Chapter 490 - 187 - 195

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chapter 193: Ashore (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Isabel raised her right hand with her palm facing upside.

"Yaomuse…Tera…The Ice Devil!" She invoked the incantation in a low voice.

A small blue vortex slowly appeared on top of her palm spinning, with a red spot of light flashing in the center of the vortex.

The dim light illuminated Isabel's pretty face. She grabbed some red dust from the pouch by her belt and sprinkled it onto the vortex.

*CHI*

After the dust was poured into the vortex, the air flow changed and the dust turned into three, small triangular crystals.

The three crystals formed a circle above her palm and started spinning.

Isabel raised her hand and threw the three spinning red crystals toward Angele.

Angele raised his arms. Within seconds, a two-meter-long silver bow was conjured in his hands. He carefully attached the bowstring to the bow and a long black arrow made out the negative energy particles appeared on it quickly.

The three red crystals quickly flew to the tip of the arrow and rotated several times, it almost looked like they stuck to the surface of the tip. The black arrow looked elegant and mysterious with glowing crystals on its tip.

Angele raised the bow and aimed at the sky.

*CHI*

The arrow was unleashed from the bowstring.

A blue wave slowly spread into the air as Angele lowered his longbow.

On the sea, the female Dark Wizard screamed and started running backward after realizing she was being attacked.

The arrow soared through the air and caught up with the woman in a black robe. Suddenly, the arrow turned into a humongous silhouette of a centaur. The centaur roared and charged toward the woman.

The distorted centaur shadow was about two meters tall. It had long gray fur and white skin, two long white horns on its head, the torso of an adult human male, and the lower body of a strong stallion. In its hands were two flamberges. The eyeballs that should've been there were replaced by two small spheres of blue flame.

"Ice…" The blurry centaur shadow shouted in an ancient language.

*BOOM*

The distorted shadow powerfully struck the woman.

An intense white glow flashed in the air. Unprepared for it, Angele reflexively closed his eyes in response. Then, he saw the left side of the female Dark Wizard's body frozen, while her body's right side was engulfed in dark flames—a scene with such contrast that looked horrifying and strange.

Layers of glowing barriers surrounded the woman's body: black ones, red ones, and green ones. More than ten barriers were trying to subvert the damage dealt.

The frozen area on her body expanded and eventually stopped the flame from burning continuously.

The woman raised her head and groaned.

Angele stood on the deck and shook his head. "It's over," he muttered.

Isabel walked to Angele and showed a big smile to him.

"Your archery skill is impressive, and the energy arrow is powerful. With the help of my ice buff spell, it broke two of her barriers easily…" Isabel stared at the female Dark Wizard and spoke light-heartedly.

"Her mentality wave is packed with evil. We warned her already, but it seems like she fears those merfolk Wizards more than us." Angele nodded. "Isabel, the spell you cast is called Ice Devil, right? I'm surprised that this woman had so many layers of barriers."

"Yeah, that was unexpected." Isabel responded in a low voice, "That woman has a bunch of low-level enchanted items and tried to activate all of them to help herself defend against the arrow, but it was just a waste of time and mana."

"That was 15 layers of barriers from the enchanted items. However, they were too weak…" Angele pursed his lips. "She's burning the negative energy stored in her body to resist the ice damage. I doubt she can survive this time…The necromantic negative energy is strong indeed, but the side-effects will be severe." Angele recalled the way he used the necromantic energy particles not so long ago. Although he controlled the amount and time, some of his organs were still permanently damaged.

It seemed like this woman had a lot of negative energy particles stored in her body.

The woman on the sea was still struggling. She turned around and charged toward the merfolk Wizards.

The water under her feet froze as she advanced.

The merfolk Wizards had serious expressions on their faces. The old leader glanced at the ship and shouted in a language that Angele could not understand. He was not sure if the old Wizard was talking to him or the woman.

The female Dark Wizard did not seem to care. Her face was completely contorted due to the intense pain coming from her body.

*BOOM*

The woman exploded as she got closer to the merfolk Wizards.

Her body broke into pieces like ice shards, splattering everywhere.

The ice shards vanished into the air and turned into dark bloody mist amid Angele's sight. The mist surrounded the area around the merfolk Wizards. They had not expected the woman to turn back on them before dying.

"I knew it." Angele sneered and watched the merfolk Wizards get trapped in the mist. "The woman carried some evil enchanted item with her and triggered it right before she died."

