Chapter 409: Meeting (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Kurisu, Frappe
Angele talked with the wizards for two whole days before leaving the Blue Gold Cave. He quickly returned to the carriage.
Turin, Victoria, and Lela accepted the important missions that Angele gave them. Turin was in charge of creating a basic army and Victoria was in charge of creating an army of assassins. Lela needed to check the intel collected by the team members and send the report to Angele.
Angele would have everything ready as long as the three wizards were under his control. It did not matter if those wizards were loyal to him as the organization's contracts took care of the problem. Turin, Lela, and Victoria were strong wizards and they were recruited by Dark Wizard Tower because of their talent.
It would take some time for the three wizards to get used to their new job and Angele needed the time to attend the Count's party. Angele wanted to see how strong the Count was as the man was also in charge of the area.
Also, the rumor said that the Count had been helping the organization for a while.
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On the edge of the Tarry River area. In the deep forest.
There was a white castle standing quietly on top of a mountain, surrounded by green trees.
The white castle was surrounded by four twisted paths, with numerous white arrow towers built on them.
It was getting dark outside—the night was about to come.
On the main path to the castle, there were luxurious carriages, moving slowly toward the top of the mountain.
Platinum carriages, black carriages with silver edges, black carriages with golden edges, and golden carriages. The expensive carriages were all advancing on the main path.
There were nobles of both sexes in beautiful suits and dresses sitting inside the carriages. There were also wizard apprentices that were having short conversations.
Most of the formal wizards in the carriages were not saying a word.
Angele slowly looked out the window and checked the carriages around him. There were only two formal wizards in the carriages behind him.
However, there were more than ten wizard apprentices.
Angele sat in the carriage quietly. He could feel that the carriage was climbing up the mountain.
He looked at the vibrant forest down the mountain—the trees became shorter and smaller in his sight.
The setting sun was slowly moving down in the endless sky and the pale orange light illuminated the ground.
Groups of black birds were passing by in the sky, they were rotating and twittering.
Angele inhaled deeply once and slowly exhaled.
He sat on the carriage for several days, so he was getting bored.
"Ham, what do you know about the Wheat City? And who's this Count of the Riverside Empire?" Angele questioned the coachman.
"Actually, it's normal that you don't know anything about the Riverside Empire—it's a small empire with five cities, and Wheat City is one of them. It's also the only territory of the Count," Ham explained. "However, he's a Count after all, and he's the leader of the Red Scimitar. He has a strong force in hand."
"What's Red Scimitar?" Angele wondered.
"You don't know the Red Scimitar? It's an organization with three formal wizards; it's one of the stronger organizations in the Tarry River area," Ham said.
Angele was a bit surprised. "Three formal wizards and it's a strong organization? The families in the air transportation city have more wizards than that."
"You're a Master Wizard and you probably don't know how rare it is for an organization in Tarry River Area to own three wizards. This place is at the edge of the central continent and you can't compare it to the air transportation city. The air transportation city is an important city with what it does and it must be guarded by a strong force. Actually, it's rare for a mortal like me to talk to a formal wizard. It's an honor." Ham sighed.
'So, this area is similar to the west coast,' Angele concluded in his mind.
"Where did you acquire that information?"
Ham chuckled. "I was once a Grand Knight and a follower of a wizard at the Crystal stage. I've served as a mercenary for more than 30 years. I travelled around the land for jobs with higher pay, that's how I collected the information."
"That's interesting. You must have enchanted items then?" Angele wondered. He was not asking about the complete enchanted items, he was asking about the damaged enchanted items that could still be activated. Wizards would gift such items to their servants or followers. If the follower or servant's inheritor had the potential to become an apprentice, he could send the inheritor to the wizard with the enchanted item so the wizard would know who the person was.
Most of the Grand Knights owned enchanted items and it was different from the situation on the west coast. The Grand Knights of the central continent were more talented and the wizards could help them activate some low-rank enchanted items. They were stronger than the Grand Knights of the west coast who could not activate the enchanted items.
