Chapter 109 Being grabbed by the throat
In the study room.
Beatrice stood by the desk, checking the two alchemy pockets in front of her—these two pockets were no longer cloth pockets, one was a black leather briefcase, and the other was a women's shoulder bag.
After she saw her student walking in from the door, she stopped what she was doing and asked:
"nervous?"
Xia Zuo and Anruer nodded.
Beatrice handed the two alchemy bags to the students, "Inside are the supplies I prepared for you, as well as the props you exchanged for me. Check them out later."
She snapped her fingers lightly, "Follow me now."
The three of them walked out of the study and came to the terrace of the tower.
The weather is sunny today, with a few white clouds floating slowly in the deep night sky. The market area of Starry Night City is bustling with people, and the light of countless alchemy lamps is shining, but it is nowhere near as bright as the stars in the sky.
The scene of his first arrival in this world appeared in front of Xia Zuo's eyes, from escaping from the cave, to joining the circus, to meeting the resident mage, joining the school, and getting to know Dim and Kulov. Earlier today, he visited all the Starry Night City It will be difficult to see people you know again after tonight.
Beatrice raised her head and looked up into the sky.
Xia Zuo and Anruer also looked at it together.
Except for the twinkling stars and a bright moon, there seemed to be nothing special.
etc.
Xia Zuo restrained his thoughts, squinted his eyes, and stared at the night sky. A small white dot suspended in the air caught his attention. If Beatrice's gaze hadn't guided him first, it would have been impossible to notice the white spots high in the sky.
Xia Zuo's heart moved and he asked: "Professor, aren't we going to the Eastern Continent by boat?"
Beatrice smiled and shook her head, "Of course not. The ocean port on Miter Island is just a cover. Sea ships cannot sail through the storms of the ocean."
She took a step forward, turned around and stretched out her arms to the two students, "Relax, I want to connect the three of us."
Two groups of silver sand emerged beside Beatrice, turned into strip-like ropes and tied around the waists of Xia Zuo and Anruer. The other end of the silver sand was tied to Beatrice's arms.
An invisible barrier enveloped the three of them. The bubble-shaped barrier blocked the surrounding air and also obscured their figures.
Beatrice looked up and used the silver sand to pull the students off the ground, and the three of them flew straight into the sky.
The castles, lakes, stone houses in the market area, and the city walls of Starry Night City under your feet, as well as the farmland, mills, forests, etc. outside the city walls, quickly became smaller.
Xia Zuo was relatively calm. In his previous life, he had taken many flights and enjoyed the scenery overlooking the earth from high altitude. At this time, he was more filled with admiration for Beatrice's flying speed.
An Ru'er looked trembling, holding her boyfriend's hand tightly, her mouth wide open as she looked at the Starry Night Castle under her feet, which was getting smaller and smaller.
The three of them quickly arrived above the cloud layer closest to the ground.
Xia Zuo raised his head, and the white spots in the sky quickly enlarged, and he could vaguely see three huge white airbags side by side and the pod hanging below the airbags.
He recognized the vehicle immediately.
Airship.
They are going to the Eastern Continent by airship.
Beatrice led the students to draw an arc in the sky, from vertical upwards to horizontal flight, passing through the light cyan barriers around the airship and flying towards the open pod door.
The moment his feet touched the floor of the pod, Xia Zuo looked back at the scene outside the cabin.
The endless forests and mountains stretch to the end of the horizon, the white clouds drift slowly, and the stars in the sky seem to be within easy reach.
Anruer held the hatch with her arms, carefully looked down at the ground below, took a few steps back, and then poked her head forward curiously.
She covered her mouth and muttered in disbelief, "We...are in heaven?"
Xia Zuo released scrying skills on the surrounding walls, circular transoms, floors, ceilings, and beams. Without exception, they were all products of master-level alchemy of strange objects, using expensive enchanting materials.
Beatrice looked at the students with a smile and said:
"This is a transoceanic airship. Someone will introduce it to you in detail later."
