion had been too close to him. The black-robed man came to help immediately and prevented him from falling to the ground.

The other lion man started to battle Messi and his granddaughter.

The black-robed man made sure that the red-robed man was fine before he turned around. His incantation ceased, and he pointed at the lion man in front. The lion man that had survived the explosion was about to charge toward them, only to be struck with another spell and once again becoming stunned.

Angele took this opportunity to shoot an arrow quickly.

The arrow struck hard against the lion man's forehead and penetrated his brain. The attack was accurate and powerful. Blood was dripping down the arrow. The lion man was knocked back and fell to the ground right after. He trembled for several seconds before he stopped breathing.

The black-robed man began preparing his next spell after the lion man was killed. He didn't notice the other lion man jumping toward him, thus he took a hit from the chain hammer it wielded. The severity of this blow caused the man's eye to roll to the back, blood spitting out of his mouth. This strike most likely broke several of his bones.

At that moment, Messi quickly charged toward the back of the lion man and struck him with the palm. The lion man was immediately paralyzed and tumbled down.

Messi quickly drew his dagger and stabbed the lion man right in the neck. Streams of blood spurted out of the wound, forming a small pool of blood on the ground.

"This is just the beginning. Stay alert guys. Based on the logs of the other adventurers, guardians will appear randomly, and the creatures they had encountered were completely different. We'll have to force our way through," Messi spoke in a grim tone as he stood up.

The black-robed man coughed. He was severely injured; it seemed his right arm had been broken by the hammer.

"Messi… Why didn't you warn me?! You were fighting with that one!" The man questioned in anger.

"I didn't do it on purpose…" Messi shrugged.

"Come on, stop. We don't care if you die or not. You should be more careful during the battles." The red-robed man addressed, seemingly uncaring that the black-robed man helped him during that fight.

"You!" The black-robed man was breathing heavily, trying his best to hold it back.

Angele was still checking the surroundings. He nocked another black arrow onto his bow and pulled the bowstring. He was aiming at the pool.

"Guys. It's not a good time to start an argument. We need to deal with this thing first," he spoke in a low voice.

The others stopped talking and looked at the direction his bow was pointing at.

A strong naked man slowly emerged out of the pool with water dripping down his body. Although the man looked like an adult male, he had no male genitalia between his legs. Every muscle on his torso was like a work of art. The entirety of his body was covered with a golden glow.

The man had no hands. Instead, he had two huge crab claws.

His hair was messy, and he was swinging the claws in the air.

"Intruders… Die…" he muttered in Vlasov.

*CHI*

The golden glow around the man turned into a barrier.

"It's the Crab Man… I mean, Claw Warrior! We are in trouble…" Angele knew this creature, causing his expression to change, "Adult Claw Warriors are able to use force fields…"

"Claw Warrior…" The others gasped.

"Well, shit…" Messi's face turned pale, "Guys, prepare your most powerful spells and do whatever you can. Otherwise, we won't be able to leave the garden in one piece."

Chapter 100: Manor (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

Angele held the bowstring tightly and aimed at the Claw Warrior. There were tiny, blue light dots flashing in front of his eyes.

"Zero, can you show me the weak point of its force field?" he mumbled.

From his perspective, the Claw Warrior was covered with a blue translucent grid. Rows of data were shown beside its body.

'Mission failed. More data required.' Zero reported and stopped analyzing.

Angele narrowed his eyes. He turned his head around and tried to search the gate, but it was no longer there. Instead, a gray wall blocked their path.

He stepped back and leaned his back against the wall. He wanted to make sure it wasn't just an illusion.

The red-robed man was still at the frontlines. Once again, he started rubbing his ring.

"Explosion!" he shouted.

A red light dot appeared in front of him, which quickly expanded into a ball of flame. The red-robed man didn't seem to bother with the sparks, only pushing the fireball forward. It flew toward the Claw Warrior. The speed was slow from Angele's point of view. It was similar to watching someone throw an object.

When the fireball successfully caught the Claw Warrior's attention, the red-robed man quickly took out a small glass bottle from his pouch. The bottle was about the size of a finger which contained purple liquid. An explosion occurred right after the red-robed man threw the bottle to the ground.

*Crack*

Thick smoke from the broken bottle completely pervaded the atmosphere, quickly shrouding everyone's vision.

Messi took out a silver dagger and started drawing something on the ground in a slow manner. Many complex patterns were engraved onto the handle of the dagger, but in reality, those were runes mixed with twisted lines. His granddaughter stood by the side with a helpless look, in addition to her feeling nervous.

After several seconds, Messi stood up and started mumbling. He quickly disappeared along with his granddaughter. Apart from them, the black-robed man struggled for a while before walking toward the corner of the patio.

Angele looked at the corner. There, he saw a small wooden door that had appeared out of nowhere; it was shaking. In but an instant, Angele became the only one left on the patio.

"The hell?" he knew what the others were planning. They had known Angele not being well-prepared for this, much less having an idea on how to survive such a situation. They wanted to make Angele fight the Claw Warrior first as the bait. If he died, they could then finish off the creature that would already be weakened due to Angele.

"Come with me." Angele heard someone whispering from behind.

Angele turned back and saw someone reaching out to him. There was a hand at the location Messi and his granddaughter disappeared. Based on the sleeves' appearance, it was Messi's granddaughter.

"Don't! It's none of your business!" Messi was shouting.

'She's so kind.'

Angele smiled, yet he did all but move. It was too late, as the Claw Warrior had already detected him. Moreover, according to the information given by Zero, Angele didn't think he could outrun this creature.

