Chapter 87: Blackwater City
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"What do you think?" Anfey looked around. Besides two people who were watching over the orcs, everyone, including Hui Wei, gathered in the cave. Anfey talked about going to the Forest of Death again in front of everyone.
"Anfey, why do you have to go to such a dangerous place?" Christian smiled bitterly.
Anfey pointed at Riska with a finger but did not say anything. Everyone looked at Riska, which had made Riska quite confused. "Me? I did not say anything. I will follow Anfey and everyone else. You say where we go, and I will follow you."
"I used to think Zubin could be a magister after Christian. Did you get any insight from Riska? Why do you think you will be sent out for training when you reach a certain level. It usually could trigger your potential at a very dangerous moment. This potential is a key to help you break through the bottleneck. Riska is a good example of it. If we continue to stay here, it would not necessarily guarantee our safety. They will find us sooner or later. What do we do then? I know it is hard to search for people in the forest, but what if they do find us?" Anfey continued his talk: "If we go to Forest of Death, it looks dangerous, but quite safe for us. The biggest threat would be gone. As long as we are careful and cautious, I think we can handle the dangers in the Forest of Death. In addition, if we stay here, our practice will be no different. Facing the dangers in the Forest of Death will allow us to improve at a much quicker pace. In my opinion, you all have decent understanding of magic. What you lack of is real battle experience. It’s time for us to practice it."
Anfey’s talk made everybody quiet. Seven or eight of them were senior mages who had been experiencing difficulty moving to a higher level. With previous experience, regular practice would take them five to ten years, or even their whole lives, to break through the bottlenecks. Riska was a good example in front of them, which made their decisions difficult.
"I want to say something," Zubin interrupted.
"Go ahead," Anfey nodded.
"If these orcs can live in the Stone Forest in Forest of Death, so can we," Zubin said.
Zubin’s talk enlightened everyone. He was right. If those orcs with low power could live in the Forest of Death, why couldn’t they live there? If it was too dangerous in the Forest of Death, they could always retreat to the Stone Forest.
Anfey gave Zubin an appreciative look. "Zubin is right. Even if we cannot survive in the Forest of Death, as long as we can hold on there for a month, we still could come back at the next full moon. What else do we have to worry about?"
"Right!" Blavi nodded energetically. "It’s not that we could not come back ever again. What are we scared of?"
The atmosphere seemed to lighten up, and everyone was either conversing quietly or thinking quietly by themselves. The atmosphere did not seem as depressing as before.
"I have other concerns, but I would like to go with Anfey’s decision," Christian said slowly.
"How about you, Suzanna?" Anfey looked at Suzanna.
"I will follow you too," Suzanna said with a smile. Actually, Forest of Death was a perfect place for training for Suzanna. She was never against Anfey’s decision. She explained so much about Death of Forest to Anfey in order to remind him to make the decision carefully.
"Nuts! Nuts! You are going nuts!" Hui Wei lost himself and stood up. "What is wrong with staying in a safe place. I am telling you, you will regret when you see some of your group dead in the Forest of Death."
"Don’t worry about it. If anyone dies, I am sure you would be the first one. This place is not safe for us. You know we are students of Saul. Have you ever considered why we came here?" Anfey sneered.
"Why?" Hui Wei asked.
"Because we killed a person." Sanchez smiled. No one felt nervous any more when they recalled what happened. So what if he was the grandson of Phillip? They killed him but they were still alive.
"Killed whom?" Hui Wei asked.
"The only grandson of Grand Swordsman Phillip, the only direct heir of Phillip’s, Zeda," Sanchez answered.
Hui Wei felt helpless and could not help sitting down. Phillip’s hot temper was well-known. Now he understood why these people fled to Forest of Clarm, but the problem is he really did not want to go back to Forest of Death.
"Since everyone has agreed on it, we will get ready for the ritual offerings tonight. Today is exactly three days away from the full moon," Anfey said slowly.
"Shelter could only be started by orcs. Do you think they would help us do it?" Sante asked.
"I can be honest with them and let them know we are going to Forest of Death. Do you really think they want us to stay?" Anfey smiled. The treasure was not a secret any more. The greediness showed in the orcs’ eyes. Asking them to help with ritual offerings would not be a problem. They could even fight to control it. In their opinion, those treasures would be theirs if Anfey’s legion left.
