310 - 318

Chapter 310: Action (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

"Fine, activate the circle. I must still prepare for the gravitational magic circle." Henn's voice ceased at that point.

Angele activated the crystal scorpion and sat down at the desk. He looked at the two crescent moons outside the window while asking Zero to complete a few tasks.

About half an hour later, he raised his left hand.

*CHI*

Glowing light of white and red colors flashed on the tip of his middle finger forming two rays of light as it slowly shot into the air and explode into specks of light.

*Thud thud*

Someone knocked on the door.

Angele turned around quickly.

"Come in, please."

*Creak*

The door was pushed open slowly.

Liv noiselessly stood outside the door; Angele's communication rune was still flickering on her index finger.

"You messaged me at the right time." She stared at Angele. "The thing we have talked about several days ago, I have a lead for you."

"Please take a seat." Angele had a gentle smile on his face.

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

Half an hour later, Liv stepped out of Angele's room.

It was late at night. The night breeze kept blowing along the surface of the rippling river; the leaves were dancing in the air.

Several hours later, Angele, hooded and cloaked in black, stood on the peak of a small hill beside the mansion.

"How long will the illusion magic circle last?"

Henn chuckled in response. "What are you worried about? You are proficient at illusionary spells, right? And I designed the magic circle myself. There's no way Liv can find out the truth."

"Good, then. Since I know every shortcut now, I will arrive at the ruins early. However, I need to talk to someone from the Dark Wizard Tower along the way. It will not take too long," Angele replied as if nothing was wrong.

"Not a problem. I know that place, it is near our route. Just don't spend too much time there." Henn was not concerned.

"Fine, I will move out now." Angele, nodding, walked down the hill as he vanished into the darkness.

Inside the mansion, there was a man who looked exactly like Angele sitting on the bed meditating, and he was surrounded by mysterious energy waves.

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

Three days later…

In the forest, east of Bass River.

It was noon, and the sky was covered by thick white clouds. The air was warm and humid.

At a narrow path, the ground was covered in dried leaves and grass. Green sprouts were growing out of the yellow mud.

The long branches and green leaves covered the sky above the path. The sunlight was having a hard time finding its way down there.

The tree trunks on both sides of the road had various strange shapes.

Angele had his head covered with his hood as he walked along the left side of the path. He was traveling at full speed, even going nearly as fast as a well-bred horse.

He saw a road sign ahead of him upon traveling for more than half an hour.

Angele walked to the roadside and wiped the dust off the sign revealing the words written on it.

'Welcome to the Sherry Forest.' The characters were written in red and they looked messy.

He looked at the road ahead.

It almost felt like the entrance of the forest was being surrounded by distorted energy waves. The trunks of the trees had grown in a twisting manner and the thick roots formed a circle in the air.

Angele felt a bit dizzy just by looking at all those strange trees.

Standing in front of the road sign, he raised his left hand. Around his middle finger was the ring that had been delivered by the golden bird from the Dark Wizard Tower.

*CHI*

Sheens of blue light shone from the gem, now surrounding Angele's body.

He calmed down and began to move onward once again.

Time passed. For another half an hour, Angele continued to wander around the trees.

Gradually, the light coming from the ring finally faded away.

When he stopped by a gigantic tree root, he realized that it was actually a door formed by the branches. '86' and '10' were engraved on the left and right side of the door, respectively.

Angele pushed the door open and stepped inside.

He reached the other side of the tree quickly and saw countless head-sized green fruits hanging on the enormous branches. The fruits were covered with white fur and they looked like peaches.

Angele started counting the fruits from the left.

*KA*

He saw the seventh fruit crack open, and it looked like a mouth full of sharp teeth. Translucent sticky liquid leaked out of the mouth and dripped down the surface of the fruit.

Strangely, the sticky liquid had an attractive flowery smell.

Several seconds later, a face that had only eyes and mouth formed on the front side of the fruit.

"Haven't seen a newbie in a while," it spoke with an androgynous voice. "Are you here for the advanced meditation technique?"

Angele nodded slightly. "Yeah, the golden bird informed me of the location."

"I'm in charge of handing out the advanced techniques for Elemental Hand… Ha. Anyway, you can call me Mocco. I will also hand out the reward of the missions you completed to you," Mocco explained.

"Based on your current level, you may choose two different universal advanced meditation techniques. The first is called 'Venom Barrier and the second is called 'Blue Light'. These meditation techniques, however, are incomplete so if you want the complete version, you must first sign a special contract with the organization."

"Certainly, I understand." Angele then nodded again. "Besides the meditation technique, I want intel. As a formal member, I believe that's part of the benefits, right?"

"Yeah." Mocco pursed his lips.

"Alright, I want to know how to deal with…soul forms after encountering them." Angele went straight to the point.

"Ghosts? They are indeed difficult to deal with but there is some related information stored in the Dark Wizard Tower's library." Mocco wasn't in the slightest surprised as Angele was not the only one who had asked such question.

"What else? I will send your questions back to the headquarters all at once."

Angele hesitated for a second before opening his mouth. "I want the entire data you possess on the Axis of Time."

"Axis of Time, huh? Now that is a rare request. Information pertaining to that organization is highly confidential. The sundial and the shadow keys made them famous. The organization's members are all lunatics, as they wanted to commit mass suicide. They barely even communicated with other organizations. Actually, the sundial and the shadow keys are related to the study of soul forms. You need these two items to open the gate to their greatest treasure. Hmm…" Mocco stopped for a second then continued, "I smell something familiar…Do you perhaps have the shadow key with you?"

Narrowing his eyes, Angele was about to speak about it but Mocco stopped him.

"Do not worry. The gate to the treasure is impossible to find. Wizards have already gone to the ruins and found the treasury using the shadow keys, yet all of them died for some reason. A rank 4 wizard said that the 'treasure' was merely a trap set up by the Axis of Time. I'm not interested in your shadow key at all…" Mocco pursed his lips. "Ah, I know why you are asking me about soul forms—the key will attract ghosts."

Angele finally heard something he was interested in.

"So, how do I deal with it? Throw it away?"

"It's simple if that is the case. I will tell you everything about the key." Mocco cleared his throat and began explaining, "The shadow key helps ghosts preserve their energy. If a ghost tries to enter the owner's body, their soul will become bound to the key. If the key is taken away, the ghost must find another creature or person to inhabit."

"I have heard that the ghost will become linked to the owner's life." Angele frowned.

"You mean the life energy connection? Umm…it rarely happens but it is possible. I have already sent your queries back to the division, and they have just responded."

Angele was not sure how Mocco communicated with the organization.

"What did they say?" Angele stayed calm but he felt a bit relieved. If the shadow key was not a valuable item, he would not have to hide the truth that there was an old lady living in his body.

Dark Wizard Tower had many ways to collect intel and information. He activated the crystal scorpion so that Henn would have no idea what he was saying.

Angele wanted to talk to Vivian about the truth, but he was not sure what she would do. It was nearly impossible for Angele to win a fight against her, so he decided to seek help from the Dark Wizard Tower.

Elemental Hand was just a weak organization when compared to the Dark Wizard Tower. Angele thought that the Dark Wizard Tower was probably the strongest organization in the whole central continent.

Their members, after all, had infiltrated all the major organizations. They were everywhere and their power was incredibly strong. Henn was possibly a legendary wizard, yet even she did not want to become entangled with the Dark Wizard Tower.

"Well, the division suggested you do more missions and collect points. You may then opt to hire a professional wizard that is a 'ghost' themselves. There are many wizards in soul forms in the headquarters. One of them is a strong wizard that had lost his physical form hundreds of years ago, and if you possess a magic device called 'Thousand Shadow Orb', you will be able to expel the ghost from your body with ease."

"Thousand Shadow Orb?" Angele repeated the name. "What is this?"

"It can help ghosts regain intelligence and become an individual. The magic device can actually be crafted yourself, but you must trade mission points for its recipe."

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

Angele soon left the forest upon acquiring all the information he wanted. He then began heading toward the ruins once again and he had also picked up the required materials for the Poison Cloud Potion. The amount he obtained was enough for him to be able to concoct ten servings.

Mocco told Angele that more materials would be provided upon the failure of the concoction of the potion. However, the mission must be completed within two months. If he failed the potion concoction mission this time, he would no longer be considered a candidate for future missions related to potion concoction.

Angele did not worry upon knowing this information, as the intel regarding soul forms and the shadow keys was significantly more important to him.

The advanced meditation technique was stored in a red seed, which he kept in his pouch.

The ruin was nearby the headquarters of Elemental Hand.

Easily and immediately, he returned to the peak of the snowy volcano then entered the ruin.

The ruin was empty. Angele stayed outside the unrestricted area and started to draw tiny magic circles in the tunnels according to the plan Henn had told him.

Countless red magic circles covered each of the tunnels outside the unrestricted areas. He spent about half a day to finish all the preparations.

"Alright, we're done." Henn sounded excited.

Angele slowly lowered his hand from a magic circle on the wall and rubbed his temples.

"Those magic circles will disappear upon activation. The only thing it will do is to produce energy waves. Are you sure this will work?" He stared at the black box.

"Of course it will. I already told you the mentality frequency. If that b*tch tries to activate the gravitational magic circle, the energy waves from all those magic circles will kill her if she's unlucky. Ha!" Henn gritted her teeth.

