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Chapter 337: The Second Body (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Angele would feel greatly delighted if his hypothesis turned out to be correct.

Blue light flashed in his eyes.

'Zero, create task. Check if you can search the name of the creature in front of me from the database.'

'Task created…Checking…Data found…Matching the characteristics…completed…Possible names: 2.'

'Show me the names.' Angele was excited upon finally advancing to the next rank, but he was currently more interested in his second body.

Zero did not immediately respond. For some reason, the biochip somehow hung up.

'Warning…Loading failed…Checking…Searching for errors…Unknown bug detected…System update initialized…'

It was a familiar warning message. Every time the chip found a new update, the message would pop up.

Angele had already advanced to rank 2 and successfully infused his mentality with the elements, so the biochip started to have a new update. This time's situation was a tad different, however. Usually, it would only take seconds for Zero to complete the update.

His body condition was soon slowly displayed in front of his eyes.

'Angele Rio: Strength, 12.0. Agility, 11.5. Stamina, 16.0. Mentality, 123.7. Mana, 57.2. Genetic limitation reached. Healthy.'

Angele's mentality had increased significantly, from approximately 90 units to 123 units, through the usage of the energy conversion magic circle.

The only drawback of him infusing his mentality with fire energy particles was that he could no longer cast any other elemental category spells apart from fire category, or he needed to discover a way to infuse the spells with fire energy particles. Nevertheless, all his fire category spells' power and area of effect would be tremendously improved.

He could still activate his bloodline signet as always since it would not be affected by the changes in his mentality.

Angele started observing the bird that was flying around in the center of the magic circle while he waited for the system update to be completed. He was trying to compare it with the creatures he knew of.

"It certainly looks like the Phoenix…" This was his initial impression.

The Molten Core River technique itself seemed to form his second body basing on his soul pattern and personality.

In other words, the bird most likely had similar characteristics that of Angele's ancestor. It was not simply a second body randomly created from the advanced meditation technique.

Angele's mother was said to be a tree elf, but it was possible that his ancestor was a phoenix.

Interestingly enough, there was another name for the Molten Core River technique's second body—Ancestral Spirit.

His Ancestral Spirit had its own physical form. Even though it could be kept within Angele in order to sustain it, it still needed to be fed with food and water.

Angele found a few 'nutritious' worms and grass and placed them in front of the bird.

The bird only glanced at the food for a moment before turning its head away, indicating that it did not like the food he had given to it.

Angele noticed that there was a red scorpion mark on the bird's forehead, identical to the one he had.

The bird suddenly stretched out its wings and started singing. It spun several times as it sang as though it was dancing.

It completely ignored Angele and only continued singing and dancing.

'Don't tell me that is my true personality…'

As Angele continued to observe the bird as it moved, he felt confused.

The bird was completely engrossed in its own voice that it even had a satisfied look on its face. It then raised its wings and slightly shook its head.

Somehow the bird was not interested in Angele and the food he provided in the slightest.

Goosebumps arose from Angele's skin. He immediately checked the information related to Ancestral Spirits.

'One's Ancestral Spirit will manifest the true thoughts of its owner through its behavior. It neither has a soul nor is it intelligent. If the owner does not learn to properly control their Ancestral Spirit. It will only act on its own instincts.'

Angele was rendered speechless as he looked at the dancing bird again after checking the information.

The red bird started to groom itself with its beak after it finished dancing and singing, just like how a narcissist would.

Angele pursed his lips. He could not believe that the bird's instinctual behavior represented his true personality.

This bird looked like a narcissistic person who only cared about their own self.

"Well, let me try to manipulate the bird." The scene was too unbearable to watch. Angele sent his mentality into the bird.

Angele felt like he had two bodies that could be controlled at the same time.

However, the mentality he sent out into the bird's body did not seem to be enough.

The red bird started singing again…

*BAM*

"What the hell!" Angele stumbled two steps backward and smashed into the wall. White dust had fallen to the floor. Angele knew something was not right, but he had realized this too late.

It was not a pleasant experience. He had failed to gain full control of his Ancestral Spirit.

Soon finally, Zero's system update had been completed and the chip immediately reported back.

'Update complete. System checks complete. Continuing task. Do you want to see the result?' The familiar mechanical voice echoed in Angele's ears.

'Yes.' Angele took a deep breath and left the bird alone.

'Ancestral Spirit of Molten Core River. Possible matches of the creature: (1) Five-colored Phoenix: A red bird that has the head of a goose. Special ability: Rebirth by fire. The bird enjoys singing and dancing and does not like to be controlled.'

Angele shook his head and looked at the red bird in annoyance.

"Well, at least it might be a phoenix…"

He looked at the information again.

'Possible matches of the creature: (2) Sun: Five-colored Phoenix's sister. A golden bird that only lives in certain areas and feeds on specific types of food. It must be fed with high-quality food and spring water.'

"Wait…now I am confused…" Angele was speechless. He had initially thought that the bird somehow acquired a soul, but the bird seemed to be acting by its own instinct.

"This is my true personality…?" Angele could not believe that he might be one selfish narcissist that sang and danced.

"They are both related to the Phoenix. Guess I will just name it Phoenix." Angele immediately decided.

Although the bird's voice was not ear-friendly, it was impossible for him to modify the appearance of his Ancestral Spirit.

"Whatever, let me just keep it within my body for now." Angele grabbed the red bird and pushed it into his chest. The bird turned into a ball of flames and sank into his body.

It was a special characteristic of the Molten Core River technique. One's Ancestral Spirit could live within the owner's body and be summoned instantly.

Angele resolved himself not to summon it in front of others temporarily. He wanted to learn more about its abilities and learn how to fully control it first. Otherwise, the people who would see the bird would just laugh at him.

He definitely would never admit that the bird's instinctual behavior represented his true personality.

Angele calmed down and started cleaning the room.

He walked to the broken window and looked outside after everything was done.

The morning sunlight reflected on the surface of the river. There were several tiny fairies that looked like dragonflies flying above the water.

The fairies had translucent wings and bodies that usually lived near bodies of water around the Nightmare Realm.

Angele had never caught any of them. The fairies' body was not formed out of energy particles or physical materials, and they could only be seen in the morning. Moreover, their appearances would change every single day, so it was impossible for Angele to know whether the ones he saw yesterday were the same ones he was looking at.

'It must be a natural phenomenon just like thunder and lightning,' Angele thought.

He slowly raised his hands and formed a ball of lava between his palms. The lava ball was crimson and covered in cracks that had golden lava moving within.

This was the special ability Lyn had demonstrated to him back on the mountain. After mastering the third stage, he could now release a lava ball the size of a head that dealt area damage.

'Lava Ball. Effective range: Within a radius of 10 meters. Average area damage: 134 degrees.' Zero scanned the lava ball and reported back.

Wizards who were training in the Molten Core River technique would focus on training their Ancestral Spirit after fully mastering the third stage. Ancestral Spirits of different wizards had different special abilities. They needed enough time to figure everything out.

There was no point for Angele to learn new spells after completely mastering the third stage. If he could strengthen his Ancestral Spirit, he would be able to acquire different fire-related abilities that did not require any incantation.

In the later stages of the Molten Core River technique, Angele would be able to gain more special abilities by mastering the successive stages and training his Ancestral Spirit. For wizards who trained in this technique, their ultimate goal was to give up their physical forms and contain their own souls into their Ancestral Spirit so that they could become the mythical creatures of the legends, creatures that had an infinite lifespan.

This was why the Molten Core River technique was considered as one of the strongest advanced meditation techniques.

Angele thought for a while and turned away, then he wiped off the dust from his robe sat down with his legs crossed.

He soon decided to check what special abilities the bird had.

Under normal circumstances, Ancestral Spirits were intrinsically born with one or two special abilities. The Phoenix was a mythical creature of the legends. Angele believed that the bird would not disappoint him.

Chapter 338: Nightmare and Chaos (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Angele closed his eyes and silently remained seated right in the middle of the room. Blue light continued to flicker beneath his eyelids.

'Checking body condition…'

'Listing data…'

'Checking the Ancestral Spirit's condition…Listing data…'

Several minutes later, two information-filled message boxes were displayed right in front of Angele's perception.

His own information was displayed on the left and Phoenix's information was displayed on the right.

Right then, Angele noticed that there was another piece of information below his.

'Physical attributes no longer increased after advancement. Limit already reached.' His physical attributes had increased by a huge margin during the time he was using the cursed scimitar to absorb life energy. Angele seemed to have reached the physical attributes' limit of a rank 2 wizard. Only his mentality level was increased significantly.

Phoenix's information, on the other hand, was simpler and easier to comprehend.

'Phoenix. Special Characteristic – Elemental Form. Strength, 2.0. Agility, 3.0. Mentality, 0.'

'Talent Skill(s): Rebirth by Fire (Revive from your heart after death. Cooldown: 30 days). Eagle Eye (Scouting skill, Phoenix has a large field of vision).'

That was it.

Angele had already known that the initial form of the Ancestral Spirit was weak and useless, but this kind of result was way too disappointing for him. The talent skill could be considered 'powerful' only when it could gain the capability to assist him in battles.

He slowly stood up from the floor after pondering for a while.

Raising his arms, Angele checked his both of his armpits and saw one dark-red rune on each flashing.

'This means I have successfully acquired the special ability from the third stage of Molten Core River. Two runes indicate that I can release two lava balls at the same time.' Angele was not at all surprised by this.

The special ability took up the talent spell slot Angele had acquired from his advancement in rank. This was a common problem with all advanced meditation techniques of present time and the magic circle required to be engraved on the surface of one's mentality crystal was the main reason.

In order to further make progress with the meditation techniques he was training in, Angele would have to engrave the required magic circles onto the mentality crystals.

