Chapter 2496 En Route <TOC> Chapter 2498 Sandworm Market
Translator: SumTLMan
With the assistance of Speedling, the Gondola circumnavigated the Gloriosa Kingdom by way of the Guman Kingdom, allowing Angel to complete the journey in just one day.
Upon reaching the border province of the Guman Kingdom, Angel’s companion, Aubrey, said: “My lord, it is sufficient to leave me here. Nearby is the White Lightning Market, where a short-range teleportation formation provides direct access to Fath Gap, making the White Shell Sea City quite close.”
Angel warned: “All the wizard markets in the Guman Kingdom, including the White Lightning Market, are monitored by the king’s agents. You must be cautious there.”
Wizard markets in other nations typically operate under well-established rules and rarely encounter problems. However, markets in the Guman Kingdom face a higher risk of incidents due to the unpredictable factor of the king himself. Nevertheless, the king also seeks to gather intelligence about major organizations through these markets, so he would not exterminate a market unless absolutely necessary. As long as Aubrey behaves and waits for teleportation, she should encounter no serious issues.
Aubrey, her cheeks slightly flushed, bowed her head and thanked him: “Thank you for your concern, my lord. I will be careful.”
The Gondola set down in a wilderness area, and Aubrey climbed over the side to disembark. She was about to bid farewell when Angel suddenly stopped her.
“Wait.”
Aubrey looked up at him, puzzled. Angel pondered for a moment and then slowly raised his fingertip, from which a faint light sparkled.
Before Aubrey could react, the light from Angel’s fingertip surged into her forehead.
Aubrey had heard that some wizards are capricious, killing as casually as they would eat or drink, without any moral constraints. Was Angel about to kill her? But hadn’t their interaction been harmonious up until now?
Aubrey thought she was doomed, yet after standing frozen for a while, nothing happened.
She touched her forehead, finding it smooth and unbroken, with no bloody hole as she had feared.
Everything inside her body also seemed normal.
What was that light that had penetrated her forehead?
As Aubrey was filled with doubts, Angel softly spoke: “You appear very weary.”
Aubrey responded without thinking: “I’ve been anxious about whether to go to White Shell Sea City and take over responsibilities there, and I haven’t had a proper rest in over ten days.”
Angel advised: “Then you should take some time to rest properly. Perhaps, you might even have an interesting dream.”
“A dream? What kind of dream?” Aubrey inquired.
Angel smiled, gave no reply, and instead directed the Gondola to soar skyward, disappearing from sight.
Stunned, Aubrey remained standing in place, clueless. Eventually, she shook her head and turned towards the direction of the White Lightning Market.
…
Aboard the Gondola, Angel leaned against the railing, deep in thought.
Suddenly, a wave of mental power gently wrapped around him.
It was Speedling’s mental power; through their time together, Angel had come to understand some of Speedling’s unique expressions.
At this moment, it expressed with mental power: In the basket on Aubrey’s back, it sensed an aura that made it very uncomfortable.
Almost all elemental creatures are pure; they have a stronger sense for corruption than human wizards.
At least, Angel did not feel that the puppet doll was particularly corrupt, only that it was made of human skin and given to Aubrey, which surely had some ulterior motive.
“Don’t mind the corruption; it’s actually quite minimal. In this world, there are things and places much more corrupt than this.”
Speedling remained silent, no longer releasing mental power, but continued to propel the Gondola towards their destination.
Angel looked at the changing landscape around him, pondering what decision Aubrey would make.
The faint light that had entered Aubrey’s forehead earlier was not without effect.
It contained a Nightmare Illusion that would turn into a dream once Aubrey fell asleep.
This Nightmare Illusion was precisely the scene Angel encountered when he met Guina, Vonman, and her two deceased companions, Chira and Aniga.
This scene fully restored all the deeds performed by these children, whose hearts were as malicious as demons.
