“That… I have entered the gold tier!”
Lophis was in disbelief and ecstasy as he looked down at his hand. When he turned around, his joy turned to shock. “I have also awakened the light-elemental combat aura, and I have light-elemental combat aura wings. What’s going on?”
He had only had water-elemental combat aura talent, but he had changed to a dual-element warrior, and he was much stronger than before that.
“One of the sun fruit’s effects was the awakening of the light-elemental combat aura talent. You will awaken your dark-elemental combat aura if you consume the moon fruit! As they are not that important, I forgot to mention them,” the farmer said from the side.
He could awaken a new combat aura talent? How was that not important?
Lophis wanted to slap the farmer, but he knew that the farmer was likely right because he had seen how a few other farmers were thirsty after they finished their work as he ate the fruit. They had casually picked a few fruits from a nearby tree and placed them in their mouths. They ate them casually, so it was apparent that they ate those fruits all the time.
“You said that a man named Watson from Blackmoon Town had founded Creation Mountain. What happened to him? Take me to him, please.”
Those farmers are fruits that could turn one into a gold-tier elite for no reason at all; it made Lophis’ heart bleed.
Plus, such a potent fruit was only 100 gold coins each. If he purchased them reasonably, there would be no problem if he wanted to arm Vermillion Town. He really wanted to see Watson, and he wanted to know why Watson was so extravagant and how he made those priceless items.
..
Blackmoon Castle was the highest level of Creation Mountain.
“You said you are Vermillion Town’s acting mayor, and you want to talk to me about something important?”
Watson stood in a garden in front of Blackmoon Castle’s entrance. He wiped his sweat as he held a platinum-colored longsword in his right hand and a gold-tiered towel in his left. He had been practicing his swordsmanship just moments before that.
“Are you Watson?”
Lophis looked at the teenager in front of him, surprised. He told the farmer at the base of the Creation Mountain that he wanted to meet Watson, so the farmer had kindly sent him up.
The scenery he saw along the way surprised him even more. From the bottom of the mountain to the peak, there were three levels in total. The lowest level was where he encountered the manor owner and the farmer.
The town area was on the second level. Monte Town was to the east, Torch Town was to the west, and Fairy Town was to the north. There were no towns on the south side. Those three towns had undergone significant transformations in comparison to the past. Outside those towns were platinum-tier city walls. The houses looked more luxurious than the manor on the third level. Residents were dressed to the nines as they walked around the town.
Those residents were dressed in at least gold-tier clothing and wore rings with starlight flowing on their hands. He would not have believed that the towns similar to Vermillion Town in the past had undergone such drastic changes if he had not known some of the officials of Monte Town and Torch Town.
Then, he was on the third level. It was the highest point on Creation Mountain.
That location was at least 10,000 meters above the ground. The air was thin, and the temperature was dangerously low. Even though he had only become a gold-tier warrior that day, he could not stand being in such a hostile environment. At that level, there were only two buildings. One of them was Blackmoon Castle, and the other was the Fairy Castle, which housed the border count.
The former was entirely black. The structures were shaped like a crescent moon. There were training grounds, breeding grounds, and palaces for servants. The latter was a yellow-spiked structure, and it was directly across the street from Blackmoon Castle. There were also numerous gardens. Maids could be seen all over the place. They were constructing branches and leaves as beautiful birds and butterflies whizzed by them.
Creation Mountain’s three-story structure looked extremely shocking. He estimated at least a million people lived there. That accounted for nearly all of the people on the border. One of them was in charge of the entire border. The divine mountain in the sky was shocking enough, but Watson shocked him even more.
Was he not only a ten-year-old child?
“That is right. My name is Watson.” The thoughts that ran through Lophis’ head seemed to persist a long time, but they only lasted a split second. When Watson heard the question, he casually placed a towel, which he used to wipe his sweat, on his shoulder. He said calmly, “I don’t know what you have to discuss with me, Acting Mayor. I am running out of time. I’m pressed for time. If you have something to say, it’s best to keep it short.”
Watson’s tone was calm, but his body exuded authority. Lophis was rendered speechless by that bearing. It had nothing to do with physical strength. It was subconscious respect for those in positions of power.
He did not, however, believe everything Watson said. Watson was cultivating when he appeared. He appeared to be unconcerned and unoccupied. Watson explained that it was most likely because he did not respond to a call from the border count some time ago, giving them an excuse to be dissatisfied with him.
