Chapter 218: Centaur (1)
Angele decided to check out the slave market first as he needed more people to work for him. Perhaps the ones up for auction were born with resistance to certain damage types.
In Nola, the outer area was basically free to rent. As long as no one was fighting, the major organizations would not care how much space the slave market was using.
The most inexpensive thing in this world was the land.
Angele could easily expand his residential area if he wanted to.
Building an herb farm and resource point was part of Angele’s plan. He could raise the herbs or keep the creatures wanted on a farm. However, his plan was hard to accomplish in a place like Nola. An herb farm was not a problem but a resource point needed to be built in somewhere remote. The public area in Nola was monitored by the three major organizations and the smaller organizations also had their own territories here, so the plan had to be delayed.
*********************
Seven days later.
At noon, the bright sunlight illuminated on the reflective surface of the lake.
In front of the white house, a gray carriage was parked by the fences quietly and its coachman was a fire spirit. His body was covered with short black hair and there were wrinkles all over his face. The whip in his hand had the similar length as his height.
The door of the carriage was open and there was an old man wearing green robe sitting inside.
The dazzling sunlight failed to brighten up the interior of the carriage. It seemed like the old man preferred dark places.
He was staring at the house through the window as if he was patiently waiting for someone to show up.
*Creak*
The door of the house was finally opened. A young man wearing long white robe slowly walked out of the garden.
The white robe was tied up with a silver belt and it looked like a dress. The young man was wearing a pair of black pants under the robe.
"Get in the carriage, Green." The old man smiled. "I’m glad you decided to check the slave auction out. It’ll take us about two days to just get there."
Angele nodded slightly. His hands were in the pockets, and the robe looked identical to a long coat.
"So, we’re moving on land?" He glared at the carriage and sensed the movement of energy waves.
"Of course. What are you thinking? You want to fly this thing in the sky?" Shiva had a mysterious smile on his face. "This carriage is sent by the auction house. You can’t find the location easily without it. They’ll send you one too after your first visit."
"Interesting."
Angele was a bit surprised. "And that’s free?"
"Of course."
"The owner must be rich." Angele jumped into the carriage.
Nancy waited by the gate. It seemed like she was curious about the auction as well.
Angele checked the seats in the carriage and said, "You mind if I take her with me?"
Shiva turned his head around and looked at Nancy.
"Sure, sure. It’s a spacious carriage." He chuckled.
Angele was not concerned but Nancy blushed.
He grabbed Nancy’s hand and pulled with a small amount of force.
"Ah!" Nancy was dragged into the carriage and Angele put his right hand on her shoulder.
"Alright, shall we move?" Shiva cleared his throat and stared at Angele.
"As you know, it’s my first time attending the slave auction. Are there any specific rules I need to follow?" Angele leaned against the window and watched the scenery start moving backward.
The fire spirit whipped the horse and shouted. The two horses in front neighed and started moving forward.
"Rules? Well, you need to pay a deposit, about one high-quality magic stone. After the auction ended, the deposit will be returned to you. That’s probably the only rule." Shiva handed a yellow leather paper over to Angele.
Angele grabbed the paper, read it through, and threw it to Nancy. It was the general information about the auction house.
"Shiva, the school you talked about, when are you going to show me the place?"
"Any time you want." Shiva nodded. "The school’s name is the Cross. Although not many members are in-charge..."
Angele laughed and interrupted, "Not many members? You mean the 20 people you mentioned? And that includes you, right?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Shiva shook his head. "But we are all the best elites."
Angele was a bit speechless upon hearing this. He then changed the topic and started talking about the spell model modification.
Nancy put her head on Angele’s shoulder and read the auction information for a while before slowly falling asleep.
Outside the carriage.
The bright sunlight slowly faded and the twittering birds disappeared.
Hours passed. Angele suddenly realized that it was dark outside and the dim light in the carriage came from the glowing crystals that were inserted into the walls.
"Huh? Where are we?" Angele peeked through the window. The only thing he could see was the wet rocks.
