The Wizard World - Exploration and Thoughts (1)

Several translucent energy waves appeared on the bed again.     

A man sitting cross-legged on the bed gradually emerged as soon as the waves vanished into the air.     

Angele slowly opened his eyes, feeling dizzy.     

He could see the pink mist floating around in the bedroom.     

The place was deafeningly silent. He could no longer hear the noises produced by the lava from the tunnel.     

Angele’s brow furrowed as he jumped off the bed.     

He drew the cursed scimitar slowly and activated the buff, strings of green energy climbed up his wrist.     

‘The familiar air…and this feeling…it’s making me nervous and excited at the same time…’ Angele narrowed his eyes. His fear of being in an unknown realm was making his heart pump harder.     

Moments like this were the main reason why he enjoyed being a wizard.     

The bedroom was quiet and the only thing here was the red mist.     

Angele walked to the door and carefully unlocked it.     

The bronze handle of the door was hard and cold.     

*Creak*     

The door was pushed open slowly, revealing the dark red tunnel outside.     

Angele did not leave the room right away but waited by the door for a while.     

He did not detect any movement outside.     

He tapped his pouch slightly and a scorpion-shaped rune appeared on his forehead. Angele then took out the Light of Thorns and held it tight in his left hand.     

He jumped out of the door after everything was prepared.     

*PA*     

He landed on the floor of the tunnel safely.     

Angele glanced around. The sight in the tunnel was blurred by the red mist as well.     

Upon taking a deep breath, he noticed that the sulfur smell in the air was gone.     

*DANG*     

A sound like a metal hammer hitting a wall.     

‘Is it a bell…?’ Angele was surprised; he quickly covered his body with a thin layer of metal.     

*DANG*     

The bell rang again, and the noise echoed throughout the tunnel.     

‘It’s close.” Angele followed the direction of the sound and started advancing slowly.     

The tunnel would lead him to the other areas of the ruin, but the visibility was very low.     

Angele proceeded with caution, as he turned left at a corner and entered another tunnel.     

Several seconds later, he found the source of the noise.     

On the left side of the tunnel, there was an enormous wooden grandfather clock. The base of the case was red, and the clock was white; such contrast was eye-catching.     

The structure of the clock was a bit strange. There was a black hammer hitting a piece of red metal and that was where the noise came from.     

Angele stopped by the clock and rubbed the surface of the glass panel feeling that it was cold but smooth.     

His eyebrows drew together as he started moving forward again. The mysterious rune he found from the door was guiding him to a certain location.     

The rhythmic noise made by the clock was still bothering him after he went past several tunnels.     

*DANG DANG DANG DANG*     

Suddenly, the noise produced by the clock became intense.     

*DANG DANG DANG DANG DANG DANG DANG DANG DANG*     

It almost sounded like someone was hitting the metal piece furiously with the hammer.     

Angele drew the scimitar and as he turned around, he started running back to the grandfather clock.     

*Kata Kata*     

His footsteps echoed in the tunnel, and the noise coming from the clock was getting louder and louder. It seemed as if the clock was trying to convey something.     

Angele lowered his body and started scanning the area using the biochip.     

He was approaching a corner as he lightened his footsteps.     

He turned around and rushed to the tunnel where the clock was located.     

At that moment, the sound made by the clock disappeared.     

The tunnel was silent and empty. He could not find any trace left by the grandfather clock.     

Angele exhaled once slowly. What was in front of him was a clean and smooth stone wall.     

*CHI KA*     

He heard something that sounded like a radio changing its frequency.     

“This is Coleman and the Coleman’s Last Voice Potion will become the greatest achievement in his life. Father said that I’ll become a legend and I’m certain that…”     

The strange voice echoed in Angele’s ears. He took several steps back as his expression changed.     

The voice sounded like a young boy’s and it came from nowhere.     

“Coleman loves chestnuts. He loves berry juice. He wants to stay in the bed as long as he can…”     

The boy’s voice changed, and it now sounded cute.     

