Angele walked to the control panel and tapped its surface. He then grabbed a coat from the cloth stand nearby.
Todd and the two children looked excited and relieved as they stepped into the living room.
"Green, how strong is that glass-looking barrier? Can it keep the black beetles away?" Todd wondered.
"Don’t worry. The defense system here is good enough. I’ve survived waves of attacks from the black beetles and they finally figured out how strong the barrier is." Angele walked to the sofa and sat down. "Take a seat. You’re safe here. Trust me."
He sat on the sofa and saw the two kids looking at the translucent energy barrier curiously.
"Green, can we go check out the barrier?" Frey questioned in a loud voice.
Angele smiled. "Of course you can."
"I’ll go with them…" Todd hesitated.
"It’s fine. The barrier won’t break."
"I trust you but… I’ll just go with them." Todd nodded slightly and responded in a deep voice.
Although the defense system around the mansion looked promising, Todd was still worried that the kids might encounter the mutated creatures if they accidentally stepped out of the barrier.
Angele told Todd that the defense system had killed countless black beetles, but Todd decided to not to trust him until he saw it himself.
Angele sat on the sofa and leaned back. It felt like his body was sinking into a large piece of soft sponge.
He knew that Todd did not have many days left in this world; however, with his special treatment, Todd would be able to live for a bit longer. The lone survivor of the mushroom city would become his greatest assistant in the Nightmare Realm.
The defense matrices around the mansion were the best he could get from the market. Angele wasn't sure he could block all the vines in the energy waves—which would slow him down—without getting hurt. The defense system should be good enough for the black beetles.
Todd and his children returned to the living room while Angele was still resting.
"Take a seat." Angele pointed at the sofa in front of him.
Todd whispered something to the kids and sat down on the opposite side of Angele.
The two kids were still looking around curiously.
"Green, can we go play in the building?" The girl called Freia questioned in a low voice.
"Go ahead." Angele nodded as his sight fell upon Todd. "Alright, let’s talk about the illusion zone you mentioned in the basement. What exactly is that?"
Todd nodded. "Your shelter is great and I’m glad that you promised to take care of my children."
Angele was his only hope, otherwise, he would not ask a stranger to take care of his children. Although Angele was kind to Todd, Todd knew that if the young man wanted to do something to them, he would have no way to protect themselves. There was no law or rule in the Nightmare Realm, he had to think that the young man still had a warm heart.
If Todd passed away in the basement, his children would not be able to survive on themselves.
"The illusion zones are areas with the strange phenomenon and they appeared after the world collapsed," Todd started explaining. "I can feel that this world is impacted by other realms and the situation is getting worse recently. As a Colin hunter, my job is to communicate with the soul stones and I can sense the changes much faster than others."
Angele nodded slightly. "Yeah, but I want to know if the illusion zones are dangerous."
"You can find the phenomena that can’t be explained in the zones, and there are mutated beasts. The landscapes and the buildings will shift and transform without any warnings, and it has killed many people. Imagine a building randomly dropping on your head when you are just walking." Todd scratched his head. It seemed like the topic reminded him of someone he knew.
"Six of my teammates were killed by the transforming buildings…"
"How do you know if you’re standing in an illusion zone?" Angele kept asking.
"I don’t know." Todd shook his head. "I wouldn't be staying in that basement if I knew the details. I don’t want to die while just exploring the surroundings. If the landscape shifts, I’ll probably die in the lava or something. Also, sometimes the time will go backward for no reason."
Angele thought for a while and looked at Todd. "Where’s is the closest and most populated city?"
"There’s a city called the Dark Cloud about 15 kitto northeast from here. There were more than three million people living there before the terrifying event happened." 15 kitto was about 1.5 kilometers according to Zero.
"Thanks." Angele stood up. "Pick any room you want on the first floor. You can find food and water in the kitchen. There’s a swimming pool outside and you can take showers in there. The water is clean. There’s something I need to take care of and I’ll be back later."
He walked to the staircase and turned his head around.
"One more thing. Don’t touch the stone pillars for any reason. They are the reason why the mansion is safe."
"Wait, where are you going? Do you need my help?" Todd stood up as well. "I have the soul stone now and I can aid you in battles. I don’t have many days left anyway."
"It’s fine. Have some rest. I’m just going back to my room to do some research." Angele smiled and walked upstairs.
He walked down the hallway and opened the door to the reading room.
He tapped on the back of the door after stepping into the room.
A black snake pattern appeared on the surface of the door. It was glowing and flashing.
