In the early morning, the sun shines on the earth, bringing a hint of warmth.
In a bustling port, merchant ships come and go, wandering around.
"The time is almost up, just send it here."
Standing in front of a huge black cargo ship, looking at the people behind him, Athir spoke.
Behind him, some people were standing there, including elders of the Southern Alliance such as Keg, as well as some great nobles nearby.
These people came to see him off after learning that Athir was about to leave.
At this time, Athir had stayed here for half a month. After finishing some things, he began to prepare to leave.
"Lord Athir, won't you stay here for a while?"
On the side, Keg said, "According to the news, after learning that you, Lord Athir, have returned, the Kuma Kingdom has sent people here. The leader is the Great Knight Sidru, who is said to be a tribesman you are familiar with."
"Just wait another week and they will be able to come and meet you."
"No."
Standing there, Athir looked up at the black cargo ship in front of him and said, "I have already wasted a long time here. There is no point in waiting any longer."
"After I leave, please send someone to tell him to take the people back directly."
Turning to look at Keg beside him, he said with a smile.
"Well... okay." After hesitating for a while, Keg finally nodded.
While they were talking, the others were very quiet.
To them, the deterrent power of an official wizard was too strong. Except for Cage, an acquaintance of Athir in the past, others probably didn't dare to say a few words when standing in front of Athir.
After a while, the ship outside slowly came in. Athir walked onto the black cargo ship in front of him, ready to wait for the ship to set sail.
Led respectfully by a servant, he walked to his own room, put down his luggage, and then walked onto the deck.
At this time, the boat had already started its journey, and a slight breeze blew across my face, bringing a hint of coolness.
"it's over···"
Looking at the land that was gradually becoming distant and the vaguely visible human figures in the distance, Athir murmured to himself.
At this moment, an inexplicable feeling arose in Atier's heart. He thought that if he left this time, he might not be able to come back for a very long time.
By then, everything in front of us may no longer be the same.
However, this is also an inevitable result.
The life of mortals is too small and short. A mere few decades is nothing to a wizard.
Even a third-class apprentice can only live a few decades longer than an ordinary person and cannot be compared with a formal wizard.
After one or two hundred years, the people Athir was familiar with will have passed away one by one, leaving only the memories of the past.
This is also a scene that most wizards must go through.
After standing quietly on the deck for a while, Athir walked towards his room.
There were not many accidents during the trip. Soon, more than a month passed and the ship was about to arrive at its destination.
After getting off the boat, Athir bought two horses nearby and continued on his journey.
He crossed the edge of the southern continent and headed towards the northern plains.
On the way, he also heard many things.
Almost all the wizard organizations that existed in the southern continent disappeared. As Edith had said, they all moved away and chose to explore a new unknown area. Only a few small wizard organizations were left on the entire continent, but it seemed that they would not be able to hold on for much longer.
The entire continent was filled with an atmosphere of death. Powerful pollution was spreading in the area, plundering all life on it, turning large areas into death zones, and creating many polluted creatures.
It is said that all of this originated from the leakage of the ruins. No one knows what is sealed inside. Even though it was sealed by many wizard organizations, some things still leaked out, causing such serious consequences.
While on the road, Atier also inquired about some information about the academy in the surrounding area, wanting to find out the location where the academy would be relocated.
This information is easy to find out.
The collective relocation and evacuation of several local wizarding organizations caused quite a stir in the area, which could not be concealed at all.
Atier just asked around and found out the direction the academy chose to evacuate, but he couldn't find out the exact location.
After secretly recording the news from the academy, Atier headed northward, quickly passing through the vast area of the southern continent and arriving at the northern plains.
···············
Several months later.
In the early morning, the sun is shining on the earth.
The long convoy was driving on the narrow road and was slowly stopping to rest.
As the convoy stopped, people around took some things from the carriage at the back from time to time, apparently preparing to make a fire and cook for lunch.
"Lord Athir, it's time for lunch."
