Chapter 500 - 282 - 290

Chapter 282: Mincola (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Angele did not want to comment on Fono's 'highest praise' that was commonly used in his hometown, but he also did not want to gain two strong enemies just because of that.

He explained why the girl was enraged to Fono and decided to keep a distance from him. Angele did not want to be caught in the crossfire again.

The man that had just entered the hall started explaining the situation in front of everyone.

"I don't care which area you came from. I don't care how strong your background is. Here in the central continent, you're just a weak rank 1 wizard!" The man glanced around. Everyone lowered their heads to avoid eye contact with him.

"I think you already learned the rules of our organization, so first you need to make your choice and sign the contract." The man waved his hands and a pile of black leather papers appeared from nowhere.

The paper was tied with a red string and black smoke was rising from it.

"Check the contract and read the duties listed on it. If you don't want to sign it, you can return to your division. Ask if you have any questions."

He threw the paper pile into the air.

The pile of black leather papers separated in the air and accurately flew to the seated wizards.

Angele watched a black paper noiselessly land on the table in front of him. He took it and started checking the information.

Everything was written in Metia.

The requirements were straightforward. The member must accept one mission provided by the organization every two years and the missions must be completed on time. For the potion masters and the enchantment masters, they needed to provide their services to the members at an 80% discount. Furthermore, if the organization was in a perilous situation, the signee would be summoned.

The organization would find a suitable role for its members in the society. The members also had the privilege to post missions in the organization, but they needed to provide the rewards themselves. A second mission could only be posted when the first one was taken.

Angele checked the contract and confirmed there was no trap in any form, so he signed it right away.

About ten minutes later, the wizards finished signing their contracts, and the leather papers flew back to the man's hand quickly. He checked the contracts carefully and put them into a bag.

"Next, you need to pick a normal organization to join so no one knows that you're working for us." He waved his right hand and dozens of objects appeared in the air.

Angele raised his hand and saw dozens of different items floating in the air. All the items were surrounded by black glows.

"Those are badges of other organizations," a wizard beside Fono muttered.

'That's it!' Henn's suddenly screamed in Angele's ear. 'Remember the deal we had? I'll give you the advanced meditation technique if you can do one thing for me."

'Of course.' Angele glanced around. The atmosphere in the hall was getting heavy for some reason.

The wizards in the hall all stared at the badges in the air. They already knew which organization they wanted to join.

'Join the Elemental Hand, that's my request.' Henn calmed down.

'Elemental Hand? Is it your organization?'

'It's my friend's organization. The organization has begun losing its power after I died, but it's still a much better choice compared the small organizations around the border. You won't regret it,' Henn responded.

'Is that so? No offense but I think you're hiding something from me. Which badge represents the Elemental Hand?'

'The silver ball-shaped one.'

Angele observed the badges in the air carefully.

He found the silver ball mentioned by Henn. It was on the right end. The ball was silver; it had the size of a small orange. Runes and flower patterns were engraved on its surface.

There were three silver balls which indicated they were only accepting three wizards.

The other organizations had also provided at least three badges.

The man with goatee looked satisfied when he saw all the wizards staring at the badges they wanted.

"Alright, I have something else to take care of. I'll be back in 20 minutes. Use your time wisely and make your decisions fast."

"I thought you'll arrange it for us based on our skill levels," A female wizard with a crisp voice stood up and said. The lady was wearing a long green robe, her face concealed with the hood. "If there are not enough badges for an organization we all want to join, we'll have to fight. Potion masters will be at a disadvantage."

"This time I'm the leader so you need to follow my decisions. Power will grant you privileges in this world. Only the weak talks about fairness all day. If you can win a fight against me, I'll give you the right to pick first." The man narrowed his eyes and responded in a calm tone.

"You!" The female wizard wanted to say something else but was stopped by her friend.

"I'll give you some advice before you make your decision," The man glanced around and spoke slowly, "The strongest organization's badge is located right in the middle. Weak ones are on the side."

He turned around and stepped out of the hall. His loud footsteps echoed in the hallway.

"Let's go!" a wizard shouted.

Suddenly, several red shadows jumped to the badges in the air.

At the same time, a green arrow, a black snake with translucent wings, and a long bloody hand flew toward the badges.

*BOOM*

The hall was in complete chaos.

A ball of green flame exploded in the air.

The impact of the explosion made the floor shake.

Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes.

He began to analyze the spells cast he was witnessing. Most of them could do over 60 degrees of damage. There were even several strong spells that could deal almost 100 degrees of damage.

The badges were blown away by the impact but were not damaged in any way.

Angele stayed focused. He strengthened the metal barrier on his skin, then he lowered his body and moved to the corner. The only thing that mattered to him was the badge of the Elemental Hand.

Fono was doing the same thing as Angele. He lowered his body beside the way and created a red energy barrier while moving slowly, searching for the badge he wanted.

*BAM*

Angele quickly leaped away.

A man in black smashed onto the floor right in front of him.

Several brown wooden chairs and tables were destroyed.

The man struggled for several seconds before he stood up again. He quickly formed a ball of dark energy on his right palm and jumped into the air again.

*BAM*

Countless red runes appeared on the walls in the hall which absorbed most of the excess energy to prevent the inn from being damaged.

Cold sweat was dripping down Angele's chin.

He checked the dark energy ball on that man's palm. Apparently, it could deal over 98 degrees of damage upon direct contact.

Such power could easily destroy his metal force shield and even kill him within seconds.

'Watch out! Coming from your right!' Henn suddenly warned.

Angele hesitated for a second before he'd leaped to the left.

*KA*

A high-pitched noise came from the location he was standing at.

A translucent energy ball soared into the air, turning into a vortex, then it disappeared after several seconds.

Angele's face turned pale. He asked Zero to analyze the power of the translucent energy ball right away.

'72 degrees…I'll be severely wounded if I take that hit. My force shield and the biochip did not even see it coming…'

Angele checked the trail of the translucent ball and realized that the situation in the hall had changed.

Most of the wizards were fighting in the center of the hall.

The battlefield was divided into three areas.

An old man with white hair was fighting against a female wizard in a red dress for a diamond-shaped badge. He was wearing a white swordsman suit.

The pure energy strikes coming from their forcefields destroyed every object around them. They were both close-combat wizards and their weapons were infused with different elements. The energy shields around their bodies could block at least 100 degrees of damage.

The twins in black robes and a male wizard that dressed like a barbarian were fighting against a handsome man in a noble suit. The man had a blank expression on his face, holding a white wooden wand. White laser beams were being emitted from the tip of the wand. Angele saw some black bats protecting the man from being damaged by the spells. It looked like the man held the upper hand as they continued fighting for a book-shaped badge.

The last area was in chaos. More than ten translucent energy balls were flying around several wizards. They were trying their best to support the energy barriers, but the situation was getting worse. The energy ball that almost hit Angele came from this area, but he was not sure which badge they were fighting for.

Wizards that were not aiming for the strongest organizations all stayed beside the walls and were going for the badges from weaker organizations.

Angele lowered his body and started moving again. The wizards fighting for badges right in the center were all stronger than him under normal circumstances. He had the illusion signet, but the others also had their own secret weapons.

He advanced slowly while he observed how the others fought.

Several minutes later, only the wizards in the center of the hall were still fighting. Their spells were coming from all angles and every furniture in the hall was destroyed.

Chapter 283: Mincola (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

The wizards at the center of the hall finished their fights within ten minutes. The three strongest wizards silently stood there with the badges they wanted in their possession. The rest of the wizards had chosen to stay away from them.

The old man wearing a white swordsman suit was holding a diamond-shaped badge with a stern gaze.

The handsome man in a noble suit held a long, white wooden wand in one hand and the book-shaped badge in the other.

The last winner was a humpbacked man with a pair of white eyes. His body was surrounded by distorted force waves and a golden square badge was floating in front of him.

Several wizards had fainted on the floor and the injured ones were staring at the three winners with disappointed expressions.

The three wizards eyed each other and started communicating through energy particles. It seemed that they had something else to discuss.

Angele had no time to check the situation at the center. He followed the badge of the Elemental Hand but realized that there was a man in a green suit going after it as well.

One of the badges lay quietly on the floor in front of the two wizards.

The light of the hall had faded after the oil lamps were broken. Only the energy particles around the wizards were brightening up the area.

Angele could see the strange red glow around his opponent's eyes.

"Friend, I'm Mincola of Sethy. If you let me have this badge, I'll pay you well. This is not the only Elemental Hand badge anyway," the man muttered.

"Same to you, wizard Mincola. You can go find the other ones for which I'll pay you well. I'll keep my promise. What do you say?" Angele responded in a relaxed tone.

Elemental Hand was a relatively weak organization and there were not many wizards going after its badges.

