A gentle breeze blew through the bus’ window, caressing the hearts of its passengers.
“I don’t know how, but every time when I ride the bus and watch the clouds below me, the smell of grass and the wind always make me feel better,” said Sailum as he held his chin and stared out of the window while admiring the peaceful Tree Spirit Garden.
People said that Brute Cavern was home to a bunch of ruthless black wizards. They would never expect such a beautiful world behind the mirror. The place felt better than a paradise.
“A friend told me there’s a rune drawn under the carriage that calms your mind. It’s designed to prevent apprentices from fighting in the bus,” Nausica said. She was also enjoying the wind. Her long hair flowed along with the gentle air current. Each flip only made the lady looked more charming.
“What are you up to these days, Miss Nausica?” Sailum turned back and asked.
Nausica kept her gaze at the floating clouds in the distance. “Nothing in particular. Doing some quests and use the merit points to rent some spell books…”
“Really?” Sailum squinted his eyes. “I think you’re pushing yourself too hard.”
Nausica smiled charmingly and put an arm around Angor’s shoulder. “I have to so that I can move to the apprentice town quicker. Angor must be lonely all by himself. You want big sis with you, right? Right?”
Angor had been thinking about the Sky Tower. He pushed Nausica’s arm away reluctantly.
“You aren’t going to see me often anyway. Don’t you see most apprentices in the town don’t go out much? I myself only left my house a few times in all four months,” Angor replied.
“Geez… It’s so lonely being a wizard,” Sailum exclaimed.
“Agreed.” Nausica’s voice sounded distant as if it was carried away by the wind.
Sailum was unaware, but Angor realized Nausica just changed the topic. Maybe she had some private reasons and did not want to talk about what she had been doing recently? If that was the case, Angor did not want to push for an answer either.
There were four passengers on the bus. When another apprentice left at a stop, the three of them owned the bus for themselves.
When the bus continued to move, Angor spoke suddenly, “I said I’ll take you to the underground market last time but I didn’t find the chance. Once we get back from Phantom Island this time, we can go there.”
Sailum and Nausica exchanged a look. Then Sailum responded, “Well, during your time of training, Nausica and I went there. It’s so big! I thought if I can’t get a house in apprentice town, I’ll rent one in the market instead. But later, I found out that the rental prices in the market are actually higher than in the town.”
“But the market offers some common spell books at lower prices compared to Cloud Library,” Nausica added.
“Ah, so you already checked it out?” Angor felt embarrassed at his failed promise. “I was always training these days and I totally forgot about my words.”
Sailum revealed a gentle look. “No problem. When we’re done with Phantom Island, let’s go there together. I just finished memorizing two spells, and I need new books.”
“I’ll join you,” Nausica said.
Angor nodded. He also had something to do in the market. He needed to find Dave in Prome’s Alchemy Shop.
After some other casual chat, Sailum remembered something and asked Angor, “Oh right, you didn’t answer my question.”
Angor was surprised a bit. “What question?”
“Well, you asked me to come to you with Miss Nausica. You said you wanted to tell us something.”
Nausica also looked their way. Previously when Sailum asked, Angor appeared to be really careful and did not want any eavesdroppers around. Now she was also curious about what was on Angor’s mind.
…
“It’s from a secret source. It’ll be known to the public in several months, I’m not sure if I should tell it now…” Angor wanted to talk about the garden of purification in Floating Mech City. He was planning to participate in the challenges in Sky Tower. However, he knew how cruel the tower could be, and he was afraid Nausica and Sailum would want to join too.
“Ohh, a secret?” Sailum was completely eager to know now.
Angor looked at the expressions of his friends and sighed in his mind. He really was unsure whether it was good or a bad thing to tell.
He glimpsed at Nausica carefully. He thought it would be okay to hide the information for now. But considering Sailum’s comments about Nausica… the lady seemed to be very obsessed at becoming stronger. And the garden of purification was an important tool to make someone strong. Every apprentice knew that.
