Chapter 151: Arcanist Aiboke

From the East District to the Villa District, one must either go through the Central Plaza or pass through the port at the northeast corner of the town; it is hard to say which way is faster, but Xia Duo chose to go by way of the port.

Savile Port is merely a river port; perhaps in Netheril, this port is not considered small, and it is even quite prosperous, but to Xia Duo, who has seen the ten-thousand-meter ports on Earth, this place is no different from a small pier.

When Xia Duo passed through here, a cargo ship was unloading; the porters were four groups of ragged Orcs, about seven or eight in each group, chained together in a line, with overseers behind them holding leather whips to supervise.

This was the first time Xia Duo had seen Orc slaves; the scene of fighting Orcs in the Green Pearl Forest at the end of last year surfaced from the depths of his memory once again, but he did not dwell on it, instead continuing to walk toward the Villa District.

Crack—

Two crisp sounds of leather whips striking flesh suddenly rang out.

Immediately following was a boorish human voice, "Move faster! If it's not unloaded before dark, no one gets to eat; the Golden Lark Chamber of Commerce doesn't keep trash!"

"Hm? The Golden Lark Chamber of Commerce?"

Hearing this somewhat familiar name, Xia Duo could not help but look back; it was indeed a dark-faced man whipping the Orc slaves.

While whipping them, he was also cursing, "Idiots! Hurry up! Handle them carefully, if you spill even a little, you'll pay for it!"

This scene brought to mind some unpleasant memories for Xia Duo; if he had been successfully enslaved by Lao Neil back then, he might have experienced the same things these Orcs were going through.

And the collaborator Lao Neil chose was precisely the Golden Lark Chamber of Commerce; so much time had passed, and he had thought he would have forgotten it, yet he had unexpectedly encountered this scene today.

After leaving the port, Xia Duo's already somewhat irritable mood became even more agitated, and an unnamed anger surged from somewhere.

However, Xia Duo also knew that the Golden Lark Chamber of Commerce was merely a tool to Lao Neil; without the Golden Lark, there would be the Silver Lark, and the culprit was indeed Lao Neil, but Xia Duo's disgust for this chamber of commerce could not be dispelled.

Arriving at Feierbosi Villa, Xia Duo discovered that the villa gate was already surrounded by a group of Adventurers; the Adventurers were clamoring, and a person who looked like a butler was trying to appease them inside.

"Everyone, rest assured, my master has only gone to the Mage Tower for a short stay and will return soon; at that time, we will settle the remuneration with everyone. If you are worried, you can also find me to settle in advance, but I will only calculate based on your actual progress; you all had better think it over!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo turned and left; this butler could not change his mission voucher, and now that Lady Patti had actually gone into the Mage Tower, what on earth was going on?

Would it affect his mission? If he ended up not even being able to get those 400 Gold Coins, that would be miserable.

After Xia Duo left, those Adventurers still did not disperse, blocking the villa entrance and wanting to demand their remuneration; it was unknown whether they truly had discovered something and were confident, or if they were just relying on their numbers to try and swindle money.

……

The center of the Mage Tower.

It was not only the center in terms of structure, but also the center of the Mage Tower's energy circulation.

This was the hidden fourth floor of the Mage Tower, the location of the most important, most vital Element Pool of the Mage Tower; of course, corresponding to it were the Positive Energy Pool located at the top of the tower and the Negative Energy Pool located at the very bottom.

At this moment, inside a high-standard Spell Laboratory next to the Element Pool, Lord Eps Saville and Mage Aiboke sat opposite each other; both were people the other trusted deeply.

They could even share the secrets of becoming an Advanced Arcanist; the last time it was Lord Eps who advanced, and although he ultimately failed, he had accumulated quite a bit of experience.

Moreover, personal experience is always better than hollow words on a page; with Lord Eps's personal account, this time Aiboke's advancement had been very steady.

With almost no mishaps, seeing that Aiboke was about to succeed, Lord Eps sighed in his heart that if an Arcanist had imparted experience to him, perhaps he too could have succeeded in his advancement.

It was just that having missed the level 10 opportunity, he would have to wait until advancing to Legendary to try again, but the difficulty of that was a step higher than now, and he might not even have the chance to advance to Legendary!

Eps could already feel his body's vitality fading day by day; he no longer held any hope for Legendary, and he now only wanted to become an Archmage as soon as possible and then use the Life Extension Spell left behind by his grandfather, so that he could protect Niya for a little longer.

Time passed second by second; despite the combing and Suppression of the Mage Tower, the Magic Net in this Spell Laboratory was still "rolling" violently, as if it knew the fate it was about to encounter.

Just then, Aiboke suddenly shouted, "Eps, I have reached the final step; the Magic Net is about to riot, stand into the Magic Array first."

While saying this, Mage Aiboke was manipulating an energy circulation composed of the four elements of earth, fire, water, and wind, as well as positive and negative energy, struggling to control it, while the surrounding Magic Net twisted crazily with this energy circulation as its core.

Seeing this, Lord Eps did not dare to be careless at all; he had failed his last advancement right here, and in order to avoid affecting Aiboke and for his own safety, he hurriedly hid inside the Protection Array.

This Protection Array could isolate the Magic Net; as soon as Eps entered it, he felt like a fish out of water, feeling completely uncomfortable.

Although it had no substantial effect on him, the psychological gap of a Mage suddenly losing Magic can be imagined.

And after Aiboke saw Eps enter the Protection Array, he immediately took action; the circulation composed of the four elements and positive and negative energy began to intensify, but this was not the essence of becoming an Advanced Arcanist.

It was merely the outward manifestation during the advancement process.

In reality, Aiboke was crazily and systematically tearing at the Magic Net within the Spell Laboratory, and its outward manifestation was the circulation of elements and energy.

This process lasted for an unknown amount of time; suddenly, the Spell Laboratory went dark, and all Magic Aura dissipated completely, but a moment later, a strong blue radiance bloomed from Aiboke's hands.

This radiance was so intense that even Lord Eps, who had lost Magic within the Protection Array, could see it with the naked eye; upon seeing this light, the tense expression on Eps's face instantly vanished.

He knew Aiboke had succeeded; although he would still need to Link Magic Web with his Arcane Fire, those were just minor details. The process of truly seizing the essence of the Magic Net had been achieved, so there would no longer be any obstacles on the path of the Arcane!

Eps looked at Aiboke with envy and was sincerely happy for this old companion.

When the blue light dissipated, Eps immediately walked out of the Protection Array; at this time, the Magic Net in the Spell Laboratory was shattered, and Eps, being in the midst of it, could feel the latent energy about to erupt, yet it was suppressed by another force.

A trace of fear toward power, as well as reverence and yearning for Arcanists, immediately arose in Eps's heart.