Most of these magic circles were used to aid wizards in modifying their bodies. The special abilities they acquired were but merely a bonus given to them as they further progressed onto the meditation technique they were training in.

Wizards who trained in the same advanced meditation technique would have the exact same special abilities, though the power that could be released would vary.

For examples, wizards who had completely mastered the third stage of the Molten Core River technique would be able to release lava balls, as this special ability was considered as a Talent Spell. Although it would increase their fire resistance by a certain amount, it was still weaker than a few powerful talent spells.

This was considered as the Achilles' heel of this advanced meditation technique, but this could also be its unique characteristic.

Angele could release two lava balls at the same time so wizards who had mastered the third stage of the Molten Core River technique should be able to do the same.

He lowered his arms and seriously contemplated regarding this matter.

"So I learned a spell that can be cast without any incantation and my fire resistance has increased. Nothing else has changed. Well, it will now become easier for me to learn level 2 spells…"

He checked his body condition again but meticulously.

His attributes had already increased to great heights with the aid of the cursed scimitar. Advancing to the next rank only increased his mentality.

The cost of casting level 2 spells had also been reduced after he had successfully infused his mentality with fire energy particles.

Angele knew two level 2 spells, both of which had come from Henn.

Pyroblast and Eye of Fire.

Angele recalled that day when he had a long conversation with Vivian by the riverside.

He learned of the fact that wizards above rank 2, especially those who trained in advanced meditation techniques, did not rely too much on instant-cast spells and special abilities during battles.

They would rather use magic circles or magic devices instead.

Defensive high-level enchanted items would automatically be activated if its wielder were to face a perilous situation. Meanwhile, high-rank wizards would often use magic devices to buy time so that they could prepare their most powerful spells.

For that reason, Angele realized that he must find a magic device suitable for himself.

He organized the entire data and information.

Angele now had a general notion of his present circumstances.

It was noon at present. Angele walked downstairs and ate food.

Afterwards, Angele opened the door and stepped outside the mansion.

There were no beetles or mutated creatures at daytime in the Nightmare Realm. It looked exactly the same as the real world albeit the fact the he was the only human being in this realm.

Angele had stayed inside the mansion for too long already, so he decided to explore a few of the nearby areas.

However, he must first make preparations in case anything unfortunate happens.

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

*Kata Kata*

Wearing his black boots, Angele stepped on dried branches within the forest.

The forest trees had large, green leaves. The golden sunlight pierced through the gaps between the tree leaves and shone on the ground.

Angele was wearing a brown leather suit with his sleeves rolled up which showed an eye-catching, dark-red armband on his right arm. In both of his hands were two baselards.

The blades of the baselards reflected the sunlight.

He proceeded slowly with caution. The mansion was right behind him at a small distance away.

*WOO*

The gentle wind brushed along the tree leaves. Angele did not see any birds or insects.

For about half an hour, he had continued to walk in the forest.

Soon, through the gaps between the trees, Angele saw a gray building up ahead.

It was a mushroom-like building that had opened doors and windows that were shaking in the wind.

Angele's countenance changed. He advanced several steps before he finally got a clear view of the building.

Several mushroom-like buildings had been built on the open area just a small distance ahead. Most of them were broken.

There was a white obelisk in the middle of these mushroom-like buildings.

The doors of the buildings were opened, yet he did not hear anything making any noise.

The place was cozy and peaceful as the sun gave light and warmth to it.

Angele used the stealth technique he had and walked towards these mushroom-like buildings.

He looked around these buildings but did not see anything inside. The only sound he could hear was generated by the wind blowing.

Angele headed towards the white obelisk. Writings—or rather, runic writings—could be seen engraved on the surface of the obelisk.

While the sun provided warmth, the wind was freezingly cold. Moreover, it carried with it the stench of decay and dust.

About ten minutes later, Angele finally arrived right in front of the obelisk.

The white obelisk had dimensions of about two meters in height and one meter in width and a surface covered in complicated runic writings and strings.

Angele surveyed the surroundings using his biochip and made sure that no one else was around before he started checking the runic writings on the obelisk.

These runic writings looked like tiny men executing various poses and looked like bizarre paintings.

When he looked at the bottom part of the obelisk, he finally found several writings that had been written in a language he could understand.

It was the language of the Chaos Domain.

It told, "19/52, A riot occurred in Moses and a plague has struck the mushroom city. All residents have died due to the plague. Only the…"

Parts of the writings had been erased.

Angele then skipped the incomplete portion as he continued to read.

"21/02, Morphia has finally returned. This has brought us pain and nightmares, but I know the world will soon descend into the shadows and our hope taken away from us…"

"02/78, All cities where there were once living beings have been destroyed. The entire world is about to end, and everything now belongs to Morphia."

"I cannot believe we are still alive! All hail the chaos. Morphia's strength is failing. I must bring the good news to Ian!"

The several successive sentences had also been erased.

Angele frowned. He skipped this part of the writings again and continued to read.

"I do not know how many days have passed…10 days? 20 days? 50 days? 1 year? Morphia is dead. Now, the world is filled with monsters and mutated creatures…I do not know if I can complete my research…"

"My dearest friends, if you are reading this, that means we must have all died. The obelisks in the cities will record everything that has happened until at this moment. I can feel that I am about to return to Mother Iicolin's embrace ten minutes from now. My friends, you must persevere in this collapsed world. Hide yourselves well, you are our last hope…Night falls, danger comes…"

The last part of the writings had nearly been covered by dark mud as it had been written at the bottommost part of the obelisk.

Angele slowly stood up.

"Looks like the Nightmare Realm was once an inhabited realm but something unfortunate occurred…then the realm turned into this mysterious and dangerous realm."

He checked the surroundings again.

Still no movement coming from within the mushroom buildings.

"'Night falls, danger comes…'" Angele knew exactly what it was referring to.

He walked around the white obelisk.

There were some faint bloodstains on the other side of the obelisk.

It looked as though someone else's blood had splashed onto the obelisk.

Angele looked around and found more bloodstains several meters away from it.

Narrowing his eyes, he walked to the second bloodstain he found. Angele slowed down his breathing and tried not to create any noise.

He soon discovered a trail of bloodstains around the corner, one that might lead to revelations that could answer all his questions.

The blood must have dried up centuries ago since there was no fishy smell at all.

Chapter 339: Nightmare and Chaos (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Angele followed the blood trail and soon arrived at one particular white mushroom-like building.

The windows and doors had long been destroyed. The light coming from outside poured in and gave light to the interior.

It shined on the floor.

Angele cautiously entered the room; his skin was engulfed with a thin layer of metal. Due to the metallic glint in his body, it made him look like a metal man.

The room was small. Several wooden chairs could be found lying on the floor.

On the wall was a painting of a family portrait which seemed to belong to a family of three. A happy family of which there were the husband and wife and their cute, blonde daughter seated in their arms. She had a sweet smile on her face.

All of them wore gray hunting suits. They looked exactly the same as the human beings in the main world.

Angele had decided to refer to the real world as 'main world' so that it would become easier for Zero to compile and organize the database. However, the human beings in the Nightmare Realm seemed to be identical to the ones in the main world.

He walked towards it and brushed off the dust aside.

*KA*

The painting loosened and leaned down. Only a nail remained on the white wall.

Angele lowered his hands and glanced around.

There was a large bed beside the tables and chairs. A white blanket had covered two corpses that now looked like mummies. Their dried-up arms and feet looked like decaying branches.

Angele walked to the bed and removed the blanket.

The stench coming from the corpses rushed into his nose.

Blue light flashed in the pupil of his eyes. Angele stepped back several steps and covered his nose with his hand, staring at the corpses.

"Huh?" That was when he noticed something peculiar as he looked at the gaps between the two corpses.

There was a girl in dirty clothes slumbering quietly in her parents' arms.

There were hints of blondeness among her gray hair. She was wearing a black shirt and black pants and no footwear.

The girl looked absolutely nothing like the one on the painting. Her skin was gray.

She was holding a black object in her arms. It looked like a cracked human skull.

Angele scanned the girl using the biochip and walked near to her. He tapped the girl's face with the baselard in his right hand.

*CHI*

A black blade was swung toward Angele's legs.

The girl was grasping a hunting blade tight in her hand. Clearly, it was her who attacked Angele.

*CLANK*

The baselard collided with the hunting blade.

The girl could not withstand such force. She grunted and rolled backward, only stopping after smashing against the wall.

"Ah!" the girl screamed. Dark-colored blood was leaking out of her eyes and ears. The rotten stench in the air thickened even more.

The girl leaned against the wall and glared at Angele. A greater amount of blood was leaking out of her eyes as her screams became louder.

The sound waves turned into transparent energy waves that spread out to all angles.

Angele frowned. He raised the baselard high in the air and slashed downwards.

*CHIN*

The baselard increased its length until it reformed into a silver longsword with a blade more than two meters long. The girl's head was cut in half.

The screams finally stopped.

The girl's body fell to the ground unmoving. Angele soon noticed that there was no skull in her head. It only looked like an empty ball.

Angele walked to the girl's body and crouched beside her. He pulled a necklace down her neck.

It was an eye-shaped, wooden-carved necklace hung on a string.

'I thought she was still alive. Oh well…' Angele stood up. 'They must be the victims of that plague that had been recorded on the obelisk.'

Angele turned the girl's body to the other side with his sword. The necklace should be the only valuable thing she had. The cracked skull was not an enchanted item.

He cleaned the blade of the sword and stepped out of the building.

*Kata Kata*

Angele heard intense footsteps coming from one mushroom-like building on the right.

He hesitated for a second before he rushed to that building immediately.

There was a man in black behind that building but he quickly disappeared into the corner.

