Chapter 2501 Aubrey and the Crowned Parrot <TOC> Chapter 2503 Kael
Translator: SumTLMan
While Aubrey dashed frantically toward Laxum Duchy, on the other side, Angel was already leaving the Sandworm Market with Daus.
Looking at the surrounding endless sands, Angel questioned: “Didn’t you just say that Kael was at the Sandworm Market?”
Daus, expressionless, replied: “According to Somiya’s regulations, the entire wizard market of Laxum Duchy, centered on the market, spans a hundred kilometers in all directions.”
Angel: “…So, as long as Kael is within a hundred-kilometer radius, he could be considered to be at the Sandworm Market?”
“Yes.”
Angel: “…”
Seeing Angel speechless, Daus suddenly shifted the topic: “That’s just the official statement. Those who truly frequent the Sandworm Market would never consider the vast desert as part of the market. Moreover, I have no need to play with words; Kael is indeed in the Sandworm Market, just that his location, controlled by the Nomel family’s Underground Market, is not far from the Sandworm Market.”
As Daus spoke, he suddenly stopped: “Here we are, this is the entrance to the black market.”
In front of Daus was a huge rock, next to which stood a robust cylindrical cactus blooming with a bright red flower.
Angel looked back and saw that this place was indeed not far from the Sandworm Market, estimating a straight-line distance of two hundred meters, where the dense houses of the distant Sandworm Market were still visible.
“So all that talk about a hundred kilometers was actually nonsense?” Angel asked.
Daus: “No no no, I was just enlightening you. My earlier statement ‘Kael is at the Sandworm Market’ is correct, whether you take it in a broader or narrower sense.”
Angel: “…But still nonsense.”
Watching Angel’s expressionless critique, Daus felt choked up. He harbored many pleasant words in his throat but ultimately restrained himself.
The other person was a formal wizard like him.
It was very likely that he was not a wandering wizard.
He must hold back and not start a dispute over trivial matters.
Daus took a deep breath and then turned away nonchalantly, saying: “All those are trivial matters. Aren’t you looking for Kael? Kael is right below.”
Angel glanced at the stone and the cactus and indeed faintly sensed a surge of energy.
Daus: “The way to enter the black market is simple. Just satisfy it, and you can get in.”
Daus pointed at the cactus.
“Satisfy it? What do you mean? Water it?”
“No, no, no, it doesn’t drink water, it drinks blood. Any blood will do, as long as it’s enough to satisfy it, then it will open the passage for you,” Daus paused: “A friendly tip, it prefers the blood of extraordinary creatures; just a few drops of that would suffice. But if you use the blood of mundane beings, like ordinary people, you would need to drain all of their blood to satiate it.”
After listening, Angel furrowed his brows; if Daus suggested using ordinary human blood to feed the cactus, then, given the character of most wizards, that was probably the common practice. This meant that the vibrantly blossoming cactus was likely thriving atop a pile of stark white bones.
Initially, Angel had felt indifferent towards the well-grown cactus, but now, revulsion naturally arose.
As Angel’s disgust for the cactus became apparent, Daus quietly stared at him. Feeling stared at for too long, Angel looked back at Daus quizzically with a gaze that asked: Why are you looking at me?
After about ten seconds of silent confrontation, Daus finally said: “I’ve told you how to enter the black market, so go ahead.”
“Aren’t we supposed to feed it first?”
Daus replied irritably: “I’m just here to show you the way. It’s your job to find Kael, why should I be the one to feed it?”
Now Angel understood that Daus had been motionlessly waiting just for him to make a move.
However, Daus’ point was valid; after all, he was merely the guide. But if it were up to Angel to satisfy the cactus, although he did possess extraordinary blood, it was primarily valuable alchemy material, too precious to waste here.
“Wait for me a moment,” Angel said and then turned to head back to the Sandworm Market.
Daus watched Angel’s retreating figure, silently thinking that someone ordinary was likely about to be unlucky at the market.
As Daus sighed quietly, Angel returned swiftly from the Sandworm Market.
With a puzzled look, Daus watched as Angel tossed a sandworm larva about ten centimeters long: “Can this feed the cactus?”
“You bought a sandworm?” Daus exclaimed.
“What, should I have stolen it?” Angel retorted, then murmured under his breath: “That cost me 3 magic crystals; I’ll have to charge this to Kael. If Kael refuses to reimburse me, I’ll have to seek out Lord Aesop.”
Hearing Angel’s muttering, Daus felt speechlessly exasperated.
Daus took a deep look at Angel and then nodded: “It’s enough, though this orange-skin sandworm is just a larva, it’s an extraordinary creature too. It only needs about ten drops of blood to be fed.”
Without another word, Angel made a small cut at the tail of the larva and began dripping the blood onto the cactus.
Daus’ judgment was extremely precise; at the tenth droplet, the cactus suddenly vibrated, and its crown flower became even more vibrant. Subsequently, Angel felt the energy around them beginning to stir, likely because the cactus had activated some mechanism, prying open a hidden node.
As the energy node shifted, the large rock in front of them slowly moved aside, revealing a descending passage.
“Let’s go, Kael is in the black market.”
Daus took the lead again, with Angel slowly following behind, pondering something… How should he deal with this sandworm?
The value of a sandworm larva wasn’t high, typically bought as food for other insects. Now, without an adult worm, and this one being somewhat limp after bleeding, even a mature worm might disdain its scant flesh.
Angel thought for a moment, then turned to look at Dangros, who was peering around from his shoulder.
“Cough cough, you’ve been with me for so long, and I haven’t formally given you a gift. This sandworm, I’ll give it to you,” Angel directly tossed the sandworm larva to Dangros.
