150 - 159
Chapter 150: More Information (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem
*CHI*
The silver dagger drew an arc in the air, and a silver string was pinned to the railing.
Angele heard footsteps leaving behind him and, after several seconds, something being popped. He immediately turned around and glanced around the place.
There was nothing moving in his sight. He scrunched his eyebrows and stepped forward. A stain of black blood was on the floor with a thin layer of white dust on top of it.
The silver string was cut off by something.
Angele had developed a new alloy with the metals he obtained from Francesco, and he had used a string made from it to prevent the unidentified target from escaping. The string was hard and sharp; it could easily slice one's head off.
"So, this ghost or creature is best at resisting physical attacks. I should probably use energy attacks then, but it moves so fast that even Zero can't track it down," Angele muttered.
He suddenly felt some intense heat coming from his right hand. The diamond-shaped accessory was melting, and he had no idea why.
He checked the surroundings but did not find anything suspicious. He returned to the body of the hunter and started checking his wounds, wanting to know what had killed the man.
Blood had spurted out of the man's seven apertures. His eyes were wide-open and his muscles rigid. It seemed like he had witnessed something horrifying before losing his life.
"Well, at least I have a clue now."
Angele smiled.
He knew this tower was dangerous, but this 'thing' here was identical to the one that he had met in the Moon Gin Garden. However, the one in the tower was much weaker, so Angele decided to do some investigating.
He walked to the blood stain on the ground again and created a metal tube in his left hand. He scraped some of the blood into the tube with the dagger and put the tube into his pouch.
If he hadn't coated his dagger with energy particles, the 'thing' would not have been injured. The metals were not stored in Angele's body in their physical form. They were turned into something similar to energy particles by the force field, so although the dagger strike missed, the 'thing' was still wounded by the special silver string.
Angele walked up the stairs to take a look at the wooden bridge below. Chilling wind blew into his face when he reached the top, and he saw the bridge shaking below. It was covered in green moss, the hunter being the only one who had passed through it recently.
Angele looked at the other side of the bridge and saw a young girl walking forward slowly. Her face was pale, hair black, and she was wearing a black dress.
He narrowed his eyes, grabbed the metal bow from his back, and pulled a dark metal arrow out of the quiver. The diamond-shaped accessory on the back of his right hand was heating up again.
The wind was getting stronger and stronger, and Angele's hair was flying in the air.
*BAM*
The door behind Angele was knocked on by something.
"Who's there!" Angele shouted out, turning around and shooting the arrow.
*Swish*
The arrow hit the wooden door, and electric pulses exploded in the air. They disappeared after wandering around for several seconds.
The blue electric pulses brightened up the top of the tower.
Angele lowered his bow. He had shot in a hurry, without pulling the bowstring to full, so although he had enhanced the arrow with an Electric Rune, its power was still low.
"Whatever!"
Angele pursed his lips, pulled the metal arrow from the door, and returned it to the quiver. He turned his head around and looked at the bridge, but the young girl was already gone.
'Did you find anything?'
'No force field was detected. The unknown target was not a special creature,' Zero reported.
"I guess I'm not capable of solving this mystery yet. I need to leave now."
Angele glanced around, making sure that there were no threats around.
Nothing could be seen on the other side of the bridge, only a black sign was shaking slightly on the side of the road.
A sea of trees was on both sides of the road, and Angele could hear the wind howling. He looked at the blurry rolling mountains that were hiding behind the light mist in the background and thought for a while.
He then turned around and checked the door again, but failed to obtain any useful information, so he decided to return to his carriage.
"Damn it," Angele mumbled, shaking his head.
He jumped into the driving seat and looked in the direction of the tower one last time.
The young girl appeared on the bridge again after Angele left. She was staring at his carriage, a cold and terrifying gaze falling upon him.
Although Angele could not see the girl, he still knew someone was staring at him.
"We'll meet again."
His eyes flickered with a sliver of coldness.
"Move!"
The horses started to speed up, and the carriage traveled back the way it had come.
'Zero, mark the place on the map, I'll be back,' Angele ordered.
'The location has been marked.'
Angele stared at the wooden watchtower until it disappeared from his sight.
'Name the location please.'
'Redwood Watchtower.'
'Completed. Redwood Watchtower has been marked as a dangerous location.'
**********************
Angele's journey back to the Arias City was quiet and peaceful.
There was no point for him to stay in the forest anymore because the trail of his mother had ended in Tikka Soyun. He discussed some of his findings with Omicade, and asked him about the assassin guild, Dark Emblem.
The kings sent Angele several Knights as guards but he politely told them not to worry about him. He was traveling to the core of Dark Emblem, a city named Blue Root, on his carriage, alone.
Based on Omicade's intel, the place was famous for a strange plant called Glowing Dark Tree.
The locals said that Glowing Dark Trees usually grew in areas with rich water resources, and they would attract Psychedelic Pigeons. The fruits on the trees were also very valuable to the Knights.
The legend said that Knights who consumed fruits of Glowing Dark Tree would find their own paths, so the fruit was named as Knight's Faith.
Omicade told Angele many tales about the lost treasures, and Angele thought that this one could be helpful to him. The dryad had said that if he wanted to concentrate his mentality, he needed to strengthen his conviction first, before using the radiation energy.
Knight's Faith could guide Knights to their own paths, so he thought that the fruit might help him to strengthen his conviction.
Although Angele knew several methods found in the wizards' books that could help him strengthen his conviction, those methods would take him years to complete the procedures. His max life expectancy was 300 years at the moment, but he was not sure how long it would take for him to reach the next stage, and he wanted to save some time.
Angele followed the map given by the sage, and it took him about two months to get to the Blue Root City.
*********************
Outside the Blue Root City, there was a hidden canyon that was surrounded by a forest.
There were many tall wooden watchtowers built around the canyon, and each tower had several archers standing at their tops.
Those sentries were wearing green-yellow leather armor suits and had quivers full of black-feathered arrows on their backs and long black daggers on their waists. Their faces were painted in strange green patterns.
The sentries suddenly noticed movement in the bushes while overlooking the forest.
They immediately put arrows in their bows, pulled the bowstrings to full, and aimed in the direction the sounds had come from.
"Who's there! Reveal yourself!" a sentry yelled.
A man in black slowly walked out of the bushes when he heard the words.
It was a young man in a black robe. There was a silver glint to his pale face, and his long brown hair trailed down his shoulders. A silver metal bow and a full quiver were on his back.
The young man threw a bronze tag to the ground.
"That's my permit."
There were no words engraved on its surface but its edges were golden. The sentries saw the bronze tag, looked at each other, and nodded their heads.
"Permission granted. You may enter now," the leader shouted out, lowering his bow.
The young man nodded, kicked the bronze tag into the air, and grabbed it with his left hand.
He then walked past the guard post and disappeared in the entrance to the canyon.
The leader shook his head. "Why do they never learn? It's almost impossible to obtain the Knight's Faith, otherwise, we'd all enter the canyon. I guess this one will die too."
He watched the young man disappear past the entrance and sighed. He turned around and started checking the surroundings again. The sentries here were not only to prevent the outsiders and citizens from entering the canyon, but also to protect them from getting hurt.
Angele slowly advanced through the canyon, his sight blurred by the white fog. The visibility here was only about four to five meters and the fog was getting thicker as he proceeded.
The grasses on the ground were still visible, but other objects and plants were all hidden by the fog. With a flick of his finger, a strong whirlwind rose to surround his body.
The wind blew his hair into the air, but the white fog would just not go away; it kept regenerating in the air.
Something was trying to prevent Angele from advancing.
He asked Zero to scan the area in front, and the chip immediately showed him the surroundings that were covered by the fog.
Chapter 151: More Information (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
The fog was still thick. Black stones filled the gaps between the grasses on the ground. A tall withered tree stood in the middle of the large empty ground alone.
Beside the tree was a still, blue lake.
Several piles of bones were left ashore. Furthermore, this mysterious foggy place gave Angele an unpleasant feeling.
Angele glanced around. The only thing he discovered was his own self being surrounded by black cliffs. The empty ground in front of him was about the size of a soccer court, and the lake in the middle had a diameter of 10 meters.
That was all he could see here, only the area within Zero's scan range was visible, the rest was still covered in fog.
Angele wiped the dust off his black robe and walked to the small lake.
He realized that the tree was in the center of the lake as he moved closer.
Its trunk was black, no leaves could be seen on the branches, and several white pigeons were flying above the tree.
*COO*
The pigeons noticed Angele's presence, then they chirped.
"Intruder, you are not welcome here. This is the private garden of Six Ring High Tower. Please identify yourself." One of the pigeons suddenly started speaking in the ancient Byrun language.
"Six Ring High Tower?" Angele felt a bit surprised. His sight fell onto the speaking pigeon.
"You're the guardian?"
"I am. No permit from my organization, please leave the canyon immediately." The pigeon glared at Angele with its blood red eyes and warned in a high-pitched voice.
Angele grunted for a second and responded, "Fine. If the place is claimed, I'll be leaving.'
He stepped back and turned around, then started heading back along the path he passed through from before.
Angele stopped walking by the entrance of the canyon and waited on the side. Although he knew the garden was owned by another Wizard organization, he wanted to see if other people who entered the canyon would have the same experience as him. Also, he wanted to see what would happen after people consumed the Knight's Faith.
After waiting for a while, Angele suddenly felt intense heat coming from his left chest. When he lowered his head, he saw a white ghost-shaped pattern glowing. The pattern was blinking in a particular order.