She clasped her hands lightly in front of her and stared at her students.
"Xia Zuo, Anru'er, it's time for us to say goodbye. After you arrive in the Eastern Continent, you may never come back here again. You will live in the Eastern Continent as Starry Night Islanders rather than as people from the Western Continent. I I hope you can remember the place where you were born and grew up, as well as the people you met here and the things you encountered."
"Professor Beatrice" Anruer choked up a little, wiped her eyes with her fingers, walked forward and hugged him gently. She had only studied under him for more than a year, but Beatrice's charm was amazing, and she easily It makes An Ruer feel nostalgic.
Beatrice caressed Anruer's back, comforted her in her ears, and then pointed to the lever not far away, "Go in quickly, someone is waiting for you."
"Professor, please take care of yourself." Xia Zuo bowed to say goodbye to Beatrice, and pulled Anruer, whose eyes were red, towards the lever.
He put his hand on the lever and looked at the figure at the cabin door, "Professor, we're in."
"Well, let's go. I can't leave the school for too long, so I'll go back first. I wish you all a safe journey."
Beatrice's long hair fluttered in the wind, the deep night sky became the eternal background, and the graceful curves were frozen at this time.
She raised her right arm and waved, and pulled the lever on her side with the other hand, jumping out of the cabin before the door closed.
Xia Zuo coughed lightly, held back the tears in his eyes, and pulled down the lever in his hand.
The wooden door in front of the two people moved to the left, and a luxuriously decorated and elegant corridor appeared in front of them.
The reddish-brown wooden floor has a faint fragrance. When the airship floats, there are no creaking and twisting sounds in the floor and walls. It feels as if you are in a manor at this time, rather than suspended under a huge air bag. pod.
On the right side is a floor-to-ceiling window made of large pieces of glass, offering a panoramic view of the clouds and the earth. On the wall on the left are paintings of the sky and wooden sculptures of airships.
A graceful lady with green eyes was standing in the corridor with a smile.
This is Sylvia, whom we met once before. She is the messenger of Lady Starry Night.
About 10 years ago, when Xia Zuo accepted the test of the inspection team, she was the host.
The clothes Sylvia wore were no longer a simple black robe, but a light green long skirt. The skirt extended to her ankles, and there were lace embellishments on the cuffs, neckline and chest, which made her temperament even more attractive. dignified.
Xia Zuo patted Anruer's back lightly and said modestly:
"It's an honor to meet you, Ms. Sylvia. Please take care of me on the way to the Eastern Continent."
Anjuer also saluted humbly, "Hello, Ms. Sylvia, this is the first time we meet. I am Anruer."
Sylvia stretched out her arms deep into the corridor and said softly:
"Don't be too restrained. Just relax and call me Sylvia. From today on, we are colleagues. Come with me and I will introduce you to the airship."
The airbag of the airship and the main structure of the pod are products of the discipline of giant creation. Interior decorations are crafted from the other two disciplines of Oddity Alchemy.
The three of them were currently on the lowest floor, which was divided into two areas - the cockpit and the storage compartment.
Xia Zuo and Anruer, accompanied by Sylvia, met the captain Anto Rimes who drove a transoceanic airship.
Captain Rimes is a high-level mage, proficient in detection and protection schools.
At the same time, he is also a master rare item alchemist.
His crew were elemental servants made and maintained by himself, and they had completed hundreds of sailing missions across the ocean and between the east and west continents.
Definitely a rich experience.
Captain Onto Rimes was wearing blue and white striped overalls. After waving to the three figures in the corridor, he devoted himself to controlling the airship.
The airship's bridge was exactly as Xia Zuo expected. Hundreds of buttons are arranged on a wooden panel, and each button is commanded by a blueprint executor.
Sylvia said softly from the side, "You two, let's go to the upper level and don't disturb Captain Rimes driving the airship. The task of crossing the ocean is very difficult, and extreme storms will cause the airship to deviate. The routes are thousands of kilometers.”
