Chapter 276: Emotional
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Hmm? And who might you be?”
Apollo was dressed in loose-fitting sorcerer robes. He donned a tall, pointy hat. There was a faint mist of elemental energy covering his face. A red-eyed frog rested on his palm—its lower neck expanded and inflated as it croaked.
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The red-eyed frog was Apollo’s soul partner and shared the same relations.h.i.+p between Grimm and Myna and Peranos and Garnigel.
For years, his friendly and cool-headed appearance of a Bright Sorcerer had not changed at all.
At this moment, he was leading some common n.o.blemen in what seemed like an investigation.
Perhaps the sudden appearance of Grimm and Nina York caused quite a commotion in the city. Could it be that Apollo, who was socializing with the n.o.blemen came over out of curiosity?
Grimm could never forget.
In those years, Grimm was still a kid earning his keep doing odd jobs in the viscount’s residence of Bi Seer City. He thought that the Eastern Coral Island was all there was in the whole continent. He was driven to work like a slave by the old butler and had no expectations of his future.
The first time he met Nina York, she was cowering behind his brother shyly and was a cute girl who wasn’t even brave enough to try the beauty clam.
Three centuries had pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye.
From the batch of children selected from each corner of the Eastern Coral Island, two had actually become real sorcerers like Apollo. They could now converse at the same level as the sorcerer who used to be mysterious and powerful back then.
‘Is this what it feels to be a sorcerer?’ Thinking back about how he had always looked up to the mystical sorcerers during his childhood, he felt a deep emotion.
In the eyes of a commoner, sorcerers were enigmatic, distinguished, and beyond imagination.
But after walking the path himself, Grimm found out that sorcerers were but mere human beings, who were incessant in their pursuits for the archaic truths.
That the sorcerers were always mysterious and unattainable in the eyes of normal human beings was because their eyes were covered by a thin veil between truth and illusion.
They could only make out what’s for dinner, who had a better-looking wife, and where to go for better earnings.
Grimm smiled. Compared to Nina, whose eyes were filled with emotions, he was much calmer.
Slowly, Grimm took off his Mask of Truth to reveal his true face. He exposed his wise-looking face. It was different compared to the usual cruel face worn by Dark Sorcerers.
Yet, Grimm still greeted the sorcerer in his standard Dark Sorcerer fas.h.i.+on. His long blond-hair was fluttering as he spoke in a hoa.r.s.e voice and looked Apollo in the eyes,” Master, do you still remember about two centuries ago, you were selecting sorcerer-apprentices at the Eastern Coral Island region at Lilith Sorcerer Academy?”
‘The Eastern Coral Island?’
Apollo looked at Grimm and Nina in astonishment. He slowly said, “You mean…”
Suddenly, Apollo seemed to have recalled something. “Oh yes! Before and after I went deep underground, I went on a mission to recruit sorcerer-apprentices in the Eastern Coral Island for the academy. My first mission was to select some of the apprentices into the sea ferry led by Dilla, which was later hijacked by Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy. You mean to say that you guys were…”
Apollo’s eyes lit up and swept past the Dark Sorcerers Grimm and Nina emotionally, trying to recall back his dust-sealed memories.
Nina’s old sorceress features revealed a nostalgic shy smile as if she were reminiscing the green, innocent past.
On the other hand, Grimm took out a meditation manual, a gift from Apollo in those days.
Grimm said gratefully, “If Master had not given me the enlightening quote of “Grant me infinite knowledge, and I shall be as a fulcrum, to move the endless world”, then maybe I would not be able to become a real sorcerer.”
Nina who was standing beside too joined in the conversation. “I would also like to thank Master’s forbearance. My brother and I used a pitiful bribe of a few Magic Stones to get your approval for us to become sorcerer-apprentices.”
There was brilliance in Nina’s murky two eyes.
“I remember now!”
Apollo exclaimed emotionally as Grimm and Nina invited him to sit with them.
At first, Apollo looked at Grimm. “Yes, during those years, a boy named Grimm asked me about the theory of spellcasting. I was pleased that he didn’t ask me to teach him spells for the purpose of killing others and gifted him with a meditation manual. You are Grimm?”
Grimm nodded; his long blond hair fluttering in the air and answered happily, “Yes, I am Grimm, the Grimm that you always complimented with ‘very good’!”
Apollo laughed after learning his answer. He turned around to Nina York. “You’ve just said something about your brother. You must be Nina York then, the precious daughter of the lord of Bi Seer Castle who couldn’t be anywhere without her brother.”
“Yes, I am Nina York.” Nina’s frail face turned into a smile.
Apollo nodded and smiled. “Hehe, in those situations, bribing was secondary. What was important was that you’ve used your wisdom. This is the most basic foundation for a sorcerer, and what the sorcerer’s academies were looking for in an apprentice. Although the bribe was only a few measly pieces of Magic Stones, you’ve used your wisdom, unlike those fools who only do things by the book.”