The merfolk Wizards' bodies and their dolphin-like mounts started melting in the blood mist. They turned into strange, dark red liquid within seconds that looked like slimy wax.

After the blood mist was blown away by the wind quickly, the only thing Angele could see was a hint of red mixed in the blue water.

Isabel turned to Angele and stared at him.

"We're getting close to our destination. What's your plan? Still want to join the Six Ring High Tower?"

She started questioning about Angele's future plans after the elimination of the threat. It seemed like Isabel had no interest in the incident's background.

"Yeah, that's my only choice now. I must find the item I need." Angele nodded. "Six Ring High Tower is my best bet, but before that, I need to have some rest."

The conversation ended here.

The ship was now approaching the dock. However, the people on the ship were still shocked. The way Angele and Isabel took out the female Dark Wizard surprised them. Even the rank 3 Wizard apprentice envied the two formal Wizards' power, yet at the same time, he feared how they dealt with matters. The sailors distanced themselves from the two, as they didn't wish to offend them in any way.

The ship remained in silence. The people were now just preparing to dock. Ten minutes later, the sailing speed began decreasing.

Angele saw people standing by the shore. In front of the crowd, several Wizards of Light were standing amid them, looking at the arriving ship. Behind them, there were many fully armored guards.

"They're my family members." Isabel had no expression on her face.

Angele nodded but did not respond.

Isabel must have already sent messages regarding the situation to her mother as they got closer to the island and Wizard of their family were sent to the dock to welcome Isabel's return.

Wizards had their secret means of transmitting messages to others without being noticed.

The ship slowly docked by the shore. Isabel stepped forward and waited for the sailors to drop the ladder.

She turned around and glanced at Angele.

"Contact me with the sigil." She sent the message using energy particles and carefully climbed down the ladder.

The two Grand Knights bowed to Angele and followed after Isabel.

Angele walked to the railing and looked down.

Isabel was talking to the Wizards of Light in a low voice.

"Uncle Daeron, why are you here? Did my mother send you?"

A middle-aged Wizard of Light with a large nose glared at Angele with his brow knitted.

"Miss Isabel, your mother is not happy with what you did this time… You boarded the ship and went to a ruin without permission. This is not going to end well for you."

"I'll explain to her myself, don't worry." Isabel responded in an emotionless tone, "Let's get back to the castle first."

"Sure." Daeron nodded. "Was that Wizard Green on the deck? Why are you two staying together? You didn't mention this part in the message."

Daeron probably saw Isabel talking to Angele earlier.

"Well, he's the first friend I made. I don't think I need to report everything to you." Isabel stared at Daeron.

Daeron pursed his lips and was about to say something else, but Isabel turned around and walked straight to the carriage parked by the street.

He looked at Angele again and narrowed his eyes.

It was hard for a Wizard to reach the next stage as the chance of failure was high. He knew Wizards like Angele were all having trouble advancing to the next stage.

Most of the Wizards from other areas stopped progressing after reaching the Gas stage, and without the support of a large organization, barely any of them could advance to the Liquid stage.

Wizards had long life expectancy, but it did not mean they would not die from trying to advance to the next stage. Some important resources were just difficult to acquire.

However, for the Wizards with pure bloodlines in Nola, advancing would be much easier. There were plenty rare resources for them to purchase, and the families would try their best to support the inheritors.

Daeron assumed that the Wizard named Green would stay at the Gas stage for more than a hundred years and the chance of him advancing was low. Isabel only needed about ten more years to reach the next stage and become a Crystal stage Wizard. After reaching the Crystal stage, it would be possible for her to try to advance to the next rank. Rank 2 Wizards were extremely rare nowadays.

Daeron shook his head. The gap between Green and Isabel was huge. It would get even larger as the time passed. After Isabel reached the next stage, she could spend hundred years doing experiments and researches, but by that time, Angele probably had already passed away.

He knew Isabel was attracted to the Wizard Green. Sadly, it would be hard for them to become close friends. Isabel would have to inherit the family after reaching the next rank.

Chapter 194: The Six Ring Area (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

"However, if Isabel fails to reach the next stage within 100 years, she'll have to convert her body into energy form…" Daeron shook his head. The possibility of failing was way too low, he thought. Reaching rank 2 might be hard, but Isabel's talent level and the resources that her family could provide would help in advancing to Crystal stage.