She raised her index finger in front of her mouth, stopped Xia Zuo who was about to ask questions, led the two of them into the stairwell and said:
"I know what you want to ask. In a few days, when the airship sails into the depths of the ocean, you will see what the storm looks like. This storm is extremely violent and will never stop, blocking the east continent from going to the west continent. All ships. Only by flying above the storm and flying from a place where the airflow is relatively calm can we cross this storm."
Sylvia opened the sliding door at the end of the stairs and stepped into the spacious second floor, which is the activity room and dining room.
The bay windows surrounding the entire floor bring the beautiful night sky outside the window to your eyes.
The elemental servant serving as the bartender stood quietly behind the bar. Tables, chairs and benches are fixed to the floor. The place was empty at this time, no one was staying here.
"The other passengers on the ship are all in the guest rooms on the third floor. You two share a guest room, I will take you there right now."
Sylvia led the two of them to stop on the second floor for a while, introduced how to use the activity room and restaurant, and then headed to the third floor.
The three of them walked through the corridor and came to the middle of the corridor. On the right was the bay window and the night view, and on the left was the door.
"The space of the transoceanic airship is limited, so the double room is only slightly larger than the single room. I hope you don't mind."
Sylvia took out two keys from her pocket, "Here are the house keys. Go in and rest first. We will meet in the restaurant at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Sylvia." Xia Zuo smiled and nodded in thanks.
Sylvia nodded in response, walked back to the stairs, opened her door and walked in.
At the end of Xia Zuo and An Ruer's room was a huge floor-to-ceiling window. From the entrance to the floor-to-ceiling windows, there are the bathroom, cloakroom, double bed, coffee table and sofa.
The style of the room is far more novel than the style of the university dormitory, let alone compared to the hotels outside the university. It is simply not a product of the century.
Xia Zuo reached out and brushed the mattress of the bed, carefully looking at the style of the beige hollow curtains and the brightly colored paintings on the wall.
He found several pieces of federal-style clothing from the alchemy bag given by Beatrice.
All white shirts, black vests, trousers of the same color, paired with formal jackets of different lengths, and several pairs of replacement dark brown leather shoes. These clothes have also been enchanted to be stain-resistant and provide some four-series resistance.
Sure enough, as we learned before, the cultural background, aesthetic style, and technological level of the Silver Moon Federation are roughly equivalent to the Western world in the early 20th century.
"My dear, do you think I look good dressed like this?" Anru'er's voice came from behind.
Xia Zuo stood in front of the bay window and turned around. A figure wearing a long checkered skirt and round-toe shoes came over. The white stockings on her feet were looming.
"What you are wearing underneath..." Xia Zuo was stunned when he saw the smooth white.
"Hmm~" An Ru'er lifted up the hem of her skirt and turned around in a circle, "The instructor said these are silk pantyhose. They are very comfortable to wear and very close to the body. There are different materials and thicknesses to choose from. Wear silk stockings in summer. Yes, wear cotton velvet in winter. You must wear it with a long skirt or trousers."
"Hey...are there other colors?" Xia Zuo asked, rubbing his hands.
"I'll go take a look." Anruer glanced at her boyfriend with a strange expression, walked to the bedside and rummaged through her bag, "White, black, gray, and skin color."
"Wear black." Xia Zuo walked up to the other party and whispered a few words in his ear. Anru'er blushed all of a sudden.
…
Early the next morning.
The first night on the airship passed smoothly, and there were no emergencies such as plane crashes. However, the bed board shook a bit. Fortunately, the sound insulation effect of the room was good and it did not disturb other people.
Xia Zuo woke up, washed up, tidied up the messy room, called the sleepy Anruer, put on federal clothes, and went to the restaurant on the second floor together.
They had a simple breakfast in the air, sat for a while and waited for Sylvia to arrive.
Sylvia is still dressed in a light long skirt.
Walking aside was Nina, who was wearing a long soft armor dress. The ceremonial armor on her body was in the style of both the Fourth and Fifth Era, and was the standard dress for female members of the Mage Temple.
