Chapter 3020: Chapter 3021: Whispers in the Wind
Regarding Aexâs matter, though there might be something suspicious, there is ultimately no evidence, and how this is handled is not something they need to decide right now.
The simplest method is to tell the Black Earl about it, and then they wonât have to worry about it.
As for the Black Earl, he should be back with the people from the Birlos Family by now, assuming nothing unexpected has occurred.
But whether or not heâs at the arena, nobody knows.
The group continued heading toward the arena. With their speed, they should have reached the arena quickly. However, after leaving the commercial district, they came across a patch of collapsed trees.
This area of dead trees isnât just trees; it also functions as treehouse lodgings affiliated with the Birlos Family, catering primarily to beginner apprentices and ordinary people. Hence, the defenses here arenât particularly strong; the capacity to ward off earthquakes is several times weaker than that of the commercial district.
Consequently, as the Shallow Sea Strongman walked through the commercial district, the vibrations didnât damage the buildings, but here, even without directly stepping on these treehouse lodgings, the shaking of the ground caused many treehouses to collapse.
This turned the area into the second disaster zone, following the guild district.
Along the way, they saw many people trapped under the collapsed treehouses; not only ordinary people but also quite a few apprentices who were unable to free themselves.
Due to rescuing these people, their pace was forcibly slowed.
Once they confirmed everyone was safe, Angel and the others finally left the area of collapsed trees. This is why a half-minute journey extended to a quarter of an hour.
"I didnât expect you to actually save people?" Dox muttered quietly after leaving the area of collapsed trees.
Angel: "If we can save them, why wouldnât we?"
Dox: "I never said not to save them. However, when we were rescuing people, you also heard the continuous noise from the arena; surely there are people needing rescue there as well. We could have gone over there..."
There was an apparent logic flaw in Doxâs words. Yet this was truly how Dox thought. To him, saving people was never the point; the point was to catch the autumn wind before that Shallow Sea Strongman was killed.
Angel: "Saving those we see, thereâs nothing we can do for those we donât."
Furthermore, the arena mainly consists of Transcendents, who, even during a disaster, have means to escape. But this area of collapsed trees is mostly filled with ordinary people, who canât save themselves.
"Besides, saving the arenaâs people doesnât mean those here wonât die. Saving lives isnât a rigid commercial transaction; it requires no reason."
This moral perspective was instilled in Angel under Jonâs teaching.
Killing might require a justification, but saving lives needs none.
If he wishes to save, then he saves.
As for wasting time? Theyâre not people of the Birlos Family, nor are they The Brave tasked with defeating Magical Creatures in the main quest. Thereâs nothing theyâre headed to the arena for, nor is there time to waste.
Angel looked naturally justified, but Dox felt somewhat downcast because... the commotion at the arena had ceased, and it had been quiet for five minutes.
This meant either the place had already been completely destroyed or the situation was under control.
In any case, hoping to catch the autumn wind and benefit was becoming increasingly difficult.
Yet, even though Dox felt a bit frustrated, he only voiced minor complaints; in his heart, he acknowledged Angelâs action of stopping to rescue people.
Itâs not that he agreed with this value system, but rather he thought that following someone like Angel, a White Wizard, might at least ensure his safetyâsince Angel saved strangers, heâd definitely treat his "good friend" even better, wouldnât he?
Unaware of Doxâs fickle-hearted thoughts, Angel was engaged in another task.
Contacting Speedy.
...
Previously, Speedy had separated itself into strands of micro-winds in order to find Kaier. Now that Kaier was found, these winds naturally should return.
Since leaving the Council Hall, Angel had been calling Speedy.
Along the way, Angel had gathered numerous micro-winds separated from Speedy, but those carrying Speedyâs awareness had yet to return.
It wasnât until they left the area of collapsed trees that Speedyâs primary consciousness gradually started to return.
Angel had originally thought Speedyâs micro-winds might have been attacked; now seeing Speedyâs consciousness returning, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
However, the reason for Speedyâs delay in returning also piqued everyoneâs curiosity.
