/
Inside the hallroom of Frost City’s main castle, Elder Marz sat right in the middle. Beneath him was a wizard wearing a black robe.
An intelligence officer reported to Elder Marz, “We’ve called our wizards to start the investigation over at the Wizard Union, Elder Marz, but no one’s ever seen someone attack an entire city like this before.”
Wizard Marz was more exhausted than angry now, “Did you, ugh
 did you check with the dwarves? Have you ever suspected that it could be them? Or someone who has access to their leaked technology.”
The dwarves were very experienced with explosions. All the mining work they did provided a lot of incentive for them to use special exploding ingredients.
The intelligence officer replied after pausing a bit, “I’m afraid not, Elder. The Wizard Union hasn’t found anything that suggests that this attack is associated with the dwarves. The dwarves are not known to initiate attacks against their adversaries.”
Wizard Marz was clearly getting tired. The dwarves were clearly not a likely suspect because although they did have access to explosion technologies, what they possessed was nowhere close enough to initiate an attack with the scale of what happened to Frost City. Besides, they had a very strict policy of using the weapons they manufactured for just commercial purposes.
Elder Marz persisted in asking, “So how many new faces have you seen from the other teleportation circles? You know, the ones in our nearby cities.”
“Well,” The intelligence spoke after checking the look on Elder Marz’s face, “Ever since what happened to Wizard Godwin regarding his misconduct of hiring manager wizard to steal privatized information, the security policies have become a lot stricter. Until just recently, no one has dared to, or at least openly dared to, leak out any information about the usage of teleportation circles.”
A lot of rumors about Wizard Godwin had been spread amongst the members of the Blizzard clan. It was hard enough to believe that a large number of rank seventeen wizards could die to the same man, but to think that a rank eighteen would have his arm torn off, everyone associated would be in fear to think that they would be next.
Elder Marz was almost about to jump on his feet, “Godwin! He should die a second time for what he did!”
The intelligence officer kept his body as low as he could to pretend that he didn’t hear what Elder Marz said. Basically, after his failed mission, Elder Marz brought Wizard Godwin into his lab by himself. The execution happened very swiftly. Simply knowing about it was enough to make one’s heart beat so fast that it was hard to breathe.
Elder Marz spoke calmly after ending his rant, “Send my words to the other members: Since the Blizzard clan is currently under attack, we demand an immediate investigation on the recent usage of the nearby give teleportation circles.”
The tone in which Elder Marz said that indicated that the request was an official one. As that was the case, a lot of time would have to go into sorting through the necessary procedures. It would take about two days at least, and that’s only if the Wizard Union actually accepted the application.
The intelligence officer bowed before he turned to leave the hall, “I’ll be on my way, Sir.”
Wizard Emir called out from outside the building, “Elder Marz! Elder Marz! I have something important to report to you!”
“Come in, then,” Elder Marz spoke.
As soon as Wizard Emir stepped inside the building, the first thing he saw was the very, very drowsy look on Elder Marz’s wrinkled face. Judging from how
 bloodthirsty his eyes looked, it could be said that the recent investigations didn’t go so well. Truth be told, Wizard Emir never planned on doing the reporting now, but if he didn’t, things would only worsen if the others found out that it was them that started this whole business of messing with Abel.
Wizard Emir spoke as he kneeled, “I know who did it, Elder Marz!”
“Oh?” Elder Marz’s eyes got sharper all of a sudden, “So you are saying you know who attacked Frost City?”
“Yes!” Wizard Emir took out a parchment paper enlisting everything Abel did on the Holy Continent, “The methods, sir! It is just like Wizard Abel, the one that came from the subcontinent to the central continent just recently!”
Without reaching his hand, Elder Marz activated his “telekinesis” spell and grabbed the parchment paper in Wizard Emir’s hands. He quickly skimmed over the information that was written on it.
Elder Marz asked in a calm voice, “Well, you just confessed that it was your group that made an enemy out of Abel. This is the same person that injured Godwin, correct? He and many other wizards in your team, too.”
