Chapter 46: On the Ship (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Ten minutes later, the fleet of merchant galleons had already set ashore. Workers began unloading wooden cargo boxes from nearly all the galleons and piled everything on the docks. Despite the weather condition, the workers were still doing their utmost to fulfill their tasks. Several merchants wearing luxurious clothes disembarked as well, and they started conversing with the people who were responsible for the clearance procedures of the newly-arrived goods. They were waiting to make sure everything was going well.
The last galleon in the fleet stopped by the dock where Angele was waiting. Several teenagers whom of which were mostly rich were looking at him and the dock itself through the windows of the galleon. Their faces were brimming with curiosity and at the same time, traces of arrogance were noticeable on their faces, something that Angele could clearly see. Large wooden planks had been oiled and secured at the dock as a catwalk for the people. These wooden planks were of black and red color, about 50 cm thick and had a width of about 7 to 8 meters.
A middle-aged man standing on the deck alongside several sailors yelled toward the crowd on the dock, “Get aboard the galleon!” With that as the signal, people started boarding the galleon one by one. Angele expressed his farewell by nodding to Master Adolf before boarding.
“Don’t forget to talk to Nancy. She’ll take care of you,” Adolf said with a voice that only Angele could hear. Angele was already on the wooden catwalk when he heard this. He kept nodding to let his master know he got the message. There were about 40 people with him in total, partly having teenagers among of which 7 to 8 of them looked extremely young. They all looked calm and collected, trying to search for people of similar age among the crowd as well. Angele thought of the probability of them being a wizard apprentice just like him, while the rest were only façades to prevent the leakage of the galleon’s true form and purpose.
Most of the people went to unload the cargos; only about 10 teenagers remained on deck. There was a handsome red-haired boy about 18 years of age standing beside Angele. He stood with a blonde boy, both carefully looking at others. On the right side of the deck was a girl wearing a white one piece a lace at its bottom. She was about 14 to 15 years old, and though her dress was beautiful, she didn’t blend quite well with the people on the galleon and was also checking on others.
Angele had his sights on two of the teenagers because they had auras different to others. One of them was a ponytailed, blonde young man wearing a gold-white noble suit. His chin raised slightly in a proud fashion as though he was enjoying becoming the center of attention. The saber by his waist was supposedly used for fencing, yet he was merely carrying it as a decoration.
The other one was a girl who had a serious expression on her face. She looked like someone who wasn’t fond of smiling a lot. Angele thought that she must be a hardworking student. Same as the young man, the girl also had a long, blonde ponytail. She had a slim but well-proportioned body and was wearing white clothes. What caught people’s attention were her arm guards. The young men around the ship deck couldn’t help but look at her. However, the girl didn’t know how attractive she was to these men, thus it was clear how dense she was.
Angele obviously knew who the girl was. It was Nancy, the girl that Master Adolf had spoken of and the same person who would take care of him. Her father was a duke in Andes Alliance while her mother was a princess of a smaller country. Nancy was famous in the school and respected by nearly everyone there. She once studied the Anmag language under Adolf when she was young, and she respected him a lot. That was the main reason why she decided to help.
Nancy noticed Angele’s gaze, then she walked toward Angele right away.
“You’re Angele Rio?” Nancy asked in a cold tone.
“Yes, you’re Nancy, aren’t you? I’ve heard about you many times in school,” Angele politely answered. When Nancy drew close to him, Zero sent out a warning as it sensed strong radiation energy from her and reported that the probability of her possessing an enchanted item was 79%. Angele knew the power of enchanted items. At present, he currently had no methods of dealing with such power even with his knight level strength since it meant nothing against anyone who possessed such items.
“Nancy? I’ve heard your name before.” The young man with a ponytail walked toward them while smiling.
“My name is Ali Van Norman. I assume you know who I am,” he continued.
“Yes. Ali, the son of Prince Amn,” Nancy said politely as she turned to him. No one dared to ignore a son of the Prince.
“So he’s the second son of the Prince...”
“I knew it was him.” People around began buzzing around in discussions about Ali. When Ali approached, Zero warned Angele again in the same manner as what had happened when Nancy neared him. Apparently, he possessed an enchanted item as well.
Zero could sense strong radiation energy emanating from them, which meant that their items could be wielded anytime. The enchanted items alone would place their strength levels at the top, far stronger than anyone else on deck at this point. Angele knew the real of such items, able to change the tides of a battle in but a mere moment. The two knights he had encountered before began to flee as soon as they saw Angele take out the ring. Nonetheless, they were still slain. A grand knight most likely could stand a chance of surviving such ordeal, but the possibility of that to occur was close to nil.
Ali and Nancy started having a small conversation. Soon after, other students from high-class families also joined in the conversation. But because of the two’s ranking in the hierarchy, they were quite reserved and barely had the chance to speak. After talking for a while, a man in a black robe appeared on deck along with the teenagers Angele saw before following the man from behind. The man had his body completely concealed by his robe such that Angele could only see his face.
“Students of Marua, I assume you know about the rules,” the man said in a light tone.
“Yes, Master. Take the test and quietly wait before getting off the boat,” Ali stepped forward as he bowed before speaking. The others seemed like they had no idea of what to do.
“The rule is simple. I know some of you hate each other, but on this boat, no one shall be your enemy. Don’t do anything stupid just because you see someone you dislike,” the man nodded as he said.
“You guys, head to the hall of the 4th floor,” the man said while pointing at the entrance by the side.
“Follow me,” Nancy looked at Angele and said.
Angele knew Nancy would help him out, and it was wise to stay with someone who had enchanted items. He nodded and followed her from behind. They went inside the cabin through the entrance. Without doing anything else, the ones who came with the man merely spectated as they stood there. Some of them were laughing and talking, and two girls who looked like twins caught Angele’s attention as they were very cute. Zero warned him about enchanted items several times while he was being watched. It seemed that they possessed enchanted items, too.
The galleon traveled across many countries, picking up all the elites on the way. They most likely came from famous families as most of them were wearing luxurious clothes. From a perspective, it was as though the Wizard organizations were isolating normal people from their world. Even if the children of average families had the talent in becoming a wizard, they would never make it through this recruitment process. It was quite likely that Angele wouldn’t have been able to get on the galleon if not for Adolf’s recommendation.
Inside the cabin, they went down the stairs as the man in black robe led the way, quickly reaching the hall of the 4th floor. The walls were made of redwood and many beautiful paintings hung on them. There was also a large crystal chandelier at the ceiling; many unlit candles sat upon it. The hall was completely empty, not even a chair or a desk. After the man walked right into the middle of the hall, he turned around facing them.
“Is there any stage 3 apprentice below 18 years of age here? If there is, please stand behind me,” he said in a gentle manner as though he was quite careful to not offend apprentices with such talent. Four people stepped forward and stood behind the man. Ali and Nancy were part of the four. Angele had already seen the other two before; one was the girl wearing a white one piece and the other was a black-haired boy. However, he was wearing clothes befitting of an average noble, so he barely caught anyone’s attention. Never would Angele have expected him to be a stage 3 apprentice.
“Name and age?” the man in black robe asked.
“Ali, 17.”
“Nance, 16.”
“Gaben, 16.”
“Jared, 14.”
“Wow...” People around were all surprised, and they inspected on the black-haired boy. Even the man in a black robe was completely shocked, unable to prevent himself from examining the boy more closely.
“Are you really 14?” he asked.
“Yep, my birthday was last month. Is there any problem?” Jared calmly asked.