Chapter 773 The Carefree Days Before Hunting Gods
The two women had vastly different expressions when they talked.
Mystra looked happy and hopeful, and Andonara seemed as shocked as when she first saw the ocean of worms.
Or rather, she looked even more astounded than when she saw the worms.
Roland didn’t care what the two women were whispering to each other about as long as they weren’t fighting.
He waited for a while. Very soon, the two women finished their conversation. Then, Andonara walked back, seemingly very disoriented.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing how distracted she was, Roland was slightly worried.
Did Mystra say something that she found unacceptable?
Andonara shook her head and said with a bitter smile, “No, Mystra simply said something very strange to me.”
“You mean the girly stuff?” asked Roland.
Andonara nodded and thought for a moment. Then she said, “Yes, it’s rather tricky and I can’t think it through for now.”
“Is it very troublesome? Do you need me to help with your analysis?” asked Roland.
Andonara shook her head again. “No, it’s unnecessary. It’s just something trivial between two women.”
Fine.
Roland didn’t think about it anymore. Andonara was very strong and not someone that anybody could take advantage of. Mystra wasn’t an Evil God either. Even if they had a conflict, it shouldn’t be too serious.
Mystra walked to them and said, “It will take some more time for your floating city to complete its evolution. Why don’t we chat over a cup of wine?”
Sure.
Then, all the three of them sat at the golden table and chatted while drinking the pink fruit wine.
However, Roland and Mystra did most of the talking. They were communicating their different understandings of magic.
Andonara listened. She didn’t understand magic. Although she smiled and replied to them now and then, she was absentminded most of the time.
In the paradise, thanks to Mystra’s enhancement, none of them felt tired.
After chatting and drinking for over ten days, even Roland felt that he had enough, but Mystra seemed to still be enjoying herself.
“Your floating city has finished swallowing the divine energy.” Mystra stood up and waved her hand, and the three of them appeared in the floating city. She looked at Andonara and said, “Consider it well. It will be a win-win.”
Andonara pursed her lips and didn’t say anything
After boarding the floating city, Roland instantly connected to it, only to find that the Magic Grid Core at the foundation of the floating city changed color from bright blue to white.
Its capacity of magic power was improved to 42,176, 30% higher than before.
That was a rather unbelievable improvement.
The compression rate of the magic power bricks had hit a bottleneck before, but after the divine energy in the Divine Spark was absorbed, the bottleneck was overcome.
A greater magic power capacity meant a better performance and a higher ability to attract magic power.
Earlier, the floating city could attract the magic power within a hundred meters, but at this moment, the range was expanded to 110 meters. Also, the magic power in the floating city would be purer than before. Swallowing the divine energy one time had resulted in a 30% increase. What if he did it a few more times?
Roland got excited.
But very soon, he held back his excitement and said, “Then we’ll go back first.”
“Visit me again if you have time.” Mystra smiled happily. “You know where my paradise is now.”
Roland nodded.
Although Mystra lost the ability of creation after becoming a goddess, a lot of knowledge had been transmitted into her soul along with the power of faith as more and more Mages worshiped her.
She had much more knowledge than she did two years earlier.
After all, Mages were known to be erudite.
Mystra was very happy that Roland accepted her invitation. She waved her hand, and a hole appeared behind the floating city.
After that, she smiled at Roland like a blossoming flower and then gradually vanished.
The floating city left the paradise, and the purple sphere could be seen again.
The rings made up of countless void insects were back.
Roland waited for a moment and reestablished a connection to the spatial coordinates that he remembered. Then, he activated the massive arrays on the floating city and teleported the gargantuan object to the border between the Astral Plane and the main plane.
Then, he slowly landed on the main plane.
Roland wasn’t in a hurry to hunt the Evil Gods who had the pieces of neutral Divine Sparks. Instead, he returned to Delpon and quickly gathered a new virtual Divine Spark.
Without that, it would’ve been impossible for Andonara to enter the space created by Mystra’s Mansion.
