Chapter 51: Ramsoda (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Ten more days later, the ship had once again stopped at another dock. Yuri disembarked together with Velvet and several other wizard apprentices. Just like last time, someone was waiting for them by the shore. Only four people were left on the galleon: Angele, the two other wizard apprentices, and the man in a black robe. After two days of sailing, the ship had finally arrived at the final destination, Aikenhain. The name Aikenhain meant ‘where the sun rises’.
“This is the end of the route. Disembark now.” The man in a black robe pressed a button on the side of the ship and the landing ladder was quickly lowered down to the dock.
“There are two Wizard organizations here, Ramsoda College and Liliado’s Cabin. You can follow the road signs for directions. They aren’t too far from here, and the roads are safe,” he said before leaving the three on the beach. He then embarked the ship once again and left the place right after.
There was no one else on the beach aside from the three. It was early in the morning; the sand seemed shiny under the golden sunlight. Angele looked at the other two. He had no idea who they were, so he didn’t say anything. He saw a path on the beach, probably built by the people who walked on it. There was a road sign in the tropical forest not too far from them. There, a man in a white robe stood there awaiting their arrival.
Half an hour later...
Angele, along with the other two wizard apprentices, followed the man in a white robe to a humongous abandoned castle. The surface of the walls looked gross; it was dark gray and had green vines all over the walls. Several large, dark tree roots covered the surface of the road. From the sky, Angele could hear strange noises resounding throughout.
“This is the Ramsoda College you’re looking for. You two follow me,” the man said with a light tone. Angele stood there, watching the others leave. He was on a stone bridge just outside the castle, standing on green mosses and cracked stone pieces. Angele walked forward and took out his enchanted ring carefully. He then put it down on a small stone platform by the left side of the entrance.
Suddenly, a black crow flew over and stood on the platform while staring at the ring. It touched the ring with its claw.
“Young man, it’s a newcomer. New blood.” The crow started talking with a voice that sounded deep but sharp as though it had a hand in its throat.
“My name is Moroco, the watcher here. According to the rules, you can enter if you have the enchanted item. You’re the first one here in recent years,” the crow said as it turned to Angele; it was speaking in Anmag.
“Nice meeting you, Master Watcher Moroco.” Angele bowed to the crow and took the ring back, returning it to his necklace.
“I’ll be entering now,” he said before walking into the entrance. Angele heard the sound of the crow flying away behind him.
The ancient castle looked as if it was modeled with sand. The walls and its passages had all been corroded by the wind with the passage of time. Tiny holes were all over the castle’s body. Angele felt like he was walking into an ancient city in Egypt since the only color in his view was yellow. The wind blew away the dust on the ground into the air, and several dried leaves rolled around the corner with a few becoming stuck onto Angele’s tall, black boots.
“You’re the new blood?” A stranger’s voice came from Angele’s left. He looked over and saw a tall man standing in the corner. He was a gray-robed man who waved his hand toward Angele. The man had a wide shoulder and a messy hair. His face looked like a barbarian from some tale that made Angele think he wasn’t a wizard.
“Master Moroco informed us of your arrival. He said you have the trophy of our school?” the man asked. Angele walked toward him quickly before nodding his head. He handed the ring over after pulling it off the necklace.
“Follow me, I’ll bring you there. So many apprentices this year, more than 20, including you. However, you’re the only one from overseas,” the man said.
“Yea? I thought this is the school?” Angele looked around and noticed that they were the only ones here.
“How can our school be built upon a ruin? Though we’re now weaker than before, we still have a decent place. My name is Aluta, you can call me Alu. I’m the guy that leads the new blood to the school,” Alu said.
“My name is Angele, you can just call me with that,” Angele replied politely.
“Well, I’m just an apprentice like you and only 14 years old,” Alu said. He didn’t like the way Angele spoke to him.
14 years old...