Angele held the sword tight and quickly turned around at a corner. The man in black was still running forward.

He raised his left hand and released a silver string, barring that man's path.

The man stopped immediately and turned around.

He had his entire body shrouded in a black cloak and was wearing a pair of strange, dark sunglasses. None of his skin was exposed.

The man was around 1.6 meters tall, shorter than Angele. The man looked at Angele and started to slowly flee. He seemed to be scared.

"Are you a survivor?" Angele narrowed his eyes and asked in the unfamiliar Chaos language.

Speaking in the Chaos language sounded like a male and female speaking at the same time. The words were extremely hard to pronounce.

The man was both surprised and excited at the same time upon listening to Angele speak.

His body started trembling.

"Molasuxiliyeji?" he suddenly replied as he looked at Angele.

"Yehu! Thjjlinan!" He was trying to communicate with Angele.

"You don't understand the Chaos language?" Angele was confused.

"Gofanliya?" the man tried to communicate using another language.

"What do you mean?" Angele pointed at his lips and waved his hands.

"Who…are you?" Finally, the man began to speak in the universal ancient language, but it was a bit strange.

"Don't repeat my words…only those mutated freaks do that!" He sounded nervous.

"Me? I am…only a hermit. My house is in a remote area. I decided to take a stroll and you are the first person I met." Angele quickly made up a random story and introduced himself in the ancient language.

"A hermit…?" The man's voice was deep. "I am the only survivor in this town." He was slowly getting used to communicating in the ancient language.

"Can we find a safe place and have a short talk? I am not sure what is going on right now. I have just been attacked by a strange girl several minutes ago." The silver string returned to Angele's body.

"Definitely." The man nodded and inspected Angele. Several seconds later, he sighed in relief.

"Did you apply something to your skin? It is silver. I have to cover my entire body…"

"Yes, I was wondering…" Angele hesitated. "Why did you dress up like this?"

"You do not know about them?! They will attack anyone who is not wearing black. They can penetrate your body, suck your blood, and feast on your flesh!" The man was surprised. "Anyway, let me take you to our shelter." He turned and started walking again to his left.

"Alright."

Angele tied the baselards to his belt and followed the man.

They arrived at a decaying mushroom-like building several minutes later. The building was severely damaged; half of its roof was missing.

The man stepped on the broken wooden floor and started checking for the entrance to the basement. He found a handle quickly and pulled it up.

*BAM*

A large piece of stone was pulled up from the floor, revealing the dark space under it.

"My family found this basement about three years ago…" he explained as he walked down the stairs carefully. "Come in and close the door."

Angele's brow furrowed. He quickly scanned the basement using the biochip and went down.

The basement was about ten square meters.

The walls and floors were all built with black stones. The visibility was low. Angele could barely see the wooden barriers and furniture on the floor.

The air smelled like rotten eggs mixed with urine. The floor was sticky and slippery.

The man was standing beside a bed in the corner and two children jumped into his arms.

"Isa!"

"Isaliqu!"

It was a girl and a boy, but Angele was still not sure what language they were speaking in.

The man took off his black outfit. Turning around, he looked at Angele.

"This is my son Frey and my daughter Freia."

Angele nodded. He watched the man give dried bread and stinky meat jerkies to the kids.

"This is the shelter you talked about?" he asked in a low voice.

The two kids hid behind their father and looked at this stranger with fear in their eyes.

"Yeah…it has been three years. There are 64 months in a year and 100 days in a month…That should be about twenty thousand days…This is the only shelter we have…" The man sighed with mixed emotions.

"What happened?" Angele sat down in a chair. He immediately did some calculations using Zero. One year in the Nightmare Realm was equal to 17 years in the main world, which meant that this family lived in the basement for more than 51 years already.

"Let me explain the situation to you." The man wryly smiled. "Everything changed five years ago. This plague that came out of nowhere struck the land. All creatures mutated, that even the Mother of Iicolin failed to cure the plague. The last grand priest left a desperate record on the obelisk before the entire realm sank into complete darkness. Occasionally, illusions become reality, and reality turns into illusions. The world has gone messed up."

"Huh? What do you mean? Illusions and reality?" Angele was getting more and more curious about this realm.

"Yes." The man sat down beside Angele. "Sometimes you would see lakes, houses, and trees randomly appearing on an empty ground. Many buildings would also simply disappear from cities and towns. Mutated creatures have occupied the land and the sky. You know what? I have once seen a human leg walking in the forest. It was not attached to a body, but it continued to walk without stopping…"

Chapter 340: Storm Is Coming (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Nou

A hint of fear appeared in the man's eyes as he recalled the terrifying event that he witnessed in the past.

"That leg was definitely a part of a human's body but it was walking like it was attached to an invisible person... slowly but steadily…"

Angele narrowed his eyes, but he did not say anything.

The basement became silent.

Angele opened his mouth again after several minutes. "Well, although the environment was bad, it should be a safe place to stay since you've been living here for so long."

"Of course"—the man nodded—"the entrance is sealed with the last blessed stone slate and the monsters won't be able to detect us."

"What's your name? I'm Green by the way." Angele pursed his lips into a smiled, deciding to use his fake name.

"Just call me Todd."

The man hesitated for a second and asked, "Actually, can you let us stay in your place for a while? I'll be fine, but my kids deserve a better environment…" He looked at Angele in the eyes and started begging, "I can stay in the basement my whole life with no problem but my kids can't. I can do anything for you, what do you think?"

Todd patted his kids' heads. "I'm the best Colin Hunter in this area and my soul stone card level is three. Although it has no energy left, with the soul stones, I'll regain my power and I can teach you how to fight."

'Colin Hunter? Soul stone card?' Angele had no idea what the man was talking about. He assumed that those terms could only be understood by the people living in the Nightmare Realm. It seemed like they have some unique fighting skills.

Colin Hunter did sound like a class.

"So, with the soul stones, you'll be much stronger?" Angele wondered.

"That's correct." Todd raised his right hand, pulled his sleeves up, and revealed his bare arm.

There was a black mechanical device, which looked like a metal armguard, attached to his arm. In the center of the armguard, a blue stone sat there, covered with cracks and surrounded by a dim glow.

Todd shrugged and pointed at the blue stone: "There is still some energy left in the stone and I'll use it when I have to. Although I tried to save the energy, a lot of black smoke beetles appeared in the area for some reason and I had to use my power. Also, living in such an environment had already permanently damaged my body; however, my kids still have hope."

He looked at his kids and the dedication in his eyes could be seen by Angele.

"Your clothes are still clean in such an environment, meaning you have access to clean water. You also don't look tired at all, indicating that you have enough food supplies and a place to rest. Green, you have a nice and safe shelter, right?"

Angele shrugged. "You're right. That's the only possible reason why I can keep my body and clothes clean. However, I want to see what you can do first. You said you're a Colin Hunter and your soul stone card level is three. Prove it to me."

There was a bitter smile on Todd's face. "This is the last soul stone I have and I can only release an offensive or defensive skill with a power level of two. I was once a high-rank hunter that was given the title called 'Sky Locker'… I just need more soul stones…"

"Power level of two, huh? Can you control the effective range and demonstrate it to me here?" Angele questioned in a deep tone. He wanted to compare the power level in the realm with the power degree in the main world.

"Of course, but, without the energy…" Todd hesitated.

Angele raised his right hand without saying a word.

*CHI*

Flame spurted out of the tip of his index finger, the bright orange light brightening up the basement immediately.

Todd was surprised.

"You still have soul stones?!"

"NAPA! WUINAPA!" The two kids started yelling with excitement after seeing the fire. They stepped forward and stared at the burning flame.

The light illuminated their faces. Angele noticed their faces and saw that the two kids were trembling due to the low temperature in the basement.

Angele smiled but did not respond to Todd's question. However, he learned that it seemed like people in the Nightmare Realm could use the soul stone to control the energy particles.

"Alright, show me what you are capable of." He extinguished the fire and lowered his hand.

Todd smiled and nodded several times. He thought Angele was their new hope.

He raised the right arm and drew a line in the air.

*CHI*

A blue string appeared in the air, it was glowing with crystal-like texture. The temperature of the air around the string was decreasing rapidly.

The blue light illuminated on the people inside the basement.

Todd took one step back and looked at the string quietly. He moved his right hand to the chest and started doing strange gestures.

*WOO*

It sounded like something was vibrating.

Suddenly, the whole basement was filled up with the blue strings. The strings were about one meter in length and they were releasing strong energy waves.

Angele's expression changed as he scanned the strings using Zero. He was surprised after checking the report. Those strange blue lines were like time bombs and there were hundreds of them. They could easily deal more than 100 degrees of damage if detonated together.

"That's it…" Todd suddenly sighed.

All the blue strings disappeared from the basement like they were never there.

"What happened?" Angele looked at Todd.

Todd showed the crystal on the armguard to Angele, it has lost its color and it looked like the crystal could break at any time.

"Crap!" Todd covered his mouth with his right hand and coughed several times. Blood leaked out of the gaps between his fingers.

"I'll look after your kids if you can teach me that ability and your language." Angele scanned Todd using the biochip and the man's attributes were identical to an average mortal but his mentality was high. The man did not have much life energy left, it seemed like he would be killed by the disease he had soon.

He had wanted to find someone to take care of his children before he died.

"You want to accept my offer?" Todd questioned.

"Yeah."

　　****************************

Angele stayed in the basement and asked Todd to teach him the language first. The language was similar to the universal ancient language but it was slightly improved. Angele mastered the language after studying for two days.

As a wizard with a biochip in his brain, Angele absorbed new knowledge faster than others.

Todd even said that Angele was the smartest man he had ever met.

