Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Great.” Douglas nodded in great comfort. “Who else wants to join the first adventure?”
“Since it involves the mysteries of the soul, I have to pay a visit in any case.” Klaus, the Alchemy Master, smiled. Of the two crowns in the field of creation, the mysteries of material changes had been partly unveiled by Lucien, but the secrets about the soul were still hidden in the intense smoke. As a legendary sorcerer who was determined to create an intelligent life, he had long been yearning after the Furnace of Souls.
After Lucien and he talked, Vicente, the Lord of the Undead, also said in a low voice, “The realm of the soul is always my interest. I hope to see the Furnace of Souls as soon as possible.”
Hearing that Vicente intended to join, Fernando chuckled and said loudly, “You purposefully deleted Adol’s memories about Maskelyne and Viken, and you hid the secrets about immortality. How can I entrust my back to you without concerns?”
He had always been bad-tempered and straightforward, not fearing that anybody would be infuriated by him.
The Lord of the Undead snorted. “Your good student also kept it a secret for a long time, didn’t he?”
The guy must’ve known that the secrets of immortality were hidden inside the World of Souls earlier than he did.
“He was only a middle-rank sorcerer at that time, and you were already a grand arcanist when you learnt the secret. How could you compare yourself to him? Why don’t you compete with the magic apprentices to see which of you cast spells faster?” Fernando roared in a low voice, with thunder rumbling around him.
Douglas shook his head in a smile. Fernando had always been biased, and only he could yell at his student. “Alright, Vicente, because of your trick with Adol’s memories, you need to make a magic oath to join the adventure, and you need to pay a fine with an equally valuable legendary spell or ritual.”
“The complete memories of Adol must be submitted, too.” Fernando was not willing to let it go.
Vicente took a deep breath, and the dark red fire bounced in his eyes. “Alright!”
Supposedly, it was not a big deal that he kept the secret to himself. Nobody could’ve guessed it, and he would be able to reap more in the World of Souls later. Who could’ve foreseen that Lucien knew about it and would even speak about it?
Did he not know what the secrets of immortality meant? That was the highest achievement in the field of soul and matter. Any wish could be fulfilled!
“I would like to participate, too. Sometimes, transformation and illusions can help everybody avoid danger.” Erica, Master of Transformation, said.
Douglas nodded softly. “I’m very glad that you offered to join the adventure, but since a lot of preparation need to be done, we will leave in two months. Lucien, I have deeper understanding about time and space. Let’s work hard together to upgrade your Moon Timer into a level-two legendary item.”
“Thank you, Mr. President.” Lucien did not refuse. It would take him years if he wanted to upgrade the Moon Timer on his own. At this moment, the stronger he was, the safer he would be. For both himself and his family that had just been established, there was no need to hide the legendary class of ‘Observer of Time and Space’ from the president.
“Alright, those who are to join the first adventure can go back and make preparations.” Douglas announced the end of the meeting.
…
In a Portal to Alternate Realm inside the Allyn magic tower…
As the light was on, Nika, in a black robe, walked out. His messy hair was much neater than two years ago, and he was no longer like a weirdo or psycho. The boy, Aki, followed him and observed the empty hall with great interest.
“Welcome to Allyn. I am Thompson, a member of the Affair Committee.” Thompson greeted them with a smile on the opposite side of the Portal to Alternate Realm.
It was said that the sorcerer was unusually talented with remarkable spiritual power. He had become a fifth-circle sorcerer after only two years of learning. Also, Lucien provided guidance to him before. That was why Thompson had come to greet him.
Nika’s countenance was also different from the past. Most of the daze and craziness were gone. He asked with a smile, “Mr. Thompson, is this Allyn, the City in the Sky?”
He reached the oasis after more than a month of journey and then spent half a year passing the ocean before he arrived at the Congress of Magic’s branch in the alternate dimension. Because of his amazing spiritual power, he was appreciated by a senior-rank sorcerer in the magic tower, who kept him and taught him elementary knowledge. After his arcana expertise grew, he was sent to Allyn for further studies.
“The view of the City in the Sky is best from the outside.” Thompson pointed at the door. “I’ll lead you to the Sorcerer Administrative Department.”
“I wonder, is Grand Arcanist Mr. Lucien Evans here?” Nika asked expectantly. He had already known that the title for the Philosopher was grand arcanist.
Thompson shook his head. “His Excellency ‘Atom Controller’ is in Allyn, but he is too busy to meet any outsiders right now. You’ll see him in the future.”
“What a shame.” Nika was rather disappointed. He wanted to thank Mr. Evans for his guidance, which showed him dawn in the overwhelming darkness. “Mr. Thompson, when can I enter the Holt Magic College?”
Thompson clicked his tongue. “You can only enter the college after you pass the College Entrance Exam of Advanced Magic. That is to say, you have to wait for the exam to be held on June 7 next year. You’d better find something else to do during the year. However, there are plenty of books on arcana and magic here. You can pick up knowledge everywhere.”
