Chapter 104 (1/2)

Chapter 104: Mist Basin

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

How would one smoke a Level-6 Magician out of hiding?

Herrera had been thinking about this for a few minutes and came up with no solution at all.

When a Level-6 Magician escaped and was bent on hiding his tracks, it was almost impossible to uncover his trails. Herrera was sure that there were no less than a handful of people in the whole world who would be able to do it.

Meanwhile, Link was also turning the problem over in his mind.

Ideas after ideas flickered on and off in his mind as he tried to work out the possible routes Bale could’ve taken in his escape.

Bale was an old man, so he could discard the idea of him sneaking out on his feet straight away. The only ways he could escape, was either by magic or by carriage.

Would the Level-6 Magician use magic to escape?

If he did, one possible method was through the academy’s portal tower. But the cost of transporting through portal towers were sky-high, so unless there was a great emergency – as when the Dean used it to go to Springs City to meet with the army Magician for example – the portal would not be used at all. Even if Bale had access to the portal tower, it would’ve left a record of his usage and could even leave traces of where he’d been transported to. That could expose his whereabouts, which made it a bad choice to escape with.

Another important point was that Link suspected Bale was oblivious of the dean’s absence from the academy.

The reason was very simple; the dean’s actions must’ve been kept confidential. Even his favorite disciple Herrera was not informed of it, so why would the old and doddery Bale be?

And that meant that Bale felt intimidated by the dean’s power. He would never choose an escape route that would attract the president’s attention. Just because Herrera couldn’t detect any trace of Bale’s magic, that didn’t mean that the Dean who was a Level-7 Magician couldn’t. That ruled out the possibility that Bale used magic to escape from the East Cove Magic Academy.

“Bale must now be in a carriage on the King’s Lane, we must chase him,” said Link.

For a moment, Herrera was stunned. Not because she was confused by Link’s statement – she was smart enough to follow Link’s reasoning – but his words just now had pointed out what should’ve been obvious to her. It was as if he had roused her from a stupor she was in as she was shaken from witnessing Bale’s magic recently.

“Of course, I get it now,” said Herrera, “Yes, let’s go.”

Time was of the essence, so they departed straight away without asking anyone else for help.

In fact, there was no need to get anyone’s help as the two were powerful enough to go against Bale. When two Magicians teamed up against one in a battle, they would be at a huge advantage, especially with Link on their side. Although Link wasn’t a high-level Magician yet, his spellcasting was still lightning fast and that came very much in handy when in battle against another Magician.

Speedy spellcasting was the most crucial skill in magic battles. It didn’t matter how many powerful and impressive spells you knew, if the opponent could attack you with the speed of machine guns, you would lose anyway.

Link was confident that as long as they could catch up with Bale, they could easily defeat him!

Link and Herrera were now walking on the path that connected the Mage Towers of the academy. Because it was three o’clock in the afternoon, most Magicians and their apprentices were busy working in their respective towers, so there was basically no one on the path at all.

They were most likely going to engage in a battle once they’ve tracked Bale down, so Herrera realized that the cumbersome dress she was wearing was not fit for the task. She suddenly stopped in a remote corner and said, “Give me a minute.”

Link was puzzled for a moment and didn’t know what was going on.

Herrera didn’t explain either, all she did was cast a Level-2 camouflage spell, Shadow Screen, and then a milky mist shrouded her and formed an opaque screen around the remote corner. Link was within the screen as well.

Then, the Magician’s robe on Herrera’s body came to life and slid right off of Herrera’s bod. She was then naked, without a stitch of clothes on her body, right in front of Link, and she acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world!

Link stole a glance before he could stop himself and his heart was pounding hard in his chest as he saw the Herrera’s ethereal body. Her fair and flawless skin seemed to glow from within and her figure was even more enticing than Lucy’s – especially those long and slender legs. She was already 35 years old, but time had not left its mark on her. All in all, her body seemed to have struck the golden ratio.

“Whoa!” Link quickly averted his eyes and turned beet red, “Herrera, you should’ve warned me in advance!”

By now there was a dark blue soft material wounding around Herrera’s body. It then quickly wrapped her body and eventually formed a battle attire, complete with armor.

The fabric glimmered in a light blue aura, and each metal plate of the armor was made of a much stronger metal than Mithril – Thorium. Moreover, magic runes covered the whole attire. One would see at a glance that it is an unusually powerful magic gear.

Herrera was at first somewhat confused by Link’s remarks, but after a while there was a look of guilt on her face.

“My apologies,” said Herrera, “In the Glorious Kingdom there is no gender distinction between the Angels of Light. I forgot how it was different with humans.”

Link wanted to say he didn’t mind it at all, but he realized that from now on Herrera was probably not going to make the same mistake of getting naked in front of Link again. He slightly regretted reminded her earlier.

After putting on the battle attire, Herrera quickly wrote a letter that briefly summarized the situation regarding Bale and then cast the spell Cheetah’s Agility on Link and herself.

It was a Level-2 upgrade of the Level-1 spell Cat’s Agility. In addition to greatly enhancing agility, the spell also provided an additional boost of strength, just like the beast it was named after.

After being cast with the spell, their speed suddenly shot up significantly and only three minutes later they were already out of the East Cove Magic Academy.

Once they were at the gates, Link rushed to the small cabin where Vincent was.

“Was there a carriage leaving the academy recently?” asked Link.

“There was one,” answered Vincent, obviously confused by Link’s urgent tone. He kept staring quizzically at both Herrera and Link.

“It was heading east.”

“East?” Link was surprised. The east was where the capital city of the Norton kingdom was. But what was Bale thinking going to Springs City?

“Let’s go,” said Herrera, “We must catch up with him.”

Link nodded, and pointed his wand to the ground, then under Vincent’s stupefied gaze he whispered, “Wind Fenrir!”

In a blink of an eye, the Level-3 Wind Fenrir appeared at Vincent’s door. The Level-2 Magician Vincent was so flabbergasted his eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets.