Chapter 272: Moving Forward (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
*KA*
Suddenly, a ladder was lowered down by the railings, connecting the airship and the land. Some yellow dust was blown into the air again.
Several people wearing white robes climbed down the ladder. The eye-blinding sunlight illuminated on their bodies.
There were three male wizards and two female wizards. All of them were carrying black leather travel cases.
"The place is deadly silent," a man with short brown hair muttered. He was walking at the front of the crew. The man had a pair of golden glowing eyes and there was a silver metallic glint on his skin.
"The origami girls…" a man with black hair said in a serious tone. He noticed the gray paper girls that were hiding in the shadows. The origami girls were staring at the wizards quietly.
"We need to move, now!" he added. The man looked nervous. "Green, turn right. Hurry!"
"Why? Are you afraid of paper monsters? Come on, Stigma, you're a Liquid Stage wizard…" Angele noticed those origami girls under the tree as well.
"Well, legends say that the origami girls live in a tree that has a large clock on it. A distorted black shadow will start winding up the clock and the origami girls will leave the tree to hunt any living beings in their range. The only way to get rid of them is to kill the dark shadow hiding under the tree. The origami girls come from nowhere and they're endless." Stigma had a serious expression on the face. "Didn't you see that the other creatures choose to stay away from this tree?"
The wizards heard Stigma's words and reconsidered the situation.
"Let's leave then."
Angele nodded slightly.
"An altar! Let's go there!" Hikari pointed at the left side of the tree.
Angele turned to the left and glanced around. He saw a grey stone altar sitting in an empty area quietly.
A cross-shaped yellow rune was floating over the altar. It looked like a yellow bead with four sharp needles. It was crystal clear.
Yellow smokes were rising from the rune constantly.
The five walked to the altar together quickly.
Stigma was checking the origami girls from time to time. He wanted to make sure that they were not moving.
Reyline held his dual scimitars tight in his hands, glancing around and checking the situation. The three male wizards formed a triangle around the two female wizards.
The origami girls stayed patiently under the trees, staring at the wizards curiously. There was nothing on their faces, so Angele was not sure if they were just waiting for the dark shadow to wind up the clock.
The five wizards felt relieved when they arrived at the altar. They sat down around the stone base and started checking their gears.
Angele sighed in relief as he sat down on the stone base of the altar.
According to Stigma, those altars would never be attacked by magical creatures and the runes would regenerate if they were taken away, but no one could explain why.
Stigma sprinkled some green dust over his black dagger as he started talking.
"Get ready everyone. Make sure you can find the needed spell materials if we engage in any battle. The place is dangerous, but first, I need to confirm our current location. I didn't expect to see the origami girls here."
"How long do you need?" Reyline wondered.
"About 15 minutes."
"I have a bad feeling about this." Reyline knitted his eyebrows. "Something isn't right about this place. I think we need to leave the area before it gets dark."
"You're wrong this time. Although the place is dangerous, we need to take our time and find a reference point first before we move. We might get ambushed by some random scumbags if we accidentally entered their territories." Stigma shook his head.
"What do we do then?" Hikari grabbed Morrisa's hand and asked in a light tone. "Morrisa is a great healer and she can sense the life energy in the air. She's not feeling well now which means…"
"Yeah, the life energy in the air is weak. The place makes me sick but I'm not sure if it's the death energy. It feels like something different," Morrisa explained.
"Let's move now." Angele made the decision. "We need to get away from those origami girls first and see if the situation changes. Maybe they're the reason why Morrisa isn't feeling well."
Reyline, Morrisa, and Hikari nodded, but Stigma still had a different opinion. After having a short conversation with Angele, he decided to follow the group's decision.
"Alright, let's move along the airship's original route. We should be fine." He stood up.
The three male wizards formed a triangle around the two female wizards again and started advancing.
Quickly, the five disappeared over the horizon.
*WOO*
The gentle wind blew over the altar.
The gray stone base suddenly started to decay in the wind.
The crystal rune disappeared, and the stone base of the altar cracked, losing its light.
Several seconds later, the stone altar turned into a tiny pool filled with some black sticky liquid. A rotten smell permeated the air.
*Blop*
In the center of the dark pool, a pale face of a woman with long hair illuminated on the surface of the water. The woman opened her dry grey lips but did not say a word.
An origami girl fluttered her wings and slowly stopped by the edge of the pool. She turned her paper head around and stared at the direction that the five wizards were heading to silently.
**************************
Five white robes were advancing slowly on the endless plains.
There were several red and black birds flying around right above the endless plain. The birds had red eyeballs and they looked like mutated vultures.
Angele noticed several vultures standing on the branches of dead trees staring at them. The noise coming out of their beak was making him anxious.
Reyline raised his head and looked at the vultures that were flying in the sky. He connected the handles of his scimitars, turning them into a longbow.
Stigma eyed Reyline and put his right hand on the man's longbow.
Reyline slowly lowered the longbow as Stigma shook his head.
Angele was checking the surroundings constantly as he walked. There were blue light dots flashing in front of his eyes.
'How's the task?' he questioned.
'Scanning completed. Checking the unusual forcefield… No results. Please leave the area immediately.' Angele was disappointed at Zero's response.
He moved his right hand to the handle of the cursed scimitar. Some green energy flow climbed up his arm right away.
'Check my body condition.' Angele ordered. He collected all the blue dust left by the storm spirits after the fight and consumed most of it in several days. The blue dust was necessary for the life energy conversion process.
The extraction of the life essence from the storm spirits was slow. He had asked more than ten times as the team advanced. By then, the task was finally finished.
'Life essence from the storm spirits successfully absorbed. Attributes increased. Checking…'
'Angele Rio. Strength, 15. Agility, 13.4. Stamina, 17. Mentality, 55.3. Mana, 54. Buffed by the cursed scimitar.'
He was surprised by the result. He hadn't expected for the life essence of the storm spirit to be so effective.
'Remove the buff and check my condition again.'
'Checking…Angele Rio. Strength, 6.2. Agility, 6.7. Stamina, 10.2. Mentality, 53.4. Mana, 50.1.'
'Incredible…The numbers are unbelievable.' Angele was satisfied with the result. The power made him feel more confident about himself.
With the buff, his Stamina had reached 17 units and he did not even need to apply any healing gel to his wound. It would take about half a minute for the wound to stop bleeding and he only needed to rest for several days to fully recover. A strike that could kill an average wizard would only injure him slightly.
The increase in Strength was also helpful. Angele was certain that he could easily trade hits with a mutated magical beast with such power.
Most importantly at this rate, his mentality would reach the requirement for the Crystal stage soon. Angele's Mentality was increased by about ten units during the trip.
He heard Morrisa saying something and stopped interacting with Zero.
"I feel much better now. The thing that made me sick is gone I think. It must be the origami girls."
"Sounds great. Those origami girls are controlled by some mysterious power. We're lucky that they didn't go after us. Well, we're getting close to the Abyss Canyon." Stigma pointed forward.
There was a cliff in front of the five wizards and the warm wind was blowing over their faces.
They walked to the cliff and put down the travel cases.
Angele looked down and saw a terrifyingly deep crevasse. It was dark and quiet.
The cliff on the other side was more 1,000 meters away. The pine tree on that cliff looked like a dark green dot.
"Wait, let me check if there's any trap," Angele said loudly.
"Sure." Stigma and the rest of the team stepped aside.
Angele stood by the edge of the cliff and crouched. He grabbed some mud and threw it into the crevasse.
The mud was scattered by the wind like a yellow ribbon and disappeared into the air.
"Hibis…Listen…Suffer…Wind…Dream…" Angele invoked an incantation and pointed forward with his right hand's index finger.
A weak green string that looked like a beansprout emerged out of the tip of Angele's finger, flying to the other side of the crevasse. The string was not affected by the strong wind at all.
"It's a modified spell great at detecting energy movements. The green string can disguise itself as a live human being," he explained as he controlled the flying string.
"Much better than my wind elemental potion. You finished casting the spell in seconds." Hikari nodded slightly.
They watched the green string flying in the air quietly.
Several minutes later, the string arrived at the cliff on the other side.
*CHI*
Suddenly, a distorted shadow flashed in the air and swallowed the green string.
Chapter 273: Moving Forward (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
The five wizards were surprised by what they just witnessed.
Angele pursed his lips. He tried to find the green string but nothing could be traced.
"What's going on?" he wondered.
Stigma narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "We need to find another route. I don't even know what's on that cliff. There's a town called White Mist around the canyon. We can find human beings living there. We should go ask them about the situation."
Angele was not familiar with the area, so he decided to follow Stigma's advice. The five wizards started heading to the right.
Good thing was that the team carried enough food and water. They could stay on the plains for about two more months.
The path to White Mist Town was dangerous. The first several days were peaceful but they were tracked down by a herd of strange beasts in the next ten days. The creature looked like a mutated leopard with burning flame at the end of its tail. The leopard had hard fur, high speed, and its paws could deal Fire damage.
Angele did the test. The leopard's fur could easily block the physical damage dealt by a person with Strength points lower than seven. The fur could only be damaged by extremely sharp metal weapons.
Reyline cast several spells after he realized that his physical attacks did not work but those leopards were sensitive to the energy particles and they dodged the spells easily as well. Only the instant-cast spells were fast enough to hit them but only Angele's instant-cast spell was powerful enough to damage them.
Hikari was almost injured by those leopards. Morrisa and Hikari's spells needed time to prepare. Morrisa was a good healer but could not fight and her summoning potions took too long to prepare.
