Angele successfully arrived at his house before six in the morning after traveling for a while. He changed his mind right before jumping off the unicorn and asked it instead to take him to the trading tower beside.
It was still dark outside and the area was deadly silent.
The glowing crystals on the tip of the tower were bringing light to the surroundings but there was no one around.
The chilling wind blew the dried leaves and grasses into the air.
Angele felt refreshed traveling on the back of the unicorn. The only thing he could hear was the noises made by the hooves.
He asked the unicorn to stop by the trading tower and jumped off its back.
"Great job." He took out two magic stones and threw into the unicorn’s mouth.
*Crack*
The unicorn chewed the magic stones and swallowed them right away.
"I’ll be leaving then," the unicorn said.
"Sure." Angele nodded slightly, then he pulled his collar up and put on his hood.
The unicorn turned around quickly and disappeared into the dark forest.
Angele glanced around. After confirming that he was the only one here, he walked toward his house.
He saw a black carriage parked on the right side of the path. The carriage was shaking slightly, and Angele could hear people breathing heavily.
Obviously, someone was having fun here. This was a common occurrence in the peaceful Nola. The forest was nice and safe, so they did not need to worry about being ambushed by others.
Angele shook his head and increased his speed, quickly vanishing into the undergrowth.
After about half an hour, he saw a guarding post sitting quietly beside the lake. Crystal lamps were hung on top of the watchtower that brightened up the surroundings.
Rays of white light were coming out of the crystal surface of the lamps and there were some flies wondering around them. Some of the lamps were covered with dead flies and the light it was giving off was fading.
Beside the watchtower, there was a campfire and its flame was dancing. A male Knight in a leather armor suit was yawning by the fire while adding firewood into it.
Angele walked out of the forest and headed toward the tower.
"Who’s there?!" The Knight suddenly yelled then grabbed his longbow and nocked a white-feathered arrow on the bowstring, aiming toward the direction Angele was coming from.
"Easy, it’s me." Angele walked into the light and removed the hood.
"Ah, master Green." The Knight lowered his bow immediately. "Glad you’re back."
"Good reaction there." Angele nodded and walked past the guard post, heading to his home.
He pushed the gate open and used the key to unlock the door of the house.
Everything looked same inside, nice and clean.
The doors of two bedrooms were opened as Angele stepped inside. It seemed like he had woken some people up.
Two girls rushed out of the rooms with white pajamas on their bodies.
"Welcome back, master." Amy opened her mouth first. "Would you like us to make you some food?"
"It’s fine. Go sleep," Angele responded in a light tone. "Where’s Nancy? Is she in your room?" He noticed that someone else was inside Alice’s bedroom.
"Yes…" Alice replied as she lowered her head, "The house is too big and we’re scared…"
"Alright." Angele nodded. "You can return to your bedrooms now. I need to go to the basement. Make sure no one disturbs me."
"Understood!" The twins bowed to Angele politely and returned to their rooms.
Angele knew Nancy was awake, but she was just being shy. He saw the clothes on the floor inside Alice’s room and Nancy was probably naked. Nancy was pretending to sleep, so she did not have to leave the room.
The twins were trained in the slave market and knew how to bring sexual pleasure to their owners. Angele was not interested in kids but Nancy spent quite a lot of time with the two girls. They knew how to use special tools and techniques to bring happiness to her daily life. Furthermore, it seemed like Nancy was enjoying it.
Angele was not sure what Nancy was thinking, but he was not too concerned about it.
He took off his white robe and hung it on the back of the door.
Angele then walked to the staircase and pressed his palms against the wall.
A door appeared on the surface of the wall quickly, then he pushed it open.
After sealing the gaps around the door, Angele walked down the stone stairs and entered the spell lab.
He locked the door and sat down in the middle of the room with his legs crossed. He started meditating after closing his eyes.
Time flew by. Angele wanted to make sure that he was well rested before proceeding to the realm.
"Let’s do it," he muttered.
*CHI*
He could feel the great harpy rubbing her chest against his back while giggling and moving around Angele’s body. Angele covered his skin with a thin layer of metal to prepare for possible encounters.
After several minutes, he felt tired and dizzy. It felt like someone was forcing him to fall asleep.
Angele did not resist the strange feeling. Instead, he relaxed himself and fell into slumber.
His body was surrounded by some distorted waves that became translucent. After several seconds, Angele disappeared from the spell lab.
*****************************
*HA*
Someone was breathing beside Angele’s ear.
He opened his eyes again.
It was dark. The small great harpy lay on his left shoulder with a tired look. Angele could see her wings and tail moving clearly.
It seemed like bringing Angele to the Nightmare Realm was not an easy task. A bright smile appeared the harpy’s face after she noticed that Angele was waking up.
Angele was having a hard time to check the surroundings, but he could feel that the harpy was leaving him. Her body was getting lighter and lighter.
About ten seconds later, the harpy was no longer breathing beside his ear. She just disappeared.
*PA*
With a flick of his finger, a tiny fireball appeared in front of him and its light illuminated the place.
Angele looked at his left shoulder and confirmed that the harpy already left. It seemed like she started recovering again just like the last time she used up all the energy. Furthermore, the stronger Angele became, the more energy she needed to consume to bring him into the realm. Angele assumed that the harpy needed a much longer time this time.
He calmed down and glanced around. He was still sitting in the spell room. Everything looked the same except for the floor that was now covered with a thick layer of gray dust.
Some of the dust was floating in the air and the visibility inside the room was low.
Angele stood up and walked to the door. He noticed something strange as he put his hand on the handle.
"Huh?" He suddenly released the handle and checked his palm. It was coated with some green moss mixed with dust.
It almost looked like the room had not been used for years.
Angele decided to proceed with caution. He grabbed the handle again and started turning it slowly.
*Creak*
The door of the spell lab was pushed open.
The main hall was empty and dark.
Only two of the glowing crystals on the walls were still bringing dim light to the hall, while the rest had already stopped working.
Angele slowly stepped into the main hall without making any noise.
The floor in the main hall was covered with thick dust as well. He left a trail of footsteps as he moved onward.
Angele stayed calm and he started checking the surroundings carefully.
The walls and the floor were dirty. The two working glowing crystals had cracks all over their surfaces.
It felt like the basement had been abandoned a long time ago.
Angele opened all the rooms one by one—the materials room, the potions room, etc. He checked all of them, but the materials and items were no longer there. The only things left were the chairs and tables.
He turned around and left the potions room, heading to the exit of the basement.
Angele slowed down when going upstairs. He reached the exit without making much noise.
He used the stealth technique and pressed his palms onto the door.
*KA*
The door was pushed open.
Several rays of pale light beamed into the living room from outside. He was not sure if it was the sunlight or the moonlight.
Angele closed the door carefully and stepped out of the basement.
The dust in the air blurred his sight and the place smelled like rotten vegetables.
A heart bomb slid onto Angele’s right hand from his right sleeve, and he held it tight.
No one was in the living room and the floor was also covered in dust.
Angele pushed the twins’ bedrooms open but they were empty.
The whole place was deadly silent.
Angele’s brows furrowed. He turned around and walked to the main door.