Before entering the carriage, Isabel suddenly turned around and whispered to Daeron. She asked Daeron to give Angele a wooden token that would grant him the trading rights in the area, including the right to purchasing resources and knowledge. Furthermore, Angele could even become a resident of the Six Ring area with this small piece of wood.

Isabel passed some more information to Angele using energy particles before leaving in the carriage.

Angele stood on the deck and watched Isabel leaving with her family members. He slowly climbed down the ladder and stepped onto the ground.

"I wish I could help her." Isabel had told Angele about her situation in the messages she sent. Isabel did not tell her family about her body condition and the usage of the rhino blood. The family thought that she could still live for about 100 years, but the truth was she only had about 20 years left. She asked Angele to keep purifying the rhino blood for her, so she could at least try to reach Crystal stage. The fate of Isabel's family would change if things went south.

'Her mother will find out about the truth soon or later.'

Angele thought for a while and shook his head. The soothing wind was blowing on his face.

The shore became empty after Isabel's crew left.

He glanced around; the only people he saw were several sailors that had just finished unloading the ship.

"So, master Green, can we leave now?" Captain Haw shouted from the deck, trying his best to be polite.

The rank 3 Wizard apprentice and the sailors all stood beside the railing and stared at Angele.

"Sure." Angele nodded. He obviously knew that those people fear his power.

Captain Hawk looked relieved after hearing Angele's response. They pulled up the ladder and started their preparations for sailing.

The ship left slowly after several minutes.

Angele stretched his back and pulled up the collar, walking to the street on the opposite side of the dock.

After about half an hour, a forked road appeared ahead and there was a road sign in the middle. The road toward west led to the public trading area and the way toward the east to the Six Ring High Tower.

Angele checked the sign and turned right immediately.

Although Kuirman was a Wizard of Six Ring High Tower, he still doubted if anyone knew the man was also a member of the cult. People who had known of Angele killing Kuirman all died on the island, so he had nothing to fear.

Even if the organization tried to track Kuirman down, the strange forcefield surrounding the ruin would deter prophecy spells of any type. Not many people knew about the exact location of that island, to boot.

With Isabel's token, there was no point in him worrying about being accused as a murderer at present.

Nola was a huge area.

The Six Ring High Tower's territory was about the size of a province. Several large cities were being controlled by several Wizard families. Some small towns were assigned to contracted Wizards.

The situation was similar for the two other major organizations.

Each of the major organization was operating like a small country, also using the public area as a haven in communications.

Angele walked for about an hour. Vibrant trees stood silently on both sides of the road. Tall black city walls appeared ahead, blocking the path like a long, twisted snake. Angele glanced around, neither could he see the end of the wall nor did he find any entrance on its surface.

By the end of the road, there was a black bunker with a smoking chimney on the top.

Two old men wearing gray robes sat outside the door of the bunker playing chess on a white rectangular table.

It was cold and cloudy; the chilling wind was blowing the old men's long messy hair to the side.

At the right side of the bunker was a large, empty ground. Several white and black carriages with different engravings were parked there.

Angele saw the bunker and walked straight to it.

This place did not look like the entrance of a major Wizard organization.

The two old men noticed his presence and stood up at the same time.

"This is the back door of the Six Ring High Tower. Who're you and why are you here?" one of the old men questioned, looking confused.

Usually, the members would enter the organizations from the private dock since the public dock only led to the back door. That was the reason why there were not many people around.

Angele's original plan was to join the Six Ring High Tower. However, he decided to only trade for rare resources with the organization after obtaining the token from Isabel.

"I'm a Wizard associated with the Jones family." Angele took out the brown wooden token. The character 'S' was painted on its surface with two twisted strings above and below it.

The old men checked the wooden token.

The wooden sign started glowing after being stared at. The 'S' pattern on its surface twisted slightly like a living snake.

The two old men were just rank 3 Wizard apprentices. They quickly bowed to Angele after ascertaining the authenticity of the token.

"Can I enter now?" Angele nodded.

"Of course."

The old man responded, untied a short white wand from his belt, and pointed at the empty wall.

*CHI*

A large arched gate appeared on the black wall. Angele could see the green grass on the other side.

Angele kept the wooden token into the pouch and walked to the gate.

More than ten different energy waves rushed through his body as he entered the gate, disappearing after the wooden token glowed again.

'Interesting. I doubt people can enter the back door by force, the defense here is great.' Angele slightly nodded.

At the other side of the wall was an endless dark green sea.

Between the trees, there was a narrow white path leading to the deeper area. It was long and twisted.