Angele finished learning the language and acquired some basic information about the ranking system in the Nightmare Realm.

The hunters and the hunter kings were the main ranks in the Nightmare Realm.

Strong monsters and mutated creatures were everywhere in this Realm. The human beings had to learn to kill other races just to survive.

Some people developed the method of utilizing the energy from the soul stone and soul stone cards. Those people were called the hunters and the strongest hunters were given the title "hunter kings".

There were not that many hunters, only one person out of a hundred could become a hunter. Only the hunters that were awarded titles were considered as elites and the hunter king was the strongest.

Hunters with titles were stronger than normal hunters. The most basic title was "Colin Hunter", and it was awarded by the Mother of Iicolin.

Mortal, hunters, hunters with titles, and the hunter king. This was the basic ranking system in the realm.

The hunters from different continents had different skill levels, including the hunter with titles. The hunter kings were authorized by the churches and they all had recognizable achievements.

Of course, things had changed after the plague struck the land.

So many years had passed and—according to Todd—most of the survivors were hunters. The rest of the survivors were lucky mortals that somehow found a way to live in this mess.

Todd told Angele most of the things he knew and his condition became worse day by day.

The third day.

"Thanks for your meat jerky. They taste great." Todd leaned against the wall and put on his black outfit.

"The black beetles are coming. I need to drive them away. I don't want to risk anything although I have the blessed slate." He was still chewing the jerky.

"You should rest. Let me handle them for you." Angele stood up. "Even though I replaced the soul stone for you, you���re still too weak to fight."

The soul stone was identical to the high-quality magic stone that Angele had. Although the energy structure was different, it was still better than nothing. However, the energy from the magic stone contained too many impurities so Todd had some trouble using it.

"But you're not familiar with the landscape!" Todd hesitated. "I'm not looking down on you, it's just there are certain situations you don't know how to handle. Let me go."

"It's alright, I've fought those black beetles before. Don't worry." Angele smiled. "I'll be going now. I've already told you the location of my shelter. Head to there if the situation allows."

He walked upstairs before Todd could respond.

"Green, please come back in one piece!" The boy shouted with a loud voice.

"Of course." Angele smiled again. He gave many different foods to the two kids in the last several days and warmed the place up with a force field. The two kids had never experienced the warmth from the energy particles before since they could not burn dried branches in the basement as they needed the oxygen.

Angele had engraved the temperature-increasing magic circle on his mentality crystal and it was the first time he had activated in such an environment.

Pushing the slate up, he scanned the surroundings using the biochip, but no danger was detected.

Todd and his kids remained silent. It was the most important moment as they could not expose the location of the basement to the mutated creatures.

It was dark outside. The blue stars in the sky looked like diamonds that were laid down on a large piece of black blanket. They were beautiful and shiny.

It was such a beautiful thing to look at.

There was no moon in the sky, only the stars were blinking.

He carefully opened the slate and stepped onto the floor.

The air was clean and refreshing; however, a rotten odor was blown into Angele's nose by the gentle wind.

Chapter 341: Storm Is Coming (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Nou

Angele sealed the entrance with the slate again. He was standing in a mushroom building with a broken roof.

Stepping out of the mushroom building, under the night sky, the entrances to the mushroom building looked like they led to an endless abyss as no light came out from there. The wind was getting stronger and it was bit cold.

Angele rubbed the silver ring on his left middle finger several times. It was a magic device called Light of the Thorn. A strong spell could be released from that ring with just a small amount of mentality.

The power of the Light of the Thorn was no longer strong as it would only deal about 50 degrees of splash damage. Angele's special ability from the advanced meditation technique could easily deal more than 70 degrees of damage. However, he still carried the magic device with him because it had a low cost and a large effective range.

If 10 mentality and 5 mana were required to cast a spell with a similar damage, using the magic device would only consume 1 mentality.

This was the main advantage of magic devices and enchanted items.

He slowly walked past the mushroom buildings and saw a large group of black beetles marching on the empty ground.

The beetles were moving toward Angele like a black flood.

Raising his left hand, he aimed at the beetles with no hesitation.

"Light of the Thorn," he called out.

*CHI*

A ball of golden light was released from the ring, exploding after several seconds and turning into rays of golden lights. They were flying toward the sea of beetles in a shell formation.

*PA PA PA*

The beetles were skewered by the golden light and they exploded into pools of sticky liquid. The stinky and sour smell permeated throughout the air.

Angele did not lower his hand and, instead, he just stood there and watched the golden light kill the beetles calmly.

The Light of the Thorn could be channeled for half a minute and he was certain that no beetle could approach him in that duration.

"Green! Don't waste soul stones like that. There are too many of them!" Todd's voice came from behind.

Angele turned his head around. Todd and his kids were standing behind him and there were blue strings floating in the air. It seemed like he wanted to help. They were not considered as a threat so Zero did not warn him about their presence.

"Take my kids with you. Let me deal with those beetles!" There was a serious expression on his face. It seemed like he was ready to sacrifice himself for his children.

Angele's brow furrowed. "Come with me. I don't think I'll be able to protect your children alone." He wanted to help Todd because the man had potential. Todd was sick and he could still deal more than 100 degrees of damage within seconds. If Todd could recover from the disease, he would be able to aid Angele greatly during the battles.

Angele was the only one who had access to clean water and food supplies in this infected world. He needed someone that was familiar with the realm to help him explore the area.

Todd shook his head slightly. "I know my condition, Green. I'm dying."

He looked at Angele and noticed the serious expression on the young man's face.

He hesitated for a second and responded. "Well, alright, I'll leave with you."

"Good decision."

Angele nodded and looked at the beetles again, but he was surprised.

They only talked for about half a minute and the beetles already moved closer. The sea of black beetles was only about 10 meters away from the four human beings.

Angele stopped channeling the Light of the Thorn and raised his right hand, creating a lava ball on his palm.

The head-sized lava ball floated above Angele's palm, releasing heat waves and rays of red light.

"Do your job." Angele threw the lava ball forward.

It was one of his strongest skills at the moment. The petrification and the bloodline signet were the only two abilities that were stronger than the lava ball.

He wanted to do some simple tests with those beetles.

The lava ball drew an arc in the air and dropped into the black beetles.

"Move!" Angele turned around and tied Todd up with the two kids using the metal strings. He then lifted them up with the force field and started running.

"What the…!?" Todd wanted to say something but they were traveling so fast that the wind was rushing into his mouth and nose. He was surprised by how fast they were moving.

Angele, Todd, and the two children turned into a blurry silver shadow that was moving around the mushroom buildings. They finally stopped behind one of the buildings as Angele could easily check the situation from here.

*BOOM*

He heard the explosion from behind.

Angele dropped Todd and his children to the ground carefully. He then quickly turned around and looked at the location where he dropped the lava ball.

The orange light from the flame illuminated the clouds flowing in the dark sky.

Waves of intense heat were expanding in all direction. The mushroom buildings in the front were swallowed by the fire, and the dancing flames engulfed everything in the area.

Thick smoke filled the sky, and the smell from the burning wood permeated the air. The buildings perished in the flames within minutes.

Angele watched the scene quietly. It was the power of just one lava ball and it could deal a similar amount of damage as an average level 2 offensive spells. The area of effect was why wizards with stage 3 Molten Core River were so strong on the battlefields.

'That's why people don't complain that the skill takes one talent slot…' Angele had a general idea in mind.

The terrifying area of effect had a radius of five to a hundred meters—depending on the situation—and the spell could be cast instantly. The official name for the lava ball was the Lava Rain.

It was the reason why Molten Core River was one of the strongest advanced meditation technique for wizards with high affinity with fire energy particles.

The lava ball exploded while dropping to the ground, turning into a rain of fire.

Also, it seemed like the Phoenix's passive ability helped Angele gain better control of the fire energy particles and the lava ball he released was slightly stronger than the ones released by some of the Watchers.

He stood behind the mushroom building and watched the burning flames. Blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes as he wanted to know how much damage the lava ball dealt in total.

Todd and his children stood beside Angele. They were shocked after seeing Angele's terrifying "ability".

Todd leaned to the side and looked at Angele. He had no idea where the young man hid his crystal card device. However, he knew that he could only use an ability like this once a day when he was still healthy. Angele's skill level exceeded Todd's expectation.

The red light from the flames illuminated their bodies and their shadows were waving on the ground.

"Alright, let's head to my shelter." Angele turned around and the blue light dots disappeared from his eyes.

"Sure." Todd nodded. He felt comfortable staying with the young man in front of him. He had not felt relaxed like this for a long time.

The two kids moved closer to Angele carefully and put their hands on his legs.

There was a gentle smile on Angeles' face. He carefully picked two kids up, held them in arms, and walked to the forest.

Todd gave the burning buildings one final glance and sighed. He turned around and followed Angele into the forest. He knew that he would probably never visit the place again.

　　**********************

About an hour later.

The four arrived at the mansion beside the river.

Behind the trees, it was a luxurious looking mansion with white walls and a red roof.

The mansion was protected by a translucent bell-shaped barrier and there were many green vines outside the barrier. There were several red flowers on the surface of the vines. The dark mud on the ground was clean and smooth. The place looked like a beautiful castle from the fairy tales, the only thing missing was the rose with thorns.

Angele walked to the mansion with the two kids in his arms.

"This is my shelter. I have more than enough food and clean water for us." He stepped on the vines.

"That's beautiful…" The girl named Freia spoke first, "Green, is this our new home?" She stared at Angele and blinked her eyes.

"We can do the cleanings for you!" The boy named Frey said quickly. He patted the girl's leg slightly as he did not want his sister to say something that would make Angele angry.

