Azure Mountain and the Couple
Azure Mountain City, situated beside the Andius mountains, was the ancestral territory of the Oakheart Clan.
The Andius mountains were rich in natural minerals, something that made the alloy produced by Azure Mountain City, with its superior quality, one of the most desirable in the entire continent.
In fact, Leylin had even visited this place himself once to source the materials for his own Magus Tower.
With excellent smelting techniques coupled with rich and plentiful natural resources, the Oakheart Clan had superior control over auctions, accumulating an outrageous amount of wealth.
The original name of the progenitor of the Oakheart Clan had long fallen out of the public mind, but his title still remained to this date. He was the powerful and brilliant Azure Mountain King!
Indeed, the progenitor of the Oakheart Clan was the well-known Azure Mountain King, the famed and almighty Morning Star Magus.
The intimidating nature of this Morning Star Magus served as a warning to other vicious and hateful Magi not to have any designs on the Oakheart Clan. Otherwise, it would have long been overtaken and ruled by those fugitive human magicians.
And now, the time had come for the decennial large-scale auction..
As the event venue of the auction was in Azure Mountain City, the entire place was filled to the brim with people. The prices of the airship tickets heading there had also risen sharply due to this event.
However it was not a deterrent, as Magi from everywhere continued to flow into the city.
Some among them were powerful and well known. Others had masked themselves, cherishing anonymity.
Regardless of their varying powers, all the Magi present would generally be disciplined enough to control and maintain themselves. After all, they would lose as well if the auction were to not proceed smoothly.
In fact, they would risk losing much needed materials to an arch-enemy, as well as materials that were hard to obtain through normal means.
With the auction event approaching, the crime rates in the neighbouring areas also increased substantially!
Many fugitive Magi on the wanted list came forth to the event sneakily and had daringly looted many people. But as long as they weren’t caught red-handed, the Oakheart Clan, the main organiser, would not excessively pursue the matter.
The otherwise orderly Azure Mountain City had suddenly turned chaotic. A small group of Magi were pushing forward with their own secretive agendas behind the scenes.
As such, even under the watchful eyes of the Morning Star Magus, the Clan had to face a mounting number of incidents hindering their move forward. They were kept busy and anxious.
“Such a bustling scene!” Leylin was at a local inn along a stretch of shops, viewing the hurried crowd through a transparent glass flooring.
In front of him were served colourful glasses of juices, along with some freshly baked cookies and snacks.
He had been in Azure Mountain City for 3 days. The wounds from the clash with Toram had already mostly healed with his liberal use of potions.
As he had arrived early, Leylin was able to find lodging at an inn in the city, unlike the situation now where many Magi were struggling to find a room and had to search throughout the city and risk getting into conflicts with one another.
Leylin stroked his chin, looking at the busy street that was bustling with activity.
Many of the commoners wore grey, black and white apparel. Among the crowd, there were many Magi and some other races discreetly mingling about.
In the central continent, humans were not the only race. Many different species of humans had mingled together producing offspring of mixed bloodlines.
Leylin had personally met some of them on the streets and had witnessed their odd characteristics.
Walking among the pedestrians were patrol Knights from the host’s city. Many of these knights wore barbed armor. Under the guidance of senior Knights and acolytes, they regularly combed through every corner of the city.
Although their abilities were insignificant to Magi, the fact that their uniforms bore the emblem of the Oakheart Clan was enough to deter any impetuous Magi.
“It’s him!” At this moment, cries from a skylark sounded near Leylin. It perched itself outside the inn.
He found the tone of the cries familiar, and smiled and walked towards the entrance of the inn.
At this moment, a young couple stepped foot into the inn. The lady took one look at Leylin and was shocked.
“Oh! It’s been a long time, Nolan, Jessia.” Leylin noticed that Jessia wore the look of a young woman instead of a young girl and exclaimed, “Also, a blissful marriage to you!”
This couple from the Rolithe Family had left a deep impression on Leylin, especially the defiant young girl.
“Ley… Sir Leylin!” Nolan whined bitterly in his heart. He had heard about the delicious treats being served here and hence brought his wife along. Little did he expect he would bump into Leylin.
Nolan’s knees grew weak thinking about how he was chided and taught a lesson mercilessly by this rank 3 Magus in the past.
As for Jessia, she looked as if she relied heavily on Nolan and had her arms around him. Leylin couldn’t help but sense the hatred and detestation deep in her eyes. It made him speechless.