"HA!" Claw Warrior yelled and raised its claws. The fireball from the red robe was easily blocked and vanished in the air quickly.

The Claw Warrior swung its claws in the air several times. It left the pool and charged toward Angele, leaving a wet trail on the ground; its skin was as hard as a metal shell. The Claw Warrior was akin to heavy machinery, causing the ground to start shaking as it ran.

Angele released the bowstring and shot the arrow. He turned around and ran toward the other corner without checking if the arrow successfully hit its target. When a wooden door appeared at the corner, he was already running much faster than the black-robed man. Angele quickly took out the enchanted item he had made earlier from his pouch while escaping. He turned around and squeezed the heart-shaped item, aiming at the Claw Warrior.

A ray of green flame sprouted out of the middle of the heart and rushed toward it.

Angele clearly was doing his utmost in distracting the creature. He turned around again and disappeared after entering the door.

*DING*

The black arrow struck the Claw Warrior's forehead, yet it didn't even scratch its skin. It dropped to the ground after the momentary contact.

Against all odds, however, the green flame pulse had actually scared it. It made the Claw Warrior stop charging; it leaned toward the left, dodging the attack. Yet, this was a chance Angele had caught so he could escape.

Some of the green sparks dropped onto the Claw Warrior's skin, creating a noise that sounded like something was being barbecued. Some green smoke rose from the part of the skin that was struck, yet it did no damage.

The Claw Warrior had been provoked, but Angele had long disappeared. It roared as it tried to find the next target. The red-robed man had already escaped by entering the same door as the black-robed man. If not for him hiding well within the thick smoke, the Claw Warrior would have long detected him before he could reach the door.

Messi and his granddaughter were invisible. They stood there and watched the whole time.

"What now, Grandpa?" the girl asked, her voice shaky. They already learned that this creature's magic resistance was very high, and it almost completely resisted physical attacks. Its skin was so hard that most weapons could not even scratch it.

Messi looked at the door on his right side and then the left. Angele had chosen the left door, while the other two entered using the right door. He gritted his teeth as he hesitated.

Another Claw Warrior appeared in the pool. This time, it was a female. Its nipples were covered by two, white shells, and she didn't have any genitalia just like the male one. The female Claw Warrior's body, however, was more balanced and attractive.

"Ah!" The female Claw Warrior cried, and about seven more Claw Warriors rose from the pool. Some were males and some were females. Their skin was all covered with a golden glow.

Messi's time was running out. A female Claw Warrior had already detected their position and it stared at them.

"Move!" he shouted as he rushed toward the door to the right. They revealed themselves as they moved.

However, Messi's granddaughter was rushing toward the door to the left, the one Angele entered. Only after several seconds did they realize they were moving in opposite directions. Messi had forgotten to give clear instructions.

"Grandpa! Here! That young man asked us to follow him!" the girl yelled nervously.

"He's alone there and he knows nothing about the place! Why!"

Messi hesitated for a second. He was trying to say something else, but the Claw Warriors were charging toward them and they had to move. He waved to his granddaughter before entering the door.

The girl's eyes were completely filled with tears. She really wanted to go back, but the Claw Warriors were already fast approaching. She could only turn around quickly and enter through the door ahead of her.

*****************

Angele went across several bushes and he was still running. He arrived at an abandoned graveyard after entering through the door. There were several white gravestones on the field, each covered in weeds and bushes.

'Claw Warriors never act alone, they act in groups.' Angele learned this information from Zero's database.

'There were at least four of them. I can probably deal with two.' Angele placed the heart back into the pouch. He had brought three pouches that each contained different items.

Angele thought for a while before taking out a small ball from one of the pouches. It looked like a green egg from some creature. It was translucent and had the size of an adult's fist.

He told the girl to follow him into the door before leaving the pool. The girl had been kind to him and even tried to help him, so he decided to pay her back. Angele wasn't sure if the girl would trust a stranger, but he did whatever he could.

Angele had also checked the statuses of the black-robed man and the red-robed man using the chip before leaving. The red-robed man was a rank 2 Wizard apprentice, and he survived the first wave due to the enchanted ring on his finger. He already triggered its effect twice, so it was unlikely he could trigger it again. The black-robed had been using potions, but his Stamina was low and it didn't seem like he had any enchanted items with him. Angele doubted they could even make it out alive.

'If that girl actually listened to my advice and followed me here, I can probably learn some information about this place from her.' Angele jumped over a bush and rolled several times. He had activated Zero's scan function and started waiting.

Angele ceased advancing and quietly stayed inside the 2-meter-tall bush. He crouched down and made sure no one could see him.

The sky was gray, and the clouds had already thickened. It was probable that it was going to rain.

There were some black flies inside the bush and they were flying around Angele.

The reason why Angele chose this place was due to those black flies. According to the database, those flies were common in the plains and they weren't poisonous. The environment here was strange and Angele would rather stay in someplace he was familiar with.

Angele heard some intense footsteps after a while.

Three living beings were approaching his location. One of them sounded nervous, while the other two were completely furious. Angele lowered his body again and asked Zero to mark the targets with blue lines so he didn't have to get out of the bush to check.

Based on the shape of their bodies and their footsteps, Angele learned that the girl was being chased by two Claw Warriors.

He was about 30 meters away from the door, and it was the only path beside it. The Claw Warriors were catching up the girl as Angele had expected. Their speed, after all, was extremely fast.

The footsteps were drawing nearer and nearer. Angele lowered his head and closed his eyes, checking the information sent to him by Zero.

He placed his right hand on the dagger's handle and slowly pulled it out of the sheath. The place was silent, and the only things that echoed in the area were the footsteps. Angele calmed down and began focusing on his targets.

