Chapter 934 The Arelle Principality <TOC> Chapter 936 The Calm Before the Storm
Translator: SumTLMan
They progressed along the river of Snow Agate.
The resounding symphony of the coursing waters remained an unchanging melody in their ears. Just when Vonman began to suspect he was nearing deafness, a roar echoed up from below.
Was it a hallucination or was there truly a being bellowing below?
Motivated by curiosity, Vonman craned his neck for a better view. As the scene unfolded before him, his pupils contracted abruptly.
At their current altitude, a kilometer above ground, everything on the surface should appear ant-like in size. Yet, what he saw was an enormous entity, roaring at the water’s edge, mountainous in stature.
As the titan raised its head, it seemed almost within reach of the Gondola!
In contrast, Vonman was the one feeling insignificant.
His finger trembled, “Wha-what… is that?”
No one responded. Both Drew and Guina were left speechless, equally struck by the majestic presence of the giant. Angel, upon sighting the behemoth, furrowed his brow gradually.
A Plateau Giant.
A native species of the Paramjit Plateau, they resembled mountains in size, had remarkable longevity, and their intelligence was no less than that of humans. However, Plateau Giants were fond of slumbering, and few could awaken them.
Furthermore, Plateau Giants were lazy by nature, rarely venturing beyond their territory, let alone leaving the Paramjit Plateau.
Therefore, the appearance of this Plateau Giant was a clear anomaly.
“Could this be due to the irregularities on the plateau again?” Angel pondered, while slowing the speed of the Gondola.
The Gondola was originally under Drew’s control. When Angel intervened, Drew immediately noticed and queried with uncertainty, “Lord, what’s the matter?”
“Something unusual might have happened on the Paramjit Plateau. We should proceed with caution,” Angel explained.
An unusual occurrence on the Paramjit Plateau? Anxiety surfaced on everyone’s faces. The perennial flow of the Snow Agate River, the drift of the floating continents, the ethereal beauty of the feathered beings, and now the roaring giant… Since they arrived in the world of wizards, they had witnessed a plethora of scenes they might never experience in their lifetime, prompting them to be genuinely concerned about the journey ahead.
Even Guina, who was famed for her impenetrable labyrinth of thoughts, had her eyebrows knitted at this moment, a glint of trepidation shimmering within the depths of her beautiful eyes.
The Plateau Giant, too, had noticed the Gondola hanging above, but he only gave it a fleeting glance before lowering his head and continuing his march towards the Snow Agate River. It seemed he intended to cross the river by wading through it, his massive form slicing through the waters.
As the giant traversed the river, the mist began to shroud its colossal figure, allowing the handful of Talent Bearers to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“This is a Plateau Giant, indigenous to the Paramjit Plateau,” began Angel, finally sharing the backstory of the giant. “They’re renowned for their lethargy, but don’t mistake their indolence for patience. He usually pays no heed to others, primarily due to his inherent laziness, but that’s not a testament to his gentleness.”
Just as they began to recover from the encounter, a strange sound echoed once more. This time, however, it wasn’t emanating from the ground.
Casting their eyes skyward, they witnessed a cavalcade of peculiar machines streaking across the sky. These mechanical contraptions boasted metallic surfaces and various parts that melded together to form humanoid figures. Angel had seen something similar in Sky Mechanical City, known as mechanical puppets.
The presence of such a large number of mechanical puppets suggested a nearby Alchemist? Perhaps an alchemist from the School of Metal and Ore?
Angel was pondering this. Within the vast region centred around the Savage Grottoes, there wasn’t an alchemist known for their proficiency in crafting mechanical puppets, was there?
Or perhaps these puppets were purchased by a certain wizard?
While Angel was contemplating these possibilities, a terrifying surge of energy descended from above, and with it, a voice, gravelly with grit, proclaimed, “This airship is decent, I’ll take it!”
The three Talent Bearers, immobilised by the overpowering force, collapsed onto the deck of the Gondola. Angel was faring a tad better, his discomfort concealed.
Angel furrowed his brows. The individual before them was undoubtedly a full-fledged wizard, although the pressure emanating from them didn’t surpass Eureka by much, granting him marginal mobility.
As long as he could move, he had a chance to escape.
Therefore, he was not excessively alarmed. However, if he fled, the fate of the others on the airship would certainly be grim.
He patted Toby on the shoulder. Understanding the signal, Toby transformed into a Griffin, wreathed in roaring flames, surrounded by the threads of the Law of Gravity.
“Eh, are these the Gravity Lines?” The excitement took an uptick all of a sudden.
“I’m leaving, and you won’t stop me.” Angel made his stance abundantly clear before gently tempering his tone, “We’re not far from the Savage Grottoes now, why would a wizard like yourself want to trouble us?”
“Are you from the Savage Grottoes?” The voice was clearer this time. Angel looked up to find a head sticking out from the back of a mechanical puppet in the sky.
Exploding gray hair, several rounds of haloed goggles, and a slightly dirty, ash-gray alchemical robe gave him the full-bodied aura of a homebody alchemist.
“That’s right.” Angel hesitated a moment, feeling that being close to the Savage Grottoes, there was no harm in revealing his master’s name, “I hail from the Savage Grottoes, under the tutelage of Phantom Master.”
“Phantom Master?” The person seemed to be puzzled for a moment, taking off his goggles to scrutinize Angel more closely.