Dangros couldn’t help but give Angel a disdainful glance. It wasn’t stupid; having seen Angel’s indecisive expression while holding the sandworm, it knew he was pondering how to dispose of it. Now being directly tossed to it and even claimed as a gift, who would believe that!
Dangros might think this, but it still caught the sandworm and twirled it around its fingertips.
Seeing Dangros not object, Angel also breathed a sigh of relief. Since Dangros had accepted his gift, he wouldn’t feel any burden using its fire for crafting later, it was all part of a trade!
Pleased with himself, Angel continued down the stairs, which had now reached an end.
There was no door at the bottom, and the situation inside the black market was immediately visible.
The black market was actually quite similar to the underground market they had visited before but much smaller than imagined; it was merely a single winding street, causing the shops on both sides to be staggered without any aesthetic appeal, enough to make any ordinary person dizzy after a while.
The market was crowded, with some narrow streets so congested they nearly forced people shoulder to shoulder.
However, this didn’t hinder Angel’s progress.
Because almost everyone who saw Daus automatically made way for him. Clearly, they recognized his identity.
“Red Sword” Daus, a first level wizard, though a wandering one, was still a formal wizard. In a place filled mostly with apprentices, Daus’ presence was like that of a great demon lord.
Angel moved smoothly and even had the leisure to observe the black market.
His focus wasn’t on the shops on either side but rather on the overall structure of the market, especially the ceiling.
Initially, he thought this place was just a cave because the ground was uneven and covered with sedimentary rock.
But as he looked up, he noticed the pitted ceiling occasionally had clear traces of man-made patterns.
Those patterns, they are runes. But clearly, they are very old, having been broken and deactivated long ago. However, from the number and distribution of patterns at the top, if it were a complete rune, it would definitely form a huge magic formation.
Many, many years ago, perhaps thousands of years or even earlier, this place might not have been just a simple cave.
While Angel was examining the structure of the black market, Daus said: “We’re here.”
Only then did Angel divert his gaze and look around.
At this moment, there were no other people around; the nearest shop was also a hundred meters away, and because of the slope, it was completely out of sight.
And here, there was a deep pit leading downwards. The pit was filled with rubble and showed signs of having been dug.
“It is said that hundreds of years ago, this place was a magic blood stone mine, which is why it was dug out like this. But now, there are no mines left, and the place has been abandoned.”
Angel had no interest in the abandoned mine and directly asked: “Where’s Kael?”
Daus pointed to one side of the deep pit: “There.”
As Angel walked to the spot Daus indicated, he saw nothing with the naked eye, but through his mental vision, he could clearly feel some hidden energy fluctuations around.
These fluctuations were not unfamiliar to him; they were spatial nodes.
“You can sense it, right? There are hidden spatial nodes here, set up by Kael. Among these spatial nodes, only one connects to Kael; all the others are traps that will pull anyone who touches them into spatial rifts.”
Daus shrugged his shoulders: “As for which one is the correct spatial node, I don’t know. So I can only bring you here, and I can stay and wait with you for Kael to come out. He comes out at least once a week, and according to past situations, he will emerge by the day after tomorrow at the latest…”
Before Daus could finish, he saw Angel reaching out to touch one of the spatial nodes.
Daus was shocked and hurriedly tried to stop him, not out of concern for Angel, but because if a spatial rift formed, he would be affected as well.
Although the spatial rifts arranged by Kael weren’t too dangerous for a formal wizard, if one entered an unknown void and couldn’t find an anchor, returning to the Wizarding World would be very costly.
However, Daus still failed to stop him. Angel’s speed was faster, and he directly touched the spatial node.
Seeing this, Daus began to frantically retreat, hoping that the violent spatial rift would not affect him.
But after retreating tens of meters, he realized that no spatial rift had appeared in the distance.
Angel was calmly sitting on a rock.
After hesitating for a moment, he walked over.
“You touched the spatial node just now?”
“Yes,” Angel nodded in acknowledgment.
“But, why…?” Why was there no spatial rift?
Daus did not voice his unfinished thoughts, for there was only one answer: the wizard called Leon across from him had located the correct spatial node!
“Are you a space wizard like Wizard Aesop?” Daus hesitated, then asked.
Angel: “Not exactly, I just have some studies in spatial domains.”
Angel had just received a comprehensive body of space knowledge from the spotted puppy, theoretically equating him to many space wizards. However, from a practical standpoint, he was still a novice.
This spatial node wasn’t really a practical test. With Angel’s lofty grasp of space knowledge, identifying a unique spatial node was effortlessly simple.
Watching Angel’s calm and undisturbed demeanor, Daus silently speculated about his true identity.
The question of whether he was a space wizard, Angel probably hadn’t lied.
Someone not a space wizard, yet with such deep study in spatial domains, must have spent considerable time on this. He appeared young but was likely several centuries old.
Otherwise, where would the time come for cross-disciplinary studies?
Hundreds of years old and still at the same level as a formal wizard without entering the realm of true knowledge suggested his talents weren’t particularly outstanding.
With this thought, Daus instantly gained confidence. He was just eighty years old this year; even as a wandering wizard, he was at the same level as Angel.
He was confident that given a hundred years, he could find his own path and ascend into true knowledge.
With this comparison, Daus’ confidence and sense of superiority began to climb incrementally.
So what if Leon knew more?
He, Red Sword Daus, still had room for growth!
Angel looked curiously at Daus, feeling like something had changed about him in a short time, but upon closer inspection, he noticed nothing different.
Angel internally shook his head: Never mind, it’s irrelevant to me.
Although he had touched the correct spatial node, Kael did not immediately appear. Presumably, he was engaged in some research or was otherwise occupied.
Half an hour later, a figure with an explosive hairstyle, face covered in black soot, and tattered clothes, appeared before them.
Chapter 2501 Aubrey and the Crowned Parrot <TOC> Chapter 2503 Kael