"Why did Vivian leave for the war? She has already spent years living in this ruin. I thought she's no longer interested in the affairs of the outside world." Liv had told him that Vivian had not left the ruin for a long time.

"I have no idea. You should ask her yourself." Henn was not interested.

"Fine." Angele glanced around. "Alright, we need to leave now."

"Find a safe spot and activate the trap when the gravitational magic circle releases its special energy wave." Henn lowered her voice.

Angele nodded and left the ruin quickly. He rushed down the snowy volcano and waited patiently within the forest.

Chapter 311: Action (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

At some plains somewhere far away.

Cumulonimbus clouds were slowly moving across the sky.

White-robed and blue-robed people were fighting against each other on the endless plains.

On a high cliff behind the white robes.

Vivian stood by the edge of the cliff watching the wizards' battles beneath. There were three people quietly waiting behind her; two of them were male while the other was female. The robes they were wearing were decorated with golden hems.

The noises coming from the roaring wizards, spell explosions, and lightning pulses within the battlefield amassed altogether that it nearly caused the earth to shake.

Vivian frowned. Her eyes fell on six fully geared wizards that were being protected by a group of blue robes on the other side.

"All the lords are here. We can set an ambush plan into motion and directly attack their cities. I want to see their depressed faces. It will be interesting," Vivian spoke in a calm tone.

"Master Vivian, I think the only problem is the first lord; the rest of them are weak. I think this battle is in the bag." One of the male wizards behind her smiled.

"It is too early to celebrate." Vivian shook her head. "Since all the lords are here, this means that that item has been brought here as well. We will lose the battle if that item gets activated."

The three wizards behind her looked at each other. They had already realized what item Vivian was referring to.

Glaring at the lords in blue armor suits, Vivian looked a bit excited.

"I will need to activate the gravitational magic circle. I want to know what the so-called 'Lords' Treasure' can do. The 'Illusion Aura'…I can snatch it for Angele if everything goes as planned."

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

Angele silently stood within the forest leaning against a large tree. A small object that looked similar to a pocket watch was in his hand.

It was black and was made from metal, and there was a red button in the middle of its front side.

This small but heavy device was a tool to be used to activate all the magic circles.

"Keep track of the energy waves from the gravitational magic circle. Press the button once the waves become strong enough," Henn advised.

"Strong enough? How am I supposed to know that?" Angele asked.

"Well, the gravitational magic circle is supported by six main rune circles. That is how the energy is transferred to Vivian's location. Press the button after the last rune circle gets activated." Henn sneered.

"That sounds a bit too easy. Are you sure Vivian won't find out that the trap was set up by me?"

"Don't worry, everything is going as planned." Henn sounded confident.

"Good, then."

The two then stopped talking, just staying in the forest as they waited for the rune circles to be activated.

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

"It's our turn…" Vivian stood atop the cliff raising her hands. Glows of bright red surrounded her eyes which made it look like two shining rubies.

*CHI*

The three wizards behind her jumped off the cliff and entered the battlefield. They released three translucent energy waves which were quickly expanding.

All blue robes that were touched upon by the waves exploded into blood mist.

Vivian was still observing the situation on the battlefield. The six lords varied in age and gender. She saw an old man that had long, white hair, a young man with a muscular body, a short man with a slim body, and an attractive young woman.

Behind the blue robe army, the six lords formed a circle. The weapons in their hands varied; some were wielding longswords while some were wielding short wands.

The six lords raised their weapons in response to Vivian's eyes that had begun to shimmer, their weapons covered in a white glow. A translucent vortex appeared in the center of the circle they had formed.

A blue eye slowly opened in the middle of the vortex.

*CHI*

A ray of freezing laser beam was shot from the eye going straight toward Vivian.

Vivian's dark blonde hair was fluttering in the air, and she slightly swung her right hand immediately.

*BOOM*

The hills were struck by the pure energy waves formed by plenty of energy particles.

The rocks from the cliffs were broken into large pieces and they started falling down.

The noise produced by the rolling boulders was louder than anything else.

Yet these boulders were suddenly halted by Vivian and they began to gather around her body. They looked like violent gems connected by a long invisible chain.

The boulders were dragged into the space in front of Vivian as they quickly formed into an enormous black ball.

*BAM*

The blue laser beam fiercely struck the ball.

The laser beam was having difficulty penetrating it.

The blue eye that was clashing against it nearly looked as if the blue laser beam it released formed a long bridge across the entire battlefield.

Both Vivian and the six lords were supplying their spells with every ounce of energy they had.

The stone ball was constantly attracting the broken pieces of rocks from the cliffs, and the blue laser beam coming from the eye never ceased.

Vivian slowly lowered her left hand as she fiercely looked at the encirclement of the six armored wizards.

Suddenly, she once again raised her left hand pointing at the lords' formation.

*BOOM*

A distorted energy arrow exploded in front of the six lords.

A 5-meter-deep hole was formed due to the explosion. The fragments of mud and stones struck the lords' armor suits yet none had gotten injured.

"Huh? Something changed the trajectory of my arrow?" Vivian was surprised and at the same time curious.

She then utilized energy particles to increase the volume of her voice.

"So that's the effect of the Illusion Aura, huh? Sadly, you have miscalculated my power." Vivian's voice echoed in the sky.

The expressions of the six lords changed all at the same time after listening to what she had just said.

"She still has enough mentality for another spell! Morris! Inform the support team behind us!" the old man with a long white hair shouted.

Vivian was not perturbed by the current situation. She fired multiple energy arrows toward the blue robe army.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

Several holes were formed from the consecutive explosions.

Mud and stone fragments were flying around everywhere. Many blue robes were crushed into pieces and there were even human hands and feet falling down from the sky.

The blood of the corpses dyed the land red.

Vivian curled her lips into a smile, and the red glow around her eyes was getting brighter. Every time she pointed at the blue robes, a large hole would appear on the ground. The blue robes were completely terrified by her power as they continuously shouted in fear. It sounded as though a horrifying melody was echoing throughout the area.

"That's enough!"

As a furious, deep male voice resonated throughout, a gigantic blue hand conjured out of thin air and moved toward Vivian.

The hand was more than ten meters long and looked like the hand of an ancient giant. Seemingly heavy, it nearly covered the sky.

"Finally, I have been waiting for this moment!" Vivian quickly drew a red cross in front of her chest.

The red light from the cross remained in the air.

"Heart of Torrea, the land's core, lend me thy power..." She quickly invoked the incantation that would activate the gravitational magic circle.

The land started shaking with Vivian's spell as its source.

The cliff underneath her feet began transforming and out of the mud and rocks, a 30-meter-tall stone giant took form.

Vivian jumped onto the left shoulder of the stone giant after it finished its transformation.

The giant raised its right hand as it attempted to block the approaching blue hand.

*BAM*

All the white robes and blue robes retreated upon witnessing the two incredibly strong spells. At this moment, there was nothing else they could do.

Vivian sat on the stone giant's shoulder smilingly.

"The cross-realm strike from a storm giant lord, huh? Well…" She clapped her hands several times quickly.

Red smoke began to seep out of the surface of the stone giant. Gleaming molten lava was leaking out of the countless gaps between the rocks on its body.

"If you can block my strongest strike, I will let you return to your own region." Once again, her voice echoed throughout ensuring everyone on the battlefield could hear it.

"Arrogant bastard!" An immediate response came from the one who screamed before.

Vivian raised her hands once more. Balls of red light appeared in the center of both of her palms, becoming increasingly brighter every second.

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

"This is it! This is our chance!" Henn suddenly yelled.

Angele looked at the peak of the snowy volcano and noticed the energy wave coming from the sixth rune circle.

*PA*

He pressed the red button without hesitation.

Nothing happened.

"Damn it!" Henn shouted anxiously.

The sixth rune circle had not been fully activated and not all the energy waves had been sent to the main magic circle.

For some reason, Vivian stopped at the critical moment. The activation of the sixth rune circle was delayed by about ten seconds.

"Well, I have done what I could. I pressed the button when you told me to. Alright, that's it. I have completed the mission." Angele remained calm.

"Damn it! I failed! The mission failed! You must…" Henn was now roaring.

"What does that have to do with me? I must do what again? I will say it once more, I am NOT your puppet!" Angele had already lost his patience. "I have already wasted too much time on such a dumb thing!"

He activated the crystal scorpion. Turning around, he disappeared into the forest heading to the Bass River area.

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

Vivian slowly lowered her hands, and the red glow around her eyes faded away.

She sat atop the stone giant's shoulder quietly as it was advancing at full speed.

*BAM BAM*

Its footsteps sounded like rumbling thunder. The white robe army followed after the giant. They were advancing toward the city ahead.

She waited about ten seconds before fully activating the gravitational magic circle.

Although the delay nearly changed the outcome of the battle against the storm giant spirit, she did not regret doing so.

Raising her right hand, Vivian stared at its back; a black snake-shaped rune was flickering on the tip of her index finger.

Several days ago, Angele sent her two urgent messages asking her to wait ten seconds before casting her strongest spell.

Vivian was baffled as Angele did not clarify the reason. Nevertheless, she still decided to listen to her son. She trusted Angele so much that she did what he said without any hesitation whatsoever.