*Kata-kata*

The footsteps finally reached his location.

Suddenly, Angele opened his eyes and jumped out of the bush.

*CHI*

"AHHH!" a female Claw Warrior screamed.

It placed its claws on one of its eyes; blood was dripping down to the ground.

Angele held his dagger in right hand and stood there quietly. There were blue light dots flashing in front of his eyes.

Chapter 101: Manor (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

"Nu…Ri…Bass!" The other male Claw Warrior looked surprised and angry. It turned around and yelled at Angele, but Angele could not understand what its words meant. The Claw Warrior raised his huge claws and charged toward him furiously with a speed so fast, its body turned into a yellow flash.

Angele muttered the incantation in a low voice and quickly raised his dagger to block the incoming strike.

*CLANK*

Both of them backed off upon realizing the similarity of their strength level.

Angele turned around right after stepping back. His dagger drew a silver line in the air as he attempted to stab the Claw Warrior's head.

Two rays of red light left the tip of his dagger. One of them disappeared into the air, while the other struck its head. The warrior slowed down its action after taking the hit.

Angele's dagger easily pierced its right eye and half of the blade was inside its head.

He immediately pulled the dagger out, resulting in a yellow eyeball dropping to the ground as blood spurted out of the wound.

The Claw Warrior stepped back and went down on his knees before he stopped moving. The other one was slain by Angele using the same method. It fell to the ground, and beside their bodies, a pool of blood was formed.

'So they need to activate the force field by themselves, and it seems they can't maintain it for a long time. My close combat spells are a great match in dealing with enemies like that. I only need to wait for a chance.' Angele turned around and shook the blood off his dagger before returning it back to its sheath.

The girl's knees wobbled and she crumbled down onto the ground. Her breathing was heavy and her face pale. It seemed like she was exhausted after escaping the pursuit of two Claw Warriors.

"Are you alright?" Angele looked at her and asked.

"Yea… I'm fine." The girl answered right away, "Thank you."

Angele could see the wounds on her legs and arms.

"Good." Angele nodded. He walked toward the bodies and dipped his finger into the blood, tasting it.

'Unknown parasites detected! Warning! Clean your mouth immediately or you will get infected,' Zero suddenly reported.

Upon hearing that, Angele's expression changed. He spat the blood out and took out some leaves from his pouch before putting them into his mouth. He chewed the leaves for a while and spat everything out right after. Angele repeated this process several times.

'Parasites are gone.' Zero finally signaled.

Angele had a bitter smile on his face. He had now decided to stop putting everything into his mouth. He had never encountered parasites before, and he didn't want to get infected in the wild. He wiped the blood off his nails. Then he drew his dagger out and started cutting the Claw Warrior's claws.

As expected, their shells were incredibly hard. Angele spent a while just to cut one of their claws off. Their skin seemed like a human's, yet the texture was akin to iron. Angele initially thought that the female Claw Warrior's shell bra was made from special materials, but disappointment replaced his expectation after finding out that it was just an ordinary clamshell.

"Let's go." Angele grabbed the claw and stood up, "Hurry up, we only have one hour."

"Sure," the girl responded, "I thought it was one hour and a half?" She suddenly realized.

"Nope, just one hour," Angele whispered.

They walked toward the door they came from and re-entered through it, successfully returning to the patio. Only two Claw Warriors had entered this door, while the rest had gone after the others, so the place became deadly silent again.

Angele walked directly to the entrance of the garden on the other side. The girl followed him from behind, looking relieved.

The garden was about the size of an average backyard. Plenty of rare plants and vegetations were planted. Angele couldn't believe his eyes as those priceless materials filled the entire place just like common crops.

Angele looked around and some huge mushrooms caught his attention. Those mushrooms were about the size of an adult. Their stipes was white and their caps red. They looked attractive in a bizarre way.

"Perro Flower… It's Perro Flower!" The girl got excited. She ran toward the blue flowers and took out her herb-gathering equipment.

Angele scrunched up his eyebrows and glanced around.

'Did you find any suspicious movement?' Angele asked.

'Nothing detected.' Zero's mechanical voice echoed in his head.

Angele held his dagger tightly and started wandering around in the garden. Again, the area was small. He could walk from one side to the other within 15 steps. It seemed like the garden was built for those rare materials.

Angele found many plants that he had only read about from the books, such as the Rainbow Flowers, Black Chrysanthemum, Ear Flowers, and Maggot Grasses.

Angele stopped by some strange-looking mushrooms and crouched down. He felt relieved after making sure no threat was in the garden.

Those mushrooms were white and tiny. There were red smiley faces on their caps, almost like someone intentionally drew faces with a pen.

He had never read about mushrooms like that. Angele scrunched up his eyebrows again and slowly reached out to them with the dagger.

"Hehehehe…" Those mushrooms laughed and stood up. Hands and legs appeared on their bodies. While holding each other's hands, they quickly surrounded Angele in a circle.

"La~ LaLaLa~ LaLaLa~" They started singing and started spinning.

Angele looked at all the twisted red smiley faces. He could feel the chill creeping up his back. He kicked some of the mushrooms away and rushed toward the only path in the garden, but the mushrooms followed him from the behind within seconds. All of them were still laughing and singing.

The mushrooms that fell to the ground got up slowly and caught up quickly. Although Angele knew the faces were not their expressions, the scene was still horrifying to him.

"What the hell! What the f*ck is this place!" Angele shouted. He turned back and ran toward the exit.

He quickly grabbed what he could on the way to the exit, including the Dragon Scale Flower he wanted. The mushrooms, however, were still on his tail.