Stigma and Reyline's close combat skills were mainly used to defend against the strikes from the mutated leopards. Angele was the only one killing those creatures. With the buff from the cursed scimitar, his Strength had reached 15, and he could easily slice the leopards into pieces.
After several battles, Angele had killed more than ten mutated leopards and he had successfully extracted some more life essences.
His Strength was increased to 17, Mentality was increased to 57.4, and his Stamina was increased to 20.
17 points of Strength brought Angele incredible power. He missed a slash once and the cursed scimitar left a deep crack in the ground.
The high Stamina increased Angele's defense and recovery. He was once bitten by two mutated leopards on the shoulders, but the wounds were quickly healed, and his bones were not even damaged.
The mutated leopard had a Strength of 6 but they could barely do any damage to Angele. His Metal Mastery was also improving as his attributes rose in digits.
The metal forcefield improved and Angele was able to control more metal creations at the same time.
He concluded after doing many tests that the metal forcefield would be more powerful and easier to control if his Strength and Stamina increased. The amount of mentality and mana he had would only affect the metal creation ability.
Angele's attributes were increased to a whole different level but sadly, the cursed scimitar reached its limit and the buff could no longer be strengthened. Although he could still absorb the life essences of the creatures, his mentality increase slowed down again.
It took the five wizards about half a month to reach the White Mist Town Stigma had mentioned.
*****************************
On the edge of the Abyss Canyon, there was a small forest with yellow trees. Tiny grey bushes filled up the gaps between the gaps between those trees.
The wizards followed after Stigma as they went across the forest, then they finally saw the town.
White Mist Town was surrounded by some yellow trees and there were more than 100 old houses in the town. The view of the place was blurred by the white mist in the air.
Most of the houses in the town had red roofs and grey walls. The roofs were decaying naturally due to the weather and their color was fading.
The walls were covered with black marks and cracks. It almost looked like the houses got burnt.
White sand covered the dark mud on the ground and there were green mosses everywhere.
It was getting dark.
The sky was blocked thick dark clouds and it was about to rain.
Black rusty iron fences lined up around the town and they were connected by large grey piers. It looked like a long black string with grey dots on it.
The entrance of the town was an arched white gate.
The town was empty. There was no one around and it was deadly silent.
The five wizards entered the town through the stone gate. They stepped on the white sands and made some soft noise.
Stigma was walking in the front of the team.
"The place has probably been abandoned a long time ago." He glanced around.
He peeked through one of the broken wooden windows on a house but the only thing he saw was darkness.
"It's late, why don't we spend the night here? What do you think?" Hikari advised. "I need to find a place to take a good shower. The water energy particles are making skin dry."
"Let's go to the biggest house then. You can probably find a nice bathroom there." Reyline knitted his eyebrows. "I need to take a good shower with some real water too."
Angele and Stigma had long noticed that Reyline was an introvert during the trip.
Reyline would only talk when it was absolutely necessary. He liked to keep the things to himself and he would not ask for help even when he was in need. That was the reason why people in Nola thought that Reyline was a short-tempered person.
Usually, people's conversation with Reyline would end awkwardly as he did not like chatting too much. Some people thought that Reyline got mad at them. They then spread the rumor saying that Reyline had a strange personality and he was hard to deal with.
The situation with Morrisa was different. She was the weakest wizard in the group and she relied on others' protection. Although she wanted to join the conversation, she knew that it was better to let the other wizards make the decision.
Stigma, Hikari, and Angele were the most talkative people in the team.
The five walked to the tallest building in the town quickly.
The building looked like a church and it had three levels. There were two stone staircases built by the entrance. They could enter the building from either the right or the left side.
The building was protected by some rusty fences but most of them were broken.
*Creak*
Hikari pushed the door open.
*BAM*
The wooden door fell to the ground and blew the dust on the floor to the air.
Angele covered his nose and coughed several times.
"Let's do some cleanings first." Angele shook his head.
They started checking the building's structure right away.
Angele stood in the living room and observed the surroundings while talking to Stigma.
"I need to do some preparation and see if I can get in touch with my family." Stigma lowered his voice. "We're very close to the other side of the crevasse. I think my communication rune can reach the guard post."
"You're returning to your family?" Angele asked.
"I need to visit them no matter what." Stigma nodded. "My sister, my mother, and my best friend…I'm sure they're waiting for me…"
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Morrisa's scream echoed in the building.
"What's going on?!" Angele and Stigma's expressions changed. They rushed to the direction where the scream was coming from and saw Morrisa ran out of a room with a pale face.
Her eyes were wide open, and her body was trembling. Morrisa jumped to the two male wizards quickly like a rabbit.
"What happened? Morrisa?" Angele patted Morrisa's shoulders and asked her.
*Ka-ta Ka-ta*
Hikari ran down the stairs from the second floor quickly after hearing the scream.
"Are you alright? Morrisa? What did you find?"
Reyline entered the building from outside, looking confused.
They gathered in the living room and waited for Morrisa's answer.
Morrisa pointed at the bedroom she entered and started explaining in a shaky tone.
"Right in that room! I saw a woman on a bed. Her neck was stabbed by many thick metal needles. There was blood everywhere!"
"How is that even possible? I didn't…" Angele was surprised. "Let's go check the bedroom. Stay alert!"
They entered the bedroom right away.
The room was relatively small. On the bed, the yellow blanket was moved to the side and some dark marks were left on the surface of the sheet.
Hikari walked to the bed and checked the black marks.
"It's blood." She nodded.
"A specter?" Reyline looked at Angele and Stigma.
"What do you think?" Stigma asked. It seemed that he did not know how to deal with the situation.
Angele pursed his lips. "I have a matrix that is said to be useful against ghosts. I checked the rune system in the matrix. I think it can at least tell us if the place is haunted. I'll give it a try, but I need someone to help me."
"Let me help you." Hikari stepped forward. "Ghosts are hard to deal with. We need to check the area immediately. I've encountered a similar situation in the Dark Red Highland, so I have an experience fighting against specters."
"Huh?" Angele looked at Hikari curiously. It was the first he was seeing another wizard that had survived the curse of the ghosts.
The ghosts in this world were mysterious and strong. An average wizard could easily be killed by a strong curse. Only the souls of strong or special individuals could stay in the world.
Chapter 274: White Mist Town (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Angele nodded. "Let's start then. I'll teach you part of the incantations. You just need to chant them when I…"
He opened his mouth and sent the words using energy particles.
Hikari listened to the message quietly, looking surprised. They finished communicating within minutes.
"Let's start then?" Angele looked at Hikari.
"Sure."
Angele walked out of the room and returned with a black dagger in hand. A dark red glow surrounded the tip of the blade. He crouched down and started drawing a magic circle on the floor.
The other wizards moved aside and made space for him.
It took about ten minutes for Angele to finish the circle.
It looked like two hexagrams that crossed each other and were surrounded by complicated runes.
Angele stood up and nodded at Hikari.
They started invoking the incantation in a low voice together.
The light from the runes faded gradually and several seconds later, the whole magic circle disappeared from the floor.
Angele's expression changed as he spoke.
"The magic circle is doing its work, I think. I memorized the magic circle that I saw. If nothing happens, it means the place is safe. However, if a human-shaped shadow appeared in the center of the circle, it means that there are ghosts here. The size of the shadow indicates the strength of the ghosts. Weak ones have the size of a nail and strong ones are about the size of a finger. Strong specters can easily kill an average rank 1 wizard with their curse."
Hikari nodded slightly after hearing Angele's words. Reyline, Morrisa, and Stigma stood by the door. Their expressions turned serious as they waited for the result.
Several minutes later.
*CHI*
A small light dot flashed in the center of the magic circle and exploded.
The whole room was illuminated by the eye-blinding light.
A tiny shadow slowly appeared in the rune surrounded by a white glow and it was stretching its back. The shadow was about the size of a bee. The white glow around it started turning red as its body solidified.
Angele's expression changed.
"Run!" he suddenly shouted. "Run! Right now! Don't stay in this building!"
The five wizards rushed out of the bedroom.
Angele had no time to explain. His face turned pale as he led the team to the main entrance.
"What happened green? What does that red shadow mean?" Stigma asked as he ran.
"Leave the place first. Find your travel cases. We need to go right now!" Angele replied in a nervous tone. He ran out of the building without looking back.
Reyline followed after Angele without saying a word.
Hikari hesitated for a second, then she grabbed Morrisa's hand and rushed out of the building. Stigma found his travel case quickly and left as well.
The five wizards headed to the entrance of the town after moving away from the building.
Angele was checking the surroundings constantly.
The tension was building up and the wizards were getting nervous, as they tried to figure out what had just occurred.
The white mist was still floating in the town and Angele's sight was blurry.
They walked down the street quickly and returned to the arched stone gate.
Angele sighed in relief as they stepped out of the gate. He turned around and looked at the street of White Mist Town.
The chilling wind blew the dried yellow leaves into the air from the ground. The town was deadly silent, and he could not detect any movement.
"So what was that red human-shaped shadow?" Hikari asked.
"I don't know, to be honest, but something is wrong with this place." Angele shook his head. He raised his right hand and saw a strange black box on his palm.
Angele was surprised.
"Whose box is this? Did I take your item by accident?"
"Not mine." Hikari shook her head. "Morrisa, come take a look. Is this yours?"
"No." Morrisa shook her head right away. Her face was still pale after the terrifying experience in the building.
Angele showed the box to Reyline and Stigma, but it seemed like none of them was the owner.
"Impossible…I didn't grab anything when I ran out of the bedroom…" Angele tried to recall what he did before leaving the building.