Todd had no idea that there was a place like this in the realm. Todd thought that "Green" must have a strong background before the world collapsed, otherwise, it was impossible for him to have such a heavily guarded mansion.

"Of course. I'm counting on you guys." Angele chuckled. As long as he could take good care of the two kids, Todd would probably do anything for him. Also, cleaning the house would be a good exercise for the kids.

Angele was certain that Todd was still hiding something since he survived in the Nightmare Realm with the two kids for so long. Angele was not sure if he could win a fight against a healthy Todd without using the bloodline signet.

Angele spent some time observing the crystal card device Todd had and he had an idea on how to increase the defense of the mansion.

The structure of the device reminded him of something from the Earth: the auto attack system.

Also, Todd told him that the black beetle was not the only dangerous creature in the area. Angele had the feeling that there would be stronger mutated creatures invading the mansion.

If the situation got worse and his mentality wave was interrupted by the energy waves from the battle, he would not be able to return to the main world instantly. Angele had to prepare for the worst.

"Let's go, have some rest. You're tired, right?" Angele stepped forward and the vines moved to the side by themselves like they were living beings.

Todd and his kids were scared by the vines. Todd followed after Angele, he noticed that there was some sticky liquid on the ground and the unique sour stink reminded him of the black beetles.

The four slowly entered the energy barrier and stepped into the door of the main building. The vines moved to the center and blocked the entrance again.

　　************************

In the clean water of the river on the other side of the mansion.

A blue butterfly slowly left the river and the water splashed in the air.

The butterfly's wings had the size of a human's palm. No pattern could be seen from the pure blue wings. The butterfly swung its wings slowly and circled above the river.

An enormous blue shadow appeared under the Ness River.

*Blop Blop*

Large groups of blue butterflies started leaving the river and they circled above the water just like the first one. The rotating butterflies looked like pieces of blue tree leaves. The scene was mysterious and beautiful.

Chapter 342: Changes (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Nou

Angele walked to the control panel and tapped its surface. He then grabbed a coat from the cloth stand nearby.

Todd and the two children looked excited and relieved as they stepped into the living room.

"Green, how strong is that glass-looking barrier? Can it keep the black beetles away?" Todd wondered.

"Don't worry. The defense system here is good enough. I've survived waves of attacks from the black beetles and they finally figured out how strong the barrier is." Angele walked to the sofa and sat down. "Take a seat. You're safe here. Trust me."

He sat on the sofa and saw the two kids looking at the translucent energy barrier curiously.

"Green, can we go check out the barrier?" Frey questioned in a loud voice.

Angele smiled. "Of course you can."

"I'll go with them…" Todd hesitated.

"It's fine. The barrier won't break."

"I trust you but… I'll just go with them." Todd nodded slightly and responded in a deep voice.

Although the defense system around the mansion looked promising, Todd was still worried that the kids might encounter the mutated creatures if they accidentally stepped out of the barrier.

Angele told Todd that the defense system had killed countless black beetles, but Todd decided to not to trust him until he saw it himself.

Angele sat on the sofa and leaned back. It felt like his body was sinking into a large piece of soft sponge.

He knew that Todd did not have many days left in this world; however, with his special treatment, Todd would be able to live for a bit longer. The lone survivor of the mushroom city would become his greatest assistant in the Nightmare Realm.

The defense matrices around the mansion were the best he could get from the market. Angele wasn't sure he could block all the vines in the energy waves—which would slow him down—without getting hurt. The defense system should be good enough for the black beetles.

Todd and his children returned to the living room while Angele was still resting.

"Take a seat." Angele pointed at the sofa in front of him.

Todd whispered something to the kids and sat down on the opposite side of Angele.

The two kids were still looking around curiously.

"Green, can we go play in the building?" The girl called Freia questioned in a low voice.

"Go ahead." Angele nodded as his sight fell upon Todd. "Alright, let's talk about the illusion zone you mentioned in the basement. What exactly is that?"

Todd nodded. "Your shelter is great and I'm glad that you promised to take care of my children."

Angele was his only hope, otherwise, he would not ask a stranger to take care of his children. Although Angele was kind to Todd, Todd knew that if the young man wanted to do something to them, he would have no way to protect themselves. There was no law or rule in the Nightmare Realm, he had to think that the young man still had a warm heart.

If Todd passed away in the basement, his children would not be able to survive on themselves.

"The illusion zones are areas with the strange phenomenon and they appeared after the world collapsed," Todd started explaining. "I can feel that this world is impacted by other realms and the situation is getting worse recently. As a Colin hunter, my job is to communicate with the soul stones and I can sense the changes much faster than others."

Angele nodded slightly. "Yeah, but I want to know if the illusion zones are dangerous."

"You can find the phenomena that can't be explained in the zones, and there are mutated beasts. The landscapes and the buildings will shift and transform without any warnings, and it has killed many people. Imagine a building randomly dropping on your head when you are just walking." Todd scratched his head. It seemed like the topic reminded him of someone he knew.

"Six of my teammates were killed by the transforming buildings…"

"How do you know if you're standing in an illusion zone?" Angele kept asking.

"I don't know." Todd shook his head. "I wouldn't be staying in that basement if I knew the details. I don't want to die while just exploring the surroundings. If the landscape shifts, I'll probably die in the lava or something. Also, sometimes the time will go backward for no reason."

Angele thought for a while and looked at Todd. "Where's is the closest and most populated city?"

"There's a city called the Dark Cloud about 15 kitto northeast from here. There were more than three million people living there before the terrifying event happened." 15 kitto was about 1.5 kilometers according to Zero.

"Thanks." Angele stood up. "Pick any room you want on the first floor. You can find food and water in the kitchen. There's a swimming pool outside and you can take showers in there. The water is clean. There's something I need to take care of and I'll be back later."

He walked to the staircase and turned his head around.

"One more thing. Don't touch the stone pillars for any reason. They are the reason why the mansion is safe."

"Wait, where are you going? Do you need my help?" Todd stood up as well. "I have the soul stone now and I can aid you in battles. I don't have many days left anyway."

"It's fine. Have some rest. I'm just going back to my room to do some research." Angele smiled and walked upstairs.

He walked down the hallway and opened the door to the reading room.

He tapped on the back of the door after stepping into the room.

A black snake pattern appeared on the surface of the door. It was glowing and flashing.

Angele sat down on the bad and carefully pressed on the bloodline signet with the left hand.

*CHI*

Rays of red light flashed around his body.

He opened his eyes again and it was noon in the main world.

Golden sunlight went through the window and brought warmth to the room.

Red light flashed on the back of Angele's right hand. It was the communication rune.

He raised his hand and tapped on the finger.

A red scorpion rune appeared on the nail of his index finger.

Vivian's voice was transferred to his ears: "Angele, I secured a position for you in the headquarter. It'll be beneficial to your future if you can accept the offer. Go to the headquarter before it expires in about half a month. Don't forget."

Angele scrunched his eyebrows.

He had no interested in working in the headquarter, but he knew Vivian was just trying to help him to know more people in the organization and it was nearly impossible for him to decline the offer.

Vivian's intention was good and Angele knew that he should accept the position.

"Whatever, I'll think about it later." He turned around, walked to the window, and looked down.

It was noon. The green river looked like a long emerald with images of white clouds and brown wooden houses reflected on its surface. A group of white birds was resting on the riverside and they were drinking water quickly.

Refreshing fragrance of the white and red flowers from the shore permeated the air.

The rippling water was flowing slowly in the gentle wind.

Angele sat down at the table and grabbed a white-feathered pen. He wrote down a title on an opened leather scroll: The Auto Attack System.

It was something he wanted to build the next.

He needed some time to stabilize his mentality waves after completing the third stage of Molten Core River.

With the help of the advanced meditation technique, the third stage and the fourth stage did not require him to complete the Gas, Liquid, and Crystal stages like the wizards on the west coast. Angele could advance to next rank if he could complete the next stage.

He completed the third stage and advanced to rank 2 not so long ago so he barely knew any level 2 spells.

In order to reach rank 3, he needed to complete the fourth stage of Molten Core River.

Also, the fourth stage of Molten Core River was important and he needed to be fully prepared for the challenges.

The first four stages of the technique were related to fire energy particles, the fifth to eighth stages were related to earth energy particles, and the last four stages were the combination of all the previous stages. Molten Core River had an unfriendly progressing curve.

Angele spent the next several days studying the auto attack system. He needed the system to be versatile as he did not want the system to lose control under special circumstances.

He gave part of the job to the biochip and divided the whole plan into multiple steps.

　　******************************

Five days later.

"Master Angele, Master Seth and Master Nicole are here."

Lyn's voice came from outside.

"Got it. I'll be there soon." Angele sat beside the table and moved the documents to the side. He spent days on designing the system, but he was still waiting for the calculation results from Zero. Seth and Nicole were Vivian's students, they were like a senior brother and a senior sister to Angele as they all acquired the Molten Core River from Vivian.

Angele took a deep breath and stood up.

The muscle on his face was a bit stiff. He stepped out of the reading room and walked downstairs.

Seth and a pretty girl with clean skin were sitting in the living room waiting for him.

"Seth, Nicole. What brings you here?" Angele pursed his lips into a gentle smile.

Seth and Nicole stood up and hugged Angele one by one.

Seth was wearing a yellow coat and a pair of shorts. He looked like someone lived by the sea with his sun-tanned skin. There was a golden headband hiding under his black hair.

Seth looked like a man in his mid-thirties. He was not handsome, but the smile on his face was charming.

Nicole was quiet, she looked like a cute girl from the neighborhood. She was wearing a white one piece with a short white wand in hand. There was a dark red ruby on the tip of the wand.

The girl's long black hair trailed over her shoulders, and she looked like a twenty-year-old girl. The tight one piece was quite revealing. She was looking at Angele with a pair of red eyes and there was a gentle smile on her face.

