The Wizard World

He walked down the dark path and went across a small forest, then he arrived at a small house.

Two oil lamps were hanging on the door of the house. The dim light only brightened about a small area in the front, and the oil lamps knocked on the door from time to time as the wind blew.

Angele wiped the dust off his clothes and walked to the fences of the yard.

He put his hand on the cold wooden handle and pushed it slightly.

"Dennis! You’re back." In the yard, a cute chubby girl wearing a gray robe was watering the flowers. She turned around and raised her head.

"Yeah, where’s Sidman?" Angele asked.

"He’s inside."

"I’ll talk to you later."

"Sure."

Angele passed through the yard and entered the house. It was bright inside, and the walls were decorated with fine glass lamps.

It was warm and cozy inside. The fragrance of fruit wine permeated the air.

An old man with white messy hair sat in a sofa quietly in the living room explaining something to the Wizard apprentice named Sidman in a low voice. Two glasses of warm green wine were placed on the table in front of the two.

Angele could also smell some spices he could not recognize in the room.

He was a bit worried when he decided to disguise himself as Dennis. However, he felt relieved after seeing the old man. The old man was just a below average Wizard. He had not yet reached the Gas stage.

If the old man had reached Gas or Liquid stage, there would be no point for him in staying beside a countryside and collect materials. Joining any major Wizard organization would bring him much more benefit.

The old man’s Mentality was much lower than Angele, so he was not worried that the man could see through his disguise.

Angele was not expecting to meet a high-rank Wizard, but he was injured, and the signet was the only thing he could rely on at the moment. He also wanted to save the charges for more important matters.

"Master, I’m back." He imitated Dennis’s voice.

"Alright." The old man glanced at him for a bit and nodded, then continued to chat with Sidman.

Dennis was just a rank 1 Wizard apprentice, but he was the son of the old Wizard’s younger brother. Angele learned the information during the interrogation. It seemed that Dennis did not get treated differently due to his relationship with the Wizard. His rank was lower than the other two Wizard apprentices, so he had to clean the rooms every day and carry daily supplies back from the town.

Dennis came to the Wizard one year ago. He was having trouble progressing and he barely talked to the old man. He would rather take the books back to his room and read them himself.

Also, the old man did not treat Dennis like an apprentice. Dennis was shy and quiet, so it was not hard for Angele to act like him.

Angele was alone most of the time and he got used to it already. One of the characteristics of being an introvert was having a preference of not communicating with people.

Old man Markolov was wearing a white robe. There was a silver metal string inserted into his collar. He was explaining things to Sidman, but Sidman did not seem to understand what his master was saying.

Angele listened to their conversation for a while. They were just talking about the fundamentals of energy particles. It was just a waste of time for him, so he went straight to Dennis’s room on the first floor. Dennis had said that Wizard apprentices were only allowed to live in one of the rooms behind the living room.

He walked to the end of the hall and saw Dennis’s name on one of the four bedrooms’ door.

Angele opened the door with the key and locked it after walking inside.

‘I’m good as long as Markolov doesn’t know who I am.’ Angele pursed his lips to a smile.

Angele had to burn the real Dennis into a pile of ash after he tried to escape.

The room was simple. A desk and a single bed were set up by the corners. He also saw several black wooden chairs and a small bookshelf on the side.

Angele lit the oil lamp. He grabbed a chair and sat down by the desk.

There was a thick leather book on the desk and the title was written in Anmag. It said, ‘The Basics of Energy Compression’.

Angele opened the book.

‘Energy Compression is an important subject that is being studied by many Wizards. It is also the standard testing method for those who can turn their bodies into pure energy’. This was the first line on the first page.

‘Huh? This must be Markolov’s book. He hasn’t reached Gas stage yet, but he’s studying such a deep energy related subject?’ Angele was curious.

He turned the page and kept reading.

Time passed and Angele’s expression turned serious. He finished the book after about half an hour.

Angele closed the book as he closed his eyes.

’72 formulas. Combining them together, many energy compression related problems can be easily solved. It’s impossible for a nomadic Wizard to understand such concept. Maybe he inherited it from one of the ancient Wizard families...’ Angele was still thinking about the complicated formulas and structures he saw in the book.

The structures demonstrated how to compress any type of energy particles. It was like a complicated mathematical problem. Using different formulas to obtain the simple result.

‘Learning the formulas are easy. The problem is how to apply them to the real issue. Logical thinking is definitely needed here. The more I compress the energy, the more mentality will be consumed, but the result will be worth it. Also, that must be why Markolov can make a large tree explode with a simple Fireball.’

Angele was excited with what he just found. Although he knew each nomadic Wizard had their own secrets, he still did not expect to find the knowledge on energy compression here.

Angele chose to see Markolov because he was more familiar with Fire spells. Finding the knowledge about energy compression was just a bonus for him.

If he could master the energy compression formulas, he would be able to power up all his abilities.

Angele grabbed the oil lamp and walked to the bookshelf. He wanted to find other books related to the subject.

However, he was disappointed that the books on the shelf had no related information, and none of them was valuable.

Angele sat on the chair and thought for a while. He decided to meditate on the bed first. He still needed several months to recover, so he had plenty of time to research.

*********************************

At noon, Angele left the drugstore in the town and walked to the direction of the town gate.

He saw residents gathered beside a large poster on the wall.

People were excited. They were discussing the content of the poster. Angele stopped by the crowd and raised his head to check what was happening.

The title of the poster said, ‘Criminal Wanted’, and below that was a painting of Angele’s face.

‘The reward for capturing this person is 500,000 gold coins and 200 high-quality magic stones. People who bring valid intel to me will be rewarded with 50,000 gold coins and 30 high-quality magic stones.’

‘200 high-quality magic stones...’ Angele was a bit surprised.

"The best we can do is getting them intel. Only Wizards can fight the wanted man, I think. What did he do to the White Mist Forest? Haha." A young man behind him laughed.

"We don’t need to work for the rest of our lives if we can find this man."

"He’s in deep shit... Several major Wizard organizations want him dead. You saw the insignias? Damn. The Miloshine Family, White Mist Forest, and Labyrinth College, what the hell did he do?" a mercenary-like brawny man asked in a low voice.

"I don’t know. We’re just mortals. We should mind our own businesses."

The crowd kept discussing.

Angele spent most of the time cleaning the rooms and organizing books in the house in the last ten days. No one saw through his disguise as he barely said any word.

He purchased some herbs to make healing potion from the drugstore in the town and he was recovering well, but he still needed some time to heal his organs.

Angele went to the drugstore again today, but he did not expect to see the poster on the wall. He left the crowd with a bag in his left and walked to Markolov’s house.

He walked down the dark path, passed through the fences, and returned to the house quickly. Before he opened the door, he heard two people having a conversation in the living room.

"Are you sure about this?" Markolov asked.

"Yes, master. My family is disappointed at me because I haven’t progressed in years and they want me to go back... Please forgive me..." Sidman answered in a shaky tone.

Markolov thought for a while, and responded, "I understand... So, what’s your plan?"

"I’ll leave as soon as possible." Sidman hesitated for a second.

"Also, thanks for teaching me. I’m just not talented enough to understand the complicated system." He sounded depressed.

"It’s not your fault." Markolov sighed and ended the conversation.

Angele waited by the door until the two finished their words. He opened the door and saw Markolov and Sidman sitting on the sofa with depressed looks on their faces.

He bowed to Markolov politely and returned to his room.

Sidman hired a carriage in the afternoon and left the Aster Town.

Angele and Natalia said goodbye to him and watched him leave, but Markolov stayed in the house. It looked like he was planning something.