Angor’s group arrived at a church not far from the city’s south gate.
“Do you know how to get out?” Nausica asked while smoking a silver pipe. Her voice sounded rather tired and unfocused after what she had been through.
“To be frank, no. We need this guy to bring us luck again.” Angor shrugged and glanced at the spotted puppy. “By the way, did you get a new pipe? Never saw this one before.”
Nausica exhaled some pale-white smoke, which smelled rather pleasant, and pointed to the church. “Found it from there. My old one is lost somewhere. Whoever left this got Silvery Rose inside... It’s usually too costly for me. You know, at least ten crystals for a roll. Glad I enjoyed it for free.”
“You’re smoking a stranger’s pipe? You should at least clean it first.”
“I did. Create Water, you taught me this one, remember? Trust me, I never slack off on my training.”
Shan heard their conversation and perked up. “So the entire city is kinda dead now, we can take everything we want!”
“Valuables will always have some means of protection.” Angor glanced at a bookstore at the other end of the road. “You’re free to try. I won’t stop you.”
Shan had no problem rushing into the said bookstore with her eyes twinkling with happiness.
“Putting my opinion aside, aren’t you going to stop her?” he asked Nausica, who was relaxing by leaning against a wall.
Nausica shook her fringe away from her eyes and smiled. “She’ll only give up if she sees trouble for herself.”
“Alright. I see no parasites around here. You wait while I check out the city gate.”
Angor told the puppy to follow him and headed to the south gate of Sleepless City, which was only about 50 meters from their position.
The crisis struck the city during the day, so the gate was left open. But instead of the bright grassland outside, the gate only led toward darkness right now.
Angor told the puppy to wait and walked into the dark mist ahead.
A moment later, he returned to the gate while feeling his head getting heavier. No matter how he tried, he would always end up at the starting point.
“Hey, Spotty, do you know a way out?” Angor crouched down and spoke to the puppy.
The animal tilted its head as it wondered what “Spotty” meant.
Several seconds later, it barked at Angor to protest.
Angor only kept asking his question without realizing that his little partner was unsatisfied with its new name.
The puppy lowered its head in defeat and slowly walked into the mist.
Angor quickly followed behind. He noticed that the puppy did not walk in a straight line. Instead, it took way too many turns, which would usually cause them to walk in a circle. However, he soon saw the dense mist getting thinner.
The puppy stopped moving and sat down when the dark mist almost turned bright.
Angor took a step ahead and immediately found himself standing outside the boundary of the darkness-infested outer city. Further ahead, there was a wizard laughing maniacally while whipping at a group of possessed apprentices using her barbed whip.
It was “Whipping Witch” Rak’sel. Angor saw her once before entering the darkness with Sunders.
Angor’s appearance immediately drew her attention. The witch was shocked briefly. She then put away her weapon and rushed to Angor with an alluring smile.
Angor saw her coming and quickly took one step back into the mist.
Then he heard someone cursing loudly, “Get back here, stupid brat!”
He easily made it back to the south gate again and found the puppy waiting for him quietly.
“Well, that was close...”
He did not wish to think about what would happen if he were caught by a treasure-hunting witch who loved torturing apprentices.
Also, he was very glad that the strange puppy really was able to get them out!
“Is everything okay? I saw you wandering in and out of that barrier like a blind person. Can you find the exit?” Nausica approached him. Her body still smelled like a rose.
Angor didn’t answer. Instead, he saw Shan standing not far from them. She was supporting her sleeping partner with a really sad look. The earlier vigor for getting to take stuff for free was nowhere to be found.
“Did your hunt go well, Princess Shan?” Angor grinned.
Shan glared at him. “You knew it! There’s this odd magic array in the store. The moment I started reading a book, I was knocked out!”
“You can try destroying the array by force. But bookstores like this usually have countermeasures, such as destroying the books to prevent anyone from seizing them.”
He didn’t explain the second option, which was to “disarm” the trap without causing any alert. This would cost much more time and effort. Also, he could not do it without his body. This was why Angor never copied Shan’s grand plan of plundering the city for resources.
There should be people who carelessly left their possessions free of protection, but Angor wasn’t going to spend time searching for them.
Shan cursed after listening to Angor’s words. “What are they? Stingy dogs trying to hide their bones so that they can come back and relish their pathetic treats later?”
The puppy felt bothered by her words and barked at her.
“Oh, I wasn’t referring to you.” Shan quickly put on a gentle look as she said, “I was talking about other dogs, heh heh.”
Angor and Nausica smiled at each other. While it was true that losing Gank had put a great burden on Shan’s mind, it seemed like she was slowly recovering.
“So how about it? Can we leave?” Nausica asked again.
Shan also stayed focused. Putting the great dangers aside, not being able to take valuables from the shops was the second reason for her to leave this city as fast as possible.
Angor nodded. “The mist conceals our way like a maze, but little Spotty can lead the way.”
“For real?” Shan yelled in joy. “And... Spotty? We should call our little friend the ‘All-Powerful Poodle from the Gods’!”
Nausica chuckled at the joke. It seemed she had completely gotten over her suffering.
Shan kept praising the puppy until the animal grew impatient and growled at her.
“So, are we leaving right now?” said Shan, as she decided to leave the puppy alone.
Angor put on a grim look. “We certainly can. But the outside is not exactly safe. There are possessed people, parasites, and I just saw Rak’sel, who would have gotten to me if I were to move a little bit slower.”
Nausica considered Angor’s words.
“You’re right. You’re the only one who showed up from the outer city, and Rak’sel saw you. They must have already placed many lookouts to keep an eye on you right now. It’s... not a good choice for us to leave at this moment.”
Shan nodded to agree. Despite her looks, she was in fact older than Nausica, which meant she had more experience dealing with people. “Let’s wait. I don’t think the wizards out there will harm us, but we can’t expect anything good from them either. They are looking to get their hands on the Mystery treasure. If we become the first ones to escape, we’ll get caught in a serious conflict.”
“Agreed. Let’s wait for my professor to find us, by which time we can leave this place more safely,” said Angor.
“Geez. I hope I’m a wizard too so that I can come and go whenever I want!” Shan moaned.
“Work hard then. I hope you look as cute as you are now after a hundred years,” said Nausica.
“You sound as if you can succeed and live that long!” Shan glanced at her. “I fully trust Angor. As for you... meh.”
“Heh. I will become a wizard. I must.” Nausica looked determined.
“Yeah, right. How convincing.”
Angor watched their interaction and was not sure how to interpret their friendship. Or were they friends at all?
...
Earlier, after Angor briefly emerged from the dark mist, Rak’sel revealed what she saw to everyone, though unwillingly.
At first, she planned to capture Angor and learn how to travel through the dark barrier as well as the situation in the outer city so that she could plot something accordingly and hopefully go look for the treasure herself. But then she noticed that there was a Wizard Eye placed nearby. She didn’t know which wizard had their vision here or how much they had seen. She believed she should reveal the message just so that she could earn a favor from Sleepless City, while at the same time, avoiding suspicions.
Inside Monsoon Sector, all wizards had started quarreling over Rak’sel’s discovery.
“Plucker of Strings” Doctor Anglo took great risk to monitor the condition in the outer city and managed to confirm that it was Angor who created that large-scale energy storm. The storm was likely to dispel the darkness if it went on, yet Sunders stopped it from happening.
And the same apprentice surprised them again by leaving the forbidden zone when a good number of powerful wizards had been trapped in the darkness.
How did he create so many wonders?
The discussing wizards all assumed that the boy possessed a powerful alchemy item.