Suddenly, an image of a woman with a long white hair flashed in his head. The woman was staring at him in front of the building's main entrance. The woman's hair covered half of her face and the muscles on her face were twitching.
"What the…" Angele held his forehead tight with his left hand. An unpleasant feeling was making him dizzy.
He shook his head and did a quick check on the black box.
Golden veins were engraved on the lid of the box.
"We need to leave now. Hey, Green, what happened? Are you alright?" Hikari noticed that Angele was suffering from pain.
"Nothing…My head is aching…" Angele responded in a low voice.
"Are you cursed by the ghost? How strong is this thing…?" Reyline asked with his brows knitted.
"Ghosts are much stronger than you think." Hikari nodded. "The one I met in a ruin on the Dark Red Highland can…"
Angele's head was still aching, and his ears were ringing. Hikari, Reyline, Morrisa, and Stigma were having a conversation, but he could barely hear anything. It took about ten minutes for those symptoms to go away.
The voices of the wizards became clear again.
"Is there another town ahead? Stigma?" Reyline looked at Stigma after listening to Hikari's story.
"It will take us at least half a month to reach the next town."
"You're overreacting I think. It's just a ghost…We have five wizards here." Reyline did not understand why Angele acted as if he could barely move.
Reyline had read about wandering souls from many wizardry books and learned that ghosts could be eliminated easily with pure energy strikes. He did not believe that wizards could be killed just by their curses.
"Why don't we just eliminate the ghost and have some rest in the town? We need some good rest. The trip is tiring. What do you say?" Reyline asked in a calm tone.
He then turned to Angele and said, "Sorry, Green. I trust you as a team leader, but we have already reached the central continent. Since Stigma is familiar with the area, I think we should let him lead the way."
"It's rare to hear you talk so much." Angele finally recovered from the dizziness. He slowly lowered his right hand. "And sure, make Stigma the captain if it's best for the team. I'm fine with that."
Angele was the leader on the airship since he won the competition and became the owner of the amulet. They had already abandoned the airship, so he thought that it was fine if the others did not want to listen to him. However, the way Reyline made the suggestion was a bit strange. Angele did not understand why he wanted to stay in the town.
"Stigma, you make the decision. Should we stay here or look for the next town?" Reyline turned to Stigma.
Stigma hesitated. He wanted to make the best decision for the team but Reyline was losing his patience.
Reyline had already reached the Crystal stage and was confident that he could win a fight against Angele. His mentality was strong enough to fully activate the secret technique of his family. He wanted to be the one to lead the team, but Stigma came from Omandis and the man knew a lot about the area.
Angele wanted to leave the town as he knew how strong the ghosts could be but Reyline thought that eliminating the threat would only take minutes. Reyline was the Perfect Wizard and he did not want to put shame on his title.
Stigma thought for a minute and finally gave the answer, "Reyline is a Crystal stage wizard. I think he's capable of fighting the specter. There are five of us and we only have one enemy. I think we should go back to the town."
Reyline was the only wizard that had reached the Crystal stage in the team, but Angele doubted if he had already mastered any level 2 spells. It seemed like Stigma did not want to argue with Reyline since they still needed to travel a long way together.
Angele had a blank expression on the face, still thinking about the black box.
The box appeared from nowhere and there were too many questions with no answers.
'What is this box? Where did it come from? Why me?'
The biochip had no record on when this box appeared.
Zero was not helpful when it was about ghosts. When there was not enough information about the unfamiliar object. The chip would not consider it as a threat and that was the reason why Zero did not warn Angele about the box in advance.
Angele pursed his lips when he listened to Stigma's words. "Let's separate into two teams then. I'll just stay here. There's no way that I'm going back to that building."
"Green, are you serious?" Reyline asked in a serious tone.
"Yeah, I am." Angele nodded. The unusual red shadow indicated that the ghost was different from the ones he had encountered before. The town was probably its territory.
"I'll stay with Green," Morrisa interrupted.
Hikari nodded and looked at Reyline. "I'll enter the town with you. You're a Crystal stage wizard now. I think you can deal with that ghost. Your pure energy strike should be strong enough for that."
"Alright then. I'll wait for you with Morrisa." Angele nodded.
"Green, I thought you were a brave man." Reyline shook his head. "Whatever, let's not waste time."
He turned around and entered the town with Hikari and Stigma right away.
Chapter 275: White Mist Town (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
"Stigma!" Angele suddenly shouted as the three stepped into the gate.
"What?" The three wizards turned around at the same time.
Angele raised the black box in his right hand.
"Can you believe this? I'm sure that the box is not mine, but someone put it in my hand. I don't even know when it happened. Think twice before you act." Angele stopped for a second then continued, "I believe that if the specter can insert the box into my hand without being noticed, it will be able to stab a dagger into my heart before I can fight back."
The three hesitated for a second but Reyline shook his head.
"Green, I'm not the same wizard who was defeated by you. Fear will stop you from progressing."
"It's not fear," Angele replied calmly. "You don't have to take the risk. We survived all the challenges and Omandis is right in front of us. You can't fight what you can't see."
"Admit it. You're afraid of this thing." Reyline pursed his lips as his sight fell upon the box on Angele's right palm. "Why did the specter give the box to you instead of us?"
Angele remained silent as he had no answer to that question.
"Come on, there's no point in arguing right now. It's not a big deal. We're still a team." Stigma tried to cool things down.
"Let's go." Reyline shook his head and turned around, vanishing into the white mist of the town. Stigma had an apologetic smile on his face. He nodded slightly then entered the town with Hikari quickly.
Angele and Morrisa waited outside the town quietly and watched the three wizards disappear into the mist.
It was getting darker. The clouds thickened, and the wind was getting stronger.
"Why didn't you go with them?" Angele wondered.
Morrisa hesitated for a second and responded.
"The scene I saw in the bedroom was…horrifying. To be honest, I'm just modifying the healing spell models in the Six Ring High Tower. I'm not good at fighting and I hate it. However, I'm sensitive to ghosts and sometimes I can see things that others can't see…"
"Huh? Even when they don't want you to see them?" Angele narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, I know that the box isn't yours. It gives off the same feeling as the woman I saw in the bedroom. Why don't you just try to throw it away?" Morrisa responded in a light tone.
Angele recalled the challenges he encountered during the trip. He had some troubles with the Cloud Bees and storm spirits, but they dodged the other ones easily after listening to Stigma's advice. Morrisa was a weak light wizard, but she helped a lot when Stigma was severely injured.
Angele wondered if the whole thing was set up by the Dark Wizard Tower. The organization might want to see if he could survive all the challenges and successfully reach Omandis in one piece.
Angele shook his head and sighed with mixed emotions. "Let's find a place to stay around the area and wait for them to eliminate the ghost."
"Alright."
They walked into the forest and found a small empty ground.
Angele used his Metal Mastery to take down several large trees and cut into planks. The planks were then tied up by metal strings and stabbed into the mud.
About half an hour later, a small wooden shelter was built up. The walls and roof were covered with a thin layer of silver metal. He wanted to make sure that the shelter was good enough to handle the possible storm.
The shelter was relatively small, but it was good enough for two people to stay inside.
With the accurate measurement provided by Zero, Angele did not waste any of the wood. He finished building the shelter before night came.
Taking down the trees and connecting the planks were not a big problem to him.
Angele stood in front of the entrance of the shelter, staring quietly at the White Mist Town through the gaps between the trees.
Morrisa found some dried branches. She wanted to make a small campfire and make some food.
Angele played with the black box in his hand as blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes.
Suddenly, he threw the black box into the air.
The box drew an arc in the sky and disappeared.
He applied so much force that the black box was thrown back into the White Mist Town.
"What…are you doing?" A female voice came from behind.
Angele turned around quickly and saw Morrisa looking at him with dried branches in arms. She opened her mouth, yet nothing was coming out of it.
It felt like someone had covered his ears with two thick blankets.
Several seconds later, Angele could finally hear Morrisa's voice again.
"Master Green? Are you alright? Master Green?" Morrisa was confused as she pointed at Angele's feet. "Your box is on the ground."
Angele was surprised. He looked down.
The black box was lying on the grass quietly beside his feet. It almost looked like the box was dropped by Angele accidentally.
The scene sent a hint of chillness to Angele's heart. He was sure that the box was thrown away.
The first voice he also heard was not from Morrisa. It was a deep and hoarse voice, a woman speaking in a shaky tone.
"Nothing, I dropped it by accident." Angele picked the box up.
"Alright, I'll go prepare the food and the soup." Morrisa nodded, then she turned around and entered the shelter.
'Zero, show me the record. I want to see what happened to me exactly.' Angele took a deep breath and ordered.
'Loading the record…'
Several seconds later, Angele's eyes were blurred for a second, and the event that had just happened visualized in his sight. The scene started from when he was still playing with the black box.
Angele looked at the image quietly.
He stood in front of the wooden shelter and dropped the black box by accident. It looked like that his body was paralyzed for a second and Morrisa talked to him after picking up the branches around the bushes. They had a short conversation and nothing else happened.
Angele's expression changed. He could not believe that the record did not show him throwing the black box away.
Zero usually used the reflection of energy waves that were released by Angele to record the things happened around him. It was nearly impossible for the record to be wrong. If Angele's memory differed from what was recorded by the chip, there would be only one way to explain it.
Something changed his memory and made him think that he threw the box away, but the box was just simply dropped to the ground.
"What the hell is going on…This why I hate ghosts…god." Angele sighed. He tried to open the box, but it was impossible. It was sealed completely, and the lid was fake.
He had been cursed by ghosts multiple times and knew it was nearly impossible to eliminate them completely. Angele was a formal wizard with high attributes and was confident that he could dodge the curse this time.