However, it took time to create a new virtual Divine Spark, so Roland went to the capital of Urganda when he was free.
The locals of the desert kingdom were well known to be a people who often fought amongst themselves.
Roland witnessed a dozen fights only half an hour after reaching the capital in the desert. They were either internal conflicts between locals, or locals fighting travelers.
Severed arms and legs could be seen everywhere.
Yet, nobody cared about that. A lot of people were watching the dramas, which seemed to be conducted according to certain rules.
Maybe due to the Mage robe that Roland was wearing, nobody dared to come to him for trouble, until Roland asked about Aldo’s family at the Association of Mages in the capital. What people showed off was mostly what they were most short of. The Association of Mages in the capital of the desert had the cheesiest and largest headquarters Roland had ever seen.
Even the Association of Mages of Fareins, which was the most powerful country in the world, didn’t have such large headquarters.
But of course… If any Mage was asked which Association of Mages had the largest headquarters, they would say that it was Fareins Kingdom’s instead of Urganda’s.
That was the importance of knowledge and talent.
The entrance of the Association of Mages had a floor that was made of the powder of void meteors and special building materials. It looked like a black mirror.
There were also four overlapping circles at the center which were made of four magic gems that were of a similar size but different in color.
Even more surprisingly, those gems were luminous. They were the source of light on the first floor.
Even though Roland was already very rich, his lips cramped and he secretly cursed the extravagance of these people after he saw this.
Then, he walked to the counter. A female receptionist looked at Roland nervously.
As someone in the circle of magic, the receptionist knew that the less suntanned someone was, the stronger he tended to be.
Besides, the magic robe that Roland wore didn’t look simple at all.
“Dear Mage, is there anything I can help you with?”
Roland asked with a smile, “There used to be a foreign Mage in this place named Aldo…” A bell rang abruptly.
Roland looked at the receptionist in surprise as she rang the bell on the counter in panic and anxiety
Before Roland figured out what was going on, a bunch of people had rushed down from upstairs.
They all wore magic robes. Most were locals whose skin were dark, along with two female Mages who had relatively fair skins.
They quickly surrounded Roland.
The receptionist was so frightened that she hid below the counter.
Roland looked around and asked, “What are you trying to do?” “Are you Aldo’s conspirator?” a middle-aged Mage stood up and asked. “Forgive our rudeness, but you must stay out of this.”
Roland was already a Legend at this moment, and it was already his instinct to conceal his magic waves, or the ordinary people around him wouldn’t be able to stand the magic power that he leaked.
They would’ve been intoxicated by the magic power or even killed.
Therefore, Roland was not keeping a low profile on purpose.
To paraphrase what a certain rich guy said, keeping a low profile was the greatest friendliness that a Legendary Mage could exhibit in this world.
He impressed everybody as an Elite Mage.
However, in the desert kingdom, even an Elite Mage was still strong enough.
So, these people didn’t dare to attack Roland, fearing that he might hurt them.
“I don’t care about Aldo, and I don’t mean to avenge him,” said Roland casually. “However, if anyone from his family is still alive, I’d like to take them away and care for them. Now that you’ve heard my message, stop trying to eliminate them. From now on, if Aldo’s family is hurt, I have a hundred ways to raze the Association of Mages to the ground.” “Who do you think you are? An Elite Master is bold enough to make such a declaration. You may be from Fareins, so what…”
Roland interrupted him. “I’m Roland. If you’re Mages, you must’ve heard my name.” Not that Roland was bragging about himself, but his reputation in the circle of Mages was beyond the imagination of outsiders.
Apart from the new spells he invented, the modified spells that he dedicated to the Goddess of Magic could already make him the most well-known Mage in the world.
Besides, he even had a floating city, which was every Mage’s dream.
Hearing what Roland said, they all stepped back in fear and panic.
The middle-aged Mage said hoarsely, “Why would a bigshot such as Roland come to this place or defend Aldo…” Roland didn’t want to waste time on him, so he simply released half of his mental pressure.
