Fernando waved his hands and said angrily, "There is one, but it is worthless. A floating city that can fall from the sky on its own can only be a failure. It will only lead us to the wrong path!"
He mocked the legendary sorcerer who built the floating city without any hesitation, believing that the great success that he claimed was nothing more than his mouth.
"Floating city" was the research direction of the three magic empires after they reached the peak of their development. They tried to live in the sky like gods and look down on the mortals. However, while a city could float in the sky for a short period of time, it had always been impossible to achieve a long-term, stable state. It had become a problem that everybody wanted to solve.
During the process, many legendary sorcerers claimed that they had completed the construction of floating cities, but so far, none of them were flying in the sky. Some of them were involved in the War of Dawn soon after they took off and became obvious targets, only to be destroyed by the coalition army of the Church and the nobles. Some of them had all kinds of problems and collapsed on their own after floating for months, years, or decades.
Because of the strength that Douglas demonstrated, Lauren smiled rather warmly. "We only found the remains of it. Well, it's named 'Allyn', the rather famous' City in the Sky '. However, we lack the core structure of the magic circles and cannot repair it at all. It can only be used as a secret base."
Douglas was not bothered. He said with a warm smile, "Failed works have their uses, too. They can remind us what mistakes we should avoid. I've always been interested in the effects of floating, flying, and other spells. I want to figure out the rules and principles behind them. So, I hope that the Union can allow me to study 'Allyn'."
"No problem. We'll mention it to the deputy chairman. With your magic expertise and your contributions, it definitely won't be a problem!" Lauren almost patted his chest and promised.
He knew very well that there was only one archmage in the Union who was capable of 'Time Stop'. One more archmage would mean a fundamental improvement of combat ability. Also, even someone as proud as Fernando appreciated and admired Douglas's mathematical abilities. So, he somewhat believed that Douglas would grow into an expert that he could look up to and rely on in the future.
Douglas nodded. "Then, I'll have to trouble you. Where are we going now?"
"If you want to go to the headquarters, you have to go to Renstadt first." Roland smiled meaningfully.
Douglas was slightly stunned. "Renstadt? The city where the headquarters of Holm parish is located? "
"Yes, it's also the capital of the Kingdom of Holm." Roland nodded with a smile.
…
Under the setting sun, a carriage entered Renstadt before the city gates closed.
After passing through a few streets filled with the smell of fish, the carriage stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary hotel.
"Grilled Fish Inn …" Douglas got off the carriage and muttered the strange name with a smile.
Fernando said in a sharp voice, "He's only good at roasting fish. I suggest you try one, or else he'll be very angry and think that you don't know anything about food."
He jumped down directly, splashing the water on the ground.
After the heavy rain, water was everywhere in Renstadt. However, different from the small cities, the roads here were all made of stones and were not full of mud. They looked rather clean.
Seeing that, Douglas said with mixed feelings, "Renstadt is an important city of the empire on this side of the Storm Strait. It's well-built in every aspect, but it was still occupied by the Church …"
Born in Antiffler, he felt that he was a member of the Sylvanas Magic Empire deep in his heart.
"We'll be back one day!" Fernando suppressed his voice and said confidently.
Roland, who was temporarily acting as the coachman, turned around and said loudly, "Don't be a statue here. Let's talk inside."
After talking with him on the way, he found that Douglas was easy to get along with. He was not as arrogant as the other archmages. There was nothing wrong with him except that he had too many questions. Therefore, he was not as cautious as before.
The hotel was small and old. There were only a few tables in the hall, and only a few guests were sitting there.
A gray-haired man stood behind the bar, burying his head in wiping glasses.
"You can't even see your fingers clearly. Why aren't you lighting a candle? Stinginess is the most detestable of all your shortcomings! "Fernando criticized the moment he entered the hotel.
It was dusk, and the windows in the hall were very narrow. Darkness seemed to have fallen in advance.
The boss raised his head, revealing a squarish face. His left eye was a dead green, turbid, and lifeless, making people feel abnormally horrified.
"Frugality is an attitude of life. You will never understand, little guy whose heart is filled with Blazing Fire Glue." The boss's other eye was beautiful green and deep, as if there was no bottom.
Fernando was not angry. He turned around and said to Douglas, "Old Grimm, the boss of this hotel, an outdated Knight. His left eye is the product of a failed bloodline fusion."
In this hotel, he did not care about the unmentionable taboos such as magic and bloodline fusion. The three or four guests who were drinking hard liquor and eating grilled fish did not have any unusual reactions at all. They were enjoying their life as if what Fernando said just now was just Douglas' imagination.
After that, Fernando pointed at Douglas, "You can call him Douglas. He's a guest from the other side of the continent. He wants to join us and has passed my test. This is the detailed information that I want to give to Vice President League."