He returned to the wooden shelter and had some mushroom soup cooked by Morrisa.
Night had befallen them.
The wind was hitting the door forcefully. It almost sounded like that there were people crying in a high-pitched tone outside.
Angele sat down by the campfire, trying to contact Stigma using the communication rune.
A sunflower-shaped black rune flashed upon his nail. It was Stigma's communication rune.
"How's the situation?" Angele questioned.
"We're doing good. Reyline checked the whole building and nothing happened. We're having some food right now," Stigma responded.
"Stay alert. I'm sure the ghost is still around. Remember the black box we talked about in the afternoon?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I threw it away but one second later, the box appeared beside my feet," Angele spoke in a deep tone.
"It returned to your feet?" Stigma sounded surprised. "Come on, don't try to scare me. It's not funny."
"I'm not joking…"
Angele stood up and looked at Morrisa. The lady was too tired and had decided to have a nap.
Angele stepped out of the door and continued the conversation.
"I'm sure I threw it away, but…"
Suddenly, a familiar man appeared in his sight.
Short black hair, pale face, black robe, and a black dagger tied to the belt.
It was Stigma.
The man's face was covered in blood. He ran to the wooden shelter at full speed.
"Run! Green! Run! It's coming! Oh, god!" Stigma shouted.
"Hey, Green? What happened?" Stigma's voice was still being transferred from the communication rune. "Alright. Our mushroom soup is almost done, but it's bland. We need your spices…"
Angele looked at the man that was still running toward him and listened to the one talking through the rune. His skull numbed.
"What the hell? You're an illusion?"
"Green! Listen! We need to leave now!" Stigma struggled, and he almost fell to the ground.
Angele did not move an inch. He was still trying to figure out which one was the real Stigma.
The message from the communication rune indicated that Stigma was having mushroom soup with Reyline in the building but the one in front of him was covered in fresh blood.
"Are you Stigma? Show me some evidence!" Angele asked in a deep tone and took one step back.
"God damn it! Not this again! The bastard tricked me and Reyline using the same method." Stigma was having trouble breathing. He quickly activated the communication rune on his nail.
*CHI*
A black twisted snake rune flashed on the back of his nail. It was Angele's communication rune.
At the same time, the voice from Stigma's communication rune changed.
"Green? Are you still there? What happened?" The voice was deep and hoarse. It sounded like an old lady speaking in a shaky tone.
It was a woman imitating Stigma's voice.
"Damn! Which one is real?" Angele's brow knitted. He stepped back again slowly. Blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes.
Chapter 276: A Twist of Fate (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Angele had been tricked by illusions several times but the Stigma in front of him looked exactly like the real one.
The voice coming from the communication rune was still hoarse, but it was possible that someone interrupted the message using strong energy waves. He was still having a hard time trying to figure out who he should trust.
Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes. He asked Zero to scan Stigma.
The chip confirmed that the Stigma in front of him was real based on the mentality wave the man was releasing but Angele still had his doubts.
"Anything else? I want better evidence," He questioned in a deep tone.
Morrisa heard the noise and stepped out of the shelter. She saw Stigma talking to Angele and walked to the two wizards quickly.
"Stigma?! What happened? Come here. I can help you!" White glows surrounded her hands and she was about to cast some healing spells, but Angele stopped her.
"Seriously?" Stigma had a bitter smile on his face. He glanced around and lowered his voice. "You know what? I'll meet you at the Mandu Airport. Keep going south after traveling through the Abyss Canyon. We need to move now no matter what."
Stigma calmed down a bit and continued, "It seems like the town is the ghost's territory. I felt much better after leaving the town."
"Well, I told you it was hard to eliminate. Where's Reyline and Hikari?" Angele wondered. "You entered the town together, right?"
"I don't know. I saw Reyline drinking wine in the living room after taking a shower and something went wrong. I don't even know if that was the real Reyline." Stigma shook his head.
Angele narrowed his eyes. He was still trying to figure out a way to verify Stigma's identity. The whole matter was just too weird.
He stared at Stigma and he was getting nervous.
The temperature at night was low and the chilling wind was scratching his face.
*Splash*
Lightning struck the land and it was followed by the sound of thunder.
"Let's meet up at the airport then." Angele opened his mouth. "We…nevermind." He had one final glance at the town. The place was still blurred by the white mist.
The only things he could see were the edges of the houses. It was deadly silent.
"Sure." Stigma nodded. It was the best choice.
"Wait, take this!"
*PA*
Angele threw a glass tube that was filled with pink dust to Stigma.
"What's this? Ah, the healing dust? I haven't finished the last one yet." Stigma took out a similar glass tube after finishing his words.
"Good, I can confirm that you're the Stigma I know now." Angele nodded slightly. "No one else can concoct my healing dust. It's rare and complicated. No matter how strong the ghost is, it can't copy the memory of a Liquid stage wizard so easily."
"What should we do now?" Stigma looked relieved.
"We still need to leave the area as soon as possible." Angle pursed his lips. "But let's try contact Reyline using the communication rune at the same time. Don't say anything about the information you get after you finish the conversation with him."
"Good idea." Morrisa nodded. "We can check our identities again." She was listening to Angele and Stigma's conversation quietly. Morrisa was still hiding behind Angele, staring at Stigma nervously. She was confused about the situation.
Stigma sighed with mixed emotions, but he agreed to the plan.
*CHI*
Blue light flashed on the back of the three wizards' right hands. Reyline's communication rune looked like an electric pulse.
Angele took one step back, glaring at Morrisa and Stigma.
He started sending the messages.
"Are you there? Reyline?"
No one replied.
"The communication rune is activated. Please respond immediately if you received my message. Is Stigma still with you? He didn't tell me what happened inside the town," Angele continued.
Still no answer.
"Reyline?" Angele suddenly stopped. He heard someone breathing from the other side. It was weak, and the noise sounded a bit strange.
"Reyline…" Angele's expression turned serious. "Are you still alive?"
Angele wondered if the person on the other side was the Reyline he knew.
"Make some noise if you're still alive. Any noise! Come on!" He was getting nervous.
*PA*
He heard something move on the other side and it sounded like an object dropped to the ground.
Angele narrowed his eyes. He raised his head and looked at the other two wizards.
Stigma and Morrisa looked confused. It seemed like they were still trying to contact Reyline.
"Nothing here."
"Same."
The two looked at Angele and shook their heads.
"F*ck it! I want to save them. Let's head back to the town," Angele spoke in a deep tone. He held the cursed scimitar tight in his hand and walked into White Mist Town.
"Damn, for real? I don't want to go back." Stigma shook his head.
"I want to leave this place too, but I think they're still alive." Angele slashed the scimitar forward several times. Although none of them listened to his advice, they still survived five challenges together. And in the worst case, he was certain that he could survive the attack from the ghost.
He had never won a fight against a ghost, as he only attempted to escape most of the time. However, he decided to go back and fight this time. Angele wanted to overcome his fear of the curse. This was his chance.
Morrisa hesitated. "I'll stay in the shelter and wait for you…Sorry."
Stigma applied some healing dust to his wounds and followed after Angele.
Angele did not wait for Morrisa. He increased his speed and arrived at the arched stone gate of White Mist Town within minutes.
He stood by the gate and waited patiently. Stigma took a deep breath and held his black dagger tight in hand.
The lightning looked like fire in the sky. They brightened up the whole town for several times.
Angele nodded slightly and started walking around the town.
He observed the rusty iron fences carefully. Stigma was checking the surroundings constantly.
They reached the other side of the town after several minutes.
Angele found a well-organized graveyard with white tombstones lined up in front of them.
It was a relatively large graveyard. Angele counted more than 300 hundred tombstones. They just sat there quietly.
He could smell death in the air.
Angele activated the communication rune again. The blue glow around the rune illuminated on his face.
He entered the graveyard and started checking the tombstones. It seemed like he was searching for something.
Suddenly, he stopped by a tall white tombstone.
*Splash*
Another lightning struck the land. The light illuminated on the epitaph and picture of the tombstone.
'Arisma Justin – The legendary female wizard of destiny.'
The words were written in a clean and elegant style. They were painted in silver.
Arisma must be the female wizard lying in this grave.
Angele looked down. He used the light from the communication rune to brighten up the picture.
It was a portrait painted by a skilled artist.
It was a pretty lady wearing a white wizard hat. Her eyes were green, and her skin was fair white. The lady had a gentle smile on her face and it looked like she was staring at the ones who came to pay respects to her.
Angele narrowed his eyes. The woman in the picture was making him uncomfortable, and he had a feeling that she was still alive. He observed the picture from different angles, but her sight just would not move away from him.
"Stigma!" he shouted.
*PA*
Angele heard something hit the ground from behind.
He moved to the left, then he turned around and saw Stigma fainted on the ground.
Angele walked to Stigma and took out the black box from his pouch. He asked Zero to scan the area and he made up his mind after reading the report.
"I apologize for disturbing your sweet dream, master wizard," Angele muttered as he stared at the tombstone of Arisma.
He walked to the tombstone with the scimitar in hand.
*KA*
He started digging without any hesitation.
About five minutes later, Angele dug a large hole in the ground.
There was no coffin, no cinerary casket. What lay there were two human beings.
It was a female wizard and male wizard in white robes. Angele recognized them right away.
"Hikari and Reyline!" Angele's expression changed. He followed the direction given by Zero after scanning for mentality waves, but he did not expect to find them here.
He raised his left hand.
Two silver strings emerged out of the tip of his index finger and tied the two wizards up. Angele lifted them up and created another silver string to support the fainted Stigma.