The rarity of the badges could be divided into four levels. If level one was the highest level, the badge of Elemental Hand would be at level three which was still much better than the ones at level four.

Angele knew that there were only ten badges at level one to level three and the rest was all level four badges. There were around 30 wizards in the hall and it seemed like the leader wanted to them to fight for the best badges.

"Let's fight then." The man sighed and shook his head. "You can go for the other two badges or the weaker ones. They're still good organizations…"

"Why don't you do that if you know more about the weak organizations?" Angele sneered.

Spells started flying around in the hall again. The rest of the rank 1 wizards were either fighting for the level two badges or trying to find the level four badges. The ones that already acquired the badges had moved to the door and watched the others fight, including the wounded wizards that had to aim for the level four badges.

Angele talked with his opponent because he did not want the others to snatch the badge while he was still fighting.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at the man named Mincola.

The levels of their mentality waves were high. Although Angele was a Liquid stage wizard, he was certain that he could win the fight against a Crystal stage wizard.

The ball-shaped badge was in the middle of the two wizards, but no one was moving.

The atmosphere was getting heavier and heavier.

"Whatever…" Angele suddenly straightened his back and shrugged. "You can have this badge. I know that you don't have a teammate. Why don't you help me get another Elemental Hand badge? What do you say?"

Mincola hesitated for a second, then he chuckled. "Sure, I can do that. But are you sure about this?"

"Of course." Angele loosened his expression and smiled. "There is more than one badge of Elemental Hand."

He took a step back to show his honesty.

Mincola gave Angele a contemplative gaze, "I promise you that I'll help you find one after I pick it up."

"Sure." Angele nodded slightly and stopped moving.

Mincola walked to the badge and crouched.

*KA*

A silver scimitar that was infused with electricity almost hit his head.

*Clank*

The wind brought by the strong slash blew Mincola's hair and clothes to the air. Blood leaked out of his mouth, eyes, and nose. He barely blocked the strike with a glowing crescent glaive.

"You!"

Angele pursed his lips into a smile, turned around, and slashed forward again.

*BAM*

Mincola rolled to the left, smashing into the wall. A deep, black crack was left in the position he was at.

Angele rotated the handle of the scimitar and the other half of the blade popped up from the bottom of the handle; strings of green gas twisted around his wrist.

He picked up the Elemental Hand badge and looked at Mincola.

"Naïve. I guess I'm the winner."

Mincola sat on the ground and struggled for several seconds. There were still fear in his eyes. Angele reminded him of someone he was familiar with, a man that would do anything to get the best result.

"I lost." He pursed his lips and stood up.

Angele checked the ball-shaped badge he just acquired, then he turned around and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Mincola suddenly shouted.

"What?" Angele turned his head around.

"I have an offer for you. Help me get an Elemental Hand badge and I'll give you rare materials in exchange," Mincola said, word by word.

"Why would you trust me? I just lied to you." Angele shook his head.

"In Sethy, even wizards keep their promises," the man responded in a calm tone.

Angele stared at the man for ten seconds then slightly nodded.

"Sure, I'll help you. Ha."

Mincola looked at the man in front of him. He almost looked like the terrifying person in his memory.

This man was the same type of person as his elder brother. He gasped as the memories came back to him.

'Brother…I'll catch up…' A person with seemingly similar features to Angele began to emerge from the depths of his mind.

Mincola's brother was named Minlan. Just standing in front of this brother of his would already cause Mincola to tremble from fear. The terrifying man always had a smile on his face, as though nothing could stop him.

Mincola was as weak as an ant in Minlan's eyes. Thus, the former wanted to change and improve himself so that his brother would look at him in a different way.

Angele looked like Mincola with his brow furrowed.

Henn was explaining the situation of Sethy to him. It was a famous area at the northwest of the city.

There were many swamps in Sethy which were under the control of many strong wizard organizations. Although it could not be compared to Omandis, Sethy was still richer than the west coast.

The strongest wizard organization in Sethy had the same name as the area. It seemed that Mincola was one of its members, but Angele was not sure why this man's attitude suddenly changed.

Angele tricked Mincola and acquired the badge but he did not want to make too many enemies. His mentality was getting closer to the requirement and he needed to collect the materials for the ritual.

They worked together and won the fight against three wounded wizards easily. Mincola acquired another Elemental Hand badge successfully.

As a close-combat wizard, Angele's Agility and Strength stats were horrifying to the extent that his enemies would be taken out easily if they did not pay enough attention. His body was much stronger than the Crystal wizards that were still fighting for badges.

There were two energy shields in front of Mincola, one from his Talent Spell and the other from the advanced meditation technique he was training in. The two shields could easily block about 60 degrees of damage, but Angele wrecked these in one strike.

Mincola guessed that Angele's strength came from his physical body.

Angele was a Liquid stage wizard and most of the other wizards in the hall were all Crystal stage wizards. However, his attributes were quite high. Therefore, he could move faster, hit harder, and recover quicker.

20 minutes passed.

Mincola stood by the door and watched Angele treat his wound.

There was a long gash on Angele's left arm. It was so deep that his bone was already exposed. However, the wound was healing at an unbelievable speed, and the only thing he did was applying some healing dust to the area.

About ten seconds later, only a long red scab with the width of an index finger was left on the wounded area.

"That was good," Angele muttered as he observed the scab. "If that hit my bone, I'll have to spend two days to rest."

'This guy has the recovery ability of a mutated beast…' Mincola shook his head. He was happy that he made a wise decision.

Angele was hit by an element-infused weapon from a Crystal stage wizard, but it only took ten seconds for such wound to heal.

Angele was not surprised. His Stamina was over 10 points which were higher than an average mutated beast's. The mutated mammoth's Stamina was around seven to eight and it was already considered as one of the strongest beasts in the wild.

The strike dealt around 70 degrees of damage and his metal barrier was destroyed immediately. Angele leaned to the right so only his left arm was damaged. The attack could have killed him if it hit his chest.

The leader had already returned to the hall. Fono was standing beside a female wizard. His face was pale, and there was a level four badge in his hand.

"Good. Now, everyone has a badge," the man spoke in a loud tone, "Alright. Please go to your destinations within two days and join the organizations using your badges. You can do whatever you want in your free time. Ah, I have some information for you.

"First, you can join the competition in the arena if you want. Second, some people robbed the treasures of several local families, and they are being tracked down in the mountains. Many wizards are going after them."

"Are those events related to us?" a wizard asked. "Or…do you mean we can accept them as missions of the Dark Wizard Tower?"

"You're correct. The reward for the missions is good. You can ask for the details from the one who posted them." The man nodded. "One more thing. Local families are fighting for the mines but it's not our business. Don't get involved. The family heads have already talked to me, so we need to respect them."

The leader left the hall directly after finishing his explanation.

The walls were not damaged but everything else was destroyed. The spells cast by the wizards were too strong after all.

The three strongest wizards followed the leader out of the hall and the rest of the wizards started leaving as well.

Angele said goodbye to Fono and exchanged communication runes with Mincola. They decided to complete their trade later; he left the inn alone.

On both sides of the river outside the inn, the green leaves of the trees were flying in the air. It was night time. The clean light from the two crescent moons illuminated on the ground.

The only noise was made by the insects and the water in the river.

Angele walked down the street slowly, it was cold and quiet. There were several drunk men leaving the taverns and they could barely walk a straight line.

'I went for the badge of Elemental Hand as you said. You'll give me the advanced meditation technique, won't you?' Angele asked.

'Of course. Since you can increase your mentality just by killing, you'll meet the requirement for the Crystal stage quickly. Mincola promised to provide you with the needed materials for the ritual so you're all settled now,' Henn responded in a nonchalant tone.

'You're right. I'll start preparing for the ritual.' Angele nodded slightly.

Chapter 284: The Crystal Stage (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

Henn gave Angele two options in selecting the advanced meditation technique.

She had the complete version of two different advanced meditation techniques.

The first was called Banner's Crystal Illusion and the second was called Mask of the Black Wing—both of which Angele had never heard of before.

'The Banner's Crystal Illusion will improve your illusion spells. The Mask of the Black Wing will improve your negative energy spells in many ways,' Henn explained.

'I'll go with the Mask of the Black Wing then. I don't think illusion-related skills are the best for me,' Angele struggled for a second before he responded.

'I haven't finished yet. The improvement that comes with the Banner's Crystal Illusion will become increasingly stronger as you progress through it. But the spell enhancement of the Mask of the Black Wing will only be applied if you're lucky. Make the choice wisely.'

Angele slowly walked along the river thinking about the options given by Henn.

After several minutes.

'I'll go with the Mask of the Black Wing. There are just too many limitations on illusion-related skills.' His expression was blank.

'Alright, I'll transmit the advanced meditation technique right now. Find a safe place, then we can start.'

'Sure.'

