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Chapter 161: Encounter in the Woods (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Angele raised his hand. A portion of the floating metal liquid quickly formed into a shell-shaped barrier in front of him.

He began invoking strange incantations. The words were simple, yet it didn't seem to belong to any known language.

The temperature around Angele rose. Heat waves became visible in the air, bringing mysterious distortions into the black smoke.

Angele nearly finished the incantation as the smoke approached.

DING*

Suddenly, Angele's face turned pale and his body trembled. The heat disappeared within seconds as his incantation was interrupted.

As he failed to finish casting the spell, he watched as the black smoke tried to engulf him whole. Thanatophobia crept into depths of his mind. His body had become paralyzed. Now, there was nothing else he could do.

CHI*

The black smoke amassed together. Angele's silver barrier and the revolving knives began dropping onto the ground as if it was raining.

At the opposite side of the vast forest was a black cliff.

An old man wearing a black robe stood on the cliff observing the sea of trees. The howling gust blew the lower of his robe into the air.

The man's hair was white and it was messy, yet his beard and eyebrows were red. His pale face was carved with a countless number of wrinkles.

The old man had a blank expression on his face. In front of his chest, there was a head-sized golden plate floating. The plate was translucent, slowly rotating and many complicated runes were engraved on its surface.

"I shall harvest your soul for what you've done to my beloved disciple," he muttered. His line of sight fell onto the battlefield thousands of miles away from the cliff.

He pointed at the golden plate and lightly touched its surface.

DING*

The crisp sound echoed in the forest and that was the noise Angele heard.

Angele was no longer paralyzed. However, he had lost some strength that caused him to step back.

The silver barrier in front of Angele had turned into a pool of black liquid and splashed to the ground, but it still prevented the black smoke from reaching him.

"F*cking hell!" he cursed as looked at his right hand. A small amount of the black smoke covered the tip of his first finger, and the black liquid dripped down the wound.

Angele gritted his teeth and pointed at the oncoming black smoke with his left hand. The wings on the palm started flapping.

A dangerous aura surrounded his body.

Arisa sensed the changed and immediately tried to retreat. The black smoke began to move away from Angele.

Arisa was trying to backstab him. However, her expression changed after seeing Angele raising his hand. She stepped back and returned to the smoke screen while sending a small amount of smoke to Angele's back.

Angele narrowed his eyes and was about to activate the signet using his mentality.

DING*

He heard the noise again, which made him flinch for a second.

"AH!"

Angele's legs numbed and his back was hit by the black smoke. Green smoke rose from the wound and it created a sound similar to a piece of meat being grilled. He failed to activate the signet completely.

Only several translucent waves spread into the air and blew away some retreating black smoke. The remaining smoke on his back was also eliminated.

Arisa revealed herself.

"That was close. However, that was your only chance to hurt me." There was a cold look on her face.

She waved her hand. The black smoke gathered in the air again and rushed toward Angele.

Angele kept running away from the smoke. He could sense someone locked onto him with a strange energy wave, and the wave would interrupt him every time he tried to attack or defend. Moreover, this special energy wave penetrated his defensive forcefield with ease.

He wanted to gain some practical battle experiences in this fight by himself, but it would seem that he had to seek Zero's help.

'Zero, is it possible for me to eliminate this energy wave?' he asked Zero as he dodged several strikes from the black smoke.

'The energy wave will weaken if you can move two kilometers away from your current location. There is an 87% chance this strategy will work,' Zero reported.

Angele groaned as his right arm was damaged by the black smoke again. The silver metal that covered his skin dropped to the ground, and a black wound was left on the arm.

He could feel the intense pain coming from his arm and back, but he stayed calm. The smoke in front of him gathered together and turned into the shape of a human, attempting to embrace Angele.

"Show me the direction."

"East is your best option."

Angele threw the crossguard sword into the air, and it turned into a silver shield in front of him. He turned toward the east and started running away like a madman.

"Are you trying to run?!" Arisa's voice came from the human-shaped smoke. The silver shield turned into a pool of black liquid after making contact with the smoke.

She started chasing after Angele at full speed.

"Give me the Light of Thor!" Her voice changed. It was crisp no longer. Instead, she sounded like an old man with a hoarse voice.

Angele increased his speed. He was still regretting activating the signet on his left palm. It was almost a complete waste since the activation had been interrupted by the strange energy wave, and his mentality was damaged by the side-effects of the signet.

'Arisa turned herself to the energy form. If I can hit her with the signet, she'll at least lose the ability to fight… What is that energy wave? How can it penetrate my force field?!' Angele was a bit anxious.

He started invoking the incantation of Berlin's Haste.

It was one of the Wind spells he had purchased from the school. It could increase the caster's speed.

Angele enhanced his boots with the spell and his speed was greatly increased. He was almost traveling at the same speed as the black smoke.

Arisa was still in the form of a human-shaped smoke.

"You can't escape from me," she shouted in a cold tone.

"I don't understand. How did Calello lose to a weak Wizard like you?! Ha!"

Angele ignored Arisa's taunting and kept running forward. The noise made by the strange energy wave was getting intense and was interrupting his thinking.

'Zero, boost all my senses right now!'

'Boost mode enabled. Special mentality tunnel detected… boosting…'

Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes. His mentality was boiling and roaring, trying to drive the strange energy wave away from Angele's mind.

His vision blurred. The trees on the sides, dried leaves on the ground, and the light from the sun all became gloomy.

BAM*

Angele could sense that his pure energy particles had passed through a mysterious tunnel and reached somewhere far from his location.

He saw an old man staring at his energy particles on a high black cliff.

The golden Rune Plate in front the old man cracked, breaking into countless tiny pieces and slowly vanishing into the air.

"Lucky bastard..." the old man muttered, his voice echoing in Angele's head.

Angele could do nothing but watch the old man walk away.

CHI*

He was pulled back to his corporeal body by some strong power. He felt like the scene he just saw was a dream. It was like an uncomfortable out-of-body experience.

Angele was still running forward. Behind him, it was the noise of the smoke engulfing the plants around. Cold sweat was dripping down his forehead as his face was being blown by the howling wind.

"Red eyebrows and beard…" Angele mumbled. The unpleasant noise finally left his head. It would seem that the spell stopped after he found the caster.

"Come back!" Arisa's voice came from behind again.

Angele's expression turned serious. He moved his feet and suddenly turned around.

Three silver scars slowly appeared on the left side of his face.

He raised his left hand as he aimed at the black smoke. A raging fireball gathered upon his palm that was about the size of a human's head.

"Go… Lesser Fireball!" Angele pushed the raging flame forward.

The fireball drew a straight line in the air. It sounded like an arrow soaring through the sky.

Arisa had no time to react. It was too late for her to stop. The fireball hit her body directly.

BOOM*

"Ah!" A high-pitched scream echoed in the forest.

The black smoke was blown away by the flame and spread into the bushes. The whole area was covered in smoke and fire sparks.

Right in the center of Arisa's body, a fireball was spinning at high speed while exploding. Everything around was being lit. The flame quickly drove away all the dark power and cleansed the black liquid on the ground.

Angele raised his left hand and aimed at Arisa with the palm. Two black wings on his palm began flapping. He could hear the screams originating from the abyss.

"No!" There was fear in Arisa's eyes.

"Nas'vak!" She shouted like a lunatic. Angele could hear a sound of something cracking.

A skull composed by green smoke appeared in front of her body and slowly opened its mouth.

BOOM*

The fireball exploded again and hit the skull. A small dark energy vortex was created by the contact.

Angele leaped away. The energy strike forced him to stop activating the signet, and the black smoke around almost disappeared.

The remaining smoke formed into the shape of a human on the ground. It was the female Wizard, Arisa. Her arms were gone, and there was a large hole in her chest. The left side of her face was burnt black.

"My face…" She trembled.

Angele looked at her calmly and grabbed the metal bow from his back.

"Any last words?" he spoke in a light tone.

Arisa heard his voice and slowly raised her head.

Angele pulled the bowstring to full and created a black metal arrow on the bow.

CHI*

The arrow turned into a black string and struck Arisa right in the center of her forehead.

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Chapter 162: Lay Low (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

"No!"

Arisa screamed.

The tip of the arrow slowly sank into her forehead. The screaming gradually stopped. Arisa's body melted like a burning candle. Her skin, face, and legs turned into droplets of white or black wax while falling to the ground.

The wax landed on the ground and the green grasses turned yellow within seconds. The sour, fishy, and stinky smell flooded the air after some green smoke rose upon the pool of wax.

Arisa disappeared and only a long black robe was left on the ground.

Angele put the longbow on his back and covered his mouth with his left hand. Blood was coming out of his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. Especially his eyes, the blue pupils were coated with blood, and they looked horrifying.

Angele quickly grabbed the long black robe on the ground and shook it. A small leather pouch dropped out of the pocket along with a palm-sized black notebook.

He put everything into his pouch and ran to the east side of the forest.

The black robe was left on the ground. Angele jumped into the bushes and disappeared.

Angele held his mouth tight. Blood was emerging from his throat. He knew his injury was severe. Furthermore, someone, or something, was pursuing him. He could sense the approaching threat, and it seemed that this 'person' was traveling at the same speed as Angele.

"Red eyebrows… red beard… I'll find you one day…" Angele was enraged. It was the first time he was pushed to the limit after becoming a formal Wizard. He was not sure which stage the red beard was at, but Angele assumed the red beard was at least at Master Liliana's level.

Angele kept advancing on the path he chose. It was already noon. The mist had disappeared completely. Rays of golden sunlight shot through the gaps between the leaves of the trees.

He asked Zero to check his body condition as he ran down the road.

His back and right hand were hit by the black smoke and the skin was corroded. Without the metal shield, he would've already been turned into a puddle of sticky black liquid.

In addition to that, the smoke contained a strong venom that coursed through Angele's veins. Blood was leaking out of his skin all over his body.

His attributes were plummeting, almost halving. Angele was lucky that he had absorbed many metals with high resistances before boarding the ship and he dodged most of the black smoke with Zero's help. Also, Angele's high attributes helped him fight against the poison. Wizards with low stamina would've already died.

Angele traveled for more than 10 kilometers at full speed until the threat stopped chasing after him.

The landscape around changed. The trees were much shorter than the ones he saw in the deep forest, and he finally saw travelers' footprints on the road.

Angele struggled for a while before he started moving again. He finally walked out of the forest and saw a path for carriages covered in mud.

He collected some herbs based on Zero's suggestion and stopped the poison from damaging his organs. Angele also applied some healing gel on his back to prevent the infection.

Angele stayed on the side of the road and wiped the bloodstain off his face. He waited for a while and saw several merchants' carriages.

He paid the coachman several silver coins. The coachman said he would drop him off at the nearest town. There was a cart full of furs attached to the carriage where Angele lay on top of it.

It was quite cozy. The carriage started heading to an area that Angele was not familiar with.

In the forest, there was a tall gray stone tower.

An old man with a red beard stood on the top of the tower and oversaw the forest, looking a bit depressed.

"Master, you are the best prophet I know, yet you can't find the black robe on the ship?" a female Wizard behind the old man asked.

"He's out of range." The old man put his hands behind. There was no expression on his face.

"If I don't have something else to take care of…" He turned around and looked at the female Wizard.

"Alica, you have the intel of the other targets?"

Alica nodded, "Master Sophina just sent me a message that she detected some movements in the mine. The other masters think they're trying to eliminate us."

The old man nodded as well. "Where's Dior?"

"He's still at a ruin by the west. He was arguing with the Merfolks about an ancient magical artifact he found. I think it will take him a while to…" Alica answered and stopped halfway after seeing the old man nodding his head.

"Also, the bloodline composition experiment in the lab… If you didn't help them in time, the hidden barrier would've already been broken. The good news is that the other masters did not notice the incident."

"We need to go to the mine first." The old man sighed.

"Calello and Arisa… It's a pity, but they died because they were not strong enough. Light of Thor and the mine are way more important. I already planted a seed on the young bastard. I'll finish him off when I have time. Also, place a price on his head."

"Yes, master," Alica nodded.

"Now if you would excuse me…"

"Go ahead."

Alica turned around and left the room, then closed the door carefully.

Angele was woken up from his meditation because the noises made by the carriage's wheels.

He opened his eyes. It was already night. The carriage was slowly traveling down the road.

"Korver, are we there yet?" he asked in a loud voice.

"We're almost there, sir. The town ruled by Lord Aster is ahead." The coachman was a middle-aged man wearing gray clothes and a straw hat.

Angele leaned to the side and looked ahead. He saw lights and some average-sized town walls separating the town from the forest. There were light torches hanging on the walls and Angele could hear the flames crackling. The only entrance to the town was by the end of the road. Several guards were chatting beside the town gate under the dim light.

Angele's brow furrowed. He raised his hand. A large piece of black metal appeared on his palm and covered his skin.

In the darkness, his skin turned dark, giving the impression that it was tanned by the sun. He then created a pair of scissors and cut off his long hair. Also, Angele's face changed after it was coated with the black metal. He looked like an ordinary young man who could be found anywhere in a town.

'I'm way too weak right now. I need to be careful.' Angele already had a plan in mind. He was still lying on the furs.

The carriages slowly approached the entrance of the gate.

"Stop, what's in the carts?" A tall guard with a mustache walked over and asked in a loud voice.

Korver jumped off the carriage quickly and smiled.

"Sir, those are some fine furs from the west. Take a look. It's what the Lord needs."

The guard was just doing the routine. He nodded before he walked to the carts and saw Angele lying on the furs.

Angele jumped off the cart. He had already repaired the damage on his leather armor suit with a thin layer of silver metal. He straightened his back and stared at the guard like a nobleman.

Before Angele could say something, the guard stepped forward and smiled.

"Sir, you're here to study, right? We know Master Markolov's rules. Who are you looking for? I can be your guide since I'm familiar with the business."

Angele stayed calm and nodded. He took out a gold coin from his pouch and threw it to the guard.

"I got into some trouble in the forest and lost my map. Can you tell me where I am? I need to know if this is the right place."

The guard caught the gold coin carefully. Although the gold coin was light, it was still a good extra money.

"This the Aster Town. Master Markolov lives around here. If you go a bit further, you can meet Master Jerad and Master Para. They can give you a test if you are a noble. Please follow me."

The tall guard led Angele to the stone wall and pointed at a yellow poster.

"Take a look. You need to meet the requirements to take the test."

The other guards looked jealous after seeing the tall guard talking to Angele. They just bowed to Angele and stayed by the gate. It seemed like they reached a certain agreement. Only one guard could talk to the 'customer' at a time.

Angele did not care about the other guards. He focused on the poster.

"Huh…"

The words were written in Anmag.

'Jerad. One magic stone per year. Age, younger than 20. Must be a noble.'

'Markolov. One magic stone per year. Age, younger than 20. Must be a noble. Also looking for servants.'

'Para. One magic stone per year. Age, younger than 20. Must be a noble.'

There were different gray insignias drawn beside their names.

Jerad had the insignia of a flower, Markolov had the insignia of a burning flame, and Para had the insignia of a stone.

Angele recognized those insignias right away.

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Chapter 163: Lay Low (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Those crests were symbols representing elemental categories. Angele found that out while purchasing spells in school.

'So, Jerad focuses on Plant, Markolov focuses on Fire, and Para focuses on Rock. These crests are commonly used among the Wizards…' Angele thought.

'I didn't expect Wizards to take in apprentices for a small price. What's going on here?'

'Wait, but the requirements are so low. They are not expecting talented students. They just want to earn some extra magic stones. The three are not contracted Wizards… There should be many Wizards in this area, which means there's a resource point around. Nomadic Wizards won't stay in the same area for too long unless something attracts them here.'

Angele read the poster and started planning.

'I can go talk to them first and see if I can find some herbs to treat my wounds. Although nomadic Wizards don't usually follow the systems, they still carry rare materials and spell books.' Angele remembered acquiring his Metal spells from a nomadic Wizard.

Angele's Metal Mastery helped him win against a Liquid Stage Wizard. Although the chip, the signet, and the enchanted item assisted him a lot during the fights, the barriers and the forcefield created by Metal Mastery were still a few of the main reasons he survived. Combined with his physical capabilities, he could often gain advantages when the battle started.

Angele stopped thinking. He turned his head around and looked at the tall guard.

"Where's Master Markolov? Can you lead me to him?" He took out several gold coins from the pouch. The golden glint attracted everyone's attention.

Those guards were from relatively rich families based on the look of their suits inside the armors. They chose to become gate guards because they wanted to earn some extra money by leading nobles who wanted to be apprenticed to Wizards.

"Of course, sir! I'll take you there!" The guard gulped before responding.

He turned around and discussed with the other guards on how to share the reward.

"Please follow me."

"Sure." Angele nodded. He said goodbye to the coachman and followed after the guard.

They left the city gate, walked along the city wall, and entered a hidden path.

The path was dark and wet. The guard untied the torch from his belt and lighted it up with a flint stone.

The yellow light brightened up the area around the two right away.

"To be honest, I suggest you find the other two masters. Master Markolov is famous for his strictness with the students. Now, nobles only go to Master Para's and Master Jerad's places," the guard told Angele in a light tone.

"What is this strictness you're talking about?" Angele asked. He was busy giving Zero orders.

"I'm not sure… I just heard that he was strict with the students. Many people were kicked out of his place, and he only took in three apprentices." The guard shook his head.

"However, the other masters have at least twenty apprentices at the moment."

"Is that so?" Angele was not too concerned. Blue light dots were flashing in front of his eyes.

He was far away from the location where the fight happened already, but he still felt uncomfortable. It was almost like the stickiness you get after sweating a lot.

Angele thought the old man he saw on the cliff probably placed a curse or mark on him. He kept asking the chip to scan him on his way here.

He assumed that seeing the cliff from the forest was due to the mentality surplus, but he did not know what triggered it. It felt like the prophecy spells Angele had read about in the school's library, but such spells usually had small ranges. Also, Zero's scanning ability was impacted by Angele's body injuries. The chip scanned his body many times, but it did not detect any issue. Angele knew that the threat was gone or the source of threat decided to let him go, so he decided to deal with it after he recovered.

'To recover naturally, you need at least three months,' Zero reported.

Angele creased his eyebrows. His injury was severe and his power almost halved. After meditation, his mana already recovered, but he had only about 10 Mana at the moment along with the reduced attributes. He could not even cast a modified Lesser Fireball since it would cost him at least 10 points of mana.

Angele could not store the spell in the chip if he could not cast it. Also, the transfer of energy from the chip to his body was not perfect. Angele's body needed one second to prepare for the transfer. For that reason, he could not just simply use the energy particles or mana stored in the chip to help him cast the spells.

The stored energy was for emergencies only. It could not replace Angele's mana, so he could not store Lesser Fireball in the chip until he fully recovered from the injury.

Good thing was Angele's signet still had two uses left, which made him felt a bit relieved.

After about half an hour, he saw a row of black metal fences barring his way on a small hill.

"That's it. It's Master Markolov's place. I'll leave here," the guard turned around and explained.

Angele nodded and threw a gold coin to the guard. The guard smiled, catching the gold coin before he left.

He waited till the guard disappeared from his sight before walking up the hill.

The fences were coated with energy particles. It was most likely an alarm. If Angele touched it, the people inside would know someone was here.

Angele thought for a while and decided not to enter it directly.

He walked around and found a thick bush. Angele hid behind it and used the stealth techniques he had learned before. He vanished into the darkness and left no trace behind.

About two hours later, Angele heard some intense footsteps from the path.

Two men in gray robes walked up the hill with torches in hands. The flames were dancing and there were two long shadows on the ground.

"…If we can capture him, the money we get will be good enough for the rest of our lives," the gray-robed male said. It would seem that they were discussing a certain plan.

"Even if he's here, weaklings like us will die in seconds…" The other Wizard apprentice was a female.

Angele overheard their conversation as they got closer.

"30 high-quality magic stones and they only needed his location. They did not expect other people to capture the man for them. I think he must have some powerful spells." The man lowered his voice.

"So what? Our master is better. He can make a large tree explode with a single instant-cast Fireball. Even the two masters I saw in Ferrero were much weaker than our master." The girl disdained the man's opinion.

"Well, yeah… Our master is better for sure. He was famous for Fire spells and that was the reason why I came here. However, I didn't expect for the spell to be so hard to learn." The man had a bitter smile on his face.

"I spent three years here and hadn't understood a single spell model yet. When can I actually start doing experiments…"

"Same here."

The two walked to the fences and opened the metal door as they walked in.

The girl was still talking to the man while walking.

"I think I'll give up too if I can't understand our master's system in three months. It's way too difficult for me… I wonder what the level-1 spells are like. A level-0 spell has more than 72 different structures… How is that even possible? I can't even understand the spell books."

"Still better than me. I'm stuck on the fundamentals…" The man looked a bit depressed.

They kept walking and slowly disappeared by the corner. Angele stayed behind the bush and did not move an inch.

After a while, another man appeared on the path. He just stood there and watched the gray robes leaving.

"Natalia… You'll be mine one day!" the man suddenly whispered.

"If that old prick didn't trick me with a fake one…"

Under the moonlight, Angele saw the man gritting his teeth. The man had blue pupils and brown hair. He looked like he was at the same age as Angele.

Angele's assumption was right. The old man with red beard had already placed a price on his head. He now needed to proceed with extreme caution.

The man in front of him was just a rank 1 Wizard apprentice and was weaker than the other two gray robes. The two were rank 2 Wizard apprentices and one of them was carrying an enchanted item.

The rank 1 Wizard apprentice was probably related to the old Wizard here since he was acting like a spoiled child.

Angele had a plan on the mind after staring at him for a while. He crouched and calculated the distance between him and the rank 1 Wizard apprentice.

About nine meters.

He slowly raised his hand and aimed at the man.

CHI*

A dark shadow rushed out of his hand and hit the back of the apprentice. The shadow melted and then covered the man's nose and mouth.

Angele pulled the shadow back with force, and the man was dragged toward him.

BAM*

The man flew to the bush and landed on the grasses.

"*#%#$@#$$@..."

He struggled and tried to say something.

Angele narrowed his eyes and chopped the man in the neck with right hand.

The man fainted right away and Angele dragged him into the deep forest.

Half an hour later.

A man walked out of the forest from the side.

He was wearing a gray robe. His eyes were blue and his hair brown.

The man rubbed his chin, checking if the mask was done right.

After several seconds, his cheeks puffed up and a silver glint reflected on his skin. The skin returned to its original color after the shape of the man's face was modified.

"I'm Dennis, I'm Dennis, I'm Dennis…" He kept muttering this phrase as his voice continually changed. The man coughed several times. He now sounded just like the rank 1 Wizard apprentice Angele dragged into the bush from before.

"Theoretically, it should work. Let me give this a try. I hope I can find the cure to whatever was planted on my body."

He was satisfied with the result, so he stopped talking. The man walked to the fences and opened the black metal door before disappearing into the corner.

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Chapter 164: Lay Low (3)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

He walked down the dark path and went across a small forest, then he arrived at a small house.

Two oil lamps were hanging on the door of the house. The dim light only brightened about a small area in the front, and the oil lamps knocked on the door from time to time as the wind blew.

Angele wiped the dust off his clothes and walked to the fences of the yard.

He put his hand on the cold wooden handle and pushed it slightly.

"Dennis! You're back." In the yard, a cute chubby girl wearing a gray robe was watering the flowers. She turned around and raised her head.

"Yeah, where's Sidman?" Angele asked.

"He's inside."

"I'll talk to you later."

"Sure."

Angele passed through the yard and entered the house. It was bright inside, and the walls were decorated with fine glass lamps.

It was warm and cozy inside. The fragrance of fruit wine permeated the air.

An old man with white messy hair sat in a sofa quietly in the living room explaining something to the Wizard apprentice named Sidman in a low voice. Two glasses of warm green wine were placed on the table in front of the two.

Angele could also smell some spices he could not recognize in the room.

He was a bit worried when he decided to disguise himself as Dennis. However, he felt relieved after seeing the old man. The old man was just a below average Wizard. He had not yet reached the Gas stage.

If the old man had reached Gas or Liquid stage, there would be no point for him in staying beside a countryside and collect materials. Joining any major Wizard organization would bring him much more benefit.

The old man's Mentality was much lower than Angele, so he was not worried that the man could see through his disguise.

Angele was not expecting to meet a high-rank Wizard, but he was injured, and the signet was the only thing he could rely on at the moment. He also wanted to save the charges for more important matters.

"Master, I'm back." He imitated Dennis's voice.

"Alright." The old man glanced at him for a bit and nodded, then continued to chat with Sidman.

Dennis was just a rank 1 Wizard apprentice, but he was the son of the old Wizard's younger brother. Angele learned the information during the interrogation. It seemed that Dennis did not get treated differently due to his relationship with the Wizard. His rank was lower than the other two Wizard apprentices, so he had to clean the rooms every day and carry daily supplies back from the town.

Dennis came to the Wizard one year ago. He was having trouble progressing and he barely talked to the old man. He would rather take the books back to his room and read them himself.

Also, the old man did not treat Dennis like an apprentice. Dennis was shy and quiet, so it was not hard for Angele to act like him.

Angele was alone most of the time and he got used to it already. One of the characteristics of being an introvert was having a preference of not communicating with people.

Old man Markolov was wearing a white robe. There was a silver metal string inserted into his collar. He was explaining things to Sidman, but Sidman did not seem to understand what his master was saying.

Angele listened to their conversation for a while. They were just talking about the fundamentals of energy particles. It was just a waste of time for him, so he went straight to Dennis's room on the first floor. Dennis had said that Wizard apprentices were only allowed to live in one of the rooms behind the living room.

He walked to the end of the hall and saw Dennis's name on one of the four bedrooms' door.

Angele opened the door with the key and locked it after walking inside.

'I'm good as long as Markolov doesn't know who I am.' Angele pursed his lips to a smile.

Angele had to burn the real Dennis into a pile of ash after he tried to escape.

The room was simple. A desk and a single bed were set up by the corners. He also saw several black wooden chairs and a small bookshelf on the side.

Angele lit the oil lamp. He grabbed a chair and sat down by the desk.

There was a thick leather book on the desk and the title was written in Anmag. It said, 'The Basics of Energy Compression'.

Angele opened the book.

'Energy Compression is an important subject that is being studied by many Wizards. It is also the standard testing method for those who can turn their bodies into pure energy'. This was the first line on the first page.

'Huh? This must be Markolov's book. He hasn't reached Gas stage yet, but he's studying such a deep energy related subject?' Angele was curious.

He turned the page and kept reading.

Time passed and Angele's expression turned serious. He finished the book after about half an hour.

Angele closed the book as he closed his eyes.

'72 formulas. Combining them together, many energy compression related problems can be easily solved. It's impossible for a nomadic Wizard to understand such concept. Maybe he inherited it from one of the ancient Wizard families…' Angele was still thinking about the complicated formulas and structures he saw in the book.

The structures demonstrated how to compress any type of energy particles. It was like a complicated mathematical problem. Using different formulas to obtain the simple result.

'Learning the formulas are easy. The problem is how to apply them to the real issue. Logical thinking is definitely needed here. The more I compress the energy, the more mentality will be consumed, but the result will be worth it. Also, that must be why Markolov can make a large tree explode with a simple Fireball.'

Angele was excited with what he just found. Although he knew each nomadic Wizard had their own secrets, he still did not expect to find the knowledge on energy compression here.

Angele chose to see Markolov because he was more familiar with Fire spells. Finding the knowledge about energy compression was just a bonus for him.

If he could master the energy compression formulas, he would be able to power up all his abilities.

Angele grabbed the oil lamp and walked to the bookshelf. He wanted to find other books related to the subject.

However, he was disappointed that the books on the shelf had no related information, and none of them was valuable.

Angele sat on the chair and thought for a while. He decided to meditate on the bed first. He still needed several months to recover, so he had plenty of time to research.

At noon, Angele left the drugstore in the town and walked to the direction of the town gate.

He saw residents gathered beside a large poster on the wall.

People were excited. They were discussing the content of the poster. Angele stopped by the crowd and raised his head to check what was happening.

The title of the poster said, 'Criminal Wanted', and below that was a painting of Angele's face.

'The reward for capturing this person is 500,000 gold coins and 200 high-quality magic stones. People who bring valid intel to me will be rewarded with 50,000 gold coins and 30 high-quality magic stones.'

'200 high-quality magic stones…' Angele was a bit surprised.

"The best we can do is getting them intel. Only Wizards can fight the wanted man, I think. What did he do to the White Mist Forest? Haha." A young man behind him laughed.

"We don't need to work for the rest of our lives if we can find this man."

"He's in deep shit… Several major Wizard organizations want him dead. You saw the insignias? Damn. The Miloshine Family, White Mist Forest, and Labyrinth College, what the hell did he do?" a mercenary-like brawny man asked in a low voice.

"I don't know. We're just mortals. We should mind our own businesses."

The crowd kept discussing.

Angele spent most of the time cleaning the rooms and organizing books in the house in the last ten days. No one saw through his disguise as he barely said any word.

He purchased some herbs to make healing potion from the drugstore in the town and he was recovering well, but he still needed some time to heal his organs.

Angele went to the drugstore again today, but he did not expect to see the poster on the wall. He left the crowd with a bag in his left and walked to Markolov's house.

He walked down the dark path, passed through the fences, and returned to the house quickly. Before he opened the door, he heard two people having a conversation in the living room.

"Are you sure about this?" Markolov asked.

"Yes, master. My family is disappointed at me because I haven't progressed in years and they want me to go back… Please forgive me…" Sidman answered in a shaky tone.

Markolov thought for a while, and responded, "I understand… So, what's your plan?"

"I'll leave as soon as possible." Sidman hesitated for a second.

"Also, thanks for teaching me. I'm just not talented enough to understand the complicated system." He sounded depressed.

"It's not your fault." Markolov sighed and ended the conversation.

Angele waited by the door until the two finished their words. He opened the door and saw Markolov and Sidman sitting on the sofa with depressed looks on their faces.

He bowed to Markolov politely and returned to his room.

Sidman hired a carriage in the afternoon and left the Aster Town.

Angele and Natalia said goodbye to him and watched him leave, but Markolov stayed in the house. It looked like he was planning something.

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Chapter 165: Lay Low (4)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Angele and Natalia watched the gray carriage leave under the setting sun.

"I'll be leaving too…" Natalia suddenly said.

"I tried as hard as I could, but… maybe I'm just not talented enough."

Angele did not say anything. He just listened to Natalia's words. It was what the late Dennis would do in this situation.

If a Wizard apprentice could not reach rank 3 before the age of 18, it would be impossible for him to become a formal Wizard. Sidman and Natalia did not rank up during the years, they were probably disappointed with themselves. Also, they could not handle the pressure from their families anymore.

Angele and Natalia returned to the house after the carriage disappeared in their sights. They were not in the mood to chat, so they went back to their own rooms after showering.

Angele needed to clean the room on the second floor at night. He went upstairs with a mop in hands and heard someone turning pages in the study.

"Is that Dennis? Come here." Markolov's voice came from the study. He sounded tired.

Angele pushed the door open.

"You need me? Master?"

The room was a mess. Books and scrolls piled up on Markolov's desk. There was a thick book in his hand and it seemed like he was looking for certain information. He was also making notes on a long leather scroll.

"Some data is missing. Can you bring me the books from the basement, please? The ones with red covers."

"For sure."

Angele took a glance at the books on the deck after responding to the old man's request. He noticed those bloodshot eyes of Markolov. It seemed that he had not rested for a while.

'Why's he trying so hard?' Angele could sense that the old man was weak.

He also saw the title on the leather scroll, it said: 'Simplified Energy Compression Calculation'.

Angele turned around and walked down the stairs. In the dark and dry basement, there was a whole box of books with red covers. The box weighed about a hundred kilograms. Angele carried the books to Markolov's reading after running up and down several times.

Markolov asked Angele to return to his own room after everything was done. He was still reading the books with red covers.

Time flew by.

Angele had already stayed in the house for three months. He had almost fully recovered from the injury, but he still needed some more time. Furthermore, people were hunting him outside, so he only went to town when necessary.

"Dennis." Markolov summoned Angele to the study. He was sitting in a chair while looking outside through the window.

"Master," Angele bowed and responded.

"Dennis, why aren't you leaving? My brother already sent you the letter, right?" Markolov looked tired and depressed, his hair messy. Angele could not even see the soul from his eyes.

Angele remained silent for a while. He did receive a letter from the town. It was Dennis's family asking him to return. Also, Dennis's family found an enchanted item that would help him join a major Wizard organization.

"I… don't want to leave. You're the best master in my opinion!" Angele said after thinking for a while. It was his genuine thought. Although Markolov's energy compression system was hard to learn, it could still create a shortcut for Angele. Also, he wanted to wait until his injury fully recovered.

Angele was not related to Dennis's family, so he had no reason to listen to their words. He decided to leave after his organs were cured because he was not the real Dennis.

Also, Angele spent some time observing Markolov. He already had a general understanding of the old man.

There were many goals Markolov wanted to accomplish in his life, but he always had been interrupted by various issues. He would spend about an hour just sitting there looking at the sky through the window every day. Angele knew he was suffering from depression.

"Alright, you can leave now," Markolov spoke in a light tone. It seemed like he was pleased with Angele's response.

Angele bowed. He turned around and opened the door. He saw Natalia waiting outside and Angele's presence surprised her. She did not understand why Angele was called to the second floor.

Natalia did not greet him. She walked into the reading room and locked the door.

Angele shook his head slightly. He was not concerned about the other two Wizard apprentices' lives since he would be leaving once he was recovered from his injuries. Markolov's energy compression system was great and it piqued his interest. However, Angele could not stay here for too long. Also, there was still an unknown mark planted in his body by the red beard. If he got greedy, he might be captured by the people who were after him.

Angele heard Natalia talking to Markolov from the study behind before he left the hallway.

"Natalia, you're here. I prepared a detailed note for you. It's about the simplified energy compression calculation method. You did well the last time, and with this, I believe you'll be able to reach the next stage. In the note, I added…"

"Sorry, master. I have to leave, too…" Natalia interrupted.

The room became deafeningly silent.

After several minutes, Natalia spoke again.

"My carriage is waiting for me outside… Thank you for all these years…" Natalia opened the door. She looked at Angele but did not say anything. She just ran down the stairs and left the house.

Angele turned his head around and stared at the open door of the study. He sighed, lowered his footsteps, and walked down the stairs.

Natalia left the house as well. The house seemed a bit too big now for Angele and Markolov. The place was empty and quiet.

Markolov summoned Angele to the study again by the evening. His condition was worsening after Natalia left. Angele saw him staring at the window and wondered what he was thinking.

No one talked after Angele entered the room. The silence lasted for about half an hour.

Markolov turned his head around and looked Angele.

"I know you're reading the books I stored in the basement recently. You can have these notes I made. They'll help you study." He grabbed all the notes on the desk. Angele saw him writing that word-by-word not so long ago.

Markolov handed all the notes over to Angele. It seemed like 'Dennis' was his last hope. A strong Wizard who failed to find a talented apprentice to inherit his knowledge. It made Angele feel downcast.

Angele opened his mouth, but he did not know what to say. He was a Gas Stage Wizard and he already knew that Markolov was dying. Markolov's attributes were decreasing every day. Angele could not even sense his energy particles in the room.

He read about the information on a book that when a Wizard was about to die, his mana and mentality would dissipate. Markolov was not injured. He was just reaching the limit of his life expectancy, and that was the reason why he so desperately wanted to find someone to inherit his knowledge.

Angele grabbed the thick notes and looked at Markolov directly in the eyes.

"Thank you, master. I won't let you down." He nodded with a serious expression on his face.

Markolov was just a dying Wizard who wanted to pass his knowledge to one of his apprentices.

"There is a total of 72 energy compression formulas. I obtained them from the master of my master. Now, I need to find someone to inherit them." Markolov smiled, looking relieved.

"If you're serious about learning the formulas, I have another more detailed note for you. I copied them down one by one from my master's book."

He struggled for a second before he stood up and took down a metal container from a bookshelf. There was a scroll inside.

"Alright, come to me every day for a new scroll. Dennis, remember, your talent level is low, but that's not the problem. If you work hard, one day you'll understand the system. Never give up."

"Yes, master." Angele nodded.

The information recorded on Markolov's scrolls was way too difficult for Wizard apprentices and average Wizards to understand. However, Angele had Zero, and the chip could help him understand the complicated application of the formulas.

Combining the formulas in different ways would help him simplify the steps needed to compress the energy, and it was a high-difficulty technique. Also, after doing some research, it would seem that the technique could bring positive changes to his metal forcefield. However, due to the lack of data, Zero could not simulate the changed forcefield.

His spell power would be increased greatly if he could master the special energy compression technique.

It was a pleasant surprise.

Markolov did not care whether Angele understood the information or not. He just wrote down all the things he knew and threw all the scrolls to Angele. It was as if he had no time to find another talented apprentice to pass on the system.

Angele was excited that he could learn something new every day. He stored all the data in Zero, and he was progressing extremely fast with his strong logical thinking ability.

Angele's injury had fully recovered in the process, but he was not in a hurry to leave anymore. Markolov would summon him to the study in the morning and Angele would spend the whole day learning the new knowledge.

At first, Angele thought that the technique could only be used to compress energy, but later he realized it could also be applied to mentality compression.

He kept reading all the books and notes in Markolov's collection and finally found the technique about mentality compression.

Angele noticed that the red beard Wizard planted something in the flow of his mentality a while ago, but if he could master the mentality compression technique, he could easily interrupt or eliminate tracking spells like this.

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Chapter 166: The Land of Opulence – Nola (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

It was still a bit dark outside. The sun had just appeared upon the horizon, and the howling wind blew through the forest.

Angele lay down on the bed with his eyes closed, but his eyeballs were still rolling.

A layer of translucent distorted shield covered his head, which looked like glue.

The glue shrunk as the time passed. Initially, it was about the size of Angele's head, but after ten minutes, it evenly spread on his face and became much thinner than before.

The morning sunlight passed through the window and brightened up the room.

The glue on Angele's face had already been absorbed by his skin.

Crack*

A red light dot appeared on Angele's forehead. It was trying to fly out of the window.

PA*

Angele hit the red light dot in the air with his hand.

The light dot was crushed into some fire sparks and it disappeared.

Angele opened his eyes and sat on the bed.

'Finally, it's gone.' Angele was relieved. 'Without the mentality compression, I won't be able to get rid of this thing. Also, the wave motion of my mentality was changed after practicing mentality compression. I think even the Wizards that are good at divination won't be able to track me down anymore.'

Angele relaxed for a bit before getting off the bed. He sat down by the desk, lighted the oil lamp, and started reading the scroll he acquired not so long ago.

After he recorded everything with the chip, Angele practiced some applications of the basic compression structures until the sun rose.

He sealed the scroll, opened the door, and left the room.

The living room was silent. The dust in the air was visible under the sunlight. Angele stretched his back and walked up the stairs.

A new scroll would appear on the desk in the study every morning that had been prepared by Markolov. Angele would take the scroll and study it in his own room. It already became a part of his daily routine. Markolov usually got up early. He would sit in the chair and wait for Angele to come. However, Angele found no one in the room this morning after he pushed the door open.

A yellow letter was left on the chair with a white seal on top of it.

Angele was a bit surprised. He walked to the chair and grabbed the seal. It was Markolov's private seal. He then grabbed the letter and opened it:

'Dennis, right? I'll just use this name.

I already taught you everything I know. I can feel that my life energy is drying up… Last night, I talked to my son, Karen, in my dream. He's still handsome and gentle. He told me that he purchased a large house in Valborg… I also saw my grandson. He told me they were going to have fun in the pool… Also, my old friend, Medivh, he was there too.

I'm dying, and I don't know how much time is left for me. However, there's something I have to do. You can do whatever you want to the house after you read the letter. Also, I beg you, study and master the energy compression application. This technique must be passed on to the future generations.

Markolov.'

The letter ended here, Angele put it down on the desk. Markolov wanted to finish teaching Angele as fast as possible, so he could pursue the last wish in his life. Moreover, he must've not wanted for Angele to witness his death due to his pride.

Dennis was the son of Markolov's brother and he had many brothers. However, Dennis's talent level was worse than his personality. Angele's studying ability was much stronger than the real Dennis. Angele tried his best not to do anything suspicious, but Markolov still noticed Dennis's change after all that time they had spent together.

At least, the old Wizard ultimately found someone who could understand his system.

Angele glanced around the room, feeling gloomy. He knew that the old Wizard had left the house while he was trying to compress his mentality. Although Angele knew that this day would come, he hadn't expected to be so soon.

Angele already got rid of the seed and fully recovered from the injury, so he decided to travel to his next destination. He made sure that no one was around before he took down a black pouch from his belt.

It was the pouch found on Arisa's body. He carefully untied the pouch and took out a bean-sized black crystal ball.

"I shall leave too." He sighed. He threw the crystal ball in the air and left the room without looking back.

The crystal ball dropped on the red carpet and turned into distorted dark waves, slowly spreading to all angles.

BOOM*

Everything the wave touched — the carpet, the desk, the bookshelf, and the decorations — started burning in the raging flames.

Outside the house, Angele stared at the burning house for a second and walked down the path with a small black case in his hand.

The house perished within the intense red flames. All the traces of the mentality and the mana were removed by the waves from the black crystal ball, including the seed eliminated by Angele.

Angele purchased many meat jerkies, water kegs, and other general supplies from the town. He also purchased two horses after double-checking the location of the closest big city around with the locals.

He headed to a big city named Eracia and asked the workers at the inn about the direction of Six Ring High Tower. Angele did not want to waste any time. He purchased a map and left the city right after.

Angele was not too far from the Six Ring High Tower. He only needed to pass through two mid-sized countries. Also, this area was safe because it was in the middle of several major Wizard organizations. He did not even meet a single magic creature in the forest and the bandits had been cleaned out a long time ago. The mortals here were living a happy life. Some of them were hired by the Wizards to collect general materials for them.

Angele's plan was to go to the Six Ring High Tower first and find the information on the ring. Also, he needed to collect the materials for making the Tree Killer Potion and the Potion of Tranquility. There was still a price on his head and it was impossible for him to hide for too long, so he had to proceed with caution in the area. The red beard Wizard was much stronger than him at the moment, so he decided to come back here after reaching the next stage.

Angele traveled as fast as he could while avoiding contact with the members of the Wizard organizations that were targeting him. He spent a year to reach the area around the Six Ring High Tower.

The area was called Highland Nola, and legends said this place was the favorite residential area of many strong Wizards.

The highland was empty, and the ground was covered by green or yellow grasses with pieces of tiny stones on top. The seemingly endless yellow path went straight to the horizon.

Marshmallow-like clouds were floating in the blue sky. Their shapes were changing every hour.

A man in a gray robe was traveling down this twisted road on a strong white house. His robe was covered in dust and his face with the hood.

It was the fourth day after Angele arrived at the highland. One of the horses he purchased died due to illness during the trip. The white one was now all he had.

The howling wind blew over Angele's face. It was quite cold.

A brown road sign was lying on the ground in the front. The ink on the sign had already faded and it seemed that no one tried to repair it over the years.

Angele looked relieved after finding the road sign.

"Finally, I'm getting close!" He stopped by the road sign and jumped off the horse.

He wiped the dust off the sign and saw several words written in Anmag: 'Nola, the Land of Affluence.'

Angele raised his head and looked ahead. There were two twisted white pillars on both sides of the road. They looked like two humongous fangs that were guiding the entrance quietly.

He held the reins in hand as he walked to one of the pillars and rubbed its surface. It was rough and cold. There were many tiny holes that resulted from the weathering.

"This is the border of Nola…"

Angele rested beside the pillars for a while before leaving.

There were many random forked paths on the main road after about 10 kilometers. They looked like yellow cloth stripes that were laid down beside the main road. The main road was covered by tiny stones and was about ten meters wide.

The only thing he could see was the endless road. There was no other traveler around. After traveling for two more hours, he could find a random path about every hundred meters.

Angele finally saw a man in a gray robe came from a path from the left side. He was riding a yellow horse and he did not say a word while passing by. The man kept whipping the horse and he quickly disappeared in Angele's sight. It seemed like he was dealing with something urgent.

More and more people appeared along the paths as Angele advanced.

Some were riding horses and some were driving carriages. Angele saw fruits and wheat in the carts attached to their carriages. Also, most of the people were wearing gray robes. Angele could sense the energy particles around coming from rank 2 Wizard apprentices.

The people he saw on the way were all Wizard apprentices. He did not even meet a single mortal.

Angele arrived at a large peaceful lake. He could see the gray mountains on the other side of the water.

The surface of the lake was like an enormous mirror. The clouds and the sky reflected on the surface of it. Two groups of people were resting by the lake. Some of them were washing their faces and some of them were setting up campfires by their carriages. It seemed like they were cooking something, Angele could smell the fragrance of fish soup in the air.

Angele jumped off the horse and held the reins in hand. He took down a large empty water pouch from the saddle.

The horse started drinking water by the lake. Angele crouched and refilled his water pouch with the clean lake water.

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Chapter 167: The Land of Opulence – Nola (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Bubbles rose to the surface as Angele put the pouch into the lake. The water was clean and cold. He could see the fish swimming through the waving grasses underwater.

There were thin ripples on the surface of the water, and Angele saw a palm-sized silver fish moving toward him. Strangely, its head was flat, and it almost looked like someone had cut it in half. Its face looked like a tiny depressed human with sharp teeth under the lips.

The strange-looking fish saw Angele's hands in the lake, and its eyes filled up with greed. It quickly swung its tail and charged forward.

CHI*

A silver needle appeared on the tip of Angele's right hand's index finger and penetrated the fish's body.

He grabbed the dead fish, dragged it out of the water, and started observing curiously.

It was identical to regular silver-scaled fish except for its head. The fish was still moving after it was dragged out of the water, blood dripping down its tail.

Angele's actions attracted people's attention from one of the groups that had already left after washing their faces. A young man and a girl from the group beside the campfire watched him killing it. They were interested in the spell Angele had just casted.

Angele dropped the dead fish onto the ground and walked to the people beside the campfire.

They were wearing clothes with identical sigils. Some of them were in hunting suits while the others were wearing robes and dresses. White arrow marks were on top of their left shoulders; it looked like they were made of metal.

Angele took a glance at their carriages and also found the white arrow marks there, on the black doors. They looked simple but high-quality.

A young man stood up after seeing Angele walking over to them. He was wearing a brown leather coat and long boots. It seemed like he was the leader of the group.

"How can I help you?" the man asked in standard Anmag. It was the universal language in this area.

The other five people looked at Angele and stood up as well. Angele took a glance at them and checked their status with the chip.

Three rank 2 apprentices and 3 rank 3 apprentices. They were also carrying weapons like swords and scimitars.

"My name is Green, it's my first time here. Can you tell me some information about the Land of Opulence, Nola?" Angele answered in Anmag with a smile, making up the name on the spot.

He slightly swung his hand and a regular magic stone appeared on his palm. The leader observed Angele for a second and smiled after seeing what was on his palm.

"Sure, no problem. Come have a seat."

The leader waved his hand and asked the others to make space for Angele.

Angele walked to the campfire and sat down by it.

"Can you tell me about the organizations around here first, I really have no idea about the situation."

The leader sat down by Angele and pointed at a young girl wearing a leather skirt.

"Asuna, explain it to him, you know the most about the organizations."

The girl nodded, looking happy. The other people around shook their heads. It seemed like they all liked the only girl in the group.

"Sure, I need the money anyway." The girl turned her head around and looked at Angele.

"The situation of the organizations here is simple."

She cleared her throat.

"Nola has three major wizard organizations: Six Ring High Tower, White Tooth Castle, and The Snake Bird Cliff. The Six Ring High Tower has the most power, while White Tooth Castle is located at White Tooth Highland, and it is second in power. The Snake Bird Cliff is at the third place.

"The Six Ring High Tower is famous for its enchanted items and potions. The White Tooth Castle is the strangest organization among the light wizards, and The Snake Bird Cliff is not funded by humans. Also, there are many small wizard organizations in the area just trying to survive with their specialties, and that concludes the situation of the wizard organizations."

Angele nodded. "How about the mortals? The cities and the towns?"

"There are not many mortals here, most of the people are apprentices and they're from wizard families. The organizations need to trade resources with each other, so many towns and cities have turned into trading markets. Also, the wizards brought radiation energy to the residential areas, so the mortals here had to leave. The people left here are all related to the wizard families," the girl explained.

"There are many wizards and apprentices entering the land from outside to trade for resources or knowledge. One of the largest resource points on the land is also in the middle of the countries in the area."

Angele rubbed his chin, grasping the general idea of the situation here.

"So, this area is pretty much run by wizards and apprentices?"

"You're right. Nola is surrounded by many wizards' residential areas and they're the source of daily supplies. Actually, Nola is the center of this land."

The girl nodded.

"It's yours."

Angele smiled and threw the magic stone to the girl. The girl caught it and put it in her pouch.

"By the way, which organization are you guys from? Can you tell me?"

Angele stood up.

"Certainly, we're not from any of the three major wizard organizations. We're apprentices of the River Arrow."

The girl smiled.

"How long will it take to reach the town?"

"About two to three hours. If you're not in a hurry, you can join our group," the leader said, joining the conversation.

"Sure, much appreciated."

Angele nodded.

They shared some food by the lake and started traveling together.

More and more people appeared on the road ahead, and it was the first time Angele saw people wearing blue robes.

He observed the group while having a conversation with them. It seemed like they trusted each other a lot. The people here were different from the ones in the area that was full of dark wizards—they were willing to help and trust each other.

The atmosphere here was peaceful.

"Nola is the largest residential area for wizards on the west coast and most of the wizards here are light wizards. They're responsible for keeping the area peaceful and safe."

The leading man was driving the carriage and talking with Angele, who was riding a white horse.

"It's so peaceful here…"

Angele sighed.

"Yeah. Any form of fighting is forbidden here, it doesn't matter if you're an apprentice or a wizard. The rule itself is enforced by the three major wizard organizations. Its purpose is to provide apprentices and wizards that come here to study or do research a safe heaven. Actually, only dark wizards and Labyrinth College fight all day, the wizards in other areas would rather spend the time on studying. It takes years to learn the basics, but I think you already know that," the man explained.

A man with a mustache joined their conversation.

"I heard a ship was destroyed in an accident by the coastline of Labyrinth College awhile ago. The light wizard in charge went missing as well. It's the biggest news I heard this year. Some say the dark wizards did it. We barely fought any magical creatures… No way could we win a fight against a dark wizard."

"Of course… The dark wizards are put into dangerous environments the moment they become apprentices. We're light wizards and most of us just study our own projects, but the wizard hunters are an exception. The only thing the dark wizards care about is power. Apprentices die every day in the dark wizards' organizations."

A middle-aged man on the side sighed.

"Most of the apprentices are psychos. I can't even imagine what they'll do after becoming wizards…" the girl said, pursing her lips. "We're more civilized than those dark wizards for sure."

Angele did not say anything, just listening to their conversation with a smile on his face. The group kept discussing the things they knew about Nola, and Angele learned a lot.

He finally realized that he had only seen the dark side of the wizard world. According to the information these apprentices shared, most of the residential areas were controlled by light wizards, and they were usually safe.

Nola, Labyrinth College, and the land of dark wizards were all on the west coast.

The size of the land here still exceeded Angele's expectations.

"So, people here must join the organizations and families once they become apprentices? And they'll focus on the subjects they're good at? I lived in a remote area with my master and it's my first time learning the basics of wizard organizations," Angele said in a calm tone.

"Yeah." The girl nodded. "Here, more programs and research projects will bring more power to a major wizard organization. The Six Ring High Tower is definitely at the top. Five years ago, a humongous tornado hit the Silver Ring City, and I witnessed wizards from Six Ring High Tower eliminate the tornado with ease. They have a faculty that specializes in dealing with natural disasters."

"What? There are wizards specialized in dealing with natural disasters? How strong are they?" Angele asked curiously.

"They're weaker than the wizards specialized in fighting for sure…" The girl rolled her eyes.

"Also, there's a hunter force in the Six Ring High Tower. The members of the team are specialists in killing and city-level defensive skills. They're the only people that can fight the strongest dark wizards."

"A hunter force?"

Angele memorized the name.

Light wizards were not interested in engaging in wars or fights. The people living here thought that they had created an ideal society, and the hunter force was like the army and the police. They considered dark wizards as terrorists and uncivilized thugs.

Angele thought for a while and asked, "What if the dark wizards disguise themselves as light wizards and enter Nola? Won't that be dangerous?"

"It's not a problem. There are way more light wizards than dark wizards. They can stay here as long as they don't break any rules, but the necromancers are never allowed to enter Nola, they stink… Also, the hunter force has recruited several dark wizards already, it's not a big deal," the girl explained.

"Interesting."

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Chapter 168: Requirements (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Angele kept chatting with the group members as they advanced, obtaining a general idea of the rules and happenings here during the conversations on various topics.

The only girl named Asuna was a knife juggler, and she was in charge of ranged attacks.

The leader was named Silen. He had grown up in a wizard family, while the rest of the group members were apprentices from outside Nola.

"Your name reminds me of an old friend."

Angele pursed his lips into a smile.

"Is that so?" Silen smiled as well. "My grandfather named me. It means 'hope' in my hometown's language. Green, I haven't got the chance to ask you why you're here? We can help you if you need something."

Angele could see the sincerity in Silen's eyes.

"I'm just here for some rare materials. I already spent a long time trying to find them. If it's not too much trouble for you, I actually have some questions to ask, and I'll pay you for sure."

Angele nodded.

"No problem. The Silen Family originated in Nola and they're familiar with the area," Asuna added and chuckled.

More and more carriages appeared on the stone road as they traveled. There were also some pedestrians with heavy bags on their backs. The noise made by the rolling wheels and the horses was getting louder.

The carriages were going uphill and Angele saw tiny piles of snow and gray stones filling up the gaps between the green grasses.

He stayed on his horse and raised his head.

At the end of the road, a mountain covered in white snow appeared in his sight. A tall rectangular stone pillar stood in front of the entrance. The pedestrians were passing by its left side and the carriages were passing by its right side.

The surface of the stone pillar had the texture of glass: it was smooth and reflective.

Angele pulled the reins of his horse and slowed it down, observing the stone pillar carefully. After his mentality was compressed, he could see that it was surrounded by distorted waves.

It was almost like the stone pillar was a signal tower and the waves were spreading in all direction, but he was not sure what the waves could do.

"Silen, what's that?" Angele pointed at the stone pillar.

Silen looked at the direction Angele was pointed at and smiled. "It's the Pillar of Dark Crystal. I heard it's used to detect intense energy activity in a certain area and it's used to prevent wizards from casting powerful damage spells."

"Some say it can do more than that." The middle-aged man joined the conversation.

"Hey, Asuna. There's a message for you from your father, he wants to talk to you as soon as possible."

Asuna looked surprised. "What's the matter? I still need to clean the materials."

"Well, we can do that for you. Go see your father first. It's something urgent I think." Silen took out two mid-level magic stones from his pouch. One mid-level magic stone could be exchanged for ten regular magic stones.

He handed over the magic stones to Asuna.

"This is your share of the reward based on the current market rate. However, if the items are sold for a higher price, I'll keep the rest to myself. Heh…"

Silen looked at Asuna and chuckled.

"That' way too much… why?"

Asuna hesitated, but Silen had already thrown the magic stones to her, so she caught them in the air.

The others laughed while watching the scene. The conversation topic was changed right away and they stopped talking about the price of the items.

Angele already knew Asuna needed money, and the members of the group treated her like their own sister. They usually gave her a big portion of the reward; Angele liked that peaceful atmosphere in the group a lot.

"Actually, I have something to take care of later. Asuna, why don't you introduce the place to Green?" Silen suddenly asked.

"Umm… But I have to go see my father first…"

Asuna pursed her lips.

Angele smiled. He took out a mid-level magic stone and threw it to Asuna.

"It's for you."

Asuna caught it quickly. "That's too much. Just give me two regular magic stones. I'll get you the change…"

She quickly untied her pouch from the belt.

"It's fine. Put it back."

Angele waved his hand. He knew how important magic stones were to apprentices. He still had one black card in his pouch. The card was made from a special type of magic stone and it could be exchanged for about one thousand regular magic stones. And he also had several high-level magic stones for daily uses. To top it, he could craft potions and sell them. Earning magic stones was really not a problem to him anymore.

So Angele insisted on paying Asuna a mid-level magic stone, and her face blushing, she carefully put it into her pouch.

The group members' impression of Angele changed after seeing him giving away a mid-level magic stone so easily. They thought Angele was either rich or supported by a large wizard family.

Asuna sat in the carriage, her head lowered, and mumbled, "The reward for our mission plus the profit of selling the materials is about 60 magic stones, and this guy gave me one mid-level magic stone just for introducing the area to him…"

"Well, he's probably a member of a large family." A group member nodded. "Asuna, you should talk to him more. I'm sorry but, at this rate, you won't be able to pay the debt for your family… this is a chance…"

Asuna bit her lips but did not say anything. She knew getting closer to Green was her best option at the moment, but she still preferred to earn the money by doing missions with the group.

Outside the carriage, Green was still talking with Silen until the carriage stopped by the black pillar.

It was built on a square, which was made from some special stone with a gray surface. The carriages were entering from the right side of the pillar while pedestrians were mixed with the leaving carriages on the left side.

Angele halted the horse and stared at the black pillar. Its surface was smooth like a mirror, and it was surrounded by the translucent waves.

He then lowered his head and looked ahead. The square was built in a gap between the snow mountains. Everything was gray around here, and behind the black pillar, it was an entrance of a canyon.

Angele followed the people into the canyon, and he heard the noise of water falling. A humongous cup-shaped canyon appeared in his sight with two white streams cascading down the rocky outcrops; they were the source of the intense noise.

Countless sharp rock cliffs covered the surface of the black-grayish mountains.

Old gray stone houses were built on each of the cliffs, green mosses and vines climbing up their walls.

On the right side of the stone wall, there was a twisted mountain road leading the carriages and pedestrians uphill.

"Let's go."

Silen jumped off the carriage and held the reins of the two horses in hand.

Angele noticed that the road was a bit bumpy, meaning it would be a bad idea to travel too fast with the crowd, so he jumped off the horse and took the reins in hand as well.

The entrance was wide. It was good enough for five to six carriages to enter at the same time.

"We'll arrive at Nola after this canyon. There's a general market there that sells flour, meat, fruits, and daily supplies, everything you need on the road."

Asuna jumped off the carriage as well and followed after Angele.

"The markets are the most popular places in Nola. Each of the major organizations owns one major market. All the trading between wizard organizations must be done in those markets. However, this one here is open to public and it doesn't belong to any family or organization," Asuna explained.

"How many markets are there in Nola?" Angele wondered.

"Five in total including this one. Three are built by the major organizations and they're open to the apprentices or wizards from outside. The smaller organizations built one together as well."

Asuna pointed at the cliffs.

"You see those stone houses? They're vendors opened by the markets, and each one sells resources of a certain category. They're protected by the organizations that own them and the price usually seems fair.

"This one here, the public market, is protected by all the organizations since it's important for all the travelers and people living in Nola. One thing to note is that the three markets owned by the major organizations have high-level security, the wizards have too many tricks that need to be prevented."

"Indeed." Angele knew at least ten methods that could make a fair-looking trade unfair.

"Do they sell spell materials here?"

"Well, as I said, the public market only sells daily supplies. You don't get any materials that are related to spells here, but you can buy clothes or food, and of course, none of the suits are enchanted here."

They were slowly advancing through the crowded road. The warm and wet wind was howling through the canyon. The place was surrounded by snow mountains, but for some reason, it was still warm.

On one of the cliffs on the left, there were several carts parked in front of a stone house. Ten strong workers were carrying goods into the house and two supervisors were yelling at them. Their voices were unclear due to the noisy waterfalls.

Asuna noticed what Angele was looking at it and said, "That vendor sells beans, such as red beans, black beans, and sea beans. They're collected and delivered here by the merfolk." She stopped for a second. "Actually, most of the food here is delivered by merfolk."

"The merfolk?"

Angele was surprised.

"Yeah, look at their faces, I mean the ones carrying the goods down the cart."

Asuna lowered her voice.

Angele nodded and started observing those worker's faces.

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Chapter 169: Requirements (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Those workers did look different, their skin was blue and scales covered their cheeks. Also, their faces had the shapes of horses, and they all had bronze earrings on one of their ears.

The other group members were discussing something else in low voices while Asuna explained the basics to Angele. Suddenly, they heard a horse stomping from behind.

Angele and Asuna moved to the side immediately, seeing a black unicorn rushing past at full speed.

The rider was an old man wearing a white robe, his long beard flying in the air.

"A wizard," Asuna told Angele in a low voice.

Angele nodded, he could sense the force field around the old man; he was the first wizard Angele had met in Nola.

People all moved to the side to let the light wizard pass, and he disappeared from Angele's sight after several seconds.

"Let's keep moving. The next market is not far away. You can trade for materials there."

Asuna wiped some dust off her skirt.

Angele nodded.

"I'll have to talk to my father first, but before that, I'll take you to the market owned by the Six Ring High Tower, you can take a look there, and I'll be right back," she added.

"Sure."

Angele was not in a hurry anyway.

PA*

A black pouch was put down on the table, full of magic stones.

Angele put his hands on the table as well and looked at the clerk behind the counter.

"Tree Killer Potion, do you have it here?"

The clerk was a tall and strong man, his body covered in a dirty gray robe which was a bit too small for his size.

"Tree Killer Potion? Are you kidding me, sir? You're in a potion shop, but it doesn't mean we sell potions from the tales." The clerk shrugged. "I'm sorry, but can you ask for something more common?"

"Really? You don't have it?" Angele scrunched his eyebrows. "I'm in Nola, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. You can find everything in Nola they say, but there are things that can't be purchased with just magic stones," the clerk explained, his lips pursed. "Our shop sells things that are attractive to apprentices, but the potion you asked for is from the tales, used by the legendary ancient wizards…"

"Well, do you know where I can find it?"

Angele had followed Asuna to the closest market and found a potion vendor, but the result was disappointing.

Asuna returned to her home after taking Angele to the vendor, but she had already exchanged a communication rune with Angele.

The market owned by Six Ring High Tower was in the same canyon as the public market, so it only took them several minutes to reach it. Silen and his group had gone to the other side to clean the materials.

"I'll be honest with you, sir. The master wizards keep the rare materials, formulas, and potions for themselves. They won't trade it with you. Also, you need to at least join one of the organizations here to get the permit to purchase relatively rare materials. I suggest you talk to Master Vice."

"Master Vice?"

Angele was about to ask for the details about Vice.

