Chapter 172: Floating City
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Yaguez?”
Merlin shot a glance at Yaguez. That young-looking face had long grown out of naivety, revealing a hint of mature and tough look.
Merlin could still recall that the young Yaguez had vowed to protect him with determination. He also recalled that Yaguez had stood in front of him without a shade of doubt when they faced the strong bandits.
“Yaguez is honest and courageous. I don’t have any objection about Father teaching the posture of relief sculpture to him.”
Merlin was satisfied with Yaguez. Back then, the young knight’s dream was to join Old Wilson’s heavy-armored knights.
However, it was a piece of cake with Yaguez’s ability to become a commander, not to mention a heavy-armored knight.
However, Old Wilson shook his head. He said with a grin, “I’m not asking you about his personality. I’ve taught Yaguez myself; I definitely know him very well. I’m asking you what you think of Yaguez with Macy.”
“Yaguez with Macy?”
Merlin showed a strange expression. He had already been back in Prakash City for a few days, but he had not met Macy. Hearing from Old Wilson, it appeared that Macy was still in Conxion territory, helping Old Wilson to take care of the entire territory. Now, Macy had become Old Wilson’s great help.
However, Merlin had never expected that Old Wilson would want to bring Yaguez and Macy together.
“Why? Do you think it’s not right?”
Old Wilson inquired in a low voice with a frown on his face.
Merlin shook his head and quickly replied, “I don’t think there’s any problem with that. I’m just surprised.”
“Haha. Tell me about it. I was shocked when I heard Yaguez expressing his feelings about Macy. There’s just too much differences between Yaguez’s stoic personality and Macy’s lively character. But this may just be their fate. I’m fine as long as they both think it’s alright.”
Old Wilson laughed. He was obviously quite satisfied with Yaguez as well.
After that, Old Wilson seemed to have thought of something and said to Merlin, “Merlin, do you need me for anything today?”
Hearing Old Wilson’s question, Merlin explained the situation briefly, “Father, I may need to leave Prakash City for a while. I’m going to a place with Wizard Hill.”
“Leaving already?”
Old Wilson revealed an apparent disappointed look but he soon recovered and acted normal. He knew that Merlin had become a mysterious yet powerful Spell Caster; he lived in a different world than the rest of them.
“Alright, but Yaguez and Macy will have their wedding in about half a year’s time. As her brother, you must return by then.”
Old Wilson said to Merlin with a serious face.
Merlin considered it for a while. Floating City was not too far from here. As long as he did not spend too much time in Floating City, he would be able to get back in half a year’s time.
Upon thinking about that, Merlin nodded. “Alright. I’ll be back by then.”
Following that, Merlin turned around and left. Old Wilson continued to teach Yaguez and others about the mysterious posture of the relief sculpture.
…
The night was cool and serene. Merlin, Charise, and Avril had no intention to sleep just yet. After numerous days of soaking in Vitality Potion, Charise and Avril’s skin had turned soft and delicate – both appeared to be more beautiful now.
After a night of excitement, the three of them seemed a little exhausted, but none had fallen asleep. At this moment, they were silently enjoying the warmth of loved ones.
“Are you really leaving?”
Charise suddenly asked and broke the silence in the room.
“Yeah. Tomorrow.”
After saying that, the atmosphere turned silent once again. In fact, Merlin had slowly noticed the distant feeling he had toward the others such as Charise, Avril, and even Old Wilson, when he returned home.
This was because he was already living in a different world than Old Wilson, Charise, and the others. There were a lot of things Merlin could not explain clearly to them as well.
It felt as if there was a gigantic barrier between them!
After a long moment, Charise gradually said, “Merlin, I begin to feel that you’re so far away from me, even if you’re right beside me.”
Merlin did not reply. A dead silence hung over the entire room.
…
The next day, Merlin quietly left Wilson Castle. He went straight to the black-robed old man’s residence. The old man had already prepared everything, including a hired carriage which was waiting for Merlin.
“How is it? Have you settled everything?”
A faint smile played on the black-robed old man’s face.
“All done. Let’s go.”
Merlin told him calmly and dived into the carriage.
