Throne of Magical Arcana

At the parcel collection point of Hexagram Station, Rentato.

A fine-featured lass smiled politely. “Hello, how may I be of service?”

“I have a luggage bag that needs to be stored here until my return from Allyn,” Ramiro replied with a minty, relaxed smile.

The minty smell came from a specialty from the Kingdom of Brianne known as “Mint Fragrance”, which was a kind of tobacco, though it was not to be smoked but rather chewed on after a secret drying process and provided a mind-refreshing cigarette-like intoxicating effect.

The lass asked with a smile, “how many days would that be? Are you a sorcerer?” Despite being an average female in Rentato, she managed to find a leisure job with decent pay all thanks to “Arcana Voice”, which made her got rid of her bias against sorcerers and dared to apply for the job. She successfully stood out from the few applicants and secured the job. As a result, she became very fond of sorcerers.

“I’m just an ordinary sorcerer. Let’s make it three days. Nah, can I pay for seven days upfront and make adjustments later?” Ramiro asked calmly. It didn’t look like he was pressed for time in any way.

The lass replied, “no problem, please pass me the baggage for inspection.”

After listening to “Arcana Voice” and working at Hexagram Station, she realized that sorcerers weren’t as wealthy as she had imagined. There were many who, in the pursuit of power and arcana research, were left with barely enough to live by.

Like any normal traveler, Ramiro handed over the black luggage bag in his hand.

The female worker did not cut any corners. Abiding by the training protocols, she placed the luggage inside a magic circle within a piece of large alchemy equipment. Then she pressed the switch and turned it on.

The company “Gift from Elements” had developed this simplified alchemical item for exactly this kind of purpose. They could be powered by electricity, thus allowing ordinary people to use them. As a result, it had been widely implemented at locations including the Magic Steam Train Company, Nekso Palace, the villas and orchards of nobles, music halls, opera theatres, and the town hall.

The inspection had confirmed that there weren’t any cursed or dangerous items in the luggage. It was only after this confirmation that the lass opened the luggage to screen the items with her naked eyes. She found that the majority of the items were normal clothes, with a small portion being tobacco from Brianne. There was also a light-dark colored piece of meat wrapped in gray cloth.

“Specialty steak?” she asked out of curiosity.

Ramiro’s mouth twitched. “Ya”

“A silver a day, for a total of seven.” The lass closed the luggage and attached an identification tag on it. She then took it to the warehouse behind and placed it on the corresponding shelf.

After she returned, Ramiro took out seven shiny silver pieces. He let the pieces fall through his fingers one after another onto the counter while listening to the crisp sounds with slanted eyes.

“This is your receipt, please keep it with you for the final tally.” The female worker respectfully passed Ramiro a receipt that had been stamped with a special magical ink paste. Only official magicians — who wouldn’t do it for such a little money — could forge the ink paste.

Ramiro picked up the receipt. Still chewing on the tobacco, he nodded. “Thank you.”

Then, with hands tucked into the pockets of his tuxedo, he headed off towards the Magic Steam Train station. When he came near to a silvery-black trash bin, he pulled out his right hand and threw a carbonated piece of paper into the bin.

The black paper fell slowly, breaking into a countless number of butterflies at the slightest touch of wind. Not a trace remained.

Afterward, Ramiro went inside a restroom. He surveyed the surroundings carefully while wearing a carefree expression. After confirming that there was no one else around, he faced the mirror and pinched his face. His entire body suddenly wriggled erratically like a slime.

Seconds later, he had transformed into a beautiful young lady with a voluptuous figure. His tuxedo has also transformed into a lilac-tiered dress. The collar and cuffs had transformed into ruffles.

Looking into the enchanting deep blue eyes in the mirror, Ramiro smiled at “her”. “Long time no see, Avelina. Sometimes I find that being a girl is much more interesting than being a man.”

Naturally, “Avelina” didn’t respond.

After tidying up her clothes and donning a broad-brim hat with a beautiful long ribbon which she had seemingly conjured from thin air, Ramiro left the restroom elegantly and boarded the magic steam train that had just arrived.

“Avelina, so you’ve returned from Brianne?” A young man stood up from his seat in joyous surprise.

Ramiro smiled sweetly. “Yes, the magic development in Allyn is faster than I had anticipated. If I were to remain in Brianne, I would not be able to keep up with the times. So I’m back.”

“That’s marvelous. Where is your boyfriend Lavrov?” The young man eagerly invited “Avelina” to sit down.

Ramiro’s expression turned sorrowful. “We’ve broken up.”

“What?” The young man fought to suppress his happiness. Feigning sadness, he consoled her. “Cheer up, the best is yet to come.”

Ramiro watched “with grief” as the platform faded from view. Listening to the sound of the train horn and the clickety-clack of the wheels against the track, Ramiro thought angrily.

“Who on earth was that?”

Avelina had not spoken of this man after she had been controlled…

The “silent melancholy” that she exuded intoxicated the young man, rendering him speechless. Time passed swiftly. The magic steam train gradually ascended towards Allyn.

When they passed through the mythal of Allyn, Ramiro narrowed his eyes. He could feel the power of the mythal brushing past his body.

