Chapter 2195 Sandhawk <TOC> Chapter 2197 Bortia
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Translator: SumTLMan
Pausing for a moment, Salamado added, “It’s a pity, I’m currently about to travel with Aguado, otherwise, I could have guided you.”
Aguado is the Sandhawk currently standing on the edge of the Gondola.
“Are you traveling?” Dangros found a moment to interject.
Nodding, Sandhawk Aguado mentioned traveling, a bright light flashing through its eyes crafted of yellow sand: “Yes, it has been Salamado’s and my dream since childhood to see different sceneries far away. Now, we have finally decided to embark on a journey, thus forming the Sandstorm Travel Troupe to tour the entire continent!”
Aguado spoke excitedly about the dream, as if the chest harbored the youthful spirit of adventure.
When speaking joyfully, Aguado turned its gaze, “Would you like to join our Sandstorm Travel Troupe? To capture the most beautiful scenery in this distant journey!”
Dangros’s eyes sparkled, seemingly moved by Aguado’s passionate depiction.
“Although I too wish to witness the diverse beauty of the Tidal Realm, we currently have urgent matters, maybe only in the future will we have the chance,” Angel timely expressed a slight regret.
Aguado: “I got excited the moment I mentioned distant places, only now did I remember, your goal is White Cloud Hamlet.”
Angel smiled, “In my view, discussing dreams with enthusiasm is also a beautiful thing.”
Aguado chuckled, “Salamado said something similar, hence we clicked immediately and joined my journey.”
Salamado let out a laughter like a breeze from the high skies.
Aguado: “It’s indeed a bit regretful you can’t join the troupe. However, White Cloud Hamlet is also beautiful… ah, I almost forgot, if you’re passing through the Wild Stone Wasteland to White Cloud Hamlet, you’ll surely cross the Toothpull Desert. Although it seems unchanging, it also possesses magnificent beauty.”
Following Aguado’s words, Angel continued, “We will witness the grandeur of the Toothpull Desert firsthand… However, before that, may I inquire, to seek an audience with Highness Sandstorm, are there any taboos?”
“Eh?” Aguado looked towards Angel, “Aren’t you going to meet Highness Gentle Wind? Why also seek Highness Sandstorm?”
Angel nodded, “Yes, being new here, I wish to visit the monarchs of various lands, in pursuit of the traces of olden times.”
“So it is.” Although Aguado said this, it didn’t quite grasp Angel’s meaning but didn’t think too much of it. With Dangros accompanying and Angel bearing the Mark of Earth, in its simple view, they could not be bad people.
“Compared to Highness Gentle Wind in White Cloud Hamlet, Highness Sandstorm might be a bit irritable. To seek an audience, it’s best to first meet the sage, who will know the best time to see the Highness.”
Then, Aguado briefly described how to find the sage, along with the sage’s personality and preferences.
During the conversation with Aguado, Angel also inquired about the sage of White Cloud Hamlet from Salamado.
As the conversation with Aguado was coming to an end, the sky began to darken.
Prompted by Salamado, Aguado suddenly snapped back to reality: “We had told the Patrols when passing through the Wild Stone Wasteland that we would leave their territory before nightfall. It’s too late now, we must leave!”
After saying this, Aguado spread its wings, flying into the mid-air: “It was delightful chatting with you. The sage of White Cloud Hamlet once said, in our journey, not only will we see beautiful sceneries, but all the beings we meet along the way will also become shining embellishments of this trip.”
Angel: “It is our honor. I believe your stories will not only be passed down on this continent but may even drift to more distant worlds.”
At this time, Aguado did not understand what Angel meant, but it understood that Angel was blessing them.
Aguado chirped happily: “We are leaving, the distance awaits us to conquer! Looking forward to our next meeting!”
Salamado also chirped in time, responding to Aguado’s excitement.
The sound of the wind accompanied by the whispering of sand, whistling away. Soon, the two hawks, accompanying and entwining with each other, vanished from sight, leaving only the sand grains on the Gondola as witnesses to their existence.
