A Sorcerer's Journey - Chapter 141

Chapter 141: Peculiar and Majestic

At Cameron’s guidance, Grimm had an intimate taste of the bustling culture that belonged to the Seven Rings Holy Tower’s Central District.

After no less than five days temporarily staying at Sorcerer Wutong’s castle at the moon lake, Grimm and Peranos once more set out on their journey. They proceeded toward their final travel destination of the Seven Rings Holy Tower.

…

Three days later.

In the wilderness, Peranos and Grimm were sampling some barbecue and soup a humanoid creature off to one side prepared. Smelling the unique flavors from an alien land in the meantime, Grimm’s eyes lit up as he tasted a small amount of it. Contrary to what one might expect, Peranos was long accustomed to it already. He used a burst of magic waves to send off his familiar and have it return to Black Isotta’s Secret Mirror.

This too was one of the benefits of holding a position as dean at a regional sorcerer school. He was able to place his own familiar in the tower master’s secret mirror and summon it to the sorcerer world at all times by using the sorcerer tower’s magic.

Peranos saw the appearance of Grimm’s abundant appetite and shook his head. He commented, “Wait until you become an official sorcerer several centuries later. These things will just be very much the same old routine.”

Grimm wiped off the grease from the side of his mouth. Likewise shaking his head, he replied, “Master, it is exactly because I still have not yet become an official sorcerer that has experienced those long years. As a result, I need to enjoy the beauty at this very moment as much as possible while still being a sorcerer-apprentice. If not, when that time I already lost such basic interests comes—so much so that there are no good memories—is there no meaning whatsoever if the life before was completely empty?”

The hand which Peranos used to hold the soup spoon trembled. He looked at Grimm in astonishment.

This single speech from Grimm, actually made Peranos view him in a new light.

The flickering firelight shone between the mountain’s light and darkness. The distant cries of insects rose and fell. The moonlight seemed to spread out upon the earth like a layer of silver muslin that also bashfully hid from the clouds at once.

At this very moment, Grimm was right in the middle of enjoying the beauty an official sorcerer could not perceive.

This kind of beauty was from unfamiliar wonder and looking toward the unknown when it came to the surrounding nature and fauna. It was as if the magical and beautiful nature in the next moment will have its own unexpectedly pleasant surprise appear. But expectedly, owing to the sorcerer’s accumulated years of settling and knowledge as well as guiding and controlling natural force, genuine pleasure already started to gradually fade away with the exception of still more profoundly mystical law and occult knowledge.

Rrr, rrr, rrr…

He listened. Indeed the insects chattered in a low volume within the underbrush. It was like if one didn’t listen to mother at night and stealthily ran out to play with an elf between whispers.

‘Eh?’

Just in the split second Grimm and Peranos raised their heads, the ten kilometers of dark underbrush surrounding them suddenly had countless faint lights appear. It was just as if they were in a trance. Grimm and Peranos went from a desolate area in the countryside to enter a world right out of children’s fairy tales.

The innumerable specks all around them glimmered. It was just like the stars twinkling in the sky!

Grimm and Peranos just stood still and quiet within this dreamland from the period of childhood. They admired the surroundings unexpectedly becoming a magnificent dream-like view in stupefaction.

Grimm opened his eyes widely. He muttered, “This is…”

“The rainbow[1] river, Grimm. This is the rainbow river! This is one of the most wondrous, beautiful, and majestic sceneries in the sorcerer world. It’s completely due to the rainbow being formed from a river of insects. They are a swarm of wondrous organisms of the sorcerer world that devours great polar lost lights and only appears by chance at dark areas without light and off the beaten track.” Peranos’ sinister-looking face, at this very moment, was enchanted with astonishment as he muttered these words.

This sort of mood that showed up and fluctuated from Peranos—from this old sorcerer—was really to be rarely seen.

Great polar lost lights were light rays that come from Otherworlds passing through the void and reaching the sorcerer world. Great polar lost lights would be automatically purified by the sorcerer world’s light source rules. Only at night was there a little bit that passes through the sorcerer world’s nothingness boundary to scatter all over the world.

Rainbow. A type of insect-class life form in the sorcerer world that forms a swarming rainbow for a length of time to devour the great polar lost lights that came from Otherworlds. On account of the short duration of time of them assembling and taking the shape of a rainbow during the curtain of night, it was called the rainbow river.

The rainbow river?