They were singing, jumping, and laughing, but Angele did not look back. He suddenly heard birds chirping in the sky. Flocks of black birds started circling above him. There were so many of them that they looked like black clouds.

The sky was slowly turning red. It was still gray several minutes ago, yet things changed as soon as Angele approached those mushrooms. Clouds of black birds, laughing mushrooms, and the red sky, everything was making the atmosphere heavier and heavier.

"Move!" Angele grabbed the girl's hand and ran with her.

However, he didn't feel the weight of a human being, so he turned his head back immediately only to see a leather chest piece in his hand. Angele had been certain that he saw the girl before grabbing her hand.

Angele scalp tingled from fear. He threw the chest piece onto the ground and quickly looked around. There was no sign of the girl, but he knew the girl was wearing a red one piece under the leather armor. The only red things in his sight were the faces on the mushroom caps and the sky.

The sky was getting darker, and he was the only one in the garden. More and more mushrooms appeared from nowhere, laughing as they ran toward Angele.

"Damn!" Angele could feel the numbness from his scalp. He finally reached the exit and returned to the patio.

He was shocked after seeing the changes that had happened to the patio: the water in the pool was gone and the bottom of the pool was cracked as if the water had never been there.

The mushrooms were still chasing him, so Angele had no time to check the pool. He started running along the way he came from.

'Zero, record every change in the environment.' He tied the claw onto his back and threw all the materials he got into one of the larger pouches.

'Forcefield is shifting intensively… You are inside a huge force field. Situation: Unknown. Please leave the area immediately…' Zero's voice was unclear due to the interaction with the strong force field.

Goosebumps rose on Angele's skin. The mushrooms' number almost tripled as they rushed toward Angele like crazy.

As Angele was getting closer to the exit, he took out an arrow and nocked it onto his bow.

"Atoria, Masnightin!" Angele shouted out incantations.

A blue rune appeared at the tip of the arrow. The rune was twisted and looked like a badly written number four. Blue lightning sparked around it, creating noises.

Angele pulled the bowstring to a full moon and aimed at the sea of mushrooms. He shot the arrow without hesitation, resulting to a blue line being drawn in the air as it descended into the sea of mushrooms.

The Electricity-imbued Arrow seemed effective as many mushrooms fell to the ground after being shocked by the electric pulse.

Angele kept running, sweat covering his face. He finally found the white gate and left the patio.

Outside the gate was the road built using the Screaming Bricks. Angele stepped on them quickly, but he did not hear anything screaming. They did not move, and they looked like ordinary bricks. Angele saw another person ahead of him. It was the black-robed man.

The sky was dark, last rays of light poured onto the ground. Objects around were barely visible.

'Time is up.' Angele checked the timer with Zero. Almost an hour had passed. The mushrooms stopped near the white gate as though they couldn't go past that.

The black-robed man heard the footsteps and turned his head around. Upon seeing that it was Angele, his face was filled with surprise. However, they didn't communicate and only kept running.

The black-robed man's hood dropped down due to the wind, Angele realized it was a lady after seeing her long, brown hair and her beautiful neck.

Angele was much faster than her, so he quickly left her in the dust.

*GA GA*

The black birds were still in the sky and their chirps were loud and strange. Angele raised his head and looked at the sky.

Great flocks of black birds were still circling around the sky, Angele felt sick by just looking at them.

"Help me! I'm Princess Delanya from Liliado! Please…" The lady was almost crying.

Angele turned back and looked at her. Fear was written all over her face and tears were dripping down her chin. Shadows were catching up to her and they almost reached her feet.

Angele knew that she didn't help him at all back at the pool, but he still decided to help her. He grabbed her hand and started running again. Angele moved much faster than those shadows, and they finally reached the sign at the forked road.

They finally stepped out of the Moon Gin Manor's area. The sunlight returned and the sky became clear.

Angele covered his eyes with his hands since the light was still too intense for him. He could hear the lady breathing heavily on the side.

"Finally… We made it!" The lady sat down on the ground.

"A manor that brings death…" She muttered and wiped the tears off her face.

Angele looked at the direction of the manor. The road was still covered with weeds and there were no footprints at all. It was like they never entered the area.

"Don't worry, we are good." The lady stood up and took off her mask. Her skin was glossy and her lips were pouting. She looked gentle and noble; Angele believed she was a princess.

There was a pair of silver earrings on her ears. They were glowing, and Angele wondered if they were enchanted items. He stopped observing and checked the things he had obtained from the manor: a claw from Claw Warriors, and a decent amount of rare materials he grabbed on his way out.

'Great.' Angele calmed down and felt happy with what he had gotten.

"Thank you for saving me. My name is Delanya, and this is a small gift for you. I'll remember what you did for me there, and I will return the favor in the future." She put on the hood and covered her face with the mask again. She handed a telescope-like brown tube over to Angele.

Delanya left immediately after giving Angele the tube. Angele stood there for a while and looked at the path to Moon Gin Manor one more time before heading back to town.

"I hope I don't have to return to this damn place," Angele mumbled.

Chapter 102: Return (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

Angele quickly returned to Moss Town. The place was still deadly silent. No one was on the streets and not a single movement could be detected from the buildings.

Mists blanketed the streets as the streaks of sunlight failed to burn them away. Angele walked slowly in the middle of the road, glancing at every direction.

Angele was certain that people still hadn't woken up yet as he couldn't hear anything. A raven landed on one of the buildings' roof. It stood there quietly, staring at Angele with its red eyes.

The raven wasn't cawing or anything, only standing there. Angele looked at it for a brief moment before he walked toward the hotel.

