Chapter 279: The Central Continent (2)
"We can talk on our way there." Stigma watched a white carriage pass by. "We can try to find a carriage after you finish learning the language. Also, the wizards in the central continent are not restricted wear black or white robes. They can wear anything they want. The dressing rule here is simple. Even mortals are allowed to wear long robes."
Hikari was confused after hearing the explanation. "How can you show others that you’re a wizard then?"
"Badges or special accessories. All members belonging to wizard guilds, organizations, families, and Anfaria High Council are given specific badges to wear. The Anfaria High Council is the highest authority in the central continent, but the members of the council are selected from the strongest families or organizations. They will only argue for their own benefits." Stigma continued to explain, "The central continent is divided into three areas. The Tarry Rive, the Molten Rive, and the Anfaria Alliance. We’re approaching the Tarry Rive which is my hometown. We can visit my family guard post together if you want to, then I can show you around the area."
"I’ll pass." Reyline shook his head. "We can contact each other through the communication runes. Worst case, we can still use the signal obelisks. There are obelisks here too, right?"
"Yeah, the building techniques of signal obelisks are developed here." Stigma nodded.
"I’ll pass too. I have my own plans since the central continent is my dreamland...There are several places I need to visit first." Hikari did not make it clear but she has something in mind.
"I’ll pass too, sorry." Morrisa shook her head. It surprised Stigma a bit.
He then stared at Angele.
"Well, I have my plans too." Angele shrugged. "Sorry, I’ll visit you when I have the time."
"No worries. Come by anytime." Stigma pursed his lips.
Angele noticed that the mentality waves Stigma was releasing had already weakened. It seemed that he had already learned the way to hide his true power. People would consider him as a wizard apprentice if they did not know his background.
"Are you going back to your family like this?" Angele sent a message using energy particles.
"Of course. I need to lay low before my goal is completed," Stigma responded right away.
Reyline was thinking about something on the side, while Hikari and Morrisa were also communicating using energy particles.
"It’s her advice if you know what I mean." Stigma nodded slightly.
The five wizards were on the same team but the relationship between them was still different. Hikari spent more time with Morrisa and Angele talked with Stigma a lot. Reyline only joined the important conversations but he was a talented wizard and Morrisa talked with him the most.
However, Reyline was not interested in Morrisa. He showed more respect to Angele after being saved by him.
"Just tell me if you need any help," Angele replied.
"Don’t worry. I’m different now..." Stigma chuckled. "I’ll be able to protect my mother, my sister, and my..." He sounded happy.
The two remained silent after talking.
Stigma then took out a fist-sized crystal orb and started transferring the knowledge about the language into it.
The four wizards acquired the knowledge quickly and started practicing the pronunciations.
Wizards were typically fast learners and learning a universal language was not a big problem to them.
It took them about just several hours to learn the basic words and daily conversations.
Stigma stopped a random carriage and gave the merchant several black metal coins. The merchant agreed to transport them to the city right away.
Angele stayed in the carriage and started checking the time with the merchant.
The biochip’s time function needed to be adjusted when Angele reached a different time zone. He used to carry the crystal clock with him, but it was too much trouble.
It was three in the afternoon and the road was getting crowded. They started seeing pedestrians on the way.
Multiple airships flew past them as they advanced. It seemed like the airport was quite busy.
The carriage passed by one of the landing areas for the airships and the road became even wider. Several convoys of merchants were leaving the landing areas with their large carriages.
There were full and empty carriages entering and leaving the landing area all the time.
The road was getting more and more crowded.
Several days later, the carriage finally arrived at the edge of the central continent, at the air transportation city in the Tarry River area.
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The sun was setting, and the orange light illuminated on the land.
Most of the areas in the city were covered by well-organized gray and white buildings. A blue river was running down the center of the city.
It looked like a piece of gray paper that was divided into two areas by a long blue string.
A tall black metal tower and an enormous arena were built on different sides of the river.
The white arena and the black metal tower brought some color contrast to the city.
Gray and white houses, mansions, hotels, various types of stores were built beside the streets. There were so many of them that the gaps between each of the buildings were small.
