Translator: SumTLMan
Ever since Farja was hung by Shadow, he had been hanging far behind them. Because Bogula’s order was that everyone must return to the fortress, Farja dared not leave the team without permission.
Farja’s gloomy eyes stared at them constantly.
Shadow whispered: “That guy is as narrow-minded as Isabella, just ignore him.”
Little Douding beside Shadow also nodded: “Yes, Angel, don’t mind him, he’s just a childish ghost. Last time he secretly tried to contract Doduo as his magic servant, but after I discovered it, he didn’t even admit it.”
Douding held Doduo, his short, fleshy hands constantly rubbing Doduo’s belly fur.
Douding was Bogula’s apprentice, and Angel only found out yesterday. He had only been a disciple for a short year, and now he had reached the bottleneck of a first-level apprentice, which shows his talent was not to be underestimated.
And his pet Doduo… Angel felt a bit confused, always feeling that beneath that cute appearance, there was a hidden, terrifying power.
He also asked Shadow, but Shadow just smiled and said nothing, only saying that Doduo was Douding’s divinely gifted magical pet, born together. Although it looked like a baby, cute and adorable, its power was immeasurable and might have reached a level comparable to Naga.
“Farja is the disciple of ‘Eternal Silence Black Crow’ Talos, and also Talos’s relative.” Shadow paused, then continued: “Because of this, Farja’s character is a bit arrogant, thinking that having a backer makes him great. I guess he doesn’t like you because your fame is bigger than his.”
“My fame is bigger than his?” Angel didn’t know what kind of fame he had.
“Ever since I mentioned that you had touched the Mysterious Realm, many wizards came to visit you yesterday. But the wizard tower has a barrier set up by Mentor, so they can’t enter.” Shadow spread his hands.
Official wizards visiting me? Angel suddenly felt this was too bizarre. The distance between official wizards and apprentices was so great, and most wizards even regarded apprentices as ants, but there were official wizards willing to “visit without disdain”?
“Anyway, you are famous now, but your influence might not have spread for the time being. But fame spreads quickly, and many wizards who stay at home like to watch gossip, so maybe in a few years, you can make a name for yourself in the Wizarding World.” After saying that, Shadow seemed to be somewhat proud as a friend.
Angel nodded as if he understood but didn’t really grasp the concept of fame. So, for the time being, he hadn’t anticipated what kind of aftermath his sudden rise to fame might bring him, good… or bad.
From the teleportation hall to Bogula’s fortress, they walked leisurely. Since Bogula didn’t set a time limit, they decided to stroll around.
Along the way, Angel gradually glimpsed the true side of Sky Mechanical City.
First, about the people, although there were many extraordinary people in Sky Mechanical City, there were even more ordinary people. Most of the ordinary people here were relatives of the extraordinary ones. Many of them ran the family shops, and Angel visited a few shops, most of which were run by ordinary people. As for the extraordinary ones, they seldom wandered the streets.
According to Shadow, the extraordinary ones actually gather on the other side of the Mechanical City.
Speaking of the front and back, we must mention the structure of Sky Mechanical City.
Mechanical City has two sides, front and back. The front side is the main city area, where the teleportation hall, auction house, general shops, and other forces’ bases are located.
The back side is located below the Mechanical City, in the area where chimneys are concentrated. Standing on the ground and looking up, you can see the back side of the Mechanical City.
Although the back side appears upside down when viewed with the naked eye, both the architecture and the creatures, the gravity laws there are different, and there is no feeling of hanging upside down when you actually arrive.
As a wizard organization, the true base of Sky Mechanical City is on the back side.
“Originally, Mentors also lived on the back side, but it was filled with smoke and haze by a group of alchemists, so Mentors moved to the main city area,” said Shadow, with some emotion: “Actually, the magical density on the back side is higher, but because the environment is too bad, most non-alchemy wizards live in the main city area. The back side has now become a paradise for alchemists and wizard apprentices.”
“However, there are many alchemy-specific tools and materials for sale on the back side. If you’re interested, I can take you to have a look,” Shadow suggested.
Angel shook his head; he didn’t need materials for now; what he lacked was strength…
Speaking of the people and structure here, there is one more special thing, which is—the rules.
The front side of Sky Mechanical City, the main city area, is filled with magic eyes. Their function is to monitor energy fluctuations during battles and resolutely prevent anyone from fighting here.
If discovered, they will be blacklisted by Sky Mechanical City and refused future dealings.
Of course… this restriction order is only limited to apprentices and some weaker wizards.
After nearly two hours, they finally arrived at the fortress where Bogula lived.