Those people were so scared that they could barely stand steadily.
At this moment, Roland looked like a Master… But in this moment, a Master-level Mage was already invincible.
After all, this place was a desert of magic.
Those people instantly lost their courage. The middle-aged Mage changed his attitude and invited Roland upstairs. Someone also ran out to send messages. Roland knew their plan, but he didn’t stop them.
It was great that someone was sending messages. In such a way, whoever was behind the curtain would show up, and he didn’t have to waste his time on investigation. Great wine was served and beautiful girls danced for him.
The belly dance of the desert girls was really interesting. Roland had a great time.
About half an hour later, the door opened, and an old Mage came in with a panicked mother and daughter.
Both of them had fair skin, which indicated that they weren’t locals.
The moment Roland saw them, he stood up.
The woman was indeed one of Aldo’s many wives. She was the maid who carried his child first.
Back when Aldo was still in Delpon, Roland often visited him in his manor and saw this woman a lot.
She was dressed quite prettily.
The girl, who was about five years old, stuck to her mother like a frightened kitten. The woman was very scared at first, but the moment she saw Roland, there was surprise on her face, which was then replaced by hope and expectation.
Her body was trembling, but she was smart enough not to shout. Instead, she bit her lips hard so that she wouldn’t make any noise due to her excitement.
Roland’s integrity was well known in Delpon.
She believed that if Roland was here, she and her daughter would be saved.
The old Mage who took them in looked desperate after seeing their expressions.
He voluntarily walked forward and lowered his head in front of Roland, before he said in a low voice, “Esteemed Mr. Roland, it’s an honor to meet you.”
“Are you the chairman of this place?” Roland stood up and said slowly, “I’m glad to meet you too.”
“You must be here to avenge Aldo,” said the old Mage with a helpless, bitter smile. “You can kill me and my sons and daughters-in-law, but please spare my first grandson, considering that I spared Aldo’s wife and oldest daughter.” “Is that the tradition among nobles? To preserve their bloodline?” asked Roland curiously. “You seem to know me, so why did you dare to kill Aldo’s other wives and children?”
The old Mage shook his head. “No, we didn’t know you were backing Aldo. He begged us to spare a daughter or son for your sake before he died. We didn’t believe him back then, but in the spirit of the nobles’ grace, we let his wife and firstborn daughter live. We even gave them a house. However, as time went by, I felt that it wasn’t right. A dying man shouldn’t tell lies. So, I asked someone to investigate Aldo’s past and discovered you.” “To be honest, I’m not interested in what happened between you. I’m only here to take Aldo’s family away at his request.”
In the paradise, Aldo had already forgiven him. He was only worried about his descendants.
Hearing that, the old Mage was ecstatic. “Mr. Roland, what do you mean?”
“Compensate them properly, and I can pretend that nothing happened.” Roland sat back in his chair. “What do you think of my proposal?”
“Thank you for your mercy!” The old Mage almost fell to his knees in excitement. “Would you please wait a moment?” “No problem.”
The old Mage departed the room and left the mother and daughter behind.
After the door closed, the woman began to weep with her daughter in her arms in a pitiful yet relaxed way.
“It’s been a while, Casulefin,” said Roland slowly. “I had no idea what happened to Aldo and you. Sorry that it took me so long to come. You must’ve suffered.”
Casulefin shook her head hard and said while sobbing, “It’s not your fault. I told him not to be so competitive, but he never listened.”
Roland heaved a long sigh.
Everybody had different views on competition.
If you don’t compete, people may find you weak; but if you do compete, they may find you too ambitious.
Roland picked up Aldo’s daughter and was about to fetch his bastard son in the village.
On Andonara’s side, she made special progress too.
At this moment, she was looking at herself in a mirror. She moved her body and smiled. “Not bad, I feel very good. Our soul waves match perfectly. Oh, your eyes turned pink. We have to change that, or Roland will easily notice what happened. Right… Why don’t you share the bedroom memories of you and Roland with me? I want to do a better job in pretending.”
