Marcel District.
“Angor lives here?” Swan looked at the common apartment building in front of her. “Guy’s not picky, I see.”
“Miss Swa—”
Helen saw Swan’s glare and quickly mended her words. “Swan, I’ll go upstairs and tell him about your visit. Wait for a bit.”
“Alright. I’ll be right here.”
Swan didn’t feel offended because it was just right to address a famous alchemist with respect. Even Lady Payne would do the same.
A moment later, Helen returned with a disappointed look.
“What, he doesn’t want to see me?” Swan raised an eyebrow.
“Not that. I think Mister Padt has left. I found this note in his room...”
[Unfortunately, I failed to find a single talent in Yothur City, so I have to take a look at the other cities. Best wishes. — Padt]
The message didn’t designate an addressee, but it was obviously left for Erwin and Helen.
“He’s gone?” Swan shook her head. “Guess recruitment jobs are a pain no matter which organization he comes from. Gosh, a chance to meet with a future master alchemist... Damn it. It will be hard to find such an opportunity again.”
While Swan complained about the bad timing, Helen put away the note with a smile.
Such a free soul... I wonder if I can be like that in the future?
...
Instead of leaving the city right away, Angor first went to the association’s office beside the harbor area.
Bismarck saw Angor coming and put a hand over his bald head with a frustrated expression.
He had heard from his teacher about Angor’s fame, including Angor’s special privilege granted by Floating Mech City as well as how a simple music box was sold for 200,000 magic crystals at Remnant Coast.
Such money was enough to allow a common apprentice to buy their way toward the level of a wizard! And the music box was only one of Angor’s random toys!
In Bismarck’s view, Angor was like a walking crystal mine waiting to be exploited. But he wasn’t sure if he should step up and offer friendship because of the incident the other day.
He had to apologize to Angor since his teacher forced him to, but offering his sincere atonement at this moment would only make him look like a real coward.
To hell with my dignity! Money is more important!
“How may I help you, Master Padt?” Bismarck skillfully prepared a seat and a cup of expensive tea he received from the officials of Aureum.
While Angor gazed at this muscular man who had taken on a completely different character, he wasn’t sure what to say about this.
“Oh right! I have some Mana Algae Powder here. Mix it in your tea, and it’ll feel like heaven!” Bismarck took out a small bag of blue substance with a somewhat unwilling look.
From the books he read before, Angor knew that this was extracted from a special type of algae found in a deep-sea trench. It worked by stimulating one’s body into releasing certain pheromones that amplified pleasure. It wasn’t harmful but could be a bit addictive.
“No, thanks.” He pushed the bag away. “I came to ask some questions.”
“I’ll tell you anything as long as I know it, mister!”
Angor couldn’t care less about Bismarck’s change of manners, so he got straight to the point. “Do you know someone called the ‘basket witch’?”
“Basket witch? No... Is she your enemy? Do you want me to deal with her, sir?”
“No, just curious. If you don’t know... then I have no other business here.”
Bismarck feared that his only chance of befriending Angor would slip away and quickly thought about an idea. “One moment, Master Padt. We can always ask my teacher. Should I contact him right now?”
“You sure it’s okay to bother Mister Sabot?”
“Not a problem! He always has little work to do. I guess he’s killing time at the Tower of Infinity out of boredom right now.” Bismarck didn’t hesitate when selling his professor out. Even if Sabot would blame him, they were an ocean apart.
“Alright.” Angor nodded. “I’ll pay the crystals for the transmission.”
Bismarck thought and decided not to say “I’ll pay the bill”. It was pretty hard to earn magic crystals in this land of mortals. He would like to save up as much as he could.
“If-if you would be so kind.”
A little embarrassed, Bismarck once again took Angor to the beacon tower.
...
On the 355th level of Tower of Infinity, Sabot was currently wrestling against his enemy, a bulky man who had a similar outfit and body build as him.
Or rather, the man looked exactly like him.
Unlike the public Tower of Infinity intended for apprentice challengers, the tower he was in was the “real” Tower of Infinity, which was only accessible to wizards from Floating Mech City.
It was constructed using a Mystery item possessed by the city called the “Corridor of Infinity”. People estimated that the tower had 20,000 levels or more, but they only managed to reach the 2,000th level.
It was said that when legendary wizards still roamed around the southern region, they reached somewhere around the 10,000th level.
Rumor had it that the ultimate power at the end of Corridor of Infinity could get an apprentice straight to the level of “revelation”. However, there were no longer legendary wizards in the south who could prove the existence of an even higher level.
Sabot had been struggling at this level for a long time. Without using extra help, it was too difficult to fight against his own projection who mastered his bloodline power.
But he felt pretty good today. He had countered the attacks of his projection using pure instinct several times. It was likely for him to actually kill the projection now.
“Just one more hit, and I’ll get to the next level!” Sabot tried his best to concentrate.
After some more collision of fists and flesh, Sabot emptied his mind and let his body take control, which caused his projection to slow down.
“Chance!”
He was in a good position to land a deadly strike against the back of his projection and win the fight.
But as he was gathering energy for the attack, his blue ear stud suddenly began to glow before a man’s annoying voice was heard.
“Hey, teacher! Where are ya? Got time to spare?”
Following the voice was the enchanted punch of his projection, which looked pretty much lethal.
“I-I surrender!” Sabot yelled out without a second thought. He knew that punch would leave him badly wounded if it hit.
As he called, the projection stopped moving and scattered into glitters.
“BISMAAAARCK!!!”
...
Angor looked at Bismarck yelling into the transmitter but without receiving any response.
“Is he like, bathing or doing something else he doesn’t want us to see?” Bismarck frowned.
Are you seriously talking about your own teacher like that? Angor complained in his mind.
The screen of the transmitter finally lit up, which showed Sabot who looked like he was in a REALLY bad mood.
Seeing this, Angor quickly stepped out of the room and closed the door, before he heard the bellowing of the “Mad Bear”. Even across the door and the great distance that separated him and Floating Mech City, he could feel Sabot’s unyielding rage.
A moment later, Bismarck opened the door with empty eyes.
“Come in. The teacher wants to talk to you.”
Angor made sure Sabot looked better and went inside.
“I spoke to Mariyasah the other day. Well, he’s still heading to Ferran for some reason, but he won’t bother you, I think,” said Sabot.
“Sorry for troubling you, Mister Sabot.”
“Don’t mention it. So you have something to ask?”
Angor nodded. “It’s nothing important. Just... can you tell me about the basket witch?”
Sabot frowned.
“Did you run into her?”
“No, sir. I heard about this name out of somewhere, and I’m curious about who she is.”
“That woman. She’s not the kind type. I suggest that you stay away from her.”
...
A while later, Angor left the office while pondering over what he just heard.
The “basket witch” was actually the owner of Summerdew Ridge, Summerdew. According to Sabot, Summerdew was a truth-finder. As a Karabit, she loved biological research and performing body modifications. The name “basket witch” came from the basket-like monster she was always riding, which seemed to be another of her inventions.