The sun was high in the sky, and the ancient and magnificent city of Aalto stood next to the Belem River, staring at the land.
Different from the black that most sorcerers liked, the city wall was dark yellow, as if it had been through countless years, like the eternal starry sky.
Fernando did not dare to fly, but after traveling day and night, he still reached the central city of the Imperium a couple of days later.
He cleaned his clothes and walked to the city gate, where a dozen sorcerers were guarding. The leader of the team did not disguise his vibe at all. He was an archmage!
It was noon, but the farmers, merchants, and citizens entering and exiting the city were as busy as before, making one feel the liveliness and vitality of Aalto.
"Stop!" A middle-rank sorcerer who was guarding the gate waved his hands warily to stop Fernando when he saw him approaching. Nobody wanted to be sacrificed by the night watchers at such a critical moment.
Because Fernando was wearing a red magic robe, the sorcerers who were guarding the gate all shifted their attention to him. Except for the archmage, they all looked rather grave, as if they would attack him mercilessly if anything went wrong.
Fernando said loudly, "I'm from Holm, and I'm here to look for my good friend Antec. He is a student of the King of Nightmare."
Antec was only a senior-rank sorcerer who had just entered the sixth circle. He must've not been famous. So, in case of accidents, Fernando simply mentioned his teacher, the legendary sorcerer "King of Nightmare".
The final class of their lineage was the "King of Nightmares". Just like Maskelyne, who ruled this city in the past, his "Book of Astrology and Elements" only had two legendary classes, "Prophet" and "Lord of Elements".
In order to get more legendary classes, one had to make enough contributions to the Imperium before they could study in the Tower of Gods, the imperial library in Antiffler. In the heyday of the Sylvanas Empire, the sorcerers were so confident that they believed that the legendary experts were the gods in the mortal world and that different classes were gods in different domains. Therefore, the imperial library was named "Tower of Gods". However, the rise of the Church made those "gods" fall into dust.
"King of Nightmare?" Hearing that it was a Legendary Mage, the Archmage guarding the door put away his careless attitude and became much friendlier.
Fernando nodded. "Yes, but I don't know him. I'm only familiar with his student, Antec."
He disdained to curry favor with legendary magicians.
What a weirdly honest guy … The sorcerers on the spot could not understand Fernando's pride. They took it for granted that he was a typical example of someone who had lost his mind from studying magic.
The archmage who guarded the door smiled. "I know Stanis, another student of the King of Nightmare, and I've heard the name of Antec from him. So, you may go in."
Huh? In the face of such treatment, Fernando was not used to it. How could he enter so easily? They didn't even ask for his name!
The archmage misunderstood and thought that Fernando did not remember Stanis. Therefore, he lowered his voice and said, "Stanis is the best student of the King of Nightmare. You must've heard Antec mention it before, right? Half a year ago, his cognitive world was half-solidified, and he was regarded as a quasi legend. Hehe. Perhaps we will see the rarely-seen scene of two Kings of Nightmare in the same city. "
"His cognitive world is half-solidified?" Fernando had thought that he was one of the best of the 'young' sorcerers of his generation, as he was about to reach the eighth circle. Little did he know that Stanis, who was not much older than him, had already reached such a level.
"Yes. Perhaps he will try to make a breakthrough soon. He is a real genius of the school of illusions and dreams." The archmage found it hard to hide his envy. The ninth circle was only one step away from legendary, but the gap between them was like the sky and the earth.
Fernando did not nod. He said eagerly, "I know a lot about illusions too."
What he meant was that he hoped to communicate with Stanis and see if the 'real genius' deserved his reputation. He would not praise, envy, or look up to anyone!
The archmage seemed to be enlightened, thinking that the sorcerer who was good at illusions had come to ask for advice from Stanis and the King of Nightmare. It was not a rare thing, especially since he was familiar with Antec, the King of Nightmare's student.
"How should I address you?" Ever since Fernando mentioned the King of Nightmare, he felt that it was necessary for him to get to know the senior-rank sorcerer. "I am Nice Brown. You can just call me Nice."
Fernando felt that this was the proper procedure. "I'm Fernando Balista. I like people to call me Fernando."
Pausing for a moment, Nice asked hesitantly, "Your surname seems to be from the Asso Empire?"
Fernando nodded. "Yes, but my teacher is a sorcerer of the empire."
Nice did not confirm further, as if he were certain that Fernando was telling the truth. He smiled and said, "Fernando, go in now. Antec is waiting for you. We can talk about magic again if we have a chance."
"What? Antec is waiting for me? I'm going in just like that? Don't they need to check my identity? Are they not scared that I've surrendered to the Church and become a night watcher? "Fernando felt that he had more and more problems after he got to know Douglas.
