Fire Mage

Chapter 517: Blood Empire

Charles reappeared in the Rebirth Tower's 24th level the next second and asked.

"System... Wait, do you have any name?"

[My name is System-45, Host.]

Charles frowned for a moment and soon shook his head.

"Select one from the following names. Zero... Aurora...Genesis...Hex...Nemo...Ghost-"

Before he could end the list, a synthetic voice echoed in his head.

[I choose the name Genesis, Host. It means birth or beginning.]

A surprised expression appeared on Charles's face. He then nodded his head and asked.

"Genesis, can you tell me the exact date and time?"

[Yes, Host. Today is 24th March, Year 6418, Second Arcane Era. There are only three more years before the end of this Era.]

"Wait. Hold on! There are some dangerous words you just spoke there. What do you mean by that? How come this Second Arcane Era would end so abruptly?" He was stunned by the information and felt like he had heard something ominous.

Meanwhile, Genesis paused slightly and responded in the same synthetic tone.

[Insuccifient information due to innumerable barriers! But the end of this Era is imminent, Host.]

'Damn, this artifact indeed is a frightening one. The ability to gather information through Wisdom Link is not to be scoffed off easily.' He thought for a moment and decided not to ask any terrifying questions from now on.

After that, he summoned Zera and told her to pass some information to Runeth.

It was something to do with his left eye. Two years ago, Charles asked Runeth to create an artifact to help him suppress the Dream Eye and let him see everything normally.

Although he had been training his [Eyes of the Runes] skill constantly, it hadn't improved much, which made him worry inside.

After informing her, he took out the mysterious black cube-like stone from his space ring and placed it on the floor.

'Do you know what it is, Genesis?'

[Yes, Host! It's called 'Nullify Stone.' It's a rare element found only in dense gravitational planes and has the highest nullifying effect against all basic elements. If the Host likes to create a weapon using this element, I would suggest a Boomerang or needles as a weapon. Both of them match with your trickster class and could help you in many ways.]

'What about cards?'

[It's impossible to create card-like weapons using Nullify Stones, Host. Even if you made such cards, it would be hard to control them using strings.]

Charles nodded his head and passed the Nullify Stone to create a Boomerang and Nullify needles for his personal use.

He then moved towards the nearby sofa and continued his comprehension work for the next few weeks.

On 13th May morning, Zera appeared in his room and placed a sealed box on the nearby tea table.

"Lord Runeth asked me to give this to you, Master!" She said solemnly and then disappeared.

Charles stopped his comprehension work in his Inner World and opened his eyes. Following that, he shifted his gaze towards the nearby tea table and took the sealed box with both hands.

Then, he unlocked the box and saw a monocle inside.

'Oh?' He carefully picked up the monocle, removed the eyepatch, and put the monocle on his left eye.

He opened his eyes and soon noticed that he could see the physical world without difficulty.

But as he removed the monocle, he saw the surroundings changed and showed him a ruined hall with dust and broken furniture.

"Hmm, this looks good." He quietly kept the monocle in the box and went to the bathroom to take a long bath in hot water. After that, he moved towards the wardrobe and searched for a suitable formal dress.

After some searching, he found a black knee-lengthed double-breasted coat, a black belt, the same colored pant, and a bowler hat inside and wore them one by one.

'Perfect.' He thought.

Then, he returned towards the bay window area and took the monocle from the sealed box before putting it on his left eye.

After that, he took out a red crystalline sheet from his space ring and checked the Airship ticket.

"Hmm, I have to go to Blood Empire, huh. Departure at 13th May, 3 P.M." He muttered slowly and shifted his gaze towards the destination.

"City of Miracles... I wonder how long it would take for me to reach there?"

[It would take more than 18 hours to travel from Blood Empire to the City of Miracles by Airship, Host.] A familiar syntenic voice appeared in his head.

"Oh? Then, I should set off then." He stored the crystalline-reddish sheet into his space ring and enveloped his body in a crimson flame.

The next instant, he disappeared from there and reappeared above the Rebirth Tower.

Following that, Charles released his wisdom power in all directions and cast [Flame Teleportation] spell on himself.

...

Redhills City, Blood Empire.

It was around 1 P.M.

A young man in his late twenties stood outside the Redhills City and was waiting in the long queue. He had deep-set jade eyes, an oval face, olive skin, short eyebrows, and a fleshy nose. He currently wore a double-breasted coat, a bowler hat on top, and a monocle on his left eye.

He was none other than Charles.

After using the teleportation spell multiple times, he arrived at the Redhills City entrance in no time. But as soon as he reached here, he met with his first obstacle.

'It seems I need to wait for more than 30 minutes in the queue.' He muttered inwardly and looked at the surrounding people. There were all kinds of people who waited in the queue. Some were merchants, a few were mages, and even a few nobles stood in line like peasants. Unlike the City of Iron or Chester City, this Redhills City was the capital of Blood Empire! The most prosperous and advanced magic city of the Edhen World. Although it was still no match for the City of Miracles in terms of development in all magic-related fields, this Redhills city had its uniqueness on its own.

And it was also the place where the young, powerful, rich, and talented aristocrats lived and gathered. Although this Redhills City had several advantages, it wasn't easy to access unless one belonged to nobility or a royal. Even the Blood Empire's affiliated kingdom royalties or nobles had to abide by the rules of the empire and do as the higher-ups say.

While Charles was observing the people from different parts of the world, the queue also moved forward, and soon it was his turn.

A stern mage in a black robe stood at the entrance and supervised the identity checking process. After a simple glance, Charles knew this young man was not a normal foe.

[I suspect he has an artifact to hide his wisdom power, Host. Please refrain from using Wisdom Power or [Eyes of the Runes] skill to inspect anyone from now on.]

'He even has an artifact to hide his wisdom power? So, what do you think about his power level?' Charles did as Genesis told him and asked.

[His strength should be no less than Rank-4 Mystic, Host. There is a high chance that he might be a Rank-5 [Curse Wizard] Class Mystic.]

'A Rank-5 Mage!' He wasn't surprised at all.

Nodding inwardly, he took out his original documents and gave them to the nearby guard. Indeed, he decided to use his Charles identity from now on openly.

'I don't need to hide my true self any longer.' He thought to himself.

After some inspection, the nearby guard nodded his head and let him in.