"I do, but I don't think you'll be interested." Ham smiled. "The Count invited the people with strong backgrounds in the area to his party, including their sons and daughters. He said that it was a birthday party, but I think he's trying to find a wife for his only son."
"So, political marriage? Interesting." Angele had a general idea about the Count's situation.
The man was a leader of the Red Scimitar, a Count of a small country, and a core member of the Dark Wizard Tower. Angele was just an assistant to him—the Count's skill level had to be high.
The man also had a strong force in hand. However, the Count put so much effort into faking himself as an average nobleman. It was no doubt that the Count had a big plan in mind.
Angele decided to be careful when communicating with the Count.
They would exchange communication runes during the party and Angele needed to find a way to increase his mentality after that. He wanted to make sure that the members of his team would follow his orders.
Also, it was impossible for him to fight back if the monsters of the Nightmare Realm invaded the main world.
The Molten Core River was the only way to increase his mentality at a relatively fast rate.
The problem was that his progression with the meditation technique had slowed down after completing the third stage. Also, it was nearly impossible for him to complete the fourth stage due to his low talent level.
Most of the wizards who practiced the Molten Core River could only complete the fourth stage. They could go for the higher levels, but their speed would be greatly slowed down and it was nearly impossible for them to increase their mentality to the required level before they died.
They could not advance to the next stage with just rare resources and that was why the rank four wizards were highly respected by the wizard society.
'I should probably try and find a creature with high mentality in the Nightmare Realm,' Angele thought.
He avoided using his true power in the Nightmare Realm, but he needed the ancient bloodline to support his true form. Also, he would not draw too much attention if he was just extracting the blood of the creatures he captured.
Eye Devil collected a lot of bloodlines and built the blood pools after she broke the seal. She was just trying to recreate her true form as soon as possible.
Angele pondered as the carriage arrived at the top of the mountain. The guards at the arrow towers did not check his carriage since the Count already informed them about Angele's presence.
The other luxurious were all checked by the guards, but Angele moved to the top of the mountain without any problem.
On top of the mountain, there were two rows of maids in white dresses greeting the guests by the entrance of the castle. A team of guards in black armors was patrolling the area; there were several middle-aged men and women helping the guests that were stepping off the luxurious carriages.
A woman in black approached Angele's carriage as it stopped and opened the door for Angele.
"Welcome. The Count has been waiting for your arrival." The woman bowed politely.
Angele glanced around, nodded, and stepped down the carriage. He changed to a luxurious outfit on the way to the castle and there was a white crossguard sword on his belt as a decoration. He changed his appearance and hairstyle using a simple illusion spell.
The guests that just stepped out of the carriages looked at Angele and noticed his white noble suit; however, Angele's short black hair and average-looking face did not attract their attention.
Angele looked just like a son of a noble family. Although he was not handsome, his behavior was gentle and elegant; there was also a hint of cruelty in his eyes.
Another normal white carriage stopped by the gate, inside the carriage, it was a merchant and his daughter.
The merchant was a middle-aged chubby man, his daughter was wearing a white dress and a black ponytail. The girl had a beautiful face, a thin waist, and large breasts. She was about 16 or 17 years old, but she already had a nice body.
"I know the Count only invites people with strong background to his party." The chubby man noticed the presence of Angele. "Can you see that guy? The man looks like a normal son of a noble family, but his behavior shows that he's well-educated and hates wasting time. I think he must come from a large noble family."
The chubby man nodded and his daughter nodded as well after hearing the words. "You're saying that the guy has a strong background?"
"Yeah. He's probably a friend of the Count's son. I'm invited to the party because you're a friend of Miss, Sasha. I'm honored to have a daughter like you." The chubby man rubbed his hands. "You're the pride of my life."
The girl glared at the chubby man. "Dad, Sasha is just a friend of mine. I didn't become friends with her because of her background."
"It doesn't matter, haha."