Chapter 66: Slander
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
[Fang]
Quality: Uncommon
Attack: 7 – 13
Effect: Armor Break +4
...
This was a pair of decent curved daggers.
At least the stats were pretty good. As an uncommon item, it should be considered middle-grade. The armor break attribute was very useful after all.
The other hidden attributes would have to wait. It took a high appraisal level to see through them. But based on Marvin’s experience and after a short examination, the initial estimation was that the material used for these daggers was pretty good, they were durable and the edge was pretty sharp.
The only shortcoming was that they hadn’t been used in a long time; they weren’t even oiled.
This was the consequence of a lack of maintenance. After receiving the daggers, Marvin first started doing some simple maintenance, making them even sharper.
The friendly red copper dragon gave Marvin a pair of scabbards. The scabbards were made from some unknown leather. They felt very soft and were very suitable to sheathe the sharp curved daggers.
Marvin rested for a bit in the Professor’s territory before bidding farewell to this kindhearted red copper dragon and continuing his journey north.
It only took a bit over half a day after leaving the mountainous area before he arrived at the Moonlight Forest.
...
The Moonlight Forest was part of the Wood Elves’ Kingdom. It seemed to have been an agreement between the original Elven Kingdom and the Three Ring Towers’ wizards to have this place as a frontier.
This was equivalent to a wood elven outpost in the south, also acting as a buffer zone between the elves and the humans.
There were some half-elven villages scattered there. In fact, half-elves were very unwelcome. Elves definitely rejected them and humans looked at them differently. Thus, adult half-elves usually had their own villages.
The elves in Moonlight Forest were mainly merchants in charge of dealing with the surrounding human forces, and considered talking as reasonable.
They were different from some conservative elves living deep in the elven kingdom. They still hadn’t forgotten the glory of the High Elven 2nd Era Rule. They had always considered mankind as the lowest kind of lifeform, comparable to gnolls and kobolds.
The Moonlight Forest had close ties with the Three Ring Towers in the north, with two hot air balloons flying every week in direction of the Three Ring Towers.
Hot air balloons were dwarven technology but were reproduced by the Three Ring Towers’ wizard craftsmen. They were used daily in the Three Ring Towers and the surroundings. You could always see hot air balloon caravan in the sky.
This was considered a unique East Coast scenery.
Marvin was a bit unlucky when he arrived; the relay station’s hot air balloon had just flown away.
He could only endure and wait for the next one.
Marvin managed to buy a ticket very easily after showing his baron emblem issued by the South Wizard Alliance. Nothing happened while waiting.
Three days later, Marvin was sitting in a hot air balloon, on his way to the Three Ring Towers.
A day and a half later, Marvin successfully arrived in the Three Ring Towers region.
A sharp tower was getting increasingly closer. Under the control of a somewhat low level wizard, the hot air balloon slowly landed onto a vast open space.
Finally arrived at the Ashes Tower of the Three Ring Towers!
...
Ashes Tower was huge, and Magore Academy was but a small part of it.
After Marvin got down from the hot air balloon, he followed the signs toward Magore Academy.
He soon arrived in front of the Academy, but he still needed to line up to enter the Academy.
There was a checkpoint in front to verify each visitor’s status.
‘What day is it? So many people are visiting Magore Academy?’
Marvin was stunned by the number of visitors.
A lot of those people seemed wealthy. They should be nobles from the nearby East Coast.
They were followed by their whole family. A family with more than ten people definitely had a young child.
‘Turns out it’s almost time for the apprentice recruitment.’
Marvin suddenly realized. No wonder there were so many people today. He had no other choice but to endure and wait.
...
Magore Academy was Ashes Tower’s apprentice wizard nurturing ground.
Like the other Academies, it was in charge of receiving apprentices with magical talents from the South Wizard Alliance and training them to be qualified wizards.
Marvin’s younger brother Wayne had to leave White River Valley to study in Magore Academy because of his outstanding wizard aptitudes.
When Wayne took a trip home after their father’s death, six month ago, the Marvin from back then had yet to notice anything strange.
That 9 years old younger brother had already displayed intelligence and a way of thinking that didn’t match his age.
He never complained to Marvin. Actually, Marvin had guessed that Wayne must have been the target of bullying in Magore Academy.
White River Valley was quite small, and they could barely afford Wayne’s tuition. And wizard was a really expensive class.
‘Such a stubborn kid.’
Remembering that Wayne was so young, yet so strong-willed, Marvin couldn’t help but shake his head.
He hadn’t expected this kind of thing.
Did those wizards think that since his grandfather, White River Valley had completely declined?
Regardless who acted, Marvin would make them regret!
Killing intent flashed in his eyes and his hands couldn’t help but press on the curved daggers on his belt.
At that time, a "Next" could be heard from the checkpoint in front.
My turn?
Marvin squinted and quickly walked forward.
...
There weren’t many people responsible for checking the visitors, only one apprentice wizard and two fighters.
These fighters didn’t have a high rank. They were only of the first level and seemed to be followers of that apprentice wizard.
This apprentice wore the symbol of Magore Academy but the two followers didn’t.
He was only in charge of the most simple identity inspection. He would let people pass as long as they proved their identity.
This was Magore Academy’s self-confidence. In their territory, no one would dare to look for trouble.
"Baron Marvin from White River Valley?"
The apprentice wizard sneered from the corner of his mouth.
"That’s right." Marvin seemed very calm.
The apprentice wizard was holding onto Marvin’s Baron emblem which was also a proof of identity as it had come from the South Wizard Alliance.
"I never heard of that place," the apprentice wizard said.
"There are a lot of places you haven’t heard of." Marvin frowned. "Denyo, Sovaa, have you heard of them?"
The two places Marvin introduced were some very dangerous regions of a lower plane, so an apprentice wizard would obviously not understand.
What made him quite unhappy was this apprentice’s attitude.
‘This guy... Looks like he knows me..."
Marvin looked at that apprentice and felt that something was wrong.
It was safe to say that this apprentice’s identity was the same as a receptionist, and that there was no need to argue with him this much.
His eyes twitched with a bad feeling.
...
That apprentice holding onto Marvin’s emblem was already sneering inwardly.
Indeed, Boss White’s information was very accurate. That bastard older brother heard of his illness and definitely hurried here.
But Boss White had said that it was more than a week’s travel from White River Valley to the Three Ring Towers. He didn’t think it would be that fast.
‘Anyway, since Boss White ordered so, I must deal with it appropriately.’
‘That White River Valley had already declined. This Marvin is also a waste that couldn’t become a wizard, nothing more. Once his brother dies, he will lose all hope to rise up.’
‘There is no one behind them, I can act without any risk. And I can also please the Unicorn clan’s heir. There is no need to hesitate.’
This kind of thought flashed in his heart.
He suddenly yelled in a loud voice, "There is something wrong with your proof of identity! It’s clearly a counterfeit!"
"You actually dare to impersonate a noble!?"
"You two, arrest him!"
The other people were startled.
Impersonating a noble? Wasn’t this a capital offense? Is there really someone that would do this?
But not waiting for their reaction, the two fighters immediately rushed from the left and right.
...
"Hmm? Is there really something wrong? You actually dared to slander me."
Marvin’s heart was on fire. "Since when am I easy to bully?"
He didn’t say anything else and unsheathed his daggers!
Nicely waiting to be captured had never been in Marvin’s vocabulary! Only two 1st rank fighters, it wasn’t a big deal for Marvin!