There was a city built at the foot of a gigantic mountain, surrounded by walls as high as the sky and seemingly illuminated by divine grace from every angle. Thousands of people were selling things, having set up various small stalls in the square of this city. The square was so crowded that it was difficult to hear one's own voice. Not only were people trying to sell their belongings, but warriors carrying weapons in various animal skins were also trying to bargain for some items in the square.
The owner of each stall was careful to resist as much as possible and sell his item for a higher price when a warrior asked him for something and tried to bargain. There was a huge statue in this square, where thousands of people lived. The statue was kneeling and stabbing a dragon-like creature with his sword. The sword had entered the center of the dragon's neck. It was so detailed that it even showed a few drops of tears leaking from the dying dragon's eyes.
It was noon, and the sun was shining directly overhead, creating the perfect weather for people to wander around the city. Meanwhile, while thousands of people were walking around and having fun, while the merchants were bargaining to sell something, while the mighty-looking warriors were chatting with each other and trying to buy something useful, a light appeared in front of the statue, about a meter in front of it. The light was in the shape of a door, and there were stars inside. It was very mysterious. Most of the warriors immediately drew their swords and surrounded the light.
Meanwhile, the man with the upside-down sword crest on his chest took out a stone tablet from his inner pocket and spoke to it. "A teleportation array appeared in the square." That was it, short and to the point.
As soon as he said this, a light appeared in the sky, like stars, from every corner of the city. They were all different colors, gold, blue, red, green. But what they all had in common was that they were flying towards the statue in the town square.
They all fell right in front of the statue. As the lights dissipated, the people underneath were revealed. They were all different types and sizes, but they all looked stronger than the others. The warriors in the square were relieved to see these people. Then the man in the red lights shouted to everyone in the square.
"All citizens! Quickly pack your things and leave this place. Brave wandering warriors, you too should retreat." He said.
The warriors, however, sighed with relief and joined the crowd that was hastily trying to leave. In a short time, the square was completely empty. Not a sound could be heard.
Later, several people appeared in the sky. They flew in a ray of light of the same color as those who came first and landed behind people of the same color. In just a few breaths, thousands of soldiers appeared here. And none of them looked weak. They were extremely strong. These different colors represented different troops, and the crest on the chest of each troop was different. All of them were equipped with a specific weapon. Some troops used swords, while others used spears. It was clear that they were all trained and equipped according to a single pattern.
Everyone, including the first people in the square and the thousands of soldiers behind them, stared nervously at the door-shaped light. A short time later, the silhouette of a human appeared at the door. This person rushed out of the door, leaned forward, and began to vomit. He had golden blond hair and a handsome face. But right now, his hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat. He was wearing a white mage robe and a red epaulet on his left shoulder.
After vomiting for a while, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and spoke in his head. 'I didn't expect teleporting to be so difficult.' Then he closed his eyes and lifted his head, "My power, is it suppressed? Why do I feel so weak? Like I can't cast a second level spell.' He said.
When he opened his eyes, he saw four different people frowning in front of him and an army of thousands behind him. He looked at them with surprised eyes. "You... who are you? Where is here? Was I able to leave the island?" he said.
The four men at the head of the troops looked at each other in surprise. Then the bearded man in red spoke. "Island? There are no islands for thousands of kilometers!" he said. Then he made a sign to the others beside him and continued speaking. "Who are you? Where are you from?" he said.
The golden-haired young man was the king's brother, Jaymond, who had escaped from the island using a teleportation array. They had no information about the teleportation array. He also didn't know where to go. The use of the Space Stone and the high-level Soul Stone, which had been passed down in their families for generations, was only passed down by word of mouth. Take the stones, place them in the array and teleport, that's it. His expectations were off the island, but looking at it now, it didn't seem that way. It was as if he had arrived in another world.
Jaymond felt he had to respond to the frown in front of him. He felt that not only the four men in front of him, but even a common soldier in the army behind them were stronger than him.
"I am from the Jade Wind Kingdom, I am a mage." He said.
The four men looked at each other, then at Jaymond, all eyebrows raised, "A MAGE!"
"Home..." All Jaymond saw next was a stern look. He doesn't remember what happened next. He was unconscious.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself tied to an unfamiliar metal pole. He was now lying on a red carpet embroidered with gold. He didn't feel any wounds, but his head hurt. When he looked at his body, he saw that he could not use his power. Even if he used it, his magic was probably too weak to melt those chains. The dimensional bag at his waist was no longer there. It had been taken, or rather stolen.