"Haven't visited you for a while, and I heard you were grounded. Is that true?" Nicole questioned in a light tone.

The three wizards sat down, and the maids brought them the tea.

"I know. It's true. The situation is complicated, but I heard Angele had an intense fight with master Shozo. Master Vivian asked him to stay in the mansion until he finishes the fourth stage of Molten Core River." Seth chuckled.

"You're not here just to laugh at me, right?" Angele rolled his eyes. "Seth, I thought you would stay in the headquarter for a bit longer. Where's the gift you promised me?" He turned to Seth.

"Well… my situation is complicated as well…" Seth pursed his lips. "We were kicked out. I met Nicole on my way to the headquarter, and we wanted to travel together, but something unfortunate happened…"

Nicole shook her head and sighed. "Something unfortunate…? You had a fight with someone for a woman, and we were both kicked out… Why are you even trying to hide it from Angele?"

Chapter 343: Changes (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

Nicole sighed with mixed emotions. "If you could complete the fourth stage by now, we could've won the fight, and there would be no need for us to run."

Seth scratched his head. "What are you talking about? It takes a lot of efforts to advance to rank 3. I'm 240 years old, but I'm still having trouble with stage 4. I guess I'll stay at rank 3 my whole life…"

"I advanced to the next rank when I was 260 years old. Don't give up." Nicole looked at Seth.

"Baton, Greenland, and you advanced to rank 3 years ago. Why don't you try harder and advance to rank 4? You'll be promoted in the organization and the situation will be totally different once you became a wizard of dawn." Seth wondered.

"It's more difficult than you think. I can find the special flame, but the main problem is the engravings of the magic circles. There are no shortcuts to it. You have to learn it step by step." The smile disappeared from Nicole's face. "There are five of us and Shozo is the most talented one. He met the requirement when he was 300 years old. Stage 5 is hard to complete and I'm not overstating it." It seemed like the topic reminded her of something.

"You only need to finish stage 5 of the Molten Core River to become a wizard of dawn, right? Why does it sound so hard?" Angele wondered, "You three reached rank 3 years ago and you still haven't figured out a way to finish the engravings?"

Nicole shook her head. "No, our potential had burnt out. We won't be able to complete all the engravings even if we found a method that'll help us speed up the progress. I wish I had more time…"

"Also, for the fifth stage of Molten Core River. It's much harder than you expected. You're moving into a whole different level," she added.

"What about your family, Nicole?" Seth's brow furrowed. "Your younger brother is in big trouble right now…"

"That's why I'm heading back to my family." Nicole smiled again. "I don't visit my family a lot, but my brother still likes me the most. I should support him when he needs my help."

"Why don't you just take him with you…?" Seth pursed his lips. He did not look like a man that was 240 years old.

He turned around and looked at Angele.

"Angele, how's your progression? Done with the first stage, right? You need to finish the second stage in 50 years. You're still young and you might be able to become a wizard of dawn." Seth was smiling like a kid.

"Me? I'm doing well." Angele did not want to tell Seth that he already completed the third stage. It was way too fast for a wizard with average talent level to progress so fast. He did not want to draw too much attention.

The wizard of dawn was much stronger than a rank 3 wizard, there was a reason why rank 4 wizards had such a special title.

The wizards of dawn had a life expectancy of almost 1000 years, and average wizards only had 500 years. Their bodies and mentality levels would be improved significantly.

The three sat there and talked about the engravings of magic circles.

The magic circle engravings from the Molten Core River were critical to the increasing of mentality level for the wizards who practiced it. Also, the magic circles were needed for the completion of the later stages.

Angele noticed that his magic circle engraving speed was similar to Nicole and Seth.

The method he used was also identical.

He used the special technique taught by Henn to increase mentality level and complete the last stage. It was a shortcut. He did not follow the instructions provided by the Molten Core River.

In another word, he skipped several steps using the energy conversion magic circle.

However, there were no shortcuts for the later stages.

Also, although Henn told him the special method would not produce a lot of impurities in his mentality, he still needed some time to stabilize his mentality and use the meditation technique to convert the mentality from the flames to his own.

It was not a serious consequence.

During the conversation, Angele learned that Nicole, Seth, Baton, and Greenland were all stuck on the magic circle engravings. They already met the mentality requirement but they had a lot of trouble trying to break through.

Angele knew that his biochip would save him a lot of trouble when he met with the bottleneck. He had been confident in the ability of the chip, but he felt a bit uncertain after hearing their words.

If he wanted to eliminate all the possible consequences, he would have to follow the instructions step by step. Angele might not be able to advance to rank 4 if he failed to understand all the fundamentals.

He wanted to know why Henn told him that there would be no consequences.

Angele learned a lot from the conversation and he decided to give up the energy conversion circle for now.

He needed to learn the magic circles just like the others who were practicing the Molten Core River and find a normal way to increase his mentality.

Seth and Nicole decided to leave after the conversation ended.

"I'll see you to the gate." Angele stood up.

"Sure, I want to catch some fish from the river before I leave." Seth chuckled.

"Nicole, let me know if you need any help." Angele ignored Seth and looked at Nicole.

"Thanks." Nicole nodded. She needed to solve the conflict between the families and she might need Angele's help.

Nicole was one of Vivian's five students and her relationship with Angele was good. She would just ask for help when she needed and find a way to pay Angele back later.

They stepped out of the living room and walked to the gate.

Angele watched them jump onto their horses and disappear into the forest.

He turned around and returned to the living room.

"Don't interrupt me. I need to continue my research," he looked at Lyn, gave the order, and returned to the reading room.

Angele walked straight to the table.

However, he encountered a problem right after picking up the pen.

'Well, I should probably stop for now and go check the situation in the Nightmare Realm.'

He put his left hand on the bloodline signet and disappeared from the room.

　　**************************

In the Nightmare Realm.

Angele slowly opened his eyes and saw that there was a red mist in the air.

He was still sitting at the table by the window.

Angele looked out of the window and noticed that there were many blue butterflies flying outside the energy barrier.

The blue butterflies looked like pieces of blue paper, rotating around the mansion.

Angele's expression changed, he pushed the door open and left the room immediately.

He walked down the stairs and saw Todd carefully wiping the crystal card device on his right arm. The man had a blank expression on his face and he was ready to fight.

"What's going on?" Angele walked to Todd and asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen those butterflies." Todd raised his head. It seemed like he was not surprised to see Angele walk down the stairs. "You saw them from the window, right? More and more butterflies appeared over these several days."

"My defense system can block their attacks. Have you tried to attack them from inside?" Angele questioned.

"I did." Todd nodded. "By the way, your potion is unbelievably helpful, my body is recovering rapidly. Those butterflies only have one special ability. They can absorb and interrupt the energy from my soul stone. We must deal physical damage to them or release energy strikes at a rapid rate so that they can't absorb it fast enough."

Todd bit his lips and continued, "I'm not sure if they really can't break your barrier." He looked worried.

"Don't worry. I'll go check the situation." Angele glanced around. "Where are the kids?"

"I asked them to stay in their rooms and have some rest," Todd responded in a deep voice.

"Good. Do you want to go with me?"

"Of course." Todd stood up and swung his right arm.

*Crack*

The lid on the crystal card device opened. There were countless gears and strings in the core of the device; a blue crystal card was lying in the center of the core quietly.

Complicated patterns covered the surface of the crystal card.

Todd tapped on the crystal card, closed the lid, and nodded at Angele.

Angele nodded as well and two long silver daggers slid into his hands from the sleeves.

*BAM*

He pushed the door open, and they stepped out of the building together.

The sky was occupied by the flying blue butterflies.

The blue butterflies were rotating around the mansion without making any noise. The scene was quiet but terrifying.

"Only physical damage, huh?" Angele muttered as he narrowed his eyes. He raised his head and looked at the blue butterflies.

The seemingly infinite blue butterflies almost blocked the sunlight. Their abdomens were vibrating slightly. There were so many of them that they almost covered the whole barrier.

The sight numbed Angele's skull. The two were standing in the large shade created by the butterflies.

"Let's do it." Angele clapped his hands and turned the two silver daggers into one. Raising his left hand, he pointed at the blue butterflies outside the barrier with a silver ring.

"The Light of the Thorn!" he chanted the incantation.

A ball of golden light appeared above Angele's palm.

*CHI*

Rays of golden light were released from the light ball. The golden rays looked like sharp arrows, being shot in all angles.

Todd remained calm. He raised his right arm, clenched his fist, and closed his eyes. He just stood there quietly.

*CHI*

The familiar blue strings slowly appeared around his body.

More and more blue strings were being created every second; they started rotating around Todd.

Several minutes later, Todd was standing in the center of a blue vortex that was created by the strings. The flashing blue light illuminated the objects in the area, and it was much stronger than the golden light from Angele.

"Sky Lock!" Todd raised his head and reached out with his right arm.

All the blue strings gathered upon his fist within a second and disappeared into the air together.

Angele detected the energy movement in the air, he turned around and leaped several meters away.

*BOOM*

All of the blue strings exploded at the same time.

Eye-blinding blue light was released from Todd's right hand. The blue strings turned into blue chains and passed through the barrier, flying toward the rotating blue butterflies.

All the butterflies that touched the chains were trapped in blue bubbles and they stopped moving.

The whole sky was blocked by the strange blue bubbles.

Following after the blue chains, the golden rays penetrated the trapped blue butterflies. The butterflies exploded and their glowing remains started dropping to the ground like fireflies. It almost looked like blue snow coming from the sky.

*Crack*

The high-quality magic stone in Todd's crystal card device cracked. Its color turned from black to translucent, and the stone melted into a pile of white ash, disappearing into the wind.

