The Wizard World

The next day.

The mud around the volcanic river had already become soft and wet due to the heavy downpour of rain.

The trees on the other mountain were swaying slowly in the chilling wind.

Inside the forest, there was a large gray tent set up on an empty ground between the trees.

Several people wearing tight white clothes were adding wood into the campfire at the side and were rotating a metal skewer over the fire carefully. The fragrance of meat being roasted permeated the air.

It was still early in the morning during sunrise. White mist was all around the surroundings.

The opening of the tent was opened by an old man that had a long, white hair and had a cold expression on his face.

He wore white clothes befitting that of a swordsman with a short black dagger tied to his belt.

Two of the people beside the campfire immediately approached the old man.

"Elder Gill, we lost another member of our family yesterday," the woman on the left reported.

"When did it happen?" Gill narrowed his eyes.

"I have already sent out our sentries. Lance went to the volcanic river several days ago but never came back," the woman immediately replied.

"The volcanic river..." Gill’s expression turned serious. Before he could say anything else, he detected movements from the shrubs and bushes in front of him.

A man adorned with a red leather armor stepped out of it with a silver scimitar in his hand.

The man had a blank expression on his face.

"You are of the Spenders’, right? We need to decide on who to send to the garden. My master wants to see you at the peak of the mountain before noon." The man was glancing around.

Elder Gill pursed his lips; he was about to say something.

However, he was stopped by two other elders who had just stepped out of the tent.

Gill’s face turned red and he started panting out of complete rage.

The people nearby the campfire were not satisfied with the way the elders were dealing with the situation, and they looked a tad nervous.

One of the elders calmed down and stepped forward.

"Please tell master Loffy that we will be there on time," he replied with a loud voice.

"Good. It seems your eyes haven’t been clouded by fury yet." The man nodded slightly. "I will bring your message to master Loffy." He turned around, and jumping into the shrubs and bushes, he disappeared.

*BAM*

A deep crevice appeared on the empty ground beside the tent. It had been caused by an explosion of pure energy.

Elder Gill then lowered his hand. He was absolutely infuriated that he had to find a way to vent out his rage.

"They have already obtained a slot and they want to take other as well! These bastards..."

"Our opponent is the firstborn heir of the Blue Eagle Nest...They are far more powerful than us..." The elder beside him on the left side sighed with mixed emotions. "In the last battle, we lost several of our family members, two of whom are elders, and many were injured...We are the weakest of the three families now..."

"Master Karl is right. We need to calm down. They will try to annihilate our entire family if anything were to happen during the meeting. Master Kita is still inside the garden, so we still have hope." The elder on the right side nodded slightly.

"Yes." Karl bit his lips and sighed again. "Our main priority is to make sure that Kita remains safe when he departs from the garden. Although the relationship between family leaders is bad, still, as the firstborn heir, Kita knows the other heirs of other families quite well. This might be our chance."

Gill breathed deeply and finally calmed down after several minutes. "All right. I know what we should do. We were given two slots, but the Blue Eagle Nest has ignored the rules specified in the contract. Anyway, we should head to the meeting now. I want to see what they are planning."

"We only need to protect Kita and wait until it ends." Karl nodded. "Let’s go."

Gill raised his right hand and pointed at the peak of the mountain.

The family members started preparing for the short trip right away.

*****************************

*PA*

The muddy soil was covered by a thick layer of dried leaves. Black, muddy water was oozing out as Angele continued to walk on them.

He didn’t seem to mind the mud on his boots as he just kept on walking.

The paths between the trees had all been covered with black leaves, making them almost looked like rough carpets.

Angele was positioned in the middle of the group while traveling along the narrow path between the dark green trees. From afar, they looked like ants moving along a long, black carpet.

The man called Lance Spender was the one leading the way.

"We are almost there. It is on top of this mountain." Lance felt slightly worried that Angele would kill him after reaching their destination.