Angele's expression changed. He immediately took out a tiny black metal bottle from the pouch and opened it.
*CHI*
Green smoke rushed out of the bottle and formed a gaseous sphere right in front Angele's face.
A green slate slowly appeared in the center of the gaseous sphere, with words written on it in Anmag.
'The underground races have invaded the school. Don't come back within five years. Liliana.'
This was a message board. The first message was from Liliana. Several other messages were written right below it.
'Master Liliana is severely injured. Our situation is grave. Without the leader, we won't survive in this organization. Moreover, the school has claimed that Liliana had betrayed the school! We failed, so we're now in deep trouble. Disciples of Liliana, don't return to the school. Eric.'
'Last time, it was the Mind Reader. Now, it's our master. What the hell is going on! Damn it! Again, disciples of Master Liliana. Listen! Stay away from the school. We are now identified as traitors! We need to preserve our strength and retaliate later! Manera.'
'This message will take a month to get to you. As a disciple of Master Liliana, I hope you will be able to understand the situation. We are being hunted down by the Wizards of Ramsoda. At the same time, the underground races are attacking us. This is a planned invasion, and we're the victims. If you didn't sign the contract, stay calm. The school has no right to kill you. It's highly possible that the school is already under the underground races' control. Green Slinger.'
As Angele continued to read the messages on the board, his expression turned serious.
He left the school not so long ago, yet it seemed that many things had occurred. Only the first message was from the master. The rest was from her disciples. Liliana was a mentor who genuinely cared for her students and disciples. Her disciples would always unite to solve her problem whenever she was in trouble. This was one of the reasons why other organizations fear her power and authority. More so, there were more than 10 formal Wizards among her disciples, with one of them already in the Liquid stage.
Liliana had built herself a strong force and thus was feared by most of the Dark Wizards and people in the school. For some reason, however, the school had claimed of Liliana now being a traitor.
Angele was not certain if his master actually did betray the organization, but even more than that, he couldn not understand the reason why Ramsoda would give up such a strong force so easily.
The message slate was a one-time item with a self-destruct function after displaying messages.
Luckily, Angele took Liliana's advice and refused to sign the school's contract. Otherwise, he himself would similarly be hunted down.
Angele's original plan was to search for the treasures and resources he needed on this land, but it seemed that valuable resources like Knight's Faith had already been claimed by other Wizard organizations.
"The situation will continue to worsen since the treaty has been breached," Angele muttered as he looked toward the fog right in front of him.
"Well, I need to check if this Knight's Faith is truly helpful. I need to strengthen my mentality."
The message slate quickly dissipated in the green smoke before the latter was blown away by the wind.
Angele turned around and walked into the fog once again. Once again, he reached the lake and saw the guardian standing on a branch.
"Hey, can we do a trade? I really need some Knight's Faith," Angele asked politely. He didn't want to offend the guardian of the garden.
"Trade?" The pigeon hesitated. It was, after all, its first time to hear someone asking to do a trade.
Angele did not give the pigeon time to think, only smiling as he continued.
"Yea, trade. I can see that you'll break through again soon, right? You must need a good amount of magic stones. Otherwise, you wouldn't have shape shifted into a pigeon to preserve your power, right?"
The pigeon remained silent.
Angele wanted to see what the Knight's Faith has in store for him, so he continued to persuade, "See, there are too many fruits in this canyon. Most of the invaders got stalled by you, yet some of them still acquired the Knight's Faith, right? Sell me some and just consider those to have been stolen by invaders, what do you think? It's a win-win situation. Your master surely won't notice what you did."
The pigeon was hesitating, "But… it's against the rules…"
"Hey, listen. After you break through, you'll become stronger and be able to finish off invaders easily. A small cost for a brighter future, is there a better deal than this? Come on, trust me," Angele smiled confidently. He could see that the pigeon was already considering his offer. It seemed that Wizards barely visited the garden. Mortals robbed the garden, yet the Six Ring High Tower didn't send any Wizard to pursue them so the garden might be an abandoned resource point.
"But then again… there are rules here…" The pigeon was still having second thoughts. It lowered its head as it began considering the pros and cons.
Angele quickly took out an extremely rare high-quality magic stone from his pouch, which could be traded for many low-quality magic stones and it contained a great amount of elemental power. It was an item the guardian desired the most before breaking through.
After seeing what Angele was holding, the pigeon finally compromised.
"Two! I want two of them." It raised its head.
"One." Angele's eyebrows creased, uncertain if the Knight's Faith was worth two high-quality magic stones.
"I need two. One is not enough," the pigeon added.
"Well, show me a sample of the Knight's Faith, even just a small amount." Angele stared at the pigeon.
The pigeon did not hesitate this time. It hit the branch with its wings, and a white egg-shaped fruit appeared by the tip of the branch. The white fruit was glowing slightly. The pigeon grabbed it by the stalk with its beak before it threw it to Angele.
Angele stepped forward and caught the fruit. The Knight's Faith looked like a glowing pear.
He was a bit disappointed. He imagined that the fruit would have some fancy appearance, but it looked and smelled just like a pear, with the only difference being its glowing appearance.
'Zero, analyze its contents.'
'Task created… Analyzing…'
*CHI*
Blue light dots flashed in Angele's eyes.
Rows of data were shown beside the white pear in his hand and new data was added every second.
'Analysis, done. The fruit contains special elements that will make its consumers addicted. People will feel great pleasure while experiencing hallucinations. You will be able to concentrate your mentality slowly if you can resist the pleasure and the hallucination effect.'
Angele was a bit speechless.
'So, this is similar to opium?' Angele wondered. This special element affected a person's nervous system and made them experience hallucinations while gaining pleasure. If he could stay calm after eating the fruit, his mentality would be strengthened.
The chip could actually simulate the effect of the fruit for him after extracting this special element. There was no point in him acquiring a large amount of this fruit. Knight's Faith was rare, but it had extreme effects and using it was risky. Angele had finally understood why this place had been abandoned.
Chapter 152: Leaving Again (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Angele thought for a while before he took out another high-quality magic stone and threw them both into the air.
The two magic stones began to free fall after reaching the highest point over the lake.
The white pigeon flew toward the falling magic stones and ate them one by one. These two magic stones were nearly the size of half its body. It flew back to the branch and struck it with its wings once again. Another white fruit was revealed and thrown toward Angele.
He stepped back a bit, catching it easily.
"Alright, we're done here. You don't know me, I don't know you." Angele smiled. He turned around and walked toward the entrance of the canyon.
After leaving the canyon, Angele headed to Blue Root City.
Blue Root City was a small but bustling city. It was not even surrounded by walls. Only a small gray fortress was built in the forest outside, with a guard squadron assigned to patrol. The Lord here was a Knight named Tesla famous for his errantry. He was admired by other Knights within Andes Alliance.
Angele wasted no time after entering the city. He went straight to the location provided by Omicade. It was a tavern named Fernery owned by the assassin organization, Dark Emblem.
*************************
*BAM*
Clear, yellow liquor filled up a glass and was put down on the counter with impact. Some of the liquor splashed out; a fruity fragrance permeated through the air.
"Your Coran Fruit Wine!" a short-haired muscular man shouted. He grabbed a piece of white clothes from the counter to wipe the wine off his hands. There was a green bull's head tattoo on the man's right arm. He sat behind the counter steadily like a mountain.
Angele sat down by the counter, grabbed the glass, and sniff at the fruit wine. Before pouring it into his mouth, he checked if it was poisoned using Zero.
The Coran Fruit Wine was sour and sweet. It even contained a tinge of bitterness.
"Good wine. If you can get rid of the bitterness, it'll be even better." Angele put down the glass and said.
"I'm glad you liked it." The muscular man gave him a thumbs-up and a smile.
There were about 10 brown tables in the tavern. Under the dim light of the oil lamps, most of the patrons were just drinking hard liquor.
A bald man with a sword on his back and several mercenaries wearing large, silver earrings were there. Angele could still smell the stench of blood on their armors. Also, several drunkards were yelling at each other at a corner.
The clothes of the waiters and waitresses were revealing. They were running around at different tables, taking orders. People were laughing, shouting, and cursing; the tavern was deafening.
A depressed bard wearing a gray robe sat by the window. The man was playing the cello, yet Angele could barely hear the melody as it was in such a noisy environment.
Angele was wearing a brown, tight leather suit with a metal bow and a quiver on his back, giving off the impression that he was an archer of a mercenary group.
Glancing around, he finished the wine in his glass before he placed it down on the counter.
"Good wine. Where's the owner? I want to order several barrels and take them back," Angele asked in a low voice.
The man's expression changed after listening to what Angele just said.
"It'll be expensive if you want to see the owner and order wine directly from him."
"Don't worry. Money is not a problem."
"Follow me then." The man shrugged.
"Sherly! Come help me take care of the counter!" He yelled at a sexy waitress beside a table.
"Sure." The waitress nodded and handed the glasses in her hands to someone else.
The man led Angele to a door beside the counter. Inside the room, several colorful paintings hung on the wall under the dim light. The muscular man bowed to Angele as he closed the door.
"Master Angele, we know why you're here. I apologize about Dice. We had accepted the mission, and we had to try to finish it." He lowered his head.
Angele sat down on a chair nearby.
"Well, I assume you already prepared something for me," he questioned.
"Yeah, of course. Here is the list, you may take anything you want." The man took out a piece of paper.
