Chapter 154: Incident (1)
Clouds floated along the glistening azure sky. A blue ship with white stripes was slowly sailing across the endless sea. It drew a shaky line between the waves as the chilly wind blew across the sails.
The main sails on the ship were triangular of varying sizes, being pushed by the wind.
A black-robed man was wandering around the ship deck with his brows furrowed. His long brown hair flew about in the air, causing it to become a bit messy.
Angele spent a lot of time investigating the ship.
It had been the fourth day ever since they departed from the docks. He had already checked every nook and cranny of the ship.
‘This is not the Future.’ Angele came to this conclusion. Although this ship was powered by spell-driven whales, its constituents were different, such as the size of the cabin and storage room.
The deck was almost empty. All the Wizard apprentices stayed in their cabins, and the two Wizards of Light had been checking their talent levels.
Angele walked to the railing. The humid air coming from the sea moistened his clothes a bit.
The girl named Velvet came to his mind again. Angele never saw her again after arriving at Marua Harbor. She was one of the Wizard apprentices who failed to pursue their dreams. Velvet was studying at the vicinity where White Tooth Castle and Six Ring High Tower were located. It was also the same area Angele was heading to.
He thought for a while and heard footsteps coming from the stairs. About 10 Wizard apprentices just finished their test and left the cabin. Several of them saw Angele was looking at the sea by the railing and walked over.
A girl with red curly hair walked at the front along with four other Wizard apprentices who followed after her. They must’ve come from the same city.
The girl was wearing a red luxury silk dress. She kept glancing at Angele. The male Wizard apprentices behind her looked quite handsome.
"Master, do you know when we will reach the next dock?" The girl had a sweet voice. She bent her knees slightly and bowed to Angele.
Angele turned around and stared at the girl. She looked a bit chubby in the tight dress. Although she looked cute, Angele did not find her attractive. The girl was a rank 2 Wizard apprentices, but Angele detected that she had three enchanted items on her and he was surprised.
"How’s the test? What’s your talent level?" Angele did not answer her question but just asked.
"My talent level is 3!" The girl slightly raised her head and answered in a loud voice. She was pleased with the test result.
"Not bad, do you know the meaning of my black robe?" Angele looked at her.
"Yes, the ship collects Wizard apprentices. We know you’re a Wizard!" The girl smiled, thinking that Angele liked her.
"Yeah?" Angele slightly shook his head.
"Why don’t you ask the other black robe?"
The girl hesitated. Angele could see the fear in her eyes.
"We tried, but it seems like he doesn’t like us..."
"Yeah, I don’t like you as well." Angele turned around and stopped talking.
The girl gritted her teeth and exchanged glances with the other Wizard apprentices, then left.
Angele knew that the girl was a noble. She must have thought that Angele would be willing to start a conversation with her, but it seemed that she had not understood the rules in between the Wizards yet. The only thing that mattered was her rank.
The day ended quickly. Angele finished his dinner in the dining room with the others and returned to his cabin. The chef was hired by the Wizards. Their rooms were right beside the kitchen. They were not allowed to go to any other area of the ship.
Inside one of the cabins.
Wizard of Light Beyoncé stood beside the window and looked at the dark sea with her arms crossed.
Francis lay on the bed behind her and was yawning. It seemed like he had just finished some work.
"Hey, Beyoncé, why are you here? Talk please."
Beyoncé turned around and stared at the man.
"Well, I think it’s time for us to do some investigation. Most of them are meditating now. We can probably collect some intel."
"Good idea. Your spell and my spell complement each other when cast together," Francis stood up as he said.
"You go first or me?" he asked.
"I’ll go first."
Beyoncé turned around and raised his right arm. There was a white, silver bracelet around her wrist and many complex patterns were engraved on its surface. Some were flowers and some were leaves, it looked quite charming.
"Free!" Beyoncé used the shortened incantation.
A silver glow appeared around her bracelet. There was no voice and no smell. It was just a ring of silver light.
The bracelet turned into a pile of silver sand after several seconds, which dropped to the ground and disappeared quickly.
Francis carefully rubbed the black ring worn in his left index finger.
He started chanting the incantation as well. It sounded like he was reading a long poem. Black smoke slowly rose upon the surface of the ring as his incantation stopped.
The silver sand that just disappeared turned into countless tiny silver ants.
The ants stayed on the ground and gained stealth again. They quickly moved out of the cabin and barely any noise was made. Mortals, Wizard apprentices, and average Wizards would not be able to detect them. It was a very helpful scouting spell.
"Great. We can monitor the whole ship from this cabin. The effect lasts for a while. However, if we want to push the ring and the bracelet to the limits, we won’t be able to use them again within several years."
"It’s fine. This mission is very important for our organization. Stealth Silver Dust and your Temporary Shape Shift can help us stay undetected. We need to make sure the black robes are not here for the item." Beyoncé did not really care about her enchanted bracelet.
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In another cabin.
Angele sat by the table and he was doing some calculation on a paper with a white-feathered pen. The paper was already filled up with formulas, runes, and data.
The wick of the oil lamp sparked from time to time.
Angele had been busy calculating using the formulas that there was a whole pile of paper on the desk. Blue light dots flashed in front of his eyes from time to time. He was modifying new spell models with Zero’s help.
Suddenly, Zero detected the invaders.
"Who’s there!"
He suddenly turned around and with a flick of his finger, a silver needle hit the floor.
*DING*
A silver ant was struck by the silver needle by the door. The needle pierced its stomach, causing it to twist in pain. After several seconds, the ant stopped moving and turned into a tiny pool of silver liquid. Angele could see steam rising from it.
Angele stood up right after. He started walking around.
"It’s... pure silver." Angele raised his right hand, the liquid silver on the ground turned into a small bead and flew to his palm.
‘Interesting. It’s from one of the three Wizards.’ Angele observed the bead and scrunched his eyebrows.
‘I already scanned them using the chip. The mentality of the two Wizards of Light is average, but the Dark Wizard is quite strong. I don’t think they are here to fight... Perhaps it’s a conflict between two organizations, and they are trying to determine who I am?’
Angele was not concerned. He was not involved in their conflict, but if they try to attack him, he would retaliate in response.
Ramsoda College was famous for its Necromancy among the Dark Wizards. However, it was relatively far from major cities and Wizards usually did not consider it as a strong organization. Most of its contracted Wizards would help the school fight against the constant threats, so they had more practical experiences than Dark Wizards in other organizations. For that reason, Ramsoda College was considered as one of the top three Dark Wizard organizations.
Wizards from other schools feared the Dark Wizards in Ramsoda because they knew Ramsoda was fighting with Northland Alliance and underground races all the time. Wizards with experiences on the battlefield were usually much stronger than those who stayed in their labs all the time. Their sole mission was to protect the treasure, and they had too much blood on their hands due to the nature of tasks assigned by the school.
A Wizard from Ramsoda would not hesitate to kill. He would make sure every threat was eliminated before things got worse.
Ramsoda College was a relatively large Wizard organization, and there are many other smaller Wizard guilds or organizations led by one or two Liquid Stage Wizards that Angele did not know. Those organizations had lost their power and rights during the grand war and the other three Wizards on the ship were likely members of them.
Angele dropped the silver bead to the ground and glanced around.
He suddenly raised his left hand and the wings on his palm slightly swung. A translucent energy pulse was released into the air.
In the corner, another silver ant was dragged out of its stealth and hit by the pulse. The pulse slowly turned into a tiny needle and sank into the ant’s body.
‘You shall pay for what you have done.’ Angele pursed his lips into a sneer.