Angele had a serious expression on his face. He sped up even more as the voice seemed to continuously pierce through his brow. It almost like being stabbed by multiple forks in the head.     

“Ah…I stabbed my father by accident. He’s bleeding. Will he die? It doesn’t matter, I can change the body for him and he’ll live forever!     

“Why do they fear me? I’m so cute. I hate them! I hate those filthy adults!”     

The boy’s voice slowly quieted down and disappeared as soon as Angele had fled from the tunnel.     

He quickly stopped; his face was covered in cold sweat.     

The path ahead was dark. When Angele turned his head around, the only thing he could see was pure darkness.     

He had no idea where he was at now. The voice of the young boy was killing him, and he could barely think straight. A wizard needed to focus his mind before he could fight back. That was the reason why he escaped the area.     

‘Zero, show me the map.’     

‘Checking … Warning … Warning … Unfamiliar route detected …’     

A clean blue map was displayed in front of Angele’s left eye labeled as ‘Original Ruin Map’.     

A red map then appeared in front of his right eye of which he had never seen before.     

Angele observed the two maps carefully. The route he had chosen was marked on the red map but the only known area on that one was the residential area.     

Furthermore, he noticed that his route on the map was a straight line.     

Angele was certain that he turned several times on the way.     

He compared the red map to the blue map and realized that they were completely different.     

Angele took a deep breath and calmed down. He double-checked the surroundings, but he did not detect any invasive energy wave.     

He held the scimitar tight and began to press on once again.     

Several minutes later, a painting appeared on the right side. Golden edges, colorful image, and clean frame.     

Angele stopped by the painting and looked at it.     

He saw a city in the painting. There were two stick men standing in the center of a street. They did not fit the image very well as there was no detail on their faces.     

It felt like that the two stick men were drawn by a kid, but the city was drawn by an artist.     

Suddenly, the two stick men started moving in Angele’s sight.     

They held each other’s hands and started moving around the city.     

“Ah…my sons… Where are you going? Come back… Come back home… Don’t leave…”     

A gentle female voice echoed in the tunnel which sounded as if she was muttering and singing.     

Angele glanced around. The place was empty, and no one was around.     

An unpleasant feeling climbed up his back.     

He decided to keep advancing. The woman’s voice slowly went away.     

By the end of the tunnel was a pink bronze door. It was half-open and bright white light was leaking out of it.     

He slowly moved to the door and peeked inside.     

On the left side of the room, there were two cats playing chess in the corner. White-furred yet instead of paw and leg, they had a muscular human right arm of yellow color.     

They were using the human hands to pick up the chess pieces.     

The two white cats were focusing on the chessboard, not noticing the wizard outside the door.     

Angele used the stealth technique and stepped into the door, moving to the right side.     

He did not want to startle the two cats. Angele already knew how dangerous this realm was. He was certain that the danger level of the ruin was higher than his home in the Six Ring Area and back there, he had already nearly experienced death.     

Angele was a much stronger wizard than before, but he did not test his luck on those mutated nightmare creatures. The old turtle he met by the river almost petrified him.     

The two white cats still focused on the chessboard after Angele entered the room. It seemed the stealth technique worked.     

He went across the room safely and found a door. Angele opened the door and entered a hallway.     

Angele realized that the area ahead was the spell training facility. The visibility was still low due to the absence of light and the red mist.     

He looked to the left and saw a wall covered with black vines. In the center of the wall was an engraving that looked like a woman’s face.     

Walls with such engravings could absorb a large amount of spell damage and they were great for practicing spells.     

Angele walked to the engraving and realized that there was something different.     

Suddenly, the black eyes on that woman’s face rolled several times then stared at him.     

Angele’s skull numbed after witnessing what just happened.     

“Welcome to the realm, my beloved guest,” The woman’s face opened her mouth and spoke in the universal ancient language; her voice was high-pitched but hoarse.     

“Come closer. Don’t be afraid, I won’t harm you.”     

Angele licked his dry lips and stepped forward with the scimitar in his hand.