"I'm the leader of this division. I have already waited for ten days prior to your arrival. Everything is…"
"All of those, and I need Dice's information," Angele interrupted.
"I heard you guys have enchanted items? Like… Dice's ring. I liked it a lot. I want to know where your organization buys them from."
The man had a bitter smile on his face.
"Master, I think you know how important enchanted items are to us. As a mortal, I have only one way to obtain enchanted items, which is buying them from the Master Wizards. The ring on Dice was a broken low-quality enchanted item. Dice was just a 3-star assassin and that was all he could get. If you need the details, it'll take us several days to prepare…"
"How many days?" Angele asked.
"Four days at least."
"I'll come here again after four days." Angele stood up.
*******************
Five days later.
In the morning.
A gray carriage left the Blue Root City with other caravans, heading to Marua Harbor.
Angele sat inside the carriage, reading a yellow scroll quietly.
Most of the transaction history and sources of the enchanted items were listed on the scroll. All the records were important to the assassin organization, but they wanted to make sure Angele was satisfied with their offer.
Angele kept reading and after several minutes, he finally found the record he needed.
'Agility Boost Ring. Broken. Amount, one. Offered: 2.1 kilograms of gold. 45 slaves. 3 Shallow Flowers. Sapphire… Date, 19th, Jan 1531.'
The number of resources and slaves they provided to the Wizard was ridiculous. The enchanted ring was way too expensive for mortals.
However, Angele thought that the man was still trying to hide something from him. He did not think the ring was enchanted with just Agility Boost after doing some research. He used the ring himself and experienced the freezing of time. It was probably a concept gear. The Knight-level warriors died without realizing what happened. Power like that was way too strong for a broken enchanted item.
He wanted to find out the truth of that ring.
'From, Wizard Bischof (Six Ring High Tower).' Angele kept reading.
"Six Ring High Tower again?" Angele's brows furrowed.
"The item was enchanted by someone in Ramsoda College, but it was sold by a Wizard in Six Ring High Tower?"
More than 90% of the enchanted items recorded on the scroll was sold by Wizards of Six Ring High Tower. They varied in elements, levels, and qualities.
Six Ring High Tower was the strongest Wizards of Light organization Angele knew. Most of the Wizards of Light focused on studies that were not focused on damage spells. They usually relied on enchanted items and rare enchanted gear when they engaged in fights. Wizards of Light were also good at enchanting items and gears besides concocting potions, so it was understandable that they sold some low-rank enchanted items for resources or money.
Enchanted gear was much harder to make than enchanted items. It could store an instant-cast spell, and having one enchanted gear was akin to having another Talent Spell.
Angele had always wanted to try to enchant items. However, without professional knowledge, he could only enchant objects obtained from magical creatures such as the heart from a Glowing Elephant.
The rune spell he obtained from Benedict could only give buffs to his weapons and its duration was short. Casting the Lightning Rune required a good amount of mentality and mana, so Angele only used it when he had to.
'The books on item enchantment were reserved for formally contracted Wizards. I didn't sign the contract, so I don't have the knowledge stored in the chip. This organization sold so many enchanted items, which means their Wizards are very good at it. I can sign a contract with them and collect the necessary professional knowledge… I can't go back to Ramsoda now anyway.'
Angele had a plan in mind. Although he knew he needed a lot of resources to practice item enchantment, more enchanted items would help him win more fights. Furthermore, he thought that in the end, his efforts would get paid off.
The carriage kept advancing. He hired a coachman this time, so he did not have to control the horses himself.
Several months later, he arrived at Marua Harbor, but he did not notify any people in the city. He built a small wooden house in a remote area beside the coastline. He decided to stay in the house and wait for the Future to pick him up.
Angele was also waiting for the Dark Emblem to send the promised resources to him. He needed a quiet place to concentrate his mentality and this place was the perfect location for him to do so.
**********************
Three years later.
By the coastline.
A small brown wooden house sat under a black cliff quietly.
The house was built beside the beach. The forest was located right behind it.
Rays of golden sunlight reflected on the sands. The sea waves were brushing ashore from time to time.
Angele was wearing a black robe. He stood by the window looking at the beach. He could hear the sound of the waves making noises.
He put his hands on the wooden desk and looked outside until the sunlight got intense.
"Three years…" Angele stretched his back and sighed.
"I spent three years analyzing the Knight's Faith and extracting the element. Finally, the side-effects of the potions I drank have been eliminated…"
He turned around and looked at the glass bottles on the ground. They were completely filled with either green or blue liquid. Piles of bones and various colorful dried plants were lined up on the floor. Those random items made the room look messy but mysterious.
Besides doing research and concentrating his mentality, Angele spent more of his time meditating. Although his progress was slow, his Mentality still increased to 23 units. Things became better after the side-effects disappeared.
After doing some calculations, Angele would need a mentality of 40 to reach the Liquid Stage. If he could keep his mentality increase at the current rate, it would take him about more than ten years. However, he felt the rate reducing after the increase in mentality.
There were many reasons why his progress slowed down at the moment. The meditation method was one of them. He now needed a high-rank meditation method developed specially for Wizards. Also, Angele deduced that the meditation method he obtained from Ramsoda College had some of its pages missing.
Chapter 153: Leaving Again (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
According to the simulation's result, Angele's mentality would reach a limit after about two years at this increased rate. If he wanted to keep progressing after that, he would find some other methods.
It was the reason why Angele wanted to return abroad.
"No wonder Wizards don't want to stay here." Angele shook his head as he opened the door and walked to the beach.
"There are no spell materials, no magic resources, and no other Wizards here. The only people I can talk to are mortals."
'Zero, I want to reach the Liquid stage. What are the requirements?' Angele asked.
'Requirements: 1. Mentality reaches 40. 2. The Tree Killer Potion to increase success rate, three servings. Meet these requirements, your success rate will be 45.14%'
'I can concoct more Potion of Tranquility to increase my mentality, but there are not many materials or substitution materials here. I need to find other Wizards to make trades. I gave the last one to Velvet… Anyways, I need to go back to the Wizards' land first.'
Angele basked in the sunshine for a while before he returned to the wooden house after his body warmed up.
He walked to the table with the equipment. On the right side, there was a test tube rack that contained two test tubes filled with purple blood.
On the left side, there was a small glass spherical container being heated by an oil lamp. A sticky brown liquid was boiling inside the container. It looked like a pile of mud, and some white worms were squirming along the surface.
It seemed that those worms were not hurt by the intense heat, but they were still trying to climb up the glass container's inner wall.
The glass container was about the size of a fist. It was covered by a shell-shaped lid with a hole that helped the vapor leave the container.
Those worms kept climbing up and falling down. There was at least a thousand of them inside the container.
The brown sticky liquid was secreted by the worms' organs and left on the inner wall while they were climbing.
Angele blew off the oil lamp under the glass container and took it down from the metal rack.
"Finally, it's done. I already spent too much time breeding them," he mumbled.
Angele removed the lid from the container and grabbed a test tube filled with purple blood.
He carefully poured the blood into the glass container and the blood covered half of the worms.
*BOOM*
A ball of purple flame exploded inside the container after several seconds.
Angele became surprised. He leaned back and put down the test tube. The flame almost sparked onto his face and if he dropped the container during the explosion, the house would catch a fire.
All the worms inside had been ignited by the purple flame.
The white worms had mixed in with their brown sticky liquid and the flame got darker as the worms started burning.
The purple flame cast reflection upon everything in the room. A stinky fishy stench permeated the air. It almost felt like someone had mixed rotten fish with fresh cayenne peppers.
Angele held the glass container in hands and waited for the reaction inside to finish.
The worms inside were burnt to black ashes and some of them stuck on the inner wall.
Ten minutes later, the purple flame disappeared and green smokes started coming out of the spherical container.
Angele waited for the green smoke to disappear, and then he put the container onto the metal rack again. He scraped all the black ashes down to the bottom with a piece of glass.
He then took out a tiny crystal bottle from the pouch and pointed in the air with the other hand. A light dot appeared on the tip of his finger right away.
Angele quickly drew a red rune in the air with his finger, which looked like two tridents that crossed. The rune quietly floated in the air, turning into a red flash and dropping into the glass sphere after.
His eyes narrowed, and he put his left finger into the sphere after as the rune dropped into it.
*CHI*
It sounded like his finger was being grilled.
Sweat began to drip down Angele's chin. He was suffering from some intense pain.
A black string slowly climbed up onto his finger and turned into a ball on the palm.
Blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes. Angele stared at his left hand, and with his teeth gritted, he applied force onto his arm.
"AH!"
It sounded like the dying scream of a despairing woman.
The whole wooden house shook several times. Angele's left hand was pushed away from the container by something.
Angele was breathing heavily. He raised his left hand and looked at the palm. Black steam was slowly rising upon his skin.
However, the steam disappeared after several seconds, leaving no traces.
"I failed… One more chance." Angele sighed. He lowered his hand and returned to the table.
He opened the drawer and took out a small glass spherical container. It was filled with white worms and sticky brown liquid.
Angele performed the whole procedure again and placed his finger into the sphere.
A thin black string slowly absorbed the black ashes in the container and climbed up his finger.
*CHI*
A black pattern appeared in his palm, and this time, everything went as planned. The black ashes were completely consumed by the string after several minutes.
Angele moved his finger away from the container and stepped back. His clothes were already soaked in sweat.
He raised his left hand and watched the pattern on his palm shifting.
Time flew by. The black pattern kept changing its shape until it stopped after about an hour.
