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Land of Magic 134
‘Rukh’s Wings’ was docked at the very end of the pier and it didn’t look very presentable compared to the other ships. In fact, it looked like it had been cobbled together from various garbage, with mended sails, and didn’t give the impression of a ‘worthy ship’ at all. The magical artifacts that kept it afloat looked like oars topped with feathers. From a distance, the ship really appeared to have wings.The ladder that led to the upper deck, where the young sailors were mounting guns, looked ready to fall apart. If Hadjar had been a mere mortal, he would’ve never risked climbing it.“Well, if this is the fastest way to get to the fort…”Hadjar shook his head; he had no business judging anyone for being poor.He wasn’t all that different from this ship, wearing tattered clothes that he hadn’t mended since leaving Lidus.“Did you come here looking for us?”Hadjar raised his head. A cultivator was looking down at him, in more ways than one, from the first deck. The ship had three in to
Land of Magic 135
After four days, the names of the ship’s numerous parts had been firmly imprinted in his memory. Despite its modest appearance, the ship flew at a very decent speed and maneuvered well.Once, the coxswain had fallen asleep during his night shift (he had later lost some teeth because of it), and they’d had to tack between the peaks of a mountain range, a maneuver which had been as fascinating as it had been frightening. “Hadjar!” Someone shouted from the deck. “Come here! Let’s play!”Soldiers didn’t help maintain or fly the ship. All they did was sleep, drink, and gamble. The five soldiers who’d invited him to join them had put aside their simple Heaven level weapons, and were now throwing dice and playing cards, laughing at the sailors as they went about their business. Someone was always scurrying about the deck, tending to this or that.Hadjar served as a watchman. He didn’t need coin or food, as he could live without food and water for a month thanks to his abilities.As for the
Land of Magic 136
“You demon children!” The boatswain spun the rudder furiously. “Go to the port side! Load the cannons with explosives! Divert half the power to the cannons! Let’s show these bastards their place! Soldiers, board the ship!”“Board the ship, sir?”“Yes, you bastards, board the ship! If we don’t stick close to them, we’ll know what it feels like to be a pancake in a frying pan in a couple of minutes!”The ship was lurching to one side and slowly losing altitude. If this continued, they would soon crash.“Bring me the watchman! I’ll rip out his spine and beat him with it.”Hadjar, who’d taken down several cannonballs with another slash of his sword, was too late to react to Frig’s order. Turning around, he found himself face-to-face with the tip of a very sharp dagger aimed directly at his Adam’s apple. Holding it was a girl with short hair and an ugly, round face. This struck him as odd, as the girl was at the peak stage of the Heaven Soldier level. Hadjar wondered how ugly she’d been be
Land of Magic 1
“I knew you’d be here.”Hadjar was sitting on the edge of a cliff, his feet dangling in the air. There were clouds below him, and birds and other, much stranger, winged creatures occasionally flew past. Behind him stood a black passage in the mountain that served as the entrance to Underworld City.Two months had passed since his conversation with Rahaim. During that time, he’d become accustomed to his new abilities as a Heaven Soldier. He’d managed to grasp his new power, and the sharper senses that came with it. Even the odd change to his thinking was something he’d learned to deal with, for the most part.Nowadays, while looking at an object, Hadjar’s thoughts would often stray and turn into some deeply philosophical musings. Even the simple flight of a bird could make him wonder about the depths of the Sword Spirit’s and the Wind Spirit’s path for hours.He pondered Rahaim’s claim that, whatever he did in the future, he would never be able to return to the Wind Spirit’s path. Ther
Land of Magic 2
The dragon’s heart had granted Hadjar his third rebirth. It had renewed his body and spirit. The countdown of his age had begun from scratch. A similar thing had happened to Einen. His inhuman, purple eyes had been a gift from a Rainbow Fish. He’d earned this honor by rescuing a tiny fish out of a fishing net. He’d ended up rescuing one of the ‘children’ of that Rainbow Fish. Beasts on the path of cultivation could also have regular offspring, but they did so very rarely. His new eyes allowed Einen to see through the shadows.“I’ve already passed a similar test,” Hadjar said, recalling his examination when he’d joined the army of Lidus. “The artifact that was used there could only tell if a person was older or younger, but not their exact age.”“With all due respect to your ancestors, Lidus is truly a barbarian kingdom. I’m sure the best School in Darnassus has a slightly better artifact,” the islander emphasized the word ‘slightly’ in a mocking manner.Hadjar looked at his friend wit
Land of Magic 3
“You don’t look like you can afford a piece of my elephant’s dung, let alone a seat. Get out of here!”Hadjar and Einen looked at each other, shrugged, and demonstrated that they had the necessary funds. The guard grumbled something and directed them to a person responsible for the sale of passenger seats. By nightfall, the formalities were settled and the friends had a private coach at their disposal. Unlike Rahaim’s caravan, it wasn’t drawn by desert mules. In fact, nothing pulled it at all. It rested on the back of a huge elephant.***A journey that might’ve taken at least two years in a simple caravan lasted only a month and a half. On the morning of the fortieth day, after descending from their coach, they found themselves on the border between the desert and the Eastern provinces of the Empire.After thanking the caravan driver for taking care of them, they untied their desert ravens and rode toward the hills to the west. The sand was gradually replaced by dry ground. Small bus
Land of Magic 4
Any practitioner or cultivator from outlying kingdoms could find everything that they’d ever dreamed of here.However, the prices made the friends’ hearts weep. For some of the Technique scrolls, the merchants would ask for up to a hundred coins; for artifacts at the Heaven level — one hundred and fifty coins was the minimum. The prices in the alchemy shops started at one thousand coins.“Today is the fifth day of the exams...” everyone murmured.“The penultimate day!” Someone added excitedly.“Cultivators from all over the country have come to the city to try their luck!”Hadjar and Einen were upset to find that they’d arrived on the fifth day of the exams. When they’d left Underworld City, they’d calculated their travel time so that they would reach the capital with time to spare. If everything had gone smoothly, they would’ve arrived a week before the start of the exams. Unfortunately, due to numerous delays along the way, they were almost late.The majestic gates of ‘The Holy Sky’
Land of Magic 5
Upon hearing the herald’s words, people started moving toward the gates. The elf girl soon disappeared into the crowd. Hadjar decided to hold off on asking Einen about the elves for now. They had far more important issues to deal with first.After shaking off the dirt (which only ended up staining their clothes further, making the friends’ appearance even more unpleasant), Hadjar and Einen joined the crowd. ‘The Holy Sky’ School allowed spectators to attend the exam as well. In fact, it even encouraged it: each spectator was someone who might go on to spread the word of how the best of the best of the younger generation had come to their School to participate in their trials. After all, you could never have enough prestige.“Watch where you’re going!” Hadjar was shoved in the shoulder.“Master, you’ve been dirtied by the masses.”A white silk handkerchief was handed to the young man who had pushed Hadjar. He wiped his hands carelessly, and, after throwing the handkerchief away, he mov