Grimm recalled a boring insect amongst symbiotic insects. It was the largest alternative for all the sorcerer-apprentices.

It’s said that these boring insects were born precisely on account of some changes in the wake of the ancient period of the sorcerer world. There were less and less great polar lost lights in the sky and those rainbows that did not consume enough great polar lost lights just gradually variated into the boring insects of the present. They changed to devour certain trace elements of the sorcerer world to survive.

Afterward, under a mishap, sorcerers discovered this kind of symbiotic insect was even more valuable than rainbows that possess the capability of camouflage under sunlight.

Peranos abruptly waved his hand and the bonfire went out. He explained, “The light of the fire can purify the great polar lost lights in the vicinity.”

Buzz, buzz, buzz…

The endless rainbow seemed to receive some kind of call. From all over they flew one after another, spreading their wings towards the sky. Very quickly they formed a “rainbow” several ten-meters-tall soaring to the sky. Of course, this multi-colored “rainbow” did not take the shape of an arch bridge and instead was like a “rainbow river” flowing down from the horizon.

Magnificent! Miraculous and outstandingly beautiful!

Suddenly, as far as the eye can see within the night sky, all the coloring that seemed to disappear twisted and a light emerged in the dark night sky above. Beneath the heavens, these dark distorted light rays seemed the be partnered with some kind of set task. Bearing the weight of some period of history and recording the years of otherworlds.

Until they arrived at the sorcerer world later, meeting with these devouring “alien land light” small creatures surrounding it and thus terminating their set task in the endless world.

Also not knowing how many empty worlds it passed through before finally reaching the sorcerer world, these light rays from an alien world.

No less than one-third of an hourglass of time later, the distorted dull light rays within the sky were no more. The rainbow river also let out a burst of what seemed like early morning birdsong. The points of light in countless rainbows gradually dimmed and faded away not to be seen.

The sky and earth were once again restored to its usual tranquility. Everything just a moment ago truly seemed like it was merely a dream and nothing more.

Grimm dazedly mumbled a sentence. “The beauty of nature…”

…

Five days later.

Grimm and Peranos stood at the peak of a towering mountain range, their complexions somewhat unsightly.

The frantic sand blown by the wind made Grimm blind as it stuck to his eyes. Sounds of impact echoed incessantly on the defensive cover and countless ripples of the defensive cover spread over. It appeared like an undisturbed water surface was struck with torrential rain and chaotic splashes caused multiple ripples.

Peranos stood in front of Grimm. Shaking his head, he said, “This is an otherworld being that was an expert in controlling hurricane forces in the ancient times that formed into a camel wind after dying in the sorcerer world. This powerful otherworld being summoned it into the sorcerer world with a Celestial Sorcerer when they both died during the second civilization war here. It forms a natural disaster here: camel wind and fused lightning. This is Seven Rings Holy Tower area’s ‘Two Ring True Fall’ large basin.”

The so-called Two Ring ought to be the two giant crater rings that overlapped and were formed by two Celestial Sorcerer level beings falling from the sky.

Below the basin several ten kilometers wide, a terrible hurricane that clashed with the sky and was a hundred or more meters in diameter wreaked havoc. The surrounding soil and crushed rock flew and swirled, charging into the horizon. It was the same as an arrow violently being shot and took the shape of a frightening nightmare area. In the sky, blood-red lightning dropped from the sky at intervals of almost every few breaths for no reason at all. After bombarding the ground, even lava pits appeared after. It produced a “pop, pop, pop” smothered noise, similar to a blacksmith holding a red-hot sword and placing it in iced water.

Huuuuu

Grimm suddenly became aware of the surrounding hurricane force becoming even more frantic. After his eyes underneath the Ashen Mask faintly concentrated, he just saw an even more distant location. Two mutually intertwined terrible hurricanes together with blood-colored lightning circling down gradually took shape. Even the lava created from the fused lightning on the floor also rose up.

As well as the, even more, remote sandstorm that covered the dusky region. Heaven only knew how much this terrible hurricane still had.

Grimm had the slightest bit of doubt. At this very moment, if he dared to cross this valley alone, there would not even be half an hourglass’s time before he was successfully torn apart and explode into flying ash by the hurricane and fused lightning.

“Originally if we passed through between the two rings, we only needed to travel a dozen or more days before reaching the Seven Rings Holy Tower. At the moment, if we’re talking about overtaking the camel wind and fused lightning’s devastating phase, even I dare not take the risk. Nevertheless, let’s detour around this Two Ring True Fall large basin. If we fly all-out we ought to detour around it in three months.” Peranos wrinkled his brows as he spoke.