Following Angelâs inquiry, he received some intelligence from Speedyâs account.
Speedy, in its quest to find Kaier, separated into over a hundred strands of micro-wind that scoured all of Bilun Tree Court. During the search, Speedy discovered some of its strands vanished suddenly.
Speedy thought perhaps they had stumbled into a forbidden zone or been captured, and to prevent any mishap, it immediately rushed to where the winds disappeared.
The result was not the winds disappearing, but rather they were obscured by an energy barrier.
And the place with the energy barrier was neither a forbidden zone nor private property, but rather... Paradise Land.
Paradise Land is an open space managed by the Elysium Pavilion.
Within Paradise Land, there were no dark scenes found within Elysium Pavilion. It was like its nameâa blissful land, or rather a place for cultivation.
Paradise Land featured a diverse array of elemental environments, such as Wind Cave, Lava Lake, volcanoes, ice caves, poisonous swamps, gravity fields... all crafted with substantial resources by Elysium Pavilion to provide the most suitable training ground for wizards of different elements.
Paradise Land occupies a significant area, but not many people are there.
Due to the high costs and minimal benefits, typically only wealthy Official Wizards can afford to frequent it.
Listening to Speedy talk about its micro-winds being confined within Paradise Land, Dox, who had been eavesdropping, instinctively asked: "Did it accidentally break into a special zone within Paradise Land?"
Paradise Land itself had no restrictions; only those elemental environments, known as special zones, had any constraints. Dox wondered if perhaps Speedyâs micro-winds had accidentally entered inside a restriction, been detected by someone, and they shut down the restriction, planning to trap them.
But Speedy denied this.
It wasnât a special region within Paradise Land detaining the micro-winds; instead, the entire Paradise Land was enveloped in an energy field. This energy field neither allowed entry nor exit.
Even Speedyâs main consciousness approached Paradise Land but found no way in.
"The entire Paradise Land is sealed by an energy field?" Dox was stunned: "Is it possible Elysium Pavillion sealed Paradise Land to protect it from attacks?"
Doxâs hypothesis was again refuted by Speedy.
The energy field surrounding Paradise Land was deliberately placed there, seemingly to restrict certain individualsâ actions.
The reason Speedy said this is because it used the ability "Wind Sound."
Wind Sound is a unique ability of the Wind Element, which Wind Wizards can also comprehend, considered a level 2 trick. It can use the swirling wind nearby to investigate what has happened around in the short term.
However, the "investigation" here is not by visual observation but by auditory "listening."
Its principle is said to originate from "echo," and without special tools, it can only hear sounds from within two minutes.
Speedy used the art of Wind Sound to hear all the sounds from about two minutes. This, coincidentally, happens to be the time before its dispersed breeze vanished.
The sound Speedy heard was unclear if it was male or female; its voice was sharp and eerie, hovering over the Paradise Land.
It started with a bizarre "Heh, heh" laugh, then said something confusing.
"Letâs play a game~ if you win, Iâll let you leave~"
When these words fell, an energy barrier appeared, and quickly, all sounds vanished.
The information from Wind Sound confirmed that the Paradise Land wasnât sealed by the Elysium Pavilion but by an unknown person with the excuse of "playing a game."
Moreover, from the personâs speech, it can be inferred that the reason for playing this game is to restrict certain people from leaving.
Otherwise, there would be no need to say, "If you win, Iâll let you leave."
These are all the pieces of information obtained by Speedyâs main body.
To this day, Paradise Land is still sealed, and Speedy doesnât know how its dispersed breezes are doing... because Angel is summoning it, it has no choice but to temporarily retreat from near Paradise Land.
After listening to Speedyâs account, Dox turned to Angel, "What do you think of this matter?"
Angel did not respond immediately but looked at Speedy, "If those dispersed winds have problems, will it affect your main body?"
Compared to others, Angel cares more about Speedy. After all, he arranged for Speedy to find Kaier; if Speedy gets damaged because of this, itâs something Angel doesnât want to see.