Chapter 312: Birth Flower (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

'Angele must have his reasons.' There was a gentle smile on Vivian's face. She would have doubted the words if they did not come from her only son's mouth.

'I should probably ask why he sent me this message, but I'm certain that he is just worried about me…'

"Umm…Master Vivian. I'm sorry but can I have a word with you?" A deep female voice came from behind.

Vivian leaned to the side and looked down; she was still sitting on the giant's shoulder.

"What's the matter? We're on our way to our destination. We can talk after we finish them off." Frowning, she communicated with her through energy particles.

"I'm afraid we can't, master." A female wizard in a long white robe shook her head.

"The urgent message says that your son took a birth flower away from the people of Glay. Right now, he is being pursued by them…" The wizard looked speechless.

The smile disappeared from Vivian's face.

"Angele…This kid…" Vivian gritted her teeth, but she was not sure what she should say.

"Retreat, everyone! We can finish them off later!" She raised her right hand and shouted.

"Come with me, my elite team! We need to go to the Glay's territory."

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

In the forest between the Bass River and the snowy volcano.

The white sunlight pierced through the gaps between the leaves and illuminated on the people fighting between the trees.

There were five people in brown leather armor suits surrounding a young man in a long black robe.

"How dare you destroy our birth flowers! We are the Glays. I think you know how valuable those flowers are to our race," a man at the front spoke in a deep voice.

There was a white lightning-shaped scar on his skin which looked strange and terrifying.

Angele was speechless. He was not sure how to respond to that man.

He was just collecting unknown plants using the chip while leaving the forest.

He found a wheel-sized black flower and according to the result of the chip's analysis, the pistil of the flower would increase the success rate of concocting a Poison Cloud Potion. Angele decided to collect the pistil right away.

However, the black flower died right after the pistil was removed. This scene was witnessed by several Glay guards that were just patrolling their territory as usual.

That was the reason why Angele was being chased down.

Angele wanted to fight back, but the chip warned him about the presence of more than one formal wizard in the Glay's patrol team and he decided to retreat. The targets were not in the effective range of Zero and their ranks could not be determined.

The Glays were living beings that looked like human beings and lived around the Bass River. He acquired the information through a conversation with Liv, but she never described the appearance of the birth flower to him. Angele was not sure if he could solve the problem by himself, so he decided to contact Vivian immediately.

He knew the birth flower's basic information and its importance to the Glay race. It was what helped them to reproduce.

Glays did not reproduce sexually. Instead, their offspring were born from these birth flowers.

There were two types of birth flowers: the ones used by females had the shape of a penis and the ones used by males looked like vaginas. Angele had unwittingly destroyed the one that should be used by males.

For the Glays, losing one flower was akin to losing one newborn offspring.

Glays were collectively known to be great fighters. In terms of populace, there were more females than males. All of them needed to have an intercourse with the flowers, but they did not need to worry too much about their babies. Majority of Glays were talented and could easily be trained to wizard apprentices. Even becoming formal wizards was an easy feat for them.

Within the territory of the Glay race, birth flowers were being treated like holy grails. It was likely that there was a Glay offspring being nurtured in the flower that had been killed off by Angele. That was the main reason why the guards pursuing Angele were completely furious.

This was common knowledge for the inhabitants around their territory. Angele was too focused on the effect of the flower's pistil that he forgot to check if the black flower was a birth flower.

The problem lay in the fact that his behavior had been witnessed by the patrol team. Otherwise, there would not be so much commotion.

Angele's speed was much faster than most members of the patrol team, yet five of the stronger Glays still caught up with him and surrounded him.

"I can return the pistil to you. I apologize as I did not know that this was a birth flower. Can't we end this matter peacefully?" Angele questioned.

"Think about it. What will you do if I just killed your son?" the leader answered in a deep hoarse voice.

"Do we have to fight? I can offer some rare materials to you." Angele was trying his best to prevent a battle from happening.

"Kneel before me and then we can talk." The man sneered.

"Well, I was trying to solve the problem peacefully yet you're not listening." Angele raised his right hand creating a two-meter-long sword in his hand.

The tip of the sword slowly turned red and the temperature around his body increased rapidly.

"There are five of us!" The five men drew their daggers at the same time and red lines glimmered on the blades.

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

In an area that was fifty kilometers away from Angele's location.

Vivian and about ten elites that were equipped with black armor suits were advancing to the Glays' territory at full speed.

"I have already sent a message to the chief of the Glays, master Mira, but I'm not sure if she will read it in time." A female wizard behind Vivian communicated through energy particles.

Vivian grimaced. "Mira is my friend but destroying a birth flower is most likely an unforgivable act. The Glay race is already having trouble with the decaying population. The Glays will not listen to her orders even if she tries to save Angele."

"Master Mira is a close friend of yours, yet she will not help?" a woman in a black armor suit asked.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen then. There are only about four hundred of birth flowers in the Glays' territory, which they have spent years cultivating in order for those mysterious flowers to grow. Losing one flower is the same as losing one baby. Mira needs to listen to her people's opinion. No one survives after destroying a birth flower." There was a serious expression on Vivian's face. "I must meet her personally and apologize to her," she added.

"Glays usually do a good job guarding their birth flowers. Something is fishy here...How did Angele destroy one so easily?" The woman looked confused.

"I don't know…Perhaps the patrol team had just finished their shift." Vivian shook her head. "This little bastard…I just found him not so long ago and he has already brought me a great deal of trouble…"

Angele was giving Vivian a headache, yet she did not sound mad.

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

*Clank*

Angele blocked the strike from a dagger with his longsword.

He slightly leaned to the left and blocked another dagger with the handle.

Five blurry shadows surrounded him moving around at full speed. They were trying to attack Angele from all angles.

Angele's Agility and Strength were high enough to dodge or block all the attacks.

Although his agility was over 11, the Glay people were still moving faster than him. It seemed that speed was their talent. Angele could see the long blurry shadow behind their bodies. The five Glays' strength level was low, so they were having a hard time breaking Angele's defense.

Angele learned more about the situation after reading the message sent by Vivian. He knew that destroying the flower was his fault and he did not want the situation to get worse.

Vivian told him that there was still a chance that the incident could be solved peacefully.

If the Glays requested backup and their team captains came, Angele would have a hard time surviving the fight without activating the signet in the center of his chest.

However, he decided to trust Vivian's words.

Angele kept retreating as he blocked the attacks from the Glays. He was slowly moving toward Vivian's location. The fight had already lasted for hours. He could not find a better way to leave the area. Good thing was that Vivian was advancing to his current location at full speed and he only needed to stay calm.

"Stop him! He's trying to flee!" one of the Glays shouted. Angele was trying to find a gap from their formation.

He knitted his eyebrows after hearing one of them say that.

After scanning his opponents with Zero, Angele knew that he could kill them easily as they were just weak formal wizards. Their only advantage was the speed.

Their attributes were lower than that of a rank 1 wizard's at the Gas stage. Angele would have killed them if Vivian did not send him the message.

'I should try to escape and regroup with Vivian.' Angele narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at the five Glays' formation.

Blue lights flashed in front of his eyes.

*Clank Clank*

Their weapons clashed again.

The burning tip of the sword blocked two oncoming daggers and caught his opponents off guard.

Angele rushed out of the encirclement formed by the five like an arrow and disappeared into the bushes.

"Don't let him escape!" a man shouted.

The five jumped into the bush and ran toward the direction Angele was last seen.

The area became silent again.

Several minutes later, a tall man jumped out of the bushes from the other side.

It was a muscular bald man with dark skin.

Moreover, his head was covered with black needles wherein only the top half of the needles could be seen. The man almost looked like a criminal that just escaped the prison.

Several more people jumped out of the shrubs. All of them were people of Glay.

"Caren is still chasing after that man." The bald man pointed in the direction where Angele had left. "Mitto, take several guards with you and utilize the shortcuts. This is our forest. It is impossible for that man to outrun us."

Chapter 313: Birth Flower (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

"Yes!" A female Glay stepped forward and responded. She then quickly moved into the shrubs and bushes with a small team.

"Mitto, use the path at the right and see if you can stop that man before he can escape," the man with a needle-covered head ordered.

A man wearing a black leather suit stepped forward and nodded. He leaned to the right and disappeared into the bushes.

The man with a needle head glanced around.

"It has been 50 years since the last time someone had destroyed a birth flower. We must make an example out of that man in order to show what will happen to those who have the intention to trespass into our holy ground."

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

While Angele was running at full speed, he noticed that there were more than five people chasing after him. One of them had mentality waves that were at a similar level as Liv's.

Although the strength of mentality waves did not solely represent the actual power of a person, it still indicated that there was a rank 2 wizard pursuing him.

He was as well certain now that majority of the Glay territory's guards were formal wizards.

The good thing was that it would only take him seconds to reach Vivian's location.

Angele ran down the hill and saw Vivian's team advancing in the forest ahead.

"Angele! Come to me!" Vivian noticed Angele's presence and she shouted.

Angele moved to Vivian immediately and slowly stopped.

"Master Vivian…I made a big mistake this time…" There was a bitter smile on his face.

"I know you didn't do it intentionally, but we still need to face this matter." Vivian grabbed Angele's right hand and dragged him to her side.

