Chapter Thirteen: Arrival "The
Leilin sat in the carriage, his body jolting with every bump along the road. A small window stood open, letting a sliver of yellow sunlight shine in and bring a touch of warmth to the cabin.
More than ten days had passed since the last Scavenging Wolf attack. Over those days, as the caravan pushed deeper into the prairie, the dangers it encountered only grew more frequent.
It was only now that Leilin understood—the Scavenging Wolf pack sat at the very bottom of the prairie's food chain. Above them lurked far more cunning and vicious predators.
Along the way, Leilin had witnessed multiple biological swarms rivaling the wolf pack in scale.
Besides the Scavenging Wolves, there were flocks of black birds standing several meters tall, and even massive beasts over ten meters long—resembling sabertooth tigers in shape but the size of small hills, their very aura enough to suffocate Leilin.
Fortunately, the apprentice death rate seemed to have reached its limit, and the White-Robed Wizards finally began to intervene. They not only set up defensive wizard formations on each carriage but also directly drove away the beast packs themselves, preventing massive casualties throughout the caravan.
The most dangerous encounter had been the standoff with that hill-sized beast over ten meters long.
Fortunately, the colossal creature appeared to possess intelligence of its own. It recognized that the White-Robed Wizards were not to be trifled with, and after a brief standoff, it simply departed without attacking, allowing everyone in the caravan to breathe a sigh of relief.
"It's time!" Leilin pulled out his pocket watch and checked the hands—already pointing to around three in the afternoon.
He stood up, opened the front door of the carriage, and a moist breeze drifted past, carrying a hint of salt. It smelled wonderfully fresh, and Leilin took several deep breaths before settling down beside Angelei.
"Good afternoon, Lord Angelei!"
"Good afternoon, you well-mannered noble gentleman!" Without turning his head, Angelei handed the whip and reins directly to Leilin. "Perfect timing—I need to rest a while!"
Leilin smiled, took the whip, and expertly drove the carriage onward.
Angelei leaned against the side, unhooked a canteen from his waist, and opened it. A strong smell of alcohol wafted out. He took a deep swig, then squinted his eyes in satisfaction.
"We'll be arriving at our destination soon. Consider this a reward for a month of driving for me—I'll answer two of your questions."
Leilin had been admiring the scenery on either side when he heard Angelei's voice.
"Of course!" Leilin smiled. He had made a point of building a good relationship with Angelei precisely with this in mind.
"So, first question—what's at the destination?"
"Temporary tents for various academies. There, you'll be able to choose which academy to join based on your own interests, and undergo a more precise aptitude test!"
Angelei answered, looking somewhat impatient. "The
"A more precise aptitude test?" Leilin was taken aback. He recalled that back then, he had simply been identified as having Wizard aptitude, and the viscount immediately put him on a carriage. As for whether that aptitude was good or bad, he had been completely in the dark.
"Temporary tents for academies? That sounds just like school recruitment back in my old world—though I wonder what the requirements are?" Leilin mused silently.
"Fine! Second question! In your eyes, what kind of people are Wizards?"
Leilin asked his second question.
"Wizards? They wield tremendous power, pursue truth, and abide by the principle of equivalent exchange. Kid, don't fantasize about getting anything from a Wizard for free—or else the flames of desire will rise from the abyss and punish your soul!"
Angelei's face twitched, as though something unpleasant had crossed his mind. His voice dropped to an unexpectedly deep, low murmur.
"Pursuing truth, equivalent exchange? I like that!" A smile crept across Leilin's lips.
After answering, Angelei seemed to lose all interest in talking. He took two deep swigs of strong liquor, lowered his head, closed his eyes, and within a dozen minutes, the sound of snoring drifted over.
Leilin stared blankly at the scenery ahead. Though the prairie landscape was beautiful, after a full month of looking at it, he was beginning to feel sick of the sight.
"What's that..."
As the carriage pressed onward, the green in the distance grew sparser and sparser, replaced by a vast expanse of blue and gusts of powerful wind.
"We're finally here—the Death Coast!"
Angelei, who had been dozing, opened his eyes and looked at Leilin. "We've arrived!"
As the sea drew closer, something resembling a market came into view at the edge of Leilin's sight.
Tents of varying heights stood thick and tall, some of them oddly shaped, forming a large encampment. Surrounding it were dozens of carriages identical to the one Leilin was currently driving.
But the most numerous of all were the Apprentices—just like himself, thirteen or fourteen years old, their faces full of curiosity. A rough count told Leilin there were at least several hundred people, packing the camp to capacity. Apprentices streamed in and out of the tents, wearing all manner of expressions on their faces.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the midpoint of your journey—the Death Coast! Here, you will decide on your future academy and follow your teachers back to their respective schools for Wizard practice!"