He threw a piece of yellow parchment to Old Grimm.
Old Grimm's hands were still wiping the glasses, but the parchment was flying slower and slower, like an animal that was stuck in a swamp.
Pressing the parchment with the glass that he just wiped, Old Grimm said expressionlessly, "Young man, do you want a grilled fish with honey? It's the best food in the whole Renstadt, Holm, and Straits. You won't regret tasting it! "
It seemed that he was eager to sell his grilled fish with honey.
Douglas was reminded by Fernando's complaint and sarcasm. He smiled, "I'm looking forward to it."
"Not many young people know how to appreciate food nowadays. Some of them can't even calm down to enjoy the food," Old Grimm said sarcastically and walked to the kitchen through the secret door behind the counter.
"This is an experimental Knight that Fernando's teacher secretly trained. He has a close relationship with the Hoffenberg family. After his teacher's death, he didn't want to surrender to the Church, so he opened this hotel in Renstadt as a secret transit station for the Union," Lucien explained to Fernando. After parking the carriage, Lauren hurried in and introduced the hotel to Douglas, "Old Grimm will give the mission report to Vice President League. They will discuss it and then you can enter the headquarters. Don't worry, you'll be fine. You'll be able to hear the good news tomorrow."
"Thank you." Douglas nodded with a smile, "In fact, I'm not in a hurry. Although the principles of flying and floating are my main research direction, I still have a lot of things to consider."
Fernando suddenly stared at Douglas with his red eyes, "What else are you working on?"
On the way, Fernando and Douglas' discussions were mainly about mathematics. Although Fernando had been belittling Douglas to his face, he had been paying more and more attention to Douglas' abilities. Therefore, when Douglas mentioned another field, Fernando could not help but feel a bit anxious, hoping to hear more thought-provoking opinions.
"Just some trivial things." Douglas did not intend to keep it a secret. He pulled out a chair and sat down, discussing all kinds of magic problems with Fernando, a young and talented senior-rank sorcerer.
The discussion lasted for more than half a day. Even though the moon was covered by dark clouds, Fernando still did not want to leave. He only ate a little bit of the honey grilled fish, which made Old Grimm very angry — if only he had a beard and a pair of good eyes.
Fernando only returned to his room in the middle of the night with a head full of questions. Douglas entered the room that he had prepared for himself, and looked at the few stars in the sky through the clouds, feeling a sense of peace that he had not felt in a long time.
Now, he should be able to study for a while, right?
He thought to himself.
…
At the first glimmer of dawn, Douglas heard Roland's familiar footsteps approaching from afar. Finally, Roland knocked on his door.
"Douglas, President League is here. He's an experienced archmage." Lauren was excited that Douglas was valued so much.
Douglas was also delighted. After all, anyone would be happy to be treated so seriously. "Lauren, please take me to President League."
Lauren led Douglas into the secret room on the first floor of the hotel. He saw an old man wearing a black bonnet. The old man had black hair and blue eyes. His face was thin and wrinkled. His nose was slightly bent, making him look like an old falcon. However, his eyes were deep and profound, as if there were countless secrets hidden in them.
"Welcome, Douglas." League, the vice president, was wearing a high-collared coat popular in Renstadt. He looked like a real old noble.
Douglas smiled and bowed. "It's an honor to meet you, President League."
Lauren looked around the room. "Is Fernando still here? I'll go find him. "
"No need. I'm here to see Douglas." League shook his head slowly. "Douglas, you and Fernando raided the inquisition and killed the 'Hunter', which proved that you're not a problem. However, your operation also brought us great trouble. Under the leadership of 'Heart of Time', the clerics, night watchers and nobles killed more than thirty of our sorcerers."
"This operation was mainly to show our value to the nobles! Those sorcerers should've been exposed long ago, but the Church didn't do anything on purpose! "Lauren defended himself loudly.
League glanced at him coldly, which made him stop talking abruptly. "That's not something you need to think about."
He turned around and looked at Douglas. "Therefore, the Union has agreed to let you join us, but you're also going to be punished. You'll be sent to study the debris of the floating city of Allyn for three years. If you don't make any mistakes, you'll become the vice president of the Union in three years!"
Was this a little suppression and a little hope? Douglas was amused. None of that mattered to him. What mattered most was that he would have a chance to study the debris of the floating city of Allyn.
"I'm fine with that." Douglas nodded slightly. Lauren wanted to argue, but he didn't dare to say anything. His face turned red.
League finally put on a smile. "I hope you can develop a real floating city."
After saying goodbye to League, Douglas and Lauren returned to the upper floor. Suddenly, they saw Fernando rushing to them angrily.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
