Chapter 152: Destination Mara Kingdom
The Wizard Tower suddenly became rather deserted. The boar-man Uruk had taken some of his students to the deepest part of the Amos Icefield to establish a wizarding school for the orcs. Though it was a difficult task, Uruk felt that, if he couldn’t pass this trial, he didn’t deserve to be a wizard. Thus, he insisted on establishing the wizard school in the most remote region within the Amos Icefield, crossing the ocean with his protege in order to do so.
In the meantime, Wofter and Wendy returned to the Elven Kingdom on Yala. They had lived on the human continent, Alen, for decades, but had never really gotten used to their new environment. So, they were more than willing to return to the Elven Kingdom to live their preferred lifestyle.
Wofter and Wendy brought the elven wizards on their return to the Yala continent. Wendy told Lu Zhiyu that she wanted to build a beautiful Wizard Tower in the land of the elves, then work to incorporate witchcraft into the daily lives and arts of the elves. She explained to Lu Zhiyu that she envisioned it to be a tower of elegance and beauty as well.
Lu Zhiyu pretended to be dissatisfied with her plan and remarked, “Are you calling the Wizard Tower that I built ugly and unartistic?”
Wendy didn’t say anything in reply, but batted her eyes playfully and stuck out her tongue. Lu Zhiyu couldn’t help but smile. “Okay fine, I really don’t have any artistic talent. I hope I can one day visit your beautiful, natural, and artistic Wizard Tower in the Forest of Life.”
Wendy replied with hesitation, “Definitely! I will welcome you always, Anthony.”
In the early hours of the morning, he watched Wendy and Wofter depart, both wearing gorgeous elven robes. He stood on the pier and waved at them.
Wendy and Wofter stood on the side of the ship, waving back and shouting Lu Zhiyu’s name. For some reason, this filled Lu Zhiyu with an inexplicable sense of sadness.
When he returned to his room, Lu Zhiyu sorted his things and packed a suitcase. Eva followed behind him, wearing a black cloak with a light flower pattern and a maid’s outfit. She also had on a hat, and was carrying a suitcase.
Lu Zhiyu checked that nothing was missing, then prepared to depart. Suddenly, he saw a man hurry up the stairs and open the two metal gates.
Lu Zhiyu looked up to see that it was Bohr, who was heading toward him at a great speed. Even his glasses were askew, as the glossy black feathers on his arms were still shrinking back inside his frame. It was clear that he was dissolving a half-eagle transformation.
Bohr had been patrolling the magical beast menagerie outside when he had suddenly heard news that Lu Zhiyu was about to leave. This explained why he was in such a hurry.
Since the emergence of Blood Witchcraft, wizards began to focus on researching the various bloodlines of magical beasts. Recently, this had begun to involve the hybridization and synthesis of magical beast bloodlines, as well as the breeding of new magical beast variants.
Once bred, these magical beasts would mutate and develop new abilities. Most of these new abilities were quite useless, but there was a small chance that a very powerful ability might still emerge.
In order to pursue this research, the tower opened up a large area in the Black Forest for breeding magical beasts. The Black Forest stretched over several mountains and connected them to the sea. In terms of size, it was on par with a small Duchy.
Bohr immediately looked at Lu Zhiyu upon arriving within speaking distance. “Instructor, are you leaving again? Where you are going?”
Lu Zhiyu looked at Bohr. “You seem too unstable when you rush around like this. You are not young anymore, so how come you are behaving in the same way as you did when you first entered the tower?”
Bohr’s current rank and title was the Deputy Master of the Tower. As the pioneer of Blood Witchcraft, he was one of the most prominent figures within the wizarding community.
Yet, at the moment, Lu Zhiyu was scolding him like a child. After a few awkward chuckles, he said, “Instructor, why are you leaving, when you have just come back!”
Lu Zhiyu looked at Bohr. “I didn’t want to say goodbye. I always feel that every goodbye is sad. You have enough here for you at the Wizard Tower. You are doing very well. I am very pleased. The Wizard Tower is developing very well. I don’t need to be here, as you are the current Master of the Wizard Tower.”