Angele wasted no time and started carrying them back. He asked the chip to scan his surroundings constantly as the situation was bad.
Strangely, nothing happened on his way back. Thus, he felt relieved.
Angele returned to the wooden shelter and saw Morrisa hiding behind an energy shield in the corner.
Chapter 277: A Twist of Fate (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Morrisa stood up right away after she saw Angele step into the shelter. Hikari, Stigma, and Reyline were supported by the metal strings. They had not regained consciousness yet.
"Master Green, are you alright?" Morrisa thought for a while, but she was not sure where to start.
"I'm good but we need to leave, now!" Angele responded quickly as he put down the three fainted wizards. "They're still alive. Can you wake them up? Hurry."
Wizards were strong enough to survive for a long time in an environment with low oxygen. The energy particles stored in their bodies would help them.
"Got it." Morrisa nodded right away.
Quickly, the three were woken up by Morrisa's spell.
The sky rumbled again, and the thick clouds were dragged down by the heavy downpour. The visibility outside the shelter was bad and the raindrops were hitting the roof intensely. It sounded like tiny stones hitting a large metal board.
Angele stood by the door quietly. He was thinking while staring at the White Mist Town.
"Thank you for saving me." Hikari's voice came from behind.
"It's fine. I noticed the movement through Reyline's communication rune. That was how I found you," Angele responded in a light tone. "I've encountered the ghosts several times. You should've listened to my words."
"Reyline?" Hikari hesitated for a second and walked to Angele.
"No, it wasn't me. My communication rune was not even activated" Reyline stepped out of the shelter and walked to Angele as well. He looked confused.
"We had some food and I went to bed after taking a shower in that building. The next time I woke up, I was inside this wooden shelter." Reyline shook his head slightly. "I slept for a whole day I believe." He looked at the ground as his brows furrowed.
"Hikari told me that you found us in the same grave. Green, are you sure you're not joking? I believe I was sleeping in the building…"
"It's not a joke," Hikari interrupted. The experience was terrifying. She did not even know when they were moved into the grave.
Reyline remained silent for a second and continued, "I owe you one, Green."
Angele looked at Reyline. He was surprised that the man swallowed his pride and appreciated the help.
"I have a question. Have you ever heard of the wizard of destiny? It should be a female wizard named Arisma," Angele asked.
Reyline and Hikari traded eye contact, looking confused.
"The wizard of destiny?" Stigma's voice came from the shelter. He stepped out of the door and walked to the group. "Only the strongest wizards in the central continent will be given a title like that. Where did you find this name, Green?"
The man had a strange expression on his face.
Angele turned around and stared at Stigma.
"From a tombstone. Stigma, there are so many questions I want to ask."
"I don't know…" Stigma shook his head. "I fainted once when I escaped the town. It felt like someone was following me. I can hear its footsteps, but I can't see it. I cast my strongest spell but it didn't work. The wounds are the consequences of my own spell."
Angele narrowed his eyes and kept staring at Stigma. He noticed something different, but the others were still confused about the whole situation.
"It's fine. Stigma, take us out of here please."
Stigma was trying to understand why Angele was pressuring him. They traded eye contact and decided to not to talk about the truth at the moment.
"Sure." Stigma nodded. "Let's not waste time."
"Well, what are you trying to hide from us?" Hikari pursed her lips after listening to the conversation.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you about it right now." Stigma shrugged.
Hikari shrugged as well. "It's fine. Let's pack our items and leave."
Reyline did not say anything. He walked straight back to the wooden shelter.
The five wizards packed their items up and left White Mist Town in the rain. They traveled across the Abyss Canyon and headed to the plains.
White Mist Town slowly disappeared from the horizon in the heavy rain.
Stigma was still glancing at the town and he looked a bit depressed.
Reyline was walking at the front, Hikari and Morrisa were in the middle, while Angele and Stigma were at the back.
"Why are you looking at the town? Are you already missing it?" Angele transmitted his words using energy particles.
Stigma glared at Angele and shook his head. "How much do you know?"
"I know everything that you know, I think," Angele responded in a light tone.
The conversation ended there.
The visibility on the road was bad. Angele could barely anything. They were heading in a direction pointed by Stigma.
The wizards all made sure that their energy shields were active.
The rain lightened gradually as time passed.
They found a safe area in a small forest and built a woodshed. Morrisa built a small campfire and the wizards started drying their clothes using Fire energy particles.
Angele and Stigma sat beside the campfire for a while, then left using some random excuses.
The two wizards traded eye contact and nodded slightly.
They walked in two different directions and entered the deep forest.
Angele walked for a while and made sure that no one was following him.
He then stopped and took out that black box from the pouch.
The patterns on the surface of the box had disappeared. Instead, there was a black twisted picture.
It looked like a pair of hands raising up a diamond-shaped crystal. The picture was simple but abstract and it was painted with solid golden lines.
Angele held the box in right hand and put his left hand on the lid.
*PA*
The black box was opened easily.
Inside was a black spinning ball of gas.
'What else do you want from me?' A hoarse female voice echoed in Angele's ears.
He was not surprised about the voice. It seemed like he had already studied the box.
'Are you sure about this? I'm just a rank 1 dark wizard and you're a great wizard. I'm also not that talented. I don't think I can…' Angele responded calmly.
'I won't even approach you if you don't have the Key of the Shadow…' The female voice sounded impatient. 'The battle between me and Arisma lasted for decades and it won't end just because we're dead. Arisma found a decent guy to be her inheritor. I need to leave my territory right away. Otherwise, she will ask her student to kill me later. Anyways, you and I are one now. There's no point in talking about this.'
'At least tell me your name…or your title.' Angele pursed his lips.
'Title? I don't even care. People will give you a bunch of random titles when you reach a certain level. You want to do research on me and I understand that, but I won't tell you anything.���
'Well, I apologize but I don't want a random person to live in my body if I have the choice.' Angele chuckled.
'Kid, you're lucky. Arisma chose the man named Stigma and I chose you. Only good things will happen. There won't be any consequences I can assure you. I'll go have some rest now. Don't disturb me unless it's something really important.'
The female voice disappeared.
Angele shook his head. He tried to find out which part of his body was this 'legend' living in using many different methods but none worked. The black box was just helping them communicate with each other.
"Arisma, the wizard of destiny…" Angele narrowed his eyes and decided to do some research on that name first.
He had too many secrets to hide but it seemed like the 'legend' in his body could not detect the biochip. Angele did not fully trust the words said by that woman.
He tested several times and confirmed that the woman did not notice he was chatting with Zero.
Angele checked the surroundings again and started heading back.
He needed to reconsider the situation.
Stigma's soul was partially taken over by Arisma. If the voice did not lie to him, Stigma would no longer need to rely on his family. He could walk the same path as the ancient wizards and he would become one of the strongest wizards in the history.
After about fifteen minutes of walk, Angele saw Stigma heading back to the camp as well.
He noticed that Stigma's Mentality had already doubled, and the man's mentality wave was much stronger than before.
Angele was surprised. Stigma waved his hands at Angele, but he did not stop.
"Green, don't get surprised. I know that I'm different now," Stigma said calmly but Angele could see the happiness on his face.
"Are you still the Stigma I know?" Angele narrowed his eyes and questioned in a light tone.
"People will change, Green, just like you and me. But I'm still the one that survived all the challenges with our team."
"What's your plan now? Head back to your family?"
"No, I'm not strong enough. There are three rank 2 wizards in my family; my father and two elders. I won't even be allowed to talk in the family meetings with what I have right now." Stigma shook his head.
"Just tell me if you need help." Angele lowered his voice. Stigma took a hit for him back on the airship and Angele considered the man as a friend.
"I will, thanks."
Angele watched Stigma walk to the campfire and he wondered what would happen after Stigma returned to his family.
"My next destination is the city with an air transportation site in the central continent." Angele took a deep breath.
"Good, I haven't been to a city with live human beings in years," the hoarse female voice suddenly interrupted.
Chapter 278: The Central Continent (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
'We're from the west coast and it's my first time visiting a city in the central continent. Is there any advice you can give me on that?' Angele modified his mentality frequency and responded.
He had to chat with the woman using mentality waves and they needed to be on the same frequency. Angele was certain that the reason why the woman did not notice the conversation between him and the chip was the special frequency.
'The west coast? Wizards still live in that poor area?' The woman sounded surprised. 'The resource points are weak and the wizards there aren't talented. You won't be able to advance to the next rank there.'
'It sounded like you lost your physical form not so long ago…' Angele narrowed his eyes, west coast should be strong in the ancient time.
'Don't think too much about it. You saw that, right? Stigma already became stronger after talking with the old bastard Arisma. His mentality is now strong enough for advancing to the Crystal stage. What do you think? Are you jealous?'
'Jealous? Yeah, I'm jealous but I have my own plans. I think the fundamentals are important. Increasing mentality too fast will be a big problem in the future.' Angele had a blank expression on his face.
'Come on. Everyone knows that, but the problem is, what is the future you're talking about? Your progression is so slow that you won't even make it to the future. Advancing to the next stage or next rank as fast as possible will be a better option. The higher your rank is, the longer you'll be able to live, and you'll have plenty of time to solve all your problems. You won't pass on such a great opportunity if you're a real wizard." The woman chuckled. "What do you say? You want me to help you?'
'I don't even know your name. I can't just trust you like that.' Angele stood by the campfire and saw Hikari having a conversation with Reyline. Angele did not draw too much attention, so he walked to the bush and made it look like that he was searching for herbs.
The woman hesitated for a minute and finally spoke, 'Just call me Henn.'