Later, when he tried to look around, he found himself in a room covered in red and gold. In front of him was a throne on which someone was sitting. He could not see the face of the seated person because of the golden glow on the throne, but his long beard indicated that he was an old man. Then he looked to his right. There he saw dozens of people sitting patiently, including the face of the man who had spoken before he fainted. His left side was the same, with dozens of people sitting at different tables waiting for him to wake up.
When the red bearded man saw him awake, he stood up and bowed to the man on the throne. "With your permission, I will begin the interrogation." He said.
As Jaymond looked at the man on the throne, he saw only one finger move, and the red bearded man straightened and began to interrogate Jaymond.
"Who are you?!"
This short question was so pressurized that it was like a little boy being unable to speak up against his father. Jaymond felt that these people were very serious, that he had to be cooperative.
"Jaymond Mill." He said in a low voice.
Then came the next question.
"Where are you from?!"
Jaymond didn't know how to answer this question. He said the only answer he could think of.
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"The island of Argos." At his answer, the crowd began to whisper. The red bearded man turned his head to one of the crowd and asked. "Is there such a place as the island of Argos?" he said.
Someone quickly stood up in the direction he was looking. He was tall and wore gold-rimmed glasses. He was wearing only ordinary clothes and had a book in his hand. "No, there is no such island on any map." He said. His brow was sweaty and he sat down soon after giving his answer.
The red bearded man came up to Jaymond, slapped him and yelled. "Why did you lie?"
Jaymond felt his entire body and soul shaken by this slap. This slap felt as if it had burned him from within, even though it left no trace except for five red fingers on his face.
"I did not lie! I am from the island of Argos! It was a teleportation array that hadn't been used for thousands of years! I only used it to escape because my life was in danger!"He said this quickly, with tears in his eyes.
The crowd fell silent at his words, and the interrogation continued.
"Are you a mage?"
Jaymond felt he should say 'no' to the question, but he had said it before, so he mumbled helplessly, "Yes."
The crowd began to whisper again. This time it was more serious. These whispers quickly turned into arguments. Meanwhile, the man on the throne raised his finger. Everyone in the room felt a mountain of pressure on their bodies and fell silent.
The interrogation continued. This time they asked him who he was running from, how he became a mage, and even if he had ever been beaten by his parents as a child.
An obedient dog, Jaymond quickly told all the known history of his family and the island, like a history teacher. The crowd soaked up everything he said like a sponge. Now they were even more certain. This man was indeed a mage, and just one of the weaker ones.
This time, the crowd began to argue loudly. They kept arguing with each other, wondering who this island might have belonged to before. For there were warriors like them on the island where Jaymond came from. They probably had a friend who had been there before.
Meanwhile, the man in green that Jaymond had seen earlier stood up. He was wearing an ordinary, comfortable dark green robe. With a hand on his chin, he spoke as he looked at the man in red. "I wonder if this could be the Purple Mist's island?" His question sparked the discussion. Most of the people in the crowd agreed.
With his prediction, the man with the golden glasses stood up and spoke with concern. "The records say that the Purple Mist was rewarded with an island for his contribution to the war against the creatures." He quickly bent down and sat down. Everyone nodded at his words.
Then the green-robed man leaned over to the person sitting on the throne and spoke. "Saint Purple Mist was a wandering cultivator. His strength was extraordinary. After he reached the Saint level, he thought he could no longer improve, so he started a family. Then he fought the creatures on the side of the mages in the Mage World to get his own land. After that, he got this island with a noble title. The rest is unknown." He said, pointing at Jaymond, "According to what he said, there is no Purple Mist, and the strongest person on the island is a gold-level warrior. I guess this is an isolated place, they don't have any news from outside. Maybe there was another big war after us," He said. Then he bowed down again and sat down.
The facial expression of the man on the throne was not visible, but the atmosphere became suffocating. For some reason, he was angry. He spoke for the first time since this interrogation began. His voice was full of confidence and power, like someone standing on top of the world. His deep voice caused heavy vibrations in everyone's ears.
"A weak mage, an isolated island. An untraceable teleportation array. The discussion is over, you can leave. Four saints, you stay." Then all the rest, except the people with four different colors of clothes, left the hall like running away. In a short time, only the man on the throne, the four saints, and Jaymond were left.
Then the man on the throne stood up and began to walk down the stairs. When he was right in front of Jaymond, he looked at his trembling face. He was sure that if he increased the pressure a little more, the mage in front of him would pee in fear. Then he stood up. He was taller than anyone else in the room. His beard and hair were white. But his face was not old. There weren't many wrinkles. He wore a crown of miniature white swords. His eyes were black as coal, and you could see the traces of the cosmos in them.