Angele looked at Alu speechlessly. Alu didn’t have a friendly look. He was about 2 meters tall and had wide shoulders, most likely weighing 150 kilograms. Alu had the size of two Angele’s. His footsteps were quite heavy that Angele could see the holes on the ground created by his footsteps.
“Alright... Alu, right? Can I just call you that?” Angele asked.
“Yea.” Alu was pretty cold to him, still looking disappointed for some reason.
They turned around several corners in the city before arriving at a small house. A tunnel leading underground was in the middle of the house. In front of them was a door made of black stone and had two yellow, diamond-shaped gems embedded in it, each having the size of a fist. Alu walked toward the door and did a strange gesture.
“Aloda Sinba,” he whispered. The door slowly opened, revealing to Angele the stairs leading underground. The underground tunnel was illuminated with torches placed on both sides of the walls. Alu quickly entered, and Angele followed from behind.
The door closed right after they entered. The passage that was built using gray bricks looked old as it aged after its conception. The same material was used for the floor, but some of the bricks of the passage had now been cracked. The ground was constructed in such a way that it was completely organized without any uneven parts. The light from the torches dyed the whole place yellow. As the two walked together in the underground tunnel, a strange smell wafted from below, but Angele couldn’t determine the source. It smelled like mold and sweet olive mixed together.
“You’re lucky that you’re assigned to the same Master as mine. That’s why I came to welcome you. We’ll be ‘classmates’ after,” Alu finally spoke after walking for a while.
“Yea? Assigned? How do they do that exactly?” Angele asked.
“Yea. They give the lists to the Masters and arrange the names in a random order to make everything fair,” Alu explained.
“We’re going to meet Master now. Master will let you choose one course you’re interested in at first. Not the freebies though, you must pay for that. Just a friendly reminder, think twice, it’s important. If you want to choose another course by yourself, you’ll have to spend some magic stones or exchange record points from completing missions,” Alu continued.
“Thank you.” Angele was quite confused, but he knew Alu was trying to give him some tips so he kept them in mind. The conversation was cut off here before continuing forward. They went across the passage and turned left, reaching a hallway with several rooms on both sides after passing through two forked routes. There was a large, unopened door at the end of the dark hallway.
Alu led Angele to the large door and knocked on it lightly.
“Master, one new guy for you. I brought him here,” he said.
“Come in.” A hollow voice came from inside as the door slightly opened by itself. Alu pushed the door open and went inside the room together with Angele. The room looked like a normal study. A man in a black robe was standing between two big shelves filled with books. The man was reading a thick book.
“For me? You mean assigned to me?” Angele was surprised by the voice. He noticed that the ‘man’ sounded like a young girl. It was unexpected to him that it was a girl.
“Yea,” Alu answered. Suddenly, the candle lamp on the desk made an exploding noise.
“Take him to Freydoni, my time is up,” she said.
“Got it,” Alu said. Angele was so confused as he watched Alu walking out of the room. Still, he followed Alu from behind. He took one last glance at the girl in a black robe. The girl already had turned toward them with her head raised, so Angele got to see her face clearly.
The ‘girl’ was actually an old woman who was smiling. Angele felt shocked and even scared at the fact that the woman didn’t have her left eyeball. Instead, there was a bronze pocket watch embedded in the eye sockets. There was also a long scar across her face, and she looked like a patched-up doll. Without the sewing, she might even fall apart.
Angele tried his best to calm down and turn around.
‘I’ll be learning from such a horrifying wizard? At least, she looked scary,’ Angele thought. He had already witnessed a lot of murders as he once killed plenty himself, but he was still scared witless just by looking at her face.
“Scary, eh? Master Liliana was severely injured during a spell experiment, so she now has this horrifying look,” Alu explained after seeing Angele’s expression.
“Actually, she’s very kind, and among others, she’s the most patient teacher. She tries her best to explain everything clearly, though not many wizard apprentices attend her class,” Alu continued, his tone sounding slightly sorrowful.
“Is that so?” Angele tried to smile.
The master looked like a body that was patched up, so he thought people would try whatever it takes to stay away from her.