Chapter 136 (1/2)

Chapter 136: Flame Blasts in the Heart of the City!

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

In the heart of a busy square on Jade Street.

Prince Phillip swept his gaze across the fascinating sights all around him. There was a variety of magic materials laid out in the roadside stalls and the merchants’ shouts filled the air while human Magicians dressed in vibrant robes roamed the streets.

There wouldn’t be such sights to behold in the Isle of Dawn. Although the island had an area of about 500 miles, its population only consisted of less than three million High Elves, all scattered throughout the island. The island was also rich in natural resources, so its inhabitants had no need to work very hard to get their food and drinks and other necessities. This condition had made the island extraordinarily peaceful and serene.

This was all well and good if you were a life-worn, middle-aged man looking for a quiet place to settle down in. But for a young man full of life like Prince Phillip, the Isle of Dawn was nothing more than a prison.

It wasn’t a surprise then, that he was infinitely grateful to escape the island for a while when he was sent to the Norton kingdom on behalf of the Isle of Dawn’s royal family. He had to discuss the matters of material aid that his kingdom was going to provide the Norton kingdom as an ally in the war against the Dark Elf kingdom of Pralync.

He had some free time today, so Prince Phillip decided to take the chance to visit the Magician’s Fair he heard was going on in Springs City. He saw so many things he’d never seen in the Isle of Dawn here. Although the captain of the guards, Ayrie, who was accompanying him regarded the coarse manners of the humans on the streets with disdain and contempt, Prince Phillip was instead entranced by the passion and lust for life that these people showed.

These humans went about their business with a fire in their eyes. They clearly knew what they wanted and pursued them with steely determination. This was something he admired and had never seen in the High Elves back home. All his kind ever did was repeat the lives that their ancestors had led before them day after day with so much leisure and idleness in their lives that their fragile bones would crumble at the slightest fall.

“I like it here,” said Prince Philip, his eyes shining brilliantly as he drank in the dizzying sights before him.

“Your Highness,” said Ayrie, the captain of the royal guards, “I think it’s time we go back. It’s getting too chaotic in the streets right now.”

“Let’s stay for a little bit longer,” said the prince who was still so intrigued by the sights and sounds of Springs City. “We’ve only been here for half an hour.” He dreaded the thoughts of going back to the dull and stuffy palace.

While Prince Phillip was strolling the streets without a care in the world, Link, on the other hand, was sensing a very strong murderous intent in the air!

There was a very subtle fluctuation of elements in the air. If Link hadn’t increased his vigilance, even he wouldn’t have been able to detect the slight changes he sensed right now. Judging from the movements of the elements, he was sure that a Flame Blast was going to be detonated in a few moments!

But the atmosphere of the street was just too chaotic to pinpoint the location of the looming Flame Blast. He tried to focus all his attention on the slight elemental fluctuation he sensed, but still failed to detect its whereabouts.

In that case, all I can do now is protect myself!

Within seconds, he entered the calm and focused state of mind of spellcasting, in which the flow of time almost came to a stop and the noises of the bustling street quieted down. Even Eleanor’s voice who was approaching him seemed to come from miles away. Right now, in his mind, the only thing he focused on was that vague aura that contained traces of Mana, of elements and of some sort of hidden powers. When he focused on it a little longer he began to hear whispers of the soul too.

By concentrating on this bizarre aura, Link could finally locate the source of the incoming Flame Blasts. They were not coming from the surrounding shop houses, nor were they coming from the crowds. Instead, the Flame Blasts were coming from the underground – or to be exact, their exact point of origin was the sewers underneath the fountain in the heart of the busy square!

He was sure that there wasn’t just one Flame Blast, but three, and it had managed to be triggered so sneakily without causing any major Mana fluctuations because the caster had used magic scrolls and a Domingo crystal!

Yes, he was sure it was a Domingo crystal because he was very familiar with the pattern of the surge of fire elements that were stored in a Domingo crystal.

Three Flame Blasts aided by the use of the Domingo crystal detonated in the sewers right under the square grounds – that would be as dangerous as a mine buried under the ground, and its impact would level everything that was within a hundred feet flat to the ground!

There was no time for Link to do anything other than cast the defensive spell stored in his ring to protect himself. He had fixed a Level-4 Edelweiss to the ring, and it should be enough to shield him from the brunt of the force coming from the Flame Blasts.

Eleanor was still oblivious to the looming danger. She waved her lily-white hands in front of Link’s eyes in an attempt to wake Link up from his apparent stupor.

“Hello, anybody there?” she teased. “What is wrong with you?”

Link had no time to explain. The explosions will reach them any second now. Right at the moment he triggered the spell Edelweiss, he reached out his arms and clasped Eleanor tightly to his chest. They weren’t exactly close friends then, but Link still couldn’t just watch her be consumed by the fire of the incoming Flame Blasts right in front of his eyes.

“Hey, you rascal!” she shouted. “What are you doing?” Eleanor was completely taken aback by Link’s sudden movements. She had lived more than a hundred years and was never treated in such a way, least of all by a seventeen-year-old boy! She actually found it…interesting.

She had no time to come to terms with that feeling though, as the thundering explosions hit them right at that moment.

BOOMMM!!!

An explosion that rumbled the earth erupted in the heart of the square. Flames burst outward like a demon from hell, devouring and destroying everything that came in its path. At the center of the square, the Elf Guard Captain Ayrie activated a defensive spell at the last possible moment, but instead of saving his own life, he used the shield to protect Prince Phillip.

As for the others in the square – the Warriors, the guardsmen, the merchants, even the Magicians who were passing by – all were swallowed up by the blistering flames of the explosions.