The caravan of carriages came to a stop. Three white-robed figures emerged and gathered the apprentices together. The one in front, Crow, spoke.
"Now, follow me into the camp and choose your academy. Remember! You may look at multiple academies, but once you sign a contract, there is no going back! Those who violate the agreement will be hanged outside the camp gates!"
Crow's voice was ice-cold, and his words sent a chill through the hearts of every apprentice.
"Haha! Crow! You lot are running late today!" A voice rang out, and a massive, round man walked out from inside the camp, also dressed in a white robe. He greeted them cheerfully: "Don't go scaring the adorable new blood!"
"Ran into some trouble on the road!" Crow explained.
"Alright then! New blood! Follow me into the camp!" The fat man chatted with Crow and the other two for a moment, then turned around and shouted toward Leilin and the others.
"You can call me Jialong. I come from the beautiful Nine-Ring White Tower. Believe me, if you're choosing an academy, the Nine-Ring White Tower is absolutely the best choice!"
As he spoke, Jialong led the apprentices into the camp.
The moment they entered, all manner of sounds flooded their ears, making Leilin feel as though he had been transported back to the vegetable market of his previous life. The three white-robed figures seemed to have business elsewhere and quickly left the group.
The surroundings were bustling and crowded, mostly with Wizard Apprentices just like them—some gathered in circles, others constantly weaving in and out of tents.
Jialong led the batch of about forty-odd apprentices that included Leilin to the very center of the camp.
There stood a large, pure-white tent, its exterior adorned with strange patterns that looked like both decoration and writing.
Leilin couldn't help but look more closely. "Chip! Scan!"
"Beep! Image generated!" the Chip reported back, but in the three-dimensional image, the white tent showed nothing at all—as if those patterns had never existed.
"How is that possible?" Leilin stared at the tent in disbelief.
As the seconds ticked by, the patterns on the tent seemed to come alive, twisting and writhing ceaselessly.
"Hee hee!" "Ha ha!" "Chirp chirp!"
All sorts of strange voices echoed in Leilin's ears. The light around him seemed to warp suddenly. He looked down at his hand, and his palm appeared to have been stretched out, becoming impossibly long and slender.
"Leilin! Leilin! What's wrong with you?" Just then, someone suddenly slapped him on the shoulder.
Leilin's entire body jolted, and he snapped back to awareness. He looked around—the other apprentices were still listening to the fat man Jialong talking. Everything seemed to have returned to normal.
"Or... could it have just been an illusion?" Leilin's heart lurched. "Chip, pull up my status from just now!"
A soft chime sounded. A pale blue holographic screen flickered into existence, and image after image from moments ago scrolled across Leilin's vision. "Abnormal cardiovascular flow rate detected in the host. Immediate examination recommended!"
"Host has entered an abnormal state! Recommend distancing!"
"Host status has returned to normal." Line after line of data kept appearing, letting Leilin know that what had just happened was no illusion.
"Phew... is everything about Wizards this creepy?" Leilin wiped the cold sweat from his brow, still shaken by the experience.
"Leilin! You look terrible! Are you feeling sick?" George asked from beside him.
"Anyone who just went through what I did wouldn't look any better!" Leilin grumbled inwardly, knowing his face must look as pale as a dead man's.
"N-no, I'm fine... where was Jialong in his explanation?" Leilin quickly changed the subject.
"Oh! We still have to go inside to fill out forms and get our aptitude tested! After that, it's free time — we can choose our own academy!"
"Since you lot arrived late, you've got one day. Within that one day, you have to pick the academy you want to attend, or you'll have to wait until next year!" Up ahead, Jialoung was still shouting.
"Now — line up and come to me one by one to get your forms, then go inside for testing!"
Jialong sat behind a white table, pulling out a stack of form-like sheets and handing them out.
The line moved quickly, and before long it was Leilin's turn.
"Fill in your information here, then go into the tent and follow the instructions of whoever's inside!"
Leilin took the form and found it was made of fine parchment. There wasn't much to fill in — just name, age, and place of birth.
He picked up the goose-feather quill on the table and filled it in briskly.
Pale red ink traced intricate patterns across the parchment, looking rather elegant.
"Didn't expect this rich kid's common-script handwriting to actually be half-decent!" Leilin finished writing, picked up the parchment, and stepped into the white tent.
"Come here." An aged voice rang out.
The inside of the tent was spacious. Only a white-haired old woman sat behind a black chair, with a crystal ball resting on the table before her.
"Fine! Why on earth did I suddenly think of a fortune-telling witch!"
"Greetings!" Leilin approached the witch and bowed.
"Hand over the form!" Clearly, the witch wasn't buying it, her voice as cold as ever.
"You're Leilin? Place your hand on the crystal ball!"