Chapter 10: Whereabouts
Translator: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh
On the boxing stage, two werewolves and a barbarian warrior were in a silent confrontation. The two werewolves kept roaring, their claws full of flesh and blood from a dead warrior. The barbarian looked very nervous, breathing in and out rapidly, both fists gripping so tightly that the knuckles turned white.
"Go, kill him!"
"Bite his throat, bite!"
"Hurry up, don’t just stand there!"
The boxing stage was completely surrounded by a noisy crowd. Everyone was shouting, hoping the fight would start soon.
"After the rise of the Brilcardin Empire, with the advantage of its geographical location, they successfully blocked the invasions of the barbarians from the Pan Continent. Throughout the years, although the mainland was not peaceful, no country dared to attack the territory of the Brilcardin Empire, even in the most chaotic of times; whoever did so would become the enemy of all mankind! Seventy years ago, there was a truly strong one among the barbarians named Ahdibaijan. He won the respect and obedience of all of the barbarians and became their leader. He gradually became more and more ambitious and wanted to conquer the human lands with a concentrated attack against the Brilcardin Empire. It was a very tough period of time for the Brilcardin Empire, as they lost battle after battle and were pushed to their breaking point. But Archmage Richard stood up and went to visit Ahdibaijan as a messenger. They used to be good friends, so Ahdibaijan was not vigilant against Richard. Richard carried a vacuum confinement scroll with him. While Ahdibaijan was talking to him, Richard suddenly launched the scroll and instantly froze Ahdibaijan in the vacuum scroll. But Richard, the archmage, was also under countless barbarian attacks and died in the Moon Shadow City. Without strong leadership, the barbarian warriors were torn apart, and their power greatly reduced. When the Brilcardin Empire took the opportunity to launch a large counterattack, they recaptured the lost lands and regained their authority," Saul said slowly. He found Anfey knew nothing about the Pan Continent's historical events, so he took every possible opportunity to instill a variety of historical knowledge into Anfey. To Saul’s relief, no matter how long he talked, or how boring the topic was, Anfey showed great interest.
"What was going on with the barbarians at that stage?" asked Anfey.
"The barbarians live in the bitterly cold lands, envious of the bustling mankind, always wanting to steal human land and get a share of their prosperity. This… This is what they ended up with." Saul pointed toward the barbarians on the stage." In fact, in the battle against the invasion of the demon tribes, both the barbarians and the humans were united together against the demon tribes. However, humans valued the rules the most, as they thought the world would be chaotic otherwise, while the barbarians liked to challenge the rules. Perhaps because of this built-in nature, the barbarians always thought that challenging the old rules was real power. As time passed, people were increasingly unable to tolerate the barbarians. The conflicts could not be suppressed any longer. The barbarians lost the fight against the humans and were driven away from this land. They were expelled to the remote western desert with no hope of returning." Saul paused, then asked, "Anfey, are you feeling sympathetic towards the barbarians?"
"There is nothing to be sympathetic of. If the humans had lost that war, we would be the ones living in the bitterly cold West," Anfey faintly said. A person's role was not static, Anfey could tell that Saul and Ernest cared about him dearly. He did not want to lie to the ones who cared about him the most. Of course, Anfey couldn’t let them know that he himself was too wise, otherwise he would be treated as a suspicious person.
"Well, yes!" Saul nodded. He was not worried that Anfey would become another Yagor. Instead, he was worried that Anfey would become a good person. Over the years, Saul had seen a lot of the dark side of this world. He knew well that a good man could only receive the fate of being fooled.
"What are those beasts?" Anfey looked at the two werewolves on the stage.
"They are orcs, originating from the barbarian species. But in the most critical battle between humans and barbarians, the orcs were deceived by the humans and suddenly betrayed their own species, making the barbarians suffer heavy losses." Saul sighed softly, then said, "Speaking in terms of physical strength, both barbarians and orcs are much stronger than humans, but in terms of intelligence, they are far worse and lag behind. The orcs did not expect, after the barbarians were defeated, to become the target of the human’s attack. In the end, those orcs had to flee away into the deep forests, where they mixed with the demons. The barbarians to the west would not accept traitors, and the human armies were everywhere to the east, trying to push those orcs towards extinction.
"Unfortunate people must be full of hatred." Anfey frowned. "I feel the orcs are more brutal than the barbarians!"
