Chapter 170: The Trade (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem
Angele followed Ainphent, telling Asuna that he would contact her later since they had already exchanged their communication sigils.
Asuna understood that she would not be allowed in the wizard area so she nodded and left.
Angele followed Ainphent down the hill, and he started seeing more wizards on the way after passing several intersections with other mountain roads.
"I don’t mind it if you prefer to date men, however, if you’re interested in me, I’ll have to say sorry," Angele said with a low voice, his eyebrows furrowed.
Ainphent smiled. "What if I tell you, I was once a woman before the accident happened during an experiment, will you believe me?"
Angele was surprised. "What? You were a woman?"
He stared at Ainphent and observed him again.
Ainphent’s face was handsome, his white short hair clean and straight. His skin was a bit pale, but his body was balanced and strong. Angele found nothing that indicated the gentleman in front of him had once been a female.
"Do you mind if I ask what the experiment was about?"
Angele found it hard to believe, but he understood that wizards did strange experiments all the time.
"I can’t tell you the details, but I was infected by polluted energy leaking out of containers. Something in my body changed and I failed to find a way to stop it. My appearance became like this after several years," Ainphent explained. He sounded depressed.
Angele did not know what he should say after listening to Ainphent’s words. They stopped chatting and walked down the path quietly.
The left side of the path was a mountain and the right side was a large cliff. A waterfall was cascading down the rocks under the cliff and the water was joining a river in the canyon below.
On the farther side, there was a high, white obelisk hidden in thin mist. The surface of the obelisk was smooth like a mirror, and it looked identical to the black pillar by the entrance except for the pyramidal top.
Angele raised his head and saw a white glow on the top of the tall obelisk.
A tiny black dot was slowly leaving the top of the obelisk, flying to the left, however, it was too far away from Angele for him to see what it was.
Ainphent noticed what Angele was staring at and explained, "Are you looking at the obelisk? There are six of them and they are called ‘Signal Obelisks’. The six obelisks are arranged in such a way that they form a giant circle. The place is named Six Ring High Tower not because of the layer but rather that each obelisk exists as an individual ring that completes the circle. It’s also one of the most famous visitor attractions on the west coast."
He pointed at the areas that were blocked by the mountains.
"Without those mountains, you’d be able to see the other two Signal Towers. They have the same height and look exactly just like the one you’re staring at."
"Indeed, they’re magnificent."
Angele nodded.
"These obelisks were built at least 3000 years ago, and they were almost destroyed during the wars. However, after years of repairing, they’re now in good shape. The obelisks have witnessed the fall and rise of the west coast," Ainphent added.
It was the first-time that Angele had seen one of the wonders of this world.
The two were walking down when they heard something wings flapping on the side.
There were five large black vultures in the air, flying down the mountains.
Each of the vultures was about five meters long, their feathers all black and their necks bald. Angele saw several people wearing dark green long robes sitting on their backs.
One of the vultures flew by Angele and the strong rush of wind blew the lap of his robe. The vultures flapped their wings from time to time, slowly gliding down.
Ainphent smiled. "They’re probably members of one of the local wizard families; they’re the guards of this market. I think they just came back from patrolling since their shift is over."
"You mean… They send formal wizards just to patrol the area?"
Angele was a bit surprised.
"Things like this will only happen in Nola, haha."
Ainphent chuckled.
They heard other wizards chatting about the landing vultures. The place got noisy within seconds.
Angele heard many different languages mixed with dialects and only two of them were found in Zero’s database. He looked at Ainphent, wanting to ask if he knew what the others were talking about.
The other saw Angele looking at him and shrugged, it seemed like he did not what others were saying as well.
They stopped the conversation and reached the bottom of the canyon after several minutes.
A small square appeared in Angele’s sight.
There was a tall black stone gate on the surface of the rock. It looked like the gate was built a long time ago, the components already having started to decay due to the weather. On top of the gate, there was an oval-shaped white stone and an eye-shaped complicated pattern engraved onto it.
The gate was about ten meters tall and eight meters wide, and closed. Green vines climbed up its sides, and there was a small flight of stone steps in the front. On the right side of the steps, there was a brazier with burning firewood inside.