Chapter 344: Time Flies (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

The flying blue butterflies broke into pieces and their remains slowly dropped to the ground.

The whole mansion was surrounded by the glowing blue dots.

Angele took several steps forward and reached out of the barrier with the right hand, catching several blue light dots.

The blue light dots landed on the center of his palm and turned into a small pile of ash.

"It's over," he muttered as he turned to Todd. "Todd?"

Todd just stood there quietly with his eyes wide open.

Angele hesitated for a second and realized what happened. He walked to Todd and put his right hand on the man's chest. It was cold and there was no heartbeat.

"He passed away…" Angele doubled-checked Todd's condition using Zero and concluded.

Suddenly, he heard people crying from the main door of the building.

Angele turned around and saw the two kids crying by the door. They stood there and stared at their father. There were tears brushing down his cheeks.

Angele felt a bit depressed, he carefully put his right hand on Todd's left shoulder.

Silver metal liquid covered Todd's body and Angele's force field slowly lifted him up.

He brought the dead body to the two kids.

"Let's go. We can bury him in the backyard so you can pay tribute to your father anytime you want," he spoke in a low voice. Angele wanted Todd to help him explore the realm but he did not expect Todd to use up all his remaining strength and lose his life so easily.

Angele walked to the backyard with the two kids.

There were already many tombstones in the backyard. The gray tombstones lined up the empty ground behind the small garden.

It was late in the afternoon. The orange sunlight shone upon the land.

Angele buried Todd carefully and engraved his name on the tombstone. The two kids broke into tears.

Angele was not sure what he should say to comfort them.

The Nightmare Realm was dangerous and most of the people already died.

The ancient wizards from the main world probably communicated with the intelligent creatures from the Nightmare Realm before the unfortunate event happened. However, it seemed like the realm was uninhabitable at the moment. Angele did not understand why Todd decided to burn himself out when the energy barrier was still holding up well against the blue butterflies. He should have demonstrated the strength of the barrier to Todd.

"Did your father teach you how to use the crystal card device?" Angele waited patiently until the two kids calmed down and questioned.

"Yes, we know how to use the device." Frey nodded slightly. Freia grabbed her brother's right hand; they knew they had to learn to survive in this chaotic world.

"Great." Angele nodded and patted the two kids' heads. "Your father did everything for you and I'm sure he wants to see you live a happy life. Take good care of yourselves."

"Yes." The two kids' expressions turned serious.

"Go have some rest. Use the training method your father taught you and start training tomorrow. Here, take this." Angele handed the crystal card device that he removed from Todd's arm to the two kids.

The black crystal card device weighed about seven kilograms; it might be a bit heavy for the kids.

Frey wiped the tears from his eyes and grabbed the crystal card device carefully.

"Green. I'll work hard and learn to use the device." He bowed to Angele.

"What do you want to do in the future?" Angele looked at Frey calmly.

Frey bit his lips and looked at the crystal card device.

"I want to protect my sister. Green, please let me work for you. I don't want to take clean water and food supplies from you for free."

Angele looked at the boy and smiled.

Frey knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world—it seemed like Todd taught them well. He wanted to protect his sister and he knew that he needed to earn the supplies by working in the mansion.

Angele learned a bit more about the hunters in the Nightmare Realm.

The hunters were strong fighters with a lot of practical experience. However, they were just mortals that had the ability to control the energy particles. Their skills were powerful, but their life expectancy was not extended like in case of the wizards. Many of them were killed by the illusion zones and some died in their mid-thirties due to the energy radiation and the polluted resources.

In this collapsed word, it was nearly impossible to find clean water and food.

Frey decided to stand up and protect his sister from the danger.

Angele stared at the boy and he could see the dedication in the boy's eyes. There was only one crystal card device and the boy had the potential to become a hunter.

'This kid might become a great hunter in the future…' Angele thought.

"Sure. Let's go. Work for me and I'll provide you with a safe environment to live." Angele nodded, turned around, and walked to the main building.

　　******************************

Most of the things in the Nightmare Realm were taken care of. Angele would deliver the clean water and food supplies to the kids from time to time. Also, he replaced the magic stones in the control panels with crystal cards.

One crystal card could provide the matrix with enough energy to last for more than three years.

Frey kept practicing the skills using the crystal card device in the mansion's training ground. Angele provided him with a large number of high-quality magic stones and Freia did a lot of housework.

Angele was the only person they knew in the Nightmare Realm and they were getting closer and closer. Frey and Freia almost treated Angele like their father.

Although Angele sometimes disappeared for several days, he would bring back various types of drinks and food. Also, he gifted Freia several interesting toys for her to play with.

With the help of the energy barrier, their life in the Nightmare Realm was peaceful and happy.

In the main world, Angele already traveled to the Elemental Hand's headquarters and accepted the offer as Vivian wished.

　　******************************

Elemental Hand's headquarters was in a large city called the Mermaid's Song.

Thin clouds covered the gray sky and the atmosphere was heavy.

There was a yellow, rectangular castle standing quietly on a small hill in the green sea of trees, a white square in its center.

The castle was surrounded by a moat, its water crystal-clear. Gentle wind was blowing over the rippling water, the image of the castle reflected on the latter's surface.

On the bridge above the moat.

Two carriages were slowly moving into the castle gate. The guards in white armor suits were yawning, they glared at the carriages but did not do anything.

The carriage on the left was black, and the carriage on the right was white. A pattern that looked like a yellow flute was painted on both carriages.

The noise made by their rolling wheels was quite loud.

Angele was sitting inside the black carriage. Wearing a black robe, he was peeking outside through the window.

There were mercenaries with greatswords and longbows on their backs passing by. They were also apprentices with books, crystal orbs, and short wands in hands. Some of them were showing off their recent rewards acquired by completing missions and the rest was just moving forward with their faces covered by the hoods.

The bridge was bumpy and it felt a bit uncomfortable, sitting in the carriage.

No one was talking inside the carriage. There was a man with silver hair wearing a black robe sitting opposite to Angele.

The man crossed his legs and put his hands on the knees. He was looking at the pedestrians outside the window curiously.

"Cruise, what do you think?" Angele opened his mouth. "We arrived in the morning and the mercenaries of the Mermaid's Song are returning to the city. It seems like the situation is complicated."

The man named Cruise nodded. "Yeah. The situation is complicated. It's a large city on the border and it's common for mercenaries to stay here. However, some of the wizards here are not from the central continent and it reminded me of something." The man had an attractive voice and he sounded confident.

"What's that?" Angele already knew the answer but he still asked.

"The illegal slave trade." There was a gentle smile on Cruise's face and he was stilling looking out of the window. "We're transferred here to accept the two most important positions in the human resources department, but it seems like there will be some trouble…" he sighed with mixed emotions.

"I don't care." Angele chuckled. "You're the department head and I'm just here to assist you."

Cruise rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Of course you don't care… I wouldn't work so hard if I had a mother like Vivian either."

The conversation ended here. Angele could see the clean water in the moat from through the window.

Beside the moat, there was a line of small buildings with identical appearance. There were people standing by the windows, observing the bridge.

"Our job is to evaluate the apprentices, wizards, and knights who want to join the organization. There'll be a lot of politics involved during the process. Also, many new members are sent to the headquarters by the human resources department of Mermaid's Song every year. The previous department head died during a mission and that's why we're here," Cruise explained.

"I'm here because I have a kind mother, but you were selected as the department head by the council, which means the elders think you have the necessary skillset for this position." Angele decided to praise Cruise a bit as they would be working together in the future.

Cruise knew what Angele was thinking.

"Thanks. I'll try to take care of most of the things for you. However, there will be times when I can't offer you help. I hope you can understand that it was not me who dragged you into this mess."

"I understand." Angele smiled. He knew that Cruise was a strong wizard that knew how to deal with people. Cruise came from a large family and he probably wanted to earn some achievements as the head of the human resources department.

However, Angele was not concerned. He would finish the assigned job, but he was actually here just to make friends with people in higher positions. Everyone knew that Vivian was Angele's mother and they understood the reason why Angele was sent here.

Angele spent a lot of time trying to stabilize his mentality after completing the third stage of the Molten Core River. Also, he learned several more level 2 spells and studied the potion crafting theory, advanced enchantment techniques, and fundamentals of magic circles in his free time. Angele was still very young compared to other wizards and he could take his time when studying complicated subjects.

The magic circles required for the fourth stage of Molten Core River were much harder to learn than the ones from the third stage. The difficulty was on a different level.

Angele checked the process, he needed to combine four different magic circles to finish the engraving. However, his mentality level was too low to finish all four magic circles. He could only finish 20% of the first magic circle.

There was nothing Zero could do to help Angele learn the magic circles. Angele needed to overcome the challenge by himself—just like the other wizards that were practicing the Molten Core River.

There was no shortcut for the fourth stage of the Molten Core, so he had to be patient.

Chapter 345: Time Flies (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Leo

The carriage slowly advanced into the gate, arriving at a large white square after passing through a short tunnel.

There were many guards clad in white armor patrolling the square. They were well-organized and they were holding long spears in their hands.

In the center of the square, there was a bronze mermaid statue standing there quietly. The mermaid was covered with a large piece of silky cloth. It had the body of a woman and the tail of a fish. Clean water was coming out of the small vase in her hands. The water dropped to the pool under the statues and splashed slightly.

The square was surrounded by shops with bronze signs and dark brown curtains. There were many people entering and leaving those shops, most of them were mercenaries wearing green and black outfits.

Their genders varied, but all them had scars on their bodies. They were battlefield experts.

There were also some apprentices and wizards entering the square in their carriages.