A team of Glays appeared in front of them as they talked.

The man with a head full of needles was standing in front.

He looked at the wizards in front of him and his expression changed after seeing Vivian in the group.

"The third elder?"

"Garuda, how dare you to talk to master Vivian like that?!" A female wizard stepped forward and questioned in a cold tone.

The man named Garuda looked disappointed, but he still bowed to Vivian.

"Welcome to the Glay's territory, master Vivian." The other Glays behind him hesitated for a second and kneeled together.

"Welcome to the Glay's territory." They greeted Vivian at the same time.

Vivian slightly raised her eyebrows. "Let us go meet your chief together. My son has destroyed one of your birth flowers."

Angele stood behind Vivian and communicated with her through energy particles.

"Should I return the pistil to them?"

"Keep it since you already took it. We'll see how the negotiation goes," Vivian responded quickly. "If they ask you about the pistil, just tell them that the pistil died quickly after you removed it from the flower."

Angele was a bit speechless. He thought Vivian would blame him for what he had done, yet she was still trying her best to help her 'son'.

"I know the chief of the Glays. She's one of my best friends. It won't be that big of a problem if her people don't question her decisions. Just make sure you think twice before doing something like that the next time."

"I understand. It was totally my fault." Angele nodded.

"Alright, don't think too much about it. I'll see what I can do." Vivian rubbed Angele's cheeks sighing with mixed emotions.

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

With Vivian's help, the problem was solved peacefully.

Vivian and her elites went to the core of the Glay's territory. It seemed like the Glays feared her authority and power. No one questioned chief Mira's decision and the situation was much better than Angele had expected.

After the negotiation, Angele gave the Glays a decent number of magic crystal cards and some rare materials as compensation.

It would be a life-or-death situation if Angele did not have such a great 'mother'.

Vivian ordered him to stay in the mansion after the incident and asked him to learn more about the races around the Bass River area so that something like this would not happen again.

Angele decided to use this chance to prepare for the potion concocting mission from the Dark Wizard Tower.

Furthermore, he needed to check the advanced meditation technique he acquired from the organization.

The biggest problem was still Henn.

Angele tricked Henn so that he did not need to destroy Vivian's source of power and it seemed like Vivian did notice his secret. However, he still needed to find a way to remove Henn from his body.

He did not have enough mission points to hire a soul form wizard from the Dark Wizard Tower or purchase the recipe for the Thousand Shadow Orb.

Henn had not talked to him for a while even when the crystal scorpion was not activated. Angele then assumed that she had some other evil plans in her mind.

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

Several months later…

At noon, the golden sunlight shone through the window on the second floor of the main building.

Angele stood by the window and moved the curtain to the side. He stared at the surface of the river and the bright sunlight illuminated on his face.

"Henn, I have already helped you with your revenge plan but the problem is, I'm stuck at this Crystal stage, and your ultimate enemy is still Arisma. I might lose the fight against Stigma if she asks my old friend to kill both of us." Angele was talking with Henn using the black box.

"I understand," Henn responded in a light tone. "I was a bit anxious recently, but I won't ask you to do anything to Vivian…for now. And you are right about Arisma and Stigma. Your progression has slowed down and that's a problem."

"I don't remember the last time we had such a peaceful conversation." Angele nodded slightly. "Let's get straight to the point. The Mask of the Black Wing isn't as strong as I expected."

"Don't worry. Didn't you notice your mentality level increasing slowly? You are already strong enough for your age. The progression speed might have slowed down, but you're improving at a steady pace." Henn suddenly sounded like a different person. "You need several years to stabilize your mentality and increase your level. Speed is not the most important thing right now. Revise all the elemental system you know and create your own way to modify or even create spells. This is an important stage which every strong wizard had to similarly experience.

Angele was a bit surprised. He could not believe that Henn told him to slow down.

"Yeah…You're right. It's probably a good thing. I'll use that time to study the information I acquired from the Dark Wizard Tower."

"I need to spend some time rethinking my plan. It's better if we can just finish our thing first. You and I are in the same boat. I want you to become stronger faster, but the foundations are important."

"I understand." Angele nodded again. "I'll return to my experiment now."

"Sure, turn on the crystal scorpion. I need to rest." Henn's voice slowly faded away.

Angele turned the crystal scorpion on and put it into the pouch. He turned around and left the room, heading to the laboratory on the same floor.

Liv leaned against the wall by the door and her cold sight fell upon Angele.

"Come on. I won't sneak out again…" Angele shrugged and smiled.

"I was blamed by master Vivian. I won't make the same mistake again." Liv sounded a bit angry.

She had been summoned back to the headquarter and was punished by Vivian after the incident at the Glay's territory.

As a rank 2 wizard, she was actually tricked by an illusion spell cast by a rank 1 wizard. She felt ashamed due to this.

Angele shook his head. Pushing the door open, he entered the laboratory.

Liv was still leaning against the wall and waiting outside the door quietly.

Angele grabbed a pair of white gloves from the shelf after entering the room.

He put on the gloves carefully and applied some white dust onto his hands.

Angele then quickly clapped his hands.

*PA*

White flame flashed on his hands and disappeared within seconds. Green smoke rose from his gloves.

It was a sanitization process he himself designed.

Angele walked to the table in the center of the room slowly.

There was a glass cylinder sitting in the middle of the table sealed tightly with a lid. The cylinder was filled with yellow smoke.

The smoke formed a terrifying face with a pair of shallow eyes. The face kept appearing and disappearing.

Angele stood in front of the cylinder and started recording on a piece of leather paper. He observed the changes happening inside the container as he wrote things down.

"It took me three hours to get the cloud to this state. The potion is still a problem to me…even with the help of the birth flower's pistil." He frowned.

"If I didn't make any mistake on the record, I will need three years before I can concoct one serving of Poison Cloud Potion. I can't even test the density of the cloud…

"Well, the good thing is I have plenty of time to finish the potion. I won't be able to finish it in a short period of time anyway. I can keep progressing with the advanced meditation technique while waiting on the potion. Not bad." He sighed in relief.

Angele put down the leather paper and added some more materials to the cylinder. He sat down on a chair beside and a black mask slowly appeared on his face.

Chapter 314: Molten Core River (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Three years later…

In the morning.

Within the training ground of the mansion.

Angele held a longsword tight in his right hand; he was training his sword skill combos. He looked more like a normal swordsman at the moment.

His sword skills were simple but effective.

Liv and a red-haired man were standing on the side watching Angele's performance with smiles on their faces.

"Angele's sword skills don't look complicated but every movement of his seems to aim to dispatch his opponent. I'm not sure if he learned such a combo from a strong Grand Knight." The red-haired man nodded slightly.

"You are right, master Seth," Liv responded politely. "I'm not sure if master Angele has learned to wield a sword from a Grand Knight, but it is possible for him to win in a sword fight against me." She decided not to mention that she had already lost to him once.

"I actually helped him improve his skill combos," she added.

The man named Seth had a pair of blood-red eyes and handsome face. It seemed he was from one of the non-human races.

"Interesting."

He stepped forward and observed Angele's skill combos carefully.

"I'm just here to check on Green. I need to return to the headquarters as soon as possible. It seems there is nothing for me to worry about."

Angele finished his training and walked down from the platform.

"Angele, I can bring back the items you need after finishing my meeting in the headquarter." Seth walked to Angele and smiled.

Angele shook his head and smiled.

"I never said I needed anything, but you just keep bringing them back…The storage rooms are almost filled up that I had to ask the workers to build a small warehouse outside."

"I'll see if I can find you some local specialties. I heard the towns around the city produce a lot of interesting spices." Seth shook his head slightly and ignored Angele's words. "And I have some good news for you. Master Shozo will be visiting master Vivian soon. There will be a dinner party. Make sure you check the messages from the communication runes daily. I'm sure Shozo will bring you some rare materials or something special."

"Master Shozo?" Angele narrowed his eyes and recognized the name immediately.

Shozo and Seth were two of the five students Vivian had. Shozo was Vivian's first student and was the strongest of the five, as he was already a rank 4 wizard. However, he was not a member of Elemental Hand and he could only visit Vivian once every several months.

Angele had made two big mistakes in recent years. Thus, Vivian had decided to introduce him to her students so that they could help her son when necessary.

Vivian's five students were close friends with each other. Two of them were members of Elemental Hand and the others were members of different families or organizations.

Seth had spent a lot of time with Angele recently as he liked the young man's personality.

The other ones knew that Angele was Vivian's son, so they did what they could to help him in daily life. Seth was the weakest student of the five; he just reached rank 2 not so long ago, while the others had already advanced to the successive ranks.

Vivian only recruited the most talented wizards with strong family backgrounds as her students since she was the third elder of Elemental Hand.

Getting familiar with Vivian's students would make Angele's life easier in the future. Developing a good relationship with the ones associated with strong families or organizations was important in wizard society.

Angele and Vivian's students all knew this point. It was almost as if they had formed a small family, and the five students all treated Angele well.

Angele was introduced to the five students during a dinner party and they communicated with each other a lot using the communication runes.

The biggest problem to Angele was still the slow increase of his mentality level. His mentality increased like crazy when he first started using the advanced meditation technique but then it slowed down by a lot.