Under the dim sunlight, there were several pedestrians walking on the quiet street beside a whole row of houses.
The men were wearing red leather skirts and the women had a strange eye-shaped paint on their foreheads.
A tall man wearing a long white robe stood in front of a yellow door beside a large white square. He glanced around, and his sight fell upon a muscular man in a red leather skirt.
The man shook his head and knocked on the door carefully. There was a silver metallic glint on the surface of his skin.
*Thud thud*
No one answered.
The man’s brows furrowed and knocked on the door several more times.
Still, no one answered.
He took out a small badge from a pouch.
It was a golden square badge with luxurious red decorations on its surface.
Complicated red strings were engraved on the front side of the badge and there was a tiny hole in the center.
The man threw the badge into the air and caught it but nothing happened, then he tapped on it several times.
Finally, a small black skull slowly appeared from the hole in the center.
*Crack*
The door of the house opened itself after making some noise.
A red-haired man with a long beard stuck his head out of the door, staring at the man in a white robe.
"You are...?" He narrowed his eyes and looked at the golden badge in the man’s hand. It seemed like the badge reminded him of something.
"Ah! You must be Green! God! Come in please." He opened the quickly.
Angele had said goodbye to his team and followed the direction pointed by the badge. The badge had been sent to him by a member of the Dark Wizard Tower, which helped him find the correct place easily.
He followed the man into the room and closed the door. The living room was dark, and it was a mess.
The sofa was covered in dirty clothes and wine bottles lined up on the floor. A strange smell permeated the air.
"Sorry, I don’t have time to clean the room." The man rubbed his nose. "I thought you already..."
"You think I’m dead, right?" Angele responded in a calm tone. "The challenges, are they set up by the elders?"
"Yeah...You’re right, but we didn’t expect the storm elemental lord to be so mad. It should’ve been an easy challenge..." The man pursed his lips and shook his head.
"The storm spirits were a trouble, yeah, but the trip was way too dangerous. I joined the organization as a potion master and I got tested multiple times. What would happen if I wanted to join the organization as a combatant? What challenges would I face?" Angele sounded disappointed. "You already knew that the trip was a trap for Reyline, right?"
"You don’t need to worry about Reyline. Since you made it to the city, our members will contact you as soon as possible. I already took care of the wizards that were trying to ambush Reyline. I can assure you that you’re safe. The badge is a special enchanted item which can protect you from fatal damage by sending you to a different dimension where you’ll be able to survive in that space for 30 days. You should trust us more," the man explained.
"Is that so?" Angele narrowed his eyes.
"It was an accident. We don’t even know how the storm spirits were enraged, and I’m not a formal member of the organization. I’m just here to contact you, so I have no answer to your first question. I’ll tell the people in charge that you made it to the city alive. Please wait here. Someone will come pick you up after they received the message."
"Sounds good." Angele nodded.
‘Ha! You’re a strong potion master? Why didn’t you tell me about it?’ A hoarse female voice suddenly echoed in Angele’s ears.
‘You’re surprised?’ Angele remained calm and responded after adjusting the frequency of his mentality waves.
"Yeah. You’re a potion master and you’re part of the Dark Wizard Tower. It seems like obtaining advanced meditation techniques is not a big problem to you.’
‘You’re right.’ Angele pursed his lips into a smile.
‘But are you sure they will give you a good advanced meditation technique?’ Henn was mocking Angele.
‘I don’t think so, they want the high-quality potions that I can concoct. They will, at most, fulfill my request but with low-quality resourses,’ Angele responded, ‘You’ll give me the best one, right?’
‘I don’t remember promising you that.’ Henn chuckled. ‘The Dark Wizard Tower is a strong organization, but I don’t know too much about them. Just make sure that...Whatever, I’m not afraid of them. There’s one thing you need to know about their meditation techniques, it’s special, very...special...ha...’
‘We’re in the same boat. You help me, and I’ll help you. I think we have already reached the agreement on that.’
‘Well, you’re right. But you need to do something for me first before I give you a good advanced meditation technique.’ Henn went straight to the point. ‘We’ll talk about it later.’