Chapter 64: The Journey (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
“You want them?” The blonde boy looked happy.
“You can have these in exchange for three magic stones.” He handed over a bag. Taking the bag, Angele peeked at the contents inside. Several leather scrolls, some potion concocting equipment, and other random items were inside.
“A whole set of equipment? And the formulas?” Angele asked.
“Yea, two formulas, and my equipment. Some are broken though,” the boy answered right away. Angele took one of the scrolls and opened it. The title said, ‘Awareness Potion’.
“This is an entry-level potion.” Seeing this made Angele scrunch his eyebrows.
“And it’s a formal entry-level formula. Not many people can craft this, I think?” Angele asked.
“Well, you can put it into your… collection?” The blonde boy looked nervous.
“You know what, the school’s already transporting the books out of the library for protection. You won’t find any other formulas. I wrote my personal experiences on the two scrolls, too, so that’ll improve your success rate for sure. Also, you’ll find my notes much easier to understand than the information you can find in the library,” the blonde boy kept explaining.
Angele didn’t want to waste time, so he read through the notes. The boy was indeed speaking the truth. It was entirely because Angele had already stored most of the information he could find in the library on the chip, and the blonde boy’s notes included information he didn’t know. The boy also added some helpful notes about the Awareness Potion.
“Alright, I’ll take these.” Angele had no time to finish reading everything, so he placed the scrolls back inside the bag. He handed three magic stones to the blonde boy, causing the latter to become relieved.
“Thanks. Wait, I think you’re one of the departing wizard apprentices, right? You’re a decent guy, I have a copy of the local map. I’ll charge you only one magic stone for it, what do you think?” The blonde boy lowered his voice as he asked.
“You have a copy of the local map?” Angele was surprised. He had been searching for a map ever since he first arrived in the school, but the only thing he found from the library was the information of the surrounding areas. He knew nothing else besides that, and now, the blonde boy was offering him a map. If the map was accurate, this would really be a great help to him.
He could’ve asked for a copy from Ansett’s family, but the situation escalated too quickly.
“Are you sure?” Angele also lowered his voice as he asked back.
“I’m sure.” The blonde boy nodded his head.
“Let’s find someplace else to talk.” Angele led the blonde boy to a corner.
Ten minutes later.
Angele returned to his room with the bag and the map.
Unlike before, the dormitory wasn’t as noisy as before because there was barely anyone remaining. Most of the wizard apprentices were gone; Angele hadn’t seen anyone else in such a big school. He lit the oil lamp and sat down in front of the desk. He then began reading the map.
The middle of the map was the Ramsoda College marked with a big, red dot. Many hills and forests surrounded it. By the northern direction of Ramsoda College, there was another Wizard organization called Liliado’s House, which controlled a vast area at the north.
At the western direction of Ramsoda College, there was a sea that only had a single harbor. It was called ‘Nick Dock’, and written by its side were the words: ‘Once every 4 years’. The Ramsoda Empire was located in the eastern direction of the college with only one forest lying in between them. The map was easy to read as many routes were marked on the map.
“Liliado’s House is north, the sea is west, Ramsoda Empire is east, and the mountains are south.” Angele finally gained a general idea about the country’s terrain and its different locations.
Angele kept reading the map, but then, he scrunched his eyebrows. Apparently, the one who drew the map only knew of the situation around the school, and there were no details. The most valuable information were the two routes between Ramsoda College and Ramsoda Empire because Angele didn’t know of it. He started searching through the information stored on the chip.
‘The royalty here is pretty much controlled by wizard families. The wizards themselves are ruling the land. Countries with more resources will be controlled by stronger wizard organizations. If I want to lay low and live a decent life, I’ll need to find a place that doesn’t have many resources, but I still need the wizards. Otherwise, it will be difficult for me to become a wizard,’ Angele thought. His finger was tracing around the map as he checked the route that would lead him to the Ramsoda Empire.