The vultures had already landed on the square when Angele and Ainphent arrived at the gate. All the wizards in green robes jumped off their birds and walked toward the stone gate.
Ainphent whispered to Angele, "You saw the green robe leading the team? The one with a huge scimitar on his back? His name is Kuirman, one of the strongest wizards in the three major families that rule the Six Ring High Tower. Also, people say he’s a member of the hunter force."
"Really?"
Angele’s sight fell upon the leading green robe.
The man was tall and strong. There was a silver scimitar on his back, and his face was covered by a hood.
An old light wizard stopped the green robes as they approached the door. Kuirman turned around. It seemed like he knew the old wizard since they started chatting.
Angele finally got to see Kuirman’s face.
He had an aquiline nose, his cheeks were thin, and his skin had the texture of wax. The man looked cold and ruthless with his sharp green eyes.
Although he was laughing while talking to the old wizard, he still gave Angele an uncomfortable feeling.
Angele knew the man had plenty of blood on his hands; he had to have a lot of experience from battlefields.
Angele stopped staring at Kuirman and walked to the gate with Ainphent.
Kuirman turned around and walked past the gate as well after he finished the conversation with the old wizard.
*CHI*
All the wizards who contacted the gate, including Kuirman and his team, all turned translucent and vanished into it.
Angele and Ainphent sank into the gate too, and Angele felt like he had just gone through a thin layer of water screen; it was cold and smooth.
A simple small town was behind the stone gate. There were black wooden houses, their walls made of gray bricks. The place was quiet and peaceful.
On the opposite side of the gate, there was a well surrounded by some black bricks, and beside it, there was a wooden bucket.
An old lady wearing a dark red robe was fetching water with the bucket beside the well.
Angele stood at the entrance and overlooked the town.
The street was full of wizards wearing white, green, or red robes. It was the first time he saw so many wizards in one place. All of them were chatting and walking around.
Several maple trees were planted between the black houses. Those torches of fire brought some energy to the gray town.
Angele turned his head around and looked at the gate; it was still closed.
"So, you want to purchase materials, right? If you want the rare ones, you’ll have to join an organization. What are you looking for if you don’t mind me asking?" Ainphent asked.
"The formula and materials for an ancient potion. Do I really have to join an organization just for that? Isn't there another method?"
Angele’s brow furrowed.
They followed the crowd into the town, walking on a cobblestone road.
"Well, there are several ways you can bypass that requirement. However, only a few wizards have such rights in the whole wizard area. What formula and materials do you need exactly?"
"The Tree Killer Potion. I heard it’s a potion from the tales."
Angele finally understood how rare the potions listed by Zero were. However, without the potion, his chances of reaching the next stage would be much lower. And since that was his first priority at the moment, the increase in success rate by 45% from the Tree Killer potion would be extremely helpful.
"Also, I need some books on potion crafting," Angele added.
Ainphent pursed his lips.
"The Tree Killer Potion? If I’m not wrong, it’s a potion that helps you reach the next stage by energizing your brain… It’s a high-level ancient potion and it’s hard to craft. Do you really need it?"
"I do. Is there anything you can do for me?" Angele nodded.
"Well… Any potion that helps wizards reach the next stage is rare, let alone the ancient ones… Also, even if you have the formula, where can you find the materials? They might have already gone extinct. If we could just drink potions to level up, why would we meditate every day…" Ainphent shook his head. "I know a wizard at Crystal stage who I’m sure knew something about this. She owed me one, so I’m sure she’ll help. What do you think? We can just go ask her."
"That’d be nice, but why are you helping me?" Angele had to ask. "As a wizard, I should at least give you something of equivalent worth in return, but you didn’t mention anything. You’re confusing me."
Ainphent shrugged. "It’s not a big deal. I help you now so you’ll owe me one too."
Angele wanted to know what Ainphent wanted. He wished for a fair trade.
"Come on, let’s go." Ainphent laughed. "I’ll make sure the trade is fair."
He turned around and started walking, Angele following after him.
They went past several houses until arriving at a brown wooden house with a wooden deck built in front of it.