'Alright, master Henn. I have several questions to ask. First, what is the Key of the Shadow? How did you get into my body?' Angele wondered.
'You don't need to worry about how I got into your body, but I'll die if you're killed.' Henn chuckled. 'For the key…You have a special key, right? That key is called the Key of the Shadow. All the core members of the Axis of Time have one. Who did you steal it from? There are a whole group of shadow beasts in the key, so you should take advantage of that.'
'What exactly is this Key of the Shadow?��� Angele questioned.
'The Axis of Time was the strongest organization that ruled the whole west coast. The situation was totally different back then. The resource points are rich and the wizards there were gifted. 15 keys were crafted and were given to the 15 wizards in charge of the most important areas. The keys were used to open special doors and yours is one of them. I don't know what the key can do but it can stop the energy from leaking. This feature will help me to preserve my power regardless of time. However…'
'What?'
'It seems like someone has left a rune on the key. It means that the owner of the key is not dead yet. He'll track you down sooner or later.' Henn sneered.
'Track me down? Ha, I already arrived in the central continent. I don't think the owner of the key is strong enough to survive the trip. It will take him a long time to get here. I'm confident that I can win the fight against a weak wizard.' Angele shrugged.
'You're right. Maybe this one lost his power, too…'
'Master Henn, I'm curious, how did you and master Arisma lose your physical forms? You must be a strong wizard, right?' Angele tried to dig deeper.
'Well, there's nothing for me to hide. Arisma and I were ambushed by a group of bastards. At the most intense moment of our battle, some people attacked us from behind. I'm counting on you, kid. You need to avenge me,' Henn responded in a cold tone.
'Me? A weak rank 1 wizard?'
'You want the advanced meditation technique, right? I have it. I also have many strong spell models, some secret techniques, my research results, and all the treasures I collected…I'll guide you and help you progress faster if you can kill all those bastards for me. What do you think?' Henn's offer was charming.
'Advanced meditation technique, huh?' Angele remained silent for a second and continued, 'I don't think I'm strong enough to kill your enemies right now. Don't you think that you should give me part of the advanced meditation technique first? It's my priority.'
'When you reached your limit, I'll make a fair trade with you, ha.' Henn finished the word and cut the conversation off.
'Master Henn?' Angele tried to contact her again, but it seemed like she did not want to say anything else.
'Not bad.' Angele did not expect to meet a soul with such a strong background. He could acquire the advanced meditation technique without having to contribute to a large organization.
The only problem was the mentality.
With the life essence extraction method created by Zero and the cursed scimitar, he would be able to reach the required mentality level quickly and the ritual was not hard to prepare.
Angele made the decision and returned to the campfire, starting his daily meditation.
The others finished their conversation and started meditating as well.
The next day.
They started traveling again.
A large forest appeared in the front after the five wizards traveled passed the Abyss Canyon. The trees were taller and larger.
The vivid green of the tree leaves filled Angele's sight.
The mountains on the far side separated the land from the sky.
After about half a month of traveling, the five wizards finally saw some other adventurers walking on the road.
***************************
There was a spark in the flame as a dried branch was thrown into the campfire.
In the deep forest, the mist of the early morning permeated the air.
Angele sat by the campfire quietly. He was throwing dried branches into the flame, trying to make it stronger.
The rest of the team was also resting by the fire. Reyline and Morrisa were meditating. Stigma was sleeping under a large tree. Hikari was organizing her potion bottles, colorful materials and strange items lined up on the ground. She checked them every day.
"As a potion master, it's important to check if all the potions are still good. I never saw you do that, Green." Hikari shook her head and looked Angele.
"Well, I'm not a potion master. I treat potion concocting as a hobby." Angele chuckled. Zero could do the job for him. With the scanning function, he could check the condition of the potions easily.
Hikari thought that Angele had some secret techniques. She stood up and turned around. "I'm going for a walk. There might be valuable materials around. "
She suddenly stopped after hearing a loud noise coming from the sky.
Angele noticed the noise as well. He raised his head and looked at the sky.
It was early in the morning. A white airship was passing by slowly in the endless blue sky. It was heading in the same direction as Angele's team.
It was a spindle airship and its body was painted in white. The sails were covered with blue stripes and their sizes varied. Angele noticed the green energy particles around the ship's body.
There were people looking down by the railings.
It seemed like they were having a conversation while pointing at a certain direction.
"Ciro Family's airship. We're getting closer." Stigma suddenly opened his mouth. "An airship like that will only lower the altitude when it's approaching the landing area. We won't even be able to see it when it's still traveling to the destination. The airship is protected by a special stealth barrier, so we can only see it when it's about to land."
"Let's start moving then. We can have a good rest when we reach the city," Angele suggested.
"Sure."
"Sounds great."
Reyline and Morrisa heard the conversation and stopped meditating.
The five wizards packed up quickly and headed to the direction the airship was traveling to.
They walked out of the forest by noon and saw a wide road ahead.
"That's it. The Alayah Road." Stigma walked down the incline and stepped onto the road. The rest of the team followed after him.
There were several lumberjacks entering the forest with axes on their back. The presence of the wizards did not draw much attention. Angele saw gray carriages passing by.
On the other side of the road was an enormous farm.
The crops were dancing in the wind and there were many farmers working in the area. There was also a windmill on the far side and its white blade was spinning slowly.
Stigma led the team to a stone road sign quickly and stopped.
The other wizards in the team had no knowledge of the central continent. Therefore, they decided to follow Stigma's order. They did not even know what language was used here.
There were several characters engraved on the surface of the gray stone.
Angele compared the characters to the languages stored in the database, but nothing worked.
"What language is this?" he asked.
Stigma smiled as he explained, "It's one of the universal languages in the central continent called Metia. It's very easy to learn. We'll reach the city after several days. I can transfer the knowledge to you on the way. I have several crystal orbs here."
Chapter 279: The Central Continent (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
"We can talk on our way there." Stigma watched a white carriage pass by. "We can try to find a carriage after you finish learning the language. Also, the wizards in the central continent are not restricted wear black or white robes. They can wear anything they want. The dressing rule here is simple. Even mortals are allowed to wear long robes."
Hikari was confused after hearing the explanation. "How can you show others that you're a wizard then?"
"Badges or special accessories. All members belonging to wizard guilds, organizations, families, and Anfaria High Council are given specific badges to wear. The Anfaria High Council is the highest authority in the central continent, but the members of the council are selected from the strongest families or organizations. They will only argue for their own benefits." Stigma continued to explain, "The central continent is divided into three areas. The Tarry Rive, the Molten Rive, and the Anfaria Alliance. We're approaching the Tarry Rive which is my hometown. We can visit my family guard post together if you want to, then I can show you around the area."
"I'll pass." Reyline shook his head. "We can contact each other through the communication runes. Worst case, we can still use the signal obelisks. There are obelisks here too, right?"
"Yeah, the building techniques of signal obelisks are developed here." Stigma nodded.
"I'll pass too. I have my own plans since the central continent is my dreamland…There are several places I need to visit first." Hikari did not make it clear but she has something in mind.
"I'll pass too, sorry." Morrisa shook her head. It surprised Stigma a bit.
He then stared at Angele.
"Well, I have my plans too." Angele shrugged. "Sorry, I'll visit you when I have the time."
"No worries. Come by anytime." Stigma pursed his lips.
Angele noticed that the mentality waves Stigma was releasing had already weakened. It seemed that he had already learned the way to hide his true power. People would consider him as a wizard apprentice if they did not know his background.
"Are you going back to your family like this?" Angele sent a message using energy particles.
"Of course. I need to lay low before my goal is completed," Stigma responded right away.
Reyline was thinking about something on the side, while Hikari and Morrisa were also communicating using energy particles.
"It's her advice if you know what I mean." Stigma nodded slightly.
The five wizards were on the same team but the relationship between them was still different. Hikari spent more time with Morrisa and Angele talked with Stigma a lot. Reyline only joined the important conversations but he was a talented wizard and Morrisa talked with him the most.
However, Reyline was not interested in Morrisa. He showed more respect to Angele after being saved by him.
"Just tell me if you need any help," Angele replied.
"Don't worry. I'm different now…" Stigma chuckled. "I'll be able to protect my mother, my sister, and my…" He sounded happy.
The two remained silent after talking.
Stigma then took out a fist-sized crystal orb and started transferring the knowledge about the language into it.
The four wizards acquired the knowledge quickly and started practicing the pronunciations.
Wizards were typically fast learners and learning a universal language was not a big problem to them.
It took them about just several hours to learn the basic words and daily conversations.
Stigma stopped a random carriage and gave the merchant several black metal coins. The merchant agreed to transport them to the city right away.
Angele stayed in the carriage and started checking the time with the merchant.
The biochip's time function needed to be adjusted when Angele reached a different time zone. He used to carry the crystal clock with him, but it was too much trouble.
It was three in the afternoon and the road was getting crowded. They started seeing pedestrians on the way.
Multiple airships flew past them as they advanced. It seemed like the airport was quite busy.
The carriage passed by one of the landing areas for the airships and the road became even wider. Several convoys of merchants were leaving the landing areas with their large carriages.
There were full and empty carriages entering and leaving the landing area all the time.
The road was getting more and more crowded.
Several days later, the carriage finally arrived at the edge of the central continent, at the air transportation city in the Tarry River area.
****************************
The sun was setting, and the orange light illuminated on the land.
Most of the areas in the city were covered by well-organized gray and white buildings. A blue river was running down the center of the city.
It looked like a piece of gray paper that was divided into two areas by a long blue string.
A tall black metal tower and an enormous arena were built on different sides of the river.