The shape of the fortress was a hemisphere, which didn’t seem extraordinary, but Angel noticed that there were many strange and eerie magical puppets around the fortress. There were living magical puppets, corpse magical puppets, and magical puppets made of various weird materials.
Men, women, old, young, animals, plants, and spirits of all shapes and sizes filled the place with an eerie atmosphere.
As they stepped into the fortress area, Angel felt a gloomy atmosphere enveloping the place. These magical puppets also followed their steps, staring at them with their dull, cold eyes.
Farja, who had been hanging 30 or 40 meters behind them, quickly ran to Shadow’s side when they reached the fortress, not daring to stray too far.
“Don’t leave my ten-meter range, or those defensive magical puppets will attack you,” Shadow warned.
They reached the fortress without any incidents. Outside the fortress, there was a floating metal sphere in mid-air, similar to the magic eyes they had encountered earlier.
“Mr. Diavolo, welcome home,” a mechanical voice echoed from the magic eye.
“Kaza, take this stinky bat… to the guest room on the second floor,” Shadow ordered the magic eye, pointing at Farja.
“Kaza received,” the magic eye’s pupils emitted a faint white light, pointing somewhere: “Please, guest, follow me.”
With a gloomy face, Farja glared at Shadow: “Diavolo, we’ll see.”
“Who cares about you,” Shadow spat.
Farja seemed quite familiar with the place, and barely needed the magic eye to guide him, leaving on his own.
“Let’s go, the annoying guy has left. I’ll take you to your room,” Shadow told Angel, then said to Duoding: “Go back on your own and meditate, I’ll teach you some tricks tonight.”
Douding’s eyes lit up, and he nodded. However, he didn’t leave immediately but looked shyly at Angel: “Brother Angel, I saw your bird.”
Shadow stared at Angel with a pervert-looking gaze.
“When I took Doduo out to play this morning, I saw you pulling out a little bird like a magic trick through the door gap,” Douding gestured the shape of a small bird with his hands.
Shadow understood that the bird Douding mentioned was actually Toby.
Angel had been keeping Toby inside his bracelet, letting Babaya and her people take care of him. When he was creating drinking water for the Kulakuka tribe in the morning, Babaya said Toby’s eyelids were twitching, and he seemed to be waking up. Angel took him out to check, but Toby remained asleep.
It was just a brief moment, but Douding happened to see it.
“The clothes on that bird are so beautiful; can Brother Angel help make a set of clothes for Doduo too?” Douding held up Doduo in front of Angel.
Doduo, a feline creature, naturally raised its tail to block its private parts as it was lifted.
Before Angel could answer, Shadow slapped Douding’s head: “Little slicker, there are plenty of clothes for sale outside. You want your Brother Angel to make clothes for Doduo, but you’re actually planning to extort an alchemy armor. Don’t think I don’t understand your thoughts.”
As he spoke, Shadow pushed Douding aside: “Acting cute doesn’t work in the Wizarding World. Do you understand the concept of equivalent exchange? If you want something, you have to pay for it. Now, hurry up and take Doduo back.”
Douding pouted, taking three steps back and entering the fortress.
Although Angel didn’t plan to help Douding craft any armor, hearing him say this, his heart felt a bit itchy. The clothes that Diavolo gave him, which had an additional magic barrier, were already broken. Besides the New Star Magic Rune Scroll, he indeed lacked a piece of useful armor.
He still had Akeso’s snake scales in hand. Although refining them seemed unrealistic at the moment, if he could sew a chest protector, it should provide significant defensive effects.
As Angel imagined it in his mind, he followed Shadow into the fortress.
“You’d better not release Totoro. Mentor might tolerate you, but not necessarily others,” Shadow warned Angel after taking him to his temporary bedroom. “Toby, on the other hand, is no problem, as every wizard should have a magic pet.”
Totoro was currently learning to speak and recognize words with Babaya. Angel checked on him and found that Totoro wasn’t causing trouble, and his progress was even faster than when Grandmother Dushana taught him.
However, what caught Angel’s attention was that Totoro frequently glanced at the luggage bag in the space, which contained his bowl. If it weren’t for the limitation of his movement, Totoro would probably go for the bowl right away.
“I understand.” Angel nodded in agreement.
“For the next couple of days, you can stay here at ease. I’ll go outside and contact some old friends to see if I can find a hiding place for you,” Shadow paused: “As for the Purification Garden… I’ve already told you about it last time, and it’s best to keep it in mind. Give it more thought.”
“You don’t have to worry about Mentor for now. This morning, I heard that a significant event would happen in Sky Mechanical City soon, and he might be occupied with matters there for the next few days. He probably won’t force you to make a decision immediately. However, you should also be prepared and, preferably, let me know your thoughts and make a decision before Mentor returns.”