The Krakoks' home was located in Water Grasse, which was located on the surface world.
Shadow and Angor went down the mountain and slowly moved toward their destination. Along the way, the mountains were barren and the land was barren. Even the inland sea that had gently nurtured the people of the Surface World was dark like stagnant water.
Everywhere they looked, they saw nothing but desolation.
Did the Krakoks live in a world like this?
"Is it the same outside the barrier?" Angor asked.
Shadow nodded and sighed. "It's pretty much the same everywhere except for the headquarters of wizard organizations. This is normal in Midworld and Otherworld. After all, this is only a subsidiary plane, and the ecology here isn't as stable as the main world. Once the primal mana gets too strong, the plants here will wither away. It can be considered a normal state under the balance of energy. Although it's a bit of a pity, it's also the price to pay after the plane fusion. "
Shadow turned around and saw Angor looking into the distance with a frown.
"Are you feeling sorry for the Krakoks?"
Angor nodded. According to Leonrick's legends, the Krakoks were a kind race that loved peace. However, due to their naivety, they were forced into a desperate situation by the fickle-minded people. Angor sighed when he thought about how the Krakoks had to live in such a desolate world.
Shadow chuckled. "I think you're wrong. Haven't you noticed that both the Magma Giants and the Magma Birds are observing the Krakoks through the barrier? Their eyes are filled with greed." Shadow chuckled.
"I used to be like that too." Shadow chuckled. "Do you really think the Krakoks are living a miserable life because of us?"
Shadow pointed at the shadowy land ahead of them. "They're living a much happier life than Surface World. That's why they never left this place for thousands of years."
Angor didn't know what Shadow was talking about. He looked outside the barrier and saw monsters passing by from time to time. If one were to observe carefully, they would discover that many of the monsters were just as Shadow had described. They were filled with greed for the Dome. If not for the barrier, they would have already attacked the Krakoks.
So Shadow was right. There must be something else going on with the Krakoks' home.
With that in mind, he arrived at the top of a small hill. From here, one could see the coastal plain.
He looked down from his high vantage point.
The coastal plain was still barren, a stark contrast to the prosperous Water Grasse on the surface world. On this deathly still plain, he did not see anything. There were no signs of human activity, nor were there any traces of buildings. It did not seem like there were people living here at all.
However, that was not entirely true. In this realm, there was still something that he could not figure out. It was a glowing ball that was suspended in mid-air.
It was a glass ball with a diameter of about 20 meters. It was suspended in the air like a huge fluorite, emitting a soft green light.
The surface of the sphere seemed to be made of glass, but it was hard to see what was inside.
He didn't believe that the Krakoks would live underground. After all, monsters outside the dome wouldn't want to live underground. Also, Shadow mentioned that he once observed the Krakoks' territory with a Sky Ghost Ship.
Therefore …
"Could it be that the Krakoks are living in that sphere?" Angor muttered. "But it doesn't look that big. Are the Krakoks already dying out?"
Shadow also arrived at the top of the hill. "You're half right. The Krakoks are living inside the sphere. However, there were more than a few dozen Krakoks. According to Gami, after a thousand years of development, the Krakoks had more than ten towns with ten thousand people. The capital city at the center of the city has more than six digits. "
According to Shadow, there were at least 200,000 Krakoks living inside the sphere. How big was the space inside the sphere? Not even an Expansion Rune could do that.
Angor didn't believe that the sphere was a space storage. How much Hollow Weed would it take to house 200,000 people?
Unless … there was an alternate dimension inside?
But Angor didn't think so. An alternate dimension could also be called a "mirror dimension", which meant that it was a world reflected by a mirror.
Even if the world reflected by a mirror was just an extension of the original world, it would still be different. The environment of the alternate dimension was exactly the same as the original one. For example, The Tributary and Twilight Well both belonged to alternate dimensions. They looked like they existed in their own worlds, but they were actually living in the real world. Their ecology was almost the same as the real world.
If the sphere was an alternate dimension, then it would reflect the barren land they were in right now.
This didn't match what Shadow said about the Krakoks being "hunted by monsters".
Shadow chuckled when he saw Angor's confused look. "You know the answer, but you don't want to think about it. You don't even want to think about it."
Angor waited for Shadow's explanation.