‘Just because I had the ability to, but did not save you, you hate me so much?’ Leylin stroked his chin. Coincidences happened all the time in this world. Maybe a word, an action, or even an exchange of glances, it might all result in an inexplicable hatred against someone else. It was something unfathomable.
He had not expected such matters to happen to him.
“Both of you look happily married now, although it does gives me a troubled heart!” Leylin was rather amused and called out to them to take a seat,”Shall we sit together? The food here is decent, I found this place after a long search!”
“Oh! No need! We do not want to impose on you, Sir!” Nolan gave a bitter smile and bowed politely. He grabbed Jessia’s hand and left the place hastily.
Dining with Leylin? Nolan could feel immense pressure. In fact, the aura he felt this time was much more powerful than during their previous meeting. He certainly do not want to cross paths with Leylin again.
“What are you doing?” Jessia blurted out in anger after crossing a few streets with Nolan pulling her along.
“He is just a rank 3 Magus, what is the big deal? Your grandfather is also a famed Hydro Phase Magus… Furthermore, as long as we can gather sufficient materials this time, he can also attempt to enter the Crystal Phase!” Jessia pouted her lips with displeasure, profound resentment in her eyes.
After the wedding, Nolan had been good to Jessia, and she too, had gradually accepted her fate. However, her hatred towards Leylin from their initial meeting had not ceased one bit.
She hated how Leylin had disrupted her plans and how he had treated her, even till the end. There was no hint of nobility and no demeanor of a gentleman at all!
“That was after all a rank 3 Lord. Even if he hasn’t reached the Vapour Phase, we cannot afford to offend him… Moreover, he had the support of the Ouroboros Clan…” Nolan smiled bitterly. Sadly, he was not up to date with the latest information. He was unaware of Leylin’s true position and abilities in the Ouroboros Clan.
Plus, Leylin himself had been low-key all this while.
“I do not care, you have to take revenge on my behalf…” Jessia tugged at Nolan’s arm with a look of dissatisfaction.
“Alright alright alright!” Nolan tamed her with verbal promises. However, from the bottom of his heart, he had zero intentions of doing so.
Of course, he couldn’t speak his mind freely. Otherwise, knowing Jessia, she wouldn’t let him have her when the night fell, and he would certainly dread it.
“Hmph! Leylin, since you are here, you will definitely not miss the auction. We’ll see!” Her scheming plans were reflected in her eyes as they shined brightly.
Inside the inn, watching Nolan and Jessia leave, Leylin was deep in thought.
The hatred in the past was apparent and obvious to him. And up till now, she certainly had not given it up. The only difference was her attempt to conceal her feelings.
Leylin could have crushed such insignificant characters easily in the past. But he did not do so then. Other than his fear of offending someone who had a strong family as support, there was another reason.
After the couple left the inn, Leylin went back to his seat and sat down. In his palm, a dull gold coin appeared and he toyed with it.
“I can feel it, looks like they can present something valuable to me this time!” Leylin grinned as he slid the Coin of Destiny back into his pocket, his eyes twinkling a deep black.
The river of destiny could not be fathomed. It would constantly drift about without a permanent resting place. However, at some specific times and places, minute details of it would intersect, something that a few Magi could sense.
It had happened to Leylin previously. He had, with the help of the Coin of Destiny, felt that there were some unresolved matters.
In the near future, he knew he would cross paths with the couple again. And that time, they would voluntarily present him with an item of importance.
This current location seemed to be the confluence point where their destinies met.
“Boss, bill please!” Leylin smiled and stood up. The owner sprang up from behind the counter and stepped forward…
The Azure Mountain auction company was situated at the center of Azure Mountain City. Its land was extensive, surrounded by an encampment of the Oakheart Clan. Standing there, a simple and unadorned majestic Magus Tower could be seen radiating horrifying levels of energy. It seemed to have an unknown connection with the skies and the entire region.
This Magus Tower built by a Morning Star Magus was Leylin’s current destination, as well as something he looked up to.
It was the symbol of the Oakheart Clan’s power, and a guarantee.
Once he stepped foot into the auction hall, a female servant in uniforms stepped up swiftly and greeted him warmly, clearly well trained. “Welcome, how can I be of service to you?”
“I would like to sell some things in this auction!” The present Leylin was unrecognisable. He had altered his facial features and worn a hood over his head. He’d also added another outer layer of cotton shawl that draped down from the top, covering his face.
Fortunately, at this point of time, there were countless Magi in Azure Mountain City dressed exactly like Leylin, hence the servant was not baffled at all.