Angel watched the departing yellow sand with a faint smile and blessing in his eyes.
He could see that Aguado was the kind of traveler who would do anything for the distant lands.
Among wizards, such individuals are not rare. Like Fivenda, who has published countless travelogues, his life was a journey, and perhaps he is still traveling somewhere at this moment.
Angel actually also yearned for such a life. The word “distant” seems plain, but it has a strange magic that makes one want to pursue it endlessly. However, Angel is also aware that to chase the distant, one must first be grounded in reality. In the endless pan-planes, danger is everywhere, and without strength, one might fall before even seeing the distant lands.
Angel’s current strength, although decent, is still insufficient to conquer the distant lands.
However, Angel does not feel sad, because he has one more method to chase the distant lands than others.
——Gateway of Fantasy.
The special energy filled within the Gateway of Fantasy is estimated to be replenished in two weeks. By then, through the dream of the Gateway of Fantasy, it is possible to reach faraway places… The most important thing is, the soul projection goes forth, while the real body remains unharmed.
“How wonderful.” On the other side, Dangros, with his index finger and middle finger standing on the table, watched the departing yellow sand and sighed dreamily.
“I’ve said before, elemental creatures that yearn for the distant will not be few. Now, we’ve encountered one.” Angel said with a smile, “It seems, you also look forward to the distant?”
Dangros choked: “…I do not, rather than the distant, I envy their firm dreams more.”
“Don’t you have one too? The dream to revive the glory of your ancestor.”
Dangros was stunned: “You acknowledge me as a descendant of Kalomaches?”
Angel: “Does it need my acknowledgment? Isn’t that what you said yourself? I’ve always trusted what you said from the beginning to the end. By your tone, could it be that you don’t believe it yourself?”
A flush of red swept across Dangros’s palm, and he turned his head away from Angel: “What, what belief, of course, what I said is true, no doubt needed!”
A glint flashed in Dangros’s eyes: “I will definitely revive the glory of my ancestor!”
Angel smiled softly and said: “I believe you.”
…
The Gondola never paused; as soon as Sandhawk Aguado stopped at the ship’s edge, they had already entered the border of the Wild Stone Wasteland.
Now, after another half hour of travel, the scorched earth and lava lakes below were no longer visible, replaced by a vast wasteland.
This resembled the Wilderness of Dreams before the “Civilization Mother Tree” descended, the only difference being that this wasteland was covered with stones of various sizes.
Angel continued to delve into the wilderness of stones, and when he reached a highland, the ground began to tremble. The scattered stones on the ground seemed to be drawn by some spell, quickly conglomerating into a massive stone giant.
This stone giant raised its head, looking towards the airship in the higher skies.
“I sense the Mark of Earth,” came a slow and heavy whisper from the stone giant’s mouth, dark as a wind tunnel.
Angel hovered in the sky, not immediately descending. He faintly sensed that the power of this stone giant was immensely formidable, its mere presence causing Eremy to reveal itself.
“Do you recognize who it is?” Angel inquired of Dangros.
Dangros lay on the edge of the ship, scrutinizing for a moment before muttering, “It looks just like the Inba brothers, I can hardly tell them apart. Could it be Grand Inba?”
Angel: “? ? ?” Who in the world is Grand Inba?
Although Dangros did not provide a useful answer, the appearance of its figure at the ship’s edge caused a light to flash in the hollow eyes of the stone giant below.
“The severed hand of flame, is that Dangros who comes?” the stone giant spoke.
Angel glanced at Dangros, who looked baffled: “How does it know me?”
Angel: “That’s my line.”
“That’s not important,” Dangros flipped over, sitting on the edge, looking down: “How do you know I am Dangros, do you recognize me?”
The air suddenly fell silent.
A cold breeze passed before the stone giant finally spoke, “Three hundred sunsets ago, you and the Inba brothers visited the Wild Stone Wasteland as guests. We met then… right here.”
Dangros’s forehead was filled with question marks, his voice rising in pitch: “Really?”
“…Yes.”