"The truth is the truth." Saul laughed. "In the countless years of exile thereafter, resentment rooted so deeply in their hearts that their characteristics became more and more extreme. In the eyes of humans, the orcs were nothing more than magic beasts. In the Mage Academy’s graduation exam, the students had to kill a certain number of orcs in order to graduate."
At this point, the fight on the stage had already begun. The barbarian was obviously a newbie. That’s not to say that his skills were poor, but he didn’t understand the brutal nature of fighting. His attacks weren’t strong enough, and it seemed like he was still holding back. Instead, the two werewolves worked together very well, attacking without reservation. It seemed that they had a lot of fighting experience.
Suddenly, a werewolf, desperately suffering from the barbarian’s heavy attack, stretched out its claws towards the barbarian's face and left five deep bloodstains on his forehead and left cheek. The barbarian’s left eye was also destroyed.
The barbarian roared with great madness. He had retained his strength until now. He didn’t want to be enslaved by humans and was always looking for opportunities to escape, but now things had changed; he would not have a chance if he didn’t use everything he had!
Facing the big crowd at the bar, Saul and Ernest were already used to this. To them, these types of fights were dull and boring. The only reason they came here was because they wanted Anfey to see things like this and get a taste of what real fighting was like.
Soon, the barbarian on the stage could not support himself, and blood poured out of his wounds. The madness reflected in this barbarian’s red eyes gradually faded. When his eyes changed from red to brown, his body had come crashing down on the boxing stage.
The two werewolves did not let go of the dying barbarian. They rushed up, biting at the barbarian. The boxing moderator saw that the fight had ended and removed the shrouded boxing enchantment. But at that time, one of the werewolves suddenly jumped outside of the boxing stage, howling. Without the enchantment, to the werewolf, the iron net was very fragile and would easily break after a few strikes.
The audience was a mess, and the guests backed away from the stage. Several guards rushed out from the corner near the back door, holding longbows. They started shooting arrows, but the two werewolves in the net desperately struggled to break a hole and escape. Obviously, the two werewolves were obedient in the past, so the guards were simply not prepared or vigilant enough. The moderator was a medium level mage who cast a spell on them again, but in the end, it was unknown whether or not these two werewolves could successfully escape.
Guests inside the bar retreated, but Saul and two others indifferently sat there, motionless.
"Come and help! You will run out of luck if you let the werewolves escape!" A guard shouted at Saul, as he had seen the mage gowns Saul and Anfey wore.
"Anfey, are you afraid?" Saul said to Anfey with a smile.
"What should I be afraid of with you and Uncle Ernest here?" Anfey smiled.
After breaking the mage’s spell, a werewolf had stuck half his body out of the net. His mouth issued a terrible roar, a pair of blood red eyes staring at the people around. They were smart—in order to reduce the alertness of those around them, they behaved like weak and obedient animals, making the bar guards gradually think they were no longer a threat.
Today was a rare opportunity for them. From the morning until now, they only killed three opponents who were relatively weak, allowing them to retain enough strength. The boss of the bar also went out with three high-level swordsmen. There wouldn’t be a better chance than today!
Just as a flood was the accumulation of individual drops, so was the werewolves’ anger and revenge! Their wild hearts were imprisoned for a long time, inevitably becoming more violent! The werewolves struggled outward from the iron net, staring at the people. Escaping had become a secondary goal, before he fled, he first wanted to get revenge on all the people around him!
A subtle but dazzling electric arc suddenly pierced and hit the iron net. The two werewolves screamed miserably. The second werewolf was heavily struck by the electricity and paralyzed on the ground. The bar was suddenly filled with a toasted smell.
The bar became extremely silent, and everyone turned to look at Saul, who had silently cast a middle-level spell. Everyone with a little knowledge knew that this old guy was certainly a middle-level, or maybe even a high-level, magician! If people knew that Saul was not an electric spell master, they would be more surprised, because only the top archmages could cast silent and fast spells!
"Let's go, the air is too turbid here." Saul took out a few gold coins and threw them on the table.
Ernest smiled, standing up and walked towards the exit with Anfey. The silent crowd moved quickly to give a way to the three mystery men. The bar guards didn’t have to courage to stop them or even say "Thank you."
"I remember now!" A fat man suddenly shouted, shocking the people around him. "He is Saul, the Greatest Archmage Saul, ah!!"
The crowd got even more shocked, the Greatest Archmage Saul! To them, he was a legendary figure!
Hiding in the corner, a blonde young man was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "He is Saul! He is here!"