Sylvia saw Xia Zuo and Anruer's outfits, smiled and said, "The clothes fit just right. You guys adapted well."
She introduced Nina's identity to Anruer, then sat down at the table and asked the other two to take out their identity granting documents.
The document must be stamped by the Mage Temple to be effective.
There happened to be a member of the Mage Temple right in front of him.
Nina read the contents of the document carefully, and after confirming that the signature was clear and neat, she took out a bright red seal from her pocket and pressed the red seal on the two parchments.
"You two, after you take the oath at the Civic Center, you will officially obtain federal citizenship."
Nina put away the seal and stretched out her hand to Sylvia beside her, "Sylvia will lead you to complete the follow-up matters. The Mage Temple can only serve as a witness to witness the identity granting process. So I am here to accompany you. "
Xia and Zuo thanked Nina humbly and watched each other walk up to the third floor.
Sylvia took out two portfolios from her bag.
"Xia Zuo, this is your induction document. Master Rexall is a consultant of the Category 3 Disaster Emergency Response Department. He is waiting for you in Room 303 upstairs. You go directly to him."
Sylvia put another file bag in front of Anjuer, "Anjuer, let me introduce you to the Type 1 Energy Management Department."
Xia Zuo picked up the file bag, said goodbye to the two people at the table, and knocked on the door of Room 303.
A bald-headed voice came from behind the door, "Come in."
Xia Zuo pushed the door open and walked in. He didn't see the expected bed, coffee table or other furniture.
Rexall's room was extremely spacious, with no furniture except for the bathroom that could not be moved. The curtains were tightly closed, and the blue sky and clouds outside could not be seen.
In the center of the room is a circular magic circle flowing with magic light.
The bald man was wearing leather armor and sitting opposite the door. In the middle of the circle was an hourglass. In the transparent hourglass container, fine red sand was slowly falling.
"Good day, Master Rexor." Xia Zuo greeted him respectfully.
"Put the file bag away first, Xia Zuo."
Rexall's left hand was maintaining the spell. He pointed at the opposite corner of the magic circle with his other hand and said:
"You have mastered the Curse of Decay, right? You sit down in the circle opposite me and cast the Curse of Decay toward the sand."
Xia Zuo looked at his character template.
[Non-attribute power] 6 points.
In the last few months of his stay at the academy, he absorbed some elements and increased the power of his curse spell to 6 points.
Xia Zuo did not hesitate and directly cast a decaying curse with 6 points of power on the sand.
The cursed mark ignored the glass shell of the hourglass and appeared directly on the red sand. The falling speed of the sand slowed down a bit.
"Huh~ I can finally take a rest." As soon as Rexor withdrew his spell, the sand fell much faster.
"Hmm... The power of your seal is weaker than I thought, but it is enough." Rexor glanced at the scene in the hourglass, stood up and twisted his neck, making a snapping sound.
"I'm going to the bathroom and I'll be back soon." The bald man waved his hand and walked to the corner of the room. "No matter what you hear or see, don't pay attention to it. You must maintain the curse brand."
Xia Zuo nodded, "Okay, Master."
The sound of water being turned on and flushed came from behind, and Xia Zuo curiously used his detection technique on the fine red sand.
The feedback information is full of unknowns and question marks, only the effect of my own curse is clearly visible:
The blood is deducted by 3 points every minute - half less than the data on the spell panel, which shows that the spell resistance of the red sand is quite high.
Rexall wiped his hands and came back to sit down, but did not take over the hourglass immediately.
"Xia Zuo, how long can you maintain the curse of decay?"
"Half an hour each time. After resting for a minute or two, you can continue for half an hour again. If you do it throughout the day, the total will be about five or six hours."
Rexor touched his bald head, looked at the speed of the falling sand, and said calmly:
"In other words, you have accommodated about 20 small elementals. It took a lot of time to study alchemy. A witcher as big as you can accommodate at least 80 small elementals."
He took a closer look at the curse mark on the fine sand, "You learned the most basic curse mark, right? The kind that is directly infused with secret medicine."