A twisted pattern was left on his palm. It looked like something spreading its wings.
"Finally, Blood Boiling Signet! I succeeded!" Angele was exhilarated as he kept looking at his left palm.
"Although the ancient blood of the harpies contains strong venom and I can't take it, I can still make his Blood Boiling Signet. Also, I think I'm the only Wizard in this world that can extract harpies' ancient blood." Angele was satisfied with the result.
"The legends say ancient harpies can drag their enemies into the abyss. This signet is made from their ancient blood. Although it can only be used for five times, I can still give my opponent hallucinations when necessary."
***********************
Several months later, Angele visited Marua Harbor again and gave some items to his father and the professor before boarding the Future.
On the dark deck of the Future.
Angele was wearing his black robe with his hood on. He stood beside the railings and overlooked the dock. He could still see people waving their hands toward the departing ships. Waves were hitting against the body of the ship. New Wizard apprentices were chatting behind him; the deck was quite noisy.
Angele blinked his eyes and turned around. The strong wind blew his hood off and long brown hair was flying in the air.
On his left side, there was another Wizard overlooking the sea. It was a Dark Wizard. Angele could saw the negative energy particles around him.
Also, there was a young woman wearing a white robe talking to several Wizard apprentices beside the stairs. It seemed like she was checking something with them.
Angele glanced around and saw another young man in white robe walked up the stairs and started to talk with the young woman.
The deck was too noisy, so Angele did not hear what they were talking about. He already knew something was not right.
There were four formal Wizards on this ship at the moment including himself. Angele decided to stay vigilant as the situation itself was unusual.
The two Wizards of Light waved their hands and asked the Wizard apprentices to return to their cabins.
The woman took a glance at Angele before she turned around.
"Francis, do you know these two black robes? Why are there so many Wizards on this ship? Although the underground races are invading the land, it's still quite strange." Her lips moved slightly and her words echoed in the other white robe's ear.
The man's brows furrowed and shook his head. He was using the same method the woman used to send a message.
"I don't know. Although I'm in charge of this trip, I still can't predict who will board the ship."
"Someone leaked the plan?" The woman suddenly thought about something and her expression changed.
"Beyoncé, that's impossible." Francis shook his head again.
"Only the ones in our organizations know about our true mission this time. This item is important to us. We can't let others take it."
"Well, let's prepare for the worst." Her eyes flickered with a sliver of chill.
"If they're actually here for the item, I'll show them my true power."
"We���re on a ship, so dropping one or two Wizards into the sea won't be a huge problem." Francis smiled with confidence.
On the other side of the deck, the man in black robe watched the two white robes chatting and sneered.
"It seems like they have the item on the ship, master Dave." A high-pitched voice came from his collar.
A dark red centipede slowly moved to the man's neck. The centipede was about the size of a palm and there was a silver glint on its red body.
The black robe turned his head around. "Good. I didn't come here for nothing. Thanks for the information," he spoke in a light tone.
"I did it because you promised me something. Don't disappoint me," the centipede responded.
"It consumes too much mentality to control the creature from such a long distance. I'll leave you to it, master Calello. I wish you luck."
"Don't worry about it." Calello grabbed the centipede and put its head into his mouth. The centipede's light-yellow juices dripped down his chin as he chewed. Half of its body was still squirming.
Calello pushed the rest of the centipede's body into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
Chapter 154: Incident (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Clouds floated along the glistening azure sky. A blue ship with white stripes was slowly sailing across the endless sea. It drew a shaky line between the waves as the chilly wind blew across the sails.
The main sails on the ship were triangular of varying sizes, being pushed by the wind.
A black-robed man was wandering around the ship deck with his brows furrowed. His long brown hair flew about in the air, causing it to become a bit messy.
Angele spent a lot of time investigating the ship.
It had been the fourth day ever since they departed from the docks. He had already checked every nook and cranny of the ship.
'This is not the Future.' Angele came to this conclusion. Although this ship was powered by spell-driven whales, its constituents were different, such as the size of the cabin and storage room.
The deck was almost empty. All the Wizard apprentices stayed in their cabins, and the two Wizards of Light had been checking their talent levels.
Angele walked to the railing. The humid air coming from the sea moistened his clothes a bit.
The girl named Velvet came to his mind again. Angele never saw her again after arriving at Marua Harbor. She was one of the Wizard apprentices who failed to pursue their dreams. Velvet was studying at the vicinity where White Tooth Castle and Six Ring High Tower were located. It was also the same area Angele was heading to.
He thought for a while and heard footsteps coming from the stairs. About 10 Wizard apprentices just finished their test and left the cabin. Several of them saw Angele was looking at the sea by the railing and walked over.
A girl with red curly hair walked at the front along with four other Wizard apprentices who followed after her. They must've come from the same city.
The girl was wearing a red luxury silk dress. She kept glancing at Angele. The male Wizard apprentices behind her looked quite handsome.
"Master, do you know when we will reach the next dock?" The girl had a sweet voice. She bent her knees slightly and bowed to Angele.
Angele turned around and stared at the girl. She looked a bit chubby in the tight dress. Although she looked cute, Angele did not find her attractive. The girl was a rank 2 Wizard apprentices, but Angele detected that she had three enchanted items on her and he was surprised.
"How's the test? What's your talent level?" Angele did not answer her question but just asked.
"My talent level is 3!" The girl slightly raised her head and answered in a loud voice. She was pleased with the test result.
"Not bad, do you know the meaning of my black robe?" Angele looked at her.
"Yes, the ship collects Wizard apprentices. We know you're a Wizard!" The girl smiled, thinking that Angele liked her.
"Yeah?" Angele slightly shook his head.
"Why don't you ask the other black robe?"
The girl hesitated. Angele could see the fear in her eyes.
"We tried, but it seems like he doesn't like us…"
"Yeah, I don't like you as well." Angele turned around and stopped talking.
The girl gritted her teeth and exchanged glances with the other Wizard apprentices, then left.
Angele knew that the girl was a noble. She must have thought that Angele would be willing to start a conversation with her, but it seemed that she had not understood the rules in between the Wizards yet. The only thing that mattered was her rank.
The day ended quickly. Angele finished his dinner in the dining room with the others and returned to his cabin. The chef was hired by the Wizards. Their rooms were right beside the kitchen. They were not allowed to go to any other area of the ship.
Inside one of the cabins.
Wizard of Light Beyoncé stood beside the window and looked at the dark sea with her arms crossed.
Francis lay on the bed behind her and was yawning. It seemed like he had just finished some work.
"Hey, Beyoncé, why are you here? Talk please."
Beyoncé turned around and stared at the man.
"Well, I think it's time for us to do some investigation. Most of them are meditating now. We can probably collect some intel."
"Good idea. Your spell and my spell complement each other when cast together," Francis stood up as he said.
"You go first or me?" he asked.
"I'll go first."
Beyoncé turned around and raised his right arm. There was a white, silver bracelet around her wrist and many complex patterns were engraved on its surface. Some were flowers and some were leaves, it looked quite charming.
"Free!" Beyoncé used the shortened incantation.
A silver glow appeared around her bracelet. There was no voice and no smell. It was just a ring of silver light.
The bracelet turned into a pile of silver sand after several seconds, which dropped to the ground and disappeared quickly.
Francis carefully rubbed the black ring worn in his left index finger.
He started chanting the incantation as well. It sounded like he was reading a long poem. Black smoke slowly rose upon the surface of the ring as his incantation stopped.
The silver sand that just disappeared turned into countless tiny silver ants.
The ants stayed on the ground and gained stealth again. They quickly moved out of the cabin and barely any noise was made. Mortals, Wizard apprentices, and average Wizards would not be able to detect them. It was a very helpful scouting spell.
"Great. We can monitor the whole ship from this cabin. The effect lasts for a while. However, if we want to push the ring and the bracelet to the limits, we won't be able to use them again within several years."
"It's fine. This mission is very important for our organization. Stealth Silver Dust and your Temporary Shape Shift can help us stay undetected. We need to make sure the black robes are not here for the item." Beyoncé did not really care about her enchanted bracelet.
***********************
In another cabin.
Angele sat by the table and he was doing some calculation on a paper with a white-feathered pen. The paper was already filled up with formulas, runes, and data.
The wick of the oil lamp sparked from time to time.
Angele had been busy calculating using the formulas that there was a whole pile of paper on the desk. Blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes from time to time. He was modifying new spell models with Zero's help.
Suddenly, Zero detected the invaders.
"Who's there!"
He suddenly turned around and with a flick of his finger, a silver needle hit the floor.
*DING*
A silver ant was struck by the silver needle by the door. The needle pierced its stomach, causing it to twist in pain. After several seconds, the ant stopped moving and turned into a tiny pool of silver liquid. Angele could see steam rising from it.
Angele stood up right after. He started walking around.
"It's… pure silver." Angele raised his right hand, the liquid silver on the ground turned into a small bead and flew to his palm.
'Interesting. It's from one of the three Wizards.' Angele observed the bead and scrunched his eyebrows.
'I already scanned them using the chip. The mentality of the two Wizards of Light is average, but the Dark Wizard is quite strong. I don't think they are here to fight… Perhaps it's a conflict between two organizations, and they are trying to determine who I am?'
Angele was not concerned. He was not involved in their conflict, but if they try to attack him, he would retaliate in response.
Ramsoda College was famous for its Necromancy among the Dark Wizards. However, it was relatively far from major cities and Wizards usually did not consider it as a strong organization. Most of its contracted Wizards would help the school fight against the constant threats, so they had more practical experiences than Dark Wizards in other organizations. For that reason, Ramsoda College was considered as one of the top three Dark Wizard organizations.