"Hey, you! How long do you need? I didn't see you buying anything."

A strong man in a leather suit was losing his patience.

Angele turned his head around and stared the man down. The man's expression changed and his face turned pale.

Angele looked at the clerk again. "So, where's this master Vice?"

"Turn left and you'll find him in the first stone house you see…" The clerk felt the tension in the air and he answered anxiously. "Sir, again, you need to at least join one of the local organizations, otherwise, he won't sell any rare materials to you."

"I thought you were joking." Angele's brow furrowed. "I have to join a local organization for that?"

"Yes. He'll only sell you normal materials if you don't."

The clerk nodded.

The potion vendor was inside a small stone house as well; Angele could still hear the waterfall brushing the rocks.

The five people behind Angele lowered their heads after seeing his eyes, deciding not to say anything.

The aura around Angele was horrifying. The man had stared down a strong mercenary like he was going to kill him the next second. They knew that the man was strong. Only wizards and apprentices that focused on damaging spells would have bloody auras like that.

"I hope you're telling the truth."

Angele nodded, grabbed the pouch, and left the vendor.

'I need to join a local organization before I can buy those things… Damn.'

Angele had a plan in mind. He took a glance at the people outside the vendor and decided not to hide his aura anymore.

The apprentices on the street noticed Angele's presence and stopped chatting, staring at him.

"Hey, do you know how to join the Six Ring High Tower?" Angele suddenly shouted out.

The apprentices looked at each other, no one knowing how to answer Angele's question.

He took out a mid-level magic stone and threw it into the air. The magic stone spun several times before dropping on his palm.

The people around looked over with excitement. They were scared by Angele's aura and serious face when he walked out of the vendor, but no one could resist a mid-level magic stone.

"Me!" A short man with a cap raised his arm. "I can take you to Six Ring High Tower's communication stand."

Angele nodded, about to throw the magic stone to the man.

Suddenly, a familiar face appeared in the crowd - it was Asuna. She had already changed to a tight leather suit, and she was breathing heavily.

"Don't. Your local guide is here. Sorry, I'm late."

Asuna's tight brown chest armor revealed her slim waist and large breasts. Although her face was just average, she still had one of the most balanced bodies among the girls Angele had ever met.

"Great, I thought it would take you awhile." Angele stopped releasing his mentality waves and the aura around him disappeared. "Let's go."

Asuna nodded and they left together.

The short man shrugged, looking disappointed.

The potion vendor's shop was built on a cliff with a huge square. Countless stones covered the square, their sizes varied. The mountain ended here, but it was connected to another humongous cliff with a bridge.

Asuna led Angele to the other side of the square, walking downhill on another path. It was a smaller one and not many people were here.

There were many apprentices on the square checking different stores, but it seemed most of them ignored this path.

"Those vendors are for the normal apprentices, the better ones are down here, but only wizards or high-rank apprentices need those rare materials…" Asuna explained in a polite tone. "Green, are you a rank 3 apprentice?"

Angele shook his head. "No, I'm a wizard."

There was no point to hide anymore, he had already entered a safe area. He thought disguising himself as an apprentice would only bring him trouble later.

"Wait, what? A formal wizard?!"

Asuna's eyes went wide open, surprise evident in her expression. She stopped walking and just stared at Angele.

Two of the apprentices walking down heard Asuna's word and took a glance at Angele.

Angele scanned them using the chip and learned that the two were rank 3 apprentices. The light wizard on the unicorn was still the only wizard he had met here.

"Move. We still have things to do," he said in a low voice.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I'll take you to the vendors reserved for wizards." Asuna realized she still needed to guide Angele. "Only wizards are allowed in that area. I'm sorry I didn't know you were a wizard on the way here. I'll return the magic stones to you now."

She put her hand into the pouch and tried to take out the magic stones.

"It's fine. You deserve those. So, there's an area for wizards? I should've told you earlier."

Angele had wondered why the largest residential area for wizards was full of apprentices.

"Hey, sorry for interrupting. Are you going to the wizard area as well?" a young man's voice came from the side.

A handsome man with short white hair smiled at Angele from the side. "I'm going there as well, why don't you join me?" His voice was gentle and deep.

Angele had a glance at the man and nodded. "Yeah, I'm looking for some materials."

The man was wearing a white robe, and there was a bronze circlet on his head. Many complicated patterns were engraved onto that circlet, and the man's body was surrounded by a dense force field.

"Is this your first time here?" the young man asked, not interested in Asuna at all.

Asuna stood beside Angele. She lowered her head and did not say anything, the magic stones she just took out from the pouch were still in her hands.

Angele nodded. "Yeah, it's my first time in Nola."

"There should be someone by the black pillar welcoming wizards, did he miss you?" The man scrunched his eyebrows a bit. "Actually, let's chat on our way to the wizard area. You can call me Ainphent."

"My name is Green. No one talked to me at the black pillar."

Angele's eyebrows furrowed. There was only one possibility, his mentality wave must have reduced after he had compressed his mentality. He could control the energy particles and mentality usage much better than before, and it seemed like the black pillar had not detected his true mentality level at all. It could be a good thing for him.

"Maybe the black pillar needs maintenance?" Ainphent rubbed his chin. "Well, I'm not sure what happened. I'll take you to the wizard area first," he said and pointed at Asuna. "But not this woman, unless she's your servant. I don't want to offend you, but why do you take her with you? She's not even cute…"

"Is that so?"

Angele pursed his lips, he did not like Ainphent's attitude toward Asuna. He would not disrespect apprentices just because he was a wizard. However, it seemed like Asuna was not angry at all, she just stood there and did not say a word.

"Hey, Ain, long time no see."

A small black carriage came by.

A chubby woman stuck her head out of the window and greeted Ainphent, her voice intentionally made to sound cute.

The woman had a triple chin and cheeks so fat like nothing Angele had seen before.

"Hey, Med, you're still adorable. Long time no see, I heard you just came back from Northland Alliance. How's the war with underground races?" Ainphent greeted the chubby woman with a smile on his face. It seemed like they had known each other for a long time.

Angele heard Ainphent say the word 'adorable' before seeing the woman and then he felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Ain, I purchased several strong ones from Northland Alliance this time. I can give you one if you want. You're my best friend, haha. And actually, I didn't gather any intel on the war." The woman turned her head to Angele and said, "Hey, be careful. Wizard Ain is especially interested in muscular men like you."

Ainphent's expression changed. Angele looked at him and slowly took a step back.

The carriage slowly left, but Angele could still hear Med giggling.

Ainphent had a bitter smile on his face. "Well, I did find you charming and I hope you don't mind… Nevermind, let's just get moving…"

Angele was speechless—the second and third wizards he had met had some unique personalities. He was not sure if it was a good thing or not.

Asuna finally raised her head and Angele saw a weird expression on her face.

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Chapter 170: The Trade (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Angele followed Ainphent, telling Asuna that he would contact her later since they had already exchanged their communication sigils.

Asuna understood that she would not be allowed in the wizard area so she nodded and left.

Angele followed Ainphent down the hill, and he started seeing more wizards on the way after passing several intersections with other mountain roads.

"I don't mind it if you prefer to date men, however, if you're interested in me, I'll have to say sorry," Angele said with a low voice, his eyebrows furrowed.

Ainphent smiled. "What if I tell you, I was once a woman before the accident happened during an experiment, will you believe me?"

Angele was surprised. "What? You were a woman?"

He stared at Ainphent and observed him again.

Ainphent's face was handsome, his white short hair clean and straight. His skin was a bit pale, but his body was balanced and strong. Angele found nothing that indicated the gentleman in front of him had once been a female.

"Do you mind if I ask what the experiment was about?"

Angele found it hard to believe, but he understood that wizards did strange experiments all the time.

"I can't tell you the details, but I was infected by polluted energy leaking out of containers. Something in my body changed and I failed to find a way to stop it. My appearance became like this after several years," Ainphent explained. He sounded depressed.

Angele did not know what he should say after listening to Ainphent's words. They stopped chatting and walked down the path quietly.

The left side of the path was a mountain and the right side was a large cliff. A waterfall was cascading down the rocks under the cliff and the water was joining a river in the canyon below.

On the farther side, there was a high, white obelisk hidden in thin mist. The surface of the obelisk was smooth like a mirror, and it looked identical to the black pillar by the entrance except for the pyramidal top.

Angele raised his head and saw a white glow on the top of the tall obelisk.

A tiny black dot was slowly leaving the top of the obelisk, flying to the left, however, it was too far away from Angele for him to see what it was.

Ainphent noticed what Angele was staring at and explained, "Are you looking at the obelisk? There are six of them and they are called 'Signal Obelisks'. The six obelisks are arranged in such a way that they form a giant circle. The place is named Six Ring High Tower not because of the layer but rather that each obelisk exists as an individual ring that completes the circle. It's also one of the most famous visitor attractions on the west coast."

He pointed at the areas that were blocked by the mountains.

"Without those mountains, you'd be able to see the other two Signal Towers. They have the same height and look exactly just like the one you're staring at."

"Indeed, they're magnificent."

Angele nodded.

"These obelisks were built at least 3000 years ago, and they were almost destroyed during the wars. However, after years of repairing, they're now in good shape. The obelisks have witnessed the fall and rise of the west coast," Ainphent added.

It was the first-time that Angele had seen one of the wonders of this world.

The two were walking down when they heard something wings flapping on the side.

There were five large black vultures in the air, flying down the mountains.

Each of the vultures was about five meters long, their feathers all black and their necks bald. Angele saw several people wearing dark green long robes sitting on their backs.

One of the vultures flew by Angele and the strong rush of wind blew the lap of his robe. The vultures flapped their wings from time to time, slowly gliding down.

Ainphent smiled. "They're probably members of one of the local wizard families; they're the guards of this market. I think they just came back from patrolling since their shift is over."

"You mean… They send formal wizards just to patrol the area?"

Angele was a bit surprised.

"Things like this will only happen in Nola, haha."

Ainphent chuckled.

They heard other wizards chatting about the landing vultures. The place got noisy within seconds.

Angele heard many different languages mixed with dialects and only two of them were found in Zero's database. He looked at Ainphent, wanting to ask if he knew what the others were talking about.

The other saw Angele looking at him and shrugged, it seemed like he did not what others were saying as well.

They stopped the conversation and reached the bottom of the canyon after several minutes.

A small square appeared in Angele's sight.

There was a tall black stone gate on the surface of the rock. It looked like the gate was built a long time ago, the components already having started to decay due to the weather. On top of the gate, there was an oval-shaped white stone and an eye-shaped complicated pattern engraved onto it.

The gate was about ten meters tall and eight meters wide, and closed. Green vines climbed up its sides, and there was a small flight of stone steps in the front. On the right side of the steps, there was a brazier with burning firewood inside.

The vultures had already landed on the square when Angele and Ainphent arrived at the gate. All the wizards in green robes jumped off their birds and walked toward the stone gate.

Ainphent whispered to Angele, "You saw the green robe leading the team? The one with a huge scimitar on his back? His name is Kuirman, one of the strongest wizards in the three major families that rule the Six Ring High Tower. Also, people say he's a member of the hunter force."

"Really?"

Angele's sight fell upon the leading green robe.

The man was tall and strong. There was a silver scimitar on his back, and his face was covered by a hood.

An old light wizard stopped the green robes as they approached the door. Kuirman turned around. It seemed like he knew the old wizard since they started chatting.

Angele finally got to see Kuirman's face.

He had an aquiline nose, his cheeks were thin, and his skin had the texture of wax. The man looked cold and ruthless with his sharp green eyes.

Although he was laughing while talking to the old wizard, he still gave Angele an uncomfortable feeling.

Angele knew the man had plenty of blood on his hands; he had to have a lot of experience from battlefields.

Angele stopped staring at Kuirman and walked to the gate with Ainphent.

Kuirman turned around and walked past the gate as well after he finished the conversation with the old wizard.

CHI*

All the wizards who contacted the gate, including Kuirman and his team, all turned translucent and vanished into it.

Angele and Ainphent sank into the gate too, and Angele felt like he had just gone through a thin layer of water screen; it was cold and smooth.

A simple small town was behind the stone gate. There were black wooden houses, their walls made of gray bricks. The place was quiet and peaceful.

On the opposite side of the gate, there was a well surrounded by some black bricks, and beside it, there was a wooden bucket.

An old lady wearing a dark red robe was fetching water with the bucket beside the well.

Angele stood at the entrance and overlooked the town.

The street was full of wizards wearing white, green, or red robes. It was the first time he saw so many wizards in one place. All of them were chatting and walking around.

Several maple trees were planted between the black houses. Those torches of fire brought some energy to the gray town.

Angele turned his head around and looked at the gate; it was still closed.

"So, you want to purchase materials, right? If you want the rare ones, you'll have to join an organization. What are you looking for if you don't mind me asking?" Ainphent asked.

"The formula and materials for an ancient potion. Do I really have to join an organization just for that? Isn't there another method?"

Angele's brow furrowed.

They followed the crowd into the town, walking on a cobblestone road.

"Well, there are several ways you can bypass that requirement. However, only a few wizards have such rights in the whole wizard area. What formula and materials do you need exactly?"

"The Tree Killer Potion. I heard it's a potion from the tales."

Angele finally understood how rare the potions listed by Zero were. However, without the potion, his chances of reaching the next stage would be much lower. And since that was his first priority at the moment, the increase in success rate by 45% from the Tree Killer potion would be extremely helpful.

"Also, I need some books on potion crafting," Angele added.

Ainphent pursed his lips.

"The Tree Killer Potion? If I'm not wrong, it's a potion that helps you reach the next stage by energizing your brain… It's a high-level ancient potion and it's hard to craft. Do you really need it?"

"I do. Is there anything you can do for me?" Angele nodded.

"Well… Any potion that helps wizards reach the next stage is rare, let alone the ancient ones… Also, even if you have the formula, where can you find the materials? They might have already gone extinct. If we could just drink potions to level up, why would we meditate every day…" Ainphent shook his head. "I know a wizard at Crystal stage who I'm sure knew something about this. She owed me one, so I'm sure she'll help. What do you think? We can just go ask her."

"That'd be nice, but why are you helping me?" Angele had to ask. "As a wizard, I should at least give you something of equivalent worth in return, but you didn't mention anything. You're confusing me."

Ainphent shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I help you now so you'll owe me one too."

Angele wanted to know what Ainphent wanted. He wished for a fair trade.

"Come on, let's go." Ainphent laughed. "I'll make sure the trade is fair."

He turned around and started walking, Angele following after him.

They went past several houses until arriving at a brown wooden house with a wooden deck built in front of it.

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Chapter 171: The Trade (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Angele followed after Ainphent and they heard people arguing before knocking on the door.

BAM*

The wooden door on the opposite side of the house was smashed open, and a middle-aged woman was kicked out. She struggled in pain, her face turning pale.

Two strong man wearing brown leather suits walked out of the house and a tall man wearing a white bone helmet was behind them.

The helmet was made from the skull of a wolf, and the man's face was right between the sharp teeth. It looked like a wolf that was trying to swallow his head. The man's appearance and clothing reminded Angele of the barbarians he had read about in the books.

The man was about thirty years old with a serious look on his face, his arms toned.

"You know I'm Jerries, right? How dare you sell this fake crap to me? And you became a formal wizard not so long ago? What the f*ck is wrong with this Six Ring High Tower's vendor?"

Angele could see the anger in the woman's eyes, but she was severely injured, and the only thing she could do was lie on the ground.

The wizards on the street noticed the fight and gathered by the house. Some of them were trying to help, but they were stopped by their friends. Obviously, they knew who was behind these three strong men.

"Hey, it's none of our business. They're from the White Tooth Castle and they bring trouble everywhere. Don't worry, Kuirman and his group will take care of them."

Ainphent looked at Angele and his word echoed in Angele's ears.

Ainphent knocked on the door and the brown wooden door unlocked by itself. Angele had one final glance at the three men, then followed his new acquaintance into the house.

The first thing Angele saw was a large wooden table under a window that was covered by random items.

Potion containers, crystal lamp covers, incomplete books, strange-looking black wooden pieces, and tiny statues with complicated patterns engraved on them. None of these items seemed valuable to him.

A short woman stood up from a chair behind the table, her hair a mess. She forced out a smile on her face.

"Oh, hey, Ain. I didn't expect you to come. Long time no see."

She walked to Ainphent and hugged him.

"My dear, Melissa. Well, we just met two days ago."

Ainphent smiled, hugged the old woman, and patted her back.

"Why are you here? I still need some time."

The old woman smiled.

Ainphent pointed at Angele.

"This is my friend, Green. He's looking for the formula and materials of the Tree Killer Potion. I thought you might have some information about it."

Angele bowed to the old woman immediately. He could sense the strong mentality the woman had. It was like standing in front of a sea of energy. He was certain that this old wizard in front of him was much stronger than master Liliana. It was the first time he had met someone that had reached Crystal stage. Also, Angele thought, she would probably have reach rank 2 sooner or later based on the ancient ranking system.

"Interesting, you're young but I can smell blood on your hands."

The old woman took out a pair of glasses from a pocket and put them on slowly.

"Anyways, if you're Ainphent's friend, I'll help you. I owe her one." She stopped for a second and said. "Follow me, I need to find the notebook."

Angele nodded.

"Thank you for your help."

"You should thank Ain."

Melissa turned around and walked down the stairs. There was a door at the end of the staircase.

She opened it and Angele followed her into the basement.

Random materials were piled up in the corners, Angele even saw several dolls and toys.

After about half an hour later, Melissa finally found the notebook she was looking for.

"I recorded everything related to the ancient wizards here."

She opened the notebook and started searching for the information.

Another half an hour passed.

"Sorry, this potion you need was hard to craft even for the ancient wizards."

Melissa put down the notebook.

"So, you don't have it here?"

Ain was a bit surprised.

"I do have the formula, but I don't have the materials."

Melissa shrugged and dropped the notebook on the floor.

Clap-clap*

Melissa clapped twice.

A small black box flew out of the item pile quickly and landed on her palm.

"Take this."

She threw the box to Angele.

He caught it and held it in his hand.

It was a metal cube, probably made a long time ago. Under its black paint, Angele could see a hint of silver.

He opened the lid and saw a piece of folded leather paper lying on a silver cloth. Opening it, he saw countless random runes mixed with strings. It seemed like the formula was encrypted.

Angele used more than ten different methods to crack the encryption and finally understood the title.

'The secret of Tree Killer Potion – Dark Elf Shiva.'

"That's it." Angele nodded and returned the paper to the box. "How much is it?"

Melissa waved her hand. "Ask Ain, I don't want anything."

Ainphent smiled after hearing her words.

"Actually, it's not the first time I bring someone to you, but I think Green fits all the requirements, right?"

"He does fit all the requirements, but are you sure you want to take a Liquid stage wizard there?"

Melissa scrunched her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I believe he can do it. You know I'm good at finding talented people," Ainphent responded.

Angele already knew Ainphent would not help him for no reason, but he understood that there was no free lunch in the wizard world. He would be more cautious if Ainphent didn't want anything from him.

"Just tell me what you want me to do," Angele said, interrupting their conversation.

Ainphent nodded.

"We're creating a team to explore a ruin. We need wizards that can fight and know strong damage spells. I go to the entrance every day, trying to find someone to come with us, but only a few of them meet the requirements."

"A ruin?"

Angele had heard about ruins several times already, but he had never planned to go to one. Ainphent's word caught his attention and he was interested.

"What kind of ruins?"

"An abandoned area of an ancient wizard organization. We've already entered it three times, but we never reached the core. However, I found a wizard that's a master of seals and I need a wizard that knows how to fight. Sorry, I didn't tell you about it earlier, but there were too many people around, and this is a secret mission," Ainphent explained and apologized.

"It's fine. So, what can I get from this secret mission you said?" Angele asked in a calm tone.

"This formula, plus the materials for the potion. Actually, most of the materials are common, but the Oil of Black Rose and the Heart of the Tree are extremely rare. I have a small bottle of Oil of Black Rose here, I obtained it from a dryad wizard about 300 hundred years ago, and I'll give it to you after the mission is finished." Ainphent stared at Angele. "For the Heart of the Tree, we might have to try and find it in the ruins. There's no way you can find it on the market now, you have to visit a ruin like this."

"Is that so?" Angele hesitated. "How many people are in your team now? And how strong are they?"

"I already found three wizards, but I'm not sure if all of them will come. Some wizards just won't keep their promises. Melissa will come too and she'll lead the team. Two wizards are at the Gas stage, including you. The rest are at Liquid or Crystal stage," Ainphent said, trying to earn Angele's trust.

Melissa joined the conversation as well. "The ruin was discovered not so long ago, we need to finish exploring it as soon as possible. If other wizards find out about it, we won't be able to collect the rarest materials."

"So, when will we go to this ruins?" Angele nodded. "I still have something to take care of here."

"Sure, you have two months." Melissa nodded. "The ruins are in a hidden area, and other wizards have not found it yet. If you decide to accept the mission, please keep the information to yourself. Do you know the Ball of Secret?"

"Of course."

Angele raised his hand.

Melissa clapped her hands again, and a translucent ball flew out of the pile of items, landing on her right palm.

The ball was about the size of a human's head, and there were three floating black dots inside.

With a flick of Angele's finger, a black energy particle sank into the ball and joined one of the three black dots.

"Great."

Melissa and Ainphent smiled.

"Now if you excuse me."

Angele bowed again and turned around.

"We'll wait here for five days after two months are up. I hope you'll be here on time," Ainphent said in a light tone.

"Sure."

Angele walked up the stairs, opened the door, and left.

Ainphent started discussing with Melissa after they made sure Angele left.

"I'm sure he can help us. He must be a black robe."

Melissa pursed her lips into a smile.

"Yeah, I'm sure he has plenty of blood on his hands. Black robes like him can fight much better than us white robes. Although he's only at the Gas stage, he should know some powerful damage spells. We need to find out what's hidden in the ruins. We've already wasted too much time."

"Ethio is doing work as well. They're already planning to snatch the crystal, so we need to finish this quickly." Ainphent looked at Melissa. "I hope we'll succeed this time."

"Hope so."

Melissa sighed.

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Chapter 172: Crafting (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Angele realized he was sweating after leaving the old wizard's house. He thought if he declined their offer, the two would try to kill him right away. They had told him everything before he had accepted the mission which was strange.

The light wizards would usually avoid fighting, however, they would still do whatever benefited them the most when necessary.

Angele left Melissa's house and walked down the wooden steps.

The fight he witnessed before entering the house was already finished, but he could still see some broken wood pieces on the ground.

No one came to clean the mess, but it seemed like the situation did not get worse.

Angele walked down the street while taking a look around. There were only several wizards checking different vendors here, the place was much quieter than the entrance of the town.

He turned around and returned to the entrance, deciding to learn the structure of the town first.

The town's size was average, there were about sixty stone houses mixed in with some wooden ones. There were many stores with bronze signs hanging on the top. Angele found potions, gear, and materials stores. None of them were crowded and for some reason, most of the wizards just stayed on the street.

He saw several wizards buying items, but most of them were communicating using the energy particles. Their lips were moving but no sound was coming out of their mouths.

Angele entered a random gear shop. It was dark inside, and a U-shaped counter was in the front. Two wizards were checking the items displayed on the tables.

The owner was a bald old man wearing a pair of glasses. He stood behind the counter, staring at a light wizard beside the table.

"The price is fair. This is a black eagle spiral shell, I paid three tri-colored orchids for it."

The owner was speaking with a low voice, but all the people in the shop could hear him clearly.

The light wizard that was holding the spiral shell did not say anything, he just kept observing it.

The owner took a glance at Angele when he entered the store. Stores here were different from the ones in the mortal world, the owners never greeted the customers.

Angele noticed some energy particle movement on the door. The owner had probably applied some to make the room soundproof, but Angele wondered why he did not want the wizards on the street to hear the conversations in the store.

He walked to one of the tables on the right side and started observing the items on it.

There was a silver metal helmet, leather armor pieces, short sword, hats, and a large black tower shield.

Some of the gear was coated in a white glow; it looked like there was liquid flowing on their surfaces.

Suddenly, Angele found something he was familiar with.

"Hey, can you open that for me?"

He pointed at one of the boxes on the table.

The owner looked annoyed, but he walked over and unlocked the box.

There was a glowing green heart bumping inside, the core of which was filled up with green flames. Angele could still see the lines of vines on its surface.

He grabbed the heart and started observing it.

'Not the heart I know, but it's close. Items like this contain huge amounts of power and are great for making bombs.'

Angele had a plan in mind. He needed to prepare for the exploration of the ruins and something like this would fit his plan perfectly.

The heart in his hand contained higher power than the ones he had obtained from the elephants. Some special modification must have been done to it so the heart would work like a tiny flamethrower.

Angele utilized 90% of the heart's potential with the help of the chip when he was making the bomb. However, without the chip, the best a wizard could do would be around 30%, wasting the rest of the power.

Enchanted items like this could be crafted relatively easily, and the requirements were not high. Even apprentices—with enough knowledge—would be able to make them. The only problem was finding the raw materials.

Angele held the heart in his left hand, its size that of a fist. He could feel the heart still pumping. It was soft and warm.

"How much is this?" Angele questioned.

"One crystal card," the owner responded, "and, the price is final."

"One crystal card?" Angele was surprised. "You mean one black crystal card?"

One black crystal card could be exchanged for 1000 regular magic stones.

"Yeah, are you buying it or not?"

The owner was losing his patience.

Angele felt a bit speechless. It seemed like the owner really did not care about his customers.

"Well, do you have the raw materials? If you do, do you sell them?"

He returned the heart to the box.

"Raw materials?" The owner heard Angele's question and stared at him. "Haha, you want to craft it yourself? Seriously?" The owner sneered. "I have a lot of raw materials. You can try as long as you don't fear the possible explosions."

The other two wizards in the store looked at Angele in surprise. They did not believe he would try to craft the items by himself. They shook their heads and chuckled.

Angele nodded. He knew why the others laughed at him. Enchanted items like the glowing hearts were easy to craft but a certain amount of knowledge was still required. Also, whoever tried to craft the item must proceed with caution, and accurate mentality control was required for that. The results might be completely different based on the crafter's skill.

If the crafter did not proceed with caution, the heart might explode, and even if he escaped the explosion, the enchanted item he acquired would be worthless.

The owner crossed his arms and sneered again. "Well, I warned you already. If the energy leaks, the hearts will explode for sure. If you really want to try it yourself…"

He assumed that the wizard in front of him was not capable of crafting the item.

Angele nodded again. "Where are the raw materials? Can you show them to me?"

"Of course."

The owner walked into the storage room and carried out a large basket. It was a rattan basket full of hearts from various creatures.

Green glowing hearts from the glowing elephants, blue hearts from the frozen elephants, and several black rotten hearts.

Angele recognized most of the raw materials.

"How much is this?"

Angele grabbed one of the hearts from glowing elephants.

"I purchased these materials to make one-time explosives, and they aren't worth that many magic stones. If you really need them, I can offer you a discount. For the whole basket, it'll be…"

The owner smiled.

Angele walked out of the store with a whole basket of hearts, but he looked a bit disappointed.

There was a piece of black cloth on top of the basket and others would not be able to see what was inside. All the hearts in the basket contained high power and they could be used to craft simple enchanted items. In another word, these raw materials were extremely dangerous.

Although most of them would not explode if Angele threw them to the ground, he might still get hurt.

He purchased this basket with all the magic stones he had, and thus, all the magic stones he had earned by selling the rare materials from Moon Gin Garden were used up.

However, the hearts were worth the price. Angele thought of the first heart bomb he had made using the heart of a glowing elephant.

'About 40 degrees of power… That's almost the same power as my enhanced Lesser Fireball. What if I can successfully make all of them into one-time bombs…'

Angele felt a bit better.

'I need to find a place to stay first.'

He looked at the sky. It was already noon, and several rays of golden sunlight passed through the gray clouds.

The town was small but he still found a hotel. However, he did not have any magic stones left. The owner used some special method to find out how many magic stones Angele was carrying and showed him the price. Angele instantly regretted that he did not use the force field to block the scan spell.

Enchanted items were much more expensive than raw materials. The flamethrower type heart Angele had seen in the store could be used many times, and it could deal at least 18 degrees of damage, the numbers close to the ones Angele made by himself.

He had made two enchanted items with the two glowing elephant's hearts last time. The heart bomb was used on the monsters and the other one was left in Lennon city. However, the raw materials he had purchased this time were much better preserved than the ones he had previously.

Angele had high expectations for this basket of hearts. Most of them contained more than 50 degrees of energy according to Zero's report. Several of them even contained more than 70 degrees of energy, which was a surprise.

However, Angele needed to be even more cautious while crafting this time. Higher energy content came with higher risk. If the energy leaked, the explosion would be fatal.

He held the basket in his hands and walked toward the exit. He had already created the map for the town using the chip, and he could easily find the shortest route.

There was no reason for him to join any organization at the moment after obtaining the formula. However, his mentality had barely increased recently and meditation was not helping. He decided to find another way after finishing the work at the ruins.

He probably would have spent a long time trying to increase his mentality as an apprentice without the Black Lead Potion. Apprentices with talent level 2 usually needed dozens of years to raise their mentality to the next level.

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Chapter 173: Crafting (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Angele was leaving the wizard area when he saw several wizards with strange appearances entering the gate. One of the female wizards in a green robe was riding a boar slowly down the hill, and it seemed like she was enjoying her time.

Angele walked up the hill and returned to the square. He saw Asuna sitting on a bench, still waiting for him to come back.

"You're here?" Asuna asked with an excited voice after seeing him walking toward her. She looked a bit tired but she still stood up immediately.

"I thought I asked you to go back." Angele's brow furrowed. "Why're you still here?"

"You paid me so I need to finish my job. I haven't guided you through the area yet."

Asuna blushed.

"Well, find me a place to stay then, please?"

Angele had no magic stones left, so he had to find a place that accepted gold coins.

"Of course."

Asuna nodded.

The square was still crowded and noisy. The apprentices were yelling at vendors as they negotiated the prices. Angele even heard pets making loud noises. The place looked exactly like the markets in the mortal countries.

Asuna and Angele went around the square and walked down the hill using a different path this time. There were many people here, and Angele even saw several mortals on the way.

After about half an hour of going down, they arrived at a suspension bridge.

Under the bridge, it was an endless abyss. The white mist blurred Angele's sight, but it seemed like the people walking on it had already gotten used to it, only several of them looked nervous.

Angele followed after Asuna with the basket in hands. The bridge was shaky and he was surprised by how many people it could handle at the same time.

On the other side of the bridge, he saw countless caves on the surface of the mountain, and it looked like a honeycomb. The distance between each cave was about eight meters.

"You can rent a cave to stay here. You can also purchase one of the larger caves if you want. The price is fair and the place is quiet," Asuna explained and led Angele to a small stone house by the end of the bridge.

There was a small window on the wall, and a middle-aged chubby woman was sitting inside.

"Talk to her to rent the cave."

Asuna pointed at the window.

Angele nodded and stepped forward.

"I want to rent one of your best caves for four months. How much will that be?"

"Do you have magic stones? If not, what kind of gold coins you have? For four months, it'll be 10,000 regular gold coins of the empire," the woman answered carelessly.

"Do you take this?"

Angele took out two purple gems from his pouch. He had obtained them from Nancy, and their quality was high.

"Well…" The woman grabbed one of the gems and observed it. "I want at least 10 of them."