Speedy hesitated for a moment, then shook its head.
If the dispersed wind has issues, it wonât affect its main body, but since it was dispersed from itself, each breeze represents Speedyâs energy source.
If these dispersed winds disappear, Speedyâs energy source will be affected to some extent.
We can understand that each breeze equates to decades of cultivation; losing a breeze means the reduction of Speedyâs cultivation.
Now, six breezes have fallen into Paradise Land, assuming each breeze has twenty years of cultivation, losing them all would let Speedyâs cultivation drop by at least a hundred and twenty years.
Of course, this is just a metaphor, but the actual situation isnât far off from this metaphor; while the disappearance of the breeze wonât harm Speedyâs main body, it will damage its energy source.
Although it can slowly cultivate back in the future, it certainly canât be restored in a short time.
After all, Speedy signed a twenty-year contract with Angel; during the contract period, it must follow Angel, making it not easy to find a place rich in Wind Element to cultivate.
However, Speedy doesnât feel these breezes greatly affect it, considering the long lifespan of Elemental Creatures... a hundred years is just a snap of the fingers.
Therefore, from its perspective, thereâs some impact, but not much.
But in Angelâs eyes, this is a significant impact.
Speedy is essentially his contract subordinate, even if there is a time limit, within that time limit, Speedyâs strength must be as high as possible. But now, because Paradise Land is sealed, it may lead to the lowering of Speedyâs strength, which Angel isnât willing to accept.
This means reducing his overall strength!
Moreover, Speedyâs damage this time was due to his instructions.
So, Angel decisively said, "Letâs turn around and go to Paradise Land!"
He went to the Arena because Dox stirred him up, thinking thereâs nothing else to do, he agreed to go to the Arena.
But now, the matter at Paradise Land concerns Speedyâs cultivation, which is quite different.
In contrast, Angel immediately abandoned the idea of visiting the Arena, preparing to turn towards Paradise Land.
As for whether Dox is willing, thatâs his business. If Dox plans to continue to the Arena, Angel wonât stop him, but he is definitely going to Paradise Land now.
Seeing Angel determined to go to Paradise Land, Dox pondered for a moment and chose to follow.
Going to the Arena alone, he might not get any advantage. Besides, the Arena has been quiet for almost ten minutes now; either the Shallow Sea Strongman was captured, or it went elsewhere. If they go now, they probably wonât gain anything.
Better to follow Angel...
Moreover, the situation at Paradise Land is odd; it didnât erupt early or late but chose this time to erupt; perhaps itâs related to the attacker, maybe there are surprises waiting for him at Paradise Land.
Thus, the group who had already left the withered forest turned back again.
Although Paradise Land and the Arena arenât at the two ends of Bilun Tree Court, the distance is still far. Paradise Land is already close to the edge of Bilun Tree Court, even part of it has connected to the outside world.
In some way, Paradise Land can be considered an entrance and exit to Bilun Tree Court.
...
The path from the Council Hall to the Arena was more like a leisurely walk for Angel; but now, going from the withered forest to Paradise Land, Angelâs speed is swift.
"Indeed, when interests are involved, you canât escape vulgarity either," Dox snorted.
Dox said this because he subconsciously considered Speedy as Angelâs Elemental partner. Since itâs an Elemental partner, Speedyâs interests are Angelâs interests.
But actually, Angel and Speedyâs connection currently is just a mere twenty-year contract.
Even though rescuing those dispersed breezes somewhat concerns Angelâs interests, itâs not significant.
At least, if this were placed on Dox, he wouldnât be willing to do it... after all, this is just a contract that ends with separation; when no investment return is seen, squeezing out remaining value is the best tactic.
Angel also heard Dox mumbling, but he didnât bother to pay attention and merely continued to rush forward.
While heading to Paradise Land, Angel was also pondering over the information provided by Speedy.
Although Angel hadnât personally heard the voice from Wind Sound, the personâs words gave him a familiar sense of dĂ©jĂ vu...