Wizards from other schools feared the Dark Wizards in Ramsoda because they knew Ramsoda was fighting with Northland Alliance and underground races all the time. Wizards with experiences on the battlefield were usually much stronger than those who stayed in their labs all the time. Their sole mission was to protect the treasure, and they had too much blood on their hands due to the nature of tasks assigned by the school.
A Wizard from Ramsoda would not hesitate to kill. He would make sure every threat was eliminated before things got worse.
Ramsoda College was a relatively large Wizard organization, and there are many other smaller Wizard guilds or organizations led by one or two Liquid Stage Wizards that Angele did not know. Those organizations had lost their power and rights during the grand war and the other three Wizards on the ship were likely members of them.
Angele dropped the silver bead to the ground and glanced around.
He suddenly raised his left hand and the wings on his palm slightly swung. A translucent energy pulse was released into the air.
In the corner, another silver ant was dragged out of its stealth and hit by the pulse. The pulse slowly turned into a tiny needle and sank into the ant's body.
'You shall pay for what you have done.' Angele pursed his lips into a sneer.
Chapter 155: Incident (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
In another cabin downstairs.
A slim man wearing black robe was sitting on the bed with his legs crossed. Three white beads were spinning in front of his mouth and they were glowing. Those beads would release some white electric pulse every several minutes and the electric pulses would go straight into the man's nose.
Suddenly, the man opened his eyes. It seemed like he sensed something unusual. He inhaled once and all the beads went into his left nostril. The only light resource in the air disappeared.
*PA*
The man snapped his fingers and the oil lamp on the desk was lit, with dim yellow light brightening the room again.
"What's going on? Something is wrong," he whispered.
"I need to be more careful this time. There are so many Wizards on this ship…" He rubbed his chin and started thinking.
A faint distortion flashed by the door and a tiny silver ant slowly revealed itself.
The ant stopped moving after entering the door, it swung its antenna several times and vanished into the air again.
The man on the bed had already noticed the ant's presence, but pretended to not see it as he kept mumbling.
"The other Dark Wizard is a problem... I've seen him somewhere. He has killed several mortals without hesitation. I hope nothing will happen during the trip…"
**********************
Beyoncé spat out some blood, and it splashed on the floor. The fishy stench pervaded through the air in the room.
"Someone's trying to attack me through the ants!" Her face turned pale and blood was dripping down her chin.
Francis had a serious expression on his face. "I'm doing good, the black robe that boarded earlier looks fine."
"So, it's the second one. He's trying to attack me." Beyoncé was breathing heavily.
Suddenly, Francis turned his head around and looked at the door.
"Who's there!" He raised his right hand and released a ray of green energy particles. However, the energy ray dissolved in midair after reaching the door.
A translucent skull appeared in the air while laughing.
"Die!" the skull shouted in a hoarse voice.
Beyoncé and Francis finally recognized the spell.
"It's the Soul Cather! Necromantic Spell! God damn…"
*BOOM*
Before Francis could finish his word, the skull exploded in the air and the room became filled with a dark venomous cloud.
Beyoncé was closer to the center of the explosion, so she had been covered with the dark cloud before she could put up her forcefield.
"Ah!" she screamed in pain. A strong whirlwind surrounded her body, but it failed to blow the dark cloud away.
The cloud was eating away Beyoncé's skin. She was doing her utmost to cast the shield spell. At that moment, a red fireball from Francis hit the dark cloud and exploded.
The smoke created by the explosion spread into the air. The dark cloud was cleared by the fireball, and they kept coughing hard for several minutes.
"Damn! It was that Dark Wizard with brown hair here! He wants me dead!" Beyoncé shouted in anger.
"We need to take him down. Do you have a plan?" Francis spoke in a grim tone.
"He killed one of my ants and was trying to kill me! You saw it, Francis!" Beyoncé screamed like crazy.
The smoke cleared. Beyoncé's face was severely hurt and blood was coming out of her left eye.
"How dare he try to kill a formal Wizard?! I'll make him pay!"
*************************
Angele had no idea that there were people aiming for his life.
He was focusing on developing the new potion, as it was his priority at the moment.
Angele hit the silver ant with the signet just to warn the invaders, yet he did not know it would deal so much damage to the two Wizards of Light.
Angele was not really creating a new type of potion. He just wanted to modify one of the formulae he knew and add some special effects to it. He wanted to add other potion's effects to the Ghost Voice potion. Angele's theory was to add potion effects to the vibration of his voice and ultimately create a whole new way of casting spells.
It could also be described as a way to strengthen his body.
Angele already reached his genetic limit again, and he had to rely on other methods to increase the attributes. He was a close combat Wizard most of the time, and he needed to enhance his Metal Mastery to make everything work better.
Angele spent some time preparing materials for the development of the potion before boarding the ship. He had to substitute some rare materials with common materials because his homeland lacked magic materials.
It would take the ship another month to reach Angele's destination. He did not want to waste any time during the trip.
Angele already finished the calculation and collected enough data a while ago. It was time for him to prepare for the experiments.
************************
Five days later, Angele carefully returned one of the test tubes to the metal rack.
In front of him, there was a silver metal table and various metal containers and glass tubes were lined up on it.
Inside the containers, there were different types of herbs, gels, and potions. Some of them were boiling without being heated and the steam smelled like leather.
Angele looked at the equipment in front of him and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a piece of white cloth.
"All the materials… for two attempts… I hope this time it'll work," Angele muttered. He shook his head and focused on the experiment.
He grabbed a black metal beaker and started putting herbs into it following a specific order. Also, he was using Zero to measure the numbers while chanting some incantation.
The colorful herbs were mixed together and smashed into powder.
Angele pulled a test tube with red liquid inside from the rack and dropped several drops into the beaker carefully.
*BAM*
Some strong waves hit the ship and the whole cabin was shaking.
Angele creased his eyebrows and looked out of the window.
"Damn it. Almost spilled it," he cursed in a low voice. Angele used a set of metal equipment because he did not want to break too many things.
He looked at the two servings of materials in front of him. Most of them had been provided by Dark Emblem, so he wanted to make sure nothing was wasted because of his carelessness.
As more materials were added to the beaker, the mixture inside it turned into some sticky dark liquid that looked like oil.
Angele stirred it with a glass stirring rod and carefully poured the dark liquid into the beaker.
The liquid was being compressed as it entered the tube. A whole large beaker of liquid only filled up half of the tube.
Angele was satisfied with the result. He nodded and chanted some incantation again. Some green light dots appeared on the tip of his finger and he put the finger on the wall of the tube.
The liquid inside the started bubbling and intense steam came rushing out of the tube.
The color of the liquid slowly turned from black to blue. This was the most important step.
*************************
Golden sunlight brought heat to the sea as the howling wind passed through. Large dolphins were leaping out of the water from time to time.
Two Wizards of Light were whispering on the deck by the railings. They were glancing at the Wizard apprentices beside the stairs.
"What do you think? That prick spends all day making potions," Beyoncé asked in a light tone.
"He stays inside his room most of the time. I only saw him in the dining hall during dinner time." Francis nodded.
"Today must be the important day for him. He didn't even go for dinner. The items I left in front of his door was extremely helpful. Strong energy movement is detected recently, I think he's focusing on the potion."
"Well, are you ready yet? He can't do shit while making potions. I think we should take action today." Beyoncé stretched her back a bit.
"We must find the right timing. Otherwise, we'll be in trouble.
"Don't worry. The only concern I have is that those Dark Wizards are famous for their damage spells. We must be careful," Francis advised.
"Also, are you sure it's him? I did some investigation recently. I think something is fishy here."
"Are you saying the other black robe tried to kill us?" Beyoncé sneered.
"Impossible. He was weak and wounded. I already checked. Even if it wasn't the one with brown hair, we should still kill him. We need to eliminate all the possible threats."
"Alright, get ready then." Francis nodded, "We shall move now."
"I'm ready."
Beyoncé and Francis exchanged glances and took out two tiny translucent crystal boxes. The crystal box was about the size of a palm. Some clear liquid was stored inside it.
A light blue glow appeared on the surface of the liquid but it was hard to observe under the sunlight. Only a small amount of energy waves leaked out of the boxes.
Chapter 156: Engage (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
"Two boxes of Naga's Holy Water. We're good," Francis whispered.
Beyoncé gave Francis a confident look, and they dropped the two crystal boxes together.
*Crack*
The boxes did not break, but their lids fell off.
A pool of translucent liquid slowly emerged onto the deck.
After several seconds, the liquid separated into two smaller pools. They reflected the sky and the clouds like mirrors.
Suddenly, a large hand reached out from the edge of the pool. It was wet and translucent. The hand grabbed the deck, which almost looked like a hand that came from an endless abyss and the pool was the portal.
The two pools were connected to an unknown world. Two tall men climbed to the deck through them.
They were about three meters tall with muscular translucent water bodies. Long antennas were wiggling on top of their head, looking like two strange Santa hats.
The two had no eyes, no noses, and no mouths. They lined up in front of Francis and Beyoncé while glancing around the deck.
Francis and Beyoncé stepped back and talked to each other for a second.
"Go! Kill that man for me!" Beyoncé ordered with a low voice and pointed at the stairs.
The other Wizard apprentices on the deck figured something was about to happen and they immediately returned to their cabins. Only several sailors were still staring at the two Wizards and the water men curiously.