Angele walked down the street and headed to Batall's house. He was the one who welcomed Angele and he was also the boss of the Dream Inn.

He rented a small house in a remote area and notified Mincola through the communication rune. Angele started preparing for the ritual after moving into that house.

He was still accepting assassination missions and increasing his mentality level through the extraction of life essences.

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

Half a year later…

A two-story gray house sat quietly in the remote area of the city. There was white smoke leaking out of the window on the second floor, and a strange stench suffused in the air.

The house was surrounded by greenery and the place was quiet.

The orange light of the setting sun illuminated the surface of the house.

*Creak*

The door of the house was pushed open from the inside and a young man with long brown hair stepped out of the door. His eyes were surrounded by a golden glow and his face was pale.

The man was wearing a long white cloak, he locked out and stepped onto the grasses.

'Green, how's your progress?' A hoarse voice echoed in the man's ears.

'Not bad.' Angele nodded. 'But…' He suddenly stopped.

He raised his head and looked around.

There were two men wearing gray cloaks waiting for him on the side.

One of them waved his hand as he smiled upon seeing Angele.

The other man walked to Angele as he spoke, "How's it going? Green, the things you asked for is here." The man had an average-looking face, but his voice was deep and attractive.

"Great, you delivered them on time." Angele shook the man's hand. "Mincola, when are you going to report to the organization?"

"It should take us about seven to eight days to travel to Elemental Hand. We can travel together if you want." Mincola smiled.

"For sure. Let's go see the materials you prepared for me now." Angele nodded slightly and turned to the other man. "Rose, did you meet Mincola on the way here?"

The man called Rose nodded as he responded, "Yeah, I was heading to the inn and met Mincola by the door."

"How many of you are going to Elemental Hand? Do you have a number?" Angele asked.

"Yeah, I do actually. You, me, Rose, and a female wizard from the Drum Canyon. The date and time have already been decided. I'll tell you about it later." Rose came to the city not so long ago and he acquired an Elemental Hand badge from his leader. Mincola was the person who introduced Angele to Rose during a mission.

Angele chatted with the two wizards on their way to a small store with a dark gold signage on the side.

It was late in the afternoon and there were many people walking on the street. He saw several farmers returning to their home and there were several noblemen chatting at the roadside. There were also several soldiers that had just finished their duty having dinner in small restaurants. They had placed their helmets on the tables and were chattering in loud voices.

The noise made by the river, the wind, and people talking mixed together.

There were several sandwich vendors on the side of the streets and the small restaurants started selling barbeques as night came.

The wizards had not put any badges on their cloaks, so no one knew of their identities.

They could be normal adventurers or Knights in disguise. Apart from them, there were also several elves walking around with their faces covered by masks.

The three wizards waited on the side of the store quietly. People were constantly entering and leaving the establishment.

"Alright, let's enter the store," Mincola confirmed the location once again, then he stepped into the door.

Angele and Rose followed after him.

Angele checked the words written on the dark gold signage as he entered the door.

'The Enchantment Shop'

There were already many people in the store.

"The price is the best you can get. You can check other enchantment stores if you don't believe me. I have spent a lot of money on the maintenance and materials of this chest armor. My profit is lower than one magic stone…" The owner of the store was talking with a dwarf warrior.

Mincola made a hand gesture at the owner as he entered the door.

The owner stopped what he was doing for a second. Nodding at Mincola, he also waved his right hand.

A young girl walked to the wizards from the side. She bowed to them and turned around, heading to the back of the counter.

The three wizards did not say anything but just followed the girl.

The girl led them to the dark backyard behind the store.

The small backyard was surrounded by walls and there was white jade cylinder standing in the center of the yard quietly. The cylinder had the width of an elephant's feet and it was about two meters tall.

"This is the item you ordered, master Mincola," The girl pointed at the jade cylinder and spoke in a low voice.

"What's the price?" Mincola nodded.

"You don't need to pay for this. The owner said the money you paid last time is more than enough," the girl replied.

"Alright, you can leave now. We need to have a conversation here."

The girl bowed and returned to the store.

Mincola walked to the jade cylinder and wiped the dust off it with a piece of cloth.

"Green, this is the ritual cylinder you asked me to purchase for you. It fits your requirement perfectly. It's the highest quality you can find. With this, you should have a higher chance of advancing to the Crystal stage."

Angele nodded in response. He then walked to the jade cylinder and started observing it.

The surface of the jade stone was covered with strange runes and strings. Angele only recognized a small part of the runes.

He tapped the cylinder with his right hand.

*Dang*

It produced a crisp noise.

Angele was satisfied with the result. He took out a small glass tube that was filled with purple dust and threw it to Mincola.

"Thanks, here's some healing dust for you."

Mincola caught the tube and checked the content, then he smiled.

"Green, everything is ready, right? You have your resources now, so you can attempt to advance to the Crystal stage." He looked at Green.

"Yeah, you're right. But I still need to spend some time checking the materials." Angele had nothing to hide.

"Do you think you'll succeed this time? I think you should slow down. You're young and you have plenty of time," Rose advised.

"No one knows, Rose. I have already spent enough time on the preparation." Angele shook his head. "Alright, can you arrange some workers to carry this thing to my house?"

"I have already arranged the workers so don't worry. Now that your requirement is fulfilled, we can go check Rose's materials." Mincola turned to Rose. "You have time, right?"

"Sure, much appreciated."

"Haha, we're friends." Mincola chuckled. "Let's go. I spent a lot of time finding the materials you asked for this time."

"Sorry, but I want to go back to my house now," Angele interrupted.

"Wait, you don't want to miss this. I'm sure you'll be surprised. I've only seen it in the books…"

"Fine…" But Angele was not interested at all.

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

Angele returned to his house after they finished checking out Rose's new materials.

He heard some people yelling from the right as he stepped on the grassy field.

"Run! He's back!" a freckle-faced boy shouted.

There were five kids peeking through the gaps between the fences curiously who ran away after seeing Angele return to the house.

The kids were from the mortal families and were not talented. In the central continent, the wizards would test the infants and check if they were talented. The gifted ones would be sent to the wizard organizations, but the chances were low for mortals. There were about ten talented mortals in the thousands of kids that took the test.

Children with insufficient talent would be sent to normal schools and taught by assigned teachers. Thus, they had plenty of time to play.

Angele chuckled and shook his head. He walked to his house and opened the door with a key.

Two muscular workers carried the white jade cylinder into the house and placed it carefully at the center of the living room. They then bowed to Angele and stepped out of the door.

Angele locked the door and walked to the jade cylinder. He slowly rubbed the surface of the stone. Blue light dots were flashing in front of his eyes.

'What are you doing? I have always wanted to ask why your mentality wave gets unstable from time to time.' Henn's voice echoed in Angele's ears.

Angele smiled but did not say anything. He knew that Henn could not detect the presence of the biochip.

'Whatever. Have you removed your metal shield completely yet? And the metal elements in your body, eliminate them as well lest your progress will be affected.' Henn was not too concerned about Angele's unstable mentality wave.

'Everything has been prepared.' Angele nodded.

'If you can successfully advance to the Crystal stage this time, the second mentality crystal will be much easier to form. The Mask of the Black Wing is helpful if you want to infuse your mentality with elements. It's one of the best advanced meditation techniques in the category.' Henn felt pride with what she had given to Angele.

Chapter 285: The Crystal Stage (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

'I wonder what happened to Stigma. Is his progress faster than mine with the help of Arisma?' Angele suddenly questioned. He was not worried about himself at all. According to the simulation, the chances of him successfully advancing to the Crystal stage was over 90%.

'I don't think so. That kid fits Arisma's system perfectly. If everything goes through as they planned, he'll start preparing to advance to the Crystal stage soon,' Henn responded.

'Well, I think I should focus on my own progression more.' Angele took a deep breath and walked to the cylinder. He put both hands on top of the cylinder and started meditating.

'First, you need to remove the impurities from your mentality and use the jade cylinder to increase your mentality to a certain level. Second, you should consume all the needed materials you collected and compress your mentality. You're on your own now,' Henn advised in a light tone.

'I understand,' Angele responded.

The glowing crystals on the walls faded as soon as they finished their conversation. The whole room sank into darkness.

*CHI*

The cylinder produced slight noises.

Rays of green light were released from the top of the jade cylinder.

The green light leaked out of the gaps between Angele's finger and illuminated on the ceiling.

The whole living room looked horrifying.

*CHI*

Most of the green light disappeared except for the one on Angele's forehead.

The green light created a tunnel that connected Angele to the jade cylinder.

Small white light particles were floating in the light tunnel, they were coming out of Angele's forehead, and the particles were quickly absorbed by the jade cylinder.

Angele remained in that position as he slowly fell into slumber.

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

One month later…

Inside the living room, thick white dust covered the jade cylinder, the floor, and Angele's body.