On the opposite side of the main gate, Angele saw a tall, large building that looked like a library.

The walls of the building were painted in yellow and there were three towers on top of the building. On the tips of the towers, there were small statues of different animals: the eagle, the lion, and the scorpion.

In front of the building, there was a long staircase with almost one hundred stairs. Many people were walking up and down on the stairs.

"That's the government's city hall of the Mermaid's Song. The animal statues on the top represent three different departments and schools. The eagle represents the Eagle Eye School, the lion represents the War School, and the scorpion represents the Scholar's Tower or Spell Tower. These are the major stakeholders in the Mermaid's Song and they have access to all the resources," Cruise explained.

"Where do we belong to then?" Angele was not interested.

"Of course we belong to the Scholar's Tower… the symbol is a scorpion, doesn't it remind you of something?" Cruise shook his head.

"The Scholar's Tower is related to my mother?" Angele was a bit surprised.

"That's correct. It's not only related to your mother but also your mother's teachers. We might be working here for the next several decades."

"That's way too long…" Angele pursed his lips. The carriage stopped, and he opened the door and jumped off it quickly.

Cruise followed after him, they headed directly to the city hall on the side.

　　**************************

The life in the Mermaid's Song was not what he expected.

He did not need to stay in the department all day. Angele went to the Mermaid's Song to check all the documents at the beginning of the month but he did not meet a lot of people. He decided to return to the mansion and enter the Nightmare Realm to check the situation of the two kids after all the documents were completed.

The mansion was still attacked by different mutated creatures from time to time. Angele noticed the level of those creatures was increasing and he sometimes had to fight them himself. The defense system was still holding up and the mansion was not damaged.

The studying progress of the enchantment and magic circles was slow. The biochip could help him store the information and take care of the calculations, but he still needed to learn the theory by himself.

The difficulty of the subjects was on a whole different level, it was nothing like the knowledge he learned when he was still a rank 1 wizard.

He did not spend a lot of time with the Phoenix and the shadow mercenary. The bird was too weak and he was still having trouble controlling its behavior, so Angele would only summon it when he was in the Nightmare Realm. The shadow mercenary was locked inside a room of the mansion, he had not yet found a way to test its strength.

Angele spent most of his time studying in the mansion and he attended several parties held by his colleagues in the human resources department. He also communicated with Mincola, Reyline, Stigma, and Hikari using the communication rune and the signal obelisks.

Angele knew that rare resources would not help him progress after he reached rank 2. He needed to learn the magic circle engravings to progress. That was also the reason why the highest rank on the west coast was rank 2.

He tried to construct the required magic circles using the mentality every day but the progress was slow.

Angele spent all his time working in the mansion, the Nightmare Realm, and the Mermaid's Song. It was a peaceful life and everything was going as planned. His goal was clear and he was patient with the progression.

Time flew, and ten years passed in the blink of an eye…

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

In the Nightmare Realm.

*Clank*

Fire sparks splashed between Frey and Freia.

The two took several steps back and looked at each other.

The golden sunlight of the early morning shined on their bodies.

Frey already looked like a grown man with a handsome face. Short black hair, tanned skin, and white armor, the young man looked like an experienced fighter with the silver greatsword in his hand.

*CHI CHI*

He swung the greatsword several times in the air and it looked like he could use the sword easily with just one hand.

"Alright, let's stop here, Freia." He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

The girl at the opposite side nodded slightly with a thin sword in her hand. She was wearing a ponytail and her skin was a bit translucent, the blue veins easily visible on her arms. The girl had a balanced body and a cute face, it looked like she was full of energy.

Freia was also wearing a female version of the white armor. The edges were decorated, the waist was a bit tight, and the chest area was loosened.

"You're improving." Frey chuckled. He walked to the weapon shelf and inserted the greatsword into an empty slot. "Did Green teach you some special techniques?"

"No. I heard Green was trying to craft a unique potion. Do you remember the snakes that attacked our garden? Green made one into a potion and asked me to drink it. Now, I feel that I'm full of energy and that's why I practice a lot more often recently. Also, that's why you think I'm improving." Freia returned her weapon to the shelf as well. "Frey, when will you let me help you fight against the monsters around the garden? I think I can easily fight them off."

The girl clenched her fist tightly and looked at Frey. "I blocked all your attacks in the last twenty minutes." The two teenagers decided to call the mansion 'garden'. They had been living in the shelter for more than ten years and the place was like a garden from the tales to them.

"I'm not the one who makes the decisions here. You need to ask Green. Why don't you just stay in the garden and live a peaceful life?" Frey looked Freia in the eyes.

"It's getting boring… I want to explore the world and see the changes myself… just like you…" Freia had stayed in the mansion for so long that she forgot how dangerous this world was.

"Anyway, why Green doesn't age at all? He looks exactly like the day we first met… It's a bit strange, don't you think?" she lowered her voice and asked.

Frey shook his head. "I don't know… Maybe he has a special potion or something…" he was also curious.

"Let's go to the reading room. He should be back by now." Freia dragged her brother to the main building.

They walked down the hallway, entered the living room, and went upstairs.

Freia knocked on the door carefully.

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Green, are you there?"

"Yeah, come in, you two." Angele's voice came from the reading room.

*Crack*

The door started opening by itself.

Freia pushed the door open and dragged her brother inside.

A young man with long brown hair was sitting at a table between shelves full of heavy books. There was a gentle smile on the man's face.

"What happened? You want something?" Angele put down the quill and put a small silver scorpion on the leather scroll.

"Green, I want to help eliminate the monsters around the garden, can I go with my brother?" Freia walked to Angele and grabbed his right arm. There was a cute smile on her face.

Angele scrunched his brow.

He understood that Freia was just bored. She had stayed in the same place for ten years and most of the time she was just waiting for his brother to come back.

Angele tried to spend more time with the girl when he asked Frey to eliminate the weaker monsters.

He treated the two children like his own during all those years. Freia was a cute girl and he told her many things about the realm.

They lived as a family of three in the last ten years and Angele felt relaxed when the two kids were around him. He was the only person in this world the two kids would rely on. He could feel the warmth in his mind just by looking at them. The two kids trusted him so much that they would not question any of his decisions.

"Come here, girl." Angele patted Freia's head and dragged her to him. "This world is dangerous. Your brother is much stronger than you. I'll let you help eliminate the monsters if you can win Frey in a sword fight, what do you think?" Angele smiled and rubbed Freia's cheeks.

"What?! No way… I can never win my brother in a sword fight…" Freia rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. "Hmm… Green, can you give me something that will protect me from those monsters?"

Green was a mysterious person in Frey and Freia's eyes. The man knew everything and he did not age at all. He also told them so many things about the world that they had never heard of. He would pat their heads every time he saw them.

The man's hand was warm and gentle, Freia enjoyed every moment she spent with Green.

"There'll be nothing I can do for you if you can't win the fight against your brother." Angele shrugged and chuckled. "Remember those seeds I asked you to plant in the… real garden?"

"Of course." Freia nodded several times. She stared at Angele in the eyes, it seemed like she still had hope.

"I'll let you leave the mansion when the flowers blossom." Angele nodded slightly.

"Promise?"

"Yeah." Angele rubbed her cheeks again. "Alright, go play with Phoenix. I still have some research to finish."

"Sure." Freia nodded and ran to a bookshelf on the left. She quickly dragged a red bird with a long tail out of the shadow. The bird struggled several times and tried to escape but Freia quickly grabbed its neck.

"Phoenix, don't even try to hide from me!" Freia dragged Phoenix out of the reading room. Phoenix left a trail of glowing red dots on the floor.

Frey sighed and closed the door after his sister left.

"Green, are you really going to left Freia leave?" he looked worried.

"Maybe…" Angele did not answer the question directly, "If the flower actually blossoms…" It was a sunflower that would not blossom in at least one thousand years...

"You're talented, Frey. Your father would be proud of you. The training started several years ago and you're almost at the same level as your father." Angele stood up and looked at Frey.

Ten years ago, Frey was short and thin, he could barely reach Angele's shoulders. However, he had become an experienced hunter after all the hard training he went through.

"Do you want to explore the word?" Angele knew what Frey was thinking.

"I want to find the people who survived the unfortunate event. We'd be dead if we didn't meet you. I can't be so selfish. I believe there are people in the cities or forests. They are waiting for someone to help them." Angele could see the dedication in the boy's eyes.

Angele knew that Frey was serious. There was something dancing in the boy's eyes, it looked like a bright flame of hope.

"I should be the one to save them!" Frey spoke his wish out loudly. He kept the plan in mind for years.

The two remained silent after Frey finished his words.

Several minutes later.

"Alright, I understand." Angele closed his eyes. "But, your sister…"

"Green, please take care of my sister!" Frey took two steps back.

*PA*

He suddenly kneeled.

*BAM BAM BAM*

He hit the floor with the right fist hard for three times. It was his way to show respect.

"I'll be back," Frey raised his head and spoke in a serious tone.

Angele looked at him quietly. The boy looked exactly like the Todd he met years ago.

Frey stood up, bowed to Angele deeply, and left the room.

Angele watched Frey leave. He knew that it was not an easy decision for the boy to make, but it might be a decision that would change his life forever.

Todd was a hunter from the church. The Colin hunters represented the spirit of the Iicolin church. The Colin hunters were brave and unselfish, Frey probably learned that spirit from his father a long time ago.

Angele was a wizard and he would do anything to accomplish his goals.

He sat down again.

Angele thought for a while and grabbed the quill.

"Well, it's not easy to be a father…" he sighed with mixed emotions. Angele leaned against the window and peeked outside. Phoenix was watching Freia watering the thousand-year sunflower seed.

The bright sunlight illuminated Freia's white armor, creating a colorful glint.