The water men started walking downstairs quickly as they received the order.
They left a trail of wet footprints on the deck and water was splashed everywhere.
The two raised their heads after reaching Angele's cabin. Cracks appeared in the center of their face as water charged forth.
*BOOM*
Two pressurized jets of water smashed against the door like two iron pillars. The wooden door exploded, and the wreckage was blown into the room. However, it looked like something was stopping the water jets and the broken wood pieces from advancing.
The water jets splashed onto the ground after several seconds. The two Wizards of Light could finally see what transpired inside the room.
A silver metal shield was floating in the middle of the room. Water was dripping down its surface. The intense sunlight passed through the window and cast reflections upon its metallic surface.
The shield melted after blocking the water jets and wreckage, then absorbed by a hand behind.
The room was a mess, broken glasses and metal pieces were everywhere. White mist soaked the ground, and several metals beakers were rolling on the floor.
A man in a black robe was standing in the middle of the room.
It was a young man with a blue liquid-filled test tube in his hand. The man had a muscular body and long brown hair.
The golden sunlight gave the tube a mysterious blue glow.
*Crack*
Suddenly, cracks that looked like spider webs covered the surface of the tube. The test tube failed to handle the impact.
*CHI*
The blue liquid inside the tube turned into blue smoke and leaked through the cracks, then disappeared into the air.
Angele could not believe what just happened, he looked at the cracked test tube in his hand for a second, and then turned around.
"You are dead!" Angele glared at the two Wizards of Light and bellowed.
The test tube in his hand was squeezed into pieces. He raised his hands and pointed at the two Wizards of Light by the entrance.
Silver metal liquid started coming out of his body, which turned into countless metal strings.
*CHI*
The tip of those silver strings turned into tiny needles. They started flying toward the two Wizards of Light and water men from all angles after Angele swung his hands.
The two Wizards of Light stood beside the door and they were panicking.
"Wait, how is that even possible?! That's Naga's Holy Water! It should kill everything it touches! What's going on?!" Francis's face was pale and he kept retreating.
Beyoncé stood beside Francis doing some complicated hand gestures while chanting shortened incantations.
*Roar*
The two water men roared and tried to grab the incoming metal strings with their hands.
Their bodies shrank as the metal strings were melted by the Naga's Holy Water.
Their size halved within several seconds. They then fell to the ground and turned into two small puddles.
The rest of the metal strings was still flying toward the two white robes.
Francis already reached the wall in the hallway and there was nowhere for him to hide. He saw Beyoncé shooting a blue water sphere the size of a head toward Angele, but it was stopped halfway in the air by the silver shield. The water ball dropped to the floor and disappeared after hitting the shield.
"Beyoncé… We're in deep shit…" Francis forced a smile on his pale face.
Beyoncé stepped back as well. She stopped beside Francis and put up a blue water shield in front of them. The two water shields had the texture of blue crystals and they helped block Angele's silver strings.
The silver strings did not stop. They kept hitting the blue crystal shields, almost looking like they were sawing the surface. Beyoncé was trying her best to repair the shields with water energy particles.
Beyoncé was getting exhausted, "What the hell! I don't recognize his spells! This man can probably kill anyone on this ship if he wants to!"
*Crack*
Their barriers broke into pieces and dropped to the ground.
Blood spurted out of the two Wizards of Light's eyes, noses, ears, and mouths. They were reaching their mentality limit. The shield could not be supported by the water energy particles anymore. Strangely, the silver strings stopped in front of them and started returning to Angele's body.
Angele stepped forward and kicked Beyoncé in the stomach.
*BAM*
Beyoncé groaned and hit the wall. She struggled for several seconds and fainted on the floor.
"How are you going to compensate me?" Angele's sight fell upon Francis. He spent days making the potion, but the two Wizards of Light broke into his cabin and destroyed the finished product.
In addition to that, Angele had just finished the last step and the tube cracked while he was still immersed in the ecstasy of success. This incident completely made him furious.
The two white robes already lost their ability to fight. Angele broke the shields of their Talent Spells and their mentality was used up. It would take them years to recover from the loss.
Francis trembled in fear.
"We… We didn't mean it…"
Angele sneered, raised his right hand, and created a crossguard sword.
He stabbed Francis's chest without hesitation.
"Wizards of Light, huh?" Angele pulled the sword out of Francis's chest and blood dripped down the blade.
"When was the last time you actually engaged in a fight?"
Francis held his wound with hands. He fell to the ground and died before he could say anything. A small pool of blood gathered under his body and traversed Angele's boots.
Angele turned around and looked at Beyoncé. The young woman was unconscious with her eyes rolled up. He patted the woman's face, but she did not wake up. Although he had several questions to ask, he still decided to finish her off first. He put his hands around the woman's neck and wrung it.
Angele dropped her body to the floor and looked at the stairs. It seemed that the two Wizards of Light were so confident that they did not even call for backup.
Angele pushed his Metal Mastery to its full potential during the fight and he spent half of his mana to control all the metal strings. The ability to control metal strings was named as Silver String by Angele. He developed it while trying to figure out how to improve his Metal forcefield. The string was made of a special alloy that combined many rare metals. It was the strongest material he had at the moment.
The string was hard and elastic, and its conductivity also helped Angele save his mana while casting spells. However, he spent a long time to create the alloy. He did countless experiments to figure out the needed metals and the percentages.
However, he created too many silver strings at the same time while he was attacking the water men and the crystal shields, and half of his mana was consumed in under one minute.
"I know you're here, reveal yourself," Angele spoke in a light tone. He slightly swung the sword and most of the blood splattered onto the floor.
"Incredible…" A man in black robe walked out of a cabin while clapping. He had a gentle smile on his face staring at Angele with a pair of green eyes.
"Do you still have mana left? After slaying two Wizards of Light? Hand over the two bodies to me and I'll let you go. What do you think?" The man was slim and his voice was low. However, the words he said still echoed around Angele's ears.
Chapter 157: Engage (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Angele's eyes narrowed as he saw the man walk out of the cabin.
The man was different from the first time Angele saw him on the dock. His aura was now similar to the strong Wizard with a black panther Angele met back in the forest. He hid his true mentality level using a certain method and it only indicated one thing.
"You already reached the Liquid Stage?" Angele asked in a calm tone.
"My name is Calello." The man took off his hood and showed Angele his face.
He looked like an average middle-aged man with pale skin and deep eyes. The man's short, black hair was messy, his eyes coated with a light green glow.
"I reached Liquid Stage about five years ago. You're from Ramsoda, right? Give the bodies to me and I won't hurt you. I don't want to be hunted down by your organization anyway." Calello shrugged.
Angele creased his eyebrows. "I don't see any sincerity from your eyes."
He suddenly turned around.
*Clang*
Angele blocked the greatsword coming from behind with his crossguard sword.
A black distorted shadow ambushed him. It looked like a minotaur. Angele could not see its face and body, but he was stared at by two scarlet eyes. The minotaur held a wide greatsword in its hands and was about to strike again.
Angele stepped back and his feet were trapped by something
He lowered his head and saw dark green vines binding his feet. He had no idea when Calello had cast those spells.
Angele immediately kicked the veins away, but they still slowed him down for a second. The minotaur caught the chance and slashed forward with its greatsword.
Metal liquid spurted out of Angele's body and created a shield in front of him.
*BAM*
The greatsword hit the silver shield hard.
Minotaur's strike ended up breaking the thick floor and a large hole was created under Angele's feet.
Angele moved the shield under his feet before falling down and jumped out of the hole. He turned around and charged toward Calello. Although the minotaur's attack was blocked by the shield, he still took some damage that caused him to spit out some blood.
Calello opened his arms and smiled.
Two pink curved blades appeared on his arms. The edges of the blades were glowing as if they were heated soldering iron.
*Clang*
They traded several hits and backed off. Angele hit Calello's blades with crossguard sword but failed to do any actual damage.
He shifted the shape of the sword and turned the tip of the blade into a sharp needle, aiming for Calello's chest.
At the same time, he sent a needle to attack Calello's back. The needle drew a black arc in the air and was about to hit.
Calello slashed forward with the blade on his right arm and forced Angele to jump back. He did not even try to dodge Angele's attack and the needle just hit his back, but the noise it made sounded like something hit a tree.
"That's all you can do?" Calello stood there and sneered.
"I'm disappointed at you, Wizard of Ramsoda!"
*BAM*
Angele traded hits again with the minotaur, but his strength had weakened because of the injury and he was pushed away by minotaur's powerful strike.
Angele was not taunted by Calello. He stayed calm and gave Calello a cold look.
He suddenly raised his left palm and aimed at the minotaur.
The black wings on his palm twisted and trembled. A strange noise echoed in the cabin, it sounded like a woman screaming mixed with birds chirping.
A distorted wave surrounded Angele and started spreading into all directions. Minotaur was paralyzed and stopped moving. Calello's eyes glazed over after being affected by the wave.
Angele lowered his left hand.
"I have to use the signet…" He mumbled and pointed at Calello with his right hand.
Red energy particles gathered in front of his palm and turned into a head-sized fireball.
The fireball rotated and sparked, it almost looked like Angele's hand was covered in flame.
"Lesser Fireball!" Angele pushed the fireball forward.
It drew a red line in the air and flew toward the stunned Calello. The fireball shrank in the air and quickly turned into a fist-sized red crystal ball.
*BOOM*
Calello was hit directly by the crystal ball and his body was covered in fire. The impact almost blew a hole on the ship.
