Abe the Wizard

As soon as Abel and Wizard Morton disappeared from the magic tower, they teleported towards the large-sized teleportation circle inside the sixteen-floor magic tower.

Wizard Morton couldn’t believe what he was looking at, “A large-sized magic tower? How did you get one of these? Wait, wait, wait, wait. Where is this?”

As far as Wizard Morton could tell, they were inside a hallroom built inside a magic tower. There was a defensive circle wrapped around the large-sized teleportation circle beneath them. They were definitely inside a magic tower, but he didn’t know much else.

And the floor. It was all made with colorful crystals of all sorts of colors. Usually, this material was used to make small jewelry. It was also used for alchemy as a sort of additive. Needless to say, something this rare and previous should’ve never been used to make floors.

Just as Wizard Morton felt the urge to lecture Abel about not wasting his money, his attention was swayed by the blue walls in front of him. The hue. The brightness. He couldn’t believe it, but the walls were all made of blue crystal stones.

There was something else. The walls were painted with elven-style patterns. They were probably for enhancing the effects of the magic runes, but it would make sense if they were just decorations. Again, that was just one of the many examples of how much wealth stored in the area.

Abel didn’t talk the entire time. He knew that talking wasn’t going to do much good. Some things were best if Wizard Morton saw it for himself. That was why he brought him here. As his future partner, neighbor, good friend, and many other things, he wanted to be as honest to him as possible.

Wizard Morton started to understand what’s going on. Still, the question in his mind hadn’t disappeared. He wanted to know where this place was. Where could Abel fit a tower this big? It wasn’t easy to hide a magic tower.

While trying to walk over the colored crystal floor tiles (he didn’t feel comfortable to), Wizard Morton walked outside the magic tower. He saw that there was a garden in front of him. It was clearly made in elven styles. The statues on the fountain clearly said so. After all, no other race would put in this much effort to make beautiful art pieces of archers trying to release their arrows.

On the small pathway built in the middle of the yard, there were all sorts of patterns carved onto the stones. There were a lot of plants in the garden. Whoever planted them did a good job.

When Wizard Morton raised his head, he finally figured out where he was. The tip of the hexagonal was right on top of him, and when he looked over the distance, he could see his twelve-floor magic tower. There were five other towers in the other directions; he was literally standing at the center.

And the tower itself. Even without doing the counting, he could tell that the tower was sixteen floors in height.

Wizard Morton raised his brow, “Be honest with me, Abel. Did this tower once belong to an advanced wizard?”

“He’s the one who started it!” Abel started crossing his arms, “I’m not going to say names, but he’s been provoking me for too many times. That’s why I did it !”

Wizard Morton shrugged his shoulder, “Ok, fine. Whatever. What’s done is done. Besides, once Master Dunn is out of his training, there would have been plenty of people after Cliff.”

Abel said with certainty, “Mentor, no one else knows about this.”

Wizard Morton shook his head, “You’re too naive to think that. Some of those people are very cruel. Even rumors are enough to make them kill.”

Abel didn’t know what to say about that, but right now, he liked to think that he was in a safe position. He had a lot of connections. He was strong. Most importantly, he thought that he was in a position where he could reason with other people.

Wizard Morton said as he looked over the distance, “Now that you’ve demonstrated your talent, Abel, I suppose it’s time to tell you about something.”

“Mentor,” Abel was already kneeling on the ground. Whatever Wizard Morton was going to tell him, it’d be very crucial from this point onward.

“First,” Wizard Morton looked towards Abel, “Tell me something. Why did you train to where you are now?”

Abel was quite surprised by that question. It had been a while since he’s thought about it. He wanted to come back to his original world, and he thought that becoming a wizard was the way to do that.

However, the closer he was to that goal, the more he realized that his dream was impossible to achieve. He became mad for power. He was lonely. He killed and killed, only to protect the families and friends he had in this world.

And now. He was at the top of the Holy Continent. No one was a threat to him. No one could challenge the wellbeing of those that he cared about. Still, if he achieved what he worked so hard for, what was there left for him to pursue?

“I want to live freely, Mentor,” Abel said, “I want to live freely in this world.”

“Ha, ha ha ha!” Wizard Morton laughed, “Any other wish would’ve been easier than what you’ve said!”

“Why, Mentor?” Abel asked.

“Because,” the Wizard looked at the light that was in the sky, “You only see the Holy Continent. It is a small, small place compared to the massive world out there. Sixteen. Seventeen. These are the limits of the so-called “elites” here. There are even fewer of us that are in the eighteenth rank, but the sky is so high that the climb is near endless.”

“So where are the stronger wizards?” Abel couldn’t help but ask.

Wizard Morton said in a quieter voice, “They all left, I tell you. The talented ones have all left. I can’t tell you more than that. If you want to know more, you’ll have to wait before you’ve become an advanced wizard yourself.”

“It’s… something I’ve learned only when I was with Master Dunn.”

Abel couldn’t suppress his curiosity, “Why did they leave, Mentor? I thought that humans had a war with the orcs! I thought that had been the priority for our entire history!”

“YES, exactly!” Wizard Morton stopped Abel right there, “They left because they have their obligations as humans. If a wizard is found to be talented enough, they’ll be sent on the front lines to fight against the orcs. Once they’ve fought for three years, once they’ve started to gain the power to become advanced wizards, only then, will they be granted permission to leave the Holy Continent.”

“And,” Wizard Morton continued with a sigh, “you mentioned our war with the orcs. I think you might’ve suspected this, but you won’t find any advanced wizards and priests on the battlefield. Whether it’s us or the orcs, no one wants to escalate the war. No one wants to reach the point that we can only use high-tier magic to wipe the other side out. If that ever happens, it would end civilization as we know it.”

Abel’s mind seemed to be elsewhere, though, “So why are there so many advanced wizards still in the Holy Continent?”