‘I should head to the empire first, then go to the provinces that are close to the school. I need to find a quiet place. I hear the Ramsoda Empire has two neighbors, Northland Alliance and Janika Empire. Other countries barely have Wizard Rift, so the wizards didn’t take any interest in them. I won’t be able to buy any materials if I go there. I’m not even sure if the area is similar to my homeland…’ Angele kept thinking.
Wizard Rifts were places suitable for wizards to stay. Since these places were usually good for growing magic materials, wizards labeled those areas as Wizard Rifts. There were many materials in each Rift, and some of the stronger Wizard organizations monopolized and mined in those places. Wizard Rifts were also the restricted areas in the wizards’ world.
Angele learned everything from books. He understood why some places had a great number of wizards while some had little or no wizards, even causing the inhabitants in those places to think that wizards only appeared in legends. Wizard Rifts were the main reason for this. Wizard apprentices and wizards had to go to places that had the materials they needed. Otherwise, they would die without being promoted to a higher stage. In places that had good weather condition and various materials, many wizards lived here. Most of them barely had the need to travel to other areas, except for the hopeless wizard apprentices. They were everywhere.
Angele confirmed the route and returned the map inside the bag. He took out the two scrolls he had bought and spread them on the desk.
The first scroll was the Awareness Potion and the second was the Tranquility Potion. Both potions could aid people in increasing their mentality. The blonde boy was trying to increase his mentality by concocting the said potions. Many wizard apprentices had attempted to concoct these two potions, yet not many succeeded.
An above average Potion Study wizard apprentice could make one potion using a large amount of materials, and this alone would already cost them 100 magic stones. However, the potions were only worth 20 magic stones. Just the cost already far surpassed the benefit it was supposed to give.
Angele nodded his head in satisfaction from the items he had bought. He put the two scrolls inside the bag. Although he had already stored everything on the chip, he still wanted to keep the copies.
Angele stood up and placed every important item he had on his desk. There were the maps, the formulas, his silver crossguard sword, his metal longbow and quiver, his chain claw, several poisoned daggers, the box containing the Dead Soul Grass, the wizard’s book, the crystal dagger, the red pearl, two magic tones, and a small leather pouch containing around 20 Hemostasis Potions. These were all very important to him.
He placed the survival tools and clothes onto the ground. There were some meat jerkies, two large bags of dried vegetables and fruits. These could keep him going for about three weeks.
‘Three weeks’ worth of supply is enough. I can hunt more if needed,’ Angele thought before he started checking all his weapons.
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The second morning, Angele woke up early and packed everything up. He left the school and reached the entrance of the abandoned city. There were several wizard apprentices selling horses there as they knew many people were leaving. Angele spent one magic stone to buy two strong horses and a bag of horse beans. He tied everything to the horses’ saddles and leaped onto one of the horses. Just like the others, he quickly disappeared by the end of the road as he departed.
Four days later…
It was raining and the clouds covered the sky.
Two horses were galloping fast along a twisted path between the dark green forest. Under the gray sky, the sound of hooves stomping echoed throughout along with the sound of the wind blowing the tree leaves and the noise of the rain.
A young man in a gray robe was riding one of the horses wherein the other one had a lot of luggage tied upon it. The bags were covered with gray linen to prevent them from being soaked.
The young man had an average face and brown hair that flew about in the air due to the strong gust of wind. He had a crossguard sword tied to his waist and a black metal bow and quiver filled with black arrows carried on his back. The young man was wearing a tight black suit, looking very clean.
The young man was Angele. It was already the fourth day on the road since he left the school and was on his way to the Ramsoda Empire. He continued along the path for another half-hour before slowing down and deciding to rest.
Angele glanced around his surroundings while mounted on his horse, and then he took a black silk scarf out of the bag to wipe the water off his face.
The chilling gust of wind mixed with the rain blew across his face. The two horses were galloping forward slowly. Yellow mud flew into the air from the impact of the hooves stomping on the ground. From Angele’s left, he could hear people talking and he could smell the meat those people were grilling. He also heard the crackling noise created by the campfire.