"AH!" Calello realized what had happened after suffering from the intense pain.
"Banshee's Scream! Where did you find it?!" he shouted furiously from inside the flame.
"Well, it's Harpy's Scream. The legends say it will pull you into the abyss and fill up your mind with despair," Angele said in a low voice.
"It's over, Calello. My modified Lesser Fireball is much stronger than most of the average damage spells."
Angele watched Calello struggle in the flames. He stored the modified Lesser Fireball in the chip and cast it instantly after using the signet. It was the reason he won this battle.
He focused on increasing the power of the spell while doing the modification, but it would take him at least five minutes to just create the spell model. The best way to use it was to store it in the chip and cast it instantly when necessary.
Although the amount of time and mentality required to cast the spell was ridiculous, the Lesser Fireball could do at least 40 degrees of damage if the target was hit by it directly.
The effect of the signet exceeded his expectations. It stunned a Liquid Stage Wizard for at least five seconds. Without the signet, it would be hard for Angele caught Calello off guard.
Five seconds could change the outcome of the battle easily. The power of the ancient blood was horrifying, so Angele decided to use it wisely in the future since the signet could only be activated for five times.
The minotaur turned into black smoke and vanished into the air as Calello burned.
Calello spent about a minute to put off the fire. He kept swinging the blades to prevent Angele from getting close.
Angele was surprised that Calello was still alive. Green smoke was rising from his body and his skin burned black.
"Good… You'll regret it!" Calello leaned against the wall and said with a hoarse voice.
"I'll come back for you…" His body suddenly turned into pieces of black flesh and collapsed to the ground. They melted and turned into a pool of sticky dark liquid, then evaporated. Calello disappeared after several seconds.
Angele was not surprised. He quickly rushed to the deck and overlooked the sea by the railing.
A white whale appeared on the sea several hundred meters away from the ship. Suddenly, the black smoke appeared on the back of the whale. The black smoke quickly formed into a man who was Calello.
Angele quickly created a large silver longbow in his hands. He held the bow in left hand and created a bowstring with his right hand.
'Calculating the direction of the wind…'
'Correcting the needed strength…'
'Simulating… Done. The possibility of hitting the target: 98.15%.'
Blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes, he tied the bowstring on the bow and pulled it to a full moon. A silver metal arrow appeared on the bow and its arrowhead was dipped with flames.
*CHI*
The arrow disappeared from the bow and drew a red line in the air before hitting Calello accurately.
Calello's body started burning again with the arrow penetrating his heart. The man kneeled down on the back of the whale while screaming in pain.
"No!" he shouted in despair. The man's voice sounded like a dying lion.
Angele spat out some blood again and watched Calello's body exploding in the air. Pieces of his burning flesh dropped into the sea.
Angele put his hand on the railing and slowly walked back to his cabin. He still had some mentality left, but he used up most of his mana, including the part stored in the chip. Also, it seemed that activating the signet had consequences. Only harpies had enough resistance that they would not see any hallucinations. Angele's organs were still hurt although it was him who released the wave.
"A Liquid Stage Dark Wizard… If he was more careful during the fight, I would already be dead." Angele shook his head. He had a bitter smile on his face. He carried the two Wizards of Light's bodies to a random empty room and left some energy particles by the door to set up an alarm before lying down the bed.
'Organs are damaged. Cell activities reduced. What the hell was that Minotaur? I thought I was fighting against a Grand Knight.' Angele looked at the blue hologram of his body.
Rows of information were listed beside the model.
The last line told him the estimated amount of time needed for him to recover and it said, 'One month'.
'I checked the two Wizards of Light's belongings, but they had nothing that indicated who they were working for. They shared the same Talent Spell, so I'm sure they were from the same organization. I didn't get the chance to check Calello's robe, but why did his organization send a Liquid Stage Wizard to assassinate two Wizard of Lights that lacked practice experiences… What did I just get myself into…'
Angele sighed and laid on his back.
After the fight, he knew the signet would bring him the advantage in a fight against Liquid Stage Wizards, but that was it. The outcome of the battle would be different had Calello taken it more seriously.
Chapter 158: Aftermath (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Without the harpy's signet, Angele would not have been able to win the battle against Calello so easily. There would be a lot more trouble had Calello successfully escaped.
The signet changed the outcome of the battle. It helped Angele hit Calello with the Lesser Fireball directly. Not all the spells could track down an enemy automatically.
Angele checked his body condition again and fell asleep. He had no idea how much time passed after he woke up.
Angele grunted and got out of the bed while rubbing his temples. He finally had the time to check the surroundings.
The room was decorated with gray accessories. Rays of golden sunlight brought warmth to it after passing through the thick glasses.
He could see the two corpses lying in the corner quietly.
Angele wanted to take out his crystal clock and check the time, but he realized it was not his cabin. Instead, he was inside a random room.
The ship was silent, deadly silent that he could not hear the waves of the sea.
The sunlight left a golden spot on the floor and the fishy smell of blood pervaded through the air in the room.
Angele stood up. He walked to the bodies and pulled the male Wizard's body to him. A deep wound was left on the center of his chest and his white robe was soaked in the blood.
He checked the dead man's belt and found a white leather pouch. It was full of random items.
Angele moved his hands to the body's right side of the chest and found a hidden pocket that was sewn to the inner side of the robe.
He tore the pocket off and threw it on the bed before he kicked the body away. He then grabbed the female Wizard's body.
The woman looked young, about twenty years old. Her skin was elastic and smooth, but her face was just average. Most Wizards had their special methods that would make themselves look younger than they were, so Angele had no idea how old this woman actually was.
Again, Angele grabbed her pouch from the belt first and searched her robe.
The only valuable item he found was a black necklace on the woman's neck.
Angele furrowed his eyebrows and was about to throw the body away.
Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and found something strange.
He quickly laid the body on the floor and took her white robe off.
Angele saw a white tight leather armor piece under her robe. The robe was covered in complex silver patterns and for some reason, the woman did not wear any underwear.
He found a row of buttons on the left side of the armor and unfastened it quickly. The silver armor piece dropped to the ground after it was unfastened.
Angele picked it up and started observing the patterns with excitement in his eyes.
"Interesting… So, maybe Calello was trying to get this armor…?" Angele guessed.
The armor was specially designed for females to wear, but Angele was still happy that he just found a treasure.
"The Light of Thor! A legendary chest armor that was enchanted with water energy particles. This is a compelling enchanted gear…"
Suddenly, Angele found something weird on the side of the armor. He turned the armor piece around and saw a circle of blue crystals inserted into one of the buttons. The circle was about the size of a fingernail.
Angele's expression changed.
"Damn, it's a counterfeit." He shook his head and chuckled.
"Well, they will send someone stronger to guard it if it's real…"
He threw the armor piece to the floor and started checking the female Wizard's body again.
There was a black belt on her right leg and the slots were filled up with random metal knives that looked like surgery equipment. He also found a white box that was about the size of a finger. Angele took the belt off her leg and removed most of the random items from the slots.
He then grabbed the white box and opened it by twisting the tiny lock. A white leather scroll dropped out of the box right after it was unlocked.
Angele picked the scroll up and opened it. He saw formulas and data written all over it. There was also a graph of a ring and the information marked beside it looked complex.
There was a title on top of the scroll and it said: 'Ring of Tranquility. When the moonlight shines, the gate of the forest will be opened for you.'
"Blueprint of an enchanted gear." Angele recognized the format.
"Well, useless to me, but I can trade it for something else." He carefully sealed the scroll and locked it inside the white metal box.
He turned the box around and saw a tiny line of words engraved into the center.
'Noupogson, Ring of Tranquility.'
Angele collected all the valuable items and stood up. He kicked the bodies to the side and wiped his hands with a piece of white cloth.
"So, they're from Noupogson," Angele mumbled.
He knew the organization.
It was once a strong Wizard organization that was famous for its Water enchanted items and gears. However, their strength deteriorated over the years due to various reasons.
First, their spells and meditation methods were hard to study, so the organization only took in a small number of Wizard apprentices that met the requirements into the school. The number of contracted Wizards in Noupogson also declined due to the lack of new blood. They must have only one or two Liquid Stage Wizards at present. It was almost impossible for them to track Angele down.
Noupogson's situation was similar to Ramsoda. However, Ramsoda College had the incredible treasure, Shadow Pearl, and outsiders still feared its name.
In the Wizard's world, there were many Wizard organizations that were similar to Noupogson. Some of them were created by Wizards who shared the same research projects.
Angele already left the school and he did not sign any contract, so he was free to join any Wizard organization he wanted.
Most of the decaying Wizard organizations lacked Wizard apprentices because the requirement of studying their spells or meditation method was too high. Angele's plan was to join as many smaller organizations as he could and acquire their knowledge.
The enhancement function of the chip would similarly become stronger if Angele could store more knowledge in the database. Also, the more special spells he knew, the easier the chip could compare the various types of spell models.
Although Angele still needed to modify the spells enhanced by the chip to obtain the best results, Zero could still save him some time in experiments. The risk of getting hurt during experiments was also greatly lowered.
Master Liliana was hurt during a spell experiment and her strength was weakened. Also, her face and body had been permanently damaged. She needed to get treated every time the clock in her eye reached a certain time.
Angele rubbed his chin.