“How do I not remember this?” After pondering for a moment, Dangros exclaimed, “I think there was such an occasion. I was invited here by the Inba brothers. As we passed this place, we encountered a giant.”
The stone giant: “I am not a giant; I am a Guardian.”
“Oh, right! The Guardian. Big Inba mentioned that at the borders of the Wild Stone Wasteland, there’s a Guardian every certain distance as the first line of defense.”
Dangros showed a dawning of understanding, simultaneously giving Angel a confident look, as if to say there’s no need to worry with him around.
Angel: “…” Suddenly, he became worried about the journey ahead; this companion seemed somewhat unreliable.
Because Dangros and this Guardian had met before, and the Guardian showed friendliness towards Dangros, Angel finally slowly descended the Gondola to a level parallel with the giant stone head of the Guardian.
Perhaps because Angel had previously shown distrust towards Dangros, Dangros, eager to regain his dignity and to prove himself, took the initiative in the conversation and explanation, starting to converse with the Guardian.
The Guardian, a stone giant guarding the frontier for countless years, wasn’t much curious. Upon learning that the Mark of Earth on Angel came from Little Inba, the Guardian immediately let down its guard towards Angel, this “human.”
“Are you here to see Highness Fallen Earth? It’s been a long time since I’ve returned to the core place, and I’m unaware of the situation there,” said the Guardian. “However, the Patrol is nearby, and it should know. I can help you call it over.”
The so-called Patrol, like the Guardian, serves as a Guardian of the Wild Stone Wasteland. While Guardians stand guard in one place as the first line of defense, Patrols roam around as a second line of defense.
Dangros smiled, “That would be great, thank you.”
The Guardian gently bowed his head: “The Wild Stone Wasteland and the Fire Domain share the closest of bonds. It is my honor to serve two guests from the Fire Domain.”
The words of the Guardian were quite flattering, but the listeners could feel the sincerity in his heart. He truly believed this and fully implemented it in his actions.
Angel also felt, at this moment, the power of “diplomatic relations.”
Standing upon the earth, the Guardian could convey messages to all earth elemental creatures nearby through the power of the earth.
This method of conveying messages, compared to the sparks of fire creatures, was more secure and hidden, and also quite fast.
Before long, a little stone person covered in moss slid over from the distant wasteland.
Yes, not walked, but “slid.”
The moss-covered stone person, as if skating on a board, treated the wasteland as a snowy slope, sliding over at an unimaginable speed.
Angel, seeing this scene, was not too surprised. During his time at the Research Institute, he had heard about some wizards’ earth elemental creatures having even more exaggerated methods of travel.
All earth elemental creatures, as long as they were on the earth, were granted extremely powerful rights of way by Mother Earth.
Sliding was already considered slow; some earth elemental creatures could directly move through the ground, which was faster than sliding.
It didn’t take long for the moss-covered stone person to slide up to the Guardian.
The Guardian opened his hands, cradled the moss-covered stone person in his palm, and slowly lifted him to the height of Gondola’s eyebrows.
“Mr. Pat and Dangros, welcome. I am the Patrol of this area,” said the moss giant, pausing before continuing: “The Guardian has informed me of your situation, and upon receiving this news, I immediately relayed your intentions to the sage. I believe it won’t be long before the sage sends back, ——a message.”
The Patrol, like the Guardian, although not mentioning its own name, was very friendly towards the guests from the Fire Domain. This friendliness was evident in many ways, for example, when Angel inquired about various information about the Wild Stone Wasteland, the Patrol did not intend to hide anything and answered all questions.
Half an hour later, the Patrol stretched out its hand, and an orange-yellow stone flew up from the ground, landing in his palm.
After sensing the stone for a moment, the Patrol said to Angel: “The sage has agreed. It will help the two of you contact Highness and has also invited you to meet in the stone cave.”
The stone cave referred to the Rubi Cave, where the sage resided. Angel had already learned of this from Big Inba before coming to the Wild Stone Wasteland. Although he knew of it, he was not yet clear on its exact location.
Seeing Angel’s predicament, the Patrol handed over the orange-yellow stone: “This stone will lead the two of you in the right direction.”