He spent most of his time practicing sword skills, doing experiments, checking on the potion, and meditation but his entire progression was slow.

Angele stopped thinking and grabbed the towel that was brought to him by the maid.

"I thought Shozo is very busy recently," he said as he wiped the sweat off from his body.

Seth shrugged. "You know that perseverance alone won't bring you the result you want. You already know that Shozo wants to develop a romantic relationship with master Vivian, right? They're similar in age and Shozo is getting stronger. He has tried to impress master Vivian in many ways, but her attitude toward him never changed. Shozo just won't give up. I know wizards live much longer than mortals but…"

"Master Vivian is a strong woman. I don't think she will ever fall in love with a wizard like Shozo…" Angele interrupted. He knew what Seth was trying to say.

Shozo's love for his master was deep to the point of lunacy. He had already reached rank 4 and there was nothing Vivian could teach him anymore, but he did not give up. His love to Vivian was like an active volcano that could erupt at any time.

Angele knew that the man was a walking bomb that could detonate any time the first time they met at the dinner party. It almost felt like there was a fire burning in the man's eyes when he looked at Vivian and it was overwhelming.

Shozo only cared about the people that were related to Vivian. In another word, Shozo was emotionally unstable all the time. He would talk to strangers normally, but he would kill the stranger right away if he got offended somehow.

Shozo had a muscular body and a handsome face, and his background was also strong. The man was the military captain of his organization, but none of the advantages attracted a strong wizard like Vivian.

Vivian was never a woman who would rely on the help of a man. She decided to ignore the fact that Shozo was trying to develop a relationship with her.

The relationship between Shozo and Vivian was not a secret in Elemental Hand.

"Alright, I need to leave now." Seth waved his right hand. "Make sure to prepare some of that black worm meat for me the next time I come here. The flavor and the texture of the meat were unforgettable."

"Well, I can get you a ton of that meat if it's easy to preserve." Angele chuckled. The 'black worm meat' was the meat he had brought back from the Nightmare Realm. He discovered that the corpses of the black beetles were not liquefied and their meat was actually quite tasty.

Angele made sure that the meat would not make people sick after doing tests using the biochip. He entered the Nightmare Realm in the mansion area multiple times to hunt those black beetles for their meat. Seth had the meat at the dinner party held by Angele and he got addicted to that quickly.

"I've been to so many countries, but only you have such special meat. I wonder where you acquired it from." Seth closed his eyes and pursed his lips.

"Anyway, I have to go. There's a meeting I need to attend at the headquarters."

He turned around and walked to the wall.

"I'll message you later!" He waved his right hand again.

"Sure." Angele nodded. A blue glow surrounded Seth's body and the energy particles lifted him up. He floated in the air and disappeared into the air within seconds.

Liv was checking an axe beside the weapon shelf. "I didn't expect you to get along with master Seth."

"You lost the practice match to me. You should admit it. When will you start to respect me?" Angele turned around and shook his head.

"Your spells are way too weak. I'm a member of the Watchers and the only thing we care is power. You're the son of the third elder, but that won't make any difference," Liv responded nonchalantly.

Angele became a bit speechless, but he knew that he was the weakest one of the wizards around Vivian.

"Whatever, I need to meditate now." He understood that power was the only thing that mattered in this world, but he still hated the way Liv talked to him. Angele spent three years to remove most of the impurities from his mentality using the Mask of the Black Wing. Although his mentality was increasing at a slow rate, it was still faster than an average wizard's.

"How's your Molten Core River going?" Liv suddenly asked.

Molten Core River was an advanced meditation technique practiced by the Watchers. It had been gifted to him by Vivian.

Wizards usually could not practice multiple advanced meditation techniques at the same time as each meditation techniques had many different properties. A wizard would reach the high rank when he successfully finished all the stages of an advanced meditation technique. Angele had high affinity with the Fire energy particles and Molten Core River would help him greatly if he could practice two advanced meditation techniques together.

Most of the wizards in the central continent focused on progressing with a full copy of advanced technique and that was what separated them from the wizards of the west coast. The resources required for different meditation techniques were different so the major organizations usually modified their secret techniques based on what they could get from the resource points in their territories.

The wizards practicing the same advanced meditation techniques would trade the necessary resources with each other and that reduced the pressure on the supply departments in their organizations.

Some strong organizations were built around the advanced meditation techniques they had, including Elemental Hand. Elemental Hand had five main advanced meditation techniques and Molten Core River was one of them. Each of the elders practiced one of the five techniques and they had finished at least two or three stages already.

Although Angele had a full copy of the Molten Core River, he could not find the balance between the two advanced meditation techniques. He still needed to remove the impurities from his mentality. The Mask of the Black Wing would help him more at the moment.

Liv thought the Molten Core River was the only advanced meditation technique he had. That was why she asked this question.

"I haven't understood the basics of the technique yet. Maybe I'm just not talented enough." There was no point for Angele to tell Liv the truth.

Chapter 315: Molten Core River (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

"It has been three years already and yet you have not finished the basics?" Liv was surprised. "Molten Core River's first stage is relatively easy when compared to other advanced meditation techniques. You should be able to finish at least one stage…"

"Right…There is nothing I can do about it at the moment." Angele was still having trouble with the Mask of the Black Wing. He had only finished half of the first stage, yet it had already exceeded Henn's expectations.

Angele's talent level was well below average. Henn never understood how he progressed at such an astounding rate.

He was not so concerned about his slow progression in the advanced meditation techniques because he was paying more attention to two other things.

The spell matrix study and the Potion Cloud Potion.

Angele had already noticed the problem. His progression speed was faster than the majority of average wizards at the initial stages, and he slowed down a bit during the three years' time. But he was still young and he could live for another 400 to 500 years.

He wanted to be more patient with the progression of the advanced meditation techniques. He had collected a lot of new information for the database.

The good thing was that Angele had removed most of the impurities from his mentality.

The magic matrix study would help him learn enchantment better. Although he hadn't understood all the information that was stored in the biochip, the knowledge still helped him a lot while he was exploring the Nightmare Realm. The concocting process of the Poison Cloud Potion had improved his potion skills a lot. It would take years for the potion to be completed as all the needed materials were rare.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later." Angele threw the towel back to the maid and entered the building, heading straight to the second floor.

He walked into the laboratory, locked the door, and set up the alarm with energy particles.

Angele put on the gloves and finished the sanitizing process, then he walked to the table at the center.

The glass cylinder was still standing in the middle of the table quietly and filled with smoke, but the color had changed from yellow to green and the ghost face had disappeared.

Angele was satisfied with his result. This potion took him three years to concoct.

'Finally, it's almost done. Zero, check the condition of the potion for me.'

*CHI*

A blue light screen appeared in Angele's sight and it floated on the right side of the cylinder.

'Poison Cloud Potion: 87% complete. Main materials: phoenix plume, the heart of the serpent, and white light stone. Requirement: rank 2 wizard or rank 1 wizard with the birth flower's pistil.'

The detailed real-time information of the potion was also displayed on the screen, including the temperature, density, radiation levels, acid scale, and poison level.

Angele sat down at the table and made sure that all the numbers were within the safe range.

He then stood up and walked to another table by the window.

There was a thick pile of leather paper on the table and a white feather pen was writing something down quickly by itself.

The noise made by the writing pen was quite loud.

Angele moved the paper pile to the side.

He drew a line along the surface of the table.

A distorted crack appeared on the table, revealing the three books hidden under it.

The books were thick and heavy, the three forming a triangle.

A black mask was painted on the cover of the book at the top.

The background of the cover was white and the black mask was eye-catching. There was no mouth or nose on the mask. He could only see a pair of glowing red eyes.

The book on the left had a red cover with a pumping heat in the center. The title of the book was written in Metia and it read, 'The Molten Core River'.

The cover of the book on the right was black and its edges were decorated with silver lines. At the center, there was a white eye that was covered in bloody veins. It was the thickest book of the three.

The eye blinked from time to time and was staring at Angele. It almost felt like someone was observing him using the cover of the book.

"The advanced meditation technique from the Dark Wizard Tower is definitely interesting." Angele had not read the book yet. He acquired the book from the fruit with a human's face a long time ago, but he felt that the book would bring him trouble.

According to Henn, the eye on the cover was from the mother of the magic eyes in the Dark Wizard Tower and was the seal of the book. Angele would have to sign the contract with the eye if he opened the book.

All the core members of the organization had signed the contracts at a certain point. Angele had already learned the content of the contract by staring at the eye for one minute. The rules were simple, but he would have to leave a part of his soul to the mother of the magic eyes.

Angele already had two full copies of advanced meditation techniques, so he decided not to sign the contract.

He moved the book to the side after checking its condition.

'I should start learning the Molten Core River since most of the impurities are gone now.' He had such thoughts in mind.

Angele had a high affinity for Fire energy particles, and practicing the Molten Core River would help him greatly.

The Mask of the Black Wing helped him remove the impurities from the mentality but it seemed that the Molten Core River was more suitable for him at the moment. Also, Angele did not trust Henn. It was possible that Henn tricked him when she was imparting the advanced meditation technique to him.

Although the Molten Core River was relatively weak, it was a much safer option. Vivian considered Angele as her real son and she would not give him anything that was harmful.