The white arena and the black metal tower brought some color contrast to the city.
Gray and white houses, mansions, hotels, various types of stores were built beside the streets. There were so many of them that the gaps between each of the buildings were small.
Under the dim sunlight, there were several pedestrians walking on the quiet street beside a whole row of houses.
The men were wearing red leather skirts and the women had a strange eye-shaped paint on their foreheads.
A tall man wearing a long white robe stood in front of a yellow door beside a large white square. He glanced around, and his sight fell upon a muscular man in a red leather skirt.
The man shook his head and knocked on the door carefully. There was a silver metallic glint on the surface of his skin.
*Thud thud*
No one answered.
The man's brows furrowed and knocked on the door several more times.
Still, no one answered.
He took out a small badge from a pouch.
It was a golden square badge with luxurious red decorations on its surface.
Complicated red strings were engraved on the front side of the badge and there was a tiny hole in the center.
The man threw the badge into the air and caught it but nothing happened, then he tapped on it several times.
Finally, a small black skull slowly appeared from the hole in the center.
*Crack*
The door of the house opened itself after making some noise.
A red-haired man with a long beard stuck his head out of the door, staring at the man in a white robe.
"You are…?" He narrowed his eyes and looked at the golden badge in the man's hand. It seemed like the badge reminded him of something.
"Ah! You must be Green! God! Come in please." He opened the quickly.
Angele had said goodbye to his team and followed the direction pointed by the badge. The badge had been sent to him by a member of the Dark Wizard Tower, which helped him find the correct place easily.
He followed the man into the room and closed the door. The living room was dark, and it was a mess.
The sofa was covered in dirty clothes and wine bottles lined up on the floor. A strange smell permeated the air.
"Sorry, I don't have time to clean the room." The man rubbed his nose. "I thought you already…"
"You think I'm dead, right?" Angele responded in a calm tone. "The challenges, are they set up by the elders?"
"Yeah…You're right, but we didn't expect the storm elemental lord to be so mad. It should've been an easy challenge…" The man pursed his lips and shook his head.
"The storm spirits were a trouble, yeah, but the trip was way too dangerous. I joined the organization as a potion master and I got tested multiple times. What would happen if I wanted to join the organization as a combatant? What challenges would I face?" Angele sounded disappointed. "You already knew that the trip was a trap for Reyline, right?"
"You don't need to worry about Reyline. Since you made it to the city, our members will contact you as soon as possible. I already took care of the wizards that were trying to ambush Reyline. I can assure you that you're safe. The badge is a special enchanted item which can protect you from fatal damage by sending you to a different dimension where you'll be able to survive in that space for 30 days. You should trust us more," the man explained.
"Is that so?" Angele narrowed his eyes.
"It was an accident. We don't even know how the storm spirits were enraged, and I'm not a formal member of the organization. I'm just here to contact you, so I have no answer to your first question. I'll tell the people in charge that you made it to the city alive. Please wait here. Someone will come pick you up after they received the message."
"Sounds good." Angele nodded.
'Ha! You're a strong potion master? Why didn't you tell me about it?' A hoarse female voice suddenly echoed in Angele's ears.
'You're surprised?' Angele remained calm and responded after adjusting the frequency of his mentality waves.
"Yeah. You're a potion master and you're part of the Dark Wizard Tower. It seems like obtaining advanced meditation techniques is not a big problem to you.'
'You're right.' Angele pursed his lips into a smile.
'But are you sure they will give you a good advanced meditation technique?' Henn was mocking Angele.
'I don't think so, they want the high-quality potions that I can concoct. They will, at most, fulfill my request but with low-quality resourses,' Angele responded, 'You'll give me the best one, right?'
'I don't remember promising you that.' Henn chuckled. 'The Dark Wizard Tower is a strong organization, but I don't know too much about them. Just make sure that…Whatever, I'm not afraid of them. There's one thing you need to know about their meditation techniques, it's special, very…special…ha…'
'We're in the same boat. You help me, and I'll help you. I think we have already reached the agreement on that.'
'Well, you're right. But you need to do something for me first before I give you a good advanced meditation technique.' Henn went straight to the point. 'We'll talk about it later.'
Chapter 280: New Start (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
'Members of the Dark Wizard Tower usually have two identities. They're the shadows in the light, so you must find yourself a cover.' Henn continued, 'The Dark Wizard Tower shouldn't have strict organization rules, so they can do whatever they want. The Dark Wizard Tower recruits assassins and asks them to collect the needed intel. Many wizards chose to accept their offer since they needed an easier way to acquire rare resources. In hindsight, it's an organization that hides in the shadows.'
'Interesting…' Angele did not expect the organization to be like what Henn had just said. 'I thought they wanted to train me as a potion master…'
'You're talented. They want you to accept the offer first, so it's understandable,' Henn responded in a light tone. 'The members of Dark Wizard Tower are everywhere in the central continent. Don't worry. The thing I want you to do for me is not related to that organization. I'll tell you what to do when the time is right.'
Angele listened to Henn's words as he talked with the man with a long beard. He wanted to learn more about the city and the organization.
"There's a division here and since you're an elite member from the west coast, someone from the council was sent here to welcome you. However, we miscalculated the date and he had to leave…" The man lowered his voice.
"So, I'll have to wait here until the next one comes?" Angele wondered.
"Yes, you need to join the next team. You can use the time to check out the city and purchase some souvenirs. The place is very unique." The man smiled.
"I don't really care." Angele shook his head. "How long will it take?"
The man answered as he wrote down something on a black crystal board. The characters would disappear every time he finished writing a word.
"14 to 15 days, I suppose."
"Is it possible to exchange for the crystal cards here?"
"Yeah, I can do that for you," the man responded right away. "I'll give you a discount if you need the service."
"Alright then, I'll exchange some crystal cards for the central continent's currency." Angele took out several crystal cards from his pouch.
************************
The night was about to fall.
People in the arena were cheering for the fighters and people were still walking to the entrance from the square.
They were all wearing leather outfits and some of the noble-looking women were holding paper fans in hands. They were speaking Metia with a local accent and they were talking about the fight going on in the arena.
The carriages from the streets turned right, then parked on an empty ground beside the entrance.
The kids were playing around the river, giggling while chasing after each other.
Angele pushed the door open and left one of the houses beside the street. He was wearing a long white robe and he checked the time.
"It's 8 o'clock already? I need to find a place to spend the night."
He looked at the street and scanned the pedestrians using Zero. Angele narrowed his eyes and he looked surprised.
'They're all mortals? Why aren't they affected by the radiation?'
'The purification towers cleansed the area and they can prevent the mortals from being injured by the radiation energy,' Henn responded. 'You know this is not the poor west coast, right?'
Angele nodded slightly. He was not mad about the way Henn talked to him. He turned right at the corner.
He walked to a relatively quiet street by the river after crossing the bustling square.
Several old men were chatting under a tree. It seemed like they just finished their dinner.
After about ten minutes of walk, Angele found a tavern on the street. The tavern's name was engraved on a bronze board and it was called The Wanderer.
There were many customers leaving and entering the tavern. Angele saw the pink light inside and he heard ladies giggling.
He knitted his eyebrows as he walked to the tavern.
*DING*
A half-naked muscular man pushed the door open and Angele held the door before it closed. He stepped into the tavern quickly.
The bell on the door was ringing all the time.
People were cheering and yelling in the bar.
The dim pink light only brought minimum visibility to the space. There were several women wearing sexy outfits sitting on the male customers' legs, and some of the shy customers were led into the private rooms by the waitresses.
The smell of cheap perfume permeated the air.
Angele moved to the side and tried not to block the people that were moving to the bar.
"I want a room." He walked to the counter and spoke in a deep tone.
The waitress behind the counter looked surprised.
"Sure." She glared at Angele and lowered her right hand. It seemed that she was checking his identity. Her expression changed when she finished the procedure.
"Wendy! Lovely Wendy! Come here and help this customer!" The waitress yelled.
Several seconds later, a girl in purple appeared from the hallway. She eyed Angele with a blank expression on her face.
"Follow me, please."
Angele nodded and followed after her.
First, the two went past the noisy bar and hallway. They then went upstairs twice and walked past multiple rooms and hallways guarded by soldiers. Finally, Angele arrived at a dark and quiet hall.
There were about ten people sitting in the hall.
Several of them were sitting together but the rest was all waiting patiently alone. Their outfits varied, some were half-naked.
Their dressing styles were different from the residents on the streets. They looked identical to the people at the west coast.
It seemed that the people in the hall were not concerned about Angele's presence. Two other people entered the hall before him and they just sat down in the chairs.
The light in the hall came from the four dim oil lamps on the round counter in the middle. The tiny orange flames barely brought any warmth to this mysterious space.
"Master Batall said you could stay here for as long as you want but you need to pay for the services. You can check in at the counter on the other side and accept some missions if you want to." Wendy finished the explanation, then she bowed to Angele and left.
Angele nodded slightly and walked straight to the counter.
"I want to check in."
"Master Green, right? The boss has already arranged a room for you. The room number is 101. Please carry this badge with you." A handsome waiter handed a small black badge to Angele. The engraving on its front side looked like a man with a bird's head.
"The badge will guide you to your room. This is the Dream Inn. We assure you a safe and comfortable stay." The waiter smiled.
********************
Angele rested for several days in the Dream Inn and spent some time getting familiar with the city. He then started searching for dangerous magical creatures around the area.
Sadly, the areas around the city were safe since they were guarded by the families or organizations in charge. If he wanted to find a large group of magical beasts, he would have to leave the safe zone.