Simply speaking of this scene, everyone will have a different understanding; some might think these children are unforgivable; others might think it’s the fault of the war, that they were merely trying their best to survive.
Angel did not concern himself with how others interpreted it. He was more curious about what choice Aubrey would make upon seeing the truth about Guina.
Would she continue to trust Guina, or would she feel that Guina’s acquaintance with her had ulterior motives?
As Angel pondered the possibilities, his bracelet suddenly emitted a slight warmth.
Ceasing his scattered thoughts, Angel focused on the bracelet.
Looking closely, it turned out that Dangros had awakened at some point, controlling flames that hopped around chaotically. Fortunately, Angel had set up a misty illusion around Dangros; otherwise, these flames could have melted everything inside the bracelet.
To prevent problems with the bracelet’s space, Angel quickly released Dangros.
As soon as Dangros came into the outside world, its eyes brightened, and it attempted to jump onto Angel.
Angel quickly stopped it.
“Are you trying to make me flee frantically?” Angel said, annoyed.
Dangros paused, looked back at itself, and only then noticed several orange-red flames floating near its severed hand, resembling clouds of fire swirling around the stump.
“What’s going on?” Dangros was puzzled. “I clearly didn’t set any fires. Also, why do I feel like my head has gotten so heavy?”
“It’s not that your head has gotten heavier; it’s that your wrist has grown a bit.” Angel examined it and estimated: “It looks to be about five centimeters.”
Dangros strenuously rolled its eyes upward, trying to see its elongated wrists, but it was difficult since its facial features were on its palms.
Seeing Dangros struggle, Angel simply created a water mirror.
Dangros looked left and right in front of the mirror, sometimes drawing close, sometimes moving away.
“What are you doing?” Angel asked.
Dangros replied: “I feel like I’ve become handsomer than before!”
Listening to its melodious voice that could resonate through the beams, Angel was left speechless. How had Dangros acquired such narcissistic traits in just one day?
After enough self-admiration, Dangros remembered the original issue: “What’s happening to me? Why has my wrist grown, and why are there fire clouds around it?”
Angel lazily said: “Perhaps it’s evolution.”
Angel didn’t know the exact details of Dangros’ condition and simply repeated what Tree Spirit had mentioned.
Hearing this, Dangros was delighted: “I’ve grown! Teacher Magu had said that I needed to experience the Voice of the World five more times to continue growing. I didn’t expect to grow now; I’m really lucky!”
Angel replied irritably: “You’re not just lucky; you’re lucky because you’re with me.”
Dangros glared defiantly.
Angel continued: “Think about it. If you weren’t with me, would you have had the chance to go to Tree Spirit’s Life Pool? Would you have had the chance to absorb that life energy? So, you see, you’re fortunate because of me.”
Dangros thought it over carefully, and it indeed seemed to be true. Being with Angel had brought unexpected blessings.
Could it rapidly grow into a mighty elemental creature like Kalomaches if it continued to be with Angel?
Just the thought made Dangros happy.
While Dangros was lost in its fantasies, Angel took out a piece of mithril and ancient platinum, and using the fire clouds released by Dangros, he heated them briefly.
In less than five seconds, the ancient platinum showed signs of melting. After ten seconds, the mithril also turned into a pool of shimmering silver liquid.
Angel raised an eyebrow in surprise: Dangros’ evolution had enhanced the flame’s temperature. Such heat could melt even materials used by formal wizards, albeit over a varying duration.
Angel remarked: “Not bad, not bad. It would be even better if you could control these flames at will. Dangros, your task now is to manage these fire clouds around you, to release and withdraw them as you wish.”
Dangros saw Angel’s actions and said discontentedly: “You just covet my fire.”
Angel responded noncommittally: “You’ve gained tremendous benefits by being with me, and now you want to defy me?”
Dangros turned away haughtily.
Angel added: “Besides, if you don’t manage the fire around you, do you think I’d let you onto my body? I don’t want my clothes burned to tatters.”