*Creak*

Right after Angele opened the door, he lowered his footsteps and furrowed his brows.

Beside the building, three carriages were still parked there, and the horses were still sleeping. Coachman Tom had his back laid on one of the carriages, snoring.

Angele decided to check on him first. He released the door handle and walked toward Tom. He crouched down and started shaking Tom's shoulders.

"Hey, Tom. Come on, wake up." Angele kept shaking Tom's shoulders, even pinching his right ear.

"Ah…" Tom groaned and slowly opened his eyes, "Master… What happened?"

"We need to move." Angele lowered his voice. He stood up, pinched his horses' ears and woke them up.

"We are done here?" Tom was still trying to figure out what was going on, but he decided not to think too much, "Sure, I will start preparing now!"

"People in this town all fell asleep. We need to leave the place as soon as possible. Something isn't right." Angele felt uncomfortable, but he couldn't make heads or tails of what was wrong.

Angele recalled the day he arrived at the town. People in the hotel were the only residents he met, and Tom pretty much took care of everything for him. Zero detected movements in the houses, so Angele was certain that those were human beings. Yet today, it was different.

Tom walked into the hotel. Angele had told him that others were sleeping, but the place only had deathly silence. He shuddered from this as he started preparing the supplies for the trip.

Angele walked around the yard and checked the carriages. He did not find anything strange. He wondered what happened to the other people in the garden.

'They probably died?'

The door on the other side would take them to a different area, so Angele had no time to check it. He made the decision based on Zero's analysis and believed he made the right choice, which was the reason why he asked Messi's granddaughter to follow him. Delanya had left in a hurry, so Angele didn't acquire any valuable information from her; though it seemed like they didn't just encounter Claw Warriors.

Angele shook his head. In any case, he wouldn't go back there. He walked out of the yard, intent on checking on other residents.

On the left side of the hotel, there was a wooden house surrounded by wooden fences. It seemed like the house was built a long time ago since it looked old.

The fences were closed, but Angele easily jumped over them and entered the front yard. The yard was filled up with weeds, seemingly as if the owner barely did any yard work.

Angele slowly walked toward the door and pushed it carefully.

*Crack*

The door slowly opened, and black smoke returned to Angele's fingertips. He had corroded the lock using negative energy particles. However, it was only effective when the lock wasn't complex.

Angele could smell the mold in the air as he entered the room.

"Wait…" Angele drew back and coughed several times.

He used the wind particles to blow the dust out of the door.

After most of the dust was gone, he finally entered the room, "What? How?" He was shocked.

The house was empty, no one was inside. Angele saw one wooden table in the middle of the room and several chairs. A wooden bow hung on the wall, and the fireplace was covered in spider webs.

*Crack*

Angele stepped on a spoon and he started searching around.

He was sure there were people here when the first time he arrived at the hotel.

Angele narrowed his eyes and his expression changed. He quickly turned around and left the house to check the other houses.

"What the hell…" There was cold sweat on Angele's forehead. His body had warmed up due to running around, but he could only feel a chill climbing up his back.

All the houses, all of them — empty.

There were no people around. Even a mouse couldn't be found, and all the furniture was covered in dust. It was almost like no one had lived here.

'Where are those people? I'm sure Zero detected them before.' Angele was panicking.

Angele stood in the middle of the town, being surrounded by the mist. All the hairs on his skin stood on its end.

"Wait…" Angele took a deep breath and calmed down. He turned around and headed toward the hotel.

*************************

"Tom!" Angele pushed the door open and entered the hotel.

"Tom! Hurry up, we need to go!" he yelled.

However, the place was silent, and Tom did not reply to him. Angele stopped for a second, his worst fear realized.

Angele left the hotel immediately and went to check the carriages. The horses were still there, and they neighed, but he still did not find Tom. The place was small, so Angele was certain that Tom would hear him if he was around the hotel.

Angele drew his dagger and held it tight. He quickly walked toward the backyard.

The kitchen and supply shop were in the backyard, and Angele wondered if Tom was preparing the supplies. He went across the bushes and arrived at an empty ground.

A small house with a chimney on top was there; it was the kitchen. Angele walked around and yelled, but he had found not a single trace of Tom.

"Damn it!" Angele cursed. He knew he had to leave. He grabbed what he could and returned to the carriages.

Angele jumped onto the driving seat and shook the reins.

"Let's go!"

He left the hotel quickly, and the carriage started moving along the street.

"Tom is gone too…" Angele felt numbness in his scalp, "He was talking to me not so long ago…"

"Is this place an illusion? But I talked to the owner and I ate all the food. They were real for sure. The dust coated the furniture in the houses I checked, and it seemed like no one touched them for years…"

Angele kept thinking but he could not arrive at a conclusion. The whole incident was too strange.

"Giddy-up!" Angele shook the reins again and increased the speed.

Ten minutes later…

Angele had left Moss Town. He passed the forked road and started heading back using the same route he had come from. The chilling wind was blowing over his face, which cleared his mind.

He started to see the tall pine trees on the roadside and the ground covered with gray stones. Angele remembered his meeting with the squirrel when he was trying to touch the mushroom.

He looked at the left side of the road. Angele wanted to meet the squirrel again. For some reason, he had the desire to talk to any living being.

The carriage advanced slowly along the bumpy road. After some time, Angele finally encountered the squirrel once again. It was sitting on the grasses and biting a pinecone.

"Halt." Angele stopped the carriage and jumped off it. He walked toward the squirrel quickly.

"Hey, you are here again." The squirrel greeted Angele and raised its head, "So how did it go? What did you get?"

