After receiving a mighty kick and a stomp to the face from Nausica, Hookdick fainted. Also, the broken vein on his neck caused by Toby was still letting out blood. His life was in danger at this rate.
Everyone just stayed watching for a long time without helping him. Seemed like Hookdick’s relationship with the others was just as terrible as his own character.
A team of people appeared from the thick forest. Phantom Servants wearing black robes and totem masks. Angor recognized Goode who was leading them.
Goode walked to the group, and all the talents gathered up on their own. Two Phantom Servants lifted Hookdick off the ground and carried him away.
“Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Fey Continent. In this birthplace of wizards, we hope you can enkindle the glory of wizardry,” Goode greeted them. He added, “Now, we are standing to the south of Goman Kingdom. There are still thousands of kilometers to go until we can reach our destination, the Parmigi Highlands.
“The organization has sent people to escort you, but they are expected to arrive tomorrow, so you will have to spend the night in Twilight Town,” Goode bowed. He moved aside and said, “This way, please.”
Everyone followed behind the Phantom Servants.
When Angor walked past Goode, the butler whispered to him, “Mister Padt, follow me please.”
None of the deathmatch winners heard him. Angor looked at Goode and saw the butler beckoning him with a nod. What for though?
Angor paused a little and decided to comply.
No one really noticed him. Only Nausica threw him a thoughtful glance.
“Mister Padt, the master arranged you together with these people, hoping that you can get some communications with them before returning to Brute Cavern. It’s for your own good,” Goode whispered.
Angor nodded. Before leaving the cloud whale at noon, Flora was planning to take Angor with her. However, Sunders ordered Angor to join the deathmatch winners instead. Flora was puzzled at first, then she gave Angor a “you can do it!” look. At that time, Angor already got a faint idea about what Sunders wanted to do. Now that Goode made it clear, he was not surprised at all.
Goode saw Angor’s calm reaction and nodded in approval. The other day when Sunders left Angor in charge of the cloud whale, he also allowed the boy to take care of all the spell restrictions on the tents of the deathmatch winners as well. Sunders meant to let Angor interact with his future schoolmates but it seemed that Angor did not quite enjoy talking. He locked himself in the book room day after day.
Goode understood Angor’s choice. Goode was not a wizard himself but he had been following Sunders for a long time. Naturally, he knew a lot about wizards.
Most wizards preferred solitude, especially those who already began to pursue truth. This did not mean that wizards had no friends. They had their own circles of friends. Wizards would often run into their wit’s ends during their training, and the help from someone else could help them avoid a lot of tortuous efforts. Solitude and friends could totally co-exist.
Angor knew this too. He read a lot of novels from Earth when he felt bored on The Redbud. One of them concluded four elements on the path of training: method, company, wealth, place. The novel was about cultivation, which was different from wizardry. However, Angor could still learn something about the four elements. “Company” meant someone to discuss your training with.
Exchanging ideas with each other was better than figuring something out all by yourself. Two heads were better than one, and more helpers meant more ideas.
The path of wizardry required innovation, a knowledge base, and ways of thinking. A “company” would make the path smoother.
Seeing how Angor easily understood him, Goode did not say anything else. He let Angor return to the group.
Goode stood at the seashore and watched Angor walking away. Emotions filled his mind.
Those words were not Sunders’ order. He talked to Angor at his own will. He had been treating Angor with extra politeness because he knew Sunders really meant to put effort into the boy. Sunders helped Angor choose his future path, and now Sunders was even worrying about Angor’s sociality. Goode pointed out Sunders’ intention so Angor would not misunderstand his teacher.
…
Like before, no one paid attention to Angor’s return, Those who were hostile would not show their aggression in front of Goode, and the other people would simply keep ignoring the kid.
As they walked, Angor was still thinking over his conflict with Hookdick. He did not wish to be addressed as a weakling again or fall into another helpless situation. However, he was too weak, and this was an undeniable fact.
After leaving the beach area, it did not take long for them to reach civilization.
There was a road along the forest, and an intersection where a great river joined the sea. Several fishing boats were parked along the shore. When watched from afar, there seemed to be people working on the boats.
The group followed behind the Phantom Servants and walked upstream. Every now and then, a flagpole could be seen placed along the river, probably to indicate the water levels.
They kept walking and saw houses on the side of the mountain. Occasional passers-by entered their view too. The salty smell of the sea was gradually replaced by civilization.
Strangely, the Phantom Servants dressed in a really weird way by covering themselves under those black robes in such hot weather. The other people were not exactly wearing ordinary clothes either. Angor believed an onlooker would certainly notice them. However, none of the passengers paid them any attention. Even if someone would look in their direction, their focus did not lie on the group.
After a little bit more of walking, they could see Twilight Town.
The town was built along one side of the mountain. All houses were constructed with white bricks, with their backs facing the sea. The gardens in front of the houses were full of colorful flowers under the sunlight. Apart from the wide main road, all the other roads and paths were exquisitely maintained using fine prismatic stones. White sand, white tiles, white fences… The whole town was covered in a warm, white color and a foreign aura.
“Ah, the whiteness hurts my eyes. Some bloody paint would make the place look better,” Someone sneered.
Angor recognized that voice and checked. Yup, it was Hookdick. His neck was bandaged. Looked like the Phantom Servants took him away to treat him.
People felt disgusted at those words but no one joined him.
“Brute,” Someone humphed.
Hookdick did not mind being called a brute, but the young man with dark brown skin gazed at the speaker in anger.
“What? I wasn’t talking about you and you assumed it by yourself?” The speaker muttered. He was obviously afraid of the dark-skinned young man.
Hookdick looked at Angor and quickly revealed rage. However, he could not do anything with the Phantom Servants around. He let out wicked laughter, made a neck-slit gesture, and turned away.
Angor sighed. He could not avoid Hookdick’s grudge now. Angor was not afraid of these matters. He knew he would attract foul attention by coming here without going through the deathmatches. Still, he did not expect it to come so soon.