Angele was already inside the Six Ring High Tower's territory.

Through the gaps between the trees, Angele could see a white obelisk far ahead, barely visible in the fog. However, it seemed like the obelisk was not the one he had seen earlier in the public trading area; this one was different.

Suddenly, he heard the noise made by birds flapping their wings in the sky.

Angele raised his head and saw about ten humongous eagles flying over his head. Gray robes sat upon the backs of those eagles. It seemed like they had not become formal Wizards yet.

They were not concerned about Angele's presence, but he waited till this group disappeared in his sight before advancing.

Based on the advice given by Isabel, there were many unpopulated areas in the Six Ring High Tower, and by entering the territory from the back door, he could reach one of the trading towers quickly by walking down the path.

The trading towers were Wizards' favorite spots, as they were mainly used for the trading of knowledge and resources. There were two requirements for building a trading tower.

First, a strong organization to help maintain the fairness of the trade.

Second, a huge diamond-shaped crystal for public communication.

Several carriages and horses passed by Angele as he headed to the tower.

Some Wizards of Light were riding horses and some were riding strange beasts that had the body of a bull and the feet of a goat. All of them were traveling at full speed.

Angele also saw Wizards riding flying mounts in the sky heading to the other areas from time to time.

Angele, wearing a gray robe, went past several crossroads as the road widened. More and more Wizards appeared ahead.

He finally had a clear view of the white obelisk standing by the side of the road quietly.

Several carriages were parked on the empty ground in front of the obelisk.

The white obelisk was more than ten meters tall and was surrounded by metal railings. It almost looked like the obelisk had sunk into the grass.

Wizards stood around the tower; Angele was not sure what they were doing. Some of them looked excited but the rest looked disappointed.

There were also several Wizards pressing their palms against the body of the tower with eyes closed for some reason.

Angele slowly walked to the obelisk, still trying to figure out what was going on while checking the surroundings constantly. His behavior attracted some attention.

Three young Wizard apprentices chatting near the tower noticed Angele. One of them whispered to his friend, turned around, and walked to Angele quickly.

"Is this the first time you visit the tower?" the man asked, "Do you need any help?"

Angele glanced around. He tried to show that he knew how the tower worked, yet it seemed like there were many people here acted just like him.

Two other newcomers behind him were being welcomed by Wizard apprentices as well.

He pursed his lips and looked at the Wizard apprentice in front of him. The man was a rank 2 Wizard apprentice. Based on the energy wave he was releasing, Angele determined that this guy advanced to rank 2 not so long ago.

Yellow skin, black hair, and black eyes. The young Wizard apprentice had an average-looking face and probably would not attract any attention in the crowd.

"Who are you?" Angele looked at him and questioned.

The young man bowed and started explaining.

"I'm in charge of this trading tower. Don't worry, I'm one of the apprentices sent here by the organization. I'll explain how to use the tower for you. Also, if you don't mind, I can provide you with many other services." His voice sounded young and energetic.

"Huh?" Angele looked at the people around the obelisk. "So, they're sending messages to communicate? I think I'm capable of doing that."

"You're correct. Let me introduce myself first, my name is Ivan." The young man smiled. "If you know how to send and receive the messages, please follow me to the rank 3 Wizard apprentices. They'll guide you through the trading process here including how to the specific wave channels."

Chapter 195: The Six Ring Area (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

The Wizard apprentice turned around and walked to the other side of the obelisk.

Angele hesitated for a second then followed him.

They arrived at a large empty ground covered by vibrant green grass.

He saw several other people waiting there already. There were five of them, three light Wizards and two Wizard apprentices. They were brought here by other Wizard apprentices from Six Ring High Tower.

The Wizard apprentices were chatting with those people, trying the best to lighten up the mood here.

Angele followed after Ivan. He glared at the three formal Wizards quickly.

There were two female Wizards and one male Wizard.

The two female Wizards stood close to each other, giving the impression that they were friends. Their white robes were tightened up by belts, Angele walked closer and realized the two were probably sisters. Their faces looked identical with sun tanned skin and they all had dark red curly hair.

The male Wizard was having a conversation with the female Wizard apprentice that led him here. He was checking the girl's body out while talking. Although the man had an average-looking face, his blonde shiny hair still caught some attention.

The girl looked clean and pretty, but it seemed like she was having trouble dealing with the talkative Wizard.

Angele waited for a while after reaching the grassy ground.

Two more Wizards were brought here by the Wizard apprentices and all the people here were outsiders.