"Yes, Master." Xia Zuo was not surprised at all that the other party could obtain so much information at once.
Because the seal itself is the specialty of the demon hunting school, they relied on the seal and superb martial arts to kill countless monsters in the fourth era.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Mage Temple, the Demon Hunting School contributed Curse Seals and Blessing Seals, which were shared with the other three schools.
The rest of the seals have become out-of-the-box existences and can only be learned in the demon hunting school.
Every school of thought is like this and has its own unique skills.
The elemental body of the alchemical school.
The Spellweaver Language of the Tower Scholars.
Breathwork of the Fighters Guild.
Rexor stretched out his hand to turn over the hourglass and said:
"Basic seals have few side effects and are indeed suitable for alchemists to learn."
He paused, "But I think that with your willpower, you can withstand a stronger seal."
Xia Zuo thought about it, "But... I can only exchange it for the basic seal. This is the only seal in the alchemy school."
"No." Rexor shook his head, "As long as you can contribute to the Demon Hunting School, I will teach you a stronger curse seal."
He then added:
"This does not require you to break away from the Alchemy School. In the last era, the Demon Hunting School was divided into several sub-schools, which made each other a mess. Living to this day, for me, the differences between the schools are no longer so important. Otherwise, I would not have accepted the invitation from the Alchemy School to serve as a consultant to the Category 3 Disaster Emergency Response Department."
Xia Zuo asked, "You mean, other master demon hunters don't live in the Silver Moon Federation?"
"Of course, the Silver Moon Federation is the territory of the Alchemy School. The Demon Hunting School's stronghold is deep in the interior of the Eastern Continent, where most people live."
Rexor pointed at the hourglass, "You help me keep an eye on it. When the sand is about to leak out, turn it over and keep the sand in a falling state. I have to meditate for a while."
Rexor knelt on his knees, leaning on his heels, and warned, "Don't make a mistake, or you will be in big trouble."
Xia Zuo looked at the hourglass, then at the bald head who closed his eyes and meditated, and concentrated on maintaining the curse of decay.
Half an hour later, Xia Zuo rested for 1 minute, turned the hourglass over, and cast the next round of Curse of Decay.
After casting curses for ten rounds in succession, his energy gradually became exhausted.
Xia Zuo thought for a while and gave up the plan of activating [Blood Sacrifice Spellcasting] to avoid the bald man opposite from noticing the clues.
He rubbed his temples, pointed the fingertips of his right hand at the hourglass, and tried to maintain the curse.
Another hour passed.
When Xia Zuo's energy was about to dry up, Rexor ended his meditation and cast his own curse of decay.
"Rest, Xia Zuo." Rexor said, "Look at the contents of the portfolio, and then we can talk."
Xia Zuo greeted the other party, went to the bathroom to solve the domestic problem, washed his face to wake up, and then sat back on the floor.
The portfolio contained a stack of induction documents detailing Xia Zuo's responsibilities.
Xia Zuo's main job is as a poison researcher. He only needs to go to and from get off work on time every day and report regularly on the progress of poison research.
Serving as a support staff member of the 17th Action Team means that he occasionally has to go out with the action team to conduct on-site inspections of poisons, search for suspected poisons, deal with dangerous things, etc. When necessary, he has to join the battle as a curse mage and cooperate with the team members.
This orientation document lists the specific Category 3 disasters:
Hundreds of thorny and ferocious monsters, as well as blood mages and more than a dozen inheritors of evil paths left over from the Fourth Age—such people are called strange monsters.
Any incident involving a Category 3 disaster will be forced to be transferred to the Category 3 Disaster Emergency Response Department by organizations such as the Federal Police and the Incident Investigation Bureau.
The 17th Operation Group is mainly responsible for disasters caused by blood mages within the city.