Apollo paused for a moment before continuing, “Right, and then there’s Wade, who also tried to bribe me with some Magic Stones. There’s also another little guy called Robinson. I couldn’t imagine during those days that there were two sorcerer-apprentices who had mental strength points over ten in the Eastern Coral Island.”
Apollo looked back at Grimm slowly. “I could sense an instinctive friendly energy in your primary soul, but also a terrifying presence that would make others s.h.i.+ver in fear.”
Grimm smiled and gave no answer.
The friendliness probably came from the protection offered by the Princ.i.p.al Will of the world as well as his Rank 3 Honor Badge. The terrifying presence was probably due to the killings after the violent slaughter in the demon-hunting expedition.
Nina then slowly recollected the past.
“Wade? I remember he was killed when the sea monster attacked the ferry. Robinson, Lefay, and my brother, Chris York, the five of us were in Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy…”
One’s a Bright Sorcerer while the other two were Dark Sorcerers.
The three sorcerers had crossed the lines between the Bright and Dark Sorcerers. They were conversing together on the dining chairs of the normal human world without holding back.
Time flew without them realizing. Five hourgla.s.ses had pa.s.sed.
Five hourgla.s.ses meant ten hours. For the sorcerers, it was but a moment. But for the average human n.o.bles, it was a long time. Some of them started to snore in exhaustion.
Apollo let out a sigh. “I wouldn’t have guessed. Lefay, the little girl who was really reluctant to head into the Sorcerer Continent but was pushed to do so by her father, had become this way…”
After stopping for a moment, Apollo continued,” If her father knew that it would come to this, maybe he will not be so insistent. Sigh…”
At the same time, Grimm suddenly trembled. He cried out, “Lefay… has she gone back to Bi Seer Castle? Yes, yes! She must’ve gone back to Bi Seer Castle, she must’ve!”
Grimm’s voice was filled with joy. At the same time, he hated himself for not realizing sooner. His mind was fixed at the twelve districts governed by the six great sorcerers academies. He completely forgot about the place where Lefay and he came from.
Come to think about it, Lefay must’ve had a great deal of emotions attached to that place.
After all, Bi Seer Castle was not only Lefay’s home, it was the place where she had fond memories of living with Grimm since they were little.
Nina too was startled. Her two murky eyes lit up brilliantly and she exclaimed with joy as well. “Yes, I was wondering why there wasn’t any news of Lefay. I see, so she has left the twelve districts.”
The more Grimm and Nina thought about it, the higher their hopes were. They couldn’t help but smile.
Grim especially wished that he could fly over to Bi Seer Castle of the Eastern Coral Island to be by Lefay’s side at this very moment. Then, he would pull her over to Old Ham’s grave and make up for all his regrets. He wants to hold a grand wedding in the most romantic way possible and live with Lefay by the ocean until the very last moments of her apprentice’s life without any further remorse. He would protect her and do his very best to remove the Black Sorcerer’s…
Grimm became more emotional the more he thought about it. He even felt a tinge in his lip from his beautiful past.
It was his first kiss with Lefay. The crescent moon was hanging by the sky and the air was filled with the sweet fragrance of orchids. The quiet river bay was flowing in a nice hum. At the deck of the dance floor before the new recruit’s test, pa.s.sion was running high. Their hearts raced as they lost control in the moment without a care.
At this moment, as he reminisces his sweet old past, Grim suddenly felt that his life had been so bland after he had become a real sorcerer.
This…
Was it what the fatty and Sorceress Elaine meant by saying “sweet memories of the past” after selling out the Love Vials?
The wheel of time in its every cycle buried the innocent, naive, intense, and fiery memories into the gentlest corner of the heart, turning them into its most prized treasures.
But as the wheel of time turned increasingly, the sorcerers slowly lost touch of the beautiful innocence and naivete of the past. They soon became cold, factual incidents of the past.
Such was the growth of a sorcerer. That was the price to pay in their search for the truth and power.
Grimm suddenly stood up. He clutched his chest tightly, as though he was about to press his heart that had stopped beating for over two centuries but was beating crazily right now.
“Come, let’s go to the Eastern Coral Island, Lefay must be there!” Grimm fervently said to Nina.
On the other hand, Myna took out its prized energy crystal and was reluctant to part ways. “Good brother, as expected of a great being of ancient times, you really understand me! Here, don’t be shy, this is my prized possession. Oh right, my name is Mavrica Nevichy, see you next time.”
“Croak! Croak! Croak!”
The red-eyed frog curled the energy crystal into its tongue and croaked.
“Oh right! You might not be aware of one thing. Lefay’s ancestor must be a Level 2 or Level 3 sorcerer. His father used to pay a bribe of…”
After parting ways with Apollo, Grimm and Nina went toward the Eastern Coral Island from their memories and flew there excitedly.