He then seemed to remember something, somersaulting from mid-air off the body of the mechanical puppet, landing on the Gondola.
Angel didn’t attempt to hinder him, mostly because he couldn’t. But he grew more vigilant, while the Gravity Lines around Toby thickened, ready to whisk them away at the slightest sign of danger.
After the stranger landed, Angel noticed the evident traces of burn marks on his clothes, the strange scent of catalysts in the air, and was fairly certain that this was indeed an alchemist.
This alchemist hopped onto the airship, took out a magazine, flipped to a particular page, then alternated between glancing at the magazine and peering at Angel.
Angel noticed that the page displayed a portrait of himself.
“You…you’re ‘Music Box Magician’ Angel?”
Angel: “…I am Angel, but that nickname has nothing to do with me.”
“So it is you!” He looked at Angel in surprise, “I’ve seen your image before and have been looking for a chance to meet you. Never thought I’d encounter you here!”
“May I know your name, Lord?”
Under Angel’s puzzled gaze, he waved a hand dismissively, “Don’t call me ‘Lord.’ In terms of achievements in alchemy, you far outstrip me. My name is Nielson Rosen, you can just call me by my name!”
Angel didn’t contest, just quietly observing Nielson Rosen, awaiting his discourse.
“This airship is truly stunning!” Admiration flooded Nielson’s eyes, “I noticed it from above earlier, it’s too beautiful, did you craft this?”
Angel didn’t respond immediately, instead he spoke, “Before I address your question, could you, perchance, curtail your menacing aura? If this persists, I fear she may not hold up much longer.”
He pointed towards Guina cradled in Vonman’s arms. Under Nielson’s intimidating aura, her severed limbs began to ooze with blood and her lips were turning pale.
“If something were to happen to her, my Guide Mission would be far from complete.”
Nielson Rosen glanced at the three talent-bearers sprawled on the ship’s floor, muttering “So weak” under his breath. However, under Angel’s penetrating gaze, he restrained his oppressive aura.
Once the trio caught their breath, Angel instructed Vonman, “Take Guina to the cabin.”
After Vonman and Guina left, Angel turned to Drew, “You maintain the airship.”
After his orders, Angel settled himself down, with Nielson also seating himself opposite him.
“A while ago, numerous wizards sought you in the Savage Grottoes without avail. It turns out you were on a Guide Mission?” Nielson shook his head, “Absurd. How could Rhine task you with such a mission? It’s a sheer waste of talent!”
Nielson appeared rather presumptuous, not waiting for Angel’s response, and started criticizing the myriad flaws in the grand wizard organizations. During his critique, he inadvertently disclosed some of his own identity details.
“What brings you to me, Lord?” Angel finally squeezed in a sentence during a pause in Nielson’s torrent of words, “If you’re inquiring about this airship, it is indeed my handiwork.”
“The ship is gorgeous, is the tide shell exhibiting its special effect? Impressive, worthy of the Lion Hearted Thorn!”
Angel: “……” Though Lion Hearted Thorn sounded more domineering than Music Box Magician, it wasn’t exactly his approved alias!
However, Angel didn’t dare to refute again, fearing that next time, Nielson might bring up an embarrassing nickname like the ‘Milk Baron.’ Best to let sleeping dogs lie.
“Many thanks for the compliments, yet I am still curious, what business brings you to me?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, really. I just happened to spot you. Originally, I had intended to stage a little robbery. But now that I see it’s you, I think I’ll let it pass.” Nielson casually waved off the previously tense atmosphere with a single sentence.
“So, should I thank you for that?”
“No need for gratitude. We’re both enthusiasts in the field of metallurgy. It’s serendipitous that we’ve crossed paths, why don’t we seize this opportunity to exchange some knowledge on alchemy!”
Angel sighed inwardly as he observed Nielson encircle the Gondola with all his mechanical puppets, a clear indication of a lengthy conversation to come.
While he could easily take his leave, Drew and the others were still aboard the vessel…
After some thought, Angel concluded there was no harm in an exchange. The man before him, Nielson, purported himself to be a nominal alchemist from Sky Mechanical City. The branch of alchemy he specialized in, mechanical alchemy, was the prevailing trend in Sky City.
Although Angel had dabbled in mechanical alchemy, his expertise was not particularly profound. He reasoned that an exchange should yield some gain at the least.
With these thoughts in mind, Angel gave a nod.
“I always say, my luck is unparalleled,” Nielson boasted. “Rarely do I venture out, yet I happened upon you. I heard that not too long ago, a handful of alchemists returned empty-handed from the Savage Grottoes!” Nielson indulged in a brief moment of self-praise before he toned down his demeanor and entered into a friendly — if rather forceful — exchange with Angel.
Initially, Angel was a bit passive in the conversation, but as Nielson presented various case studies and shared his own alchemic ideas, Angel revved up his engine, and the exchange became a dynamic back-and-forth.
Especially when Nielson voiced incorrect ideas, Angel, who wasn’t one to tolerate sand in his eyes, was fully ignited and began to bombard Nielson’s fallacies with a full broadside.
As the two engaged in a fierce battle of words, the atmosphere on-site was fraught with the electricity of their vigorous debate.
Chapter 934 The Arelle Principality <TOC> Chapter 936 The Calm Before the Storm