“Well, Mr. Thompson, do you have tasks that have more spare time and are suitable for arcana studies and magic analysis?” Nika intended to pay for his life and his studies on his own.
Thompson also chuckled. “The Congress will offer you certain arcana points according to your magic and arcana level. As for missions, you can be a teacher. Teachers are much needed since there are a lot of schools. They have a lot of spare time, too.”
“Alright.” Nika looked at Aki and felt that working as a teacher would be relatively easy.
Led by Thompson, Nika and Aki stepped into the magic lift and went to the Sorcerer Administrative Department on the first floor.
“Mr. Thompson, is every floor for a special purpose?” Asked Aki curiously. He had already been used to lifts in the Congress of Magic’s branch, no longer the screamer when he took the lift for the first time.
Thompson pointed at the floor on their opposite side. “That happens to be one of the floors that belong to the Affair Committee…”
“Mr. Gaston’s ‘Life Synthesis Laboratory’ is on this floor…”
“Wow, Life Synthesis Laboratory?” The boy Aki was rather excited. Nika also looked at the place with great curiosity.
“Mr. Gaston made groundbreaking contributions to the field of life. He proposed that concept of element structure, maintaining that the nature of an object is not only concerned with the number and quality of atoms but also their structure.” Thompson had benefited a lot from the theory and elaborated on it.
“Structure…” Nika, who had just picked up the basics, was still confused about the cutting-edge concepts.
Thompson pointed at the opposite side again. “The famous Atom Institution is on this floor.”
“The Atom Institution?” Nika had learnt about the Atom Institution that Mr. Evans created in person had been pulling the whole Congress forward like a locomotive even though he was only in a branch in the alternate dimension.
Plus his fondness for Lucien in the first place, Nika was full of admiration and excitement. Aki even ran to the rail and observed the floor against the light shield.
“In fact, there are also laboratories on hormones and psychology on this floor.” Thompson then introduced the next floor. “The ‘Heredity Laboratory’, recently established by Mr. Felipe and a few sorcerers of the school of necromancy, is on this floor. It’s said that they are hugely sponsored by the nobles, but there are no achievements yet.”
Since the alternate dimension had yet to begin the studies on blood power, Nika was even more confused about that. He could only glance at it in curiosity.
…
“Wow!”
As the magic steam train rode out of Allyn and rushed downwards amidst the clouds in the blue sky, the boy Aki finally couldn’t control himself anymore and screamed hard. His legs trembling, he didn’t dare not watch the small mountains, rivers, forests and manors down below.
It was simply too terrifying and exciting!
Smiling, Nika cast a spell on him to relieve his fear. As for Nika himself, he had been used to the situation after he learnt how to fly.
After they reached the train station, Aki held on to his teacher with a pale face and shaking legs, gagging nonstop.
Nika shook his head and searched for the signs around. “Lanxiang…” His task was to work as a teacher in the first ‘Lanxiang’ school.
Although he was already a fifth-circle sorcerer, his arcana level hadn’t even reached one yet. By teaching students, it would be easy for him to increase his arcana expertise, so he was quite satisfied about the task. The most satisfying thing of all was that the school provided a magic laboratory for him.
Very soon, he found the wagon that the Lanxiang school sent to pick him up. It brought him to the east of the town.
This Lanxiang school was quiet but not gloomy. The bright buildings, the silver rails and the flourishing gardens built up a cheerful atmosphere.
The wagon was about to ride into the gate, when Nika suddenly hear rumbling noises. He turned around, only to see a gigantic blue box running at him. In the perception of his spiritual power, the box seemed to be entirely made of iron. It was neither pulled by a Dragon Scale horse nor spurting out steam, and it looked like a terrible iron monster.
“Mr. Nika, this is one of the first vehicles for public transportation that the city hall has introduced. They are developed by Mr. Evans and Mr. Klaus together, who modified and simplified the magic steam train, making it able to move without a railway. However, the two experts still think that it is too clumsy and noisy.” As a member of the Lanxiang school, the coachman was rather well-informed.
Watching the blue box park on the other side, and the young, vigorous teenagers and adolescents get off, Nika complimented sincerely, “This is truly a heaven of magic…”
After he walked into the campus, Nika saw red banners before anything else came into his eyes: “Our Sincerest Welcome to Prime Minister Russell!”
“The First Contest of Alchemical Gears Controlling is about to begin!”
……
Nika, who felt that the banners were rather an eye-sore, found many stone statues in the garden, with certain words engraved on the pedestal.
“They are the great sorcerers who made major contributions to arcana and magic. Below are the quotations that they once said.” The coachman introduced.
Nika walked over curiously and examined the statues one by one.
“Derrick Douglas: Our future lies in the infinite cosmos.”
…
“Lucien Evans: Your eyes will deceive you, your ears will deceive you, your experience will deceive you, and so will your imagination, but math won’t.”
…
“Yaroran Hathaway Hoffenberg: Achievements speak louder than words.”