Three months?

Grimm was faintly startled. A first seat formal sorcerer flying with all their strength needed three months to move around a large basin a Celestial Sorcerer fell down and formed?

It was no wonder Master explained that one-sixth of the sorcerer continent were destroyed after the second civilization war. Heaven only knew how many large and small craters there were on the sorcerer continent from Celestial Sorcerers and stigmata sorcerers.

However, since Master Peranos said that he did not dare to easily cross the large basin that seemed to be doomsday-class Two Ring True Fall, Grimm did not dare to say anything more. Grimm nodded before following Peranos after a sigh to travel around and left the surrounding mountain range.

This end of the mountain range was extremely similar to a scene of doomsday. However, on the other end is the peaceful four seasons of the sorcerer world, in turn, a serene landscape day and night. It seemed like two entirely different worlds.

…

Two months later!

Grimm and Peranos finally reached the border of the Seven Rings Holy Tower.

On top of the shell of a giant snail more than ten-meters-tall, Peranos, Grimm, and an additional seven-to-eight formal sorcerer and sorcerer-apprentices wearing halos top their head mutually displayed simple sorcerer etiquette. They silently waited for the snail underneath them to smoothly and rapidly “crawl” up the huge defensive cover.

“This is the Seven Rings Holy Tower sorcerer cover. Unless one possesses Stigmata sorcerer energy levels or given protection by the sorcerer world’s original will, they will be thoroughly purified by the sorcerer cover,” Peranos said softly.

Grimm nodded his head as he sat on the back of the snail. He stared at the so-called defensive cover underneath the snail’s body, quietly swallowing.

This transparent defensive cover that seemed like a transparent wok was placed upside down was somewhat similar to the defensive cover on the competition stage. Only this defensive cover of the Seven Rings Holy Tower covered a rather excessively extensive area. It completely isolated who-knows-how-many myriad meters of the sorcerer world’s heaven and earth!

If one wanted to enter inside the defensive cover, as long as one was an official sorcerer they can effortlessly pass through a checkpoint scattered all around the defensive cover. Then once more pass through a link to reach the Seven Rings Holy Tower.

And if you want to head straight to the Seven Rings Holy Tower, besides this sort of snail known as Seven Rings Emissary that could climb on top of the defensive cover, anything that had not been recognized by the sorcerer world’s principal will that dared touch it with malice would be met with destructive attacks.

Five hours later, the snail climbed to the precipice of the defensive cover. Below, violent energy fluctuated and rose that Grimm and all the sorcerer-apprentices took note of.

Slightly filled with wonder, Grimm and all the other sorcerer-apprentices on top of the snail responded the same way. Facing the transparent sorcerer cover below the snail, the gaze swept past into the interior

‘This is…’

A sorcerer tower? A towering and awe-inspiring sorcerer tower similar to Black Isotta Tower? Then this was… the Seven Rings Holy Tower, right?

Not just Grimm but the other sorcerer-apprentices all carried doubtful gazes at this one sorcerer tower beneath the snail. Even though it was grand—even if it was awe-inspiring—it fell short of everyone’s imagination of what humanity’s holy land would look like too much.

Merely a seven-to-eight-hundred-meters-tall sorcerer tower? This was exactly mankind’s holy land?

Peranos caught sight of Grimm casting doubtful looks. He faintly said, “This is only a support for the sorcerer cover enchantment’s energy node for the Seven Rings Holy Tower, that’s all. Unless you are under the impression that such a tremendously extensive sorcerer cover depends on what energy well-spring?”

Underneath the Ashen Mask, Grimm gaped—partially terrified.

A sorcerer cover enchantment that used six sorcerer towers as energy nodes?

…

Three days later!

The snail beneath everyone seems steady and “slow-moving” but the crawl speed on the Seven Rings Holy Tower’s defensive cover was a lot faster than compared to a sorcerer flying with all their power.

Until the time everyone felt the cloud banks were precisely several meters above their heads, an earth-shattering endless emerald green appeared in the distances underneath the transparent defensive cover’s “cover surface.” Towering, dense green jade trees pointed straight up and pressed against the summit of this ten-thousand-meter-tall defensive cover.

Grimm stared blankly down before responding in a soft mumble, “This. It’s precisely the sorcerer world… life tree?”