The Watchers working for Vivian all learned the Molten Core River and his questions could be answered easily as Vivian was a master of this advanced meditation technique herself.

He looked at the Molten Core River book quietly.

The pumping heart on the cover was filled with golden blood that looked like lava and it was steaming hot.

Angele opened the book carefully.

'Feel the passion deep inside your heart. Hot or cold, there will always be a beautiful lake that will help you calm down. By Varian.'

Strange words were written on the first page of the book. The red characters were eye-catching on the white paper.

Angele had no idea who Varian was, but he must be a strong wizard as his name was written on the first page.

He looked at the sentence for a while but nothing happened.

He then turned the book to the second page.

Again, there was only one sentence written in the center of the paper.

'Feel yourself, gather your power, forge it into your heart and the peaceful river of mind.'

Angele closed his eyes and started checking all the spells he had learned.

His strongest ability was the musical note in the center of his chest. It was the life essence of the scorpion woman from the Nightmare Realm, but he had yet to fully unleash its power.

The petrification ability, the musical note, the Metal Mastery, and the sword combos—these were what helped him the most in recent battles. Pyroblast was a level 2 spell he acquired from Henn, but he had not yet cast it on any living beings.

He also checked all the modified level 1 spells he had already mastered.

Angele opened his eyes. He knew that the book was forcing him to revisit all his abilities. It was probably a requirement for learning the Molten Core River.

He took a deep breath and turned the page again. The third page was covered in Metia characters and some pictures.

These were the instructions on how to practice the technique.

A wizard must first reach the rank 1 Gas state before trying to proceed.

The Molten Core River had a total of 12 stages separated into three main levels: 'Fire', 'Earth', and 'Lava'.

Each of the levels had four stages, though the stages were not given specific names. Angele's spell resistance would increase as he progressed, especially his fire resistance and acid resistance. He would also be able to control the flame after he reached a certain level.

The first level labeled 'Fire' would help him gain control of the flame.

The second level labeled 'Earth' would help him gain control of rocks, mud, and certain minerals.

The third level labeled 'Lava' was the combination of the first two levels, granting him the ability to control lava.

As the third elder, Vivian had already reached the fifth stage of the Molten Core River, the highest in Elemental Hand.

The first stage was relatively easy. The next stages represented the rank of wizards.

Completing the second stage could help a wizard reach rank 1, completing the third stage could help a wizard reach rank 2, and so on.

According to the book, wizards who practiced the technique would be able to reach an unknown rank if they could finish all 12 stages. The ancient wizard's highest rank was 9 which could be accomplished when 10 stages were fully mastered.

Rumors told that the mysterious Molten Core River was found in other realms. An ancient wizard once successfully mastered the 10th stage and reached rank 9. It was an unimaginable rank for modern wizards.

However, the Molten Core River used by the ancient wizards were different. Most of the advanced meditation techniques in the central continent were incomplete and had been modified by the modern wizards in order to make them effective.

Angele looked at the book. He knew that if the Molten Core River worked well for him, he would aim to reach its highest stage.

Chapter 316: Volcanic River (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Imitating what was written in the book as per instructed, Angele slowly closed his eyes and started the meditation process through the runes recorded on the page.

The basics of this meditation technique lay in the imagination and memorization of the specific runes.

Runes were often strange and mysterious. Yet before committing to anything else, he first needed to learn how to pronounce them in his mind.

The 1st stage of the Molten Core River was easier due to it being used to build one's own foundation. The runes at this stage were simple and relatively easy to understand. At the later stages, however, there would then be the appearance of rune circles that were complicated.

There were five runes at the first stage. For an entire day, Angele consistently meditated, and the only type of food he had eaten was meat jerky. Only when the sun started setting did he finally finish comprehending the first rune.

The runes from this advanced meditation technique were different from the regular runes often used in magic circles. Angele must first comprehend the quintessence of the runes before he could memorize them.

Angele had tried to scan the runes and store them into the database initially. However, these mysterious runes had lost their properties upon the transference into his brain and these resulted in looking nearly similar to the universal runes majority of wizards knew of by then.

Due to that, he had to return to the book and memorize the rune himself. He then asked Zero to analyze the runes since he wanted to know the underlying principle of what made those runes so special.

Angele only stayed in his room for several days as he continuously studied the runes of the Molten Core River's 1st stage.

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

Several days later, the dim sunlight shone through the window and illuminated on the wooden floor.

Angele, with his eyes closed, sat by the window still meditating.

'Simulation complete…' The chip's mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his ears.

'Rune No. 1 of Molten Core River's 1st stage has been analyzed. Do you wish to see the report?'

Angele slowly opened his eyes.

'Show me the results.'

*CHI*

A full screen of blue data and graphs was displayed in front of Angele's eyes.

'Rune No. 1 of the 1st Stage of Molten Core River has been analyzed. References used: The Book of the Sage, Fundamentals of Runic Study, Fundamentals of Magic Circle Study, The Book of Maya, Notes from Christina, Laws of Fire Energy Particles…'

Countless titles of wizardry books were displayed alongside it. Such a task that had been done was complicated.

Angele ignored the bits of information that was useless to him and went straight to the results.

'To successfully memorize Rune No. 1 of the 1st stage, you must change the frequency of your mentality wave to 42.3.'

This was the drawn conclusion from the report.

Concentrating, Angele began to think.

He must first comprehend all the runes of the 1st stage before he could completely master it.

It did sound easy, yet it was actually difficult to accomplish. According to Liv, an average Watcher required two months to complete the 1st stage of Molten Core River.

As his own progression was slow, Angele had thought he needed at least four months' time in order to master the first stage, yet the report from the chip brought him hope.

Zero had already completed the task regarding the study of magic matrices, so Angele decided to task the chip to continue analyzing those runes.

'Frequency is 42.3…' Angele repeated this in his mind as he closed his eyes, then he started modifying the frequency of his mentality wave right away.

Through the compiled information from the database, the creation of a frequency scale based on the basic brain waves' frequency was deemed possible to Angele.

Zero's analysis on the rune was based on the number scale he had created. In other words, Angele was the sole person who could use such a unique method to hasten his own progression speed. After all, this had been specifically tailor-made for him and others might not have a similar situation as Angele.

Without the biochip, he would not be able to develop this method by himself.

Time flew by.

While Angele was seated in front of the table, the golden sunlight had gradually faded.

Night fell, and there were birds chirping outside the mansion.

Angele suddenly opened his eyes, and a ray of crimson light flickered on his right hand.

"How is this even possible?" Angele looked at his hand. He could not believe how easy the process had been.

A small portion of his palm turned crimson, which indicated that he had successfully memorized the first rune of the first stage.

Upon looking at the runes on the page, he realized that he could now see the first rune clearly, no longer a blurry shadow.

'Mentality level increasing…Fire resistance increasing…' The chip reported back after detecting the change.

'The chip's analysis will aid me greatly.' Angele looked excited.

'Create task, analyze the second rune of the first stage for me,' he ordered.

'Task created. Collecting data…Data collected…Beginning analysis…' Zero's mechanical voice sounded like a melody in Angele's ears.

'I should have used the chip earlier. I didn't know it could manage to do something like this…' Angele sighed with mixed emotions.

'Wait…I once tried asking Zero to do something similar when I studied the Mask of the Black Wing, yet nothing happened. Maybe it is because I have been studying magic matrices recently?' Angele narrowed his eyes.

The knowledge on magic matrices had indeed assisted the chip to develop a detailed system regarding runic applications. Basic runic studies were used to complete the basics of the advanced meditation techniques. The special energy from the mysterious runes was the reason why Angele could not comprehend those runes from just seeing them.

By altering to the correct mentality wave frequency, Angele's ability to detect this certain special energy had greatly improved and everything suddenly became easier for him. The only problem was he must find the accurate frequency of each rune.

Angele stayed in his room and continued meditating while waiting for the chip to complete the task.

Two hours later.

'Rune No. 2 has been successfully analyzed. You need to change the frequency to 55 and meditate for 3 hours on Rune No. 2.'

After taking a deep breath, Angele changed the frequency once more and began to immediately memorize the second rune upon listening to Zero.

'Without the chip's analysis, I would have had to spend weeks or even months to discover a method…Using Zero will speed up my progression on the advanced meditation techniques significantly. I do not even need to spend months merely trying to comprehend these runes. It seems I have made the right decision.'

There was a gentle smile on Angele's face.

Wizards had their own methods of finding similar tricks to the one given by the chip. However, they would first encounter countless failures before they could find the right one. There were sufficient amounts of information stored in the database. The chip had utilized it well, so it quickly finished its analysis.

After analyzing the first and second runes of the first stage, Zero had collected more data and it could now analyze runes even faster. After the second rune was completed, Angele tasked the chip to analyze the three other runes of the first stage all at the same time.

During the course of the successive week, Angele stayed in his room; the only thing he did was to comprehend the runes.

Liv had been tricked by the illusion at the time when Angele sneaked out of the mansion. Therefore, she stayed right in front of his room for several days. Only after making sure that Angele was training in the Molten Core River did she return to her own room.

One week later, afternoon.

Angele finally stepped out of his room.

He was wearing a dirty black robe and his cheeks now looked thinner than before since he had not had proper meals for days.