The one on the left was a thin man with a goatee and the one on the right was a middle-aged woman with a depressed look on her face. They were all wearing green robes that shared the same patterns. It seemed like they were from the same organization. Angele still had not figured out what the green robes represented yet.

After everyone arrived, a young man with red hair walked to the front.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I'm a year 1 apprentice from the Six Ring College. I'm in charge of explaining how to use the tower to you."

He wasted no time and showed how to properly release the mentality wave. Also, he mentioned the specific wave channel and a simple application of energy particles required to activate the tower.

The young man demonstrated the necessary steps and walked away after.

The other Wizard apprentices started to explain the available services to the people they brought here.

"If you need a few resources or knowledge, you can get them from the trading tower. However, if you need a larger number of items, you can ask me to do it for you. I'll hire trusted companies to transport them to you. The fee I'll ask for won't be too high. Also…not sure if you're interested, I can also connect you with the girls…female apprentices and female Knights…A formal Wizard like you will be attractive to them." Ivan turned to Angele and said, "You know, this is the land of Wizards, the richest area on the west coast. We're the ones with the most power. If you have enough money, we can even get you the beauties from other races."

Angele was not interested in the girls, but he wanted to know more about this area.

"Let's exchange our communication runes then," he spoke in a light tone.

Ivan chuckled, quickly drew a complicated rune in the air, and pushed it forward.

Angele raised his right hand and the rune sank into his palm.

"Also, I think you'll need a place to stay, right? I can find you one in the forest," Ivan added.

"I'll talk to you later." Angele nodded. "I need to check out the trading tower first."

"For sure." Ivan bowed and walked away.

Angele turned around and walked to the obelisk. He found a gap between the Wizards around the tower and put his palms against on its surface.

*CHI*

Strange noise echoed in his ears.

A strong mentality wave stroke Angele's body. The wave was weak and slow, and would not inflict any damage to a formal Wizard.

Angele then released his own mentality wave. However, the wave from the tower was not making any contact with his.

He recalled the wave channel the young man mentioned and modified his wave slightly.

Suddenly, a huge information screen appeared on the surface of the obelisk. Rows of trade information were listed on it.

Angele glanced around making sure that he was the only one reading the screen, and nodded slightly.

'Golden Ring Flower, 25 grams, looking to trade for Armored Beetles.

The blood of snake pterosaur, 30 grams, looking to trade for two tons of bronze.

Maragas lion's egg, meet up and discuss the details.

Eyeball of a hundred-eyed ghost, looking to trade for the essence of a magic ore.

…

...'

Information flooded the whole screen.

Angele noticed a button at the bottom of the screen that was used for turning the pages.

There were more than a thousand pages and each page listed more than 100 different trading information.

He started thinking; his utmost priority was to obtain the heart of the tree and the formula to help increase his mentality. These two items were extremely hard to find. Isabel had asked her family to search the heart for him, but he still needed to acquire the formula by himself.

Angele kept turning the pages.

'I hope I can filter it to formula only…' he thought.

Suddenly, the screen blurred and white light flashed at its edges.

Quickly, the page number reduced to two pages and the view became clear again.

Trade information about the formulas was left on the screen.

'Original formula of the Giant Potion, looking to trade for a thousand-eyed spider.

Original formula of the Burning Blood, looking to trade for a heart of the earth.

Copy of the Arcane Potion, looking to trade for liquid gold, the amount can be discussed later.

Pages of high-level potion, Dragonize Potion, meet up and discuss.'

Angele checked the names of the formulas carefully.

The newer listed formulas would be at the top. There were many potions he had never heard of. Only several of them could help him increase mentality. He spent about half an hour to figure out which ones might be helpful.

The first one was Oasman's Enhancement. The owner was asking for a phoenix flower.

The phoenix flower was hard to procure. It usually grew deep in the molten magma. Angele had no idea where he could find one.

The other one was named the Illusionary Garden and the owner was asking for a live three-headed bird. It was a much easier requirement to fulfill, but the three-headed bird was an aggressive creature. The bird was about ten meters long and was the king of the sky. Angele was not sure how dangerous the bird was, but from what he read in the book, the creature was capable of slaying a formal Wizard. He was only a Gas stage Wizard and not sure if it was worth a try.

From the more than two hundred different formulas, he only found two potions that would help increase his mentality.

Angele was a bit speechless. He pursed his lips and decided to search for something else.