Angele spent all the gems and gold coins he had and rented one of the largest caves in the mountain. He searched his bag and put down several other valuable items on the table to purchase the food delivery service for one year. His priority was to craft the Tree Killer Potion, so he could sell things later if he needed more money.

Asuna was a bit confused at to why Angele hadn't just purchased a cave with a magic stone. The only possibility was that he had used up all his magic stones in the wizard area.

The woman gave Angele a number plate after she received the payment. They walked along the caves and quickly found the one Angele had rented out.

There was a large brown stone door at the entrance of the cave. It was about the size of an average adult, and there were some simple string patterns engraved on its surface.

Angele put the number plate on the door, and the door opened by itself immediately.

A well-decorated living room appeared in Angele's eyes, its walls painted yellow. There was a total of eight rooms on both sides of the living room. Angele did not expect the cave to be so large before opening the door.

A gray fur blanket covered the floor and some crystal lights were hanging on the walls. The yellow gentle light brightened up the whole cave. The rooms were fully furnished. They were luxurious-looking and cozy, the only drawback of the place being it had only one entrance.

"Worth the price."

Angele nodded, satisfied with the environment.

Asuna stayed by the door. She had not followed Angele into the living room.

"The cave is great, but the wizards or stronger apprentices can easily invade your privacy if they want. People usually only stay here for a short period," she explained.

"You're right." Angele nodded and turned around. "Also, can you help me sell these? I'll give you 10% of the profit."

Angele took out a bunch of small glass vials with green liquid inside. They contained a potion he had crafted awhile ago, but it could only cure general physical injuries.

"Ah, high-quality healing gel. I can sell them for you for sure, thank you."

Asuna looked happy, she grabbed the glasses vials and counted the number—there were twelve of them.

"But you already gave me a lot of magic stones and 10% is a lot," Asuna stated honestly after calming down.

"Well, thanks for the help then."

Angele started to like this girl, she was honest and selfless. Asuna reminded him of Tia. The last time he'd seen the young girl was about five years ago, and he wondered how was the situation in Lennon City now.

Asuna left with the twelve vials of healing gel. Half an hour later, a servant delivered food and drink to him, and Asuna returned to the cave at the same time.

There was a small black leather pouch in her hand, and it was full of magic stones.

"24 mid-level magic stones in total."

She handed the pouch over to Angele.

Angele grabbed it, took out a magic stone, and threw it to Asuna.

"That's the reward for your help. Don't refuse it, I might need you later."

Asuna put the magic stone back into Angele's hand with a serious look on her face.

"I can't. You already paid me well."

"Alright."

Angele put the magic stone back into the pouch.

He closed the door after Asuna left, then sat down in a wooden chair, and grabbed a glowing elephant's heart.

'Simulate the process of making the heart bomb for me,' Angele ordered, and blue light dots started flashing in front of his eyes.

'Task created… Initiating… Simulating…'

Rows of data lined up on the bottom left corner beside the glowing heart in Angele's sight.

'Energy: 56.13 degrees. Category: Fire. Simulation Success Rate: 98.78%. Cost: 2 mentality. Duration: 3 hours. Estimated power: more than 50 degrees, less than 53 degrees.'

There was also information on energy loss, the possibility of structure optimization, material content, procedures, and many other small notices under the main data.

The blue light dots disappeared from Angele's sight. He raised his right hand and created a sharp silver scalpel.

The tip of the scalpel slowly turned from silver to gray in half a minute.

Angele held the scalpel in hand and stood up. He walked around the room and applied some energy particles to the walls. By doing that, he could prevent some of the invasions, and the energy particles could warn him about unknown mentality waves. However, they could not stop scanning spells.

But he was not trying to hide the process of crafting the bomb, he just did not want other wizards to know how accurate and fast he could do it. Although fighting was forbidden in the area, people still might go after him when he was out on a mission. Wizards would want to know how he could manage to use such small amount of energy to craft an extremely high-quality heart bomb.

Angele started drawing lines and runes on the surface of the heart carefully.

The time flew by, more and more runes were left on the heart until they almost covered the whole surface. Surprisingly, the blood leaking out of the cuts was black.

Black blood was dripping down the heart slowly. Angele finished the last rune and his skin absorbed the silver scalpel. He then quickly pointed at the center of the heart.

CHI*

The green flame inside the heart flashed and almost disappeared. One second later, the flame was about to explode, filling up the heart. The green glow surrounded Angele's hand.

He narrowed his eyes and started chanting incantations to activate the runes on the heart.

"Comella, the eternal moon, sink the ice into the abyss, and pour molten lava onto the glacier."

BAM*

The explosion inside was stopped, bright white glow coating the runes and patterns on the surface of the heart. The white light almost covered the green glow from the inside, and the lines between the runes were pumping.

CHI*

The white light disappeared and the green flame returned to its original state.

Angele held the heart in hand, satisfied with the result.

'A heart bomb that can deal 50 degrees of damage. Such high-quality raw materials can only be found in a place like Nola.'

Angele could win a fight against an average Liquid stage wizard because he could surprise the opponent with the signet. However, the signet could only be used twice more, and the enhanced Lesser Fireball could not one shot his enemy. He had tried it on two Liquid stage wizards but neither of them died because of it.

The two Liquid stage wizards were wounded but their injuries were not critical, and without the signet, he could not even land the Lesser Fireball on their weak points.

Angele needed something that was powerful and easier to use for the mission in the ruins. He had purchased a whole basket of high-quality raw materials, planning to make a dozen of heart bombs with the help of the chip. Although he paid a lot of magic stones for the hearts, he still wanted to be fully prepared for the high-risk mission.

He wondered, though, at how strong a Crystal stage wizard was and if he might have to rely on those bombs when necessary.

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Chapter 174: The Team (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Two months later…

The brown door of the cave opened.

Angele walked out looking tired, his brown hair messy. There were two dark circles around his eyes, and he was wearing a loose gray robe.

'Making the heart bombs is tiring… Although the required mentality is low, I still need to stay focused during the process. It's so boring…'

Angele rubbed his temples and closed his eyes.

He could make three to four heart bombs every day, and each one of them would take him about three hours. Without the help from Zero, it would have been even worse.

The chip could do the simulation and help him during the procedures, however, he still had to make the bombs with his own two hands.

Also, the raw materials could explode at any time during the process, and since Angele had so many of them, he was worried that the explosion could easily destroy the cave

After two months of crafting the heart bombs, he had turned the whole basket of raw materials into enchanted items. The completed heart bombs were about the size of a human's fist, and he could only carry a certain amount of them with him, but he still managed to hide most of them inside his large gray robe.

'Time to go to the wizard area.'

Angele checked the time—it was already noon. The golden sunlight warmed his body up.

He stood in front of the door, and with all the bombs he had hidden inside the robe, it almost looked like he had gained a ton of weight during the two months.

He closed the door, walked down the hill, and arrived at the bridge.

Asuna, Silen, and the group were waiting for him by the small stone house. The girl had already told them that Angele was a formal wizard, and they had visited Angele's cave several times recently.

"This is the map and some metals with high resistance you asked for." Silen greeted Angele and handed the items over to him. "We tried our best but that's all we found in the market areas around here. Are they good enough for you?"

Angele grabbed the map and opened. Detailed information of Nola was all recorded on it.

The map had a light yellow background, and it was divided into three major areas. The Six Ring High Tower, White Tooth Castle, and the Snake Bird Cliff were ruling those areas.

In the middle of the three major areas, there was a long slim line. It was the public area that was not in anyone's control. There were five red dots on the public area which represented the markets owned by the three major organizations, the public market, and the market funded by smaller organizations.

The map's quality was quite high and the notes were clear.

"Nice map."

Angele nodded. Blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes and the map was recorded by the chip. He asked Zero to compare the routes on the map to the routes he had actually traveled on to minimize the errors.

Besides the map, there was also a small black pouch made from leather. Its surface was elastic and smooth.

Angele untied the pouch and looked inside—it was full of metal cubes that varied in colors.

He grabbed a blue metal cube with a blue glint on the surface.

Silen looked at the cube and explained, "It's called the Blue Devil, a special alloy that's made from more than ten different metals with high resistance. The white ones are called White Silver Iron, and they are usually used to build spell labs."

Angele nodded again.

"You guys did a great job."

He threw two mid-level magic stones to Silen.

Silen smiled, happy with the reward. They could only earn about 100 regular magic stones for completing one high-difficulty mission. Working for Angele was much easier and the reward was much better. Angele only asked them to find him various items, and most of the requests could be fulfilled by just checking vendors in the markets.

"Master Green, I assume you haven't joined any organization yet. Why don't you join my school? I'm sure you'll be a great professor. The Riven Arrow is smaller than the three major organizations, but we have a great number of apprentices, and we have a decent selection of materials in the storage," Asuna asked, looking Angele in the eyes.

"River Arrow?" Angele shook his head. "My plan is to join the Six Ring High Tower and I'm not considering other organizations at the moment."

Some of the rare materials Angele needed could only be purchased by the apprentices or wizards that were registered in an organization, and Silen did the job for him. He himself stayed in the cave while selling dozens of low-quality potions. He had made thousands of regular magic stones in these two months, with the help of Zero, his success rate in crafting potions was much higher than an average potion master's.

The River Arrow was an organization with many registered apprentices, however, they did not care about their students' talent levels. They would take the apprentices in as long as they could pay the fees. Members of River Arrow could be found everywhere in Nola, but most of them were weak.

There were two other organizations that were close to the area. The first one was named Seagull Alliance. It had about 50 wizards, and the strongest one was a Crystal stage light wizard.

The second organization was called The Bronze Torch, and it only had about 10 registered wizards. The leader of the organization was a light wizard at the Liquid stage. They were famous for their huge library, and it was also their main source of income. Without the books, The Bronze Torch would run out of money within a week.

There were about 20 organizations like those in Nola based on the information Angele had gathered from the people in the markets.

Some of the organizations only had one or two registered wizards. They just stayed in their territories and kept doing research using the resources purchased from the market.

"I'll think about it later. There's someone waiting for me right now, so I must go. Asuna has my communication sigil. I'll contact you later."

Angele refused their invitation and walked to the bridge.

Silen and Asuna looked a bit disappointed but they did not say anything. Angele suddenly saw a black distorted rune moving around on his right wrist while stepping forward.

"It's about the time."

He pointed at the rune and it turned into a sentence that floated over his palm.

'Come to Melissa's house before two o'clock.'

Melissa contacted him through the black dot Angele had left to her. The black dot contained Angele's communication sigil so she could send messages directly to him.

Inside the wizard area, Melissa's house.

It was dark inside. The long table beside the windows was already cleaned up and covered by a white lace blanket. There were three light wizards sitting around it.

A thin old female wizard was sitting in a long chair, carefully wiping the edges of her glasses.

Ainphent had a white-feathered pen in hand, and he was writing something down on a piece of leather paper.

There was also a young female wizard beside him. She had no expression on her face, and her eyes were closed. It seemed like she was thinking about something. Her body was surrounded by a freezing aura.

Ainphent put down the pen and shook the paper slightly.

CHI*

The ink on the leather paper vanished into the air and lines of sentences disappeared within seconds.

The feather pen on the table turned into countless white light dots and slowly disappeared as well.

"I already notified Green and the other two wizards. They'll be here today."

Ainphent smiled.

"So, Green was the last wizard you needed?" the female wizard asked in a cold tone. There was no emotion in her words.

"Yeah. He's at the Gas stage, but we believe he can assist us during the mission."

Ainphent nodded.

"Oh wait, Green asked me for the formula of the Tree Killer Potion. I think he wants to ask someone to craft the potion for him. Isabell, I remember you still have a bottle of Black Rose oil, right? I think the chance of successfully crafting that potion is extremely low, but why don't you make a trade with him?"

The light wizard named Isabell nodded and said, "Sure, I don't mind trading with him if he has the items I need."

Knock-Knock*

Someone was knocking on the wooden door.

Melissa slowly put on her glasses and pointed at the door.

"Come in, please," she said in a loud voice.

The wooden door glowed for a second. It seemed like Melissa removed the energy particles she had applied on its surface.

Creak*

The door was pushed open.

A ruthless man in green robe walked in. The man had a pair of dark green eyes and an aquiline nose. Although it was sunny outside, the man's hair looked wet for some reason.

"Kuirman, have a seat, please."

Melissa pointed at a chair on the side.

Kuirman forced a smile on his face.

"So, I'm not the last one."

His voice was deep and hoarse.

Kuirman walked to the chair and sat down. He stopped talking and closed his eyes. Ainphent did not expect to see Kuirman in the team; he looked surprised.

The room remained in silence.

Wizards all had long life expectancies and most of them were patient. There was still some time before two o'clock, and they were willing to wait.

The four just sat there until someone knocked on the unlocked door again.

A muscular man with short brown hair opened the door and entered the room.

The man had an average looking face, but his eyes were sharp and deep. He was covered in a long gray robe, only his neck exposed to the air. The man glanced around and Melissa noticed a silver glint on his neck.

"Green, here you are."

Ainphent turned around and greeted Angele with a smile on his face.

Angele nodded.

"I started moving as I noticed the message. It seems like I arrived on time."

He glanced around, the presence of Kuirman and Isabell catching his attention.

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Chapter 175: The Team (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Ainphent introduced Angele to the crew. The others took a glance at him but did not say anything. Angele walked to an empty chair and sat down.

"One more to go. I found a new guy several days ago. He came to Nola not so long ago, just like Green, but he knew some strong spells."

It seemed like Ainphent was still searching for new members recently.

"One of our original team members decided to quit due to some personal matters and I had to recruit someone new."

He shrugged.

The members did not seem surprised and no one said anything. Another half an hour later, the door was pushed open again.

A bald old man with a cane walked into the door. He was covered in a dark yellow cloak, and only his head was exposed to the air.

"Sorry, I'm late…"

The old man had a muscular body, while his voice was deep and loud. He would have looked much younger without the goatee on his chin. He had a serious look on his face, giving the impression that he was stubborn.

Ainphent stood up immediately and winked at the old man.

"Mr. Belem! You're here. Welcome!"

"Ain, where's my material?"

It seemed like the old man named Belem liked Ainphent a lot, and he smiled after Ainphent greeted him.

"I'll ask my family to prepare it for you after the mission is completed. Don't worry, I'll keep my promise," Ainphent responded with a gentle tone.

"Sure, that's great."

Belem nodded and sat down on the last empty chair.

Angele sat in the chair and saw the old man touching Ainphent's leg under the table. He shuddered for a second, pursed his lips, and turned his face to the other side.

Melissa coughed and glanced around the room.

"So, we can start discussing the mission since everyone is here."

The female light wizard named Isabell moved her lips. "I'll take three followers with me, they're all Grand Knights."

Ainphent took a glance at Belem and said, "I have 8 followers, 5 rank 3 apprentices, and 3 knights."

"That's way too many people, we need to set up the agreement with the merfolk, and we need to keep the location of the ruins as our secret."

Melissa scrunched her eyebrows.

Ainphent chuckled. "Don't worry. Nosdana Prince is a good friend of mine, and the agreement can be reached in five minutes. Also, you know most of my followers. They were with me on our last mission and you can trust them for sure."

"Fine."

Melissa looked at Angele and the bald wizard Belem.

Belem stopped rubbing Ainphent's leg, and his face turned serious again.

"I have two followers. They're Grand Knights as well."

Angele glanced around, he did not know everyone had their own followers. He was always alone since he carried too many secrets and could not afford for his followers to betray him. He needed someone he could trust, but that person also had to be strong. People like that were hard to find, so he decided not to take in any followers at the moment.

"I don't have any followers," he said lightly.

Others in the room looked a bit surprised after hearing his response.

Most of the wizards would take in followers or servants after they reached the Gas stage.

However, no one knew it had taken Angele only several years to reach the Gas stage.

"It's fine." Melissa pointed at the map on the table. "Now, let's discuss our plan and the route. I have three different plans here…"

Ten days later.

Public area, the Bull Dock.

Several white clouds were floating in the blue and endless sky.

Angele stood on the deck of a docked ship and looked around.

Bull Dock was small and empty, only several white stone bridges built by the water.

There were more than ten ships docked by the bridges, their sizes varying. They were much smaller than the Future he'd used to go back home, and they had white harps painted on their flags.

Teams of soldiers with white armor were boarding the ship while wizards were giving orders from the decks.

"Master Melissa will stay on the leading ship. Our ships are disguised as transport ships for soldiers. We don't want any trouble on our way there," a cold female voice said from behind.

Angele turned around and saw Isabell staring at him quietly. The lady had no expression on her pretty face.

"I saw Ainphent and Belem board the same ship…"

Angele pursed his lips into a smile.

"I know. They'll use the same ship this time." Isabell slightly nodded. "Kuirman took a ship too. I'm on your ship because I need to discuss the trade with you on our way there."

"You have the Black Rose oil, right?" Angele's expression turned serious. "What do you want?"

"I have about four kilograms of Black Rose oil. What do you have? I want something that at least has the same value as the oil. Although it has no use to me, I still need to follow the rules."

"Of course. How about one bottle of Jacqueline's Neutralizer?"

Angele was a bit speechless. He only had one common potion left. He had crafted it while practicing awhile ago, and it was the only valuable item he had at the moment.

"Wait, did you craft it yourself? Are you a potion master?"

Isabell was surprised.

"Yes, I am."

Angele nodded. Although he had never learned from a true potion master, he had still created his own crafting method with the accurate simulation his chip could do.

"I heard Jacqueline's Neutralizer is common but extremely hard to craft. However, it can only be used to make potions so it has no value for me. Actually, I have a special formula. If you can craft the potion for me, I'll give you the Black Rose Oil as a gift," Isabell said with a serious tone. It seemed like the potion she mentioned was important.

"What do you want me to craft?"

Angele's brow furrowed.

"There are not many potion masters around even in Nola. To train a potion master, it takes a ton of resources, and even the three major organizations can't handle it. I already visited more than 50 potion masters but none of them could fulfill my request. If you can successfully craft the potion for me, I'll pay you some extra besides the promised Black Rose oil."

This was the longest speech that had come out of Isabell's mouth since Angele met her.

"There's nothing I can do without the materials and equipment."

Angele was a bit curious, he wanted to know how complicated the formula was.

"That's not a problem."

Isabelle walked to the other side of the deck. Her three Grand Knights were chatting beside the cabin. Two were male and one was female, all of them equipped with black leather armor.

The three stopped talking after seeing Isabell walking toward them.

Isabell whispered to her followers and one of them talked to a soldier that was still on the bridge. The soldier nodded and ran to the carts with supplies.

After several minutes, a team of soldiers boarded the ship with black cases in their hands.

The cases were lined up on the deck. Isabell nodded and walked to Angele, looking satisfied.

"We decided to use the sleeping powder after the ships start moving. We need to make sure that no one leaks our location. You can start crafting after that," she said in a low voice.

"Sleeping powder? Why? Even we wizards are having trouble with the ruins. Why do we bring so many soldiers and followers anyway?" Angele wondered.

"Not all of us can fight like dark wizards," Isabell answered lightly. "I think everything you need is here. The potion equipment and the necessary materials. Give it a try first."

"It's not that easy. I need specific materials…" Angele was speechless. "I may find better materials to use during the crafting process. The formula is important for sure, but it doesn't mean I can't improve it. The materials here might be essential but I need more."

"Is that so?"

Isabell was confused. Angele assumed this lady had never read anything about potion crafting.

"Well, show me the sample first. Maybe I can make it without any special materials. I can't promise you at the moment, though."

He looked at Isabell.

"For sure."

She quickly took out a small crystal vial from the pouch on her belt.

The vial was about the size of a finger with some bloody red liquid inside. Isabell handed the vial over to Angele.

"That's the sample."

Angele removed the stopper and sniffed the liquid. The fragrance smelled like lemon mixed with flowers. He then poured some of the liquid into his mouth, the taste was bitter and spicy.

"This is the blood of… the earth rhino?"

Angele was not sure if he guessed it right.

"You're right. It's from an adult female earth rhino."

Isabell nodded.

"So, you want me to make this into a potion? It's extremely unstable, no wonder you can't find a potion master that will accept your order…" Angele scrunched his eyebrows. "Rhino blood is usually used in making explosive potions. Are you sure you want to neutralize it and make it a normal potion?"

"Is there anything you can do?"

Isabell stared at him.

"Well, I can try and make it more stable, but I'm not sure if I can do it well."

Angele shook his head.

Isabell looked disappointed.

"Fine. Do that for me then, but make sure the blood stays active."

"No problem." Angele pointed at the cases. "Send the equipment to my room. Also, find me some fresh roots from a dark-skinned tree."

He turned around and walked into his cabin with the vial in his hand.

Isabell sent her words to Angele using energy particles. "I'll prepare the Black Rose oil for you."

"It'll take a while before I can finish it. Also, if you find the heart of the tree in the ruins, just keep it for me," Angele responded to the message using energy particles as well.

"… Heart of the tree…" Isabell replied. "… That's nearly impossible…"

Their trade was completed. Black Rose oil was much more valuable than a vial of rhino blood.

Angele still had no idea what Isabell wanted to do with the blood, but it seemed like obtaining stable rhino blood was one of her priorities at the moment.

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Chapter 176: Arrival (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Five days later…

Angele sat beside a table inside his cabin, carefully engraving a white rune circle on the surface of the brown table with a silver knife. There were two triangles inside the circle and the crystal vial from Isabell was placed in the middle.

The edge of the circle was surrounded by strange runes; there were at least one hundred of them.

Angele kept carving the runes onto the table while blowing away bits of wood.

After about 20 minutes, he finished the last one and lowered the knife.

He felt relaxed, and the knife was quickly absorbed into his palm. He put his hands on both sides of the circle, the rhino blood right between his palms.

Suddenly, something started vibrating in the air.

Two rays of light came out of Angele's palms: the one from the left was green and the one from the right was red.

The lights went across each other right above the crystal vial and turned into a translucent string. This string was parallel to the stopper of the vial.

It looked like the light rays released by Angele were being absorbed by the rhino blood.

The light brightened up the whole cabin, and it started flashing after several seconds.

After about one hour.

Strings of white light suddenly rushed out of the circle, and the countless runes outside it slowly vanished into the air.

The light rays slowly disappeared, and Angele lowered his hands after everything was finished. The circle on the table was coated with a light white glow, the rhino blood still in the center.

Angele stood up, looking tired.

"Now all I have to do is wait."

He walked to the door and pushed it open.

A blonde man wearing red leather armor was standing outside the door; it seemed like he had waited here for a while.

"Master Green, this is the Black Rose oil, please accept it."

He put his right hand over the chest and spoke in a low voice.

Angele looked down at a small wooden case beside the man's legs. Iron needles were hammered into the corners of the case, but its surface itself was smooth.

"How generous… So she was certain that I'll be able to fulfill her request?" Angele smiled. "Tell Isabell I appreciate her trust and I'll take the reward."

"No problem."

The blonde man nodded politely, turned around, and left.

Angele watched the man leave, then sighed with emotion. He knew Isabell had some strong background, but he hadn't expected her to give away the rare ancient resource so easily. Also, she had told him that she'd visited all the potion masters in Nola. Wizards from average families would never be able to that.

He stepped forward, picked up the case, and opened it. A black ceramic pot was covered in bits of wood. The surface of the pot was rough, and it was sealed with a piece of white waterproof cloth.

Angele removed the cloth and the fragrance of rose permeated the air. The oil inside was dark and sticky; it looked like black honey.

He raised his right hand and several silver needles came out of the tips of his first finger. Angele dipped the needles into the oil.

The needles were coated with a thin layer of black oil after Angele brought them out of the pot.

CHI*

Dark flame sparked on the needles as Angele lighted the oil with fire energy particles, and the fragrance of rose was replaced by some rotten stinky smell.

"It's real… The Black Rose oil…"

Angele nodded, satisfied with the result. He carefully blew off the fire and the needles were slowly absorbed by his skin.

He sealed the pot and put it down on the table before leaving the room.

There were only two wizards on this ship, and Angele was not worried that someone would steal his items. He doubted that Isabell's followers knew what Black Rose oil was used for. He applied some energy particles on the surface of the pot just for alarm.

He had picked the cabin on the deck from the many empty ones on the ship, so he could switch anytime he wanted.

On the right side of his cabin was the railing. White sea waves were hitting the body of the ship from time to time.

The seemingly endless blue sea was pure and vibrant.

The wind was chilling, and it took away the heat of the sunlight from Angele's skin.

He turned left and walked to the front side of the deck.

Several soldiers were controlling the rudder and checking the sails. The words they were yelling were in a strange dialect that Angele was not familiar with.

Several white seagulls were lined up on the railings while organizing their feathers with their beaks.

Isabell stood beside the seagulls, playing with them.

It seemed like the seagulls enjoyed being touched by Isabell. They twittered happily.

Angele quickly walked to Isabell, and the seagulls flew away after noticing his presence, but they were still rotating above the ship.

Isabell turned around. She stopped smiling, and her expression turned serious in a second.

"How's the progress? Done already?"

"Last step. Ask your people to guard my cabin, and it'll be completed in three hours," Angele responded calmly.

"No problem."

Isabell looked at one of her followers. The Grand Knight had overheard their conversation already, so he nodded and walked to Angele's cabin with his right hand on the handle of the sword.

"What else?"

Angele smiled.

"I just want to know if we're getting closer to the destination."

"We need to go to a public island first and leave the soldiers there. Also, we need to switch to another ship later. I think it'll take us about another seven or eight days on the sea," Isabell replied in a light tone. "We're moving into the merfolk territory. You saw the seagulls here, right? It means we're getting closer to the land or islands."

"I'm a wandering wizard so I'm not familiar with Nola. Can you explain the system here to me? Like what happens after you join an organization?"

Angele wanted to know the answer to the question since a long time ago, but he did not have the chance to ask when he was making potions in the cave.

"Sure." Isabell's hair was flying in the wind. "I heard you were a dark wizard, so I assume your life has been different from ours. In Nola, most of the light wizards will meditate or do research in their own territories. Most of the races around are friendly to us, and we communicate with each other a lot.

"However, Nola still has its own enemies, such as natural disasters, the pollution caused by dark wizards' experiments, the damage done by ancient races, and wizard invasions. We need to deal with those issues. The biggest trouble is Nola's relationship with merfolk. There are five markets and 15 towns in Nola, and half of the organizations ruling the towns are related to merfolk. It basically means that we obtain most of our general resources from merfolk merchants. If the situation gets worse, the consequences will be ridiculous."

She stopped for a second, then continued, "If you're considering joining any organization, my suggestion will be the Six Ring High Tower. They can provide you with the best resources. Also, Six Ring High Tower is the only major organization that is not controlled by a certain family. The Snake Bird Cliff and White Tooth Castle hate outsiders a lot."

Angele was surprised.

"If they hate the outsiders, how do they take in new blood then?"

"They intermarry and combine the bloodline. The Snake Bird Cliff is trying to protect their pure bloodline… and the White Tooth Castle just simply combines random bloodlines. Snake Bird Cliff is not funded by human beings, and they just mind their own businesses, but the White Tooth Castle is fighting Six Ring High Tower at the moment.

"People say that White Tooth Castle is weaker than Six Ring High Tower because Six Ring High Tower has a lot of money and resources, but White Tooth Castle has many wizards that know great damage spells."

Angele nodded.

"So, White Tooth Castle is actually stronger than Six Ring High Tower? But why doesn't the latter recruit more wizards if they have the money?"

"You need to find dark wizards to fight for you. It's hard." Isabell stared at him. "Also, White Tooth Castle has aligned with Northland Alliance recently."

The two stopped talking.

Angele saw another ship sailing on their left.

It was Kuirman's ship. He was walking to his cabin through the deck. Kuirman suddenly stopped and turned to Angele. It seemed like he had noticed him staring.

Kuirman shook his head and sneered at Angele before starting walk again.

Angele narrowed his eyes.

"What does that mean?"

"You really don't know? He has killed dozens of dark wizards, and most of them were wandering wizards like you," Isabell explained. "Obviously, he's not happy that you're in the team. He hates dark wizards, and you'll take a part of the reward."

"Whatever…"

Angele's brow furrowed.

Isabell looked at him.

"Don't provoke him. He won't do anything to you when you're on my ship, but I'm afraid he'll try to stab you from the back if I'm not around."

Angele pursed his lips.

"How strong is he?"

Although he was not enraged by Kuirman's taunt, he was still a bit anxious.

"Just don't die. I need you to stabilize the rhino blood for me."

Isabell walked straight to the entrance of her cabin after her words.

Angele stood where he was, then shook his head. He felt speechless.

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Chapter 177: Arrival (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Angele's signet was strong, but he needed to hide it from the others. The extraction of the ancient blood was almost impossible, and the elders would force him to spit out the method if his signet was somehow found out by them.

He decided to only use the one-time heart bomb when necessary because the quality of his bombs was incredible, and a Gas stage wizard could not manage to craft enchanted items like that.

Angele could not trust anyone in the team, and he needed to make sure no one knew about the chip he had.

The only thing he could use all the time was the Metal Mastery. Sadly, the Talent Spell was not strong enough against a Liquid stage wizard. The last two times he had won his fights against the dark wizards were because he had used the signet.

Angele looked at Kuirman's ship again and returned to his own cabin.

Three days later.

It was afternoon, half of the setting sun already sunk into the horizon.

The red light of the sun painted the surface of the sea.

The first thing that appeared in Angele's sight after he left the cabin was the back of a ship-sized black whale, its skin coated with a golden glint.

On the left side of the whale, a group of muscular men slowly moved to the surface of the sea, holding black tridents in their hands.

There were about 20 men in the group. They were wearing blue leather armor. Their ears looked like fish fins and their skin was blue.

"Are you from Nola?" the leader of the merfolk team questioned.

"I'm Ainphent. Are you Sumail? Did the prince receive my letter?" a loud voice came from one of the ships.

The merfolk in Angele's sight looked identical to human beings, the only differences being their ears and skin.

The merfolk leader named Sumail waved his hand and countless merfolk appeared on the right side of the ships.

A smaller team left the group and quickly moved to one of the ships. Angele looked at the ship and saw Ainphent preparing to negotiate with the merfolk.

The merfolk team boarded the ship after several minutes, and their leader started talking with Ainphent in a low voice.

Angele turned around and saw Isabell's followers having a conversation beside the railing.

"Where's master Isabell?" Angele asked, walking over to them.

The blonde man that had brought Angele the Black Rose oil quickly turned around and slightly bowed.

"The master is resting in her cabin. I was told that she did not want to be disturbed," he responded politely.

"What's your name? When did you become master Isabell's follower?" Angele asked. He wanted to know more about the woman.

"My name is Dell. We're orphans, the master found us and raised us. Without master Isabell, we'd be dead on the street a long time ago. She gave us a home."

The blonde man had a bitter smile on his face.

"So, that's how she found three Grand Knights as followers…" Angele finally understood.

"Do you know anything about master Ainphent?"

"Master Ainphent…"

The blonde man traded eye contact with the other two followers.

"To be honest, we've never heard of him, at least in Nola," the female Grand Knight replied. "I assume Ainphent is not his real name, and I think he has a special mask on his face… Ainphent knows one of the merfolk princes, so he must have a strong background."

"One more question. Which organization are you from? If you don't mind telling me that."

The three looked surprised after hearing Angele's question. Dell stared at Angele, looking confused.

"Master Isabell never told you that?"

"She didn't," Angele said with a nod.

