Angor and Madelyne emerged from the great chasm and saw Moonfrost Union already here. They were now exchanging supplies with Brute Cavern.
“It won’t take long. Let’s hurry and get to their Frozen Wing,” Madelyne said as she led Angor to a large flying vehicle, which looked like a giant ice block with white wings on its sides.
They were still some distance away from it, yet Angor already felt the chilly aura that easily reached his skin.
As they approached, Angor noticed that the vehicle came with several levels. The bottom level had groups of common laborers trembling in thick clothes, while apprentices who seemed to be of higher standings took the middle level. According to Madelyne, these apprentices were all from different organizations or wizard clans who were tasked with various jobs in the Abyss.
There were also quests in Brute Cavern that asked their members to go to the Abyss, but no one would take them.
“Most organizations wouldn’t encourage their apprentices to go there,” said Madelyne. “But this won’t prevent hot-headed people who value money more than their lives. Also, there are particular apprentices who seek chances from dire situations, and the Abyss Plane is a perfect place for them.”
Successfully surviving from lethal threats was helpful in one’s training. But not always. To break through one’s level limit, for example, called for enough aptitude and knowledge gain. Blindly throwing oneself into danger would do more harm than good.
The topmost level of the vehicle was a large and flat area with only a small number of people. Wizards, mostly.
Angor thought he was supposed to join the middle level, but Madelyne stopped him.
“You’re not with them. Come with me.”
Madelyne took Angor directly onto the top floor. His appearance did not draw any attention from the wizards. Rather, it was Madelyne who received several curious glances.
People only knew that Madelyne originated from an ancient wizard family of the Goman Kingdom. She stayed low-profile and away from public sight ever since she joined Brute Cavern. Since there wasn’t much to talk about her, nobody said anything about her arrival.
While waiting for the transport team to depart, Madelyne took Angor to somewhere private and began introducing the wizards for him.
“See that woman with too few clothes on? Remember, every time you see someone like this, they either come from Shangri-La or the Reverse Paradise. She’s Beatrice, by the way. A Shadow Manipulator.”
Meanwhile, Angor tried taking careful peeks at all the people around. The powerful wizards easily saw his moves, though no one minded him.
Angor was not the only apprentice at this level. In fact, there were many other apprentices and servants of the same level who were as curious as him.
He recognized none of the wizards except for a few people who often showed up in magazines, so he quickly lost interest.
When he tried to look away, he accidentally met eyes with someone not far from him. It was a hunched, old wizard with terribly wrinkled skin and white beard. This man’s age and gravity surely did a number on his body, but those glittering eyes showing great wisdom were as clear as that of a vigorous young man.
Seeing Angor’s look, the old man showed a friendly smile and seemed to be lost in thoughts.
“The witch with a lamp is Lady Kate. She’s a newly-promoted genius from Foreboding Forest and Leona’s friend...” Madelyne was still doing her explanation, but she stopped talking when she saw Angor looking at somewhere else. “That’s... Do you know him?”
“No, ma’am.” Angor shook his head.
“He’s ‘Radiant Twilight’ Vifet from Moxa Westland. That man has some good fame among lots of wizards, which earned him friends and resources everywhere. People said that he’s even acquainted with important wizards from other wizarding regions.”
“Other regions?”
Apart from the “southern wizarding region”, Angor also knew that there were the Eastern Borderline, the Northern Province, and the Western Continent. These parts were not connected by seas or lands, and it was extremely difficult to travel among them.
“So Mister Vifet has been to those places before?”
“I don’t know about that.” Madelyne shook her head. “Rumor has it that he left the southern region 600 years ago and came back 300 years later. As for where he went... Nobody knows.”
Angor glanced at Vifet again and noticed the old wizard had closed his eyes to rest.
Madelyne soon finished introducing those whose names she knew, who only made up a small part of the team. The rest of the people were mostly members of the Moonfrost Union, and she knew little about them.
When Madelyne wanted to change their subject and learn more about Angor, they suddenly heard noises coming from below.
They were standing near the edge of the flat area, so Angor only needed to lean over slightly to see what was going on down below.
There, at the bottom level, a man had collapsed on the floor with a giant rupture tearing his entire abdomen open. A crimson flower that looked like a beast’s maw shot out from the wound and swallowed another helpless onlooker nearby in one go.
The workers were currently unloading crates of resources for inspection. The ruckus had put a stop to their work.
“Something went wrong and caused one of those people to contract an Abyss Man-Eater in his body,” said Madelyne. “It’s a growing seedling that needs fresh meat to get bigger. Guess it just found enough.
“I took a peek at the cargo list back there. That’s supposed to be Leona’s order. Too bad, she’s going to be disappointed.”
Angor looked that way again and saw Leona talking to the inspectors with an angry look, while several members of Moonfrost were apologizing.
“But... the flower grew up just fine, right?” asked Angor.
“These flowers do differently in different climates and conditions. If a seedling sprouts out of the body of a mortal, it will be useless in the future. I heard that Leona spent huge money to buy the bodies of wizard-level monsters just to nurture her flowers. No wonder she looks so pissed off.”
The incident was settled when the escort team burned the man-eater flower and paid Leona a bag of crystals.
It was probably a common thing to happen around here, but Angor was glad that he could use the chance to observe these otherworldly materials up close. From what was exposed, he recognized several special alchemy components native to the outer areas of the Abyss Plane. Of course, there were also unknown items that completely confused him, including the Abyss Man-Eater, which probably came from deeper areas.
The Abyss Plane was usually a forbidden zone for all wizards. Even if Monkey’s campaign forced people to go in there and set up a “front line”, it was only based at the 3rd level of the Abyss, which was still considered one of the outer areas.
The farthest record done by the expedition team of Moonfrost Union ended at the 4th level. No one ever attempted to go any further than that.
About half an hour later, the material carriers finished up all their work, and the Frozen Wing was slowly starting up.
“About time,” said Madelyne.
Angor looked below and saw a group of wizards and apprentices looking at the vehicle from afar with concerned looks. They were probably here to see their friends off.
This was a journey to the Abyss. If something went wrong, there would be no return ticket.
...
The Frozen Wing slowly and steadily traveled above Parmigi Highlands. It could move faster. But the controllers would be more careful because running into a space rupture would be disastrous.
“Oh, dear. I miss your Gondola already,” Madelyne said in a joking manner.
Of course, Gondola would do better at evading space ruptures thanks to its handy size. However, Angor could still see that the Frozen Wing was several levels better than his boat. Apart from its capacity, there were lots of runes and devices that emitted dimensional energy around the “ice block”, obviously intended for long-range plane travels.
He was sure Frozen Wing was better protected and could do better against danger, while his Gondola could only escape in case something bad happened.
Madelyne would like to ask Angor’s opinion regarding the giant vehicle, but she changed her mind when she saw Angor lost in thought.
Oh my, he already recognized the alchemy techniques used on Frozen Wing? Impressive.
The truth was, this wasn’t the case. Angor was simply thinking about a familiar face he saw among the onlooking apprentices when Frozen Wing left Brute Cavern.
It was “White Bear” Hobson.