Chapter 1302 Furlington <TOC> Chapter 1304 Smolder
Translator: SumTLMan
Amidst the ethereal dance of clouds and mists, the skies painted a vivid arc of rainbows.
For the first time, Furlington was soaring through the heavens. Below him, the vistas unfolded in all their grandeur and beauty, yet his mind was not attuned to the wonders beneath. It wasn’t merely the shadow of the malevolent pursuer looming behind; more pressingly, his body quivered in the biting cold of the altitude.
The clothes he wore were scanty at best. Back home, a hearth would ward off the cold. Now, abducted and carried through the unprotected heights, he felt his lifeblood turning to ice within his veins.
Yet the cold was not the cruelest part; the thin air at such altitudes, rushing fiercely as they moved, continually forced itself into Furlington’s nostrils.
His pallor shifted from a deathly white to a worrisome shade of purple.
As the frostbite started playing tricks on his mind, with Furlington on the verge of deliriously wanting to shed his clothes and bask in the “illusory warmth,” their journey reached its endpoint——Dread Mountain Waterfall.
Tossed carelessly onto the snowy ground, Furlington’s senses were still in a daze when a gentle energy flowed into him.
With this infusion, all his discomforts seemed to dissipate. Even his muddled thoughts started to regain clarity.
He no longer felt cold; it was as if he were basking in the gentle embrace of summer.
With widened eyes filled with astonishment, Furlington gazed at Suis. Such a feat was only within the realms of those transcending the ordinary. Feeling rejuvenated, Furlington mustered the strength to rise from the thick blanket of snow.
However, to Angel’s discerning eyes, Furlington’s appearance showed no improvement. His skin remained a ghastly mix of white and purple, clear signs of severe frostbite, which only seemed to worsen with time. Yet, his eyes sparkled with clarity, seemingly oblivious to his body’s distressing state.
It appears that the energy Suis previously infused into Furlington acted more as a paralytic than truly taking a shielding effect.
“Speak, where have you buried the box?” Suis asked icily.
“When I first arrived, it hadn’t started to snow. Let me think.” Furlington surveyed his surroundings. By now, the once mighty Dread Mountain Waterfall had nearly run dry, save for a few spots where water still gushed without freezing over. Snow blanketed the landscape, with winds whipping up snow dust into the air, rendering both near and distant views indistinguishably white, making it challenging for the average person to discern direction.
However, Furlington, being a seasoned sailor who had always made his living at sea, possessed an innate sense of direction, and his grasp of spatial distances was beyond ordinary.
Once he identified a landmark as a starting point, he quickly found his bearing.
“It should be buried there!” Furlington pointed to a highland in the distance.
The onlookers realized that this highland was actually quite distant from their current location. Although still within the vicinity of Dread Mountain Waterfall, it was close to the edge. A little further, and they’d reach Grud Town.
Suis hoisted Furlington up again, and in a blink of an eye, they arrived at the highland.
The highland was flat and barren, save for a solitary tree that had stood tall for a long time.
From this vantage point, one could get an unobstructed view of Grud Town.
“The man hinted several times in his words that I should bury it near Grud Town. However, I’m not sure what’s inside. Fearing it might be some toxic substance, I didn’t dare bury it in Grud Town but chose this place instead,” Furlington explained as he walked towards the snow-covered tree, “The box is buried under this tree.”
After speaking, Furlington stepped aside.
Suis carefully inspected the tree. He had already sensed something beneath it, but it was just an ordinary suitcase. Had there been any energy leakage, it would’ve been detected by the alchemical puppets earlier. But this suitcase clearly didn’t exhibit such traits.
Suis stood unwavering, but the atmosphere behind him shivered like a pond disturbed by a fallen leaf. From it emerged an ethereal hand fueled by a powerful spell, hovering near a tree.
Without hesitation, the magic hand delved into the earth. With the land churning and shifting, it drew forth a Leather Suitcase.
Precisely as Suis had perceived earlier, it was an ordinary leather suitcase — bathed in the hue of aged walnut, adorned with a checkered pattern, fastened with copper-tinted buckles, and a jet-black zipper.
At first glance, it appeared mundane, but what was unsettling was the inability to sense what lay within.
In a hushed tone, White Bear murmured, “Tread lightly. Destiny whispers to me that this suitcase might belong to Rolando.”
Where Rolando’s affairs are concerned, even in his absence, one can’t rule out concealed snares.
Pausing for a moment, White Bear inquired, “What could possibly be inside?”
“In the possession of those transcending the ordinary, such a suitcase could hold the universe itself,” Suis responded, his voice echoing the weight of ancient tomes.
This wasn’t an overstatement. Should someone condense a Wizard Garden into such a suitcase, it might well open up into another world. But to their knowledge, King Guman didn’t possess such a garden, and even if he did, it was unlikely he’d bury it so recklessly.
Yet, even if it didn’t contain a “world,” the confined space of the suitcase didn’t necessarily mean its contents were similarly limited. Perhaps it concealed an unknown terror?