Angele sat down on the bad and carefully pressed on the bloodline signet with the left hand.
*CHI*
Rays of red light flashed around his body.
He opened his eyes again and it was noon in the main world.
Golden sunlight went through the window and brought warmth to the room.
Red light flashed on the back of Angele’s right hand. It was the communication rune.
He raised his hand and tapped on the finger.
A red scorpion rune appeared on the nail of his index finger.
Vivian’s voice was transferred to his ears: "Angele, I secured a position for you in the headquarter. It’ll be beneficial to your future if you can accept the offer. Go to the headquarter before it expires in about half a month. Don’t forget."
Angele scrunched his eyebrows.
He had no interested in working in the headquarter, but he knew Vivian was just trying to help him to know more people in the organization and it was nearly impossible for him to decline the offer.
Vivian’s intention was good and Angele knew that he should accept the position.
"Whatever, I’ll think about it later." He turned around, walked to the window, and looked down.
It was noon. The green river looked like a long emerald with images of white clouds and brown wooden houses reflected on its surface. A group of white birds was resting on the riverside and they were drinking water quickly.
Refreshing fragrance of the white and red flowers from the shore permeated the air.
The rippling water was flowing slowly in the gentle wind.
Angele sat down at the table and grabbed a white-feathered pen. He wrote down a title on an opened leather scroll: The Auto Attack System.
It was something he wanted to build the next.
He needed some time to stabilize his mentality waves after completing the third stage of Molten Core River.
With the help of the advanced meditation technique, the third stage and the fourth stage did not require him to complete the Gas, Liquid, and Crystal stages like the wizards on the west coast. Angele could advance to next rank if he could complete the next stage.
He completed the third stage and advanced to rank 2 not so long ago so he barely knew any level 2 spells.
In order to reach rank 3, he needed to complete the fourth stage of Molten Core River.
Also, the fourth stage of Molten Core River was important and he needed to be fully prepared for the challenges.
The first four stages of the technique were related to fire energy particles, the fifth to eighth stages were related to earth energy particles, and the last four stages were the combination of all the previous stages. Molten Core River had an unfriendly progressing curve.
Angele spent the next several days studying the auto attack system. He needed the system to be versatile as he did not want the system to lose control under special circumstances.
He gave part of the job to the biochip and divided the whole plan into multiple steps.
******************************
Five days later.
"Master Angele, Master Seth and Master Nicole are here."
Lyn’s voice came from outside.
"Got it. I’ll be there soon." Angele sat beside the table and moved the documents to the side. He spent days on designing the system, but he was still waiting for the calculation results from Zero. Seth and Nicole were Vivian’s students, they were like a senior brother and a senior sister to Angele as they all acquired the Molten Core River from Vivian.
Angele took a deep breath and stood up.
The muscle on his face was a bit stiff. He stepped out of the reading room and walked downstairs.
Seth and a pretty girl with clean skin were sitting in the living room waiting for him.
"Seth, Nicole. What brings you here?" Angele pursed his lips into a gentle smile.
Seth and Nicole stood up and hugged Angele one by one.
Seth was wearing a yellow coat and a pair of shorts. He looked like someone lived by the sea with his sun-tanned skin. There was a golden headband hiding under his black hair.
Seth looked like a man in his mid-thirties. He was not handsome, but the smile on his face was charming.
Nicole was quiet, she looked like a cute girl from the neighborhood. She was wearing a white one piece with a short white wand in hand. There was a dark red ruby on the tip of the wand.
The girl’s long black hair trailed over her shoulders, and she looked like a twenty-year-old girl. The tight one piece was quite revealing. She was looking at Angele with a pair of red eyes and there was a gentle smile on her face.
"Haven’t visited you for a while, and I heard you were grounded. Is that true?" Nicole questioned in a light tone.
The three wizards sat down, and the maids brought them the tea.
"I know. It’s true. The situation is complicated, but I heard Angele had an intense fight with master Shozo. Master Vivian asked him to stay in the mansion until he finishes the fourth stage of Molten Core River." Seth chuckled.
"You’re not here just to laugh at me, right?" Angele rolled his eyes. "Seth, I thought you would stay in the headquarter for a bit longer. Where’s the gift you promised me?" He turned to Seth.
"Well… my situation is complicated as well…" Seth pursed his lips. "We were kicked out. I met Nicole on my way to the headquarter, and we wanted to travel together, but something unfortunate happened…"
Nicole shook her head and sighed. "Something unfortunate…? You had a fight with someone for a woman, and we were both kicked out… Why are you even trying to hide it from Angele?"