Lophis grumbled discreetly. He would have persuaded Adele to go there and sign a contract with Blackmoon Town if he had known that Blackmoon Town was so powerful and could build a divine mountain that could carry more than half of the border’s population. Unfortunately, Adele had already left. He could only establish contact with Blackmoon Town if he took the initiative to do so. He reasoned that Adele would not hold it against him.
As he was about to say something, a dignified voice came from outside the garden, where Watson stood.
“Are you finished with your training, Watson? I am confused about a few aspects of the Absolute Explosion spell you taught me. It’s not only me; even Master is having some problems. For example, how does the absolute explosion cause a chain explosion? Could the spell alter the nature of the objects? I attempted to change the stone’s nature, but it did not explode.”
Two people walked out of the place where the voice was heard. One of them had platinum hair and a handsome face that did not look human. He held a magic staff that shone with diamond-colored light. The other person was not a human at all; he had pointy elf ears under his purple hair.
Lophis’ eyes widened as he noticed the visitors, particularly the one who appeared to be an elf. ‘Is that Lord Sylvan, the border count?’ he exclaimed inwardly. He had been fortunate to see Sylvan when the border count went to Vermillion Town. However, who was that next to him? Lord Sylvan had called him Master. Was he the kingdom’s greatest mage—the astrologer?
It was not possible.
Those two individuals had stated that they wished to consult Watson. Why would the person next to the border count need to consult Watson if he was the astrologer? The man was supposed to have vast knowledge.
“Lord Sylvan, Master. The Absolute Explosion is a diamond-tier move. Its purpose is to control the rules and does not affect the object’s nature. Obviously, a stone can’t be transformed into gold.”
Watson waved his hand and picked up a stone from the ground. He applied a layer of gold powder to the stone with magic. “A stone can’t be turned into gold, but I can apply a layer of gold powder to its surface to make it appear gold! It is the same as the Absolute Explosion. Apply a layer of rules to anything that can’t explode to make the rules on the surface explode.”
Watson gave the golden metal to Sylvan. The older man took it and looked at it for a few seconds before revealing an expression of comprehension. Antonio, who stood next to him, stroked his beard and smiled.
“Watson, that explanation is very simple to grasp. It appears that you are a good candidate to be a teacher like me in the future! The principle of Absolute Explosion is something I am familiar with. I will go back and talk to Sylvan about it. You may resume with your training, Watson.”
Antonio and Sylvan exited the garden excitedly as they spoke. They did not look up when they passed Lophis, as if they had not noticed him. Lophis opened his mouth to greet the two important figures. Unfortunately, he had paused for a moment, and before he could say anything, the other parties had already exited the garden.
“Young Master Watson, are you there? You must explain something to me.”
They heard a woman’s voice crying out in the garden as Sylvan was about to leave. Then a woman with freckles on her face rushed in, exuding a youthful aura. Her emerald-green robe had tree veins crisscrossed on it. It appeared to be made of a special tree. The woman held an emerald-green magical staff with a faint image of a terrifying magical beast on it.
A rough-looking man in a similar green robe stood behind the woman. He scratched his hair helplessly.
“What do you want, Anna, Ron?” Watson inquired.
Anna, the Mage Guild President in Monte Town, and Ron, the North Wind mercenary group leader, stood in front of them.
The two had become Blackmoon Town slaves. However, the two had been reinstated to their original positions because of their excellent performance. Watson had also given them a platinum-tier Shadow of the World Tree item and a Wish for the World ring.
They had already reached the peak of the gold tier. They could even fight platinum-tier elites with the addition of the two platinum-tier items.
Anna snorted lightly and looked at Ron when she heard Watson’s question.
“It is all Ron’s fault. Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Watson. Monte Town is now on Creation Mountain, and the Mage Guild has grown tenfold. Everyone has been given platinum-tier items and can eat gold-tier food daily! We had never dared to imagine such a life before this. The Mage Guild decided to treat you to a meal tonight as a way of repaying your kindness, Young Master Watson. However, Ron said that the North Wind mercenary group would treat you to a meal as well. He even requested that we change the date. Please make a decision for us.”
“Anna, who would know that you’d be treating Young Master Watson to dinner tonight? Please be patient and change it to another day. Today, we must come first! My group has purchased many Phoenix eggs and used the Wish for the World ring to raise the meat of a few gold-tier magical beasts to platinum-tier. We are roasting the meat right now. It would all go to waste if Young Master Watson doesn’t come to dinner tonight.”