"We're from Jones Family of the Six Ring High Tower." Dell lowered his voice. "The Jones Family was one of the three strongest wizard families in Six Ring High Tower. Third of the registered wizards in the organization are related to us."

"Jones Family…"

Angele memorized the name.

Ainphent finally finished his negotiation, and the merfolk team left the ship, returning to their group.

They then slowly sank into the sea with the whale after several seconds.

Melissa's voice suddenly echoed in the sky.

"All ships, follow after Ainphent's ship. Stay with the team, otherwise, you might get attacked by the merfolk."

Melissa was speaking in Anmag. She repeated the sentence one more time in a different language, then stopped.

Angele looked at Ainphent's ship and saw it speed up and move to the front.

He heard footprints coming from behind while he was checking the other ships.

"Master Isabell."

The three Grand Knights and other soldiers on the decked bowed.

Angele turned around and saw Isabell walking toward him. She had changed into a white robe with purple edges and tied her hair up.

"We need to change our route. The merfolk aren't letting us pass through the area. I was told that they had business here," Isabell said in a light tone, looking tired.

Angele did not say anything. He could smell the burning wood mixed with blood in the air.

His sight was blurred by white mist but he could still see what was happing on the right side of his ship.

Groups of merfolk surrounded a humongous black castle ship that was burning. There were flame rays and ice lances flying in the air, and he could also see some strange glowing acid balls.

The energy barrier around the black ship kept the merfolk soldiers away temporarily, so the soldiers were waiting for the barrier to break.

Those in the front line all had white wooden shields in their hands. There was a black eye-shaped pattern painted in the center of their shields, and for some reason, the spells could not break them.

"The merfolk soldiers are waiting for their chance. The barrier is breaking," Angele said, his voice low.

"The merfolk tribes are uniting. They always wanted to regain their position on the lands since the ancient times. They didn't attack Nola because of the agreement. However, the situation is getting more intense lately," Isabell explained, but it almost looked like she was not talking to Angele. "Well, I hope the ship can return to the land if they can survive the fight…"

The Grand Knights and the soldiers had already left the railing; they did not want to interrupt the two wizards' conversation.

"At least they didn't declare war on Nola yet…" Angele smiled. "Did you try the rhino blood I gave you two days ago? How was it?"

"It's great." Isabell nodded. "I was going to start the energy ritual, but it seems like I can do it later."

"Are you sure you want to do this? If your body is turned into the energy form, you'll never be able to reach the next stage. Don't do it if you don't have to."

Angele's expression turned serious.

"I won't do it if the situation allows. I won't be human anymore if my body is turned into the energy…" Isabell responded with a light tone.

"Wait… Are you going to drink the rhino's blood? It'll be a painful experience."

Angele smelled a hint of blood from her body.

"I know the consequences. Do you really think it's an easy decision to make? I never questioned the diamond-shaped accessory on the back of your hand and you know the reason." Isabell wanted to end the conversation, she did not like the way Angele questioned her. "We're getting closer to the island. I need to make some preparations."

"Sure."

Angele decided to stop asking questions—it wasn't his business. He looked ahead and saw the edge of the island Isabell had been talking about.

The ship traveled on a different route and finally dropped all of the soldiers on a public mining area of the island.

The six wizards on the ships switched to a small boat with their followers and left the island during the night. They were heading to an area that wasn't yet colonized by the merfolk.

Angele was not sure how long they had traveled.

Fog rose from the sea while the ship was slowly advancing. The visibility was extremely low under the dark sky.

There were six people standing on the deck.

In the front, it was a thin old woman wearing a white robe.

Melissa held a small stone plate in her hands. The plate was gray and a string was attached to its edge. There was a black-red stone tied to the string, and the stone was leaning to a certain direction. It was almost like the stone was pulled by an invisible force.

Melissa stared at the stone with a serious expression on her face.

"We're getting closer. I left the other half of the stone on the island, and it'll guide us through the fog," Melissa said in a light tone.

Ainphent and Belem were standing behind Melissa. They looked like a close couple.

Kuirman stood beside the railing with his arms crossed, staring at the stone.

Angele stayed with Isabell, and both of them had no expressions on their faces. The only thing he could see around the ship was the fog, and he had no idea what the area around was.

"This fog is ridiculous. I don't think the others can track us down. There's no point to drug the followers."

Kuirman shook his head.

"I don't think you have the ability to predict the future."

Ainphent stared at him.

"That's it!" Melissa suddenly shouted out.

The area in front of the ship turned into pure darkness with her last word.

The boat left the fog and entered a new area.

Gray clouds covered the sky, and Angele was not sure if the blue glare on the water was from sunlight or moonlight.

An enormous dark shadow appeared on the horizon, and it was the destination of the team. Rays of white light shot through the gaps between the clouds and landed on the island.

The place was quiet and mysterious.

"That's our destination!" Melissa raised her head and examined the island, looking relieved.

"We're here!"

The ship drew a white straight line through the sea, and slowly moved toward the island.

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Chapter 178: The Ruin (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Under the night sky, the boat slowly stopped and the team jumped onto the rocks. The light that fell from the sky did not brighten up the area and they could barely see anything around.

Melissa stepped on a piece of rock and overlooked the island. The only thing in her sight was a tall black hill with no trees anywhere. The areas covered by shadows were deep and dark.

"Stay alert, everyone. This was the territory of a mid-sized wizard organization. I think there'll be many traps around, so be careful," Melissa advised.

The other four wizards jumped through the rocks and landed on the beach. The yellow dust was buried in pieces of broken black stones.

Kuirman jumped off a rock easily as Ainphent walked to his side.

"I don't know why Melissa invited to you to join the team, but I hope you can prove that you're necessary for the mission," Ainphent said in a low voice.

"What's the problem?" Kuirman's brow furrowed. "It's not you who decides if I'm valuable to the team or not. Oh, wait, you're the one who invited a Gas stage weakling to the team."

"I'm confident that he'll do great in the mission and I believe he won't disappoint me." Ainphent smiled. "He's not a weak Gas stage wizard by the way."

He turned around and left.

"Are you sure about this?"

Kuirman narrowed his eyes.

He suddenly turned around and walked to Angele.

"Wizard Green."

Angele scrunched his eyebrows and backed off a bit—he wanted to keep a safe distance from this man.

"What do you want?"

Kuirman took a glance at Angele.

"Wizard Ainphent trusts you a lot, but I want to make sure you can contribute to the team."

Kuirman's voice was deep and loud.

"So, will you accept my challenge? Just me and you. The loser shall quit the mission and admit that he's worthless."

Kuirman pursed his lips to a sneer.

Angele narrowed his eyes. It was obvious that Kuirman did not like Ainphent and was taunted into something, so he decided to challenge Angele to a fight. However, Angele needed to try his best not to reveal his signet and heart bombs here, and using only the Metal Mastery would not guarantee him a win. Kuirman had many practical experiences, and he was a wizard at the Liquid stage.

Although Angele was learning new energy compression formulas and had spent most of the time experimenting on the ship, he was still not sure if he could win against Kuirman.

Angele's spell power was higher than before but using the energy compression method required a lot of mentality. They were getting close to the ruin and he did not want to waste his mentality, also, there was no time for him to recover.

"Well, I'm not interested," Angele answered in a light tone.

Ainphent looked at him. "It's just a test. Accept the challenge."

Old man Belem laughed. "You're a dark wizard, right? Why are you backing off?"

Melissa stood without saying a word but she was interested in the fight as well. Isabell still had no expression on her face; it seemed like she was not concerned.

The followers had already woken up. They jumped to the beach as well, attracted by Angele and Kuirman's conversation.

The team lined up beside the two

"Don't worry. It's just a test. I won't hurt you." Kuirman's green eyes were staring at Angele. "Also, you need to show us what you can do. You're the only Gas stage wizard in the team at the moment since the other one didn't show up. If you want to share the reward with us, you must accept the challenge."

He slightly leaned forward. "Also, if you really are a coward, you can just go stay on the boat while the rest of us will continue the mission. What do you think?"

Kuirman turned his face to Ainphent and sneered.

Angele just realized that Kuirman was taunting Ainphent, but he feared his background and decided to mess with Angele instead. It seemed like the wizards here were all familiar with Ainphent's family.

Angele glanced around. The wizards watching the argument all wanted to know how strong he was.

"Let's get started then."

He saw a green needle rushing toward his chest as he finished the word.

The needle was traveling at full speed, drawing a green arc in the air.

DING*

A silver shield formed before Angele and blocked the attack. Fire sparked as the needle hit the front of the shield.

Angele barely had no time to react and Kuirman's sneak attack almost succeeded.

'Warning! Threat detected! Target's attributes: Strength over 20, Agility over 15, Stamina over 17. Safe distance, 15 meters…'

The chip's mechanical voice echoed in Angele's head.

Goose bumps rose on his skin.

'F*cking hell… Kuirman's Strength is over 20?'

The silver shield in front Angele was penetrated while he was thinking.

The green needle stopped for a second and started rushing towards Angele again.

Angele stepped back right away when the green needle was stopped by the shield. He raised his hand and created a long black dagger. He tried to stop the needle by hitting it with the tip of the

dagger.

Crack*

The black dagger broke into pieces.

CHI*

The needle went past Angew'a left, turned into green light dots, and vanished into the air.

Angele kept retreating, but his boots were already in the chilling sea. He raised his head and saw Kuirman was more than ten meters away from him.

He was breathing heavily and his chest was pumping. Cold sweat covered Angele's forehead.

The place was deadly silent. The others wizards seemed surprised after witnessing Kuirman's skill.

Kuirman's one simple-looking strike almost slew a Gas stage wizard. The wizards here all had serious expressions on their faces. They had all already learned how strong Kuirman was through that strange green needle.

Angele narrowed his eyes again and stared at Kuirman.

'This man's attributes are higher than Grand Knights', what kind of monster is he… The glowing elephant's Strength is 8 and its Stamina is 15… Harland of Lennon is a famous Grand Knight and he only has 8.2 points of Strength... This Kuirman must be a close-combat wizard that enhanced his body with special spells or…'

Angele had thousands of thoughts in his mind, but he was still observing Kuirman's movements carefully.

Kuirman looked surprised. "Impressive. I didn't expect you to dodge that attack. Half of the wizards I killed died to that spell. So, Ainphent didn't trust you for no reason."

He slowly raised his right hand and pulled out a silver scimitar from his long green robe.

The scimitar had the width of a human's arm and the blade was smooth like a mirror.

CHI*

Waves of green gas climbed up the scimitar.

"Everyone, stay away from him!" Melissa suddenly shouted.

The wizards and the followers were all strong enough to sense the breath of death twisting around the scimitar.

"It's a cursed weapon… You need to kill wizards that are at the same level as you, collect their dying curses, and concentrate them before crafting such a weapon… No wonder you're so strong," Melissa explained with a low voice. She was staring at the scimitar with a serious expression on her face.

"Ha, you're probably the only one here that can recognize where my weapon comes from."

Kuirman smiled and turned the scimitar around.

KA*

Two more blades appeared on the right and left side of the handle, coated with the same green gas.

Kuirman started to swing the scimitar with his right hand.

The weapon turned into a spinning fan and Angele could hear the wind howling.

He had no idea how he should counter the next attack.

Angele was used to striking his opponents first with physical attacks, however, Kuirman was a close-combat wizard. His attributes and equipment were also much better.

Angele deactivated his metal force field after his shield was penetrated. He had realized he could do such a thing after his mentality was compressed. The mentality compression method helped him control the Metal Mastery a lot.

Zero warned him as the shield failed to block the needle and he had to deactivate the force field to prevent direct mentality damage.

He would be dead or severely injured if his metal force field was completely destroyed. The damage to his mentality would even prevent him from casting any damage spells.

The Talent Spell was the reason why wizards were strong, but it would become their weak point if the force field was broken by opponents.

Angele was considering using his signet or heart bomb since Kuirman's Stamina was over 17. Basic damage spells would not be effective on him.

"Are you ready?"

Kuirman chuckled and disappeared. Two small holes were left at the place that he had been standing in.

A green shadow appeared beside Angele and hit him hard.

BAM*

The two traded hits and fell into the sea together. They were about five or six meters away from the shore.

They were slowly sinking into the freezing sea.

Angele's face turned red. The wing pattern on his left palm was sending out distorted waves around him quietly.

He grabbed Kuirman's right hand, and the cursed scimitar almost cut his waist open.

'The energy waves from the signet distracted Kuirman's attack… I probably should've fully activated it… That was too close…'

Angele focused on Kuirman's right arm.

The other's strength was so strong that Angele could barely hold his arm.

Silver metal liquid started coming out of Angele's skin. It climbed up Kuirman's right arm and started solidifying.

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Chapter 179: The Ruin (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Angele was trying to stop Kuirman from hitting him again by applying the hardened metal onto his arms. This was probably the only way to deal with his extreme strength.

A small amount of the silver liquid moved to Kuirman's face, trying to rush into his mouth, ears, and nose.

Kuirman pursed his lips as he attempted to break the solidified metal layer. After several seconds, the metal coating started cracking. Kurmain raised his left hand and tried to punch Angele. His force was so strong that the water started whirling.

BAM*

Kuirman's fist hit Angele's metal barrier but barely did any damage.

The two quickly stepped away from each other in the turbid water and started preparing for the next strike.

It was dark and blue under the water, and the only thing around them was the sea. The two controlled the Water energy particles to prevent themselves from sinking. An endless deep fosse was right under their feet.

CHI*

Kuirman pulled the broken metal layer off his body, raised his scimitar again, and slashed forward.

The water was pulled to his scimitar and the strike created a small vortex that was about to hit Angele.

Kuirman raised his left hand, and five finger-long green needles appeared above his palm. They spun several times before being pushed towards Angele.

The needles mixed with the vortex, approaching at full speed.

The pressure brought by the vortex was pushing water into Angele's mouth and nose, he could barely breathe. He quickly raised his right hand and created a silver shield in front of himself.

BOOM*

The vortex was stopped by the shield, and the green needles were also blocked.

Angele hid behind the shield and kept adding extra layers to harden it.

He could feel the force Kuirman applied to the strike as the vortex and the needles were blocked.

CLANK*

Angele's face turned pale and blood came out of his mouth.

CHI CHI CHI*

Three of the needles still penetrated the shield, and they were only several centimeters away from Angele's face. The green glow casted reflections on his skin.

Before Angele could react, he saw a green shadow coming to his lower left. It was Kuirman, and he was sneering.

BAM*

Angele took the painful hit from below.

He flew into the air after being kicked out of the water, drops of blood splashing everywhere.

Kuirman floated on the surface and watched Angele dropping. He held the scimitar in his hand and slashed upward, hard.

Clank*

Kuirman moved to the other side of Angele and slashed again after the first strike hit. The silver armor on Angele's body started shattering.

The man kept switching positions while hitting Angele; the battle looked very one-sided.

"Weak! You're too weak!" Kuirman roared.

BAM*

Angele was kicked into the air again. A cruel smile appeared on Kuirman's face, and the green gas surrounding his cursed blade became more intense. He charged at Angele again.

It was the first time Angele felt so helpless. He could barely think after taking so many strong hits.

He saw Kuirman sneering while trying to hit him with the scimitar.

"I have to do this…"

Angele pursed his lips and spat out some blood. A blue heart slid into his palm as his silver armor broke into pieces. At the same moment, three silver scars appeared on his face.

"That's enough!" suddenly, Melissa shouted.

A white light dot traveled through the air and stopped between Angele and Kuirman. The light dot expanded and transformed into a translucent crystal plate that separated the two completely.

Four twisted blue runes were blinking on the surface of the plate, their shapes changing to four strange creatures.

Angele and Kuirman stared at each other through the translucent plate. They could see killing intent evident on the other's face. However, they knew that Melissa would not let them continue the fight now she had released her aura.

"There's no point in fighting anymore. The ruins are dangerous and we can't waste our energy here," she stated, her voice echoing through the area.

Angele stepped off the plate, jumped into the sea, and swam to the shore.

Kuirman returned his scimitar into the robe and followed Angele. They used Fire energy particles to dry their clothes after leaving the water. White steam rose from their clothes and their bodies were coated in red glows.

The result of the fight seemed obvious to the rest of the team.

"Green doesn't stand a chance against Kuirman. However, as a Gas stage wizard, he's above average."

Old man Belem laughed.

The others did not comment on the result of the fight but Angele noticed the disappointment in Ainphent's eyes.

Isabell took a glance at Angele but her expression was blank.

"You're way too weak. I thought you could at least leave several wounds on my body…" Kuirman shook his head. "Master Melissa, why did you stop us? You should've let me kill this kid. There's no reason for us to share the reward with him."

"Shut it. Let's move."

Melissa turned around and pointed at the translucent plate.

Crack*

The plate exploded into pieces and vanished into the air. It sounded like a window being broken.

Angele lowered his head. His eyes were filled with hatred.

He was certain that if Melissa hadn't stepped in at the last second, the explosion of the heart bomb would have killed Kuirman. But her timing was way too perfect.

The only good thing was that no one knew what he was going to do during the fight, so he would have plenty of chances to backstab Kuirman in the ruins.

The wizards' followers did not say a single word as they did not want to offend anyone here. None of them was stronger than a formal wizard.

Melissa was leading the team at the front and Kuirman followed after her.

Ainphent and Belem were surrounded by followers, staying at the back of the team.

Angele wanted to keep the distance from the others, but Isabell and her three Grand Knights walked beside him.

He hadn't had the chance to fight back during the battle. Although he was not severely injured and the blood was just from the impact, he still felt depressed.

Kuirman's Strength, Agility, and Stamina were all much higher than Angele's. There was no point for him to use his sword skills under such circumstances. He should've tried to cast spells, but Kuirman's combo strikes were too furious, and Angele could only try to defend with the metal force field. Three layers of silver metal armor had barely stopped Kuirman's scimitar.

However, Angele noticed that although the signet was not fully activated, it still confused Kuirman for a second. It birthed a plan in his mind.

The team kept advancing. They were going deeper and deeper into the island.

The surface of the island was covered with black rocks.

The only things Angele could see were broken stone pieces and empty grounds. There was not a plant or animal around.

The whole island was deadly silent.

The ground was covered in small pieces of stones, and the team advanced between the black rocks. The howling wind was freezing, so even the Grand Knights had to pull their collars up.

Angele stayed in the middle of the team. He glanced around and realized he was going uphill.

He picked up a black stone from the ground and started observing it.

The stone looked like a piece of charcoal and was coated in some black dust, but the dust had no smell.

'Strange… I can sense the Necromantic negative energy from it…' Angele thought as he dropped the stone to the ground.

Melissa was leading the team at the front. She was still following the direction pointed out by the accessory on her palm.

Half an hour later, the team arrived at a large cliff with a square built upon it.

On the gray square, there was a humongous stone sundial standing in the center. Its diameter was about ten meters.

The sundial was black, and it looked a bit strange on the gray platform. The inclined edge on its surface was about seven meters tall, but the number was unreadable as the sun was covered by the clouds.

"This is the entrance to the ruins!" Melissa shouted out, stepping onto the sundial. "The main entrance to the ruins changes every day. Let's try to find it as soon as possible."

The wizards spread to different areas of the sundial. Angele crouched by the edge and started observing the runes and strings painted there.

The rune in front of him looked like a 'V' that was written upside down.

Isabell's voice came from behind. "This is a rune used by an ancient wizard organization called the Axis of Time and it represents the number five."

.

"The Axis of Time...?"

Angele had never heard of an organization like that.

"It's an ancient organization that worshipped time, they considered time as their God. Their ultimate goal was to control the time and then change their destinies," Isabell explained slowly. "However, the whole organization disappeared during the war, thousands of wizards vanished into the air together on the west coast. It was almost like they had never existed. People tried their best to locate the abandoned ruins of the organization but only a few of them successfully retrieved some valuable information."

"Interesting." Angele stood up. "Do you know anything else about them?"

"I do." Isabell stared Angele in the eyes. "The legend says that there were several stage 4 wizards in the Axis of Time and the organization was the strongest on the west coast."

"Stage 4…?"

Angele was surprised. He already knew how hard it was for a wizard to reach the next stage. Long meditations barely increased his mentality. Without resources and potions, he was almost certain that he would stay at the Gas stage for the rest of his life.

Zero could show him four decimal places when displaying attributes, however, the number had not changed for a while, and it indicated that Angele needed better meditation methods or potions that would help him gain mentality immediately.

This was the reason why Angele decided to join the mission without hesitation. Zero had already listed the required materials for making the Tree Killer potion, so the only thing he needed to do now was to obtain the materials at any cost.

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Chapter 180: The Ruin (3)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

"Something isn't right!" Melissa's voice suddenly came from the other side.

"The entrance was opened by someone already."

She was standing beside one of the hour lines, looking depressed.

All the wizards were surprised. They quickly gathered beside Melissa.

She pointed at the white dot on the dark hour line and they watched the white dot slowly turning gray.

Ainphent had a serious expression on his face.

"This mark means the entrance was opened not so long ago. The dot will turn white first and then slowly return to gray. Someone or something has already entered the ruins…"

"Something? You mean creatures?" Belem questioned.

"I'm not sure. The area we went past is covered in black rocks, but the other half of the island is a sea of dark trees. We already explored the island last time but we didn't find any living beings."

Melissa's brow furrowed.

"Strange, no one followed us here… which means someone else located the island by himself, " Ainphent said, lowering his voice.

"How's that even possible? We never leaked any information to the public."

Melissa was about to say something else but her expression suddenly changed.

"Move away from the sundial!" she shouted out.

The island started shaking, and it almost felt like an earthquake.

The team quickly walked off the sundial.

A line of dark smoke appeared on top of the gray gnomon. It looked like a snake climbing up the incline, and after several seconds, the snake turned into a small black light dot.

White smoke slowly rose from the surface of the sundial as the earthquake stopped, then lingered in the air.

A dreamy voice came from nowhere. It sounded like a woman singing an opera, the pitch high and tone mild.

"My beloved hometown.

I shall return one day.

I've been wandering for so long.

I miss the clean spring, the beautiful frogs.

We shall enjoy the best insects together while listening

to the charming screams. We party, we dance, and we sing.

The sky is red as the blood and the land is warm as lava.

The blood in the glass was smooth and tasty.

We laughed, we gouged our eyes out…

We chew them now as we sing…"

"What the hell is this song?"

Angele glanced around. It seemed like the voice was coming from all angles, echoing above the empty and lonely island.

"I don't know. I never learned this language but I can understand the meaning of the lyrics," Isabell said, her eyebrows scrunched.

"I don't like it. It's sick."

Ainphent shook his head.

The followers all had serious expressions on their faces while checking the surroundings. The song was repeated several times before it stopped.

Crack*

Three dark tunnel entrances opened up in the sundial. Each was about one meter wide and Angele could see long, white-stone staircases inside leading to an endless abyss.

Strangely, the three entrances slowly turned blurry, and it almost looked like they were about to disappear.

"What are you waiting for? Enter the ruins. Someone triggered the trap inside and something is changing!" Melissa shouted out in a loud voice and pointed at the three entrances.

A ray of white light shot out from her fingertip and transformed into three white energy strings. They quickly glued to the entrances.

The dark tunnels became focused once again and remained stable for the time being.

Without saying anything, Melissa rushed into the entrance closest to her and vanished into the darkness.

"Move!" Ainphent yelled and followed Melissa into the same entrance, his followers entering after him as well.

Kuirman glanced around and entered a different entrance. Angele looked at him for a second, checking the entrances the others had went in.

"Hmm."

He stepped forward and rushed into the tunnel Kuirman had chosen.

The tunnel was dark. Angele felt like he had just entered an endless space as he stepped inside. The only thing in his sight was a floating stone staircase.

He started walking down the stairs, and the sounds of his footsteps echoed in the space.

Angele glanced around and once again confirmed that there was nothing around. He raised his right hand and created a silver knife in his palm.

CHI*

He shot the knife to the right, and it was swallowed by the darkness without making any noise right away. Angele did not hear the knife hitting anything, so he assumed that the right and left sides were infinite as well.

He had no idea how long the staircase was. He could not see the end at all.

Kata-kata*

The only thing Angel could hear was his footsteps and a chilling feel climbed up his back.

He turned his head around, but the entrance had already disappeared. It was replaced by a black shadow.

Angele looked down and was shocked. He slowly took a step forward then stopped.

The gray stair disappeared as Angele moved his feet away from it.

He tried to step on the disappeared stair again but nothing was there.

"This place…"

Angele's heart was pumping.

With a flick of his finger, a ball of red flame appeared beside the left side of his face. Its bright yellow glow brightened up the area around him.

Angele stood still and observed his surroundings with the help of the light.

However, he could only see the stairs in front, the rest of the area was covered by a strange dark aura.

"Ha," Angele sneered and blue light dots appeared in front of his eyes.

'Zero, can you scan the environment for me?'

'Task created, scanning… processing… done…transferring the information…' Zero reported quickly.

Hissss*

A strange noise echoed in Angele's ears. It sounded like a snake using its forked tongue, and suddenly, intense blue glow covered his eyes.

BOOM*

The environment changed. Angele's eyes blurred and the next moment he was standing on a wet staircase of a closed tunnel.

The ball of flame was still floating around his face and it quickly brightened up the place.

The walls were built with light yellow bricks while the ground was covered in black slates. Angele heard deep and slow footsteps ahead; someone else was here.

'Warning… Unknown force field detected! The chip is being… *CHI*… interrupted! The force field… is….'

Angele could barely understand what Zero was reporting. It sounded like the current noise mixed with random voice lines, and its voice did not even sound mechanical anymore.

Angele's sight blurred again, his view shifting between bright light and darkness. He thought he was standing in a tunnel but the next second he saw the endless dark space in front of him again.

"Goddamn it! What the hell is this place?" Angele cursed in a low voice.

He turned around and started running back.

He was running at full speed while the tunnel and the dark space kept flashing in his sight. After several minutes, he arrived at the exit, and he could see the bright white sky outside.

Angele rushed out.

"Where am I..?" he wondered, looking around.

The greens trees were vibrant, and the wind was making the leaves dance in the air.

"The tunnel is still here?" Angele turned his head around and looked into the tunnel. It was still dark.

He had a plan in his mind, so he returned to the tunnel.

CHI*

Nothing was interrupting his chip anymore. He returned to the stone staircase, and he could see the black rocks outside the exit. It indicated that the exit now led to the sundial.

'So, it was an illusion?'

Angele raised his left hand and saw the wings on the palm swinging. It seemed like they had grown a bit larger than before.

'The unknown force field is no longer around,' Zero reported in its mechanical voice.

The signet was heating up. It was absorbing some unknown energy substance from the air slowly; it seemed like the blood of the harpies helped Angele resist the illusion. However, the signet needed time to develop the resistance to the illusion that was impacting him here.

Angele calmed down and walked down the stairs quickly.

The tunnel was wet, and he could smell the mold in the air.

After turning twice, a familiar man appeared in Angele's sight.

It was Kuirman. The light from his torch casted flickering shadows upon his green robe. It looked like the robe was specially designed, and Kuirman was walking forward slowly.

He heard someone's quick footsteps and turned his head around, seeing Angele standing in the corner, staring at him.

"You come to me yourself?" Kuirman looked surprised. "You know you can't beat me, right? Are you stupid? How did you even become a formal wizard?" Kuirman taunted and sneered.

"Die!"

Angele wasted no time and threw a blue heart bomb at Kuirman.

BOOM*

Countless drops of freezing blue liquid splashed through the tunnel as the heart bomb exploded in the air. After several seconds, the walls and the ground were painted in blue.

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Chapter 181: The Ruin (4)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

Kuirman tried his best to dodge the bomb but half of his body was still hit by the blue liquid.

The blue liquid was slimy. It was slowly moving around the walls and Kuirman's green robe. Angele's sight was blurred by the white steam rising from it.

Crack*

The whole tunnel slowly turned blue, the energy particles in the air freezing.

Kuirman was not prepared for the explosion and a thin layer of frost covered his skin as the blue liquid spread.

"F*cking hell! What's this thing?! Wait… This is not an ordinary beast heart!"

Kuirman roared in pain. Blood was dripping down his nose but it seemed like he was not badly injured. His high Stamina provided him with enough resistance to the ice damage.

CHI*

Kuirman drew his cursed scimitar, turned around, and slashed forward. The blade turned into a fan as it soared through the air.

This time a red heart flew at him.

"Damn!" Kuirman cursed but failed to dodge.

BOOM*

The man was swollen by red flames, the power of the explosion making the whole tunnel shake.

The burning flame melted the frozen blue liquid that filled up the tunnel and the Fire energy particles blazed.

It felt like standing in a closed box that was put on fire. The temperature inside was extremely high. Angele leaned backward, noting that Kuirman was blown against the left wall by the explosion.

The dent left on the wall had the shape of Kuirman's body.

"You… How dare you…"

Kuirman was still alive. He slowly slid to the ground, his body burnt and surrounded by white smoke.

The fire slowly extinguished as there was nothing left for it to burn anymore.

Angele had more than 20 heart bombs hidden under his robe and the two he had just used had the lowest power. It was possible that he could simply bomb Kuirman to death.

The first one he threw contained Ice energy and the second one Fire energy. They both had about 51 degrees of power. Kuirman was not in the center of the explosions, but he was still hit by at least 40 degrees of power twice in a row.

It looked like Kuirman was severely injured. Angele stared at him and pursed his lips into a cold smile.

"Farewell…"

He raised his left hand and the wings on the palm started swinging.

BAM*

Kuirman suddenly hit the wall with his right fist.

Some black light dots splashed into the air with pieces of broken stones.

Angele was not sure why Kuirman did that, but the wings on his palm stopped swinging, and it seemed like the signet was trying to absorb the black dots.

Angele stood there and could not move, his sight replaced by darkness. The only thing he could see was the gray stairs under his feet. The tunnel and Kuirman were no longer there.

He assumed he was trapped in the illusion again.

"Again..?"

Angele lowered his left hand and checked the signet on his palm. Luckily it was not fully activated and he could still use it later.

Suddenly, a chilling feel climbed up the back of his neck. His sight blurred and the tunnel appeared again.

"Die!" Kuirman roared furiously from behind.

Angele turned around and Kuirman's green needle almost reached the tip of his nose. Kuirman sneered while trying hard to stab Angele's neck.

BOOM*

Intense green flame blazed between the two.

They were blown away by the impact at the same time and hit the walls on opposite sides.

"The hell…"

Kuirman coughed blood and his body was stuck to the wall again.

"You prick…"

He stared Angele.

Angele slowly stood up. He was close to the center of the explosion but most of the impact was directed at Kuirman, so he himself was just slightly hurt.

"It's over, Kuirman."

Another red heart bomb appeared in Angele's hand. It was pumping slowly, and its surface had a green glint.

"Where do you find those strange energy hearts?!" A hint of fear formed on Kuirman's face. "Such quality… and such power… who did you purchase those hearts from?"

He raised the cursed scimitar.

A thin layer of green glow coated the surface of the silver blade and casted reflection on Kuirman's body.

Strangely, the burnt areas on his skin were recovering at a fast rate. The wounds disappeared, and it almost looked like he was never hurt several seconds later.

CHI*

Kuirman suddenly disappeared.

Angele assumed Kuirman was trying to fight back. He quickly turned around and was about to detonate another heart bomb.

However, he saw Kuirman running toward the other side of the tunnel without looking back. He held his stomach with both hands as he ran, a trail of blood on the ground behind him.

The green glint on his scimitar turned darker. It seemed like he did not have enough mentality or mana to support the enhancement spell.

