Chapter 64
Departure
Dolan was somewhat surprised by Matthew's keen observation, and his malice quickly subsided.
Just as Dolan was about to step forward, he suddenly noticed something, and a look of astonishment crossed his face.
"You've been promoted to intermediate apprentice?"
"What else?" Matthew said calmly, coldly staring at the other person.
Dolan's expression quickly returned to calm, and a gentle smile appeared on his face. "It seems you've gained quite a bit in the Winter Realm. I sincerely wish you all the best, my friend."
After saying that, Dolan walked straight into the teleportation hall without saying anything more.
Watching Dolan's disappearing figure, Matthew fell into deep thought. "It seems he's heading to the Winter Realm."
Just now, Matthew sensed a familiar eeriness from the other party, exactly like that eeriness of the eye rune.
Although it was only a fleeting moment, it was still caught by Matthew's heightened senses after his promotion.
Why does Dolan also have that eerie feeling about him?
"Did he also obtain that eye rune?"
"Wait a minute..." Matthew suddenly remembered something.
"Dolan's obsession with Mold's corpse must be related to that rune!"
He suddenly remembered that Mold also possessed that strange rune and had incorporated a part of it into his sorcery.
"No wonder he wanted to help me deal with Mold back then, now it makes sense."
"But what exactly is this rune? And how did Mold master its conversion method?"
Thinking of this, Matthew couldn't help but shake his head. He still had too little information and knew nothing about the strange runes.
"Never mind, let's go and finish the mission first."
He snapped out of his daze and headed towards the rental office.
……
This was Matthew's first time at the rental place.
As soon as he entered the hall, he noticed a variety of oddly shaped and quietly parked vehicles of transportation.
These vehicles were all designed in the form of alchemical organisms.
He walked up to a finely crafted alchemical spider.
【Name: Alchemy】
[Ingredients: Sorcery Alloy, Rune Resonance Ingot, Alchemy Core, Abyssal Black Iron...]
[Can be extracted from: gold essence, concentrated energy, impurities...]
Matthew examined the alchemical spider's eight legs, the joints gleaming with a ghostly blue magical light, allowing it to traverse steep cliffs as if they were flat ground.
In addition, all eight legs are enchanted with speed runes and silence runes, so running at full speed will not affect the apprentice's research inside.
This kind of single-person mode of transportation is perfect for Matthew's trip, he said to the apprentice next to him.
"I'd like to rent this alchemical spider."
The apprentice stretched lazily. "Five magic stone fragments are available for rent for one month, with an additional magic stone fragment added every ten days thereafter."
He suddenly remembered something and added gleefully, "If it's damaged, you'll need to pay an equivalent repair fee."
Last time, some idiot was making a magic potion inside, and because he didn't control the dosage of the potion, he blew up the driver's cab.
"I lost hundreds of magic stones, and I still haven't paid it all off."
Matthew didn't say much, just nodded, paid for the magic stones, and went straight into the cockpit.
These alchemical creatures have limited intelligence, but they can drive themselves to and from their destinations.
He opened the recording and found the location of the Seven Empire, entered it into the control center, and began his research.
……
The Seven Empire is located on the southern part of the Golden West Coast, bordering several countries.
This country is rich in moon tear crystals, which are often polished and made into magical crystals to store information, so the demand is very high.
The Seven Empire gained the Tide School's protection by "voluntarily" mining Moon Tear Crystals for them free of charge.
Matthew's mission this time was to go to these Moontear Crystal mines to repair the rune nodes.
Time flies, and five days have passed in the blink of an eye.
Matthew arrived in the capital of the Seven Empire without any obstacles.
The entire kingdom attached great importance to his arrival, and even the king personally led the entire royal family and ministers to greet him.
The soldiers didn't dare to breathe loudly as they lined up along the long central avenue, revealing a wide passage.
Lord Matthew entered the city gates surrounded by princes and ministers.
"Your Majesty," King Philip stepped forward and respectfully bowed to the horse trainer.
Matthew nodded and looked around at the welcoming crowd.
Those who were being scanned by him were all on high alert, and only breathed a sigh of relief after his gaze moved away.
Just then, he caught sight of a familiar face.
Although it was their first meeting, Matthew already knew what the other person looked like from Tom's intelligence.
He was a tall, rugged-looking middle-aged man, none other than Mold's father, Draven.
Name: Draven Harrison
[Physical Fitness: 3]
【Mental Power: 5】
[Unrefinable; the item possesses its own consciousness.]
Draven, as a legendary knight, possesses immense strength, making him arguably the pinnacle of combat power in the mortal world.
However, under Matthew's gaze, he still stiffened, broke out in a cold sweat, and tried his best to maintain the dignity of a nobleman, giving Matthew a standard noble salute.
"grown ups."
Matthew didn't respond; he looked away and continued walking forward.
He could sense that the other party had no magical fluctuations; he was just a mortal with a slightly stronger physical body.
Draven breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously followed behind the group, not angry at being ignored, nor did he dare to be.
That night, the royal family held a grand banquet for Matthew.
However, he only made an appearance at the banquet before returning to his residence.
It wasn't that he was putting on airs, nor did he need to. In the wizarding world, strength represents everything.
He has many things to do ahead of him and doesn't have time to waste on irrelevant people.
……
Nighttime, inside a secluded underground cave on the outskirts of the capital.
"Grandfather," Draven knelt on one knee and bowed to the old man before him.
His attitude was even more respectful than when he was with Matthew.
The old man had a full head of white hair, a face covered in wrinkles, and a fierce look in his eyes.
"Hmm, how's it going? Any news from Mold?"
Draven's face darkened. Since his son went to the Winter Realm, there had been no news of him, and he had a bad feeling.
He shook his head. "Still no."
Amon remained silent for a moment before asking, "So, what brings you here this time?"
"The Tide School has sent people to repair the rune nodes today."
According to the information revealed by that old man Philip, the other party's name is Matthew, and he seems to be a mid-level apprentice.
Amon's face turned serious. "Intermediate apprentice..."
"Grandfather, do you think our upbringing will be affected?"
Amon frowned and sighed, "Of all times, it has to be at this critical juncture."
We should be as careful as possible during this time...