Interesting and interesting Xia Zuo gradually found the feeling of being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Rexor glanced at the other party's smile and snorted, "Ah, you may have taken Category 3 disasters too simply. For an alchemist like you who just walked out of the academy, before I came to the Western Continent, , I come into contact with a few every year. They are young and live a comfortable life in the school, and they don’t know the dangers in the shadows. Their ending is not good. I advise you not to take it lightly. "
"Ahem. Yes, Master." Xia Zuo suppressed his smile and nodded solemnly.
"Okay, I want to give you a task. Come to my place every day from now on and help me guard the hourglass."
Rexor pointed at the hourglass with his chin, "There is a broken blood mage inside, the one traded with Hemster."
Xia Zuo looked at the hourglass and blinked.
"This kind of blood mage who is beaten to pieces and turned into sand, but still cannot be eliminated, we call it a blood demon."
Rexall held out a finger, "Accept the transformation ritual and transform into a transformer. This is the first step to becoming a blood mage."
"Then," he stretched out his second finger, "devour the bodies of 108 living creatures of the same size and transform into blood addicts. Generally speaking, transformers will be driven by blood demons to devour their former kind."
"After becoming a blood addict, you will become a blood demon by sucking a large amount of monster blood."
Rexall reversed the hourglass and continued to cast the curse of decay. "The blood demon recovers very quickly. You must always use the curse of decay to weaken it. Evocation spells can also be used, but that will destroy the hourglass."
"The Blood Demon is an expert in manipulating blood. He can use other people's blood to cast spells, which is far more powerful than the Transformers and Blood Addicts."
Rexor emphasized, "If it recovers, you and your companions will be sucked dry of blood instantly. Who makes you the weakest creatures on this airship."
Xia Zuo nodded heavily, "I promise nothing will go wrong, Master."
"Yes." Rexor took out his pocket watch and looked at the date on the dial. "In six days, the airship will approach the Extreme Storm. Come to me on the evening of the fifth day, and you will not be able to leave until you are out of the storm."
"Yes, Master."
"Go ahead and do your own thing. Remember to come here tomorrow morning." Rexall stared at the hourglass and stopped talking.
Xia Zuo stood up and left.
In the guest room, Anruer has returned.
Xia Zuo told her about the arrangements for the next few days, and then asked about the other party's onboarding guidance.
Anruer took out her portfolio and handed it over, "It's all in there, you can see it yourself."
She stretched out her other hand and said without any doubt, "I want to see yours too."
"Okay, okay, here it is." Xia Zuo handed over the portfolio calmly.
Anruer took it, flipped through the pages of the document, and found the section that introduced Category 3 disasters. After reading it carefully, she slapped her boyfriend on the shoulder with her little hand and said in a solemn tone:
"The instructor said that you will not be contaminated, so I agreed to your choice of this position. Now I want you to promise me that you will not rush to the front when you go out in the field."
She hammered a few more times and said anxiously, "You must promise me."
"Yeah, I promise you, I will definitely hide behind. I am not a critical member of the action team, I am just a support staff, and I will definitely be protected." Xia Zuo hugged the other person's shoulders and consoled him.
Anruer leaned in her lover's arms for a while and calmed down, "Okay, let me believe you. If you don't do it, humph, I won't wear black silk pantyhose in the future."
"Huh!!??" Xia Zuo was startled and looked at the other party in disbelief. He felt like fate had grabbed his throat and suffered a fierce blow.
"Hey, I finally found a way to take care of you." Anruer raised her head proudly, walked briskly to the sofa by the window and sat down.
Xia Zuo held his forehead, sighed helplessly, and lowered his head to read the other party's induction document.
Anruer's job is relatively simple. She goes to work in the Category 1 Energy Management Department on time every day and does not have to go out to work. Correspondingly, the total remuneration will be relatively small, and she can only receive basic remuneration every year.
This job is very suitable for Anruer, and it also gives Xia Zuo a lot of worry.
He took out a magic book, walked to the window and sat down, overlooking the clouds and sea below.
The color of the sea is blue with green in it. It is speculated that the direction at this time is still in the offshore area. When the sea water turns into dark blue or even black, it will be in the deep sea area far away from the coast.
Wait a minute for another chapter.