"Trying to escape?"

Angele pursed his lips and started chasing after the man.

Kuirman's attributes were decreasing. It seemed like he needed a certain type of energy particles to trigger the effect on the cursed blade, and after taking damage, he used some of the energy to cure the wounds temporarily.

Kuirman's speed was decreasing gradually and Angele caught up within 20 seconds.

BOOM*

Furious flame rushed through the tunnel and blew Kuirman into the wall again.

Angele approached him slowly after creating a silver crossguard sword in his right hand.

The fire brightened up the whole tunnel.

The two were getting closer and closer. The light from the fire reflected on the blade of Angele's sword.

Kuirman fainted after hitting the wall. Angele aimed at his neck and threw his sword.

CHI*

The crossguard sword drew an arc in the air but Kuirman's body disappeared right before he was about to get hit, and the sword ended up hitting the wall.

CLANK*

The sword dropped to the ground.

"Who's there!"

Angele turned his head around.

His back was pushed by a strong force before he could see the man's face.

BAM*

Angele's back numbed after being pushed. It felt like getting hit by a truck that was traveling at full speed on a highway.

He almost flew back to the stone staircase, which was about ten meters away from Kuirman's location.

"Damn!"

Angele struggled for a second before standing up. He barely took any damage. Kuirman had hit him much harder back on the shore, and this time his metal force field could easily handle the impact.

He turned around and looked into the dark tunnel. A man with two heads above his shoulders was running with Kuirman on his back.

"I can't let you live, you already saw my heart bombs…" Angele held two heart bombs in both of his hands. "Die!"

He narrowed his eyes.

At that moment, he heard people yelling on the other side of the tunnel.

"The noise came from here! It must be the wizard from Two Head Sect!"

A group of people rushed down the stairs, Ainphent and Belem leading the way in front.

The fully-geared Grand Knights followed after the two. They were injured and looked tired. Angele counted the number, and it seemed like several of them had died in some intense battles.

"Hey, it's you!"

Ainphent saw Angele standing there while Belem noticed the man with two heads running with Kuirman on his back.

They looked surprised after realizing that Angele was trying to finish off two wizards that were much stronger than him.

Ainphent stepped back quietly after seeing Angele's angry expression. He knew something was not right. Belem was way too familiar with the route in the ruins, and the old man looked anxious after receiving a message. He led the whole team here and found wizard Green.

It did not seem like a coincidence. Angele laughed through his nose and returned the two heart bombs into his robe while trying to catch up with the two-headed man in the front.

"Wait!"

Belem suddenly appeared in front of Angele and blocked his path.

"What're you doing?"

Angele stared at the old man and started releasing the metal energy particles.

"I'm just trying to help. I know how strong that two-headed wizard is! You'll need our help!"

Apparently, Belem was not good at lying. His nervous expression already explained everything.

"Get out of my way!"

Angele raised his hand and slashed forward with his crossguard sword, however, his strike was blocked by an invisible barrier.

CLANK*

Although the attack was blocked by the barrier, Belem still almost lost his balance. Suddenly, he calmed down and stared Angele in the eyes.

"Don't go! Some of our followers have already been killed by him! We need to stay together, otherwise, the ruins will swallow us!"

He raised his arms and tried to black Angele's path again.

Angele was stopped by a new enemy when he was about to finish Kuirman off. He needed to make sure that Kuirman did not tell anyone about the heart bombs he had, and for that to happen he needed to catch and slay them with one shot.

The wizards would go after him for sure if the secret of the hearts was leaked.

Kuirman and the two-headed man were almost out of Angele's sight but Belem was still trying his best to stop him from moving.

"Don't risk your life!" Belem shouted.

Angele's expression changed. He raised his right hand and a fist-sized fireball appeared on his palm. He pushed the fireball toward Belem without hesitation.

"Protect the master!"

"Kill that wizard! Now!"

The Grand Knights behind Belem charged at Angele, and their bodies were surrounded by the same white glows.

"Go! Lesser Fireball!" Angele shouted.

He threw a red heart bomb forward when other people's attention was attracted by the fireball. The heart bomb was detonated by the fireball, and they exploded at the same time. The sparkling flame prevented the bomb from being noticed by others.

BOOM*

The whole tunnel started shaking again. The flame splashed and exploded, so people around could barely open their eyes.

The three Grand Knights were blown away like pieces of paper. They hit the wall and stopped moving.

Belem was severely wounded by the explosion, blood coming out of his nose and mouth. He rolled on the ground and stopped after hitting the wall on the left.

The explosion also stopped Angele from chasing the escaping two-headed wizard and Kuirman. They had already disappeared from his sight.

"F*ck!" he cursed loudly.

Angele turned around and walked to Belem.

BAM*

He kicked Belem hard in the waist.

Belem leaned against the wall, his defensive barrier destroyed by the explosion. The old man was wounded and exhausted, and he had no strength to fight back. More and more blood was dripping down his face after he was kicked by Angele.

"Block this! Traitor!" Angele shouted anxiously and kept kicking Kuirman. "Did you plan all this? Spit it out!"

BAM*

He kicked Belem in the face.

Belem was kicked into the air and dropped to the ground several seconds later. He lay on the ground barely able to breathe.

"Filthy scum!" Angele cursed and pointed at Belem's neck. A sharp silver metal needle slowly appeared on the tip of his finger.

"Green, wait. We need to take him back to the council. Something must be going on and we need him to talk. Didn't you just fight a wizard from the Two Head Sect," Ainphent yelled out and stopped Angele.

The followers behind him were all prepared for the possible fight. They weren't sure if Angele wouldn't try to kill them as well.

Belem's actions already explained everything. He was related to the Two Head Sect, and he was trying to help the other wizard escape. However, Belem hadn't known that Angele would try to kill him without any hesitation. He stood right in front of Angele and had no time to cast any defensive spells.

Angele took a glance at Ainphent and lowered his hand. He was not sure who was behind Ainphent and what was that council he was talking about.

"This… is my sect's territory… you'll all die… Ha… And… Green, I know your…"

Belem had a strange smile on his face. He kept speaking while blood ran down his mouth.

"Shut up!"

Angele was not sure what Belem was going to say. He quickly ran to the old man and cracked his skull.

Belem's brains mixed with blood splashed everywhere.

Angele was not sure what Ainphent was going to do but he had to take action right now. He turned around and started running again.

Some of Angele's energy particles remained on Kuirman's body and he tried to track him down using the energy trail.

"You won't escape this…"

Angele narrowed his eyes and vanished into the darkness.

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Chapter 182: Exploration (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

The dark twisted tunnel extended ahead. Angele increased his speed and the only noise in the place was from his footsteps and breathing.

A ball of yellow flame floated on the left side of his head and brightened up the area around him.

'Strange, the route here is a mess.' Angele was running at full speed but his head was still clear.

It felt like the tunnel was shifting by itself. Angele ordered Zero to create a map of the area when the tunnel first appeared in front of him but he already encountered two unknown exits on his way here. Without the tracking spell, he would have already lost the two in front of him.

He ran as he reconsidered the situation.

'Based on Belem's dying words, this ruins is the territory of the Two Head Sect. The sect's name probably comes from its members' appearances. The wizard we saw earlier had two heads over his shoulders. However, Melissa and Ainphent have visited the ruins many times already, I don't understand how they didn't find anything about the Two Head Sect's secret plan… There're probably many things I still don't know about.'

Angele suddenly stopped as he turned at a corner. There was a bright ray of sunlight shooting down the roof in the area ahead.

The top of the tunnel was cracked, and the golden sunlight was dazzling.

Angele slightly narrowed his eyes and walked into the sunlight.

He raised his head and tried to peek outside through the gap.

The clouds that covered the blue sky were no longer there, and Angele embraced the warmth of the sun.

He carefully removed the cracked stone pieces from the gap and two green vines dropped right in front of him.

Angele's sight fell upon the place where the vines were in contact with the edge of the gap.

The surface of the vine was scratched, revealing white plant fibers.

"They escaped through this gap…"

Angele visualized the scene of the two-headed wizard climbing up the vines and leaving the tunnel with Kuirman on his back.

He quickly grabbed the vine in hand and pulled on it hard. Angele then quickly stepped back and raised his head.

CHICHICHI*

A trap was triggered and some black items dropped to the ground from the gap. They drew a straight line below the vine.

Angele shook his head and pursed his lips.

It was a line of black needles. They stabbed into the slates, and their shapes looked identical to those used by Kuirman.

"Not a surprise."

Angele sneered and raised his right hand. A thin metal string twisted around the vine and pulled it several times.

It seemed like the needles were the only trap they had set up here.

Angele stepped forward and grabbed the vine.

He quickly climbed out of the tunnel through the gap.

Above the tunnel, it was a sea of trees. They were tall and vibrant, their roots strong and bushes around them thick.

Green grass covered the land and there were several white flowers mixed in.

The distance between each of the trees was about four to five meters, and the black mud was covered with broken pieces of white stones. It looked like white sesame seeds spread on a large piece of black cloth.

Angele moved out of the exit and saw a humongous tree right beside him. The sunlight went through the gaps of the branches and dropped to the land, while the tree's root was covered by green vines. Inside the forest, there were no insects or animals. The only thing Angele could see were the plants.

The mud under his feet was wet. Angele went around the bell-shaped root and straightened his robe. Before he could observe the environment, two men appeared in his sight.

They were the two-headed wizard and Kuirman.

Kuirman had already woken up and was chanting some incantation in a low voice, the left side of his body already merged with the two-headed man's.

It almost looked like Kuirman was trying to get into the man's flesh.

There were no five sense organs on the two-headed man's face, his skin clean and smooth. He was not resisting what Kuirman was doing to him, just standing there and waiting for Kuirman to finish the incantation.

Kuirman heard Angele's footsteps and turned his head around. He gritted his teeth but Angele could see the fear on his face.

Kuirman stopped chanting the incantation, knowing he had no way to finish the spell, and it was possible that the unstable mana would kill him. However, it seemed like the pausing of the spell did not impact the effect that had already happened.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" Kuirman asked in a deep voice. Half of his body had already disappeared, his arms and head were on the back of the two-headed wizard. The scene gave Angele an unpleasant feeling.

He sneered. "You gave up?"

"You have no idea… I spent years collecting the cursed power and you destroyed it all! There's no point for me to run anymore. I'll show you what I'm capable of." The fear on Kuirman's face disappeared and he stared at Angele. "Now my power has returned… Don't expect to defeat me easily…"

"Huh? Interesting. Show me what you can do then."

Three silver metal scars slowly appeared on the left side of Angele's face.

Kuirman laughed through his nose and clapped his hands, then his body and the two-headed man's body completely combined.

The shape of the two-headed man's faces shifted and the next moment he looked exactly like Kuirman.

The two-headed version of Kuirman was half naked, only his lower body covered by a blue blanket. He was about two meters tall, looking strong and ruthless.

Kuirman drew his cursed scimitar again and coated the blade with the familiar green aura.

"Die, insect!" Kuirman charged toward Angele, the scimitar in his right hand spinning so fast that it blurred. "How many heart bombs do you have?! Huh?" he roared out while slashed forward.

Angele shook his head, then the sleeves of his robe, and four heart bombs appeared on both of his palms. All of them were covered in a red glow, ready to be detonated.

He raised his arms and aimed at Kuirman.

His opponent's confident expression was replaced by fear in a second. He quickly turned around and tried to escape.

"F*cking hell! Where do you get so many heart bombs?! You're crazy!" he yelled as he started retreating.

Kuirman had assumed that Angele had used up all of his heart bombs in the tunnel, not expecting Angele to have hidden so many of them under his robe. It was an extremely risky behavior as the heart bombs might explode during battle.

BOOM*

A shell-shaped area in front of Angele was covered in flames.

The sky, the trees, and the land disappeared from Kuirman's sight, and instead, he saw the furious fire trying to swallow him.

The pressure brought by the explosions squeezed Kuirman's body and the high temperature vaporized his defensive barrier in the blink of the eyes.

"Ah!"

Kuirman roared in pain but the only thing Angele could hear was the burning fire. Kuirman's eyes perished in the flames, his nose and ears were destroyed by the explosion. In the end, there was not much left of him.

The flames streaked into the air and ignited all the trees around. The enormous tree trunks fell to the ground as the fire sparked.

Thick white smoke permeated the air.

The grass inside the explosion's radius all turned to ashes in seconds, and waves of heat spread out in all directions.

Angele was caught in the center of the explosion and was blown away. He created multiple thin silver metal strings and shot them toward the trees on the sides to reduce the impact. Eight large trees were pulled down before he dropped to the ground.

"Four Fire heart bombs and each of them had at least 50 degrees of power… Incredible…"

It was the first time Angele had used four heart bombs at the same time, and he was surprised.

The location he was standing at had turned into a sea of fire, the glowing red Fire energy particles mixed in with the burning plants covered the light from the sun.

Kuirman was struggling and trembling in the flames. He tried to escape, but he was surrounded by a circle of furious fire. He was dying, no longer able to hear or see anything, but he was still trying to find a way to survive.

Angele was more than ten meters away from the edge of the burning area, but he could still feel the heat, and even the metal layer that covered his skin started melting. He had to back off several meters more.

"It's over."

Angele sighed and watched Kuirman burning in the flames. He used one-third of the heart bombs he had during this fight.

He recalled the day he had killed two hundred-eyed monsters outside the ruins of Ramsoda, one heart bomb made from the glowing elephant's heart was all he had needed. However, the monsters had been way weaker than Kuirman—he had almost recovered from the injury done by several heart bombs.

Kuirman's burning body started melting from the heat. He was still moving, but it seemed like there was no way for him to recover from this.

BOOM*

Suddenly, Kuirman's body exploded and his organs splashed everywhere.

A spinning scimitar drew a long arc in the air, surrounded by flames.

CHI*

The scimitar stabbed into a tree's trunk beside Angele, the blade was still smoking. The remaining heat on the metal left a deep burnt mark on the surface of the trunk.

Angele turned around. He was surprised that Kuirman's weapon was still in a good shape after the explosion. There was not even a dent on its blade.

Angele walked to the tree and stopped by its trunk.

There was a silver glint on the scimitar, but the coiling green aura was no longer there. The wavy blade looked like a silver snake twisting its body.

The handle of the scimitar was made from black metal, but Angele did not see any hilt. Its handle had the style of the short daggers used in rituals.

Angele put his hands on the handle. Many blue light dots appeared in the air. They gathered around the handle and turned into a water beam.

CHI*

Thick white steam rose from the handle.

After several seconds, the steam disappeared as the blue light dots vanished into the air.

Angele grabbed the handle of the scimitar and pulled it out of the tree trunk.

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Chapter 183: Exploration (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

"The cursed scimitar…"

Angele recalled how Melissa had described Kuirman's weapon but he did not find any additional information about it in the database.

He checked the scimitar but it seemed like a special technique was needed in order to trigger its effect. Angele's mentality and energy particles did not work; it was basically just a normal scimitar to him.

Angele spent several minutes observing the scimitar while Zero was doing the scan, but he did not acquire any valuable information. Deciding to do further investigation later, he tied it to his belt.

He raised his head and had one final glance at the furious flames. Kuirman's body was already burnt to ashes and Angele could no longer detect the man's mentality waves.

Angele returned to the gap on top of the tunnel and jumped down. He could still see the fire through the gap and the temperature inside the tunnel was rising.

The bright fireball on the left of his face appeared again and he started to walk back to the area where the fight had started.

The underground tunnel of the ruin was like a spider web—it was complicated and full of crossroads, but Angele did not see any rooms on the way.

He assumed that he was still in the outer area. He reached a crossroad again, but this time he decided to explore the unknown area first.

He turned to the left and entered a dark tunnel.

CHI*

The floor vibrated slightly. It seemed like something further away was hitting the tunnel.

After about ten minutes, the floor stopped shaking. Angele detected the source of the vibration and increased his speed, turning right at the end of this tunnel.

The stone walls had no differences. Without the chip, Angele would have gotten lost already. He finally saw a different-looking entrance on a wall by the end of the tunnel.

Inside the entrance, there was a gray stone staircase leading down into the darkness. Angele could feel chilling air brushing his face just by standing beside the wall.

He crouched and checked the floor.

Angele found some messy footprints on the dusty stone floor.

"Someone entered it already."

Angele stood up and pointed at the staircase.

With a flick of his finger, a small black metal ball was shot down the staircase.

Before the metal ball dropped to the ground, Angele raised his hand again.

A ray of red light flashed.

CHI*

The metal ball was ignited and the yellow light from the flame brightened up the area down the stairs.

PA*

The burning metal ball rolled down the stone staircase and stopped after reaching the ground. It looked like a small light dot.

Angele was satisfied with the result and he threw ten more metal balls down the stairs.

He could finally see things clearly and started walking down slowly.

Strange white patterns were painted on both sides of the walls.

They looked like large flowers with human bodies attached to them. Their arms were long but twisted. One of them had a huge ear that looked like a wash basin. Some of the flower men held each other's hands and were dancing around campfires.

Angele rubbed the surface of a wall. Some of the white paint dropped to the ground, and there was a large missing area beside the dancing flower men.

He lowered his hand and started walking down the stairs again. He thought it was a tunnel down there, but it was actually a room, and the burning metal balls lay on the floor quietly.

There were no paintings on the walls in the room, the surface clean and smooth.

Angele noticed a blond woman lying beside one of the burning metal balls. She was wearing a red leather armor suit and her face looked familiar.

She was one of Ainphent's followers.

Ainphent's followers' armor style was easy to recognize, and Angele identified her easily.

He walked to the woman and crouched down.

Her body was facing the ground, and there was a pool of dark red blood beneath her.

Angele dipped his finger in the blood. It was solidifying, and it felt like touching thick congee.

'I already have the Black Rose oil and the only thing I need is the heart of the tree. I hope I can find it in this ruin. It seems like the ruin is controlled by the Two Head Sect, I can probably find some more resources if that's true.'

Angele knew there was danger ahead but he did not want to give up the possible reward easily. If he chose to leave now, the heart bombs he used would have been wasted.

Angele did not back off in the Moon Gin Garden. The only way to keep advancing in the world of wizards was to adapt to the various situations and changes. He needed to be cautious when dealing with things, but it did not mean that he should quit when there was danger along with possible benefits ahead.

Also, with the help of a stealth technique and mentality compression method, he could stay undetected if the enemies' mentality was weaker than his.

Angele grabbed the woman's shoulder and turned her body around.

There was a deep wound on the female knight's neck and a huge blood hole in the center of her stomach. Angele could see the crashed organs mixed with flesh. Also, the woman's right arm was broken. It seemed like she did not have the chance to fight back.

Angele stood up and glanced around after checking the body.

There were three arched stone gates on the wall in front of him.

The gate in the front was smashed open, large pieces of stone lying on the ground, and there was a trail of bloody footprints beside.

Angele used his stealth technique and quietened his footsteps. He then slowly moved into the gate.

BAM*

Suddenly, a loud noise mixed with people roaring came from inside.

The room started shaking, the feeling similar to the one he'd experienced in the tunnel.

Angele raised his hands and some blue energy particles flashed in the air—all the flame on the metal balls was put off. The room sank into darkness again, with only the fireball beside his face providing minimum visibility.

He started moving forward quickly, using the stealth technique and the compressed mentality, the noise of footsteps minimized.

Behind the gate was a dark tunnel. After traveling for several minutes, Angele heard people chatting ahead.

"… Check… Bring the… with us… We need to hurry… the core area is ahead."

It was Melissa's voice but Angele did not catch all the words she was saying.

He took several steps forward and finally could hear their conversation clearly. Someone was responding to Melissa.

"All those traps… It's our first time entering this area. Be careful, everyone! We'll reach the core area after breaking the barrier. We must grab most of the bearing shafts before the other wizards get here." It was Ainphent, it seemed like he had returned to Melissa's team. "Belem and Kuirman are spies of the Two Head Sec, I didn't expect that. If Green hadn't taken care of them for us, it'd have been a big problem."

"Hey! Be careful! Look at the walls, Collins! Don't get too close!"

"Yes, master!"

"Where's Isabel? I didn't meet her and her followers after entering the tunnel," Melissa questioned.

"I saw her once on the other side of the tunnel. She was not planning to enter the core area. She went straight to the storage area for some reason," Ainphent explained.

"What is she looking for? I doubt there are many rare resources here. Let's move. We need to get there as soon as possible," Melissa said with a light tone.

It seemed like Melissa and Ainphent had entered through the gate not so long ago. Angele followed after them from a distance, advancing little by little.

The tunnel was still in the range of the force field that would trap people in illusions. Angele needed to make sure he did not miss any critical information. Melissa had already finished several battles before regrouping with Ainphent.

There were broken pieces of human organs on the ground. and blood splashed on the stone walls. Random footprints were left on the floor that led to the deeper area ahead.

Angele found a small door on the left side, the sign next to it saying 'Laboratory'. The word was written in ancient Barun language. He hesitated for a second, then pushed the door open.

A light blue glow cast a reflection on his face.

It was a spacious room, glowing sapphire covering the walls. Those diamond-shaped sapphires were the source of the light.

On the left side of the room, there was a small stone sundial that was brushed with black paint. A thick layer of dust covered its surface.

Angele walked to the sundial and wiped off the dust with a piece of cloth.

Melissa's group was still moving forward. They had not entered the laboratory because they wanted to save time.

Angele was not sure about what exactly was the bearing shaft Melissa spoke about but it seemed like they did not want others to find out about it. He was not sure how strong Melissa was, so he decided to do some personal investigations first.

He had no interest in the bearing shafts anyway.

With Kuirman dead, Angele could focus on searching for the heart of the tree now. He had obtained the Black Rose oil from Isabel, so he could start preparing the potion after acquiring the heart.

Although Angele's Mentality was not high enough for the next stage yet, it was still necessary for him to collect the materials for the potion first. There were many different methods to help him increase mentality other than meditating, but this might be his only chance to obtain the heart.

Also, Angele was confident that he could successfully craft the ancient potion on the first try. He had many practical experiences and Zero could simulate the process for him.

The potion masters would waste a great number of resources every day, but they could only craft one or two mid-level potions each year.

The basic potions were expensive in the markets, but the price of mid-level potions was much higher. The skill-level and a number of resources required were ridiculous. The wasted materials were hundred times or even thousand times the materials that were actually listed in the formulas.

Angele stopped thinking and observed the environment. A trail of blood in the corner attracted his eyes.

He walked to the corner and saw the trail of blood leading to a wall on the other side of the room.

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Chapter 184: Exploration (3)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

The dirty floor was covered in dust, which made the dark red blood trail very conspicuous.

Angele did not find any other strange things in the room.

He followed the trail of blood to the wall.

It seemed like the blood came from the other side.

The surface of the wall was gray with a silver glint to it. Angele raised his head and saw a head-sized glowing sapphire inserted into the surface of the wall.

The clean blue light cast a reflection on Angele's robe, and on the sapphire, there was a hidden bloody handprint. It was quite difficult to see and Angele assumed that the handprint was left there by the injured person.

He raised his hand and pressed on the sapphire.

Crack*

The sapphire was pressed into the wall and moved to the left, revealing a small hidden compartment.

A thin book with a yellow cover lay in there quietly. There was nothing written on it, and it looked old.

Angele grabbed the book and found a set of black metal keys under it.

There were about ten keys hanging on a silver key ring, the sizes, and shapes of the keys varied. It seemed like they were used for different locks.

Angele tied the keyring to his belt and opened the thin book.

'April 12th. I arrived at this new ruin we found. Master Mahamt of the sect found this place and captured it. It's a ruin of an ancient organization named Axis of Time. The place is nice and the weather is great, but for some reason, we can't find any creatures on the island. It's strange. As a member of the sect, I have to obey the orders… I really miss my wines…'

'April 15th. Our supplies arrived and everything is proceeding well. There are not many of us here, but we're important to the mission. I want to write down more, but Haner asked me for help in the laboratory. I'll leave it here'.

The next several pages were missing. It looked like they were torn off by someone, but Angele already knew that this was a diary of one of the Two Head Sect members.

He kept turning the pages, skipping the records about daily life.

Angele reached the end quickly.

'It's July already. Quella told me that his pocket watch stopped working and he wanted me to fix it. Seriously?! Those gear wheels inside had broken into pieces and there was nothing I could do. Too many explosions had happened in the laboratory… Quella complained that the items crafted by the mortals were too weak… and I have nothing against that opinion'.

'Something isn't right recently. The captains arrived at the facility and put restrictions on several areas. What are they planning to do? I haven't seen them in years, and they want to take everything from us? We contributed the most to the project, and they're not allowing us to enter the area with the rarest resources… I'm a wizard too, I need to find a way to enter those areas someday…'

'October 11th. I finally acquired the keys to the restricted areas. God, it takes ten keys to open all the entrances. I'm preparing to enter the area today, wish me luck'.

That was the end of the diary. Angele turned the book around but did not find anything on the back.

He grabbed the keys and found that the word '4' was engraved on each of their handles in Anmag.

Angele knew something unfortunate had happened just by reading the diary. The man's mission had probably failed. He checked the diary again and found a well-drawn map of the ruin. Each of the areas was labeled with names, and five black circles were marked in the corners. Numbers from one to five were written inside each of the circles.

The number four circle was not far away from the laboratory.

Angele opened the diary and read the last several pages again.

'And they're not allowing us to enter the area with the rarest resources…'

The wizards sent to the ruin by the Two Head sect failed to completely explore the ruin and for some reason, they set up restricted areas to store the rare resources. Angele guessed that they might have found something else in those special areas and the secret was reported to the leaders at higher positions.

The wizard who wrote the diary had probably died when trying to break into the area four, but Angele did not understand why his diary and keys were still there.

He rubbed the map with his fingers slowly.

'Should I go there?'

Angele hesitated. Based on the information he acquired from the diary, he was certain that something was wrong with this ruin. However, it seemed that if he wanted to maximize the number of resources he could get, he would have to enter the restricted areas.

'I need to proceed with caution, those areas aren't restricted for no reason. Better rewards come with higher risk… Damn, I wish I could reach the next stage now so I could learn some better damage spells…'

Angele kept thinking and in the end decided to check the areas outside those circles. If things did not look too bad, he would use the keys and go inside for rare resources.

He scanned the diary and stored the information into the database, the whole process taking about a minute. Angele then threw the diary back into the hidden compartment. With a flick of his finger, Fire energy particles ignited the book. In the bright orange flame, the diary turned yellow, twisted, and became a pile of ash.

Angele turned around, left the laboratory, and returned to the tunnel. The place was extremely silent, he could not hear anything, and he doubted if the air was circulating.

The floating fireball on the left side of his face only brought him minimum visibility.

He recalled the map he just read and located his current location. Slowly moving forward under the dim light, he reached another crossroad.

The footprints on the ground indicated that Melissa and her group had gone straight ahead.

Angele decided to go check the No.4 restricted area first.

He double-checked the map he had stored in the chip and turned left.

There was some soothing wind coming from the left to the right side. Angele kept moving forward for about twenty minutes.

He reached an entrance of a cloister and saw a large '4' painted on the way in an ancient language.

The dust in the air made Angele's nose itch. He stood by the entrance and peeked inside.

The hallway was about ten meters long and there was a black wooden door by the end of it. The door was tall and wide, with holes on its surface. The blue light coming out of the holes caught Angele's eyes.

It seemed like someone was having a conversation inside.

Angele extinguished the fireball and quietened his footsteps.

He stood in front of the wooden door and peeked through one of the larger holes.

Angele could hear the people talking inside clearly.

"… No! Impossible! Tell me! That's not your intention, right? Tell me!" a man was shouting, his voice sounding nervous.

Angele leaned forward and saw a large meeting hall, its wall decorated with the same glowing sapphires he had seen in the laboratory. Those sapphires were the only source of light here.

The hall was filled with people wearing long blue robes. Their ages and genders varied, but they were all releasing strong mentality waves, and it seemed like Angele's compressed mentality helped him to stay undetected.

Angele was quite surprised after checking their mentality waves because all of them were wizards.

Also, those wizards' bodies were translucent. They almost looked like ghosts.

All the wizards were quietly staring at several people that were wearing dark blue robes. The voice Angele had heard earlier belonged to a young man, and he was staring at another man in front of him with anger in his eyes.

"Naora! You destroyed us! You destroyed the whole Axis of Time! I need to stop you now!"

A female wizard stepped forward.

"We're already the strongest organization on the west coast and we don't have to risk it!" someone yelled out.

"I'm doing this for the organization," the male wizard named Naora responded in a light tone. The man had a peaceful smile on his face. It seemed like the others were trying to stop him from making a certain decision.

"Axis of Time…?"

"So, this is a memory of the ruin...?"

Angele had read about it in one of the books from Ramsoda's library once. Some of the ancient architectures were built with a special material that could record events that happened inside them. The materials were not enhanced by spells, and they were relatively easy to find back then. Many wandering wizards had encountered the material while traveling. The legend said that the Ghost Voice was developed by the ancient potion masters using a similar material.

The wizards Angele saw were illusions, and their argument was recorded a long time ago. It was probably an important historical event for the organization.

'This was probably one of the reasons why the Axis of Time disappeared from this world,' Angele guessed while watching the wizards talking inside the hall.

The wizards' argument got intense, and they were pointing at Naora. No one trusted the man's explanation, but he was still trying to convince the others, addressing how important his plan was.

However, no one was listening to him.

"Do you know what's my intention? Do you remember the day we founded the organization? What's our true purpose?!" Naora shouted.

"Tell us what you're doing!" one of the wizards yelled.

"Yeah! Show us the document! We don't want to be lied to!"

The hall got even noisier.

Crack*

Angele stepped on something while trying to find a better viewing angle.

Suddenly, people inside the hall stopped yelling and moving. It almost looked like a video was paused.

They turned to the door and stared at Angele through the holes.

More than thirty pairs of eyes looked at Angele at the same time, and those wizards' expressions were replaced by horrifying smiles.

Angele was scared, and his skull numbed. He took several steps back and stared at the black wooden door.

The hall remained silent, but he could still feel the gazes going straight through the door and falling upon him.

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Chapter 185: Exploration (4)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

'Wait… They're supposed to be illusions…'

Angele was startled at that moment. He was certain that all the wizards' figures were staring at him, and it seemed like they had noticed his presence a long time ago.

Angele stood in the hallway. It was deadly silent, and he could not sense any movement inside the meeting hall.

He quietened his footsteps and created a thick layer of metal on his skin for defense. His whole body was covered in a silver glow. He took out a black heart bomb with his right hand. This one was made with the heart of corrosion, and it was one of the two bombs that contained 70 degrees of power.

Angele approached the wooden door again, hesitated for a second, but still decided to peek through the hole.

The meeting hall was brightened by the blue glow. The wizards he'd seen had already disappeared and the room was completely empty. Angele shook his head. He knew it must have been an illusion. He could see the dust floating in the air under the light.

Suddenly, a man's eye appeared on the other side of the hole, and he was peeking through it just like what Angele was doing.

The man was staring at Angele with his bloodshot eyes.

Angele was startled again and backed off right away.

He calmed down and looked at the hole again, but the man was no longer there, and he could only see the blue light from inside the room.

"Are you looking for me?" a cold voice suddenly came from behind.

CHI*

Angele turned around and a silver arc flashed in the air.

He created a scimitar in his left hand and slashed forward hard. Angele heard the blade soaring through the air, but it felt like the strike landed on nothing.

Angele quickly glanced around and tried to find who was behind him.

"God damn it!"