The number of white light particles coming out of his forehead was reducing.

After about two hours later.

There were no longer any white light particles in the green light.

Angele suddenly opened his eyes and stumbled two steps back.

His body had become weak, and his cheeks had become thin. There was almost no soul in his eyes. Angele trembled for several seconds and almost fell to the ground.

'Wait…What happened to me?' Angele became flabbergasted when he felt he was too weak now.

'There are too many impurities in your mentality. Removing impurities is the same as consuming your mentality. You haven't eaten anything for a month. Go to the second floor and start the next step now,' Henn responded in a strange tone.

'One month? What? Why didn't you wake me up?' Angele was speechless. Zero was not able to wake him from such a state.

'Well, I wanted to know what you look like when you're weak, ha. It's quite…interesting.' Henn chuckled.

'Happy now?' Angele turned around. With the help of the railings, he slowly walked upstairs. 'Our souls are connected, so you will die if anything happens to me. Make your decisions wisely.'

'Nothing will happen. You're weak now but you still have me.' Henn was not concerned.

Angele rubbed his temples and entered the potions room on the second floor.

Three special materials were lined on a large table, which had been prepared before the advancement had started.

'Different wizards need different materials for the ritual. They're selected because they fit the properties of your mentality. I can't help you in this step. You need to figure out how to make the most out of these materials,' Henn advised.

Angele nodded and looked at the table.

Each of the materials was covered by a red cage.

The cages were formed by red electric pulses.

The electric bars were flashing and sparking.

The noises made by the electricity were quite annoying.

Angele raised his hand and reached for the first cage.

*CHI*

Suddenly, the red electric pulses turned into a red rune and disappeared into the air, revealing the item stored in the cage.

It was a white egg with an appearance identical to a chicken egg.

Angele grabbed the egg, knocking it on the table several times.

He removed the eggshell slowly and looked at it.

Inside the egg was some light-yellow substance that had the texture of a banana. There was no egg yolk or egg white.

Furthermore, the yellow substance smelled exactly like a banana. The intense fragrance rushed into Angele's nose.

He remained calm and removed all the shells. What was left was a piece of yellow flesh.

Angele tapped on the flesh with the index finger of his right hand.

The yellow flesh was ignited right away, and the yellow flames crackled in the area around him.

Angele narrowed his eyes.

He grabbed the flesh and threw it into his mouth. He chewed the flesh several times and swallowed it.

Intense pain began to ravage from within his mouth. Angele struggled several seconds, and it felt like swallowing a piping hot iron. The burning flesh's temperature was high, and it was sizzling in his stomach.

Angele opened his mouth.

*CHI*

White smoke began to seep out of his throat.

His mouth was completely black, and it smelled like burnt barbeque meat.

Angele quickly grabbed the second item.

It was an old book with a star sign as the only thing on its cover and it was quite heavy.

Angele opened the book slowly, but he only found a single page.

In the center of the page, there was a dried-up fairy, flat like a piece of paper, surrounded by distorted energy waves.

The fairy was thin, and its eyes gray. It had no mouth or nose; its ears were long and sharp. The fairy's dried-up body was trapped in a web of tree roots and the roots covered the whole page.

The dried fairy's arms were stretched outward making it look like a 'Y' character.

"The book of savior, please tell me your wish." Angele's voice had become hoarse and deep due to the burnt, but he was speaking in the ancient language.

White glows surrounded the fairy's eyes after Angele finished the incantation.

Strings of white light rushed out of its eyes and flew into Angele's burnt mouth.

The dried-up fairy on the paper started struggling once Angele began to absorb the white light. The fairy slowly stood up and the roots were being destroyed one by one. It looked like the web was the only thing restricting the fairy's power.

'Hurry! Close the book!' Henn's voice interrupted, sounding nervous.

Angele was surprised. He tried to grab the book immediately.

*CHI*

The seemingly infinite white electric pulses were jumping out of the book and they were trying to block Angele's hands.

The force was pushing Angele's hands back slowly.

"Ha…"

The fairy raised his head and stared at Angele. The web that was stopping it from moving was almost destroyed.

The white electric pulses almost blinded his eyes.

Angele's face was twitching, he used all the strength he had but his body was just too weak.

'Damn! What should I do now?! Don't tell me…'

'You have to do it! That's the only choice you have left. Hurry! I'll buy you some time!' Henn was almost shouting.

'I…!' Angele watched the fairy standing up. He narrowed his eyes.

'Do it! Right now! You chose to use the level-3 cursed book. You should know the consequences! No one knows what's going to happen if the fairy gets freed!'

Angele blinked his eyes and made the decision.

'Alright!'

He took a deep breath and inhaled all the light into his mouth. His mouth had already recovered from the injury and returned to its original color.

'Ready…go!' Henn yelled.

*PA*

Angele reached toward the book and grabbed the fairy. His fingers started melting and a sour smell permeated the air.

He had no time to think so he threw the fairy into his mouth before it could realize what had just happened.

However, the fairy started moving in his mouth right away. Angele chewed it into pieces and swallowed everything. It tasted like a rotten orange.

*BOOM*

The book on the table suddenly set ablaze.

The book disintegrated in the red flames and turned into a small pile of white ash.

'Well, I guess everything is edible on this land.' Angele looked at the table and pursed his lips.

'It's just you. Your bloodline is complicated. I can see the harpy blood but it's different. It's something I don't really understand. Your stomach is stronger than most mutated beasts in this world. There's also a strong energy wave helping your digestive system…' Henn explained. 'You can use the last material to…repair your body, I think.'

'I thought you were joking when you asked me to swallow it if things went south…' Angele recalled the moment that the fairy was still moving in his mouth. It truly was an unpleasant experience for him.

'You succeeded in the end. That's all that matters,' Henn stopped for a second and continued, 'So…how does it feel? You're a Crystal stage wizard now.'

Angele spat out a brown root from the web and there was a blank expression on his face.

'I want to vomit.'

Chapter 286: Meeting (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

'There's still a long way to go and you have so many things to do.'

'I understand.' Angele nodded slightly and reached for the last material.

*CHI*

The red electric bars on the cage turned into a red rune and disappeared.

It looked like a bunch of purple grapes.

Angele carefully lifted the grapes up and tapped on a grape slightly.

The grape was absorbed by his finger and only the dried skin was left.

'The Thousand Eye Fruit will cure your body. Consume one each day. You will feel better after one month and you will fully recover in a year,' Henn said. 'Make sure you're well rested before doing anything else. You do not want the consequences to happen.'

'I understand.' Angele nodded.

'Alright, go meditate now. Although you have an advanced meditation technique, it will still take some time for your mind and body to get used to it. Everything will be better in half a year. I'll have some rest now.' It seemed Henn was exhausted after watching Angele advance to the next stage.

'Sure, go have some rest. I can do the rest myself,' Angele responded.

Angele stood beside the table and put down the grapes, starting to think afterward.

After several minutes, he gave Zero an order.

'Check my condition.'

A large number of blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes as the chip reported back.

'Task created, checking…'

About half minutes later, the results were shown in his sight.

'Angele Rio, Strength 8.0, Agility 7.7, Stamina 15.2, Mentality 75.1, Mana 57.2. Genetic limitation reached.'

Angele's brows furrowed.

'My Mentality increased to 75 points yet my mana is lower than 60 points…Why is that? Can you analyze it for me?'

Rows of blue data were being refreshed in his sight every second. It almost looked like a flowing waterfall.

After about ten minutes, the data slowly stopped.

Angele checked all the information and finally understood what had happened. If the mentality was not stabilized, his Mana would never increase.

'Show me my all the information regarding my energy variations. I want to create new battle plans.' Angele ordered as his eyes blinked.

'Loading data…Analyzing…'

The energy variation information would tell Angele about his affinity with the different energy particles.

Angele's body was affected by the ring from Ramsoda. Mainly due to that reason, he had high affinity with Fire and Wind particles. Most of the spells he mastered and modified at the moment were in those two categories.

However, it seemed the ancient bloodline was modifying his body slowly. He needed to recheck his affinity with the energy particles so that he could choose the best level 2 spell for him.

It only took several minutes for Zero to report back.

A bar chart floated in front of Angele's eyes.

The energy particle element that had the highest affinity with Angele was displayed on the leftmost part and the weakest one was displayed on the rightmost part.

The glowing red bar representing the Fire energy particles was the longest.

The second one was the Metal energy particles and the bar was silver.

The third one was the Illusion energy particles and the bar was translucent.

The last one was green which represented the Wind energy particles.

Angele hesitated for several seconds and started thinking.

'It seems that the changes made by the bloodline do not impact my affinity with certain energy particles…The illusion and metal energy particle affinity are new but they're still weaker than the fire affinity.'