Angele was not even paying attention to Lance but was just checking the surroundings constantly. Hakeem and Lyn followed behind him, while Liv was casually reading a book at the back of their group.

"I like the environment here." When Angele inhaled deeply, he did not smell even a hint of sulfur in the air, so it was actually quite refreshing.

"Master, the plantation in this place purify the air. That is the reason why you do not smell the sulfur," Lance, who was ahead leading the group, quickly explained.

"Is that so?" Angele looked at the brown grass beneath the trees. "How did you discover the location of the garden? I’m curious."

"I shall explain the situation to you right now." Lance slowed down his walking pace a bit and walked beside Angele. "There are three major families in the city beside the mountains but the relationship between the three is bad. However, the firstborn heir of our family, master Kita, is not affected by this issue. He knows their heirs of the other families quite well and they usually hold dinner parties on the peak of the mountains. About half a year ago, they discovered the elemental fairies’ garden by accident and entered the place together. Our families thought they were lost so we sent multiple rescue teams to the mountains but what they found was the gate to the garden. The mysterious engravings around the garden were what helped us identify that it was the elemental fairies’ garden from the tale."

Lance stopped for a second and continued, "Sorry, I forgot to mention that the other two families are called the Philip Family and the Morgan Family. The situation between the families is complicated. The family elders decided to fight for the right of entry into the garden but later realized they could not open the gate and had to wait for the heirs of the three families to come out first. Hence, they agreed to a temporary ceasefire and the elders started investigating the gate. However..."

"However, what?" Angele’s brow furrowed in curiosity. "Just tell me everything."

"Someone else joined the fray..." There was a bitter smile on Lance’s face.

*****************************

Atop the peak of the mountain.

Three groups of people were standing in front of an arched door that looked like a silver mirror.

The door’s surface reflected the cloudy gray sky. There was nothing else behind the door which was only standing on top of a boulder.

On the opposite side of the three families, there was another group of people of which were wearing long, blue robes and leather dresses.

There were about twenty of them, also separated into three groups, protecting a wooden chair located in the center.

A handsome man was seated on the chair, whose ears looked like a pair of gray wings.

It was still dark outside; there were thick clouds floating above the mountain.

The man supported his chin with his right hand. With a gentle smile on his face, he surveyed the members of the three families. The feathers on his ears were swaying in the wind.

"So, everyone is here now?" He slowly stood up. "Let us decide on who will take the last slot to the garden, then."

Members of the Spender family all wore white clothing and the three family elders stood in front.

The Morgans all wore light yellow clothing and were led by five family elders.

Members of the Philip family also wore white clothing but were led by three old men and one young man. The right arm of one of the old men had been twisted to a strange angle; it seemed he was injured.

The man’s expression soon changed when he heard and saw no one responding to him.

"Well, if you do not have anything to say, I will just make the decision myself. We should decide on who the last one will be to enter the garden through a duel. The winner will earn the final slot for their family. What do you think? Wait, one more thing. Do not overestimate yourselves. It is fine to step down when you know your opponents are much stronger than you. Ha."

Still, the man’s words did not change their current conundrum.

The family representatives all knew that winning the competition did not matter that much. What they desired were the rare materials and resources that could be found in the garden. The amount they could obtain could easily support a large organization or family for years and were much more valuable than the blessing of the garden.

This was the main reason why the three families did not want to compromise.

The Spender Family was the weakest of the three, and the man was telling them to quit.

"We are fine with that."

"Yeah, let us just start the competition."

The representatives belonging to both the Philip Family and Morgan Family agreed with the man’s decision.

Spender Family’s elder, Gill, was looking at a bald old man who was in front of the members of the Morgan Family.

"Christopher, are you really going to do this?" he questioned in a grave tone.

The bald man called Christopher sneered but did not say anything. He only turned his head to the man seated on the chair.

Gill shook his head and looked over at the Philips. The young woman in front had a blank expression and did not make any eye contact with him.