He spoke, looking at the saints in front of him. "Is there really no way for us to trace the teleportation array?" he asked, frowning.
The four saints before him were unaffected by his oppressive air. The green-robed one spoke again. "Unfortunately, our people did not have double-sided teleportation arrays back then. Those mages were always cautious." He said.
Meanwhile, the young man in gold decided to join the conversation. "Well, what about the old turtle? Should we ask him?"
The red bearded man replied. "That senile old man won't talk to any of us. Besides, he is greedy. He's sure to get our pants." Said. He added later. "Besides, he doesn't even have space talent. Even if he makes a prophecy, what good would it do us?" he said.
The saints nodded thoughtfully.
Meanwhile, the white-bearded monarch spoke. "Then I will go. He will not refuse me." He said.
The four saints immediately tried to dissuade him. "Sir, you don't have to go to him as a monarch! He must come to you! Let me go and inform him." The young saint in the golden robes spoke.
The monarch shook his head. "He will not care about you. If he disrespects me, I will have no choice but to kill him." He said.
The green-robed man immediately tried to speak. "But sir! He is our only oracle! Even if he is a little disrespectful, when he finds a new heir, I will kill him..."
"Enough! Okay, maybe I won't kill him, but I can rip off his old body a few times if it pisses me off." The Monarch cut him off. Then he looked at Jaymond, "You know what to do with him." He said, suddenly disappearing from the room.
With the Monarch gone, the red bearded man approached and tapped Jaymond on the shoulder. "Sorry kid." He said.
Jaymond opened his eyes wide to see his face, but he could not speak. He felt completely suffocated. After a second he began to feel worse. He felt a fire in his heart. Everything was on fire, including his soul. He even forgot to use the spell he inherited from his family, which he was an expert in. He had always trusted it, but everything happened so suddenly and unbelievably. He had not expected to find himself among such powerful people. The next moment, he innocently closed his eyes. His body began to burn from the heart, as if he had been thrown into the sun. Centimeter after centimeter turned to ash. His whole body was burned at the same rate. In the end, there was nothing left of his body. Even the ashes had vanished into nothingness.
Thus, another member of this introverted, conservative family, who mistook his ability to shine as a gift from God, fell into darkness before he could see the light.
When the monarch was visible again, he was in a wooden hut on a small mountain. It was a beautiful place with green trees, large and small lakes and waterfalls, dozens of small innocent animals.
The sun was slowly setting. When the monarch looked ahead, he saw an old man sitting in meditation. The old man was even older than the monarch. His body was nothing but skin and bones. There were no hairs on his head except for a few strands. When he smiled, three teeth could be seen in his mouth, contrasting with the view outside.
He opened his eyes and smiled. "What wind brought you here, invincible monarch of the Golden Mountain?" he said. Then he pointed to the other side. He told him to sit down. The monarch pulled a cushion out of nowhere and sat across from him.
The monarch told him everything that had happened in the city today. Then, frowning, he took a jug out of nowhere and put it in front of the old man.
The old man took the jug, opened the lid and sniffed. When he opened the lid, the three strands of hair on his head came off. "Perfect...perfect. You really know what I want. I will make a prophecy for you. Do you have anything that belongs to this man?" he asked.
Then the monarch again took three vials out of the nothing. They were as small as potion bottles. One contained several strands of hair, one was filled to the brim with blood, and the last was a finger. If Jaymond had seen that finger, he would have screamed, 'My finger!' but he hadn't even noticed that his finger was missing.
The old man said, "Good! He took all three bottles, made a bowl out of nothing, and put them all in the bowl. Then he closed his eyes and mumbled something. Gradually the bowl was covered with golden light and began to float. Then a fire burned inside the bowl and the contents began to burn. The color of the fire was also strange, it glowed with a yellow color. Soon after, the old man bit his tongue and spat out his own blood into the bowl.
After a while, he opened his eyes and began to speak. "There is no way to go. Just waiting is the solution. But don't worry, there will be a day for sure." He said. Then the yellow flame grew and destroyed the bowl and its contents.
The monarch nodded, indicating that he understood. Then he disappeared.
After he was gone, the old man clutched the wine jug and muttered. "Is this such a great prophecy and its reward? I think it's time to find a disciple." He said. The expression on his face was complex. One side was smiling, the other side was frowning. Then he walked outside and began to sip the wine straight from the jug while watching the setting sun.