Chapter 2201 Toothpull Desert <TOC> Chapter 2203 Highness Sandstorm’s Illness
Translator: SumTLMan
As soon as the desert centaur appeared, it fixed them with a gaze full of wariness and hostility.
Though no immediate cries of battle were uttered, the animosity was evident in its eyes. Moreover, the quicksand at the centaur’s feet was expanding at a visible rate, threatening to engulf the area they stood on before long.
At that moment, Lorca announced its name.
The desert centaur, unfamiliar with Lorca but recognizing a kinship in their earth elemental nature and Lorca’s stony appearance, understood he hailed from their ally——the Wild Stone Wasteland.
Thus, the centaur hesitated before issuing threats, deciding instead to consult with the Patrol. “Wait here, I’ll verify with the Patrol,” it said before diving into the quicksand and vanishing.
About three minutes later, the centaur reemerged, now with a demeanor less guarded and more welcoming. “So, you are Brother Lorca.”
“Brother?” Lorca’s eyes brightened as he looked at the centaur. “Are you also a disciple of our mentor?”
With a wide grin, the centaur nodded. “Yes, but that was over three hundred years ago. I doubt you’ve heard of me.”
“The Patrol has informed our mentor of your return. He will be delighted to see you,” the centaur said, stepping aside to clear the path for Lorca.
Lorca glanced at Angel, hesitated, and then addressed the floating centaur, “I have a request…”
“To fly to our mentor’s location?” The centaur looked surprised, as Lorca didn’t seem capable of flight.
Lorca clarified that it wasn’t it who could fly but rather through the use of Angel’s vehicle.
“I see,” the centaur feigned understanding, though it was still confused, not wanting to expose its ignorance.
“Lorca, you’re aware of the flying prohibitions. I cannot decide on this matter. Let me consult with the sage and see what Mentor says,” it proposed before sinking back into the quicksand.
Minutes later, the centaur reappeared, “The sage has agreed. However, you must find a native flying companion from the Toothpull Desert as per the rules.”
The centaur then sympathetically informed them, “I must tell you, there are no flying earth creatures within a hundred kilometers.”
Meaning, without a flying companion, Lorca and Angel would have to trek to the core area on foot.
Lorca’s expression turned to one of frustration, inadvertently looking towards the centaur, who resembled a genie capable of flight.
The centaur immediately waved off the idea, “I cannot assist in that manner. I serve as a… Guardian here, limited to local movements.”
Lorca sighed in resignation at the centaur’s refusal.
Noticing Lorca’s disheartened state, the centaur suggested, “Perhaps you could search while on your journey. You can fly once you find a companion.”
Lorca turned to Angel, leaving the decision to him.
Angel pondered for a moment before asking, “Does the companion have to be capable of flight? What if they cannot fly?”
“The rules don’t specify the companion must fly…” mused the centaur.
Angel lightly waved his hand, releasing the Gondola into mid-air: “My airship can carry an earth elemental creature. I found one that cannot fly; as long as it stays on the ship, it can be considered as a companion flyer, right?”
The centaur hesitated for a moment, feeling as if its mind was spinning, but eventually nodded: “It should be possible.”
After receiving confirmation from the centaur, Angel quickly turned around and, from a few hundred meters away, gently picked up a newly born sand mouse that was just one week old.
“This little guy must have been born during the most recent Voice of the World, right? Can I take it with me?”
The centaur was silent for a moment but finally nodded: “The rules do not forbid creatures in their sprite phase from being companion flyers.”
Angel smiled slightly and placed the struggling little sand mouse into Lorca’s hands: “Then we shall take our leave.”
With that, Angel, along with Lorca and Dangros, returned to the Gondola. Under the complex gaze of the centaur, they maneuvered the airship and flew towards the distant horizon.
On the Gondola, Lorca, comforting the frightened little sand mouse, showed a contemplative expression: “This one didn’t expect it could be handled this way. Alas, this one’s thoughts are always too constrained. Otherwise, by reasoning and understanding, this one should have been able to think of such a simple method earlier.”
“Indeed, as Mentor Kuplatinum said, this one still needs to learn more. Otherwise, this one’s vision will always be limited within a set framework.”