Bohr looked at Lu Zhiyu hotly. “No, the Wizard Tower needs you. Even if you don’t do anything, your presence settles us. With you here, no one would dare…”
Looking into Lu Zhiyu’s eyes, Bohr suddenly couldn’t speak anymore. Finally, he sighed. “Well, I am no longer a child, but every one of your students will always want you to stay near.”
Lu Zhiyu patted Bohr’s shoulder. This student was very similar to him in many ways, so he was the one that Lu Zhiyu liked the most.
“I will not leave Maria’s World this time, as I am going to walk around and observe it. Perhaps I will stay in Maria’s World for a long time. I am going to journey through the Kingdom of Mara, from Babus of Mara, along the Nami River and through the Kingdom of the Church of Light to Crete. Then, I will journey through Crete to the Batko Empire to experience the culture within the deserts. If you want to find me, you can go to Alen’s largest desert and find me in the Sea of Death, the Great Kafra Desert.”
Lu Zhiyu did not want to travel directly there with the dimensional door, but desired instead to walk the whole way. Especially since there weren’t any pressing matters to deal with, he did not want to rush.
As he lifted his suitcase and prepared to go, Bohr spoke up behind him. “Oh right, Instructor, I meant to tell you that there have been some strange things happening in the Kingdom of Mara. I sent my youngest student, Edward, to investigate. Since you are passing through there, I hope you can take a look.”
Lu Zhiyu didn’t even turn around, as he waved his hand toward Bohr. The wave was his way of acknowledging Bohr’s words, then he promptly left.
Eva lifted her suitcase in front of her knees, then bid farewell to Bohr, before following behind Lu Zhiyu. She would accompany Lu Zhiyu to take care of Lu Zhiyu’s daily life and schedule. Bohr raised his hand and waved at Lu Zhiyu, watching him disappear down the stairway.
Below, several Instructors of the Wizard Tower were waiting. According to their abilities, it was improbable that they would be able to break through as level four wizards. After a few decades or a hundred years, they would simply die, one after another. Thus, it was possible that this might be the last time that Lu Zhiyu ever saw them.
Lu Zhiyu had wanted to leave quietly. But, now, as he was standing there and looking at each of their faces, he couldn’t help but grow a bit sentimental. When they had first arrived here over 50 years ago, they were still young. Now, they were growing old, and the wear of age had already begun to show on their faces, as the natural law of age was something that even ordinary wizards could not resist.
Lu Zhiyu shouted out each of their names. As he spoke to each and patted their shoulders, it was just like when they had first arrived at the Wizard Tower, when Lu Zhiyu had stood on the high platform and solemnly shared his knowledge with them.
Everyone looked at Lu Zhiyu, who looked unchanged, even after all these years. They couldn’t help but reminisce about the old times. Some even shed tears, while others thanked Lu Zhiyu for what he had done for them. All sorts of emotions were being shared, as Lu Zhiyu bade farewell to each of them individually, then left.
As he rode on the railcar in the underground passage, Lu Zhiyu could see the red dragon on the outside. It also recognized Lu Zhiyu. Its eyes were full of fear, as it shrunk its head back in silence. It had been stationed in the dragon cave to guard both the upper and lower tunnels.
The Black Forest was located in the Rosa d’Oro Empire. The northern part of the Rosa d’Oro empire was where the Duchy of Creer and the Duchy of Gracchus were located. Even further north, were the Crete Empire and the Kingdom of the Church of Light. And to their west, was the Kingdom of Mara. At this time, he was heading to the Western Kingdom of Mara.
The Mara Kingdom was full of swamps, numerous forests, and rugged mountains. It had no plains, so Lu Zhiyu would first travel to the capital city of Babus in the Mara Kingdom, where he would then take a boat along the Nami River, crossing through several countries, before finally entering the Crete Empire. His ultimate destination was the Batko Desert Empire.
Lu Zhiyu got on the railcar, Eva following. Lu Zhiyu pulled a lever, sending the railcar speeding along the underground tunnel towards the west.
“Destination – the Kingdom of Mara!” he announced loudly.
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