"Do you have to go to the Forest of Death?" Hui Wei murmured.
No one paid attention to him. How could a captive have any say in this discussion?
"Can I see my dimensional ring for a second?" Hui Wei looked at Anfey in a way that he was asking Anfey for a favor. His dimensional ring had been confiscated by Anfey. Every dimensional ring had a special mark on it. Besides the master of the ring, no one could open it. After its master died, the magic mark would disappear over time. However, it would take a long time for the ring to change its master. No one could change the magic mark on the ring, not even grand magisters or grand alchemists. Therefore, Anfey could only take Hui Wei’s dimensional ring away. Anfey could neither figure out what was in it, nor own it.
Anfey took out the dimensional ring and tossed it to Hui Wei without any hesitation.
Hui Wei looked like he was suffering. He hesitated a long time and finally took out a magic scroll from his dimensional ring and passed it to Anfey.
"What is this?" Anfey felt a wave of strong surges. He reached his hand out as he asked. It took Hui Wei a while before he unwillingly let the scroll go. He had a very complicated look on his face. He looked like he had just given up his whole world.
"Don't go to Forest of Death. This is a scroll of temporal teleportation to Blackwater City." Hui Wei heaved a long sigh. He finally pulled back his hand from the scroll.
"Teleport scroll!" Christian stood up in surprise, and walked to Anfey in a few strides. He took the scroll from Anfey and looked at it closely.
"Where is Blackwater City?" Anfey asked. Anfey did not need check whether the scroll was real. Christian could take care of that. Anfey only needed to make sure of other things.
"Blackwater City and White Mountain City are the two biggest cities in the Country of Mercenaries. Blackwater City is close to Wild Prairie, while White Mountain City is near Forest of Death. They both have the most complicated environments on Pan Continent as well. You will see a lot of things in Blackwater City," Suzanna said.
"Have you been to Blackwater City?" Anfey asked.
"Only when I was little," Suzanna answered.
"This is a Teleport scroll." Christian carefully passed the scroll back to Anfey. He looked at Hui Wei up and down. "I could not tell you are rich."
Hui Wei heaved a long sigh and tucked his hands back into the sleeves. He curled up and looked helpless, which made people feel bad for him.
"Give me the dimensional ring back first," Anfey said flatly, holding out one hand. His memory was good.
"Christian, is a teleport scroll rare?" Anfey asked.
"Not really, but it is expensive. Professor used to make teleport scrolls when he had free time. Usually a teleport scroll can sell for five hundred gold coins. If it was a special order to request a certain destination, then professor had to change the magic coordinate and the price would double," Christian said, smiling.
"That expensive?" Anfey was a little surprised. No wonder Saul spent a lot. Anfey thought Saul did some side jobs to make extra money with his status as an archmage in the palace court. He just learned that Saul himself was valuable. Mages seemed to have bright futures.
"Expensive?" Niya puffed out her chest with pride. "Unless the buyers were friends of my father, then yes. Otherwise he would not even make a scroll for them, even if they offered money."
Anfey smiled, "Christian, can you release this scroll?"
"Riska and I both can," Christian answered.
"I got it." Anfey turned to Hui Wei. "You cannot release this scroll since you have both magic and combat powers, can you?"
Hui Wei closed his eyes and refused to answer Anfey’s question.
"Christian, how long will it take for the time space door to open after the scroll is released?" Anfey needed to know more details.
"Very quickly," Christian answered.
"How long would it take for the door to shut?" Anfey asked again.
"It depends on the person who released it. If magic power permits, a time space door can stay open forever." Christian said.
"Ok, everybody get ready soon so we can leave later tonight." Anfey stood up. "Christian, are the laws in Blackwater City as messy as in Forest of Death?"
"No, in Country of Mercenaries, the Union of Mercenaries has the authority. The Union of Mercenaries is the leader of the county," Christian answered.
"So…" Anfey was thinking quietly for a second. "Others can go and get some rest. Christian and Suzanna, can you stay and explain to me how Union of Mercenaries works?"