Chapter 246: Castle Bertren
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
In the tavern, Gold Cup.
Lucien pulled a chair for himself and sat down, then he nodded to them, smiling, and said, “Nice to meet you two as well. How do you want me to call you?” As he was asking, Lucien showed them his Holm Crown prize ring purposefully but in a casual way to make them understand who was the leader of this group, so he could possibly be in safer place later in the castle.
“Charlie, battle sorcerer, middle rank.”
“Middle rank, Sandra.”
Both Charlie and Sandra briefly introduced themselves in a respectful way to Lucien. Although they were confident in their own power, they knew that Lucien once killed a senior-rank sorcerer with Felipe before, thus they understood the power difference between the young man in front of them and themselves.
Moreover, according the tradition of the Congress, when two sorcerers were of the same rank, the one with higher arcana level would be more respected. As a level-four arcanist, and the winner of Holm Crown prize, Lucien of course was of a higher status than most middle-rank sorcerers.
However, despite the fact that Charlie and Sandra had naturally regarded Lucien as their team leader, experienced in combatting as they were, they were still waiting to see if Lucien could prove that he was capable of being a leader, or they simply would not follow and listen to him blindly.
Lucien nodded, and then he turned around and started talking to the apprentices, “I’m Lucien Evans, and I need a guide to the castle. Who volunteers?”
Before the apprentices answered, Lucien said to Charlie and Sandra, “Tell me the detailed information about the castle when we’re on the way. We cannot waste too much time here, or more demons would be summoned by the magic circle in the summoning room.”
Charlie and Sandra slightly nodded. They liked Lucien’s decisive style.
The two apprentices, who were still beyond scared, obviously did not like Lucien’s plan at all, “M… Mr. Evans… We can tell you everything… You don’t really need a guide…”
Susan’s face was pale, and her teeth were striking against each other. She could not stop thinking of the blood, the guts, the chunks of limbs and the fire… They were driving her nuts.
Scott could not even speak a single word.
Lucien shook his head and said to them in a gentle way, “You two should know that there’s no magic under the ninth circle which could completely read your memory, and that means very possibly we will be missing some important information, including the layout of the castle. So we do need a guide to help us, and please trust that we’re capable of protecting you.”
Lucien used some hypnosis skills when he was talking.
His gentle voice comforted the apprentices, and Susan started to wonder whether Lucien was a senior-rank sorcerer based on the other two sorcerers’ respectful attitude toward him, and maybe in the future, he could offer her some help in the Congress. Living in a remote town, neither Susan nor Scott knew that Lucien was the youngest winner of Holm Crown prize, and although she did not expect to become Lucien’s student, as an apprentice who lost her sorcerer teacher, she needed that help.
Taking the courage, Susan nodded, “Mr. Evans… I can be your guide, but… but please… please make sure that I’ll be safe.”
As she was speaking, Susan took a quick glance at Scott, who was still trembling slightly in the corner. Susan had a bit of joy in her mind as she finally surpassed Scott this time. Scott was more talented in the study of arcana, and his spiritual power was more abundant, but his biggest problem was his timidity. Susan had been feeling envious of Scott for more than a year, and right now she was proud of herself.
“Very well. Your courage has impressed me.” Lucien nodded, “And courage is very important to a successful sorcerer. This is not a time of peace, and we always need to fight.”
Then, Lucien stood up and took out his pocket watch, “Right now it’s five in the afternoon. Hopefully, we can finish the task before it gets dark. If we can’t make it on time, we should probably leave the castle, as some of the demons would get way stronger at night.”
“Yes, Mr. Evans.” Charlie and Sandra also stood up.
After they left the tavern, those adventurers finally felt at ease and started to talk to each other excitedly.
“Is the young man actually a senior-rank sorcerer?” exclaimed the dwarf. “Why those two middle-rank sorcerers were being so respectful to him? But he’s just too young!”
Most adventures had never seen a real senior-rank sorcerer. Most senior-rank sorcerers either were important nobles or lived in Allyn, or were exploring in the Dark Mountain Range and other dimensions. Even if those adventurers could run into one in Rentato, they would not recognize them as such.
The scar-faced man laughed, “Come on… Maybe he just look young, and maybe he’s a few hundred years old… Older than your great-great-great-grandma, ha!”
…
In the cold wind, Lucien, Charlie and Sandra were flying toward the castle called Bertren. Looking from above, the forest below was covered with a thick layer of snow, sprinkled with a few green spots from those evergreen pine trees.
“That’s about it.” Sandra, who was carrying Susan flying using a spell called Coil, just told Lucien all the information they had got.
Seeing Susan being pinched with cold, Sandra cast Element Endurance on Susan. Element Endurance was an ancient magic, although it did not work well for defending against magic attacks, it was rather useful in extreme cold or hot environments. Spells from the school of Thermodynamics such as Coldness Endurance and Heat Endurance could make one feel being exposed to nice spring weather even in an extreme environment ranging from minus ten to sixty to seventy degrees.
Lucien adjusted his monocle a bit and said, “Susan and Scott were in panic at that time, and they only noticed a few kinds of low-rank demons. So we shall never lower our guard. I’m a third-circle sorcerer, specializing in Element and Astrology, and I’ve got some good magic items. What about you two?”
“Fourth-circle battle sorcerer, specializing in Element, Force Field, Thermodynamics and Transformation. And I have some decent magic items as well,” answered Charlie, staring at the castle located next to the mountain not too far from them.
Sandra also noticed the castle in the front, and she answered briefly, “Fourth-circle, Electromagnetics, Light-darkness, Force Field and Summoning.”
“Great. You can handle the summoning magic circles later.” Lucien nodded. A layer of golden-white flame covered his long coat and soon formed an all-round shield like an eggshell.
Knowing that they were close to the destination now, Lucien directly activated Powerful Fire Shield enchanted within his ring, Element. The shield could last for ten minutes before it was broken.
Charlie and Sandra also cast their own most powerful defensive spells.
Charlie’s magic robe started to shine with moving light consisted of countless transparent magic symbols. This was an exclusive magic created by the congress called Douglas’s Absorbing Wall, from combining Minor Globe of Invulnerability and Protection from Energy.
Sandra’s skin and clothes quickly turned stone-gray like a statue. Five colourful magic light balls were now surrounding Susan’s head and her own. They were fourth-circle magic Stoneskin and Palmeira’s Power Magic Spheres.
Lucien also cast Mechanized Mind on himself to make sure that he was absolutely cool-headed.
Castle Bertren was a black castle built around a main center pinnacle. The sky started to get a little bit dusky, and the castle looked like a terrifying monster waiting for its prey.
The gate of the castle opened wide, and the strong smell of blood from inside of the castle was overwhelming. The gate was just like the huge mouth of a monster.