It seemed like they were traveling in a tunnel and there was a silver glint on the walls.
"Well, we’re heading to the auction house. We have to travel through these underground tunnels." Shiva slowly explained, "The main location of the auction house changes from time to time. Don’t worry though, the carriage will take us there."
"Is that so?" Angele stared at the wall. It almost looked like the tunnel was being widened with each second the carriage advanced further.
He opened the door but it was pitch black outside. The lamp in front of the carriage kept the path visible.
"They’re trying hard on keeping the location a secret." Angele scrunched up his brows. "However, are you sure we’re safe?"
"It’s safe, I can assure you. It’s a gray area but all major organizations need the slave auction since they need to get rid of their prisoners and slaves sometimes."
The two kept on chatting about random things.
The carriage traveled in the dark tunnels for a long time.
Angele, Shiva, and Nancy had several meals inside the carriage. Finally, they saw the light ahead.
Glowing crystals appeared on both sides of the walls. Although they only provided the minimum amount of light, it still felt much better.
A narrow passage between huge rocks appeared ahead after the carriage advanced for another two hours.
The fire spirit slowly stopped the carriage and parked on an empty ground beside the narrow path.
Angele grabbed Nancy’s hand and jumped off the carriage. The place was wet and cold. A strange rotten smell permeated the air.
He glanced around with his brow furrowed. The huge rocks blocked his sight and the only thing he could see was the narrow path in the front. The glowing crystals on the walls were brighter than before.
"Let’s go." Shiva got off the carriage as well.
Angele nodded and followed him into the narrow path. Nancy and the fire spirit were behind them.
The four walked for several minutes and reached a large empty hall.
A humongous arched bronze gate was in the stone wall ahead.
The gate was more than five meters tall and there was a tiny door at the bottom of it. There were people entering the door slowly with outfits varying from one another. Two muscular guards were standing in front of the door, wearing heavy black armor suits with long spears in their hands. Angele noticed the white war paint on their faces, but he had no idea what they meant.
Angele heard a high-pitched coming from the right side as he entered the hall.
"Hey. My dearest master Shiva." The voice was making Angele a bit uncomfortable.
Angele looked to the right. It was a man wearing a tight red robe, and clearly, he was mocking Shiva.
Although it was a man, his body was well-balanced and sexy. His waist was slim and his face was pretty. The man’s dark red pupils were eye-catching and his long flaming hair trailed over his shoulder.
He hid his hands in his long sleeves and there were four other people behind him.
"Shiva, we’ve known each other for more than a hundred years, yet you did not greet me? How inappropriate."
Shiva sneered. "Nicolas, you old prick. Why didn’t those dark wizards kill you back in the Dark Red High Plateau?"
"You survived and so do I," Nicolas glared at Angele as he said, "Alright, I’ll be entering the gate. I didn’t expect to see you here. I should’ve chosen the other entrances. What a shitty day!" He turned around and walked toward the door.
"Same to you, god damn it." Angele could see the anger in Shiva’s eyes.
Shiva turned around with an embarrassed look on his face.
"I apologize, Nicolas is my old enemy. He’s always trying to stab me from behind."
"No worries." Angele pursed his lips to a smile. "Let’s enter the door first."
There were many wizards around the entrance. Some were still parking their carriages and some were already heading to the door.
The four walked to the door with the crowd and made the deposit. The guards gave them a small piece of wooden tag and let them enter the door.
They turned a corner after walking down the hallway. Angele saw some bright yellow light ahead that came from an opened small door.
They entered the door and heard people yelling.
The place looked like an enormous opera house with a golden ceiling that was glowing and random circles were painted on its surface.
The floor was covered by a luxurious white carpet with a red edge. Red wooden chairs were arranged in a shell shape. Several wizards were already sitting on the chairs and some were still picking the seats.
Most of the wizards here were light wizards. Angele also saw people wearing red, blue, and green robes, and yet no one was wearing black robes.