When Lorca spoke of learning, its eyes lit up with a bright light.
This was Angel’s first visit to the Tidal Realm, and he was seeing such a knowledge-thirsty elemental creature for the first time.
The more he learned about elemental creatures, the more he discovered that, like all intelligent beings, they each have their unique personalities. There’s Dangros, who lives with an idol as his faith; the carefree and free-spirited Sandstorm Travel Troupe; and Lorca, who sees learning as its pursuit.
Previously, when Angel heard of elemental creatures, even though wizards endowed them with the title of “partners,” he couldn’t help but think of elemental creatures as emotionless tools.
Now, witnessing these vibrant elemental lives, he began to gradually discard his past views.
…
“Let’s stop for a moment.” A desert giant emerged from the undulating sand dunes, waving at the Gondola in the sky to halt.
Angel and Lorca exchanged glances, sighed helplessly, and slowly lowered the Gondola.
On their way to the core area of the Toothpull Desert, this was already the tenth time they had been intercepted in just one hour.
As before, this very burly-looking desert giant, with movements too gentle for its size, handed over a palm-sized kitten to Lorca.
“Thank you for your help.” After seeing the kitten safely in Lorca’s arms, the desert giant breathed a sigh of relief and thanked them.
Angel said in a deep voice: “It’s no trouble… after all, it’s on the way.”
After parting ways with the desert giant, the Gondola continued on its journey. The route was the same as before, but the number of passengers had significantly increased.
Not only was there the little sand mouse and the earth elemental kitten, but also a variety of desert sprites like little snails, foxes, mushrooms, earthworms, lizards, etc., all chirping and playing around on the Gondola, occasionally spitting some sand.
These were all elemental sprites that had been intercepted along the way and then entrusted to them for delivery with the Gondola.
According to one embarrassed Patrol, these were newly born elemental sprites, whose best destiny was to go to the core area to be taught collectively by the wise ones. However, the Guardians and Patrols of the outer desert, if not for an emergency, could not leave their posts and thus could not send these elemental sprites away. When they heard from the centaur that Angel was taking the little sand mouse as a “companion flyer,” their eyes lit up. Seeing the airship in the sky, they immediately waved, hoping to hitch a ride for these little sprites.
These are all trivial matters after all; perhaps they could even foster some relationships. Angel couldn’t well refuse, thus leading to the current scene.
The Gondola, not particularly large, was already filled with tiny sprites.
If he were an earth wizard of the elemental branch, and even luckier, a desert wizard specializing in sand spells, he would probably be very happy at this moment, surrounded by various desert sprites and might even find a suitable companion for himself.
However, Angel was not a desert wizard. His study of earth spells was almost non-existent, not to mention the rather niche lineage of sand within the earth element.
So, seeing these sprites spitting sand everywhere, he felt no joy, and was even a bit irritated.
But after all, they were just mischievous kids, and moreover, mischievous kids without any wisdom. In the end, Angel could only take a deep breath and endure.
Fortunately, as the night deepened, these newly born sprites also began to tire, including Dangros, and a group of sprites gradually fell into sleep, which allowed Angel to breathe a sigh of relief.
However, even if the sprites had entered their sleeping hours, mature elemental creatures were still active. Hence, as Angel’s airboat passed by, it still encountered many intercepting elemental creatures.
More tiny sprites were crammed onto the ship.
It could be said that this journey from the frontier to the core area was the longest journey Angel had ever undertaken.
With the Gondola’s unparalleled speed, reaching the core area of the Toothpull Desert took a full eight hours, half of which was spent being intercepted.
By this time, there were more than forty sprites on the ship.
Angel was somewhat regretful by now; he shouldn’t have brought the little sand mouse onto the ship in the first place. Bringing any mature elemental creature would have been fine.
But regret was useless, what had happened had happened, and he could only accept it.
Fortunately, they had now arrived in the core area and would soon be liberated.
The liberation came quicker than expected. Under Lorca’s guidance, it took them only half an hour in the core area to find the palace where the sage resided, the Toothpull Palace.