As expected, though Allyn appeared to be as open a city like any other ordinary city, the security checks that were hidden from view were extraordinarily stringent. Luckily, his “Flesh Manipulation” ability allowed him to be passed off as the real ‘Avelina”.

The magic steam train stopped at the station. Ramiro saw the brilliant starlight released by the Congress’ Headquarter Magic Tower from a distance, with an intensity rivaling that of the red sun in the sky.

“What’s happening?” Ramiro had recognized what it was, but he asked regardless.

The young man examined carefully and replied, “it seems to be the Portal to Alternate Realm. Could it be that the grand arcanists have returned from their investigation of the mysterious realm?”

“We’ll find out if we take a closer look,” Ramiro replied smiling.

This appeared to be an opportunity, yet it seemed to be too much of a coincidence.

However, Ramiro was not about to abandon such an opportunity. As the night watcher ranked number 13th, his powers and abilities overwhelmed many strong level-nines. Decisiveness and willingness to take the initiative are what enabled him to become who he was — Those who were accustomed to plotting and scheming would never anticipate him to barge in like this.

“Merely two point seven seconds…” Ramiro whispered to himself. This was the amount of time that he had before the mythal would react, given that Allyn Mythal was not on its full power yet. He wasn’t exactly confident that he could kill Lucien Evans in such a small time window either and could only play it by ear.

……

On the 32nd floor in the Headquarter Magic Tower of the Congress, within the grand hall stood an illusory door that was five-meters tall and three-meters wide.

The door was built on a complex magic circle that was made up of countless gems and rare materials. Rays of brilliant starlight shone outwards from the top, and many sorcerers had gathered around it.

“Sir, why are so many senior-rank sorcerers and archmages assembled?” Lucien had received no notice beforehand and arrived only after he detected the anomaly.

Fernando, who wore his scarlet magic robe as always, said solemnly, “the races of this world are normal, but its environment is special. Every corner is filled with a strange sensation, one that suppresses our spiritual power greatly. Even Douglas’ senses can only extend to a radius of 300 meters. This world is separated into countless little pieces by many spatial barriers that are incompletely solidified. Normal people are hardly affected by it, to them, the world is still whole. However, for us legendary sorcerers, it means that flight is almost impossible, for it’s too easy to collide into one of such barriers.”

“Under such circumstances, it would be very difficult to locate Alterna and the mysterious existence, as they can automatically shield themselves from many magical prophecies ineffective…” Lucien had a rough idea of why so many senior-rank sorcerers and archmages have gathered here. Strength lay in numbers in times like this.

Fernando nodded in agreement and continued. ‘We had a fight with the Church. The Pope was involved, and it caused us to fall leeward. However, the numbers that they could spare to send after us were not enough to surround and kill us. Then, after discovering the peculiarities of this alternate space, we reached a tacit agreement to stop the fighting. The highest priority now was to explore the new world and find Alterna’s whereabouts. Fighting directly would give advantage to other parties.”

“A new world …” Lucien wondered if it meant that Natasha would lead the Duchy of Violet’s radiant knights to there as well.

Fernando noticed that Lucien wasn’t paying attention. He smiled and said, “according to preliminary calculations, this alternate space is half as big as the main world, so it can be considered as a new world. If anyone can claim ownership of it, they would gain vast amounts of resources.”

“So that’s how it is, then why weren’t the middle-rank sorcerers also summoned? The number of senior-rank magicians and archmages are quite small in comparison,” asked Lucien puzzledly.

Fernando shook his head. “That’s because a special kind of powerful beings exists in this world. Their abilities are beyond that of high-rank sorcerers. Sending middle-rank sorcerers in would only result in a large scale of loss.”

“A special kind of powerful beings?” Lucien had never heard Fernando speak of powerful beings in such a way.

Fernando’s expression turned solemn. “False gods, those that came into existence in the early phases of the War of Dawn. They are a variety of monsters with powerful abilities. However, due to some strange reasons, they could bestow powers to their followers, much like demons and devils. Their minds are in a state of crazed stubbornness. Currently, one has been captured and is being researched on.”

“Captured one…” Lucien suddenly had the impression that the False Gods were pitiful animals being hunted.

Fernando noticed that the senior-rank magicians and archmages were just about to finish entering the Portal to the Alternate Realm. He threw a stare at Lucien and warned. “Abandon any ideas that you might have. Just stay in Allyn and improve your magic. Until your power matches your Cleansing List ranking, you better not wander around. Don’t think about participating in this mysterious space matter either.”

But the power matching Lucien’s Cleansing List ranking should be that of a legendary… Lucien rubbed his chin in frustration.

Fernando didn’t speak another word, gesturing Thompson to enter the Portal to the Alternate Realm with him together.

With his entrance, the batch of reinforcements finished their transfer. Around the portal, only several friends and apprentices remained — This expedition was much more dangerous than the previous ones; It could very well be their last farewell.

Amidst the crowd, Ramiro watched the starlight dissipate and began calculating. The Portal to the Alternate Realm would soon regress back to its semi-charged state.

With the Portal to the Alternate Realm’s scattering energy, the Allyn Magic Tower and its surrounding mythal’s reaction time was seven seconds.

To avoid alerting Lucien, he only cast a fleeting glance at Lucien at the start and ignored him afterward.

“Seven seconds…”

The opportunity was prime. Let’s take action now!