The wind affinity came from the ring, but it seemed that he was born with fire affinity and the strongest spell he could cast was in the Fire category.

'So the Mask of Black Wing will be able to buff my spells from time to time, and as an advanced meditation technique, it can help me increase my affinity with one of the four energy particles.'

Angele had already noticed where the problem lay.

The forcefield from the Metal Mastery could help him both defensively and offensively during a battle. He thought that this Talent Spell was powerful but using it was hard in a practical sense. The spells that focused on either offense or defense were stronger than the forcefield he had.

The metal skills only helped him initiate a battle and protect his body. The illusion signet was the deciding factor in the outcome of the battles.

Angele did not think too much about the affinity with the energy particles but then the situation changed.

He was not born with the metal affinity but came from the Metal Mastery. It seemed like the power of the forcefield was not as strong as he had initially thought but Zero had modified the Talent Spell to make it stronger. Angele wondered if an average Fire spell would help him more in a fight.

'Should I increase my fire affinity and stamina using the advanced meditation technique instead?' Angele rubbed his chin and pursed his lips.

He finally made up his mind after thinking for half an hour. He decided to increase his affinity with the Fire energy particles.

Angele had made the wrong decision while choosing the Talent Spell before, so he decided to be more prudent this time.

He checked the defensive matrix around the house and returned to the center of the potions room.

Angele sat on the floor with his legs crossed and started meditating.

Time flew past.

One hour later.

A thin layer of black smoke appeared on Angele's face.

The black smoke was moving around, releasing a distorted energy wave.

The smoke became increasingly thicker as time passed.

It then turned into a solidified black mask and covered Angele's face.

The mask was simple; there was no complicated pattern or rune painted on it.

Another half an hour passed.

Suddenly, a red light dot appeared between his eyebrows.

The red dot turned into a small fireball and it was surrounded by a red glow.

The fire extinguished by itself after about ten minutes.

*Crack*

The black mask broke into countless pieces and slid down Angele's face.

The broken mask turned into black smoke and vanished into the air before it hit the floor.

Angele opened his eyes and raised his right arm, chanting the incantation of the Lesser Fireball slowly.

Countless red light dots gathered on Angele's palm like fireflies.

A ball of fire was formed quickly.

The fireball had the size of a human's head. Several seconds later, the fireball shrank and turned into a walnut-sized red bead floating above the center of Angeles' right palm.

Angele looked at the modified Lesser Fireball and scanned it using the biochip.

The spell could deal around 40 degrees of damage, but it had already reached its limit.

There was only so much a level 1 spell could do.

However, the amount of damage the spell could deal was increased to 50 degrees after the meditation.

'So this is the result of increasing my fire affinity?' Angele finished the analysis and the blue light dots vanished into the air.

'What about level 2 spells? I'm at the Crystal stage right now. I can learn one level 2 spell, but I don't have any spell models in my possession. Seems like I must acquire one from the Dark Wizard Tower or from Henn.' Angele blinked his eyes.

*WOO*

The fire bead turned into countless red light dots and disappeared into the air. The temperature in the room was increased by several degrees Celsius.

'Do you really think that's all the black mask can do?' Henn's voice echoed in his ears.

'I thought you were going to have a good rest.' Angele was surprised.

Henn sneered. 'I told you already that the Mask of Black Wing is a great advanced meditation technique. This technique has five stages. You have just started the first stage. When you actually complete the first stage, you will acquire a special forcefield just like the one from your Talent Spell, and you can increase an energy affinity again. The next four stages are the same. You'll be able to increase the affinity of your choice twice at each stage. The higher the stage you're trained in this meditation technique, the higher your selected affinity will be increased.'

Angele was getting confused.

'How is that even possible? This advanced meditation technique exceeds my expectation a whole lot now…' he responded.

'…You missed the point,' Henn explained. ��You'll reach rank 3 if you can complete the third stage in 300 years and you'll already be considered a genius. Kid, you need a high mentality level to train in advanced meditation techniques and the technique might increase your chance of advancing to the next rank. That's the reason why there are more wizards in the central continent than the other areas. The best advanced meditation technique could increase the chance by half!'

'What? Only half?'

'What do you know…? The higher a wizard's rank is, the harder the progression will be. If you fail to advance to the next rank, it will cost you a huge amount of resources to fix your body. Arisma is assisting Stigma right now but I think her meditation technique is at the same level to the one I have given you, unless they decided to use some special methods…But there will be side effects.'

Angele scrunched up his forehead.

'So you're saying that the advanced meditation technique will help a wizard progress to the next rank and that's how wizards in the central continent advance?'

'Yeah, you're correct.' Henn confirmed Angele's assumption. 'Wizards in other regions have to waste a significant number of resources but we have a clear direction. That's the biggest difference.'

Chapter 287: Meeting (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

'How did you manage to keep all the advanced meditation techniques in the central continent?'

'There were people selling the weaker advanced meditation techniques to others. They somehow managed to avoid having to sign the contract but the number can be ignored. Only the strongest and richest wizards in other areas might have access to those techniques. Also, not all the wizards could understand the techniques. Otherwise, there should have been more high-rank wizards on this land than it is now.'

'Why is it so hard then? I succeeded on my first try.' Angele wondered.

'No one knows. Wizards have spent years studying the fundamentals of the advanced meditation techniques but there was hardly any valid result. The advanced meditation techniques were inherited from the ancient wizards who found these techniques in other realms,' Henn explained.

'Other realms? Do you know about the Nightmare Realm? Don't tell me wizards in the central continent have already found the method of activating world stones…' Angele was surprised.

'The Nightmare Realm is just one of the realms. I don't know if there are wizards in the central continent that can enter other realms, but they do know how to use world stones to communicate with the species that live in certain realms. The intelligent species in other realms are all strong and mysterious. The Nightmare Realm is relatively safe when compared to the other realms, but legends say the creatures there will consume your soul. Those creatures are the masters of strong curses. The curse will kill a wizard's whole family if not lifted in time,' Henn continued.

'There are also the Void Realm and Chaos Realm. Don't even test your luck in those realms. Only those dark wizards who have lost their life's purpose would give them a try.'

Angele listened to Henn's words quietly, inwardly relieved that he did not stay in the Nightmare Realm for too long.

'Anyways, it's too early to talk about this with you. I'll tell you more about the other realms when the time is right.' Henn decided to end the topic here.

'Master Henn, I have just advanced to the Crystal stage. I'm wondering if you can give some Fire category level 2 spells?' Angele went straight to the point.

'Ha, kid, do you remember what the basics of the wizard world are? We need to trade if you want anything from me.' Henn chuckled.

'I understand…What do you want me to do this time?' Angele shrugged. Henn's words were well within his expectations. She would not help Angele for no reason.

'Find me the female wizard called Vivian Fenrir. She should still be a member of the Elemental Hand if I'm not mistaken. Go find her and I'll give you the spell models you want.'

'Alright. I will look for her right after I reach the organization's territory, but it will take some time…Can't you just give me the level 2 spells first?' Angele pursed his lips. 'I just realized that I can ask for the models after I get there.'

'You're an elite member of Dark Wizard Tower and a talented potion master. I think they'll give you access to the normal level 2 spell models. However, I have the modified ones and the damage they can deal is doubled. That's your decision to make.' Henn sneered.

'You're telling me that the Elemental Hand and Dark Wizard Tower don't have the modified version of the spell models?' Angele asked.

'They do but the cost is different. You need to sign a contract and leave a small part of your soul to the organization,' Henn explained slowly.

Angele narrowed his eyes and responded after thinking for several seconds.

'Alright, you win.'

'Wait till your mentality is stabilized again. You first need to learn more about this city,' Henn suggested.

'You're correct.' Angele nodded slightly.

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

Five days later.

It was a sunny day.

The thin clouds floated in the endless blue sky. The golden sunlight was eye-blinding as it illuminated on the surface of the ground.

On the left side of the black iron tower, there was a busy street that was filled with numerous restaurant establishments.

The street was crowded. The locals were wearing short leather skirts and sleeveless leather chest armors. Sweat was dripping down their chins as they haggled with the vendors.

Their colorful leather outfits were shining in the sunlight.

There were several cafés on the street. Most of them had white store signs, and their customers were young.

Inside one of the cafés, there was a man short black hair sitting beside a table. He was wearing a long white robe. On the contrary, the other three chairs were empty.

The man was sipping a flower infused coffee from a small cup. His face was pale and there was a cold expression on his face. The black dagger that was tied to his belt was eye-catching.

The man quietly sat there alone peeking outside through the window on the left.

Most of the young customers only stayed in the shop for less than five minutes and some were waiting for their friends to come.

Several customers had come and left but the black-haired man just waited beside the window patiently while looking at the people passing by.

The owner and waiters in the shop were guessing who this man was waiting for.

Several hours passed. The golden sunlight had already turned orange which illuminated on the man's table.