With a weird smile on his face, Nice said, "Rest assured. There won't be night watchers in Aalto. Look, isn't that Antec?"
Following his finger, Fernando saw a young man wearing a monocle. His body was thin, his hair was messy, his face was pale, his cheekbones were high, and his face was full of stubble. His whole body emitted a nauseating smell, as if he hadn't been out of the meditation room or laboratory for a long time.
"You're as ugly as before." Fernando mocked Antec without any hesitation. "And you don't know how to clean yourself up."
With a bitter face, Antec said, "After all, no beautiful female sorcerer will fall in love with me whether or not I clean myself up. Only a handsome guy like you is worth cleaning up."
There was vague envy and jealousy in his tone.
"Don't you know how to modify your appearance?" Fernando did not care about Antec's feelings at all.
Antec, however, thought carefully for a moment. "Few people in the magic tower are good at body modification, and I don't trust other people, fearing that they will be even uglier."
"Hehe. You're still a coward who doesn't dare to try or take risks. You always think that other people will screw things up! You shouldn't have learned from the King of Nightmare. You should've gone to the Tower of Misfortune! "Fernando was particularly sharp-tongued.
The Tower of Misfortune was the demiplane of the legendary sorcerer, the Lord of Misfortune, who had perished in Antiffler.
Antec was not as timid in front of his friend who had known him for years. He said gloatingly, "My teacher said that I'm very talented in dreams, and I'm most suitable for controlling dreams and illusions in safe, inconspicuous places."
"Yes, it's very suitable for a coward like you," said Fernando.
Antec suddenly smiled. "Fernando, let me tell you a story."
"Huh? A story? " Fernando did not keep up with Antec's jumping thoughts. He suddenly felt that there were more things about his friend that he couldn't grasp after more than ten years.
Antec led Fernando through the city gate into the lively market area. The vampires who were holding umbrellas, the elves who embraced the sunlight, the dragons who coiled on the roof, the dwarves who were drunk, and the busy human beings made the place look like a garden of all countries. Different customs were mixed together.
"My teacher's good friend, the Lord of Abyss, is one of the best experts in blood power fusion and body modification. When he was young, he was often mocked by another good friend of his, who mocked him for being hideous because he was corrupted by the blood and air of demons and feared by girls all his life. But right now, he has a lot of mistresses," Antec said without any change of emotions.
Fernando was not envious at all. "He's already a legendary sorcerer. He has to accept it even if he doesn't want to."
In the Magic Empire, legendary sorcerers enjoyed great privileges. Murder and other crimes would only be a fine as long as they did not run into anyone with a deep background.
Then, he chuckled and said, "So, you're using this story to motivate yourself? Tsk. How inspirational! "
"That's not important. What's important is that when the Lord of Abyss was only in the seventh circle and not even as good as his good friend, he ambushed his friend and made him into a demon dog because of the mockery." Antec's tone suddenly became relaxed and pleasant.
Fernando choked for the first time in his interaction with Antec. With a frozen face, he asked, "Are you asking me to thank you for not assassinating me?"
"Hehe. As a matter of fact, I don't dare," Antec replied with a smile. Antec replied with a smile. He was already satisfied to see Fernando's expression.
Fernando was about to roar, when he saw a vampire fighting an elf on the avenue up ahead. The aftermath of their senior-rank supernatural power had destroyed a lot of houses.
"Nobody stopped them?" Was Aalto's decree so lax? Then, the Church would probably kill each other after a while even before they attacked!
Antec's voice suddenly turned weird. He asked, half amused and half confused, "Fernando, you've pretended to be a girl before?"
"How did you know?" Fernando was rather shocked. How could the incident have reached Aalto?
Antec pointed at his side. "She's right here."
Fernando looked at his right side in shock, only to discover that a petite, red-eyed beauty was standing next to him, but her figure was rather blurry.
He was at a loss at first. Then, he realized what was going on. "Is this city of Aalto my dream?"
"No, it's our dream," Antec replied with a smile. He was much less timid when he talked about the topic.
"Ours? Theirs too? "Frowning, Fernando pointed at the humans, elves, dragons, vampires, and dwarves around.
Antec nodded. "This is the dream of all the creatures in the real Aalto. You've entered this place, so naturally, you've joined the dream. It's barely possible for a traitor to hide in such a dream."
"That's not something that your teacher can accomplish! Has he advanced into level-three legendary? That's impossible. Not even level-three legendary! "Fernando had studied illusions deeply and had read a lot of books on legendary battles.
Antec chuckled. "Have you forgotten? Prince Dracula is in Aalto. "
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