It would take Angele too long to travel to the danger zone, so he decided to accept some missions from the inn.
The Dream Inn was created by the Dark Wizard Tower. Its members could accept quests there. The inn was the center of the underground world in the city.
Most of the missions were related to assassinations.
"Are you sure you want to accept a one-star mission?" the waiter asked in a light tone.
"Yes." Angele nodded.
"Sure. Based on your request, I'll find you a suitable target…" The waiter started checking a thick pile of leather paper.
He quickly pulled a paper out and handed it over to Angele.
"I think this is a good target for you."
Angele grabbed the paper and read it through.
"Good, I'll take this one." He tapped on the paper.
The information on the paper was simple: 'Assassinate wizard Neil within two days. Reward, 120 black coins.'
The black coin was the universal currency on the central continent. One black coin could be exchanged for one crystal card or 700 regular magic stone coins. Magic stone coins and black coins could be used in most of the stores in the city. There were several other types of coins here but not of them were as valuable.
It also mentioned that the wizard named Neil just broke the limit and became a formal wizard. His address, daily routine, and family members were all recorded on the paper. It seemed like Neil was discussing the price of a specific item with a merchant from the Molten River.
'Hey, you don't have to do dirty works like this, right?' Henn's voice echoed in his ear.
'You're correct.' Angele shook his head. The number of the crystal cards and black coins he had could be used to purchase a lot of resources. He accepted the mission only because he wanted to extract the life essence from the targets. He would be able to increase his mentality faster.
'I have my own reasons.'
*Creak*
Suddenly, the door of the hall was pushed open, and the emotionless waitress named Wendy entered the room. Two men wearing long black robes followed after her.
Angele turned his head around and narrowed his eyes.
It was the fourth time he saw Wendy bringing people to the inn. Most of them were new members that were selected from different areas. Only the most talented wizards would be recruited as formal members.
Chapter 281: New Start (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
The innkeeper was the red-haired man named Batall and the main function of this division was to send the new members to the proper departments.
There were more than ten people living in the inn at the moment, including Angele, and they were all sent to the division from other areas. The main hall of the inn was becoming busier and busier at present. Batall was a mysterious wizard in the eyes of the locals but he was nothing compared to the elites that were selected by the organization. He needed to make sure that everyone was happy with what they got.
Most of the elites here were rank 1 wizards but they were young. They were important new blood to the organization and they might be promoted as the core members in the future.
Angele watched Wendy explain the basics to two new members. Upon finishing her explanation, she left the hall.
The two black robes glanced around and sat down at an empty table.
Angele noticed that the two black robes were surrounded by a dangerous aura. Their mentality waves were strong but dense. He realized that the two had already reached the Crystal stage.
He saw many Gas and Liquid stage wizards in the hall, but it was the first time he saw Crystal stage wizards in the inn.
Angele did not want to make any enemies in the organization, so he decided to disguise his mentality well.
Crystal stage wizards like the two black robes most likely had wizard's blood on their hands. Angele did not want to draw their attention.
He put the leather paper into the pouch, then he turned around and left the counter. A wizard behind him walked to the counter right away and started talking with the waiter.
Angele found an empty table and he began observing the new faces brought to the inn recently.
There were about eight people in the hall at the moment. They were either looking at the others or thinking about something with their eyes closed. Most of them were surrounded by a dangerous aura and some of them were chatting by utilizing energy particles.
Angele felt surprised upon observing the mentality waves those wizards were releasing.
Half of the wizards in the hall were masking their actual strength since their mentality waves were strange.
Angele quickly asked the chip to scan the area and start an analysis.
The result was as expected. Only one of them was releasing their real mentality wave.
After checking the report from Zero, only two wizards in the hall were below the Crystal stage while the rest of them had all reached the Crystal stage. Moreover, every single one of them was carrying multiple enchanted items.
Angele was certain that the level of their enchanted items was high.
He made a conjecture that some of them might even have magic devices.
It seemed like those elites were supported by strong organizations with a significant number of rare resources. Angele, however, was different as he collected most of his rare resources by relying on himself.
There were several other wizards checking the mentality level of the people in the hall just like Angele. He could see the lights flashing in their eyes.
Angele's expression turned serious. Although he had the buff of the cursed scimitar, he doubted that he could kill a Crystal stage wizard easily. The enchanted items those wizards were carrying could change the outcome of the battles. A Liquid stage wizard's mentality level was much lower than a Crystal stage wizard. In contrast, a Crystal stage wizard could learn level-2 spells.
At this moment, he had realized that he was one of the weakest wizards in the organization.
Angele calmed down after thinking for a while. He stood up and left the hall, heading to the location indicated on the leather paper.
***************************
In the next several days.
Angele had finished two one-star missions easily. The consequences of the assassination were all taken care of by the organization.
It was like killing people legally. He had successfully increased his Mentality by 4 after extracting the life essences from the targets.
Without the buff from the scimitar, his mentality had already reached 57 points and it was getting closer to 71 points.
He had similarly noticed that he could usurp greater life essence from the wizards he killed than those of the magical beasts he hunted. Henn watched Angele's mentality level increase every time after he finished off a target. She was curious, but she did not ask any question.
Angele was seeing new faces every day in the main hall of the Dream Inn and just like him, several other wizards were completing missions.
Time passed and finally, the core member from the headquarters arrived.
***************************
"What's going on? Green, how was your last mission?"
Inside the main hall, Angele was sipping black coffee from a cup. Opposite of him was a red-haired young man chatting with him.
The man was wearing a red leather chest armor with tight black leather pants. A silver sword was tied to his belt. He looked like a handsome nobleman.
"Pretty good. We're in just a division, so the missions are on the easier side. We have finished most of the hard missions. The remaining ones are nothing," Angele responded in a calm tone. "Fono, how's your progression?"
"I'm doing well, but the hard missions are just too difficult for us…Others can handle them easily." The young man named Fono smiled. He closed his mouth and started communicating through energy particles. "You see those two black robes sitting behind us? They have just killed a rank 2 wizard two days ago."
"What?!" Angele was so surprised that he almost dropped the cup. His eyes fell onto the two black robes on the other table.
"They were not even wounded. The target's energy shield was destroyed before the target could realize. The rank 2 wizard died within seconds," Fono explained.
"That's why they are called elites…" Angele, still calming down, reacted.
"I need to talk to them. We should make some friends here." There was a confident smile on Fono's face. "I already know most of the people here, but I haven't talked to those two 'elites' yet." He stood up and walked to the black robes' table.
Angele was about to stop Fono but the young man had already started chatting with one of the black robes.
Angele had completed several missions with Fono. The main reason for that was because they were the two weakest wizards in the inn. Fono was a Liquid stage wizard who came from a remote area and he was nice and kind. He was proficient in collecting information from other new members and he enjoyed helping people. It was quite rare to find someone like him in the world of wizards.
Fono's action drew the attention of the other people in the hall. They, too, were curious about how the two black robes managed to slay a rank 2 wizard so easily.
Their conversation ended within seconds. The two black robes lowered their hoods together, revealing their faces for the first time.
Their hair was dark red, and their faces were identical. The one on the left was male and the one on the right was female. It seemed that they were twins. Both were young, and both had pale elastic skin.
However, they looked furious.
*PA*
Suddenly, the girl slapped Fono right in his face.
Fono was shocked. He just stood there completely dumbfounded.
"How dare you! You bastard!" The girl with long red hair had long narrowed her eyes, her cold gaze falling onto Fono.
Fono looked confused.
"I don't understand…Did I say anything offensive to you?" His mouth was bleeding.
Angele's brows furrowed. He glanced around. The other wizards in the hall had all lowered their heads and the people whom Fono once helped slowly walked away.
He was thinking if he should help Fono. They had met each other just several days ago. Angele doubted his chances in a battle against two wizards that could kill a rank 2 wizard.
However, the twins were already glaring at Angele while he was thinking. They must have thought Angele was Fono's friend.
'Well, there goes my plan.' Angele sighed and stood up.
"Masters, I don't know how Fono offended you, but I'll apologize to you for him," he spoke in a calm tone.
"Are you trying to help him?" The girl eyed Angele.
"Yeah, you don't kill a man for no reason," Angele responded. Although he was not confident in fighting the two, he still possessed his illusion signet and he did not think the situation was that awful.
Fono was grateful for what Angele just said.
"Whatever, draw your weapon." The girl had a blank expression on her face. She raised her right hand and a red sword was conjured out of nowhere. The engravings on the blade looked like twisted runes and monsters. Angele noticed the strange black crystal strings in the center of the blade. He was not sure if it was just a decoration.
"What the hell…I don't even understand why you're so mad," Fono muttered.
"Come on, stop. Everyone, and you, wizard Ellen, lower your sword." A deep male voice echoed in the hall. A tall muscular man with a goatee stepped into the door. He was wearing a military suit, and there was a serious expression on his face. "Alright, since you're all here, I'll start explaining the place we're heading to…"
Angele nodded slightly then he sat down.
The young man pulled the girl's sleeves and asked her to sit down.
Fono rubbed his face and returned to Angele's table.
"What the hell did you say to that girl? I can see the hatred in her eyes. She really wants to kill you." Angele communicated through energy particles.
Fono shook his head, he was still confused.
"Perhaps it's a cultural difference…I only greeted her in the most respectful way I know. It's the highest praise in my hometown…"
"Highest praise? Just tell me what you said." Angele's brows furrowed.
"Well, I said 'your boobs are beautiful' then showed her my respect with this gesture." Fono gave Angele a thumbs-up as he replied.
"…" Angele was absolutely speechless. He really wanted to know where this guy came from.