The color of the coffee in the cup deepened.

*Creak*

The glass door of the shop was pushed open again.

"It's my turn to pay today, just tell me what you want!" A girl with short yellow hair entered the shop. There were two other young girls following from behind.

The three entered the shop as they chatted and a tall man in a gray robe stepped into the door as well, his face covered by the hood.

The man went straight to the table beside the window.

He pulled the white chair out for himself and slowly sat down.

"You're early." The man put down his hood, revealing the confident smile on his face.

The man had long brown hair and his face was average-looking. His eyes were surrounded by a golden glow and there was a mysterious aura around him.

"Green, you're late." The man with black hair sipped some more coffee from the cup and calmly spoke.

"I arrived on time. So Stigma, how's your family?' Angele ordered a cup of fruit coffee and looked at Stigma.

"Not bad. No one knows that I already became a formal wizard. They think I'm still a rank 3 wizard apprentice." Stigma shook his head slightly. "My young sister is already a formal wizard and she will advance to the Gas stage soon. For some reason, however, my family did not provide too many resources to her while I was away."

"So everything is going as you planned?"

"It's for my own safety." Stigma had a blank expression on his face. "People fear the things that they're unfamiliar with. My sister did everything for me after I returned to the family, and my best friend, she cried as we finally met each other again. This is the life I want…Sometimes I'm just wondering if I should never tell them about the truth."

"Enjoy it while you can. The master won't let you do that." Angele looked at Stigma and scanned him using Zero.

"You're very close to the Crystal stage right now. Congratulations." He narrowed his eyes.

"There's bound to be side effects." Stigma bit his lips and finished the coffee.

*Creak*

The door was opened again.

A man and a woman stepped into the shop, both wearing white outfits.

The man had smooth blonde hair and his face was handsome. The woman was confident and elegant, she was wearing a long black ponytail.

They glanced around and found the two beside the window.

"Here they come." Stigma stood up and smiled. "Everyone is here now."

"I wanted to talk to you guys before I leave, then I suddenly received Stigma's message, ha," Hikari spoke first.

The handsome blonde man was Reyline.

The four wizards sat down by the table.

Hikari looked at Angele and smiled. "Green, you probably don't know yet but Reyline has already joined the Wizards' Society and has been promoted by the leader due to his talent."

"The Wizards' Society? I have heard that they would only recruit the strongest and the most talented wizards." Angele was a bit surprised. The Wizards' Society was at the same level as the Dark Wizard Tower.

"It's not as good as the rumors say but it does have some unique features." Reyline shook his head.

"The Wizards' Society is definitely a good choice in the central continent. If they send you to their headquarters, you might become a leader of a division. You have a bright future ahead." Stigma sounded surprised. "Hikari, which organization did you join?"

Hikari chuckled. "I joined the Institute of Potion Masters. The situation is complicated right now. I might get relocated to the Molten River area soon. I have just advanced to the Crystal stage several days ago and still need some time to stabilize my mentality. I'm now a lead developer for a special potion and my friends are still waiting for me on the street right now."

"Glad to see you all doing well. The Institute of Potion Masters is weaker than the Wizards' Society, but I have heard that only the elites would be sent to the Molten River area. I think you're hiding something from us, Hikari." Stigma smiled.

"Come on." Hikari shook her head. "Well, I made a huge mistake back in the Six Ring High Tower because I spent too much time on my research. I won't let that happen again."

Chapter 288: Wedding (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

"Green, what about you?" Hikari looked at Angele curiously. "Your potion concocting skills are better than mine. You can come join the institute if you want."

Angele shook his head. "I got my hands on one Elemental Hand badge. I'll be heading to its location soon."

"Elemental Hand…Good choice! It's one of the three strongest wizard organizations in the Tarry River area. Green, you're a strong and talented wizard. Your future is bright." Hikari nodded. "We should keep in touch. We have come from the same place and we have survived all the challenges together. I'll be there if you need my help."

"That's why we're here. We all have our own goals. I'm sure we'll succeed in future. We should contact each other when necessary and help each other improve." Stigma smiled.

Reyline and Angele nodded their heads without saying anything.

"But…" Hikari hesitated for a second. "Do any of you know what happened to Morrisa? Why isn't she here?"

"I know." Reyline opened his mouth. "She went to a remote area and was injured severely when she returned to the city. Her mentality level decreased a lot…and she spent a long time recovering in her home. I have heard that she's getting married to a random wizard. I asked her to come to the meeting, but she declined my invitation."

The three wizards were surprised upon listening to him.

"Maybe it's a better choice for her." Hikari stared at Angele and Stigma. "Even if she was not injured, she would not be able to advance to the next rank anytime soon and you two, I'm not going to ask what exactly happened in the White Mist Town."

Hikari knew that something happened to Stigma and Angele after leaving the White Mist Town. Stigma's mentality level was increasing exponentially, and he was now much more confident than before.

Stigma remained silent for several seconds and asked, "When is Morrisa's wedding?"

"Next week," Reyline responded in a light tone. "She invited us to attend the wedding as we're still friends, but she doesn't want us to talk too much with her fiancé. Morrisa lied about her actual situation. I think we should help her keep this secret."

"So we're going, right?" Hikari wondered.

Angele and Stigma nodded their heads.

"Also, Stigma, just let us know if you need help with your family issues. We are friends. I'll see what I can do," Hikari added in a light tone.

"Yeah." Reyline nodded slightly.

"Yeah, just talk to us." Angele looked at Stigma.

"Thank you. I'll contact you when I really need your help." Stigma shook his head. "The strongest wizards in my family are the family head, my father, and the elders. They're all rank 2 wizards. I'll wait until I advance to rank 2." It seemed rank 2 wizards were not a big deal to him. "Alright, I need to leave now. Otherwise, my sister will be angry. We can contact each other through the signal obelisk."

"Sure."

Angele responded in a light tone.

"I'll invite you to my family's territory when the time comes." Stigma stood up chuckling, then left the café.

The three wizards knew that Stigma was going to take the leader's position by force in the future and they decided to help.

"I'll be leaving too." Hikari stood up. "The members of my guild are still…" A green light dot flashed on the back of her right hand before she could finish speaking.

Hikari shrugged. "Well, they're sending me messages again." She tapped on the back of her glowing nail.

The message was transmitted to the three wizards' ears through the energy particles.

"Master Hikari, where are you? We need to prepare for the testing phase of the potion. Please report back immediately. Otherwise, wizard Marian will question us again…"

Angele and Reyline chuckled after listening to the message.

"See, I'm not lying. The leader of the division is giving me a lot of pressure on the project I'm working on. I'm super busy nowadays." Hikari shook her head.

"Alright, don't make them wait. I still want to talk to Reyline." Angele smiled.

"Master Hikari, are you talking with your friends? I apologize if I interrupted your conversation! I'm sorry!" Another message was sent to Hikari's communication rune.

"I'm done. I'll be there soon. Just stay at where you are right now," Hikari responded quickly.

She deactivated the communication rune and waved at the two male wizards that were still in their seats.

"See you later."

"Bye."

"Bye. Talk to you later."

Reyline and Angele said goodbye to Hikari.

They watched Hikari leave the café and disappear around the corner.

Angele and Reyline were the only two wizards left on the table.

Hikari's glowing communication rune caught the attention of the customers and the owner. There were several teenagers staring at them and guessing who they were.

The place had now become rowdy as people were all chatting about what had just happened.

The owner of the shop was a bald old man. He asked two pretty waitresses to check on the two mysterious customers by the window.

"Masters, do you need something else?" The waitress on the left was around 18 years old and the one on the right was around 20 years old. They were wearing white short skirts and their voices were sweet. The two girls were young and attractive.

"Two cups of green tea." Reyline put down a silver coin which was engraved with an image of a long-haired old man.

The rough edge of the silver coin reflected the sunlight.

"Sure, I'll bring the tea to you soon." The two waitresses picked up the two coins and returned to the counter, looking excited.

The other waiters and waitresses walked to the two girls and started asking questions. Their conversation made the place even noisier.

"Interesting. I thought wizards were not rare here…" Angele grabbed the cup and sipped some fruit coffee. It was sweet and sour; the aftertaste was a bit bitter.

"The coffee is a bit too sour for me." He put down the cup.

"Why did you choose Elemental Hand? That organization is not good enough for you. You should've chosen a larger one." Reyline looked at Angele.

"I made an agreement with someone." Angele pursed his lips. "Do you think we'll all make it to rank 2?"

"The chances are high, I believe," Reyline responded quickly.

"I was thinking if we meet again after 50 years, will we still be the same people we are right now?" Angele pursed his lips into a smile.

"Hikari and I won't change. I'm not sure about you and Stigma." Reyline leaned to the window and looked outside. "Just like Morrisa, no one can predict the future. We can only keep progressing and hope for the best."

