Chapter 98: Initiation (3)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Angele rested for a while in the room and started meditating.
There were many ways for apprentices to meditate, and the meditation methods differed from one organization to another, but they all had similar effects.
Besides the rank and talent requirements, apprentices needed knowledge and resources to help them break the limit and ultimately become Wizards. Angele still needed Water of Asu and a suitable defensive spell. The meditation method he used was learned from Ramsoda School, and he found that its results were very close to the method’s he had learned from the Wizard book that Adolf had given him.
Nothing special happened during Angele’s stay in the hotel.
He barely communicated with others, and he did not even know their names. Most of the people in the hotel had the same purpose as Angele and spent their time checking the environment around the Moon Gin Manor every day. They weren’t interested in others, so no one tried to have a conversation with Angele. So besides meditating, he spent most of his time investigating the area, wanting to make sure he was relatively well prepared for entering the manor.
Angele found one strange thing about it - there were no animals that could be seen around it, not even insects. The grasses, trees, and any other plants also were non-existent. It looked like the whole area was ‘dead’. The only objects beside the manor’s cracked walls were black stones.
He investigated around the wall several times but gave up on the idea of going deeper after sensing the strange aura. He asked Zero to check the area, but sadly, nothing could be detected by the chip.
The chip was just a support tool and could not do everything for Angele. It buffed his five senses, but he still found no valuable information about the manor, which meant the mysterious power protecting the place was beyond his understanding. After several investigations, he decided to stay in the hotel and wait for the day to come.
Time flew, and the gap finally appeared on the date the squirrel mentioned.
****************************
The gray completely carpeted the sky, not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate the heavy clouds.
Angele got out of bed and eyed the sky through the window. He saw nothing but the dark and dense clouds. The forest was quiet and birds were not twittering like usual.
“Finally.”
He inhaled once and put on his hunting suit, then quickly equipped himself with the bow and the dagger.
Angele opened the door quietly and saw a person standing in the hallway. The man was still wearing the black cloak and robe. He was wiping the dust off his clothes. It seemed like he had just woken up as well.
The man saw Angele and nodded. Angele still had not seen the man’s face since he never left his room without a mask and the oversized cloak.
The hallway was dark, and Angele’s brow furrowed but nodded in reply. He locked his door and walked down the stairs.
The man in the red robe and the old man and the young girl were already in the lounge. They were drinking hot milk the servers had brought them.
Angele sat down by an empty table, grabbed several biscuits, and drank some milk.
“Since everyone is here, I guess I’ll start talking,” the old man said in a deep voice after standing up.
He looked around, making sure he had everyone’s attention and cleared his throat. “I don’t care how you guys fond out about this place, but we need to work together in the garden if we want to take the treasures out of it. There is only five of us, so it will be hard for sure.”
“True. I think everyone here knows what’s coming, and you are all well prepared for it,” the man in the red robe said. “Messi, are you sure you want to take your granddaughter there?” He looked at the girl in a brown hunting suit.
“This is my last try, and you know my situation can’t be any worse.” The old man named Messi shrugged. “Moon Gin Garden is an ancient resource point, and it’s full of traps. I wouldn’t take her there if the situation allowed it, but it’s probably better for us both to die inside the garden at this point.”
Messi looked at his granddaughter, his eyes filled with sadness.
“Whatever, old man, I don’t care. We know the place is extremely dangerous already. Just tell us the plan!” the man in the black cloak interrupted.
“The plan is easy. We move together and get in through the gap and make sure no one triggers unnecessary traps,” Messi said turning to face him.
“Cool.” The man in the black cloak nodded. His voice was hoarse, but Angele could not tell if he was male or female.
The man in the red robe nodded as well. “I agree.”
Angele listened to their conversation quietly. It seemed like they were quite familiar with the garden, whereas he barely knew anything about it. So he decided to collect some information first, and he had nothing against the plan.
“I’m fine with it too,” Angele said in a light tone.
“Alright, let’s move then. We need to enter it before 10 a.m. Let’s face the challenges together and reach the true garden. Take whatever resource you want, as long as you are capable of doing it by yourself,” Messi added.
“For sure.” The man in the black cloak nodded.
Messi’s granddaughter looked nervous. She held his hand tight as they walked out through the door together.
Angele double-checked everything he needed was inside the pouch and followed after the others.
It was deadly silent outside, no one was on the street, and no birds or insects could be seen.
“What’s going on? It’s way too quiet.” The man in the red robe scrunched his eyebrows.
“I poured some Sleep Dust into the main well yesterday. I don’t want anyone to bother us; they’ll be sleeping for the whole day,” the man in the black cloak explained.
“That’s… helpful.” The red robe looked at the black cloak and did not finish his words.
The five of them slowly walked down the street.
Angele noticed his horses were sleeping as well when he walked out of the hotel. It seemed like the man in the black cloak had drugged everything in the town. Sleep Dust was extremely effective on normal people, but it would only make the ones with high Stamina points sleepy.
The five quickly left the town and arrived at the fork in the road.
The sign was shaking in the air due to the wind. It was still dark and cloudy.
Messi looked at the sign and walked to the path to the garden with his granddaughter. Angele was the last in the team. He looked at the sign and saw something strange.
The word ‘Moon Gin Manor’ was no longer on the sign. It was replaced with ‘Death’. The word was red and written with blood. It was fresh, and the blood was still dripping down the wooden board.
Angele hesitated for a second, then hastened his pace. The team was advancing slowly and carefully. They were walking upon the dried grass. No one tried to start a conversation, and Angele could hear people breathing heavily.
After a while, he realized that the gray sky was turning red.
“Prepare yourselves,” Messi suddenly yelled. “We’re almost there.”
Everyone else’s expression changed after hearing the words, but they did not say anything.
Angele grabbed his metal bow and slowly pulled a black arrow out of the quiver. He thought he had checked all the routes around the manor during his investigations, but nothing looked familiar here. He slowed down and stayed alert.
Time kept passing. The team did not stop for a single second and kept advancing. The road was straight, and there was no grass on the ground anymore.
The sky was already bloody red, and it made everything under it look horrifying. The atmosphere was getting heavier and heavier.
Angele sniffed the air, and a fishy smell was left in his nose.
“We’re here,” the man in the red robe said.
“We traveled for about 15 minutes and passed through the gap already. Stay alert, everyone,” Messi advised.
The entrance to the garden appeared in front of them. The garden itself was surrounded by a black metal fence, and the gate was half open. It was the end of the road, and Angele could see the tall trees and plants inside behind the fence.
The color in the sky started changing again. It was not red anymore, but turned back to gray after they reached the gate.
Messi stood in front of the gate and pointed his finger in the air.
*Ding*
The air rippled, and a red cross, which started glowing, appeared on the tip of his finger. The cross solidified in the air, and it had the same height and width as the gate.
Messi used some incantation and snapped his fingers. A white flame appeared on his palm and burned quietly. The old man waited several seconds, then pushed the flame forward.
It was pushed into the middle of the cross.
*Crack*
Everything disappeared after the flame contacted the cross, and the gate returned to normal.
“Good, I checked the gap, it will last for about one hour and a half this time. We can go in now,” Messi muttered, looking tired.
“Heh,” the man in the black cloak sneered and walked in.
The man in the red robe looked at Angele for a second, then entered through the gate as well, but he did not say anything.
Angele knew that he had to stay alert all the time, but he didn’t show any emotion on his face. He just followed after the two.
Messi and his granddaughter went in after him.