A light pink glow had surrounded his eyes causing them to look charming. The pink glow indicated that he had already completed the first stage of Molten Core River.

'I still find it hard to believe that I have finished the first stage so easily…' Angele pursed his lips.

'Check my body condition, Zero,' he ordered.

*CHI*

Detailed information about his body was displayed right in front of his eyes within seconds.

'Angele Rio. Strength, 12.0. Agility, 11.5. Stamina, 16.0. Mentality, 87.6. Mana, 87.2. Genetic limit reached. Healthy.'

'My mentality was around 70 when I started training in the Mask of the Black Wing and it increased to 82 after three years of meditation. However, it increased to 87 in but a week…Molten Core River is likely the best choice for me.' Angele was satisfied with the result.

Furthermore, with his mentality compression technique, he could still hide his true mentality wave. Other wizards would not be able to probe any changes to his mentality wave without resorting to the use of certain spells. Angele's mentality wave did not change too much after mastering the first stage of Molten Core River.

Angele completely mastered the first stage in a month, which was faster than the Watchers. Due to his body having far too many secrets and him not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, he needed the mentality compression method to help him stay out of trouble.

'Based on the instructions, I need a specific environment and certain materials to help me complete the second stage. The problem is, the ancient bloodline has changed the properties of my body and the materials Vivian has prepared for me are useless. I myself will have to search for the things I need.' Angele frowned as he thought.

Zero analyzed his body and told him the requirements in order the completely master the second stage.

First, Angele must soak his body in a river filled with poison and fire energy particles.

Second, he must absorb at least ten specimens' amount of flames from Flame Scorpions.

Chapter 317: Volcanic River (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

If Angele could find a poisonous river that was filled with fire energy particles, the second requirement would be easily fulfilled as the flame scorpions usually lived in places like that.

Angele noticed that although completing the second stage of the Molten Core River would help a wizard reach rank 1, it was much easier than the universal method that was used on the west coast.

He had done no few amount of thorough preparation and even resorted to drinking a number of nasty potions before he was able to meet the requirements to advance to become a rank 1 wizard. Training using an advanced meditation technique was one of the reasons why there were so many formal wizards in the central continent.

'A poisonous body of water that has fire energy particles…Within Elemental Hand's territory, only the volcanic river known as Nash fits the requirements.' Angele checked the map stored on the chip and formulated this conclusion.

This volcanic river was located on the other side of the Bass River. Albeit not far, it would still take him two days to reach that place.

'Well, it is not as if this is a secret mission or anything of that sort. I should probably head there with Liv so that Vivian would not be worried about me.' Angele made up his mind and headed to Liv's laboratory on the ground floor.

*Thud thud*

He knocked on the door several times.

"Angele? It's late. What happened?" Liv's voice came from inside the door.

"I want to go to the volcanic river. The fire particles in that place will greatly help in my meditation. Do you want to go with me? I plan to leave tomorrow." Angele went straight to the point.

"Sure." Opening the door, Liv looked at Angele. She was currently wearing a translucent, white nightgown which was quite revealing.

Angele was not interested in her body since he did not like Liv's characteristics after observing her ever since the time of his first dealings with her.

Liv was indeed a powerful female wizard but was stubborn and fragile. She hated losing. In fact, she had never told anyone of the sparring session she had with Angele.

"Wait a second. I thought Vivian had a fire orb prepared for you. Have you tried that yet?" Liv asked. "All the wizards who trains in Molten Core River need those fire orbs. They are great."

"I have already tried using the fire orb, but it was not effective. And I don't really need those red dragon roots. I think, areas which contain concentrated fire energy particles will help in my progression instead. I have my own plans. Do not worry about it," Angele replied in a relaxed tone. "Just get prepared. We will leave tomorrow."

"All right then. I will arrange everything so that we can leave by tomorrow." Liv did not ask too many questions.

"Ah, one more thing. Master Shozo's dinner party will be held in the evening next Sunday. Make sure to check your messages."

Angele, hesitant for a moment, raised his right hand.

A flaming red eagle-shaped rune appeared on his fingernails.

A clear voice echoed in his ears.

"Next Sunday, 8 o'clock in the evening. The party will be held in Rofo City. Make sure to be there on time. Master Shozo said you are the main guest." It was Seth.

Angele had long forgotten about such matters during the time of his meditation. He had deactivated the communication rune at that time in order for him to stay focused.

He activated the rune once again only after Liv reminded him of the party. Seth's message was received only about two days ago.

"All right, thanks. I almost forgot about it." Angele rubbed his temples. "Good night."

"Good night." Liv turned around and slammed the door shut.

Angele was slightly flabbergasted. He then left Liv's room and went upstairs heading to his own bedroom.

'The volcanic river isn't so far away from Rofo City. I can first head to the volcanic river, then attend the part in Rofo City after. It should be fine.' Angele had everything planned in his mind. 'The Poison Cloud Potion is almost complete, too. I need to submit it to the Dark Wizard Tower. The rewards better be good as I spent years on that.'

He had not talked to Henn ever since their last conversation. It seemed that the mission failing had been a wake-up call for her. She had realized that hatred was taking over her mind already, so she decided to calm down for a bit. Henn's archenemy would always be the female wizard, Arisma.

It seemed like she had something important to take care of, but Angele had no idea what it was.

Angele was not concerned about Henn's machinations since the Molten Core River was more important to him. He had enough level 2 spell models and he wanted to increase his mentality to 120. Moreover, he needed to infuse his mentality with elements.

Angele had not yet decided on which level two magic circle to use, but completing the second stage of Molten Core River was his priority at the moment.

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

Three days later…

South of the Bass River.

The volcanic river.

The peak of the Nash Mountain was covered with a vibrant grassland and looked like a piece of green paper with an enormous hole in the center.

A long, green river lay quietly within the deep hole.

The water was clean, and it looked like a piece of translucent emerald. The only strange thing was the smoke rising from the river.

The sky was covered with thick clouds. A small group of black dots was slowly approaching the top of the mountain and they looked like some type of bird.

Ten minutes later, the black dots started landing. It was a group of humongous black eagles and there were people in black robes sitting on their backs.

*PA*

The eagles landed beside the deep hole on top of the mountain safely.

The black robes jumped off the backs of the eagles one by one and started checking the surroundings.

The black robe in the lead removed his hood revealing an average-looking face. He had short brown hair, and there was a silver glint on the surface of his skin. It was Angele, with a light red glow surrounding his eyes.

The other black robes removed their hoods as well. Liv was standing on the left side of Angele and a bald man with a cold expression was on the right.

"This is the place?" Angele glanced around and questioned in a light tone, "This is the volcanic river?"

"Yeah, that's it." Liv nodded slightly. "Hakeem is familiar with the area."

The bald man forced a strange smile on his face. "Master Angele, let me introduce the area to you. There are many flame scorpions and lizards here. They can be dangerous if they catch you off guard. We'll be safe if we don't attack them first. Also, the mist over the river is extremely poisonous. If your resistance is low, I would suggest you stay away from the river. The lizards and scorpions will attack if you're injured by the poison mist."

Angele nodded slightly after hearing the explanation.

"Is there someone else here? I detected the mentality waves of other wizards."

"Yes. The eggs of the lizards are valuable, wizards come here often for them. I think those wizards are from some small families," Hakeem responded quickly.

He was a strong rank 2 wizard from the Watchers, so Liv asked the headquarter to send the man to protect Angele. There were also six rank 1 wizards at the Crystal stage in the escorting team and were all members of the Watchers.

Hakeem also brought Angele an item sent by Vivian. A small ruby ring that was enchanted by the third elder herself. The ring was a high-quality enchanted item that had strong defensive abilities.

Due to the events happened several years ago, Angele encountered several years ago, Vivian would send a force with him if he wanted to leave the mansion area.

"Alright, let's go to the volcanic river then. I need to capture ten flame scorpions, but you don't have to help me." Angele turned around and looked at the wizards.

"Our mission is to protect you and follow your orders," a female wizard in front responded.

"Masha and Golan, go search for the flame scorpions. Greenland, use your spider webs after finding those creatures!"

"Yes, captain!" the wizards responded quickly, seemingly showing how they were well-trained.

Greenland left the team with three other wizards and started searching the area around the river. Masha and Golan took out two black scrolls and started invoking incantations.

White light flashed upon the scrolls and countless black insects appeared from nowhere. They moved past the wizards and left the place immediately.

Hakeem walked to Angele and explained in a light tone, "This is a special insect trained by the Watchers. They reproduce extremely fast and they can detect the energy waves released by the mutated creatures easily."

"Sounds great." Angele nodded and waited at his original position patiently.

Time flew quickly, about half an hour later.

"Ah!"

He suddenly heard someone screaming in the front.

"What happened?!" the female captain shouted. The volume of her voice had been increased by the energy particles.

The wizards that left the team reported back immediately using communication runes.

The female captain's expression turned serious. She walked to Angele quickly after checking the messages.

"Master Angele, it seems like we came here at a bad time. There is an unknown number of wizards from several different families that have already stayed at the peak of the mountain for several months and it seems like they're searching for something. A wizard I sent out captured one of their members and that was what his message said."

"Huh?" Angele was a bit surprised. "That's interesting. What are the backgrounds of those families?"