"Can't you be positive for once?" Angele shook his head. "Stigma will advance to rank 2 with no problem. Don't ask me why. I just know."

"You'll advance to rank 2 too." Reyline eyed Angele. "Everyone has their own secrets. You, me, Hikari, and Stigma all have secrets. Advancing to rank 2 and acquiring an advanced meditation technique should be my priority. A rank 2 wizard will be respected by the majority of large organizations in the central continent I believe."

"I understand. How's your progression?" Angele nodded.

"I'm still preparing for the next step. I'm looking for a special energy circle that will help me advance to the next rank. I have decided to accept missions from the society and trade for the resources I need," Reyline responded in a low voice.

Angele did not say anything. He had checked with Henn before he came to the shop and he knew that Reyline was walking the same path as the other wizards. Reyline needed many resources to help him increase the mentality level so he could advance to the next rank.

That was what most of the wizards would do.

The wizards in other areas relied solely on the rare resources but the wizards in the central continent had clear directions and Reyline might have already found what he needed.

"Do you know which advanced meditation technique is the best for you? The Wizards' Society is strong, but I don't think they'll give you the best technique they have." Angele inquired.

"I know what I should do but I need to finish all the challenges given by the society first. It will take me a while."

"You should be fine. Just think twice before you make any important decision." Angele knew that Reyline was talented. He was called the Perfect Wizard of the younger generation in Six Ring High Tower and an advanced meditation technique would help him to reach a whole different level.

They left the café together after finishing their conversation.

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

"Where's my brother?"

Inside a white manor outside the city, a tired-looking girl wearing a red leather suit walked into the study. There was a complicated v-shaped pattern between her eyebrows.

The girl's long black hair trailed over her shoulders. She held an emerald-tipped white wand in her right hand.

There was another pretty girl standing beside the bookshelf reading a thick book with golden edges on the cover. She was wearing a white silk shirt and a pair of tight blue jeans.

"Stigma is not here. He will study after he comes back." The girl in a white shirt shrugged.

"He's never liked studying and meditating when he was young…but he's a grown-up man now." The girl in red rubbed her temples and sighed. "He'll never break the limit if he doesn't put more time into it. I need to punish him when he comes back!"

Chapter 289: Wedding (2)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

"Don't worry about it too much, Della. I don't know what has happened to Stigma, but I can see that he's now changing. He's much more confident than before," the white-shirted girl said.

The girl in red was called Della. She walked to the window of the reading room and stood beside the girl in white to peek outside.

A small banner of Knights in black heavy armor was escorting a handsome young man out of the manor.

The man's hair was soft and silky smooth that it even reflected the golden sunlight.

He was saying goodbye to a middle-aged noblewoman by the gate with a polite smile on his face.

"That's Philip, right? He's here for you." The white-shirted girl asked as she watched the scene.

"Yeah…He's hard to deal with." Della shrugged. "This guy is like a sticky glue that you just can't get rid of. It has been so many years, but he has yet to impress me…"

"Well, at least he's not a playboy. He has never changed his target. This man is a formal wizard. He could have easily found a beautiful woman whenever he wants to." The girl in white shook her head and chuckled.

"I don't like him, and it won't change just because he comes here often. We have known each other since we were seven and we even grew up together…" Della was getting nervous. "Why can't he understand?! He's just too stubborn to the extent that I'm getting tired of him."

"Don't blame him like that. He has helped your brother a lot and Barry doesn't like it. Philip is under a lot of pressure recently," the girl in white explained. "And he's your brother's good friend."

"Whatever. I just got a message from my mother. Hiberick will be assigned to the fifth mine. He's already on the way there." Della communicated through energy particles.

The girl in white stopped for a second, then asked, "Barry did it, right?"

Della nodded slightly. "Yeah, I need to ask Stigma to lay low in the next several years. Only four of my brothers are still alive. Hiberick won't last long against the killer crows in the fifth mine. The next one will be Rondo."

"Stigma is just a rank 3 wizard apprentice. People won't even notice him, but we need to hurry. Barry will eliminate all the possible threats," the girl in white responded.

"Fiona, how's your progression now? Have you collected all the resources needed for the Gas stage?" Della wondered.

"Not yet but don't worry. There are not many wizards left in the family now. The infighting that happened in the recent years is ridiculous. So many people have died, and Barry will have to preserve the strength of the family. The leader will protect us." Fiona shook her head.

"If I can advance to rank 2, I'll protect all of you from Barry!" Della raised her head and sighed. "I can just kill Barry and the first inheritor if they make me mad!"

"Keep daydreaming." Fiona rubbed Della's cheeks and chuckled. "You just broke the limit not so long ago. You should be grateful for that."

"Ha, I'll go find Stigma first! He's slacking off too much!" Della shook her head and turned around. "I'll talk to you later."

"Sure, take care." Fiona nodded.

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

One week later…

*Clap Clap*

People were clapping their hands from within a small forest outside the city.

There were two columns of white chairs lined up on both sides of a path that was covered in flowers. It looked like a colorful line that was drawn between two white lines.

Broken red, yellow, blue, purple, and white petals were the perfect decoration for the occasion.

High-quality bouquets of white flowers were put in front of each of the chairs.

The couple was walking on the flower path slowly and there was a band playing the wedding music.

Most of the guests were sitting on the white chairs.

There were also people standing beside the trees, clapping their hands.

Beneath the shadow of a large tree, there were four people wearing white robes and their faces were covered by their hoods. They watched the wedding ceremony quietly yet for some reason, the guests around them did not notice their presences.

The four white robes were Hikari, Angele, Reyline, and Stigma.

Angele stood beside the tree, staring at the couple quietly.

Morrisa was wearing a white wedding dress, elegant and attractive. There was a light smile on her face and her hair was tied up.

The man holding her hand was tall and handsome. They were walking slowly on the flower path.

By the end of the path, there was an old man with a cane in hand.

"Do you know the background of Morrisa's husband?" Hikari suddenly asked.

"He's the first wizard in his family," Reyline responded.

"So he's the first generation…? What is Morrisa thinking?" Hikari shook her head. "It's a new wizard family and the leader is a newbie. I can't even imagine how hard their lives will be. She should have talked to us before making the decision."

"She gave up and now she wanted to live a normal life. Morrisa survived the trip because she was lucky, and she had us," Stigma muttered. "I don't know what she did, but she almost died. It's understandable that she wants to live a peaceful life after losing hope of advancing to the next stage."

Angele nodded slightly. "She made a wise decision. Not every wizard can progress to the higher ranks. She must have her reasons, too. If Morrisa thinks that that man is good enough for her, we should cheer for them. Enjoying a happy and peaceful life is much better than dying from walking a hopeless path. She's a formal wizard. That's already a great achievement."

"You're right." Reyline agreed with Angele's point.

The conversation ended here, and the four wizards focused on the wedding ceremony.

The couple reached the end of the flower path and bowed to the old man together. They kissed each other and accepted the kind words from the guests.

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

Morrisa smiled as she clung to the man's arm.

"I wish you a happy life, Hank and Morrisa!" A chubby old woman handed a black gift box over to them.

Morrisa grabbed the box and asked a waiter to put it somewhere else.

"Thank you, aunt Annie." She smiled and bowed to the old woman.

"Please head to the second location. We'll be there soon." The man named Hank bowed slightly.

"Sure." Annie nodded. Turning around, she walked to the exit.

Morrisa looked at the man beside her.

"Hank, did we miss anyone?"

"Yeah, I think so." Hank had an attractive smile on his face and he looked like a nice guy.

"My father's friends, the Victor Family, the Marry Family, uncle Rook, and the Alfred brothers…" Hank checked the guest list.

"…My cousin Salt and his son, my sister Elvin, that's all. My family members and friends are all here." Hank held Morrisa's hand tight. "Where are your friends?"

Morrisa shook her head. "Benjamin and Barren are here, right? I came to this place not so long ago. I don't have any family here. My friends are all at the border."

"Isn't it a bit unfair to you?" Hank, who had scrunched his eyebrows, kissed her forehead. "You came here from so far away alone, but you have a family now. I will introduce you to all my friends. I love you."

"Thank you, Hank." Morrisa was moved by the words her husband said. "Ah, did you invite uncle Blaze and the Bradley Family to our wedding? They live in the remote areas, right?"

"Uncle Blaze will be here tomorrow and the Bradley Family will be here the day after tomorrow," Hank responded and kissed Morrisa's cheeks. "You're beautiful, my dear." He hugged Morrisa tight and closed his eyes. They were enjoying the moment that belonged to them.

"I love you," Morrisa muttered.

They separated slowly after several seconds.

A white-haired old man walked to them.