With trepidation, Suis reached out, ready to unveil the suitcase’s secrets.
Even if it held unspeakable horrors, with Lord Phantom Master present, they felt secure.
However, just as Suis was about to unbuckle the suitcase, Angel abruptly exclaimed, “Wait!”
Suis halted, his brow furrowed in confusion as he turned to regard Angel with questioning eyes.
“Do you find that the stitch beneath this buckle seems oddly familiar?” Angel pointed to a location on the leather suitcase, where just below a buckle lay a stitch. This stitch appeared as a seamless continuation of the surrounding crisscross pattern.
Suis and White Bear saw no oddity, but Sanders paused momentarily before voicing with a hint of uncertainty, “A Bearing Corner?”
Angel nodded in affirmation, “It does resemble a disguised Bearing Corner.”
In the study of runes, the Bearing Corner is a fundamental concept. Every rune inherently carries its own meaning, be it elemental or conceptual, and manifests based on its corresponding effects. The Bearing Corner is a characteristic found in most runes because it signifies the utmost boundary within which a rune is inscribed.
Its significance isn’t particularly profound, but if one were to draw parallels, it might resonate with notions of “limitation” or a “framework”.
In essence, a rune is typically constrained within the boundaries of the Bearing Corner.
However, the term “limitation” seems rather stringent. In reality, the expressive potential of a rune is vast and flexible. Thus, the concept of the Bearing Corner is more like a medium that connects other runes.
“What’s a Bearing Corner?” Suis was familiar with the term but couldn’t discern it in the stitch pattern, no matter how he looked. Calling it a disguised Bearing Corner felt like a stretch.
Nevertheless, while Suis was an outsider to the world of runes, Angel was an adept alchemist specialized in enchantment. If he perceived it as a Bearing Corner, who was Suis to argue?
If it truly was a Bearing Corner, did it indicate the presence of a rune on this suitcase… or perhaps, a magical formation?
Suis examined the suitcase with a meticulous eye, yet he couldn’t identify any familiar rune patterns.
In the end, Suis handed over the verdict to Angel.
With a magic tendril, the suitcase was levitated before Angel, awaiting his discerning examination.
Upon close scrutiny, every detail of the suitcase’s exterior was laid bare. It was meticulously crafted, the leather impeccably smooth, with a crisscross formation painted on. The only deviation from its uniform surface was the seam emanating from beneath the buckle.
Yet, upon closer observation, this seam appeared as nothing more than a typical stitch to secure the buckle.
After a moment of contemplation, Angel’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t identified any magic runes, but the design borne by the seam eerily resembled a Bearing Corner…
“Could you have been mistaken?” whispered White Bear, noticing Angel’s extended silence and evident concern.
After ruminating for what felt like an eternity, Angel still couldn’t detect any traces of a rune. Could it be, as White Bear suggested, that he’d been mistaken? Was the seam simply an intricate design?
Doubt began to glimmer in Suis’ eyes as he gazed at Angel.
Not that he doubted Angel’s capabilities, but rather he secretly thought that perhaps Angel was being overly cautious. Recognizing a potential misjudgment, it seemed Angel was reluctant to concede.
“Actually, the absence of a rune is rather fortuitous, isn’t it? Even if there was one, we could handle it, right?” White Bear murmured softly.
“I wish to touch the suitcase directly,” Angel suddenly declared.
Given their concerns about potential traps within the suitcase, they’d avoided direct contact, opting to handle it using a magic tendril instead.
To Suis, Angel’s sudden desire for direct contact seemed a tad obstinate, stemming perhaps from a reluctance to admit a possible oversight. After all, a mere glance revealed a surface free of any irregularities. Touching it seemed superfluous.
However, the discovery of the suitcase was undeniably credited to Angel. Thus, even if he found Angel’s request a tad unnecessary, Suis didn’t feel it was his place to deny it, though his expression turned slightly more somber.
Angel glanced over at Sanders, seeking some validation. But Sanders’ gaze wasn’t one of distrust. Instead, he calmly inquired, “Do you truly believe it’s a rune?”
“I cannot say for certain, but the fact that one can’t peer into this suitcase speaks volumes in itself. I have a notion that needs verification.”
Sanders nodded in agreement, “Proceed as your intuition guides you.”
Angel extended his hand, delicately making contact with the suitcase’s surface. A chilling sensation coursed through his fingertips, seeping into his very being.
Angel felt the “Bearing Corner” he had been dubious of and lightly pressed upon it. His fingers gracefully trailed down its surface. With eyes closed, he deeply absorbed the texture beneath his fingertips.
Moments passed, and the atmosphere grew palpably tense.
Impatience danced in Suis’s eyes, but given Lord Phantom Master’s presence, he held his tongue.
Meanwhile, White Bear drew his short staff, attempting to divine insight… Yet, destiny seemed to mock him once more, offering no revelations.
Just as Suis was on the cusp of voicing his questions, Angel interjected, “My intuition was correct. Indeed, it’s a rune.”