Angele forced a smile, "Well, I got what I wanted."

He crouched down, feeling a bit relieved.

"The elder of the forest wants to meet you. Will you accept the invitation?" the squirrel asked.

"The elder?"

"Yea. Actually, he wants to buy some of the snacks you give the last time. We live very close to the road, so we can talk to the merchants passing by easier," the squirrel added.

"I didn't take too many snacks with me…" Angele hesitated.

"It's fine. I'm sure you still have some left," the squirrel waved its claw and said.

"Alright…" Angele felt relaxed after talking to the squirrel.

"Follow me." The squirrel held the pinecone in claws and started moving toward the forest.

"What about my carriage?" Angele questioned.

"My mates will look after it for ya." The squirrel pointed at the carriage.

Angele turned back and saw a black squirrel waving toward them on the roof of the carriage.

"Allen~ Take care~" The black squirrel was waving his claws.

*BAM*

Allen threw his pinecone toward the carriage and it hit the black squirrel's head.

"Come on, do your job!" Allen clapped with its claws, "Alright, let's go."

Angele smiled, "So you have a name?"

"That's my nickname." Allen shrugged.

They quickly disappeared into the forest.

"Allen! We are done!" The black squirrel yelled from behind, "My sister too! I'll not allow her to talk to you anymore!"

***************************

Angele followed Allen to a lake after going across the forest.

Mist rose from the green lake. It was huge, such that Angele couldn't see the other side of the lake.

A long, brown wooden dock was built upon the lake. Angele could see the long legs supporting it under the surface of the water. The dock looked like a bridge that led to the middle of the lake.

Angele felt speechless after seeing what was at the end of the dock. It was a cat standing upright on its hind legs. The cat had put its hands on the back and was mumbling something. Also, there was a fishing rod behind its feet. The strange scene made Angele think that the cat had already witnessed the vicissitudes of life.

Chapter 103: Return (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

"Allen, did you bring the guest here?" The white cat turned around. Its voice was deep and gravelly.

"Yes! Elder!" Allen yelled, "He has what we want!"

"Why are you yelling…?" Angele was speechless. He did not expect a squirrel to have such a loud voice.

"Well, the Elder is having trouble with hearing…" Allen shrugged.

"You mean salty peanuts? That's my favorite." The Elder nodded.

"How much peanuts you got there?" it asked.

Angele thought for a second, "About one kilogram, I believe."

"What? You're not selling them?" the Elder asked.

"It's one kilogram!" Allen ran to the cat and yelled to its ears.

"One kilogram?" the Elder nodded, "I wanted more, but I'll take them. Sigh, I haven't had salty peanuts in a while. When I was in Santiago, there was a town named Kodo by the north of Liliado, and people there made damn good salty peanuts for me… Alright, Allen, let him choose the item he wants."

"Got it."

"Sorry, I have a question actually. Do you know Moss Town?" Angele decided to ask, "What happened to it? No one lives there?"

The Elder didn't hear his question but Allen did, "You mean Moss Town? It was abandoned about ten years ago, why do you ask?" Allen stared at Angele confusedly.

"What? Ten years?" Angele was shocked, "Nothing… I'm just asking."

"Fine. Ten years ago, one of the people that survived from the Moon Gin Garden went crazy and killed everyone in the town. No one tried to rebuild it after that. I told you before; Moon Gin Garden is extremely dangerous. Nine out of ten people who enter it will die. I'm actually surprised that you made it out in one piece," Allen explained, "Alright, let's go claim your item."

'But the information I collected didn't mention any of it…' Angele was sure the food he ate was real, and the hotel owner he met was not an illusion. He thought for a while and realized the information he obtained came from books of the distant past.

*********************

One hour later, Angele left the forest with a small gray egg, and a group of squirrels took the snacks from his carriages.

As Angele jumped onto the carriage, Allen appeared from nowhere and jumped onto the back of the horse, "Wait, Angele, the Elder has a message for you. The curse of the garden is not lifted yet. Also, do not travel alone." Allen was speaking in a serious tone.

"What? Don't travel alone?" Angele hesitated. He did not know why, but he started to feel a chill again. He had thought he was already done with the garden.

"Tell the Elder that I appreciate his advice." Angele forced a smile, "I think I'll be fine, I'm usually very lucky."

"I hope so." Allen jumped off the horse and walked toward the forest.

Angele shook the reins and the carriage started moving.

"Angele, take care!" Allen yelled from behind, "I hope we can meet again."

Angele heard Allen's words and smiled.

*********************

Angele traveled for five days at full speed and he finally left the Moss Mountain.

He arrived at a small town and rented a room in a hotel.

"Your oil plum cake and milk, enjoy."

Angele nodded, watching the owner's daughter putting down a cake served on a plate and a glass of milk. She left after making sure the order was correct.

Angele grabbed a piece of brown cake and took a bite. The cake had been cut into pieces. It tasted sweet and sour combined. Angele had several pieces and even drank a whole glass of sweet milk. He put down several silver coins on the table and returned to his room on the second floor.

Angele's room was by the end of the hallway. He needed a quiet place to meditate and to process the materials he acquired from Moon Gin Manor. He needed to preserve them before they dried up, so he rented a relatively quiet room to perform the procedures.

Angele locked the room and closed the windows. He lighted up an oil lamp and released some energy particles in the air. He wanted to make sure no one was trying to peek through the door or the window. Those energy particles would alert him when people were nearby his room.

Angele took the large claw out of a black bag and put it down on the table. The claw weighed about five kilograms, and its surface was coated with translucent oil. It was shining under the light. Angele applied the oil he acquired from the school for preservation.