"Hank, Morrisa, time really flies. I still think Hank is still that kid that loves to play with butterflies. He's lucky to have such a beautiful wife like you. I wish I could live long enough to see your first kid." The old man sighed.

"Uncle Clark, you're still young. I still remember the day you came back from the forest with a dead bear!" Hank chuckled.

The two began to reminisce about the old days.

Morrisa lowered her head and bowed slightly. She kept on glancing at the trees as though she was searching for something.

Most of the guests had already left. The waiters and workers were currently cleaning off the decorations and the garbage on the ground.

Hank finished his conversation with Clark and noticed Morrisa's strange behavior.

"What happened? Dear?" Hank was confused. He glanced around but did not see anything.

"Hank, you can head to the second location first. I need to go to the washroom." Morrisa pursed her lips.

"Sure, just don't make the guests wait for too long." Hank nodded. "What did you eat last night? Are you feeling sick?"

"No…I'm good." Morrisa stared at Hank. "I need to talk to my friends for several minutes after this."

"Sure." Hank chuckled and released Morrisa's hand. "Why don't you invite them to the dinner party?"

Chapter 290: New Journey (1)

Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe

"It's fine. They…" Morrisa hesitated for a second and continued, "Well, the situation is complicated. I will just talk to them." She had informed Hikari and Reyline that she wanted to keep the relationship between her and Hank a secret.

However, she thought for a while and looked at Hank. "I'll try to invite them to the party, but I don't think they'll come. They don't like noisy places."

"I can go with you if you need me." Hank nodded.

"No, it's fine. Thanks."

"Morrisa and Hank, I wish you all the best!" A girl with a large boutique of red flowers walked to the couple. She was wearing a black one piece and her voice was cute.

"Thank you, Angela, you're so cute." Morrisa crouched, hugging the girl, then kissed her soft cheeks. "I have to leave now. Thank you for the beautiful flowers!" She accepted the boutique and smiled.

"Glad you liked it," Angela responded in a high-pitched tone. With her long blonde hair and black dress, she looked like a beautiful doll.

Morrisa nodded and walked to the trees on the side.

She raised her hand and leaned forward slightly so no one could see what she was doing. A blue light dot flashed on the back of her right hand. It was a communication rune.

A deep voice echoed in her ears.

Morrisa hesitated for a second and looked to the right.

There were four familiar people staring at her beneath the shadow of a large tree quietly.

Morrisa walked to the four wizards quickly and hugged the female wizard wearing a long white robe.

"Wish you all the best, Morrisa," Hikari muttered, then she handed a small red jewelry box over to Morrisa.

"I respect the decision you made. It's a wise choice. Anyway, you're still one of us. Contact me if you need anything." Stigma had prepared a gift for Morrisa as well.

Reyline and Angele greeted Morrisa as they gave her their prepared presents.

"Thank you…" There were tears in Morrisa's eyes, but she quickly wiped them off. "I know that I was a burden on the trip. I barely did anything, but…"

"Don't say that, Morrisa. We survived the challenges together. You also did everything you can when Stigma was injured," Hikari interrupted.

The five wizards stood in the shadow and started chatting.

Hank was talking to his relatives that just arrived.

The cute girl named Angela blinked her eyes and looked around searching for Morrisa.

After several seconds, she somehow found that Morrisa was talking to four people that were wearing long white robes under a tree.

"Hank, look over there!" She pointed at that tree.

Hank and his two relatives heard the girl's voice and turned around.

"They must be Morrisa's friends." Hank's brows furrowed. "I'll go take a look. I think I should at least greet them."

"Yeah, go ahead." The two relatives nodded at the same time. "We'll head to the wedding banquet now."

"Sure."

"I want to go with you!" Angela sounded like a spoiled kid.

"Fine…Let's go." Hank patted Angela's head.

Morrisa already finished her conversation as they walked to the tree.

The four people that were talking to her covered their faces with their hoods, then turned around and disappeared into the forest quickly.

Hank and Angela failed to greet the four wizards. They watched Morrisa walk to them with several gifts in her arms.

"How was it?" Hank wondered.

"They said they still had something to take care of and left." Morrisa shook her head.

Hank glanced around and noticed that the energy particles in the air were decreasing.

He looked at Morrisa. "Who are they? My dear, no offense but I can see a dangerous aura around them."

"Don't worry, Hank, forget about them. We'll probably never meet again." Morrisa looked a bit depressed.

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

Angele started experimenting with the spell system that was used by most Crystal stage wizards right after coming back from Morrisa's wedding.

The biggest difference between a Crystal stage and the Liquid stage was that the Crystal stage wizard could cast level 2 spells.

However, the amount of Mana, Mentality, and supporting materials required were altogether different as well.

The strongest level 1 spell could deal around 60 to 70 degrees of damage, but a Crystal stage wizard would be able to understand and learn level 2 spell models. Although the power of the spells would be limited, they were still much stronger than level 1 spells.

Angele returned to his home and accepted Henn's offer. He decided to find the woman for her and Henn started telling him the information about the level 2 spells.

'Your forcefield from the Metal Mastery is too weak for a Crystal stage wizard. You need to modify it again and improve it.'

Angele sat on the bed in his bedroom and listened to Henn's words.

It was late at night. The light from the two moons outside illuminated on Angele's body.

'What about the level 2 spell you promised me?' Angele asked.

'Metal Mastery has already been modified. How am I supposed to improve it again?'

'You can partially modify it. You can't simply replace it with a different Talent Spell. Consider the Talent Spell as part of your mentality crystal. You can engrave different runes on its surface, but you can't remove them after,' Henn explained. 'You have a high affinity with Fire energy particles, so you need to find a way to engrave the runes from Fire categories spells on your Talent Spell model. However, the process will consume a large amount of your mentality and you will be in your weakest state during this period. You need to make sure that you do it in a safe location.'

'If it's what I must do, I won't hesitate.' Angele nodded his head slightly. "Is there any recommendation on which level 2 Fire category spell I should choose?'

'I have a list of level 1 spells for you to take a look at. I'll give you the level 2 spell on our way to the Elemental Hand's territory.'

A chilling mentality wave hit Angele's brain as Henn finished her words.

The biochip warned Angele immediately.

'Unknown mentality wave has entered your brain. Information transfer request accepted. Continue?'

'Yes.'

Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele's eyes and disappeared into the air quickly.

'Information transfer started…Organizing…'

Several minutes later, Henn spoke again.

'Alright, I have transmitted all the information to you. Just pick one that fits your battle style. They're all Fire category spells, and you can use them to practice. The mentality wave transfer technique has consumed a lot of my energy, so I need to rest for now.'

'Much appreciated.' Angele nodded.

'Damn kid, you're only polite when you get what you want.' Henn did not sound happy.

Angele chuckled but did not say anything else.

'Data organized. Visualization prepared,' Zero reported back.

'Visualize it. Prepare for the simulation.' Angele created the task right away. The biochip had been upgraded twice and many new features had been added. Its multitasking ability was of tremendous assistance when multiple simulations were needed to be processed at the same time.

After several seconds, a large blue light screen was displayed in front of Angele's eyes.

Rows of spell models slowly appeared on the light screen.

'Sol's Gauntlet: Infuse your hands with Fire energy particles by absorbing the power of the sun. The damage of the spell will increase if you can absorb a lot of sunlight.'

'Flame Armor: Conjure high-temperature flames that surrounds your body. Your body must be strong enough to handle the temperature. The power of the armor is decided by your mentality.'

'Explosive Fire Bead: Release a small rolling fireball. The fireball will move to your target and explode. The power of the explosion is decided by the density of the fireball.'

'Sunlight Laser: Release multiple lasers and blind your targets while dealing damage. The power of the lasers is decided by the amount of sunlight you can absorb.'

'High-Temperature Forcefield: Release a fire forcefield around your body. The radius of the forcefield is 15 meters.'

'Increase Melting Point: Temporarily increase the melting point of a certain material. The range is decided by the amount of mentality spent.'

'Increase Boiling Point: Temporarily increase the boiling point of a certain liquid. The range is decided by the amount of mentality spent.'

'Absolute Fire Resistance: Block a high-temperature target. Create a barrier by consuming mentality. The duration and the amount of mentality spent can be controlled.'

Those were the spell models and special techniques listed on the first page and there were more than ten pages.

Most of them were level 1 spells.

Angele checked each of the spells and techniques one by one carefully. He picked a simple level 1 spell that would fit his Talent Spell perfectly.

It was the High-Temperature Forcefield.

Angele had already mastered the Fire enchantment techniques and he wanted to try them for the first time. He had already noticed the weakness of the Metal Mastery. Engraving runes might be helpful.

The attack mode of the metal forcefield was too simple and the damage it could do was associated with Angele's attribute points. Angele noticed that the information on the spell model was missing the details.

He had finished picking a spell model and tried to talk to Henn, but she did not respond.