He was not sure what he should do. He double-checked the surroundings, but still did not see anyone around.

Angele held his breath as he sensed someone walking toward him from behind. He assumed it was one of those 'ghosts' that were in the meeting hall. The ghost was getting closer and closer, and goose bumps rose on Angele's neck.

He knew he had to make the decision. He raised the heart bomb and threw it behind himself.

BOOM*

Angele detonated the bomb, getting caught in the explosion as well. The impact blew him more than ten meters away. He rolled on the ground, finally stopping after he reached the other side of the hallway.

Black-purple sticky liquid covered the whole cloister, and the door of the meeting hall was broken into pieces, so the bright blue light shined upon the hallway. The dust in the air blurred Angele's sight.

White steam rose from the areas that were covered by the liquid. Angele saw that the walls and the ground were being corroded; it was the effect of the heart bomb.

The ghost disappeared after Angele detonated the bomb. He coughed several times as the dust went into his nose.

Angele stood up and covered his nose with hands to prevent more dust from going into his nose.

He gained experience of dealing with mysterious events after the encounter in Moon Gin Garden, and he was more prepared when it happened this time.

However, he decided not to enter the meeting hall in front of him. There was no point for him to take more risks. The ghost could still appear at any moment. Those illusions of wizards were unusual, they did not act like the ones the books had mentioned.

There were several times that Angele had almost lost his life during the missions because he was too greedy. He calmed down and made up his mind.

Angele had a last glance at the corroded cloister, turned around, and left through the entrance.

It only took him several minutes to return to the crossroad.

Angele took a deep breath and started heading back. He had the map stored in the chip, so it was easy for him.

Suddenly, he heard people whispering in the tunnel ahead.

"Glen, go collect the items, we need to move. Aria, help the wounded members, Avria is still waiting for us there, we must hurry."

The voice of the man was familiar. Angele raised his head slightly and looked ahead.

A man wearing a white robe was advancing in the darkness, and Angele recognized him immediately.

"Hey, Ainphent!" Angele shouted out. He needed someone that was familiar with the situation, and he wanted to check if they had already collected the bearing shafts.

Ainphent was slightly injured. He turned around and looked at Angele.

"Oh hey, Green! I really need your help right now!"

Ainphent's voice was shaky. He quickly walked toward Angele.

Angele realized something was wrong as Ainphent got closer. He quickly used the fireball to brighten up the area.

Ainphent's eyes were replaced by two deep, bloody holes. The dark red liquid left two trails on his cheeks and slowly dripped down the chin.

Behind Ainphent, there was a blue hollow shadow, but it seemed like he did not notice the shadow's presence. Ainphent looked excited and happy after seeing Angele, and the shadow followed right after him.

"Hey, Glen! I told you already, move!" Ainphent turned around and shouted at a wall. He was seeing illusions, Angele assumed. "Are you even listening?!"

Angele's skull numbed. He slowly took two steps back, turned around, and ran away.

He was not sure how he could help Ainphent escape the illusions.

'What happened to Melissa then..?' Angele wondered as he heard Ainphent screaming. The wings on his left palm started swinging again.

"Green… Come back… Green… Please…"

Ainphent's voice changed, he was horrified and anxious. The man's long shaky scream echoed through the tunnel.

The diamond-shaped accessory on the back of Angele's hand was heating up again.

The accessory heated up when he was at the watch tower and had encountered the strange girl on the bridge. His curse was lifted already, but he decided to keep the accessory and use it to detect the 'ghosts' or 'souls'. Although Angele had not yet collected accurate data on how those ghosts existed, it seemed like their presences were quite common in this world, and most of them were related to curses.

Angele decided to start researching on the spirits after surviving this mission.

He returned to the previous tunnel, and it seemed like the strange force field was no longer there. Angele quickly ran back to the room with three stone gates.

The right gate was crushed by someone as well. Inside the gate, it was a dark tunnel, and there was a rotten body sitting by the entrance with its back leaning against the wall.

Angele double-checked the surroundings and made sure it was safe before entering the gate on the right.

He crouched and checked the body. The body had two heads above its shoulders, but there was barely any flesh left on the faces and hands. The place also smelled awful.

Angele's brow furrowed. As blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes, he asked Zero to check if there was poison in the air. After making sure that there was no trap around the body, he started examining it closely.

The body was covered in a white robe with a black edge, and it was female. Both of her heads were missing eyes. Angele could only see four bloody holes. One of the heads was leaning against the wall and the other one was almost cut off.

'One of theirs… Two Head Sect…' Angele guessed. He raised his right hand and aimed at the body's heads.

"En… Dira…" he chanted the incantation. It meant 'rebuild' in Anmag.

CHI*

The noise sounded like gas being released from a container.

Intense green glow covered his right palm and casted its reflection upon the dead body's face.

After ten seconds, the rotten muscles on the woman's face started recovering, and the area under the green light returned to its original shape. It almost looked like the wound was fresh. However, some deep holes were still left on her pale skin.

Angele stood up, the green slow on his palm weakened and disappeared.

"She was killed about two months ago, but the temperature here is low, and it slowed down the body from decaying."

Angele was a disciple of master Liliana and knew several tricks that could help in studying dead bodies.

"So, all of the Two Head Sect's members died inside the ruin a long time ago." Angele shook his head. "I should've kept Kuirman's body in one piece, but he was way too strong… What should I do to acquire more information..?"

BOOM*

Suddenly, something exploded inside the dark tunnel.

A man's voice echoed in the air, sounding nervous. "Master Isabel! Run!"

"Retreat! Everyone!" It was Isabel. "I have this item that can protect us temporarily… Ah!"

She screamed, and Angele heard something crash.

"Just run!"

"No!"

People were shouting and screaming.

Angele's expression changed, and he was not sure if he should go check what was happening.

The intense footsteps approached, a ray of white light shot through the dark tunnel, and a female wizard wearing a white robe appeared, holding a glowing stone in her hands. She was running to the gate while checking the situation behind her.

Isabel's black hair was messy. She was wounded, and Angele saw the blood dripping down her robe. She turned her head around and shouted, but there was no one behind her. It seemed like she was also trapped in the illusion.

Angele stepped back and Isabel realized who was in front of her.

"Green!" she yelled out. "Run!"

Angele pursed his lips. "Master Isabel, calm down!"

He raised his left hand and waved it several times. The signet was heated up, trying to eliminate the force field that brought the illusions.

The wings on Angele's palm were swinging quickly, and it worked just as he had expected.

Isabel went down on her knees in front of Angele as he lowered his hand.

Angele helped her to get up quickly.

"Isabel, there's nothing chasing you. Are you alright?" he asked calmly.

Isabel's soul had not yet been swallowed by the illusions, but tears were running down her cheeks. The lady looked helpless and terrified.

"I'm back! I'm back…"

She quickly glanced around while trembling. A smile appeared on her face as she cried.

Angele knew something was not right, and he was in a dire need of information.

"Isabel, listen to me, are you alright?" he asked again in a light tone.

Isabel raised her head and looked at Angele. She then quickly wiped the tears off her face and straightened her back.

"We need to leave. The curse of the Axis of Time has been released and low-rank wizards like us will stand no chance against it!" she sputtered. "Let's leave this area first, I'll explain everything to you later."

Her face was still shaky.

"Got it."

Angele nodded.

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Chapter 186: Escape (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem

The sky above the island was covered by dark clouds; the weather was changing.

On the cliff of a high mountain.

On the gray sundial, there were three translucent entrances that could disappear anytime.

PA*

Suddenly, a hand grabbed the edge of one of the entrances.

Two people jumped out of the tunnel together.

The one standing in the front was a young man with brown hair. That hair was wet from sweat and stuck to his forehead. The young man had a pair of sharp blue eye and a gray robe that looked a bit too large for his size.

A lady wearing a white robe followed after the young man. Her long black hair trailed down to her shoulders, and there were several scars on her pretty face.

Angele and Isabel finally left the tunnel after running like crazy for several minutes.

"Don't stop! Our boat should be safe, I left several people there guarding it. We need to leave the island!" Isabell yelled. She looked anxious as she rushed to the stairs that led to the foot of the mountain.

Angele nodded but did not say anything. He took one final glance at the tunnel and followed after Isabel.

The three entrances slowly disappeared from the sundial and everything returned to normal.

The gnomon of the sundial turned white after several seconds.

CHI*

A ray of white light shot from the tip of the gnomon and streaked into the sky.

The white string connected the cliff and the sky.

Angele noticed what happened to the sundial and hastened his steps.

The two kept running down the hill. They turned several times on the way to take short-cuts.

Ten minutes later they returned to the beach that the boat was secured in.

"Impossible! Where's the boat?"

Isabel stared at the empty shore, looking surprised.

It was as if the boat had taken the team and completely disappeared, leaving no trace on the surface of the sea.

Blue waves were hitting the yellow beach from time to time, but besides them, the place was deadly silent.

The water from the sea was circling between the gaps of the reefs.

"Where's the boat?!"

Isabel started panicking, she ran into the sea and circled around the area where the boat was anchored, but found nothing.

"Damn."

Angele's expression turned serious.

They guessed that the missing boat was part of the series of mysterious happenings in the ruin. If the blue wizard illusions destroyed the boat, it would be a huge problem.

Angele stopped by the edge of the beach and started checking the surroundings.

"Is there a way that you can get in contact with the people on the ship?" he asked, turning his head toward her.

Isabel took a deep breath and calmed down. She looked different, her face was no longer emotionless. She quickly took out a small golden ball from the pouch after Angele's words.

Clank*

Several black needles rose from the surface of the ball.

Isabel picked one of the needles and twisted it.

CHI*

The golden ball disappeared from her palm, drew a golden line in the air, and flew into the air.

The needles soared through the air and flew in different directions, then all disappeared after several seconds.

"Har-rim-las!" Isabel chanted the incantation in a loud voice. The word she said meant 'the mother of light' in Anmag.

They waited for a while until they saw a golden line coming from the left; it connected itself to the ball in the air.

"That direction!" Isabel yelled and started running.

Angele nodded and followed after her.

The two ran along the coastline and found their boat under a stone cliff after about ten minutes.

The small black boat was stuck between reefs, and there was a golden string on the sail.

The wind and the waves were getting stronger and stronger.

The clouds in the sky were getting darker, completely blocking the sunlight. It was noon but it looked like evening.

Angele and Isabel stepped into the water and ran to the boat.

Isabel rubbed on the white ring she had and a white magic circle appeared under her feet. The magic circle slowly lifted her up and she easily jumped onto the deck after several seconds.

Angele pointed at the boat and a long silver metal string left the tip of his finger, embedding itself into the railing. He pulled the string, jumped to the railing, and climbed onto the deck as well.

The boat was deadly silent. He could not see anyone around.

Isabel went straight to the cabin after stepping on to the deck.

After several minutes, she dragged two men outside.

The two were wearing dark red leather armor and both were unconscious. Angele saw the weapons in their hands, blood dripping down the blades.

"One of them was Ainphent's follower, and they were both assailed by the illusions. The illusion made them think that the two of them were enemies. The curse is way too strong, we must go," Isabel said calmly. She took a deep breath again and tried to figure out a plan of what to do next.

"Don't worry too much about it. The curse only affects the targeted population I believe. Also, I have a special way to deal with it."

Angele pursed his lips to a smile. He had already tested the power of the signet several times and was certain that he could help the people around him.

"Well, I know you probably lifted the curse for me temporarily, but the thing is more complicated than you think," Isabel said, her voice low.

"Look at this."

She turned her head to the left and pulled the collar to the right, revealing her clean, white shoulder.

Angele saw a sundial-shaped black pattern on Isabel's shoulder which looked like a tattoo.

"This pattern means that the curse is not completely lifted and this is just one of the many patterns that appeared on my body." Isabel shook her head. "We need to drive the boat to the original location and wait for Melissa's group. If they don't come back in half an hour, we'll have to leave."

Angele was a bit surprised after seeing the pattern. He slightly rubbed his left hand—it seemed like the signet could only completely lift the curse for its owner.

The blood from ancient harpies worked. They were the masters of controlling the illusions, and they could resist most of the illusion spells.

Angele heard someone screaming when he was about to talk.

"It's Melissa!" Isabel shouted. She raised her head and looked at the sky. "Oh! God!"

She covered her mouth with the right hand. It seemed like she could not believe what was happening.

Angele heard Isabel's word and quickly raised his head to check the situation.

Above the dark mountain, there was an enormous translucent silver plate rotating slowly, and a blurred white shadow floated in the middle of the plate. It was Melissa, her arms wide open and countless white roots growing from her back. Those roots climbed to the edge of the white plate and white energy particles were being injected into the plate.

"That's… the Final Purge…" Isabel muttered. "It's the strongest purifying spell master Melissa knows and it's also… her last spell to use…"

Angele scrunched his eyebrows. He could sense the presence of countless energy particles. They were howling like the wind that was about to brush the negative energy particles off his body.

The silver plate was slowly rotating and more than ten thousand different white runes were flashing upon it.

"I shall cleanse this island with the purest power," Melissa's voice echoed in the sky. It was loud and deep.

The bright light from the plate shined upon the whole island. That light was gentle and clean, even the dark clouds now looked white. Distorted waves spread through the air and changed the air flow around the island.

The wind brought by the plate sent warmth to every corner of the island. Angele felt relaxed and his mind became peaceful.

It was a large-scale spell, and spells like this were usually casted during wars. Their single-target damage was usually low, but their range was incredible.

Roar*

Suddenly, a huge mouth appeared and bit the plate. The creature swung its head and swallowed the whole thing.

The noise it made while swallowing sounded like thunder striking the ground.

Melissa was swallowed together with the plate before she could react.

A glowing blue sea serpent had appeared from nowhere. Its ears looked like bat wings, and there were two rays of light coming out of its eyes. It almost looked like the eyeballs were replaced by burning flames.

Angele and Isabel could not understand what had just happened.

After several seconds, Angele shouted.

"Run!"

Isabel was woken up by Angele's voice and they quickly released the sails.

Angele went to control the helm as Isabel took out a yellow pouch and poured something into the air. Green dust spread onto the main sail and turned into a small tornado.

The boat shook several times and moved through the reefs. It started advancing to the opposite side of the island quickly.

CHI*

A circle of green light appeared above the boat and quickly spread onto its body.

The speed of the boat was greatly increased. It was moving away from the island like an arrow leaving a bowstring.

The serpent was more than 1000 meters long. It slowly twisted around the island and raised its head. The strong sound coming from its mouth sounded like a beast roaring.

Rumble*

The lightning flashed upon the island and the dark clouds blocked the last ray of light. The whole area sank into darkness.

The blue serpent's glowing body was the last visible thing above the sea.

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Chapter 187: Escape (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

The strong sea waves surrounding the island crashed onto the shore as the serpent roared.

Their boat was pushed away by the furious waves and was almost destroyed.

The water of the sea stomped on the surface of the deck like a heavy rain.

Angele stood by the helm and prevented the water from going into his eyes with his hands. The metal string he created helped him in standing still.

The whole boat was shaking, Angele was trying his best to keep the boat balanced.

The huge wave behind them was about ten meters tall that looked like an enormous blue wall and was about to capsize the boat.

Angele turned his head around and looked up into the sky.

The tall blue screen hovered overhead and its shadow covered the whole boat.

BAM*

The water from the sea splashed onto the dock and started bubbling on the surface of the deck.

The mast of the boat was crushed into pieces and sank into the sea within seconds.

Angele did not block the water with the forcefield, so his robe was completely wet. It felt cold and uncomfortable; the water was also dripping down his hair.

"Are you ready yet?!" Angele used the energy particles to send his words to the stern, but the strange energy flow around the island was interrupting the message.

"Done!" Isabel responded after several seconds.

Suddenly, white light flashed upon the stern.

Starting from the deck, the water on the boat froze into ice quickly.

The cabin, the stairs, and the broken mast — everything was coated with the glowing ice.

The ice barrier was created by Isabel and it provided protection for the body of the boat.

The surface of the sea became peaceful after the wave dropped onto the boat. Angele tried to use the Fire energy particles to dry his clothes.

ROAR*

However, the snake moved its body again before he could do anything.

Another enormous wave started rushing toward the boat.

The wave chased after the boat after pushing it forward a bit.

BAM*

The water splashed on the boat again. However, this time, the ice barrier absorbed most of the damage.

The boat finally left the danger zone. Angele stood by the railings and surveyed the island. The metal strings returned into his body.

Isabel walked to Angele. There was a flashing blue magic circle under her feet.

Angele sighed. He felt relieved. "Can you keep the barrier up?"

Isabel nodded. Her robe was soaked in water, revealing her sexy body, but she did not seem concerned.

"The ice barrier will keep the boat stable. Any creature with an intention to attack it will take Ice damage. They'll be frozen into ice cubes unless they have enough magic resistance."

"Range and duration?" Angele wiped the dirt off his robe and started drying his clothes with the Fire energy particles as steam rose from his body.

"I can keep it up for 15 days. After that, I need to recover my mentality. The range is within 50 meters." Isabel responded, "The spell should be cast on people… It's my first time doing something like this."

Angele nodded. Without the ice barrier, the boat would not be able to survive the second wave. They both turned around and stared at the island that already turned into a small black dot in their sights.

"Only you and me now… I heard that Melissa and Ainphent already explored the ruin several times. Something must've surprised them this time…" Isabel shook her head. "Thanks for… helping me. Sadly, I didn't find the heart of the tree for you. Don't worry, I'll ask my family to look for the heart, and I'll send it to you if we find it."

She waved her hand, "Margarita, bring me the…" Isabel stopped after realizing there was no one around. The only two surviving followers still had not woken up yet.

Isabel's expression changed. She looked depressed.

"What happened in the ruin? How did you get hurt?" Angele changed the topic.

Isabel hesitated for a second and then started explaining.

"We were trapped in the darkness. The only thing I could see was the stone staircase… We could only advance as the stairs behind kept disappearing. It felt like walking on floating stairs in a space without any light." Isabel lowered her voice, "After that, strange monster-like shadows appeared in front of us. They started attacking us from all angles, and no matter how many spells I cast, they never left…"

"Same thing happened to me." Angele rubbed his chin, not mentioning that he did not see any beasts.

"The tunnels were shifting. I thought I was around the entrance, but in the next second, I saw a deep dark tunnel in front of me. A few moments later, I somehow returned to the stone staircase."

"That's just an illusion…" Angele's brows furrowed.

"I thought it was an illusion too, but I almost died… and I'm sure those monsters hurt me directly," Isabel spoke with a serious expression.

She suddenly stopped and stared at Angele.

"Green, what's your first name?"

"It's Angele, why?" Angele answered.

"How did you get me out of the illusion? You helped me, right?" She shook her head again. "Never mind, I need some rest, I hope the room is not messed up."

Angele watched her walking into the cabin.

"I shall have some rest…"

Isabel repeated her words. She sounded exhausted.

He pursed his lips after Isabel walked down the wooden stairs and returned to her cabin.

Angele did not want to go to the cabin. The whole boat was frozen, and it must be cold down there.

He stayed on the deck and took the keys down his belt.

There were about 10 keys on the ring and Angele found them in the compartment of the laboratory.

'I don't think I'll be using any of them in a while.' There was a bitter smile on Angele's face. He was close to the Area 4, but he had to retreat, and it seemed like a wise decision.

If he did not meet Isabel, he might've failed to escape in time. Angele still had no idea where that serpent came from, but he was certain that no heart bomb would deal any damage to the monster.

Angele shook his head again. There were many mysteries to solve, but he did not think he would come back here anytime soon.

Inside the tunnels of the ruin.

The laboratory.

A man slowly stepped into the room and walked to one of the glowing sapphires in the corner.

He raised his hand and pressed on the surface of the sapphire. It was a bleeding hand with no skin attached to it. The red flesh and white muscle were exposed to the air, giving the impression of an anatomical model.

KA*

The sapphire loosened and started moving left, revealing a square compartment.

The diary and the keys were no longer there, what was left was a pile of black ash.

The man stood in front of the compartment until the sapphire returned to its original position.

Crack*

Suddenly, all the glowing sapphires in the room broke into pieces.

The light extinguished from the room and the laboratory sank into darkness.

Angele threw the keys into the air and caught them with both hands. He decided to tie them to the belt again.

The black keys suddenly started glowing.

They turned into a black string and went into the signet on his left palm.

"Huh?" The pain in his left palm was intense. Angele raised his left hand and saw the black string twisting in the center of the signet like a snake.

"What's going on?!"

His sight blurred and saw the black keys lying on the palm quietly.

"That was an illusion…? Interesting." Angele thought that he acquired something incredible and he wanted to know what those keys were made from.

He threw the keys into the air again, and the signet on the left palm heated up. It meant the keys were the source of the illusion.

Angele's back numbed. He could hear a beast breathing behind him close to his neck.

Again, the illusion disappeared after his sight blurred.

It made Angele even more interested in the keys.

He threw the keys into the air one more time.

ROAR*

The beast got even closer. Angele leaned to the side and something chilly passed by the side of his face.

It felt like his cheek was lacerated by a blade, and the illusion disappeared again.

"Wait… I've read about something like this in the books…" There was only one possibility. His eyes shone.

However, something was dripping down his chin. He rubbed his cheek with his right hand; there was a wound.

Angele's expression changed. He looked at his hand.

His fingers were covered in blood.

"The tale was true… I need to start the experiment after I get back," Angele muttered.

'Zero, why didn't you warn me about the attack?' Angele questioned.

'No threat was detected.' Zero's mechanical voice echoed in his head.

'Scan and analyze those keys for me.' Angele carefully held the keys in his hand. He decided to be cautious this time.

Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes, and after several seconds, rows of information were listed beside the hologram of the black keys. That information list was being refreshed every second.

Angele skipped most of the unnecessary information and stared at the most important data.

'Weight of the keys, 0g.'

'Forcefield detected.'

'Mentality wave detected.'

'Its structure can't be scanned.'

'Zero?' Angele could feel the weight of the keys. It was about 500 grams, yet the chip said it was zero grams.

The information of the keys was still being refreshed in Angele's sight. After about two minutes, the analysis was finally completed.

The last row indicated the material used to craft those keys.

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Chapter 188: Lost (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

'Possible Materials: The possibility of the keys being made from Nightmare stone is 78%, from Kata Alloy, 62%, and from Dire Alloy, 51%.'

Angele rubbed his chin. The results were based on the data he had already collected, and the listed materials all had high possibilities of being the right one.

The Nightmare Stone originated from the ancient void world. The energy wave it released would affect the human world and create illusions.

The Kata Alloy was developed by a high-rank Wizard named Katavader from the ancient times. The alloy was 'alive', as it would grow over time and its mentality would create illusions in the area around.

The Dire Alloy originated from the Dire World. It was the essence of a special gold ore, and the curse dwelling in the alloy turned the energy into a force field that would create illusions.

It was almost impossible to find such materials in the world now after the Wizards lost their method to contact with the different worlds.

Angele had no idea how many different worlds were there. He doubted if all those worlds had time and space. Some of them might have not even been discovered by the ancient Wizards.

However, most of the Wizards did not know that the mysterious power that was still hidden in this world, the ancient Wizards had spent centuries looking for the rare materials and information. Angele assumed those materials were made into different enchanted items or objects by their descendants and the keys were likely one of those items.

Angele narrowed his eyes.

'Three possibilities… I need more detailed information to accurately identify those keys. There's nothing I can do at the moment. I guess I'll put it on my schedule.'

Angele grabbed the keys and created a silver metal ball from his left hand.

The silver ball slowly rose from his palm. He pushed the keys into the silver ball and sealed them inside.

Angele threw the fist-sized metal ball into the air, nothing happened. The keys did not make any noise. He was satisfied with the result.

He pushed the metal ball onto the back of his hand and ball quickly sank into his skin.

A small bump was left on Angele's hand, and it was quickly traveling along his arm.

The silver ball stopped after reaching his right shoulder.

Angele pressed on his shoulder and made sure that people could not see the ball when covered by the robe.

'Alright, time to check the cursed scimitar now.'

He took the scimitar down the belt.

The silver curvy blade was sharp and clean. The battles left no dent on it.

Angele held the scimitar in hand carefully and flicked the blade with his finger.

Clank*

A clean sound echoed.

'Zero, scan the scimitar for me.' Angele ordered.

'The blade is protected by a force field. The task can't be completed until the forcefield is damaged,' Zero reported right away.

'Huh? The scimitar is protected by a forcefield?' Angele pursed his lips.

Angele remembered what Melissa mentioned when he was fighting with Kuirman. She said that Kuirman's incredible power came from the buff of the scimitar.

He started observing the scimitar carefully.

There was nothing special about the blade. However, he saw countless strange runes engraved onto the surface of the handle.

The black strings twisted into small vortex-shaped patterns and the largest one looked like a human's face from the side.

The man's face was wide. His expression indicated that he was suffering from great pain. Big holes formed the eyes and mouth of the face; Angele did not find anything that resembled its ears. Angele felt uncomfortable from just looking at those patterns.

The handle was coated in black paint and the strings were similarly covered in paint. Most people would think that those patterns were there for anti skip purposes. In addition to that, the runes could only be found when observed closely.

Angele could sense that the mentality wave around the scimitar came from its handle.

He glanced around. The chilling gust blew over his face, yet the ice on the surface of the deck was cold no longer.

Fog shrouded the area ahead. The thick mist just stayed there, as if the strong wind was not blowing them away.

It was the same fog Angele saw on their way to the island. They must go through the fog before returning to the safe area.

Angele swung the scimitar several times. It was surprisingly light, and the two silver arcs the blade drew in the air were beautiful.

He tried to control the scimitar with his own forcefield, but the handle resisted it.

'I hope I can do some test on the handle as soon as possible… I need more materials to concoct the potions that will help identify its quality. If I try to break through the forcefield now, I might destroy the buff itself…' Angele shook his head. He tied the scimitar to the belt. Although he could not trigger the buff at the moment, it was still a high-quality weapon.

The last thing he wanted to check was the signet on his left palm.

Angele turned his left hand around and stared at the signet.

The illusion signet initially looked like a dark beast with two wings, but after the incident in the ruin, a long tail was added to its body. The whole signet looked elegant and mysterious.

Angele rubbed the signet with his right hand. Blue light dots started flashing in front of his eyes.

'Checking body condition… Checking the illusion signet...'

'The signet absorbed unknown energy and is evolving. The result will require individual analysis.'

'Task completed. The strength of the illusion waved doubled. A weak force field was created.'

'The evolved signet brought a minor, unknown negative effect to your body.'

Zero displayed the rotating hologram of the signet in front of Angele's eyes. The linked muscles and nerves were displayed under the hologram.

Angele hands, bones, and details of the signet were all displayed in the hologram. He could even see the transmissions of the nerve signals.

The signet rooted itself in the veins and muscles, which seemed quite strange when seen on the translucent blue hologram. Angele could see the weak waves it was releasing.

Zero was still scanning the signet, and Angele ordered it to provide all the important data.

On the side of the hologram, rows of data were flashing.

'The signet increased your resistance to the illusions.'

'Do you need the data for the evolved signet?' Zero asked.

Although all the calculations were done inside Angele's brain, he could still see everything through the hologram.

However, the chip did the calculations and analyses extremely fast. An average human being would never be able to do that.

With the high attributes, Angele could catch the details of the calculation process. However, he still could not finish all the necessary work in such a short duration, thus letting Zero handle such task for him was a better decision.

'Yes, I need the data. Start the scan.' Angele gave the permission to the chip.

The hologram in the front zoomed in quickly.

The roots connecting the signet with the nervous system were displayed in Angele's vision.

The hologram kept zooming in until it locked onto one of the roots in the center.

The root looked like a tentacle from an octopus. Countless suckers were moving on its surface while spouting out a translucent liquid. It looked like a shower head spraying water onto the root's surrounding areas.

Some more information was displayed beside the root.

The zooming area changed several times around the roots during the scan process.

After about ten minutes, the chip finally displayed the results.

'Task completed. The signet has already started evolving, and a different path was chosen. The Bloodline Signet of Socrat's Great Harpy has been determined. Estimated time required for completion, 12 hours and 45 minutes.'

Angele was surprised. "Socrat's Great Harpy?"

He had only read about this creature once. In the records, the Socrat's Great Harpy was a branch of the ancient harpy race. These great harpies ingested a serpent from an unknown world, which resulted into a mutation that turned the bottom half of their bodies into long snake tails. It was said that their tails were much longer than their upper bodies.

After the mutation, these great harpies gained the ability to drag living beings into the world of illusions. Normal creatures would never be able to escape the illusions without help. They would witness their most deeply-rooted fears in their minds coming to life until death came. Only the ones with resistance or strong power would be able to wake up from the nightmare after several hours.

During the ancient wars, these great harpies slaughtered countless humans, as their ability was hard to counter. Every living creature who had heard their whispers would start seeing illusions.

Ancient Wizards realized by then that they had to cleanse the world after many countries were attacked by the great harpies. After several days of genocide, this specific branch of the ancient harpy race became history.

Angele recalled the data and realized how incredible this ability could be. The ancient harpy race had several branches, but he did not expect that the signet to evolve. He wasn't certain whether it was a good thing or not, and he needed to determine if the signet still had the usage limit.

'Basically, the evolving of the signet improved its power, I think. I need to collect more ancient blood when I get the chance. It's time for me to prepare for the next stage, and after reaching Liquid stage, I'll be able to modify my body…' Angele thought.

'Also, Zero, check my bloodline.' Angele noticed the negative effect the chip mentioned a while ago. He wanted to know what was going on.

'Bloodline: Human, 87%. Tree Elf, 9%. Socrat's Great Harpy, 3%. Impurity, 1%. Suggestion, the blood of the great harpies is invasive and shares the ability to create illusions with the tree elf's blood. They're trying to merge, you should stop or slow them down as soon as possible.'

Zero gave this conclusion.

'What if I don't?'

'The changes can't be predicted.'

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Chapter 189: Lost (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Actually, Angele was not concerned about the bloodline of the tree elf. He wanted to know if the merging of the two bloodlines would damage his genes permanently. Moreover, if his genes were damaged, his genetic strand might break as well, resulting in serious consequences. If that happened, he would not be able to recover from the damage as a Gas stage Wizard. The only way to heal the damage on the genes was to convert his physical body into pure energy. However, such a feat could only be accomplished by Liquid stage Wizards.

'Try to stop the two bloodlines from merging, Zero. Radiate the invasive energy particles from the bloodline of the great harpies. The radiation energy might be able to help.' Angele gave the order to the chip.

'I need to find a way to expel the harpy blood out of my body.' Angele started thinking with his eyebrows furrowed. 'There's a technique I read about in a book. I can probably remove the signet's roots from my nervous system by performing surgeries on my hand… but I need more information…'

However, the biological experiment was partially forbidden in the Wizards of Light's territories and doing it on a live human being was almost impossible. Most of the larger organizations still had their hidden laboratories that were used to conduct such surgeries, but none of them was publicized.

Especially the experiments involving surgeries on living human beings, including the demihumans, they were considered as evil by the Wizards of Light. Only Dark Wizards would try to capture living subjects in their own territories. However, if they went any closer to the Wizards of Light's territories, they would be hunted down.

The chip already started absorbing the negative necromantic energy particles from Angele's body and would use them on the signet's roots later.

There were many different types of energy particles stored in Angele's body, most of them being the Wind and Fire energy particles. His forcefield from the Talent Spell was supported by those two types of energy particles. The necromantic energy particles would damage his organs over time, so he only kept the minimum amount in his body.