At the side, a girl in a green dress quickly ran to the carriage and shouted inside.
After a while, a man came out of the carriage.
He was a handsome young man with a long sword on his waist and wearing a black robe. He looked calm and composed.
He got off the carriage, smiled and nodded at the girl in front of him, then walked aside.
There, someone was calling his name and asking him to go over quickly.
"Athir, you are here too."
Coming to the crowd in front, a middle-aged man with a big beard, holding a piece of barbecue in his hand, smiled at Athir.
"Yeah, I was just called down."
Athir nodded, then looked at the people around him: "What's going on here?"
"I don't know yet."
The bearded man shook his head: "We were also called here suddenly. It seems that something has happened."
At this moment, heavy footsteps were heard in front, attracting the attention of everyone present.
"Sorry to bother you guys."
In front, a middle-aged man in black armor walked to the front. He looked very majestic and said, "However, there is one thing I must make clear to everyone."
"We received this last night."
As he spoke, he took out a long black arrow.
This arrow is very unique. It is made entirely of black crystal. There is a pattern of a strange bird engraved on the arrowhead, like some kind of symbol.
Looking at the arrow, the faces of the people present suddenly changed: "This is... the symbol of the Hand of the Wild Wind. Why?"
"Yes, just as you think, we have been targeted by the people of the Hand of the Wind."
Standing in front of everyone, talking about this matter, the middle-aged man's eyes became solemn: "Although I am also very surprised why these crazy people suddenly targeted us, but since it has come to this, we must respond."
"Here, I give you the right to withdraw."
He quickly glanced around and said, "If you choose to quit our team, we can refund half of the fees you paid before."
"But if you choose to stay, then as a price, you must pay double the fee for the rest of the journey."
"How can this be possible?"
"You don't keep your word?"
"Didn't we agree on the price at the beginning?"
Below, listening to the words of the middle-aged man in front of them, the people below changed color, no longer worried about anything, and started to question directly.
Facing their questioning, the middle-aged man in front of him remained calm. He waited until the voices of these people gradually died down before he moved suddenly.
With a slight sound, the long sword at his waist was pulled out, with a little green light on it. He chopped it heavily on the ground, leaving a deep sword mark, fully revealing the knight's strength.
Looking at the scene caused by this sword, the place fell into silence, and the sound of someone swallowing saliva could be heard faintly.
"I don't have time to joke with you..."
In front of everyone, the middle-aged knight looked a little impatient: "I only give you one day. Give me an answer immediately before tomorrow morning. If you don't want to stay, take your things and leave!"
After saying this, he walked away with several servants beside him, apparently having no patience at all for the people in front of him.
After he left, the people who were there dared to speak and just stood there sighing.
"Alas... We were all fine, how could this happen?"
Standing up from his spot, the bearded man who had spoken to Athir before had an unpleasant look on his face and stood there sighing continuously.
"Gru, are you going to leave or stay?"
Looking at him like this, standing there, Atier asked.
"Stay..."
Although he felt very uncomfortable with Athir's question, Big Beard Gru did not hesitate at all: "I am not like you, Athir. I still have a lot of goods with me. If anything happens to these things, I will be sold as a slave to pay off my debts."
"A very wise choice."
Standing aside, picking up a small piece of bread from the cloth covering his eyes, Athir nodded and looked towards a corner.
Those were a few people he had noticed a long time ago. Not only did they rarely interact with other people, but when facing the knight just now, they looked very calm and not nervous at all.
And from these people, Athir also smelled a familiar smell.
That was the smell of energy particles. Even though they concealed it very well, Athir still detected it. It could not be hidden from a real wizard.
"Interesting. The northern plains are indeed much more prosperous than the southern continent. Even if I just randomly find a caravan to travel with, I can still run into so many people."
Athir's face was calm and he turned to look in a distant direction.
There, the middle-aged knight was walking to a carriage, apparently reporting something.
(End of this chapter)