Wizard Emir’s heart sank. He knew how terrifying Elder Marz would be if he was angry, but that was nothing compared to when he was speaking calmly like this. Elder Marz’s specialty was research, and calmness was a must if one was to research over a long period of time. For someone as esteemed as him, there was an uncontrollable madness hidden under that seemingly-tranquil demeanor of his.
Wizard Emir quickened his tongue, “Wizard Abel’s not alone, Elder Marz! He had two summon creatures in armor about ten meters in height, one young dragon and one freezing elemental snow eagle! He’s resourceful. That’s what I want to tell you!”
Elder Marz sighed, “Interesting, I see. A nineteen-year-old advanced wizard that’s also a trainer of multiple types of summoned creatures. You just mentioned young dragon, right? How clueless and bold of him. Even I wouldn’t do something as bold as to sign a contract with a young dragon.”
Wizard Emir only knelt lower, “The fault is mine for letting him escape last time. Please, sir. If I bring more wizards with me this time, I’ll make sure to capture him in the next try.”
“No, that’s fine,” Elder Marz suddenly smiled and shook his head, “I’ll let the others deal with Wizard Abel. As for you, I have something to ask of you: do you know how much loss the Blizzard clan has suffered this time?”
Wizard Emir could feel a very numb sensation on his head. Without even giving it a thought, he immediately drew an “instantaneous movement’ spell rune with his hand.
The grin on Elder Marz’s face grew wider, “Trying to run now, are you? Stay with me. It’s hard not having someone to vent my frustration towards, you know.”
The angrier Elder Marz was, the wider the grin on his face looked. Because of Wizard Emir, his entire team and the Blizzard clan had to suffer so much this time. Also, now that Abel’s whereabouts were unknown, there was no telling when the next surprise attack would be. It was hard for him not to be mad in this situation. With that being the case, his eyes were fixed onto Wizard Emir like he was looking at a living test subject for another one of his alchemy projects.
No, Wizard Emir never activated the “instantaneous movement” rune that he drew. Frost City’s defensive large circle already suppressed him before his wizard crystal body managed to do anything. He tried to reach for his “instantaneous movement” spell scroll instead, but there’s still no point if he couldn’t use his own mana.
Elder Marz might sound disrespectful to Wizard Emir, but he was not the type to underestimate a rank nineteen wizard’s strength. More importantly, he was constantly looking for rank nineteen wizards who might become living samples for his wizard anatomy research. Whether it was for his future rank promotion or just to increase his lifespan, he always thought that it’d be very helpful if he could look into the bodies of any wizards that were close to where his current level was at.
With that being said, as enraged as he was with Wizard Emir’s failure, he’s not got a reason for the Blizzard clan to give up on one of their elite members to him. Words could not express how tragic things would become for Wizard Emir. If he knew about how many top-level gemstones were wasted on the day Abel raided them, he would’ve never come over here to make his confession.
Elder Marz took out a handcuff from his portal bag. It was a special handcuff with all sorts of rune patterns drawn over it. He used it to lock Wizard Emir up so he couldn’t use his mana at all. The chance of him escaping just got a whole lot lower.
Elder Langland suddenly appeared in the middle of the hall, “Wait, wait! Marz, what happened?”
Before a response was heard, Elder Bunch also appeared. The suppressive force got the two elders very shocked. By the way, since the air raid already happened, they just lost all their interest in continuing with their shutdown training.
Elder Marz sneered as he kicked Elder Marz, who was now on the ground, “Emir just found a good target for us.”
Elder Langland’s eyes sparkled, “Did they find them?”
“His name’s Abel. Wizard Abel. He’s a rank sixteen advanced wizard from the subcontinent. It has only been a while since he came to the central continent.”
Elder Langland spoke after giving a glance towards Wizard Emir, “Shouldn’t
 I, he sounds very talented to me. Why was he against us when we should’ve recruited him?”
Elder Marz explained, “So this, well, whatever you want to call it, went to the subcontinent to go after Wizard Abel, but it turned out that the hunter got hunted. That was not the only time this happened, actually. A lot more attempts have happened ever since Wizard Abel came to the central continent, and it turned out that four advanced wizards died in just a few days. One of our rank eighteen wizards just got amputated as well.”