This was the first building with a distinct mature style that Angel saw in the Tidal Realm.
It was somewhat similar to a temple, without walls, entirely composed of huge pillars.
As the sun rose higher, sunlight entered the Toothpull Palace, passing through the pillars, casting a large amount of regular and dense shadows. Between sunrise and sunset, there was a sense of religious ceremony.
“Was this palace built by earth elemental creatures?” Angel asked Lorca, who was across from him, as he lowered the Gondola towards the palace.
Although Lorca had “studied” here for a few years, it did not know who had built the palace, and after hemming and hawing for a long time, it did not speak.
At this moment, a rather loud voice rang in Angel’s ear: “The original Toothpull Palace is a relic of history, said to have existed even before the world catastrophe. However, the Ancient Palace was eroded by time and vanished into the river of history. The current palace, on the other hand, was rebuilt and restored by us successors on its original site.”
Angel looked towards the source of the voice and saw a humanoid creature made of metallic sand slowly closing its mouth.
Clearly, it was the one who had answered Angel.
“Mentor!” Lorca respectfully called out the title of the other party.
Angel’s expression showed understanding; it seemed this was the sage of the Toothpull Desert, Kuplatinum.
Angel had heard before that Kuplatinum, as its name suggests, is an elemental creature made of metal, immensely huge, lurking beneath the desert. The humanoid form now shown outside the palace, was merely an exterior appearance deliberately revealed, much like Magu.
Angel brought the Gondola directly to the outside of the palace gates.
Kuplatinum greeted them with a smile, but the welcome was not for Angel, nor for Lorca who showed a look of admiration, but rather for the elemental sprites still in a half-awake state on the boat.
Kuplatinum carefully awakened these little sprites one by one, then carried them off the boat like a mother, gently soothing them.
The previously unbearable little sprites became very quiet under Kuplatinum’s soothing, showing a bit of warmth under the early morning sunlight.
Kuplatinum obviously adored the little sprites, taking a long time to soothe each one, paying no attention to Angel and Lorca, the two “idle” ones.
Angel took this opportunity to examine the unusually styled palace behind him.
He had seen the “cities” within Magu and the intersecting paths within Rubi Cave. These gathering places had some intentions of mimicking human civilization but lacked specific references, leading to arbitrary construction. The results were merely touching the edge of human civilization, leaning more towards the style of early human settlements.
However, this palace, from the neatly arranged columns, the patterned carvings in front of the hall, to the overall design, did not seem like an imitation but rather genuine human architecture.
Angel also heard what Kuplatinum had said.
There was no need for Kuplatinum to deceive him. Thus, these palaces existed before the disaster. If the palace was indeed built by humans, it implies that Feng might not have been the first to discover the Tidal Realm. Before it merged with the Wizarding World, someone had already found this place and built this palace.
This was reasonable, as wizards’ footsteps spanned across the pan-dimensions.
If the Toothpull Palace was indeed built by human wizards, their strength must have been formidable, and they were likely loners. The fact that they disregarded elemental creatures and did not think of using the coordinates of the Tidal Realm as a point of interest suggests a lot.
Of course, it’s also possible that they accidentally ended up here and died before they could transmit the information. However, this possibility is smaller; someone who had the leisure to build a palace probably would have had time to send the information.
Regardless of which scenario, even if the palace wasn’t built by humans but by an earlier intelligent civilization of the Tidal Realm, Angel was very interested in the palace.
Perhaps, some remnants of information from an era even more ancient than Feng’s arrival could be discovered here.
After more than ten minutes, Kuplatinum finally soothed all the elemental sprites, planting seeds of intelligence in them before releasing them into the wilderness to grow robustly in the core area.
Watching the elemental sprites disappear one after another, Kuplatinum retracted the kind smile hanging at the corner of his mouth and turned to look at Angel and Lorca.
Lorca, the student, was well-understood by Kuplatinum, so he was momentarily set aside.
What Kuplatinum was more curious about was this life form that seemed different from elemental creatures.
“Are you… human?”
Chapter 2201 Toothpull Desert <TOC> Chapter 2203 Highness Sandstorm’s Illness