"You're an important member of Elemental Hand and they're just members of the families outside the major city. Don't worry," the female captain answered.

Liv chuckled as she stepped forward. "Well, I heard someone found a ruin that was filled with treasure several months ago and it seems like people really came here for that...The rumor may be real, otherwise, they won't stay here for so long."

"Treasures?" Angele was not interested. Vivian could supply him with most of the materials he needed, and he doubted if the treasures were valuable. "Whatever, let's just mind our own business."

"Sure." The female captain nodded. A red rune flashed on the back of her right hand, and she sent the order to the wizards immediately.

Several minutes later, a black robe ran to the captain quickly with a man in his arms.

There were several small forests around the deep hole in the center and Angele also found another mountain on the other side. The two mountains were connected by a narrow platform.

He could see the sea of dark green trees on top of the other mountain.

It seems like the black robe captured the man from the forest on the other side.

Chapter 318: Secret Treasure (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Angele watched on as the wizard walked to him, then he glanced at the surrounding people.

"Well, I will leave things to you in dealing with the wizard we have captured. Let us just mind our own business," he ordered.

"All right." Nodding in response, Liv retrieved a few crystal bones from her pouch. She formed a large circle as she placed the bones on the ground.

Hakeem drew his sword and walked to the side in order to make sure that no one was spying on their group.

The female captain was waiting for her subordinates to report back. She immediately raised her head upon receiving the report.

"We have successfully captured Flame Scorpions, master Angele."

"Bring them here." Angele slightly nodded.

"Yes."

The female captain then passed on the message to her subordinates and deactivated the communication rune afterward.

"They will be here in ten minutes." She looked at Angele.

Angele stood by the deep pit as he patiently waited for their arrival.

The chilling wind at the peak of the mountain continuously blew across his long black robe, but the intense heatwaves coming from the river never stopped either.

The experience was similar to being in an open-air hot spring during winter.

The subordinate wizards returned precisely ten minutes after, coming from three different directions. The Flame Scorpions they had captured had all been tied up with glowing red ropes.

Meanwhile, one of them was carrying two burnt corpses of human-like shape.

They bowed to Angele altogether when they arrived.

"Master, we have captured a total of eleven Flame Scorpions. Please take a look," one of the black robes reported.

After responding with a nod, Angele walked to these scorpions, crouching as he began to inspect their shells.

These Flame Scorpions looked identical to a typical red scorpion. However, it was much larger and better-looking. Its shell looked similar to a neat set of red metal armor.

They were neither struggling nor moving in the slightest bit, as it seemed as if their strength had been sapped by the red ropes.

Angele pressed on the shell of one with a certain amount of force; it was harder than he thought. His strength should be great, yet he failed to cause the shell to crack with his bare hand.

Furthermore, when he approached these scorpions, he could smell a strange fragrance in the air.

The subordinate wizards had all the scorpions lined up in front of Angele. Each of them was more than one and a half meters long.

"Wake them up." Angele stood up.

"By all means." One wizard stepped forth and took out a tiny black bottle filled with gray dust, then he slowly sprinkled the dust over the scorpions.

The dust's stench was that of chili powder's.

After several seconds, the Flame Scorpions started moving around again.

"Hiss…Hisssss…" They began making noises right after being awoken.

"Are they sentient?" Angele creased his forehead upon asking.

"They should not be but perhaps they have their own means of communication," Liv explained.

"Well, do any of you knows how to communicate with them?" Angele trailed his eyes over his surroundings.

No one answered. Wizards of the Watchers were all elites. None of them would stoop so low just to learn how to communicate with low-level creatures. For them, learning the language used by these low-level creatures was but a waste of time and effort.

"I am sorry, but…" Hakeem stepped forward and spoke with a voice filled with contempt, "since we are wizards, those creatures are not worth our time. I would rather spend the time communicating with a mortal."

"Fine." Angele nodded. "Let me just slay them and then…"

"Wait!" A weak male voice came interrupting from one side.

The man's voice drew everyone's attention.

It belonged to the formerly unconscious wizard that had been brought back by one of the Watchers.

He was wearing gray clothes with luxurious decorations and looked like a noble belonging to a decent family. His blonde hair, however, was messy due to him having been carried to this place without any prior knowledge.

The man looked at Angele with a nervous expression.

"Master! I can communicate with those Flame Scorpions!"

"You?" Angele was initially planning on questioning the man later, yet the man woke up earlier than he had expected.

"I have a favor to ask of you, then. Tell them to do my bidding and to release a flame breath. Can you do that?" he asked.

"Sure…no problem…" The man's face soon turned pale but still responded immediately, "My name is Lance, by the way, Lance Spender."

"I am not interested in your name, but if you can indeed communicate with the scorpions for me…" Angele interrupted him while walking to the river. "Well, I will return later."

One of the Watchers sprinkled some black liquid on Lance and merely left him together with the scorpions. Angele then soon headed to the volcanic river quickly. His group continued to follow after him.

They arrived at the river after several minutes.

The rippling water was clear; Angele could even see a school of small red fish swimming between the green watergrass underwater.

Angele could feel the heatwaves brushing over his face and notice the dense, sulfuric stench coming from the steam.

He narrowed his eyes and crouched beside the river. The dark mud under his feet was also smoking hot.

He could feel the intense heat coming from beneath his boots.

Angele stayed calm, then he placed his right hand into the water from the river and scooped some of it.

Countless tiny green specks of light were floating on the water surface, of which they looked similar to that of strange spores.

Blue dots of light flashed in front of Angele's eyes. Several seconds later, the color of the light-dots had been replaced by red color.

*CHI*

Every green spore in the water soon amassed into the center of his palm then sank into his skin with but a few seconds, like a swarm of terrifying insects burrowing deep into one's own skin.

Angele's expression immediately changed. He quickly swung his hand in order to get rid of the river's water. He then pursed his lips as soon as Zero reported back.

"Build a camp here and guard me for three days. Arrange the time and food yourselves. I will be staying in the river!" he suddenly bellowed.

"Master, there might be dangerous creatures underwater. Lizards and scorpions could live in the river due to them knowing how to swim." The female captain took a step forward and advised him, "We can instead create a safe zone by the river. Then you can stay in the water within the safe zone. What do you think?"

"Sure, sounds great." Angele nodded.

"All right."

She nodded as well and walked to the river.

"Vegas…" She suddenly raised her hands and pointed at the water.

Countless red energy particles gathered between her hands and formed into a bird made of red energy.

*Twitter*

The bird's voice was clear and cute-sounding. It left the female captain's hands and started flying around above the river, leaving a trail of red energy particles behind.

The energy particles soon accumulated altogether within the area and formed a semicircle-shaped encirclement beside the shore. After finishing its job, the red bird returned to the female captain. It landed on her left shoulder while beginning to groom itself with its beak.

"It is done, master," the captain politely reported to Angele.

"Thanks." Angele looked at the surface of the volcanic river.

Three Watchers stayed above the deep pit to build their camp. Meanwhile, the remaining five Watchers were just standing behind the female captain. Nearby the river there was no plantation of any sort, only dark mud.

"All right, you can start patrolling the area now." Once Angele finished his words, he stepped forth.

*Blop*

He jumped into the river soaking nearly every part of his body, except for his head which stayed above the water.

The white steam which contained sulfur was making Angele's eyes ache, so he had to close them. The temperature of the water and his mouth becoming dry was making him nervous.

The green spores in the river continuously seeped into his skin. They looked similar to tiny insects and they never stopped moving.

Angele breathed deeply to calm down. He stood in the water silently, which nearly looked like he was merely taking a bath.

Liv stood beside the safe zone and yawned.

"I have seen someone else utilize water which contained fire particles to assist in their meditation, yet Angele decides to use the poisonous water in the volcanic river instead…The green dots in the water is the live poison and will try to infect his body. Well, if he can handle the pain, this will help to further hasten his progression greatly."

"Master Liv, are you perhaps referring to master Shozo? I think he did something similar before." Hakeem was sitting on a boulder behind Liv. "Master Angele's mentality wave is relatively weak for his rank. It seems he is using a technique to shroud his true power."

"Angele is attempting to complete the first stage, I think. Ha, he should have comprehended the runes not so long ago. He must have acquired this type of method from master Vivian." Liv shook her head. "All right, let us just wait patiently. Three days will pass in a blink of an eye."

Hakeem chuckled, and closing his eyes, he started meditating.

Three days flew by quickly.

Wizards had a long life expectancy, so they did not usually bother too much with the time they had spent.

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

Three days later.

*Rumble*

Lightning crackled in the sky and illuminated the peak of the mountain, followed by the booming sound of thunder.

The entire time, the sky was blanketed by thick clouds. The only source of light was the lightning which occasionally struck from time to time.

The howling wind, combined with the noises coming from the dancing trees from the other side, generated a terrifying sound.

In the safe zone of the volcanic river.

Angele soon opened his eyes gradually. Dots of red light were constantly flashing around his forehead.

He could feel that his body had been filled with strange energy, which was simultaneously hot and cold.

Angele opened his mouth and exhaled once slowly.

*Ha*

His breath seemed to contain the stench of the dense sulfur.

*Splash*

Angele started moving toward the shore slowly.