Angele took out a black bottle out of his pouch and removed the wooden stopper. He poured some white dust onto the surface of the claw and started rubbing it thoroughly.

Time passed by and darkness fell before Angele could notice it.

He rubbed his eyes, stood up and stretched his body. Suddenly, something strange caught his attention.

Angele saw a girl wearing a red one piece standing behind him from the reflection of the window.

"Please, help me!" the girl cried, "I saw them again just now, but no one trusted me."

Angele turned around immediately. He recognized the girl, it was Messi's granddaughter.

Her eyes looked as if she had no soul, and her words were disorderly. Moreover, she kept crying. The red one piece was nearly torn apart.

"How did you get in?" Angele asked.

The room was locked, yet the girl just appeared in the middle of the room. Angele could barely understand what she was saying.

"Please!" The girl stared at Angele, her eyes unblinking. It made Angele feel uncomfortable.

Angele took a deep breath, "What are you talking about? Where did you go that day?"

"I…" The girl hesitated. Angele was sure she was wearing the red one piece he had seen that day, and she was badly wounded.

The light from the oil lamp disappeared for a second. Angele turned his head around to check but no one was around the table. The girl disappeared after Angele tried to talk to her again.

Chillness crept upon his spine.

"I need to go. I can't stay here anymore!" Angele started packing up.

************************

Angele left the town and started heading back. The girl did not come to him after that night at the hotel.

However, she came again several days after. Angele was sitting beside the campfire at night, surrounded by the shadows of the trees. The moonlight was the only thing that made things visible.

The girl walked out of darkness. Fear and anxiousness were written all over her face.

"Help me, please…" She was groaning, "I really don't want to… I really don't…"

Angele stood up and stepped back. He tried to keep a safe distance from the girl.

"What do you want from me!?" Angele shouted.

"Help me! Please, help me!" The girl cried and started approaching him.

"You didn't answer my question last time! Now, answer it!" Angele knew he was probably not dealing with a living human. The girl was strange; she did not seem to have a soul and she could locate Angele's location easily.

"Question? What question?" The girl stopped for a second.

"Where did you go that day? At the garden?" Angele asked in a gravelly voice.

"Garden? What garden?"

Suddenly, wind put the fire off for a second. Angele's sight became blurry and the girl disappeared again.

"Damn it!" Angele cursed as he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

**************************

Ten days later, Angele was one day away from the Lennon City.

He decided to spend the last night in a small town then go straight back to the city after. Angele thought the girl would not appear if he kept traveling. Although he barely rested these days, he felt relieved. Zero never alerted him when the girl appeared, nor did it not make any records. It was very strange. Angele could not determine what the girl actually was.

Also, it seemed like the girl's time was frozen at the last minutes in the garden. She was begging Angele to help, and she only appeared when Angele was alone at nights.

"Maybe I'm too far from the garden now? And the strange power can't reach me anymore? Whatever, I need a break anyway."

Angele rubbed his temples. He was very tired at the moment. He stood up and poured himself a glass of water.

"Please, help me!" The girl's voice suddenly appeared from behind.

Angele froze. The voice was very close, almost as if the girl was yelling beside his ears.

He slowly turned back and saw the girl standing at the corner quietly. There was no window in this room and the locked door was the only entrance.

"Please help me!" the girl yelled again. She stared at Angele's eyes without blinking.

"F*ck you!" Angele shouted. He raised his hand and threw the dagger toward the girl.

*PON*

The dagger stabbed into the wall and the girl disappeared again. The room became quiet again.

Angele wiped the sweat off his face with hands.

"What the hell!" Angele was getting nervous, and his expression looked horrifying.

"Damn it! What's going on! If it's a curse, something should happen to me, and I'll be able to find the solution."

Angele walked around the room and saw a ray of bright light shot through his bag. Angele hesitated for a second and got excited.

He quickly ran to the bag and opened it. There was a gray robe inside, and the cross on its back was flickering with light.

"It's Master! She's summoning me! I can finally return!" This was the first time that he couldn't wait to see the 'cute' face of that old witch.

Chapter 104: Return (3)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe

The light from the cross slowly vanished after several minutes.

Angele put the robe down and packed everything up quickly. He hid the large claw into a black bag separately.

Angele calmed down quickly. He was still thinking about that girl who really creeped him out.

"I'm heading back to the school first!" Angele gritted his teeth. He pulled the dagger out of the wall and returned it back to the leather sheath.

"I must have triggered some hidden trap left by the previous owner of the manor." Angele searched through his memory. He thought that the tall red cap mushroom he saw when entering the garden was the problem.

He remembered seeing it somewhere before, but he was not sure if Zero had a record of it.

'Zero, try to catch any change happening in the energy field around and get me the data of that red cap mushroom,' Angele ordered.

'Mission created… Searching… Data not found.'

'Analyzing…'

'Four possible matches: Red Mouth Mushroom, 45% similarity. Dragonfly Mushroom, 34% similarity. Aria Mushroom, 13% similarity. Devil's Cap, 11% similarity.'

Angele was disappointed at the result, but there was nothing Zero could do at the moment as he hadn't yet collected enough data. Most of the data in the database were collected during his travels across the Anser Plain. On top of that, he did not have enough information on special materials or plants in the world of wizards.

Allen had said that the survivors from the garden went crazy and did many cruel things after. Angele thought he was probably in the same situation.

The girl would not appear twice a night, so Angele wasn't worried that he had to face her again today. Still, he decided not to sleep. He spent the rest of the night meditating, so he could respond immediately to anything that could happen.

