This was the first time Hao Ren had walked into a real magic tower, and the environment there was not as eerie as he had imagined. In fact, it looked like a reasonably well-planned and neat research facility. There were reference rooms or laboratories on each floor of the tower, while the place where the apprentices lived was a neat and orderly dormitory. There was even a housemaster, who was an old female werewolf...
There were of course, many things that matched the word "magic".For example, the magic lights which floated in the air and the gold brooms, which automatically swept the floor. There were also faint arcane creatures wandering around in the air. They were short and harmless secondary lives that had ran out of the energy wells. However, these creatures just made the magic tower look fun and interesting, not weird and scary at all.
"I thought the wizards living in the magic tower would all look gloomy, and that the magic tower would be full of cobwebs, covered in old grease, and have black floors," Hao Ren muttered. "That's what I see in the movies."
"Even the most traditional of wizards wouldn't be like that." Becky rolled her eyes and said, "And, this is an academic facility, a place to do research. How do you work without bright lights?"
Ophra was walking next to Hao Ren and of course, she heard their conversation. She laughed and asked, "Do you know who has the brightest magic tower?"
"Who?" Hao Ren asked, "The one studying the Holy Light?"
Ophra shook her head and said, "The Magic Tower of Master Dubai. It has been brightly lit for a century, and Master Dubai is one of the best necromancers in the world."
"What?" Hao Ren was baffled.
Ophra shrugged and explained, "Because surgery requires bright light, and a pair of good eyes is also needed to examine the decaying corpses and bones."
Hao Ren felt like he just learned something he had never heard of before. However, Vivian was not surprised, and she said, "It's normal. Most of the necromancers on Earth are working in hospitals. Do you know how high-powered the shadowless lamps there are?"
"...The f*ck. It makes sense!"
Eventually, they were taken to the teleportation hall on the second floor. This was also the "breaking point", where part of the magic tower was drawn into another dimension. The roof of the hall was covered by a fragmented sky. A blue magic energy line was intertwined with the cracks in the sky, maintaining the integrity of the magical tower itself. Rudolph clapped his hands to get the guests to stop chatting, and said, "Thanks to that accident, it costs a lot less here than anywhere else to start this teleportation device. Now, please stand within the white circle, take your luggage, don't use any alchemical items, and don't walk around. You may experience a slight dizziness during teleportation, but—"
As the white light flashed, they disappeared.
Rudolph shrugged and continued, "But all of you have gone ahead, so it's too late to complain."
A young apprentice, who was responsible for the teleportation facility's routine maintenance came and checked the energy supply of the crystal. He muttered as he heard what his mentor just said, "Sir, sometimes you should be more serious. After all, in here, you're the most—"
Rudolph gave his apprentice the side-eye and said, "Oh, Searle, you're right. Let's have a serious discussion about finding your sister's underwear in your closet and talk about your puberty."
The young apprentice suddenly stumbled and said, "This… Sir, you know what happened. It occurred due to the spatial mapping of the seventh-floor dormitory area! "
"Oh, then let's talk about spatial mapping. Get your homework from the day before yesterday, and the exercise books as well."
"…Sir, I think I need your guidance with puberty!"
Let's just ignore those two wizards. Hao Ren and the rest of them arrived at the eastern border in seconds. It was thousands of kilometers away from the capital. One of the most disturbing ancient wonders of the world lay quietly dormant at the edge of the eastern coastline.
The Volcano of Dusk created by the werewolf mage-emperor, Sabur was another "man-made miracle", which was as famous as Dragonspine Ridge.
After the bright light of the teleportation flashed by, everybody had reached the Limestone Fortress. It was just a short distance from the Mountains of Dusk, and their point of teleportation was set in a watchtower in the fortress. Everybody was still feeling dizzy and giddy. It seemed that the ministers were still in a dizzy state after a few minutes, but Hao Ren and his team had already recovered. Lily wagged her tail and readjusted her balance as she muttered, "It's not any better than our Mobile Data Terminal."
The MDT's voice immediately rang in their minds, "But my performance is strong and stable. A one-time teleportation of 20 million light years will also give you the same feel! Can the technology of this copycat be compared with the powerful technology of our empire?"
Ophra nodded at the soldiers who came to receive them. Then, she told Hao Ren, "That's the Volcano of Dusk, a geological spectacle created by another mage-emperor."
There was a wide lookout on the wall of the room in Limestone Fortress. It allowed them to have a clear view of the Volcano of Dusk not far away.
A gigantic conical volcano stood abruptly on the flat, boulder-strewn wilderness. They did not know its size, but it looked as if it almost blotted out the sky and covered the sun from where they stood. The volcano was all dark like a cool black iron, and beyond it, they could see a vast expanse of ocean.
About one-third of the Volcano of Dusk extended to the ocean. Deep underground, part of the obsidian mountain was even integrated with the continental shelf.
And, it was all crimson at the top of this huge black cone.
Hao Ren could not see the top of the volcano from where he stood, but he could see the blazing red glow burning there. The light even dyed the sky red, and it made them wonder if the sky was about to be ignited by the red light. There was no lava flowing around the volcano. But even then, the red-hot flame alone was enough to make them feel an unbearable heat coming from the depths of the volcano's soul.
It was as if the sun had fallen into the crater. This was how the Volcano of Dusk got its name.
Hao Ren never expected one of the sacred caverns could actually be located at the Volcano of Dusk. Nonetheless, the name sounded familiar to him. This was the giant creation created by the ancient mage-emperor, Sanur, who used powerful sorcery to extract the power of the deep strata. The Volcano of Dusk had never been extinguished, compared to the dead Giant Tree of Life and Dragonspine Ridge, which was in a state of silence for a long time. The volcano was still burning to this day as though it had incredible vitality. Therefore, they could hardly see anyone there, just an impregnable fortress guarding the formidable ancient miracle.
They did not expect there to be a First Born lying under it.
But now, knowing that the second sacred cavern was under the Volcano of Dusk, Hao Ren seemed to see some sort of pattern.
"The third sacred cavern is located under the Tree of Life?" Hao Ren looked at Ophra and asked, "Under the Tree of Life created by the ancient elf-queen, Lorrisa?"
"Yes," Ophra answered, while nodding slowly.
Among the many wonders that ancient mage-emperors created using manpower, the most magnificent were the three wonders; Dragonspine Ridge in the western part of the kingdom, the Volcano of Dusk in the eastern part of the kingdom, and the Giant Tree of Life in the southern part of the kingdom. Holletta was situated on the site of the Ancient Magic Empire, so the three were situated within the kingdom.
The three places corresponded to three First Borns.
Additionally, the site of the Ancient Magic Empire was also the "main battlefield" of the three First Borns.
All the clues were logically linked.
"We've always known the location of the sacred caverns," said Orben with a low voice, "but we don't know what the sacred caverns really mean. We assumed that the sacred caverns were situated just below the three 'evil ruins' because the goddess either imposed punishment in these three places, or the mage-emperors challenged the goddess' authority with the man-made miracles. However, the truth is—they are seals used to suppress the First Borns."
"The ancient mage-emperors are innocent. They did not commit any sins of blasphemy," Hao Ren shook his head and said, "but I'll explain to you in detail once we get back. For now, let's go and see the sleeping First Born. I hope it's in a deep sleep."