Dangros thought about it and agreed. After all, Angel was its “mount,” and burning his clothes was indeed inappropriate.
With this thought, Dangros began to actively control the surrounding fire clouds.
While controlling, Dangros didn’t forget to comment: “It’s not for you; I’m doing this for aesthetics.”
Angel leaned lazily against the ship’s railing, not responding. He silently pondered how, with Dangros’ recent evolution, its flames had strengthened, but so had its narcissism and outwardly cold and inwardly warm traits.
Is this the so-called Growing Pains?
Perhaps he should seize the opportunity to write a book titled —The Growing Pains of Young Dangros—?
While Angel was lost in various thoughts and Dangros was diligently training, the Gondola finally flew out of the borders of the Guman Kingdom and entered the Laxum Duchy.
After passing through a region of transitional terrain, they encountered the scorching desert.
The Laxum Duchy is a famous inland desert nation on the Vast Continent, even more barren than the Fertile Kingdom nearby. Unlike that place, which is only one-quarter desert, the Laxum Duchy is almost entirely desert.
Because the Laxum Duchy is purely a desert nation, and this desert is exceptionally vast, neighboring countries don’t bother competing for this barren land. Thus, the area of the Laxum Duchy is enormous, even greater than the combined territories of the Guman Kingdom, Gloriosa Kingdom, and the Eternal Night Kingdom.
It took Angel one day to travel from the Paramjit Plateau to the Laxum Duchy, but getting from the Laxum Duchy to the Sandworm Market could take a day or even two. This illustrates just how vast this country is.
However, its size is futile without resources, and the constant intense heat throughout the year makes it one of the least populated nations.
Nonetheless, for the extraordinary beings, the Laxum Duchy offers numerous valuable resources. The extreme climate inevitably breeds extreme entities. For instance, due to the local terrain, elemental creatures of fire and earth are born; furthermore, there is an abundance of peculiar sandworms which are excellent materials for the extraordinary, with some of the top sandworms even serving as auxiliary agents for training in earth magic.
These extraordinary resources make the wizard market in the Laxum Duchy quite prosperous, and there is even an extraordinary city deep in the desert.
However, Angel’s destination this time was not that extraordinary city but rather the famous Sandworm Market.
…
In the vast, endless yellow sand, occasional sandstorms, buried skeletons, and the sound of camel bells in the wind composed the current main theme.
“These bones are strange, so many ribs, one, two, three… ah, too many to count,” Dangros’ voice came from Angel’s shoulder.
After a day and night of rigorous training, Dangros finally managed to contain the flames that emanated from its body, which earned it a spot on Angel’s back, a place previously occupied by Toby, who was absent at the time.
Angel also heard Dangros’ voice, lowered his head, and gazed at the sun-bleached bones revealed by the wind-swept sands.
“These are the remains of a sandworm,” Angel observed briefly, identifying the creature’s species.
“Is this a sandworm? It’s bigger than you, and you call this a worm? I thought worms were supposed to be tiny,” Dangros exclaimed in surprise.
“The illusory encyclopedia I showed you describes the worms of the ordinary world. Sandworms are extraordinary creatures and don’t fall under the usual classifications,” Angel explained.
Dangros had more to say, but Angel quickly interjected: “If you have more questions, save them for later. The caravan bells from the Sandworm Market are approaching, and if we miss them now, we’ll have to wait another day.”
Locating a wizard market in the vast expanses of swirling sands is challenging. That’s why, in the Laxum Duchy, each major wizard market employs a team of camel-bell guides to lead the extraordinary to the marketplace.
And right now, Angel was standing at a station point for one of the Sandworm Market’s camel-bell teams.
Despite the relentless desert winds showing no signs of abating, the distinct sound of camel bells cut through the sandy air, reaching Angel’s ears.
Closer and closer they came.
Finally, a team of riders cloaked from head to toe, their faces covered leaving only their eyes to navigate, emerged from the sandstorm and slowly made their way toward Angel’s position.