**************

The next morning, Angele left the town as soon as the vibrant sunlight began to warm the day. He started heading toward the Ramsoda College at full speed.

Trees in the area were thick and old, but the leaves already started falling as the winter approached.

Wheels of the carriage crushed the dried-up leaves on the ground into pieces.

Angele sat tight on the driver's seat, checking the surroundings constantly.

Angele was very close to Lennon City, but he decided to head to the school first. He needed Master Liliana's help to lift the strange curse.

He kept advancing along the main road. Angele barely stopped since he wanted to get there as soon as possible. Angele arrived at the logging site where they had hunted the Glowing Elephants after traveling for a while.

"Almost there." Angele was relieved. Seeing something familiar to him made him feel better.

Angele did not stop. Although he could change routes and visit the city first, he decided to deal with the more important matter.

A chilling wind was blowing over Angele's face. It felt like needles pricking his skin.

********************

Several days later, the ruin above Ramsoda College.

The sky was blue like a huge sapphire, and puffy clouds were floating above the muddy land.

A black carriage was approaching the ruins quickly between the yellow trees. Its wheels were spinning fast, and its noise drove the birds away.

The carriage looked like a black dot swimming in the sea of trees; it was fast and steady. A young man with brown hair was driving the carriage. Several tree leaves dropped down to his face because of the blowing wind, but he did not seem to care.

The man was staring at the road in front of him. Slowly, the yellow ruin appeared in his sight, and the man looked relieved.

"Finally, I'm back," Angele said.

The girl had appeared once during the days when Angele stopped to rest. It seemed like nothing could stop her from tracking Angele down. Angele was hoping he could find the solution in the school.

"Halt!" Angele pulled the reins and slowed down the carriage. He parked it by the bridge.

He jumped off the carriage and wiped the dust off his clothes before taking the large, black travel case with him. He walked toward the bridge.

*GA GA*

A raven circled above Angele and landed on the stone bridge. It was staring at Angele with its blood red eyes.

"Master Moroco?" Angele stopped and asked.

"Are you heeding the summoning call? You are an apprentice, right?" Moroco's voice was sharp and high-pitched. It was the voice Angele knew.

"Yes, master." Angele bowed.

Moroco nodded. Angele's body reflected in its ruby-like eyes, and strangely, there was a girl right behind him. Their bodies almost overlapped. The girl had no expression on her face, and she was just standing there quietly.

"That's a strong curse… You may enter now, I think your master is already back," Moroco spoke in a light tone.

Angele hesitated for a second, and then he smiled, "Thank you, Master Moroco."

"Wait, before that…" Moroco opened its beak and laughed. The beak split from both sides, which looked horrifying.

A countless number of sharp teeth appeared in its beak, almost looking like an alligator's mouth.

When Moroco flew into the sky, its body started expanding. Black feathers dropped down its body, and the raven transformed into a 7-meter-tall, 4-meter-wide monster within seconds.

*GA*

The strange roar almost paralyzed Angele.

Moroco���s wings blocked the sunlight and covered Angele within its own shadow.

"How dare you! You filthy soul! I'll make you pay for what you have done!" Moroco sneered, hovered in the air for a while and charged toward Angele. Its speed was much faster than an average knight.

Angele's sight blurred for a second.

"AH!" He heard someone groaning from behind.

Moroco swung its wings and flew toward the stone bridge.

Moroco's body shrunk back to the normal size as it landed on the bridge.

"Good, you may enter now." Moroco looked satisfied, licking the beak with its snake-like tongue.

Angele was not sure what exactly happened, but he now felt relaxed. It seemed like Moroco lifted the curse for him, so he immediately bowed again in thanks. Angele took a small box out of his pouch and put it down beside Moroco.

"I appreciate your help." Angele stepped back after putting down the box. He entered the ruin after seeing Moroco nodding its head.

Moroco opened the box with its claw. There was a red pearl inside it.

"My favorite snack. Great. He knows my taste." Moroco nodded again.

*****************

Angele found the entrance quickly. Nothing had changed. The door to the tunnel was still closed, and it was hidden in a dusty room.

However, the surface of the door was new. He was unsure whether it was replaced or not.

Angele knocked on the wooden and invoked the incantation. A black coating appeared on the surface of the door and disappeared after several seconds.

*Creak*

Angele pushed the door open and saw the bright tunnel and a staircase in front of him.

He looked around and walked down the stairs. Angele quickly disappeared around the corner, his footsteps echoing down the tunnel.

The wooden door closed by itself slowly. A thin layer of black coating flashed upon its surface again.

******************

Angele kept advancing in the tunnel. The lights on the wall had brightened the whole place.

He walked passed two fellow wizard apprentices in the hallway. It seemed like they just returned to the school as well, but they did not greet each other. They just nodded their heads as a courtesy.

Angele reached the Faculty of Necromancy quickly. He stood by the entrance of the hallway and he could feel the chillness in the air.

Angele held the travel case in hand and reached a door by the end of the hallway.

He lightly knocked on the door.

"Please come in."

The door opened to a room with a dark interior. Angele carefully pushed the door open, and he saw a ray of light in the middle of the room.

Master Liliana's horrifying face was right under the light.

"That was a strong curse," Liliana spoke in a low voice.

"Yes, it was, Master." Angele already got used to Liliana's appearance. He closed the door slowly, turned around and bowed to her.

"I seek your help, Master."

"You should really thank Moroco. He did not just simply eat your curse. You'd be dead already if you didn't come back to the school in time." Liliana smiled, "You're brave. I don't know how you made it out, but Moon Gin Garden isn't a place for wizard apprentices to head into. How did you even find out its location?"