'Joining other Wizard organizations is indeed a good idea. The biggest difference between Wizards of Light and Dark Wizards is the spell type. They hate each other because Wizards of Light don't like how Dark Wizards treat others. Also, If I can get my hands on a complete white robe, I can just tell them I'm a Wizard of Light. My potion concocting skill is also a plus.'
Wizards all wore white robes in the ancient times. The only difference was the pattern on their sleeves. Those patterns indicated their ranks as Wizards.
When the war with the underground races waged on, the Wizards decided to enter the underground area and fight back. They changed their white robes to black robes, so they could hide in the dark during the war.
The Wizards that were good at damage spells were given the black robes and they started to spend more time researching on spells that were designed to kill. Also, they developed the Shadow spells and Necromantic spells because they were stronger when they were cast underground. The white robes stayed on the surface and kept doing other research since they were not good at fighting.
The Dark Wizards spent too much time dealing with the negative energy particles and damage spells, so their personality changed after the war ended. They had too much blood on their hands and they could not help but kept modifying the incredible damage spells they created.
The Dark Wizards moved back to the surface after the treaty was signed, but their lives had completely changed.
They considered the Wizards who still wore white robes cowards because they thought the white robes did not contribute to the victory of the war. They decided to keep the black robes as a sign of honor.
However, there were much more Wizards of Light than Dark Wizards, so the remaining Dark Wizards had been driven away to the remote area of the land.
Angele read about the history in the school's library.
'Black robes hate the white robes because when the land is in peaceful, no one needs powerful damage spells… The Dark Wizards will only shine when there's a war going around, as their black robes are the symbols of power and strength.'
Angele stopped thinking and opened the pouches obtained from the two Wizards of Light.
He only found some cheap spell materials and the female Wizard had several relatively valuable magic stones.
'What are they doing here…' Angele shook his head.
The only valuable items Angele collected was the black necklace and Ring of Tranquility's blueprint.
The fake Light of Thor was worthless. It was powered by the energy particles stored in the blue crystals. Angele thought that these two Wizards of Light were mere baits, here to cover for the carrier of the true Light of Thor.
Angele shook his head again. He stood up and put everything into his pouch. After everything was done, he carried the two bodies to the deck.
Chapter 159: Aftermath (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
In the afternoon, the golden sunlight coated the deck with a shiny glow. The sea glinted under the sun and waves kept hitting the body of the ship.
Angele carried the bodies to the railing, inserted two heavy metal blocks into their mouths, and dropped them into the sea.
*PLOP*
The bodies sank into the sea within a second. Angele cleaned his hands with a piece of cloth and left the railings. He walked around the deck but did not see anyone around.
He furrowed his brows as he looked at the stairs, then he quickly walked down to the cabin area.
The oil lamps on the walls were still bringing light to the hallway, but the place was deadly silent.
Angele's footsteps echoed in the hallways and a chill climbed up his spine.
The cabin area had five levels. Angele was on the first level and the Wizard apprentices were on the fourth or fifth level. Those levels were reserved for sailors and Wizard apprentices.
Angele smelled the stench of blood in the air after walking down the stairs.
He walked down the hallway and saw a pile of bodies by the end. All the Wizard apprentices were killed. A large pool of blood gathered on the floor and the color of the blood indicated that they had been killed at least several hours ago.
Angele knew it was Calello's doing.
'So, his plan was to eliminate everyone on the ship. Calello killed all the Wizard apprentices while I was fighting the two Wizards of Light, he knew that it would take me a while to finish the battle.' Although Angele was a Dark Wizard as well, he refrained from killing innocent people.
Angele walked to bodies and started observing. It seemed that those bodies were all missing parts of their bodies.
The male Wizard apprentices had their arms and chest muscles missing, while the female Wizard apprentices had their breasts missing. It was almost like they were partially devoured by a strong beast. Angele checked the wounds and realized something.
'Calello's body was zombified… That's why the needles did not work.' Although Angele's damaged his body, he still almost escaped by turning himself into some strange gas, 'My Lesser Fireball did 40 degrees of damage to him. I think even a Grand Knight won't be able to handle it. It's probably his Talent Spell… Sadly, my Metal Mastery only has moderate physical and magical resistances.'
Angele searched the bodies. He wanted to collect evidence. Moreover, he also found the body of the girl who talked to him earlier.
However, it seemed that Calello had already taken the girl's enchanted items away.
Angele checked other levels after and confirmed that all other people in this ship were eliminated by Calello.
The zombified Calello ate most of the corpses' muscles and cut their arms to make meat jerkies or something. However, he did not expect for Angele to have such absurd power.
Angele checked the whole ship again and confirmed that he was the only one left alive at present.
He found some leftover bread and cheese before going back to his cabin. He killed Calello and two Wizards of Light, so he had to find a way to avoid their organizations.
Most of the organizations or Wizard families would avenge their members. Although the Wizards of Light came from a weak organization, Angele still decided to be careful. He planned to get off the ship one dock earlier and travel to the Six Ring High Tower on land.
The ship would arrive at the destination on its own, so it was fine for Angele to get off earlier. The whales in the engine room would move on their own.
*******************
Several months later…
In the evening.
A huge ship slowly advanced on the dark, endless sea, shaking in the strong waves.
Angele stood on the bow of the ship and it felt like the whole world was shaking. He tied himself to the main mast that was tall and wide.
His long hair and black robe were flying in the howling wind. The coldness and wetness left him with an unpleasant feeling. His body was leaning to the side as the ship was hit by the waves.
"F*cking storm!" he cursed. Nothing else happened after the battle with the three Wizards. The ship was now getting close to the next dock.
Angele stood on the bow most of the time recently. He wanted to meet those harpies again as he arrived at the area the Future was attacked. His plan was to collect more harpy blood, and this was the best chance he had.
Sadly, the harpies did not come, but a storm struck the ship.
The power of the signet exceeded Angele's expectation, but he did not see a single harpy these days. They must have remembered the shape of the ship and decided not to attack it after the massacre.
Angele stopped thinking. He grabbed the railings and leaned forward to check the situation ahead.
*Crackle*
A furious lightning brightened up the surface of the sea.
A bean-sized raindrop hit the back of Angele's head.
After several seconds of pouring down chaotically, it started freezing Angele's skin.
The heavy rain kept hammering down and beat a violent tattoo on the deck.
Angele's black robe was soaked in water. Although the rain left a frosty feel on his body, he was not worried about catching a cold.
He held the railing tight as he looked ahead.
The dark sea looked like a seemingly endless floor. It sometimes leaned to the left and to the right. The world was almost turning upside down.
Angele stayed on the bow and found something unusual in the front.
A humongous back of some creature slowly appeared on the surface of the sea.
It was a thousand-meter long whale that had rows of black spines on its back, which were about the size of an average spear and were extremely sharp. The whale's eyes were narrow and were coated in a yellow glow.
The ship looked like a small box comparing to the creature.
Angele was breathing heavily. It felt as if a heavy stone had just struck his chest.
He stared at the whale, his face slowly turning pale.
"Echinate Whale! How is that even possible…" Angele recognized this horrifying monstrosity.
"A whale that is a thousand meters long… I thought the book was joking…" He could not believe what he just saw. He never took the data of the Echinate Whale on the book seriously.
The whale slowly passed by. Luckily, the spikes did not hit the ship. The ship was probably just a plankton to the whale as it did not seem to care about it.
The rain was pouring down the sea, Angele stood on the bow and watched the whale passing by. The ship was far from the center of its back, but the waves it brought still made the ship turn several times.
Two hours later, the whale finally disappeared in Angele's sight, He inhaled once and felt relieved. He was worried that the whale would crush the ship.
Also, the storm left together with the whale quickly and the surface of the sea calmed down as well. Even the wind had weakened.
'So, the legend is true. The Echinate whale can absorb the power of the storm. I didn't take it seriously…' he mumbled.
The ship was protected by the Merfolk's buff and there was an energy barrier keeping all the normal sea monsters away. However, a horrifying creature like Echinate whale could easily break the barrier and capsize the ship if it wanted to.
He learned in a book about an incident that a Wizard apprentice once offended the whale and the ship got smashed into smithereens. This humongous whale had the most ancient blood among the ancient creatures. Although they were strong, they usually would not initiate any attack. The Wizard apprentice attacked a smaller whale that was a relative of an Echinate Whale, and the Echinate Whale killed everyone on the ship, including several formal Wizards.
After the sky became clear, two crescent moons poured white light onto the deck. The sea was also peaceful and quiet.
It was almost as if the storm never happened. Angele felt relieved. He had no idea what would've happened had the whale targeted the ship.
Angele realized that there were many people or creatures much stronger than him in this world. He needed to keep improving.
**********************
Three days later.
In the afternoon.
The ship stopped by a desolate dock slowly.
A young man with long brown hair jumped off the ship with a large bag in his hand.
*BAM*
He landed on the beach that was covered in stones steadily. Metallic silver glint reflected on his hands and feet.
Angele made two small depressions on the beach with his feet.
+
He turned his head around and looked at the ship for a second before he walked to the forest quickly.
After several seconds, intense black smoke rose upon the deck and flames sparked in the cabins. The masts and sails all started burning. The flames streaked into the sky.
The fire illuminated the entire dock.
Angele did not look back. He climbed up the hill and vanished into the shrubbery ahead.
Angele planned to travel to the dock he stopped by when he was on the Future first. The dock's name was Sea Hawk and was close to the Six Ring High Tower.
He had talked with the navigator of the Future before and learned that he only needed to go across two medium-sized countries before reaching the Sea Hawk dock.
Also, there were several Wizard organizations around here.