All of the blames was pushed on Wizard Emir. Of course, it didn’t matter whether Wizard Emir was the one that did it. Since he was the head, it was only natural that he was held responsible for everything that happened to the team.
Elder Langland was a bit skeptical, “Is it Wizard Abel that, you know, the one that made all the explosive attacks?”
The explosive attacks were just too scary. Frost City would’ve been in shambles already without a defensive circle covering it from above.
Elder Marz spoke in a quieter voice, “They were in the records. The same thing happened to one of the cities under the Orc Empires’ rule. Wizard Abel was the vengeful type. There hasn’t been a single time where he missed out on getting back at those who crossed him.”
Elder Langland said in a gloomy voice, “That’s such a shame, actually. So you’re saying we’ll have to hunt this genius down just to kill him?”
Elder Marz shook his head as well, “It’s going to take some time before we can find Wizard Abel. The recent order was that no information regarding the Wizard Union teleportation circle would be leaked to the outside world. I’ve already got someone to do something about that.”
“Let me handle that, Marz,” the quiet Elder Bunch suddenly spoke.
Elder Marz said with a smile, “Oh, sure! Thank you, Bunch.”
As a former direct associate of the Wizard Union, Elder Bunch’s had many important connections within the main branch of the Wizard Union. As things would have it, he was also very interested in learning about explosion technology. His plan after capturing Wizard Abel was very simple. He would beat him up until he talked about everything he knew regarding the explosion technology because once the Blizzard clan had a grasp of such technology, they’d have no more competitors on the central continent left to fight them over resources.
After taking out his sign card, Elder Bunch called for the city spirit to open up the contact circle.
Elder Bunch ended the call very quickly before speaking to the other two again, “Wizard Abel’s last known location is at Leno City. There’s nothing after that.”
Elder Langland sounded a bit confused, “Leno City, but why? Isn’t that far from Frost City?”
If Abel’s last known location was near Frost City, then it’d make perfect sense that he was the one behind the attack on Frost City. Things just got a lot more complicated all of a sudden. It wouldn’t make sense for him to be at Leno City even if he was traveling on a flying mount, but the method mentioned in his past record was just so similar to what happened over at Frost City.
Elder Marz spoke, “I don’t care about getting more proof. Just have the bounty on. Put the bounty on Wizard Abel. Anyone that has his location would get a level one mission reward. As for actually getting him, have the organization send their experts.”
That’s almost too good to be true. Just finding Abel would be enough for one to get a good reward. It wasn’t just the Blizzard clan that would go mad over it, by the way. All the associations on their side would also be perfectly willing to do their part to contribute. By that point, it wasn’t just the Wizard Organisation but also the empires, the trade unions, and all kinds of forces that searched for Abel no matter which part of the world he was at. It would be very hard for Abel, actually. Forget about someone like him, who’s barely had any sort of foundation on the central continent. Even wizards born on the central continent would find it extremely stressful and challenging to find a way to get across this kind of treatment.
While Elder Marz’s conclusion was quite controversial in itself, his intuition was already set on Abel’s attack on Frost City. Wizard Emir just told him everything there was to know. If Wizard Emir didn’t come to him, he would’ve conducted full-scale research on newcomers in the nearby cities.
And, that, ironically, was what should’ve happened. Abel was in his elven form for disguise, but it was a disguise that could be easily seen through. There was no past record behind his elven identity, so the chance of getting hit with a full-scale investigation was actually a lot higher. Wizard Emir’s made a fatal mistake in that regard. By reporting what he knew to Elder Marz, not only was he committing indirect suicide, he also stopped an investigation which would’ve very likely gotten Abel in captivity.
No, Abel didn’t know that the Blizzard clan had already started an investigation on him. It wasn’t like he cared, either. He’s already had his wizard crest inside his personal storage box. He’s also concealed all other items which would’ve otherwise leaked his whereabouts, so it was not that likely at all to figure out where he was at.
He’s also ordered the battle command spirit to activate nonstop to patrol around the nearby areas. The siren would be turned on if any wizard above rank seventeen was in range.