The black-robed old man took a knowing glance at Merlin and sighed rather thoughtfully. “Wizard Merlin, you must treasure the time spent with your family. We Spell Casters are destined to be alone. The warm days spent with family won’t stay for too long…”
An ordinary First-level Spell Caster could live up to two hundred years old. Even the short-lived ones could live up to one hundred years. Meanwhile, Normies basically had a lifespan of about seventy years; even that was considered long-lived.
After all, Spell Casters and Normies were two types of people. When all their beloved family members had pa.s.sed away due to old age, the Spell Casters must bear the endless days alone.
Merlin looked at the black-robed old man again. The old man could have experienced a loving yet regretful memory as well…
…
The carriage was slowly moving forward on the rugged mountain road, giving it a b.u.mpy ride.
Although the road was rough, the carriage continued its journey toward the mountains which were surrounded by clouds and mists. No one knew what sort of people were sitting in the carriage in this desolate place.
Finally, the carriage slowly came to a halt. Two black-robed men came out of the carriage. One of them, who was rather old, communicated to the carriage driver in a soft voice. Then, the carriage driver brought the carriage slowly down the mountain.
“Wizard Hill, is this Floating City?”
Merlin asked with a strange expression. These two black-robed men were Merlin and Wizard Hill who came all the way from Prakash City.
In the mountain, there was almost no road to proceed forward. If they walked toward the front, they would enter the dense forest which was covered in mist. Merlin could not imagine that this was Floating City.
The black-robed old man raised his head to take a glance at the dense forest covered in mist. A grin appeared on his face. “That’s right. It’s here. Let’s go. If you move further in, you’re able to see Floating City.”
Thereafter, the black-robed old man walked into the mist.
Merlin hesitated for a while and finally followed suit.
Merlin noticed that his sight was greatly impeded by the thick mist; he could only see a brief silhouette of the black-robed old man in front of him. Moreover, the mist would enter his wide robe; its moist sensation gave off a chilly feeling.
“Ka-chak.”
Suddenly, Merlin waved his hands and cast Frost toward a certain place in front of him. At once, thick ice crystals were formed.
Merlin frowned. When he approached the figure, he realized that it was a spider with the marking of flowers. It was about the size of a palm. By sight, Merlin knew that it was poisonous and appeared to be gruesome.
“Wizard Hill, there are a lot of poisonous insects here!”
After saying that, he raised his hands and cast Fireball. The fireball immediately exploded and killed a few thumb-sized beetles that gave off a buzzing noise.
Although Merlin and the black-robed old man had just entered the forest for a short period, they had come across a few poisonous insects. Most of these poisonous insects contained acute poison. Should they be bitten, it would not take long for them to succ.u.mb to the poison.
Only the Spell Casters could monitor all movements around them at any time with Mind Power to ensure their safety. The same as the strong Elemental Swordsmen, if they were careless here, they would most probably be bitten by the poisonous insects as well.
“Wizard Hill, is this really Floating City?”
Merlin could not help but ask.
The old man suddenly paused and grinned. He spoke softly, “Alright. We’re already here!”
“Here?”
Merlin raised his head to find that it was still misty in front of them and he could not see things clearly. However, when Merlin looked with his Mind Power, he saw that there was a blurred figure of a city within the mist as if it was floating in the clouds. He was certain that this was Floating City.
The old man shot a glance at Merlin, then explained with a smile, “Floating City is not exactly floating in the air. It’s built at the peak of a mountain surrounded by clouds and mist, thus the name, Floating City. Moreover, the mist is, in fact, created by a large Runic Magic Circle. Even if a Normie came into the mountain, he can’t find Floating City without strong Mind Power.”
Merlin nodded. Some Spell Casters stayed around Normies, while some preferred to stay away from Normies. Floating City was obviously in the group that avoided Normies. They did not want to be found by Normies, so they spent enormous energy and time to build such a strange place.
“Let’s go. To enter Floating City, we must activate these stone statues with Mind Power!”
The old man pointed at the large stone statues on the ground. The figures of some Spell Casters seemed to be carved on these statues. In addition, there were all sorts of gemstones and mysterious runes on them.
Merlin and the black-robed old man approached the statues and rapidly extended their Mind Power toward the statues. Then, it was as if the statues had come alive – the mysterious runes on them began to gleam a bright light. Even the gemstones on the statues were s.h.i.+ning all sorts of beautiful light.
“Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+”
Two pillars of light flashed. Merlin and the old man’s figures were covered by the runes and disappeared completely…