Angor would absolutely try to challenge Sky Tower. As a new apprentice, he would surely raise suspicion from his friends. Once the information regarding the garden was announced, they would know why Angor wanted to challenge the tower. Sailum probably would not mind if Angor chose to withhold the information, but Nausica… who had a strong will of improving herself, might develop a negative idea about this.
With that in mind, Angor decided to tell them.
He remained silent for a while before slowly speaking out. Instead of mentioning the garden of purification right away, he asked Nausica a question first.
“Nausica, you know about the Sky Tower, right?”
“Yeah.” Nausica was not expecting that one.
“Do you want to challenge it?”
Nausica was unsure why Angor asked, but she still answered. “I do. But my current level of strength can probably only get me around the first level, so I want to get stronger before actually going in there.”
“What about you?” Angor looked at Sailum next.
The boy quickly waved his hands. “No way. I don’t want to fight.”
Angor fully expected such an answer. Next, he lowered his voice. “It’s a message from an inside source, so don’t tell it to anyone else. At least not in several months.”
“Alright.” Nausica nodded.
“Don’t worry. My lips are zipped.” Sailum promised.
After making sure he was understood, Angor spoke in a plain tone, “I’m going to challenge the Sky Tower in two months.”
“You what?!” They both stared at him in shock.
Sailum looked really worried now. “You crazy? You only broke through a week ago, and you don’t even know many spells yet. How can you challenge it? The battles in there aren’t child’s play!”
“You’ll only meet level-1 and 2 apprentices there, but they are all experienced fighters. Don’t be reckless,” said Nausica. She was frowning as well.
Angor signaled them to calm down. “Don’t worry. I’m not there to suicide. I won’t have this idea if I’m not prepared.”
They relaxed a little when they heard Angor’s words of comfort. “Why do you want to challenge the tower though?”
Angor did not hide anything this time. He explained the garden of purification in Floating Mech City in details.
“Those who are invited to the Tower of Infinity by reaching the top level of a Sky Tower will be qualified to enter the garden. So I’m going to try it out.”
“I see. A Sorcerer’s Garden that improves your chance of becoming wizard… But isn’t that too far from us now? You’re aiming to be a wizard so early?” Sailum asked.
“The law of purification removes any internal injuries and flaws in your body. The earlier you do it, the better,” Angor explained.
“But why earlier? Isn’t the law most effective if you go there when you’re a level-3 apprentice and just reached your bottleneck?” Sailum did not understand.
“I’m not sure about that. Butler Goode told me that the Floating Mech City is willing to open their garden to the public because the garden only has a lesser law. The law doesn’t work well on high-leveled apprentices or wizards. That’s why many level-3 apprentices won’t even go for it. However, there are still level-3 apprentices, who have been stuck at their level for many years, who want to seize this chance.”
Angor paused a little and continued, “It might be my destiny. Reaching the top level isn’t difficult if you know some tricks. Besides, the information isn’t known by everyone yet. If I challenge the tower right now, I can avoid running into many strong opponents.”
“You sound really confident. What kind of tricks though? I can’t think of any,” asked Sailum as he wondered about it.
Nausica, who had been listening to them carefully, took a guess. “Magic scrolls?”
Angor shrugged, “That’s one trick. But it’s too costly. I have something else on my mind.”
“What do you have?”
“Alchemy weapons!”
…
After arriving at Falling Cloud Stop, Angor stretched himself and yawned. Nausica came down from the bus while thinking about something for herself. Sailum followed behind with his small face full of tension.
“… You won’t challenge the Sky Tower, right? Why do you look more stressed than Nausica?” Angor joked. As he expected, upon hearing the information about the Sorcerer’s Garden, Nausica thanked Angor and declared she would participate right away. Sailum seemed interested but the boy decided not to join them because he was not strong enough.
Sailum replied in a stressful tone, “It’s not about the tower. I’m just… worried. I mean, why are there so many people here?!”