“You’re all wrong. This is about a plane fusion on Devil’s Water. The wizards are going for the new appendage plane so that they can capture resources earlier.” It was an ill-looking man with thick glasses who just spoke. The man was holding a magazine he just bought, and he made up a story based on the “news” he read.
“Oh, Adam the Nerd. Is that the newest magazine you got there? Give me that!” A rough-looking man tried to reach for the publication.
While Adam struggled to resist, they suddenly saw the tower door opening up.
“I didn’t expect you to come personally, old friend.” A strange-looking old wizard with extremely long white eyebrows, curly beard, and blue triangular wizard hat approached another gentleman. The gentleman was dressed in a traditional black suit and had a handsome yet somewhat cruel look. He was also carrying a short black walking cane in his gloved hand.
All other wizards who passed by decided to move away as if they just saw a nemesis.
Angor would have quickly recognized his teacher if he were here.
“Something unexpected happened to the purification garden. As the mentor of someone who will enter the garden, I should naturally come,” Sunders said in a plain tone.
“I see. I know you adopted a new disciple.” The white-browed wizard nodded. “That failure of mine also arrived at the city the other day. We don’t get together often. Why don’t you bring your new student to my place so that we can have a good talk?”
Sunders glanced at the old man named Kanter, who went by the title “Eventide”.
This old man was the current master of “Lilith’s Clan”. He became a truth-finder 600 years ago and possessed more experience than Sunders. But in terms of strength, they shared a similar level, which was just below level-3. They were both trying to break through the bottleneck.
Lilith’s Clan was a small wizard organization that had a limited number of wizards. However, no one would try to underestimate their strength. Each of their generations would give birth to at least one truth-finder wizard. There was one point of time around a thousand years ago when multiple legendary wizards emerged from Lilith’s Clan; it was regarded as a major historical event.
“Eventide” Kanter had his name widely known in the wizarding world as well. At the same time, he was one of Sunders’ very few friends.
Sunders knew that the old man wished their students could meet up and broaden their social connections. Most of the time, this was beneficial.
“No. I’ve no idea if the kid has arrived here yet. Let’s talk again when he shows up.”
Kanter smiled. “True. I see none of your students can ever sit still for more than a day without causing trouble.” Kanter tried to recall how Flora looked like, but he failed. He once took his student and stayed at Phantom Island for ten years, during which they only get to see Flora once.
There was also Sunders’ oldest student, Sumesh, who left to find the truth 50 years ago. He had yet to return.
Sunders showed a strange expression and shook his head. “It’s different this time. That kid rarely leaves his door or does quests. He just… keeps himself shut in the room day and night. He’s out this time because something forced him to.”
“Oh? So you finally found a ‘trouble-free’ student?” Kanter joked. Those words were obviously sarcasm.
“No. He’s far from it.”
What Angor did during Twilight Auction, which almost brought a world-ending monster to the southern wizarding world, could hardly be considered “trouble-free”. Even someone like Sunders, who usually acted all calm and patiently, was startled for good.
He had to deal with Angor’s incident by wasting a lot of precious materials, and he actually helped the kid a lot by giving him a small piece of Nightmare Domain in the end.
Sunders sighed in frustration when thinking about this. That kid still owes me money for it.
Kanter grew interested when he saw his old friend looking so distressed. “Now I REALLY want to see the kid with my own eyes.”
Sunders didn’t answer this time. He didn’t know whether Angor could make it to Floating Mech City for real. He chose to believe in Angor since a prophet told him so.
Unless something else happened to the boy after the prophecy was done.
The officials of Floating Mech City had made it clear that unexpected elements appeared in the purification garden. The change in plan was actually something good for wizards. However, it might not be good for apprentices who planned to enter the garden soon.
“So, what’s your opinion?” Sunders asked while walking out of the tower with his friend.
“Floating Mech City has taken ten positions for their own candidates… It means the other apprentices will have to fight for their chances.”
“Frankly speaking, I don’t think these preparations will work. Do you believe they can decide who will seize the opportunities once they are inside the garden?” Sunders grinned devilishly.
The outside of the tower was full of curious apprentices, but they instantly quieted down when they saw Sunders coming out.
“They are being too soft to their students.” Sunders frowned at the unorganized crowds.
“Well, those people are only interested in alchemy. They don’t have much time to lecture their followers,” Kanter said and flew away.
Just as Sunders prepared to leave, he saw a bright image from within the crowd below.