"It's simple. Have you ever heard of a Sorcerer's Garden?"
A Sorcerer's Garden?! The word was both familiar and strange at the same time. Angor was shocked. A Sorcerer's Garden? A Sorcerer's Garden that countless wizard organizations yearned for? A Sorcerer's Garden that was blessed by the world's consciousness?!
Are you kidding me?
Angor did think about the Sorcerer's Garden before, but he didn't think about it for long. After all, how could an item of strategic importance to an adept organization become the homeland of an ordinary race?
However, the most unlikely answer turned out to be the correct one.
"Seems like you know what a Sorcerer's Garden means. That's right. Not long ago, the biggest news in the wizarding world was that Phantom Master had a private Gravity Garden. Many gossip magazines had been talking about it for half a year. Gravity Forest was so angry that they almost changed their name."
"Come to think of it, I had the same reaction when I heard about it five years ago. But it's the truth. The wizard from Dark Castle who saved the Krakoks was powerful, but just like that old witch, she was also a lunatic. She left the Fey Continent and left the Sorcerer's Garden to the Krakoks, and the old witch agreed to it.
"Many people have been eyeing the Sorcerer's Garden over the years. But the old witch said that if anyone dares to touch the Sorcerer's Garden, they will be declared war against Dark Castle! "
"Now you know why all the monsters outside are eyeing this place, right?"
When An Ying said this, he suddenly sighed with emotion. "But even now, I still don't understand why she did this. The Sorcerer's Garden is her private property, and she can do whatever she wants with it. But it doesn't make sense. "
"Maybe there's something special about the Krakoks? Or maybe there's something worth it for her to do this."
Ever since he stepped into the wizarding world, Angor's way of thinking had changed from altruistic to self-serving.
"Maybe. Dark Castle isn't an orphanage. There must be a reason." Shadow shrugged. "But what does it have to do with us?"
"It has nothing to do with us." They weren't even wizards, and it would be a joke if they cared about other people's opinions.
Summer insects can't talk about ice. Instead of worrying about irrelevant things, it's better to think about the present.
"You said there's a path to Otherworld, the real Dark Castle. So where is it? "Angor pointed at the glowing sphere in the sky." Inside? "
Shadow nodded. "Every time the Krakoks finished their ritual, Dark Castle's people would enter the Sorcerer's Garden through a plane tunnel. That tunnel is the key to getting into Dark Castle."
…
It wasn't easy to sneak into Dark Castle through the Krakoks' ritual. First, they had to sneak into the Sorcerer's Garden and reach the ritual site.
Most Krakoks were mortals, but they didn't dare to kill anyone in order to sneak into the ritual site.
Finding a way to sneak in was the most difficult task.
"Do you have any ideas?"
"Nope. The Krakoks are too small for us to sneak in. We can only rely on invisibility. "Shadow took out a cloak from his backpack." Do you know how to turn invisible? If you don't, you can take this cloak that has been enchanted with light and shadow. "
Angor wasn't planning to enter the Garden, but he didn't want to help Shadow by activating an array. More importantly, he was curious about the law of the Sorcerer's Garden. If it could affect people's bodies like the purification garden, he would give it a try.
The fact that the Krakoks had been living in the garden for thousands of years meant that the law wouldn't harm them.
If so, would there be any benefits?
"No, thanks." Angor shook his head at Shadow instead of asking him to return to the cave.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot. You followed Magician here the other day, and I didn't notice your invisibility. What kind of invisibility is that? Tell me, and I'll learn it when I get back to Floating Mech City. "
Angor didn't answer. He was using Infinite Reticence to hide himself. He didn't want to expose his trump card, so he decided to let Shadow misunderstand him.
Shadow pursed his lips. "The owner of the garden is no longer in the southern wizarding region. If we want to get inside, we have to use the teleportation array at the top."
As Shadow spoke, he took out a thin roll of silk from his backpack.
"I found this by accident. It doesn't represent my preference. Don't misunderstand."
Misunderstand? Angor didn't understand what Shadow meant. It wasn't until Shadow unfolded the silk cloth and revealed a soft, thin, feminine cloak that he finally understood Shadow's words.
Shadow put on the cloak awkwardly and floated into the air.
"Should I carry you?"
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