'Show me cursed weapons.'

The screen blurred again.

Several seconds later, filtered information showed up.

'Calatrava Cross Greatsword. Two-meter attack range. Poison damage. Can damage spirits. Looking to trade for cursed dual short swords.

Cursed weapon crafting. Must provide materials. Looking for two icy butterflies.

Blueprint for the Speedy Knives. Looking to trade for 1.3 kilograms of Dragon Scale Flower.'

Angele stopped there realizing how valuable cursed weapons were. Kuirman's cursed scimitar probably was much more expensive than he had thought. Just a blueprint could already be traded for more than one kilogram of Dragon Scale Flower.

One Dragon Scale Flower was about 20 grams and this guy was asking for 1.3 kilograms.

Angele was impressed by the convenience of the trading system in the area, but people were asking for rare resources as if they were easy to find.

He decided to search for the information related to enchantment after checking the weapons and the formulas.

Angele checked the descriptions and found a book named as Fire Enchantment of the Giants, but the owner requested a meetup.

He pressed on the row with the book using his finger carefully.

The information was zoomed in and the introduction of the item appeared on the bottom of the page.

About ten minutes later, a different mentality wave appeared on the information.

Angele closed his eyes and modified the wave channel again.

"You want my book, Fire Enchantment of the Giants, right?" A deep male voice was transmitted into Angele's ears.

"Yes. What are you asking for?" Angele responded.

"Magic stone cards, rare materials, potions, anything, as long as they are valuable. Now tell me, what can you offer?"

"How about the formula of the Ghost Voice?"

"Ghost Voice? Interesting. Sure, what location will work for you? I'm not giving you the physical copy, we can just use the orbs. Ghost Voice is an ancient formula, it's probably worth more than my book, I'll add something else to the trade to make it fairer for you," the man responded politely.

"Sounds great."

"We can meet up on the first day of next month. Name the location."

"Sure, just come to this obelisk," Angele responded.

The two agreed on the location and time and described their appearances before cutting off the communication.

Angele lowered his hands, opened his eyes, and walked to the other side of the obelisk.

Ivan was politely waiting on the side.

"Master, do you want to check the residential areas?"

"I have many places to recommend, we can go check them out now if you have the time."

"Sure, lead the way."

Angele nodded and left the obelisk with Ivan.

After about three hours, Angele picked a two-story house built beside a small lake.

The house was painted in white with a red roof. In front of the house itself, there was a garden surrounded by fences. The whole place was hidden in the forest.

"Good choice. A Wizard who loves quiet places built this house a long time ago. He sold it to my family before leaving the area," Ivan introduced the history of the house as he opened the fence gate.

The place was covered in tall grasses. Even the path connecting the gate with the house was blocked.

The two entered the house and Ivan showed Angele the rooms.

"The place is good enough, I'll take it." Angele made the decision. "Also, get me a map of the Six Ring area, the place is huge."

"Sure," Ivan responded politely.

"Two healing potions for the house, right?" Angele took out two small glass tubes with green liquid inside.

"Of course, that's more than enough." Ivan smiled. He grabbed the two potions Angele was handing over to him, opened the stoppers and checked if they were real.

"From now on, you're the owner of this house. A low-level magic circle was set up by the gate that'll prevent insects from entering the garden. It's a nice and cozy place. Also, you can ask me for daily supplies, I'll ask workers to deliver them to you as soon as possible."

"Umm…" Ivan hesitated for a second. "Actually, there are many other Wizards living around here. I hope you'll get along with them."

Angele nodded.

"Great, I'll stop bothering you then." Ivan bowed to Angele. "Don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything. I and my family will try our best to fulfill your request. The only thing you need to do is to message me using the communication rune."

"Sure, thanks."

Ivan left right after finishing his words. After about 30 minutes, a young rank 1 Wizard apprentice knocked on the door and told him that she was in charge of delivering him the daily supplies.

This girl was the 'worker' Ivan talked about. Her talent level was low and she started meditating a bit too late. Angele doubted if she had the ability to advance to the next rank.

Angele stayed in the house and studied the cursed scimitar he acquired from Kuirman. Also, he wanted to know what exactly happened to the signet. He went to the trading tower several times but did not find any newly listed formulas.

After Ivan sent him the map, he sent Isabel his location using the communication rune.

Angele needed some time to check the items he had acquired in the ruin. In addition to that, he finally had the time to modify the older spell models. With the mentality compression techniques, it would not be a problem to him.