It seemed like the number of negative energy particles required by the chip was more than the amount he had. Angele had to do some meditation and try to absorb some more necromantic energy particles in the environment.

After about half an hour later, he opened his eyes again.

'That's 30 degrees of necromantic energy particles… should be good for ten more days. Sadly, I have to empty the energy storage space in the chip when it tries to stop the invasive energy particles. No instant-cast Lesser Fireball for me now. The good thing is, I still have some heart bombs left.'

After the battles in the ruins, Angele noticed that he relied too much on enchanted items, and he could barely cast any spells during intense fights. The heart bombs and the signet all had limitations, so he had to use them wisely.

The signet needed to be activated, which would take about one second. His opponent might use this period of time to counterattack.

For the heart bombs, once his opponent realized that Angele was about to use the bombs, they could dodge the attack easily by simply buffing their speed. Kuirman had underestimated the power of Angele's bombs, thinking that his high attributes could reduce the damage to the minimum.

A regular heart bomb only contained about 20 to 30 degrees of power and would not deal any actual damage to Kuirman's body. He might feel the pain for a second, but his high Stamina would help him recover quickly.

However, the heart bombs Angele detonated had over 50 degrees of power. Kuirman used the cursed energy stored in the blade to block the explosion, but his attributes were greatly decreased after that. He failed to dodge the following explosions and died in Angele's final strike.

Angele knew such plan would only work on close-combat wizards like Kuirman. Dark Wizards who knew how to fight from a distance could destroy him easily, and they probably had much more ways to deal with the bombs than Kuirman.

He also knew that some stronger Wizards mastered the defensive spell called Spell Reflection, Angele could only control the place he detonated the bomb, so if the explosion was reflected, he would take a lot of damage.

Fighting an average Wizard of Light might be easy, but in the world of Dark Wizards, Angele needed to find more ways to strengthen his battle skills. The more versatile a Wizard was, the higher the chance he could survive the battles. The opponents would never know how and where his attack would come from.

Also, for Wizards at the same stage, they needed to be careful with the choice they made during the battles, but when a Crystal stage Wizard made an attempt to kill a Gas stage Wizard, it would be easy an achievement. They could simply pressure the Wizard at the lower rank with their intense mentality waves. The Gas stage Wizard would need to keep their forcefield to cast spells under situations like this.

The boat passed through the fog three days later, but without Melissa pointing directions for them, it was hard to find the right route to the land. There were enough water and food on the boat, but Angele still had no clue about where they were heading to.

It was early in the morning and the sky was still dark.

Angele woke up early and left his room. He started scanning for close lands using the chip on the deck. He had been doing this for days.

The two followers already recovered. They were wearing the leather armor suits, and Isabel was talking to them in a low voice.

It looked like Isabel was questioning them about something.

Angele walked toward the three slowly.

"What's going on? Any news?" he asked.

Isabel heard Angele's word and nodded. "I'm asking about Ainphent's background, but he hired this guy from another Wizard and the man knew nothing about his background."

Angele's brow furrowed. He turned to the two Grand Knights on the side.

The man in the front had a serious expression on his face. His hair and eyes were both black.

The one behind him had a white, messy hair. He looked old, and there was a goatee on his chin.

"Master Green, my name is Gill, I was hired by master Ainphent. I'm a follower of Wizard Grace," the old man spoke first in a polite tone.

The man in the front lowered his head and introduced himself as well. "Master Green, my name is Rivail, a follower of master Isabel."

"Go rest now, we have something to discuss." Isabel waved her hand.

The two Grand Knights put their right fists over their chests and bowed to the two Wizards. It was how they showed their respect and honesty to the people they serve.

"I'll try to catch some fish. We're getting low on food supply." Gill lowered his voice.

"Go ahead." Isabel nodded.

Angele walked to Isabel and put his hands on the railing after the two followers left.

The sea looked dark and muddy under the gray sky. He wondered if a storm was coming.

"I don't know how long we will spend on the sea," Isabel spoke calmly. Her voice was low, sounding as though she was talking to herself. "I never knew that the mission would be so dangerous. I read about the curse of Axis of Time. The rumors sounded horrifying, however, I didn't take it too seriously. I thought I could just enter the ruin and take what I needed…"

"Are all the ancient ruins dangerous? And yeah, it was an… unpleasant experience." Angele muttered, "It's my second time exploring those mysterious places and the last time… didn't end very well too. I almost lost my life."

"Not all of them, but the chance is definitely high. What attracts the Wizards are the treasures and rare materials left in the ancient ruins. If the exploration is successful, the reward will be incredible. I should've done more research about the ruin, but when I can't find the resource I need anywhere else, I'll have to take the chance," Isabel answered in a light tone.

"It's quite interesting actually." Angele smiled. "The last time, I survived with a female Wizard apprentice, and this time, it's a female wizard."

"And two followers, they survived the mission too." Isabel pursed her lips. "Where are you from?"

"The other side of the Gem Sea." Angele had nothing to hide. "I spent more than ten years there, my father… well, I was a spoiled kid."

"What a nice childhood you had there. Much better than mine at least." Isabel sighed. She was not emotionless anymore. "I needed to memorize all types of basic knowledge. I needed to meditate, study, learn to dance and sing, every single day. I didn't have any free time. Mother said I was their only hope after they realized I had the talent… The only thing she wanted was a high position in the family."

"Where are your friends?" Angele shook his head. He could understand how frustrating her life was. No wonder she looked like an emotionless machine when they first met.

"I don't have friends. I'm a future Wizard, no one wants to get close to me. Even if they can, my mother won't let me talk to them. Children with talents studied together, but the only thing we did was to study. We had no time to talk to each other at all." Isabel looked a bit depressed.

"You know what? It's the first time I left my castle… believe it or not, I'm more than a hundred years old…" She looked at the sky. Angele was not sure what she was thinking.

He did not know how to make her feel better. He could not even imagine what living in the same place for more than a hundred years felt like.

Isabel looked at Angele. "I'm the hope of my mother and I became what she wanted me to become. Everything I do is monitored by the maids and servants. They watched me eat, sleep, and finish homework, they just wouldn't let me breathe. My mother recorded my daily life and they checked my body condition every week. They wanted to make sure that I was not ill, physically and mentally."

"Did you gain anything from it?" Angele felt speechless.

"Well… At least, I'm healthy." Isabel smiled. Angele had never seen such a pure and beautiful smile.

He remained silent.

Isabel continued, "I tried, haha. Is my smile weird? My mother blamed me for smiling when I was happy about what I accomplished in my Wizard career, and after that, I barely smiled. However, now she is telling to make friends for some reason, and that's one of the reasons why I left the castle."

She glanced around and shook her head. "Why don't you say anything? Am I talking too much? I don't know why, but I just want to tell you about my life."

"Don't worry. It's good that you're willing to talk." Angele smiled. "I thought you would never smile the first time I saw you. Change is good sometimes."

Isabel nodded slightly. "You're right…" She stopped smiling and her expression disappeared again.

"Umm… Take this." She suddenly took out something from the pouch and put it onto Angele's palm.

"I can assume that we are friends now, right?" she questioned in a whisper.

"Of course, you're my friend." Angele chuckled.

"Thank you." Isabel nodded again. A hint of happiness flashed in her eyes.

Angele watched her return to her cabin, and he checked the item he just got after. It was a silver ring with no engraved patterns on it, but he could sense the intense energy waves the ring was releasing.

"For real? Such high quality… Its energy wave is actually affecting me…" Angele did not expect Isabel to give him a rare enchanted item as a gift. Low-rank enchanted items did not release energy waves, and even if it did, the energy waves would not affect wizards. The ring Isabel gave Angele must be rare and had certain special effects.

It seemed like Isabel only knew how to deal with strangers and her followers. She had no idea what a friend was, but she looked happy when Angele said that they became friends.

Perhaps Isabel was trying to maintain her friendship with Angele by gifting him this rare enchanted item.

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Chapter 190: Knell Beetle (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

A bolt of lightning crackled through the sky, followed by the thunder seaming to crack the air.

RUMBLE*

Heavy rain fell down from the dark sky. The boat slowed down and was still advancing in the endless sea.

Under the night sky, the boat looked as if it was a small piece of a leaf floating on the intense waves in desolation.

Angele stayed in his cabin and walked to the window. He stared at the surface of the sea through the heavy downpour. Raindrops were hitting the deck, sounding as if they were about to crack the boat open.

Crackle*

Another bolt of lightning rushed through the sky, brightening up the cabin for a second.

The flame on the candle was dancing, as the waves struck against the boat again. Wax was slowly dripping down the silver candle stand, and it created a small pool on the brown wooden desk.

Isabel sat beside the desk, carefully taking the silver dust out of a black leather pouch and sprinkling them onto the surface.

She had changed to a tight white leather suit, revealing the contours of her breasts. She looked like an elegant royal musician. Isabel had tied her long black hair in a ponytail and let it trail over her chest.

She focused on making the silver dust into a specific shape.

After several minutes, the twisted strings drawn using the dust turned into a large, complicated rune.

Angele stopped staring at the sea and turned around.

"Are you ready?" he questioned with a low voice.

"Almost." Isabel nodded.

"I'm counting on you now. None of my spells work in this situation. I already tried, but I can't find the route back to the land." Angele already did what he could.

Isabel spoke as her brows furrowed, "Well, this spell is a combination of prophecy and tracking. Although it has a great range, I still can't promise you anything. Also, if there are other islands in the middle, the result will be inaccurate. The energy particles in the Gem Sea is dense. I need to make sure the spell is cast properly with the support material."

"Much better than drifting in the sea…" Angele pursed his lips. "Shall we begin?"

Isabel nodded.

She touched the rune with her right hand's index finger.

The bright white light was released from the rune. It turned into a distorted white screen.

A familiar island appeared in the center of the screen slowly.

The armies, the ships at the dock, the gray watchtower by the shore, and a triangle flag with a silver string painted on its center — everything looked familiar to them.

"That's where we departed!" Although Isabel had a blank expression on her face, Angele still caught the excitement in her eyes.

"How far is it from us?" Angele walked to the desk quickly. The white light cast a reflection upon the two's faces.

Isabel realized what she should do and drew a rune in the air with her finger. The rune turned into a ray of white light and sank into the screen.

The screen blurred for several seconds, but nothing happened.

Angele noticed that the scene displayed on the screen was blurry. He could not hear any sound either.

"The screen can't be zoomed in and the sound can't be transferred… It means we're still far away from the island…" Isabel's expression changed. 'There's still a long way to go. I think the island is in the maximum range the spell can reach."

"What's the maximum range then?" Angele questioned in a deep voice.

"About 3000 nautical miles…" Isabel answered.

"What?! 3000 nautical miles?" Angele was surprised. That was about the distance from Alaska to New York on Earth, approximately more than 5000 kilometers. With a boat like this, it would take months for them to return to that island.

"Even if we buff the boat with spells, we'll spend at least 15 more days on the sea." Isabel calmed down and tried to figure out a plan. "Anything on your mind? Master Green?"

"No…" Angele scrunched up his brows. "Also, we're friends now, just call me Green. No point in being too… formal."

"Huh? Can I?" Isabel hesitated.

"For sure." Angele nodded. "We lost the mast and the sail, and the boat is traveling at its lowest speed. We need to find a way to increase the speed. Otherwise, we'll die before we can reach the island." Without the mast, the boat could at about two nautical miles per hour.

"That's not a problem, I think. At least, we can cast spells to buff the speed. The problem is we have already left the merfolk's territory, which means, we're now sailing in a dangerous zone around the edge of the Gem Sea. It's a zone that even the merfolk fear." Isabel stared at the screen. "Well, at least I know how to turn sea water into drinkable water. We're really running low on supplies."

"Well, great, I was worried about our water supply. I don't want to drink the water created by Water category spells. Water like that will damage our body with all the impurities it contains." Angele stopped for a second. "So, how do you buff the speed of the boat?"

Isabel bit her lips and started thinking.

The white screen on the desk suddenly flashed and the scene changed.

They saw gray reefs and an empty beach. Only several sea turtles were moving on the yellow sand. It was a small island with black trees. Angele doubted if there was any person living there.

Several seconds later, the scene changed again.

It looked like the surface of the sea.

Isabel quickly tapped on the desk and waved her hand.

The picture on the screen started shuffling quickly. All Angele saw was the sea. It seemed like there was no other land within the range of the spell.

"That's it, we have to go for it." Isabel looked at Angele.

"Let's find the proper way to buff the boat's speed first. It'll take us months to reach the island at the current speed. We don't have that much supply left, and we need to return to land as soon as possible." Angele pursed his lips.

Isabel nodded.

They stopped talking. The two had just escaped the dangerous ruin, and then they got lost in the sea.

The rain was hitting the deck; lightning and thunder were still raging in the sky. The howling wind went through the gaps of the cabin and made the doors shake.

The room remained silent, Angele and Isabel were still thinking.

"Where are the two Grand Knights?" Angele suddenly questioned.

"They're making sure the water doesn't stay on the deck," Isabel responded. The white screen on the desk slowly vanished into the air. It seemed that the time was up.

What was left on the desk was the silver dust Isabel sprinkled on it earlier. The complicated rune was now messed up, white smoke rose from the silver strings, and some of the dust merged together.

Isabel carefully waved her hand over the desk. All the silver dust was absorbed into the center of her palm. It looked like iron dust being attracted to a magnet.

She sighed, and asked in a low voice, "Green, do you find the sea… charming?"

Angele was thinking if he could rebuild the sail and the mast using his Metal Mastery, then he heard Isabel's word and leaned forward a bit.

"Why do you ask?"

Isabel's sight fell upon the surface of the desk. She slowly lowered her hand, and her palm was coated with the silver dust.

"I have dreamed of wandering around the endless Gem Sea alone. I have wanted to explore this world and see the different people. The tales of the ancient Wizards have always attracted me. I have imagined my own adventure, on a lone ship traveling in a storm, just like this one. It feels like we are the only people left in this world, and the boat will be the only thing that will bring us warmth."

Angele could see the loneliness in her eyes. The silver dust on her palm sublimated after several seconds and turned into white steam. "I want to stay away from everything, then find my own little place. A place that brings me warmth in the storm. I enjoy listening to the howling wind and the falling rain, do you understand… my feelings?"

"Umm…" Angele was not sure how he should answer Isabel's question.

"Well, it seems like you love reading poems and novels."

"You're right. There are many scenes similar to what I have just described in poems." Isabel nodded. "I'm tired of meditating and collecting resources. I've been doing them for more than 100 years in the castle. I want to live a colorful life."

"You mean a peaceful life. You don't have to stay in a remote place. Just rent a house in a nice city and have some good rest," Angele calmly responded.

Angele knew that if it was not for her family, Isabel would probably not choose to become a Wizard. A Wizard had to keep progressing. The words that she had just spoken indicated that she was losing her motivation.

Isabel muttered, "I'm… tired."

Angele did not say anything.

Isabel was beautiful and charming, but Angele had no desire to conquer her heart. The two were alone in a small cabin, but the only thing Angele wanted to do was to comfort her.

It felt like the intimacy between two close friends.

After the day Angele talked to Isabel on the deck, he became attracted to her in a platonic way.

Isabel was being controlled by her family in a special way, and Angele had returned to his land only to see his family treating him like an outsider. The loneliness they experienced was similar. It was something that would not get washed away.

For that reason, Angele could understand what Isabel was trying to tell him. He assumed that Isabel would understand him too, if he decided to tell her about his situation.

"Isabel, there's still a long way to go." Angele stared at Isabel in her eyes.

Isabel did not respond to his words.

"Well, I'll go check the situation on the deck." Angele put on his gray hood and opened the door. Raindrops mixed with the chilling wind went inside the cabin.

Creak*

The door was closed again.

The rain kept falling onto Angele's robe; he pulled his collar up slightly. The surface of his gray robe was coated with a thin layer of silver metal. All the rain drops were sliding down to the floor, his clothes not at all wet.

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Chapter 191: Knell Beetle (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

The boat was slightly shaking. A glass oil lamp had been tied to the broken mast and was the only source of light on the deck.

The oil lamp was made with a thick cylindrical glass. The only opening was at the bottom. It could easily handle the rain, as long as it did not get blown to the floor by the wind.

The two Grand Knights were working on both sides of the deck. Both of them lowered their bodies by the railings and tied themselves to the broken mast with ropes.

Under the dim light, the freezing raindrops were hitting Angele's face. He narrowed his eyes and took a glance at the surface of the sea. The visibility was low, but he could still see the intense waves.

For some reason, Angele felt like something was not right. He decided to check the surroundings.

The followers saw Angele walking on the deck and bowed to him.

"Master Green, the storm is going strong. I would suggest you stay in the cabin. We'll take care of the deck!" Isabel's follower, the Grand Knight named Rivail, shouted.

The old man Gill added, "Yeah, it's just a storm. We can handle it for you. Just go back to the cabin."

Angele's brow furrowed. "Something's not right here. I need to do some checking." After practicing the mentality compression technique, his senses had become much keener than before.

Creak*

The door of the cabin was opened again, and Isabel too walked to the deck.

"What's going on? You found something?" she questioned.

"It's coming!" Angele pointed at the right side of the boat.

The others looked at the direction he was pointing at.

A black shadow with the height of a human being was quickly rushing to the boat from the right side. It was a creature with two large wings swinging so fast that they blurred.

"A… beetle?" Gill untied the black hammer from his belt and held it tight in his hands.

Rivail drew the double-edged silver axe from his back, preparing for a possible fight.

Angele finally had a clear view of the creature as it got closer.

It was a large black beetle; there was a strange bell-shaped mouth on its head. The two wings over its back were swinging incessantly. The beetle kept circling above the boat.

The light from the oil lamp cast a reflection on the beetle's six razor sharp legs.

The noise made by its wings echoed in the sky.

"Wait! Don't attack it!" Isabel yelled, "That's a knell beetle! They come in groups. They won't attack us on their own!"

The two followers heard Isabel's words and thus lowered their weapons. They stood by the railing and watched the beetle flying around in the sky.

Angele's expression turned serious. He had read about the knell beetles in a Wizard's encyclopedia. They were described as a relatively aggressive wild creature.

"Why are they here? I thought they only existed in the books," Angele asked in a loud voice.

"This is a dangerous zone. I already told you, anything is possible," Isabel quickly explained, "Even the king of the sea, the merfolk, can't terrorize this area. You can expect strong aggressive wild creatures and mutated fishes here."

Isabel raised her head and added, "But I don't know why they are coming to us. Knell beetles won't do anything if we're not considered as threats."

"Maybe it's the light on the deck." Angele lowered his voice.

They stopped chatting and watched the beetle flying around in the air quietly.

Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes.

Rows of data were being refreshed beside the beetle's body in his sight.

'No forcefield detected. Scanning for attributes information.'

'Knell Beetle: Strength higher than 7. Agility higher than 11. Stamina higher than 13. Mentality higher than 9. Checking the database… Ability: Shock wave. Sound wave resistance.'

'Comparing the attributes… Higher than average Grand Knights. Lower than an average formal Wizard.'

The chip quickly reported the results back.

Angele felt a bit relieved. It was just one knell beetle, and it was not a threat.

Knell beetles mutated because of the pollution from the ancient Wizards' experiments. Although it was an ancient species, its ancient blood was not valuable.

Not all ancient creatures had strong abilities.

"Knell beetle is usually found on the land… Why did it come to the sea?" Isabel wondered.

"Well, there's one possibility…" Angele pointed at the further side on the right before finishing his sentence.

There was a large black ship approaching the boat in the rain.

The ship looked like a ghost ship from the tales. There was no sail and its body was broken. Angele did not see any person on the deck, but the ship was surrounded by countless dark shadows.

The ship was getting closer and closer.

The dark shadows looked like bees dancing around their nest. Angele's expression changed after realizing that it was a whole group of knell beetles.

"It's their nest!" Angele shouted, "More than a hundred knell beetles!"

Isabel bit her lips after hearing Angele's words.

The power of a knell beetle nest could easily destroy their boat. If the knell beetles were enraged, they would release shockwaves. The damage those waves could inflict was immeasurable. Angele wondered if the brood mother was in the nest. According to the data, the knell beetle's brood mother had a similar power level to that of a Gas stage Wizard. If the four lost their boat, they would die on the sea sooner or later.

"Wait, it's a ship? Is that you? Wizard Milano?" Isabel suddenly shouted. She sent her words to the large black ship using energy particles.

However, there was no response from the ship.

The beetle over the boat slowly flew away and returned to the nest.

"They probably just built the nest in the ship," Angele stared at the knell beetle's nest and said.

"Yeah…' Isabel nodded. "I thought they were the pet of a Wizard I know."

"It's good news to us actually. Knell beetles will lead us to land, as they won't stay on the sea for too long. The only thing we need to do is follow after them," she added.

"Are you sure about this? Won't they get provoked if we decide to follow their nest…?" Angele asked while his brows were furrowed.

"They won't, I think. Knell beetles are not valuable to us and Wizards never hunted them. Also, most importantly, they don't like the taste of human flesh…"

"So, the problem becomes how we can follow the speed of that ship." Angele asked, "Right?"

Isabel stared at the nest of the beetles and started thinking. She took a glance at Angele. This man had saved her for no reason. They had met during a mission, but for some reason, Isabel enjoyed the time she was spending with Angele.

However, Isabel needed to return to her family after the mission was finished. There was hardly any chance that she would develop a deep relationship with Angele.

Isabel had mixed feelings about the situation and she wanted to stay with Angele for a bit longer.

She slowly took down a dark crystal orb from her belt and threw it into the air. The fist-sized orb floated in the sky and turned into a black bird.

The bird had no eyes, mouth, or feathers. It was just a bird-shaped shadow with a pair of black wings.

Isabel raised her hand and pointed at the ship.

The black bird flew around in the air for several seconds and flew to the beetle's nest.

"What is this?" Angele was curious. "A magical puppet?"

Isabel nodded, "It's an alchemical creature. I call it the Shadow Sparrow. This creature can attack anything in my sight. Technically speaking, it's created with metal." Isabel turned around and looked at Angele.

"Wait, do you have a familiar?" she questioned.

Angele shook his head. "I haven't found one yet. The familiar will become one of my weak points if it's not strong enough, but I'm trying to acquire a suitable one. "

"Is that so…" Isabel stopped asking.

She chanted some incantation and a blue glow covered her eyes.

The glow lasted for several seconds before disappearing.

"I already sent my sparrow to the nest. Knight Rivail, please get all the ropes you can find here," Isabel turned to Rivail and ordered him.

"Understood." Rivail bowed and untied the rope from his waist. He returned to the cabin and started collecting ropes.

Gill stayed on the side awaiting further orders. Angele took out the ring Isabel gifted him. It was still covered in the white glow.

He discovered that the ring had many different functions. It could keep its owner's body temperature at a safe range, and the runes engraved on it could warn the owner about illnesses or organ injuries. Those runes would only reveal themselves after the ring was put on the finger.

Despite its simple appearance, this silver ring was an extremely rare enchanted item. The ring could increase a Wizard's resistances and help them in dangerous situations.

Angele handed the ring over to Isabel.

"Take it. You need it more than I do." Isabel was trembling in the freezing wind. Her clothes were soaked wet.

Isabel looked at the ring and pursed her lips.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

"We're friends, right? Come on." Angele insisted.

Isabel raised her head and stared Angele in the eyes.

Angele put the ring on the center of her right palm.

CHI*

A thin layer of white glow flashed on Isabel's body.

She opened her mouth but failed to utter any words.

Angele smiled. "Don't worry. I like it a lot as a gift, but I just think you need it right now. You see, my robe is still dry, and I'm not cold. Take it."

"Got it." Isabel lowered her head.

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Chapter 192: Ashore (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

The beetle nest was advancing slowly in the front. With Isabel's speed buff spell, the boat successfully followed after the ship. The distance between the two was about a hundred meters.

The knell beetles had horrifying appearances. However, it seemed like they did not care that their own nest was being followed by humans, and the beetles showed no intention to attack.

Three weeks later, Angele finally saw land and changed the boat's route.

In the afternoon, the four stood on the deck, watching the land getting closer.

It was dark and cloudy outside. The rain could fall anytime.

"It's a small island," Isabel said as her brows knitted. "I already checked our location. We can try to find another boat here, and head to our destination later. The two islands are close."

"Thanks to those beetles." Angele stood on the side. "Isabel, you can stop channeling the spell now."

Isabel nodded.

She raised her right hand and pointed her finger in the air.

PA*

Something exploded in the air, and white waves appeared under her head, which vanished into the air after several seconds.

At the same time, a small black bird flew away from the ship and landed on Isabel's right shoulder. She carefully grabbed the bird's feet, reverted it into a small black ball, and returned the ball to her pouch.

The boat was approaching the island ahead.

Angele could see the golden beach and the coconut trees by the shore. Several seagulls landed on the sand and started looking for food.

They flew into the air after seeing the boat.

The noise of swinging wings mixed with their chirps was loud and annoying.

Gill jumped down to the beach after the boat docked by the shore. He was wearing a silver armor suit with a short sword and black wooden shield in hands.

"I'll go check the surroundings first," Gill turned his head around and shouted.

Rivail jumped off the boat too. He walked around the beach and checked the trails left on the sand.

Angele and Isabel climbed down the boarding ladder slowly.

Angele walked to the side and overlooked the sea. A black ship was slowly sailing away, continuously becoming blurred in his sight.

It was the nest of the knell beetles.

"Interesting. I never expected to see a nest of an ancient creature on the sea, and it's… a mobile nest. Wait, but why did the beetles build the nest in an abandoned ship…?" Angele muttered.

"It's my first time seeing a moving beetle nest on the sea, too. Normal creatures will never mess with those knell beetles. They prefer rotten and poisonous food, but they don't attack human beings if not provoked. Wizards call them the 'Scavenger of the Land', but I heard their numbers had been reducing recently. Those beetles helped us a lot. We wouldn't be able to find this island if they didn't come to us." Isabel sighed with emotion.

The two stood by the boat and chatted for a while. Angele kept his adventure in the ruin as a secret and told Isabel nothing about it. She had no idea that Angele killed Kuirman and she still thought Angele was just an average Gas stage Wizard that could barely handle Kuirman's attack.

Gill and Rivail finished their investigations and returned to the boat.

Blood was dripping down the blade of Gill's short sword.

"I found a wooden house that was invaded by wild beasts. I think this island is used as a supply storage for certain ships. The only thing we need to do is wait here and the other ships will come by soon or later." Gill looked relieved. "Also, I found plenty of food and water in the house. We can certainly use that."

"Great." Isabel nodded and turned to Rivail. "How about you?"

Rivail nodded as well.

"Master, the traces left here indicates that the shore is modified by humans. I agree with what Gill just said."

"Nice, let's wait for the ship on the island then," Angele said.

The night came, then a white ship finally appeared in their sights, approaching the island quickly.

The white ship was fully-armored and packed with cannons.

One of the guards on the ship was Rivail's friend, which made things easier. The captain of the ship was a strong man with a red beard. A fully equipped ship like that usually robbed small merchant groups on the sea when they were short on money. Ships disappeared on the sea all the time, and no one would know what happened if there was no other ship around.

When the four boarded the ship, the captain decided not to rob them upon realizing that it was two Grand Knights and two formal Wizards. Angele asked him to sail back to the public dock at Nola. Although the captain looked annoyed, he still nodded his head.

One week later, the clean public dock finally appeared in Angele's sight.

Angele stood inside his cabin and stared at the approaching land through the window.

Knock knock*

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in, please. Captain Hawk. The door is not locked." Angele turned around.

A man with a red beard pushed the door open. He was wearing a messy noble suit with a black pirate hat over his head. Hawk looked drunk. Angele's brow knitted after smelling the stench coming from the man's clothes.

"What happened?" he asked calmly.

"Master Green, we'll arrive at the public dock soon." Captain Hawk knew that most Wizards were short-tempered. He knew he should act politely in front of them, as those cold-blooded killers could kill him without being noticed easily.

He had heard of those rumors from the merchants he had businesses with, but he did not want to risk anything.

"Great." Angele nodded. "Let's gather the others on the deck first."

The two left the cabin and stepped onto the deck. Angele saw Isabel and the two Grand Knights already standing by the railings. He noticed a man in a gray robe mixed in with the sailors. There was a silver badge on the left side of the robe and had the shape of a crescent moon.

The man was a Wizard apprentice from a small organization called Silver Moon. He was one step away from becoming a formal Wizard, but this one last step was the nightmare of most rank 3 Wizard apprentices.

The man quickly stepped forward after seeing Angele walking to him.

"Master Green, you're here." The Wizard apprentice's name was Miller, and he was a slick talker. The man's eyes and hair were all black. Angele sensed something familiar from him.

"Yeah, what's going on? It'll still take several minutes before we can dock." Angele noticed that the sailors were staring at something on the surface of the sea. Isabel turned around to greet him and then looked at the sea as well.

The atmosphere on the deck was intense. Angele was confused at this scene, so he quickly walked to the railing and tried to find out what was going on.

A small black dot was moving fast on the blue sea. It was being chased by five dolphin-looking creatures. Half-naked merfolk with light blue skin were riding on the dolphins' backs.

Angele took a closer look and understood the situation.

A Wizard in a black robe was being chased down by the merfolk Wizards.

The Dark Wizard looked weak and tired. The merfolk Wizards behind him were increasing their speed. They were releasing blue water waves, but all of them were blocked by the Dark Wizard.

It seemed like the Dark Wizard had noticed the ship. He turned around and started running toward the ship, traveling at full speed.

As the Dark Wizard got closer, Angele realized that it was a young woman. She was wounded, and Angele could see the scars on her face. The woman's dark red hair was flying in the wind; her chest was larger and her waist slim. The woman's body was sexy and attractive.

"The merfolk is hunting down a Dark Wizard. It seemed like the Dark Wizard is heading toward us. What should we do?" Isabel looked at Angele and sent a message using energy particles.

Angele creased his eyebrows and looked at the female Dark Wizard. The woman was making him aroused for some reason.

"Drive her away. No point in taking the risk," Angele responded calmly.

Isabel hesitated. "Why? Although she's a black robe, I don't think she has bad intentions."

Angele narrowed his eyes, "You're a girl so you didn't notice that she was channeling the seduction spell."

Isabel bit her lips and nodded.

CHI*

They released their mentality waves at the same time. The translucent waves were spreading to all angles from the boat.

Isabel was a Liquid stage Wizard. Her mentality waves were strong, but toward the mortals, they had no side effects.

The female Dark Wizard and the merfolk Wizards slowed down after being impacted by two different type of strong mentality waves.

Angele was trying to send out a message. He did not know the female Dark Wizard and he did not care what the merfolk did to her.

The female Dark Wizard was just a Gas stage Wizard and the merfolk Wizards were probably even weaker. Their mentality levels were not high enough to handle the pressure from the strong mentality waves.

The female Dark Wizard shook her head and started increasing her speed again. She started crying and it looked like she was begging Angele for help.

The merfolk Wizards were not sure how they should proceed, so they just slowed down. The leader was an old merfolk with a black tattoo on the left side of his face. He opened his mouth and started chatting with the other merfolk Wizards, as though they were trying to figure out a plan.

On the deck.

"She's coming toward us. Masters, what should we do?" The rank 3 Wizard apprentice, Miller, was asking Angele and Isabel in a low voice.

"Take her out," Angele said in a calm tone, but the people around were surprised by his decision.

Isabel heard Angele's words, then she nodded.

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